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Stress plus Cheese equals? April 28, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Drooling & Cooking , 26comments

It was the stress that drove me to it. My facial therapist commented that I have these really knotty stress knobs around the area between the base of my neck and my shoulders. The more stressed up someone is, the knottier the knobs are, it seems.

Well, oookay…stress AND craving for cheesecake made me do it. It had been ages since I made cheesecake and I thought why not? I used to make a similar non-bake cheesecake years ago, and since I recently stumbled on this Philly non-bake lemon cheesecake recipe, I decided to give it a go last Friday. I love it because it is so simple and easy to make and also, cos I didn’t need to turn on the oven. Plus it is extremely comforting to stuff myself with it and (hopefully) reduce the level of stress. Heh.

When I opened up the packets of Philadelphia cream cheese, lo and behold, I discovered that the recipe is actually contained in the box cover itself. There was also a recipe for dark chocolate cheese cake, which I might try at a later date. Y-U-M.

Philly Non-Bake Lemon Cheese Cake

INGREDIENTS
1 cup sweet biscuit crumbs (I have always ever used McVitie’s digestive biscuits, so that’s what I used this time round too)
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 x 250g Philadelphia brand cream cheese, softened at room temperature
2 teaspoons gelatine dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water
1 x 400 g can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated lemon rind

DIRECTIONS

Tip: 1 cup biscuit crumbs equals approximately 10 sweet biscuits crushed. (with the Mcvitie’s digestives, it’s about 5-6 pieces)

Because I didn’t use a springform pan it was rather difficult to cut up that first piece of cake into a nice little slice, but it still tasted divine. I should rename the recipe to Lemon Crumble cheesecake or something, eh? Had a slight sore throat after downing the cake, and hubby thinks it’s the cheesecake, but I beg to differ….although I am taking it easy with the helpings now. Hehehe… The strawberries taste sublime with a dollop of that cream, though.

I wonder if Andie wants to trade a slice of her peach cheesecake with mine?

My burden-free shoulders April 25, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , 19comments


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A few months ago, my hubby and I decided to pay off our housing loan, thus making our home completely 100% ours.  I can’t describe the feeling of jubilance we felt as we signed the relevant papers and realized that there were no more monthly payments to be made to the bank.  We also had to engage our lawyers for some legal matters pertaining to the settlement and since our strata title was also ready then, we commenced the procedures to get the title too.  Last week, we went to the lawyer’s to collect the strata title, together with all the other documents.  It was a huge step towards being totally debt-free.


…eggstremely sinful cholestrol-laden breakfast…

And today, we took the final step that will make us bask in a state of debt-freeness. I paid off my outstanding car loan and obtained the registration card last week.  However, the registration card still stated the company I work with (I took a company loan) as the owner of the car.  I had to make a trip across the Penang bridge to the Road Transport Department in Seberang Jaya to have the cancellation of ownership done.  Thanks to directions from Susan, hubbs and I tried to make it there as early as possible.  I promptly got a number, but hardly had I warmed my seat, my number was called.  The officer flipped through all my documents, checked my IC, and then chop here chop there…and it was over in a matter of minutes.  There was no super fancy equipment that was used to cancel the ownership though, so I am still rather confused why this could not be done in the JPJ branch on the island.  Hmmmm….seems like a waste to make a trip all the way to the mainland for some manual chops.  Well, in any case, the car’s all MINE now!  All MINE!!!!! How sweet is the feeling….

Oh yeah, on the way to JPJ Seberang Jaya, we stopped by the Touch n Go office at the Penang Bridge to check if my Touch n Go card needed to be upgraded.  I had received an email some moons ago about the need to upgrade the card every 10 years.  It’s a good thing we went there today.  My card was gonna expire in June this year, and the “upgrade” makes mine usable till the year 2018 now.  I say “upgrade”, because I don’t know exactly what they did to the card.  It only took a mere 2 seconds and my card was not even exchanged for a new one.  The old card was just placed on a small black platform device thingy and the lady behind the counter just hit a couple of buttons. Let’s just pray it doesn’t automatically “expire” in June.  hehe… we’ll see.

Anyhow, feeling very accomplished and excited today, I decided to finally file my income tax returns electronically, 6 days shy of the deadline.  Of course, the next step now would be to settle the outstanding tax before April 30 2008.  Boo! Funny how many people like to wait till the last minute to do it, by choice or not, I don’t know.  So far the people I have asked have not filed their returns yet.  Have you?

