little doses of sweetness

these colourful little things are called *macarons.

bought them at Whisk cafe, Empire Shopping Gallery.

they were selling at freakin' RM2 per piece, RM18 for 10 pieces.

of course, i bought 10 pieces. the flavours were mixed (i can't remember the flavours).

i read & see macarons everywhere in blogs and facebook. i was curious. people said that it's good, it's delicious, some people craved for it, some ordered online, some went all the way to cafes selling macarons. i bought mine when i bought the red velvet cake at Whisk. frankly speaking, macarons didn't really hit me. it's more like 'indah khabar dari rupa'. yes it looks cute, yes it looks colourful & yes it looks tempting BUT i don't see what is so great about it. i would prefer having a slice of red velvet cake anytime. or one or two cupcakes than having macarons. besides, they were expensive, for such a small thing like that. i don't mind paying 20bucks for a slice of cake but not RM2 for a piece of something the size of a 50 cent coin. nope.

but of course i don't mind having them again. it's just that i won't go to the extent to order them online or go all the way to subang just to get them. since i have satisfied my curiosity over macarons, all i can say is, NEXT!

*Not to be confused with Macron or Macaroon.

A macaron is a sweet confectionery. Its name is derived from an Italian word "maccarone" or "maccherone". This word is itself derived from ammaccare, meaning crush or beat, used here in reference to the almond paste which is the principal ingredient. It is meringue-based: made from a mixture of egg whites, almond flour, and both granulated and confectionery sugar.

The confectionery is characterized by its smooth, domed top, ruffled circumference, and flat base. Connoisseurs prize a delicate, egg shell-like crust that yields to a moist and airy interior. The French macaron differs from macaroons in that it is filled with cream or butter like a sandwich cookie, and can be found in a wider variety of flavors that range from the traditional (raspberry, chocolate) to the exotic (truffle, matcha tea).

Source: Wikipedia

unwanted visitor

besides getting the monthly visit from Miss P, i also get visited by a visitor named Mr. U. what/who in the world is Mr. U, you may ask. allow me to introduce you to Mr. Ulcer. Mr. Mouth Ulcer to be exact. seriously, i got mouth ulcers ever so often that it's like a routine already. it's like my body gives a sign "ok, it's that time of the month again. ulcer time!" i don't mind getting monthly visits from Miss P (that shows that my hormones are balanced, right?) though i hate the before-time i.e. the PMS. i get easily ticked off during PMS so imagine if Mr. Ulcer decided to visit along with Miss P. now that is when all hell will break lose. i told boyfie to stay away from me for a few days so as not to jeopardize our relationship. yes, it's THAT bad.


i don't know what causes it but i noticed that it started with an accidental 'bite' on the lip or tongue or sometimes the toothbrush decided to brush at the wrong directions causing my lip or tongue or whatever part in my mouth to cut a bit. the rest, is history. it normally lasts for about 4-5 days, sometimes a week. but sometimes, it appeared for no bloody reason. is it because my body is heaty? i drink lots of water everyday. like, a lot!

everyday i would drink 2 bottles of water. this water bottle can hold more than 1l, approximately 1.2l i think. i made a point to drink 1 bottle before 2p.m and another bottle for between 2-7p.m. i added 3tbsp of apple cider vinegar in the 1st round of water. the 2nd round is plain water. if that's not enough water for a day, i don't know how much is enough. not to mention, i sometimes take a mug of coffee in the morning and/or one in the evening. this is the amount of water i drink at the office alone. when i go back, it's a different story.

i would also bring fruit(s) to the office, especially when the fridge is well-stocked with fruit. mum always make sure there are fruits in the fridge. sometimes i would bring an apple but on days when i feel greedy i wanna be healthy, i would bring two apples. on certain days, there are oranges and pears. sometimes i would buy guava or pineapple from the food court below.

