Dream holiday.

Okay, I'm going to go on a trip to Tioman with a few of my friends in the middle of July.

Truthfuly, I really really really really really want to go to The Andaman in Langkawi. I first went there a few years back and I loved it. It was secluded, the food was awesome and beach was beautiful......*sigh* My family loved it lots, so we went there again a year later. The staff was fantastic and the rooms were fabulous. (watch me use all my adjectives here =D )

The downside, it is too expensive for 6 college-aged girls to afford since it is too secluded to allow for exploring Langkawi. Besides, I would go to Andaman to just stay there.

That's my dream holiday. One day, I shall save up enough money to go back there again.

Meritocracy sucks sometimes

mer·i·toc·ra·cy   
[mer-i-tok-ruh-see] Show IPA

–noun, plural -cies.

1. an elite group of people whose progress is based on ability and talent rather than on class privilege or wealth.

2. a system in which such persons are rewarded and advanced.
3. leadership by able and talented persons.
 
Taken from Dictionary.com
 
I see the point of a system such as this, it ensures that those who succeed gets their due reward, but when you are neck deep in examinations, you hate its guts.
 
Next up, when I have edited and typed my next post up properly (I am very proud of it =D ) :
 

A Chinese Wedding Dinner: The Trials and Tribulation

Being Used

While there are many forms of being used by someone. It is in my opinion that there is nothing worse than being used by a dog. Let's run through a typical day if you have a doggy friend.

It's breakfast time, and to your dog, that is when food magically reappears in his or her bowl through an avatar, which is you, the owner. So, you are roused as early as they could possible wake you up, so that you could do this task. They will do anything to get into your room, and when they do, they fawn over you and jump around you like completing a ritual. You feel proud and a bit amused by this exhibitions and maybe a little annoyed at being woken up my a large moving lump of fur. So, you go to get the food for your dog, with him and her escorting you the whole way, making sure that there are no dangers which will prevent you from getting the food to the dog. You place the food on the plate and let the dog go at it. Your dog sniffs it, and walks away.

Instead, your dog wants to see what you are eating first, because it may be better. This will happen also when it is time for your lunch and dinner, where your dog will have this unsatiable curiosity to see what you are eating. Chances are, your dog wants a piece of it too. So, they will deploy the stare. This stare is guaranteed to make any owner go 'Awww....' at their pet and coo over them. Sometimes, it may even get them some of the food. So, they will stare and stare and stare. You will feel happy again to have the eyes focused onto you and only you. And then you realise that their eyes aren't trained onto you, but on the food your are commuting from the plate into your mouth. Then you feel a bit exasperated. In fact, the first moment of feeling used happens now. When your dog realises that you have no more food, they will just walk away since you are no longer of use for them.

Then, there is the matter of walks. All dogs love walks, short walks, long walks, any kind. And they will also harrass you to take them for a walk is they haven't gone yet. It if you are walking at the fastest of your just-woke-up-in-the-morning-and-is-zombified walk, it will never be fast enough for you dog. When both are you are done walking, they walk away from you again.

See the pattern. Everytime, they get whatever they want done, they walk away and ignore you until the next important bit is supposed to happen. Then, they will be all over you as if you are the only person in the world. The fact that cats are emotionless evil creatures is a lie. At least they are honest of what they think of you. Dogs, on the other hand, are pure evil in disguises of cute doggy eyes.

Fried Fish

This is a adjusted recipe for fried fish made to fit me:

1. Get a fish, any fish
2. Marinate it in salt and pepper / Curry powder
3. Add in plain yoghurt to marinate for about 10 minutes
4. Put enough oil in the pan to cover the entire fish
5. Heat up the oil and place in the fish
6. Your hand should be dry before putting the fish in (the oil notices this type of thing)
7. DO NOT RUN AWAY FROM THE PAN
8. NOTHING WILL HAPPEN TO YOU
9. Fry until brown (5 - 8 minutes on both sides)
10. Take out the fish and soak out the oil
11. Eat

I hope all of you put this to good use and beware of the dangers of oil in a pan.

Rice, a Journey.

I can't cook and my mother has decided that I need to learn To Cook. This was the beginning of my cooking journey, by the end of it, I hope to not flinch when I dump the fish I want to fry into the oil and the oil makes popping sounds and splash back. I ran away from the stove once. This was the beginning of it, the lesson wasn't even planned.

This happened a few weeks ago, and I stopped blushing at the memory to finally commit to putting it down somewhere. So, it will be in physical diary and also here. On that day, my brother went off to some tennis competition which was supposed to last the whole day and be back before 7. So, at 5, to go and support talk my brother, my mother left to cheer him on. So it is just me and my dad in the house.

At 7, disaster struck. My mum called saying that my brother's match was pushed all the way back due to the rain and he's only playing now. So, she asked me to cook the rice and my dad to prep the fish to steam it.

My dad was already struggling with the fish and the ginger and the millions of sauces, spices and herbs she keeps in the kitchen, so I thought best not to bother him. So, there I stood with that bowl you put rice in, with the short instructions my mother gave me.

1. Dump rice into the rice pot
2. Wash rice
3. Fill the pot with water
4. Cook.

Okay, I could do this.

I got the rice, dumped it into the pot and started washing it, and that is when all my self-doubt about my abilities of becoming a celebrity chef came to haunt me. The water won't stop being gray at every washing and gray is suppose to not be good, right? By the seventh washing, I called my dad over and showed him the still gray water. He was just as clueless and said it was as clean as it was going to get.

So, now I had to fill the pot with water. But I wasn't sure exactly how much. I settled with the water level being half of my index finger's length. About twice the volume of rice, give or take. And then I put it in the rice cooking machine, and flipped the switch on.

I was feeling very proud of myself at that moment. And in a self-congratulatory haze, I decided to go watch TV. Half an hour later, I decided to go check on my rice and opened the cover.

Oh crap.

It wasn't even cooked yet. You see, there was another hidden switch on the rice cooker labeled cook - which I didn't press. Lucky my mom wasn't home yet. So, with self-doubt mounting, I pressed cook and left it alone again.

10 minuted later, I went to check on it and there were bubbles coming out of it and I was all wtf. I quickly called my dad and he said it was normal. Okay, calming down again.

So, I didn't bother to check on the rice until it was dinner time and my dad opened the rice cooker and looked inside.

And looked some more.

Me : What?

Dad: I don't think you made rice...

Ladies and gentlemen, it sadly was not rice. I would have felt better if it had been porridge, because that meant that I have at least achieved at cooking something. It was rice grains on the way to being rice but was confused in the middle on whether to become rice or porridge. It was the type of gunk which just lumps on the plate, and when prodded with a spoon, remains resolutely glued to the spoon.

Sigh

And that was my first experience making rice. The second time was better, it looked like rice.