Healthy sorta life for moi April 18, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , 15comments

My blogging life is eluding me.  Gone are the days when I can publish non-stop post after post of interesting topics, gripping even.  Now I have consigned myself to blogging when time permits.  Maybe it is the environment I face every day…or *almost* every day.  Takes every ounce of my energy and faith just to prod myself along.  Sometimes I just want to throw in the towel because I am just too tired to try anymore.I am thankful though, that despite these adversities, I still find solace in the little little things that give me a healthy push in the right direction.  And these are some of the things that I have been doing.  They don’t erase the problem completely, but they do put a smile on my face, in a healthy kind of way.

I used to take evening primrose oil (EPO) capsules on a regular basis, up till the point when I got pregnant.  Then I stopped, because I had read that the oil is touted to make the uterus contract, making it harmful for the unborn child.  I didn’t take it all through pregnancy and breastfeeding since the effects of EPO on babies is still unconfirmed.  Since I stopped taking EPO, my eczema has taken a turn for the worse.  My fingers would crack so bad, it sometimes bled.  It’s painful just to bend ‘em fingers sometimes.  Then a few weeks ago, I consulted my Mom and she reminded me of EPO, and how it is useful to cure atopic eczema and psoriasis.  I promptly bought a bottle and have been taking 2 tablets twice daily since.  My eczema has not completely cured, but at least I see some vast improvement in the skin texture.  And I love that my skin is on the way to healing!Last Monday, I indulged in a facial too.  Unwittingly I agreed to have an anti-aging skin renewal facial done (for preventative measures only, what were you thinking??!!), assuming that it was one of the facials I had already signed up and paid for.  The facial was fantastic.  I dunno what they do…they put some vitamin stuff on my face, gave me a head and shoulder massage and I drifted off to sleep, until I was awaken by the therapist.  My skin definitely felt smoother and cleaner and looked brighter than before.  I then discovered I had to pay RM200++ for the facial, but at that time, I was already reeling over how marvelous the facial was, I didn’t mind.  Of course, knowing me, I showed some disdain and remarked that it was a miscommunication in the first place when I thought I had already paid for it.  Anyways…I walked away feeling great.For about three weeks now, I have been taking cold showers in the evenings.  Yeah, you heard me right….COLD showers.  It all started when my hubby told me the story about Ryan Babel remarking that taking cold showers help heal muscle pulls, tears, knocks and bruises faster and eliminates fatigue too.  Well the initial spray of cold water that hits your skin does make you cringe a tad, but after that, it’s really invigorating and I love how my skin feels after the shower.  It’s hard to switch to this routine when we’ve been hot-showering all this while, but I do remember I used to bathe in cold water all day long, when I didn’t have a water heater.  I suppose the cold water constricts and closes the pores making for smoother skin afterward.  Never felt better.  I highly recommend this to everyone.And oh yes, today, I hit the gym!  The one in my apartment, that is.  Been wanting to do so for a long time running, but finally did it today.  It’s not a very good gym, i.e. the treadmills and stepper are all manual (need to use your body weight to move it, no electrical connections wan), so I didn’t touch those.  Instead, I headed straight for the vertical leg lift.  Very good for the abs, arms and butt, aitelyu.  It’s like doing leg curls vertically, you know…so you’ve got the gravity going against you too.  If there is just one gym apparatus in the whole wide world for me, this would be the one.  Ladies, try it and you’ll see what I mean *wink*.  Let’s hope the two vertical toned lines on my abs will be visible soon.  Tee hee!!!  I did some quadricep extensions, lateral raises, tricep curls and some lunges too.  Not bad for a start, eh?But I had this for dinner though….

Can’t be good for those abs of mine, huh?  SIGH… I certainly foresee more left lifting, leg curling, abs tightening and tigressy grimacing to come!

Mystical superhero fantasy April 11, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Memes & Tags , 15comments

I missed getting tagged by her, but because she lately had a bout of NBTB, I was yet again given the honor by Rinnx! I’m really afraid she will use her telekinetic energy to move all my stuff away fast fast, so I had better do this real quick before she gets to me.


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1. Superhero power I want
Shapeshifting. Just like the superpowers possessed by Mystique. I have always been intrigued by her, even though she is on the baddie side. Wouldn’t hurt if I had her body too, ya know…

2. Why?
Originally I wanted to choose the telepathy power or the invisibility power, but I figured if I could shape-shift, I could be in a room where no one would know of my existence and then I would be able to know what everyone was discussing. Not what they were thinking though. Unless they think out loud. Plus, don’t you think Mystique is sexay?!!