this is my good friend, Bonjela. i love the taste (it sounds so wrong, huh?) but i hate it when i applied it on the ulcer. it hurts and stings like hell that i became teary-eyed every single time. *sigh* and the worst part is, it doesn't work instantly. if it had, Mr. Ulcer would have left town in less than a day or two.

this is another good friend of mine. since i thought Bonjela didn't really work (or maybe my mouth is already immune to it pffffttt!) i decided to try this. it's powder-like substance tastes like bitter watermelon. it is also a bit hard to apply as you need to 'spray' the powder on the ulcer. it gets really hard when Mr. Ulcer decided to sit at the very back of your mouth or in between your gum. ughhh~~

one time, i tried a medicine called Kenalog In Orabase. it works wonders but it's a controlled item so you need to get it from the pharmacist. however, most of the time i went to the pharmacy, the pharmacist was not in. i can't be running to the pharmacy during office hours, can i? it's so hard to get hold of the pharmacist so i had to settle with the two products above. *sigh*

velvety red

the thing about blog-hopping is, you get to read about other people's lives, be it love, personal, career, their daily routines and whatnot. another thing about blog-hopping is, you get tempted to try the foods that the bloggers mentioned and blogged about, especially those with pictures. every time i read a blogger's post about certain foods or restaurants, i get excited about it, especially if they talk about desserts. i am a dessert junkie. there, i confessed. :D
one time i read about red velvet cake. and then i noticed people on facebook also started talking and posting pics of the red velvet cake. naturally, i became curious. so i put a status on facebook asking people where to get the best red velvet cake. they were kind enough and suggested a few places, including California Pizza Kitchen ("CPK") in KLCC. there's also a bakery in Bangsar and Jaya One selling the red velvet cake but it was too far for me to go after office hours.
so, after reading my status, boyfie bought for me from CPK KLCC. i was super excited and i fell in love with the red & white combination of the cake. it was just beautiful. the moment i took a bite of it, i fell in love all over again with the cake, and with my boyfie of course hehe. the cake costs RM22 per piece, if i am not mistaken. it was sweet, moist and creamy.

recently i read about Whisk, a cafe in Empire Shopping Gallery which sells red velvet cake, among other things. on my way back to KL from Shah Alam, i made a quick stop at Empire and bought the cake. when i arrived, the owner said that it just came out of the oven and it's not even iced yet. i told her that i needed to go to the bank and i'll be back in 1/2 an hour.

1/2 an hour later, i came to the cafe and it's ready! i was delighted! however there are red specks on the icing and the owner said this is because the cake was iced immediately when in fact, the cake should be cooled before it's iced. i so know that but i don't mind the red specks. to me, the cake looked delicious already. unfortunately they did not layer the cake and i think that the icing should be slightly thicker. however, the cake was soft, fluffy and not too sweet. so does the icing. i think it tastes great the way it is, though i don't mind an extra inch of the icing. :D oh, and they are selling at RM11 per piece only! that's half the price of CPK's!!

damn...looking at the pics of the cake makes me feel like having another slice this very moment! i think i might as well try to bake this cake. after all, how hard could it be, right? it might be my weekend project part 25. so stay tuned! ;)

weekend project part 24

this is a carrot cake which i baked over the weekend. it looked pretty plain here, don't you think?

i made a trip to a little shop in desa pandan which sells baking stuffs from cake tins to muffin cups, cake boxes to food colouring. you name it, they basically have it all. well, most of the things i needed, at least. i saw this ready-made sugar paste flowers, which comes in various colours but since my cake is already yellowish-creamish in colour, i bought a bright red roses so that it'll pop out.

it is nicely wrapped in a box and protected with sponge to prevent it from breaking.

remove the sponge carefully and put it on your cake.

i think my cake looked like it's made by a pro. it certainly added that extra 'oomph' to my cake, no?