3. Downside of this power
People might not trust who I am, because they might perceive me as changing all the time. And I might lose track of who I really am, if I do it too often.

4. My superhero nickname
Stealth (I originally thought of Tigrex but it sounded too much like T-Rex). If there are any other better suggestions, you are most welcome to let me know.

5. My motto
I’m watching. And my theme song is “Every Breath You Take”.

6. Sworn enemy
Hypocrites. With this super power of mine, I can shape shift into anything I want just so I can find out what these people are up to.

7. Official vehicle
I can shapeshift into any vehicle of my choice, depending on my mood. Beemer, Jaguar, Toyota Highlander?

8. Day job
Fashion consultant. I can change my image, my attire, my haircut, my shoes and handbag as often as I want to suit the season’s latest fashion.

I had fun doing this meme. Anyone else wanna play? What about:

Paris
iamthewitch
Paik Ling
Wen
Health Freak Mommy

** included by special request: Wuching ** ~ can’t wait to read yours!


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Instead of work, I want to April 10, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , 20comments

NOT work, of course!!

Work, work, work and more work! Every single work day, my fingers meticulously create and reply emails with clockwork precision. Open email, read read read, then type out replies, think a little bit. Rephrase the email, sometimes. Hit ALT+S. Gets dreary sometimes, aitelyu. Attend meetings, answer customer calls, draft and finalize project documentation…can it not get any more predictable? For once, I would really like to get away from it all. There are so many things out there waiting for me to experience, why do I have to remain cooped up in the workplace? Yeah, cuz it brings in the dough. Don’t need a genius to work out that equation.

If only someone will instead PAY me to:

1. Open ceremony with my new 32-inch MAXIM wok!! Complete with a WYSIWYC (what you see is what you cook) glass cover and vents for airflow control (though I don’t know how the *control* portion works because the knob on the glass cover is not rotatable). I bought this baby for a steal at only RM74.50 (it retailed at RM269, but Jusco had it on sale at half-off, plus I made use of my RM60 worth of Jusco vouchers, and voila…here was a wok to give me hours of endless hours of cooking joy). What shall I cook first? Yummy claypot chicken rice? Stir-fry vegetables? Ehon’s cheese and mushroom omelette? Or lormaikai? No…that one must use steamer…

2. Go for a holiday. If only I can teleport myself back to the Maldives for a second honeymoon! White string bikinis, pristine sandy beaches, snorkelling, food…and sun sun sun!!! Throw in a full body massage and bask myself in the intoxicating scents of lavender and ylang-ylang essential oils and I am in paradise.


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3. Join Preeta on her book tour. I just got word that one of my dear ex-classmates and good friend, Preeta Samarasan, will be embarking on a book tour this coming May in conjunction with the launch of her first book, “Evening Is The Whole Day“, which is already gaining rave reviews in the press. Preets is an excellent writer, and in fact this was already apparent in our schooldays when she displayed her prowess in the English language and also French (she got an A1 for French in SPM!) Preets was my Ding and I was her Dong. Don’t ask. And she drew a really adorable picture of a polka dotted piggy in my autograph book. I’m hoping to be able to fit into her suitcase now.

4. Watch reruns of Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy or Heroes while pigging out on ice cream. Curling up on the couch without any interruptions, and (NOT) getting fat in the process is just a bonus.


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5. Enjoy a relaxing, no-holds-barred lunch with a good girlfriend. It’s always enlightening to catch up on each other’s lives while having a scrumptious lunch. Even though it is only for an hour or so…and then bam! back to work….SIGH. Never mind what we ate, it was the company that mattered.


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So how? Anyone wanna pay me good money to do the things I love?

Yummy tummy mummy! April 4, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Close to Heart & Home, Drooling & Cooking , 24comments

My parents are here in Penang for a short holiday and of course, also to spend some cool quality time with their grandson.  Yesterday, while I was working from home, my parents were out running some errands downtown.  They came back in the afternoon with some surprises for me.  Cool!  You know how I love surprises!

Look! Mini darling ang-koos & chneh-koos!  The red ones contain grounded green pea paste whereas the green ones have coconut filling.  Who’s to say good things don’t come in small packages?

My parents also tar-powed one packet of char koay teow for me which I finished in a jiffy, hence no photos lo…

Tonight, Mama prepared a splendid concoction of Ba Zhen chicken soup, with kampung chicken and all the herbs and stuff.  Sorry, I don’t know the correct terms for these herbs, but they are supposed to be good for health and vitality la. I ain’t complaining cos it tastes great and I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep tonight…

Thoughts about our CM… April 3, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , 9comments

 
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It has been almost a month now that Penang’s state governance has changed hands.  Changed for the better?  I have no doubt about that.  Our brand new Chief Minister, YAB Lim Guan Eng will make sure of that, I’m certain.

I am ashamed to admit that I have not been reading up about him as much as I would have liked to prior to the General Elections last month, but lately I have been catching up on news surrounding him.  I have to say that I have nothing but absolute respect for this man.  No, I have not been stalking him, despite the fact I know he is currently staying in the same area as I am.  You think I have 48 hours in my hands to do something like that?! 

How can I not respect a man who would stand up for women’s rights as Lim Guan Eng has done for the Malay girl who was raped by a former Chief Minister, up to the extent of serving a jail term for her?  This is something I feel very strongly about, having had a friend of mine brutally raped and murdered a few years ago.

Well anyway, today I read a very poignant untold story about Lim Guan Eng.  Hit me to the core, I tell ya.  Just go spend 3 minutes reading it and you will know why.  Here’s a short extract from the blog post:

That day about 2 weeks ago, when I stood for photograph with YAB Lim Guan Eng behind his Chief Minister’s desk in Penang, I recalled what I had seen of this man. From a humiliated prisoner, he had been vindicated by the powers in the people’s hands.

Much that YAB Lim had never responded to anything I said about his less than glamorous times behind bars, he will always remember the ultimate humiliation that a person had gone through. He will know the true meaning of justice.

In less than 10 years, God has shown YAB Lim Guan Eng the way. May YAB Lim now shower mercy and love to the great people of Penang.


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The company I work for has annual functions for Merdeka Day celebrations and every year the Chief Minister of Penang will be invited to grace the ceremony.  I told my hubby that this year, I might just volunteer to be part of the welcoming committee or something. Easier access to get a photo with Lim Guan Eng maa… 

Wordless Wednesday 006 April 2, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Christianity , 7comments

 



~ Wordless Wednesday ~
       

The silent sufferer speaks April 2, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Christianity, Thoughts & Scribblings , 13comments

Hypocrisy (or being a hypocrite) is the act of opposing or not purporting a belief or behaviour while holding the same beliefs or behaviours at the same time, or vice versa.
(source: Wikipedia)

Some hypocrites are friends in disguise, or rather some friends are hypocrites in disguise.  Is there a difference though?  In my opinion, the latter is more lethal in nature, because the pain is harder to bear.  Some people indulge in pretend play, but viciously stab you in the back in a manner that hurts tremendously.  The betrayal is the part that gets me the most.  Do you grin and bear it? Do you retaliate?  Do you give them the benefit of the doubt, because you know, perhaps they really don’t know what they are doing?

I detest hypocrites immensely.  Don’t you? 

I had a conversation with God and He says “Forgive them, for you know I forgave you first.”  And I am trying my best to, I really am.


Photo credits: Hulagway

Topishot is so hip and hot April 2, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Rainmakers , 1 comment so far

I am not quite the TV addict I proclaim myself to be now.  Most of the shows I used to watch are screened during prime time but now I have to ever so graciously give way to my son Ethan, who monopolizes the telly every night.  Hubbs sometimes has to sacrifice his Sportscenter for Ethan’s Barney or Baby Einstein, but the good news for hubbs is that Ethan is starting to like to watch sports programs.

Anyway, I do try to catch the later screening of some of my favorite shows and movies, but sometimes I just prefer to hit the sack more than anything.  It has been a while since I watched the Entertainment channel on TV, so how do I stay in touch with the all the happenings in the entertainment industry, knowing how much I love be inquisitive?

Easy!  I simply log on to TopisHot for all the latest news and gossip.  Of course, by doing this, I run the risk of realizing exactly what I have been missing all this while, especially on the movie front…like the upcoming movie Hotel for Dogs.  If you haven’t realized yet, I love dogs, and one of the first things I am getting when I own a house is of course, a dog.  Consequently, I love watching movies with dogs in them, and I am looking forward to this one which will be released in 2009.

Navigating the TopisHot site is as simple as can be.  There are only two categories: News and Movies, although I would personally prefer it to have more sub-classifications, because two categories make for such a broad spectrum of posts.  It would be a nice touch to have it further speficied into genres, perhaps?  Updates on this site are pretty regular too, and that is expected and synonymous with how an entertainment-based site should be.  It’s a very good one-stop site to get the latest dig on the who’s who around the world.  I’m hoping, just maybe, the site will include an online TV soon? :)