i also made this chocolate cake over the weekend. i found this cute little flowers in the bake shop and i fell in love with it. they are super cute and they also added that extra 'oomph' to my otherwise plain cake. it is also great to cover the unevenness of the chocolate toppping at the side of the cake. genius, yes? :D

the little flowers comes in a bag of 50 pieces i think and i only used a little. looks like my raya cakes will be adorned by these little babies. hehe.

call me some other time

Lately, I’ve been receiving calls from Bonuslink. The first time they called, it was a guy. I said I was busy (I really was! It was 10ish in the morning and I’ve got tons to do so there’s no way I can entertain his call) and asked him to call again during lunch. He didn’t. Instead he called me at 3ish in the afternoon. I was busy still so I ignored the call. Lalalala~~
I told boyfie and he said not to ignore the call(s) as I might have won something and they may be calling to inform me about it. He made sense but I said, if I did win something, I’m sure they will send a letter to me, instead of calling me. I know for sure that they are trying to promote something.
A few days later, he called again. I asked him what is it about and he said that he wants to introduce me to the new loyalty program whatever. I was driving. I was on speakerphone and I could not hear him clearly so I told him to call after 6pm. He did not call me after 6pm.
And today, a lady called at 3ish in the afternoon. She was from Bonuslink as well. Here are more or less what transpired:

Lady: Hello boleh saya cakap dengan Cik Azian?
[I really hate it when people mispronounce and misspell my name. I am pretty sure she has my details in front of her. It’s Izyan with and I, not an A!!]
Me: IZYAN bercakap. Siapa ni?
Lady: Saya (whatshername) dari Bonuslink.
Me: Uh huh. Pasal apa ye?
Lady: Pasal Bonuslink lah.
[Wrong answer, lady!!]
Me: (with a slightly annoyed tone) Pasal apa dengan Bonuslink?
Lady: *sighed* Saya nak tanya, cik masih pakai Bonuslink tak?
[She has the cheek to sigh???]
Me: Iye. Kenapa?
Lady: Ok saya nak tau, cik biasa pakai Bonuslink di mana?
Me: Di stesen minyak. Jap, ni pasal apa ni?
Lady: Kita ada program baru.
Me: Ok macam ni lah, saya agak sibuk sekarang jadi kalau nak cakap, call saya samada time lunch atau lepas pukul 6 boleh?
Lady: Oh, macam tu ye? Ok lah. Terima kasih.

It is not that I am being rude to them. It is not that I don’t want to listen to them. It is not that I am not interested in their so-called loyalty program whatever.
It is just that, most of the time, they called me at the wrong time but mostly it is because they don’t even have the courtesy to ask me if I was free to talk.
Let’s see if they will ever call me again. And see if I am free to talk to them. I wonder what the new program is all about…

glitter-graphics.com

So,

glitter-graphics.com

some other time, yeah?

Product Review-Smooooth Legs

time for another review, people! (right, as if you're looking forward to it, huh?)
anyway, this is a long overdue product review. i bought this many weeks ago but i haven't found the time to review it so here goes. this product is called Smooooth Legs.

When i bought it, the blogshop gave me 2 extra big pads and 3 small pads as a token of appreciation.

The product comes with 1 Large applicator, 1 Small applicator, 4 Large flex-crystal replacement pads and 4 Small flex-crystal replacement pads.

Peel the sticker on the back of the pad and stick it on the applicator.

Then rub in circular motion on areas where you want to get hairs removed.

My verdict:
The product is easy to use and it is effective. All you have to do is rub the applicator on your skin and hair will be removed. The pads feel like soft sand paper so apply enough pressure to remove the hairs. Do not rub too hard or your skin may get irritated and it may leave your skin red. you sure don't want a cut on your legs now, do you? You can easily do it in front of your tv or while talking on the phone as it is not messy, does not require the use of any cream or gel or harmful chemicals and razor blades. it is a quick and easy way to remove hair especially if you decide to wear that short skirt or that short dress at the very last minute yet you loathe the idea of having to shave your legs. The good thing is, since no chemicals are involved, your skin is not exposed to harmful chemicals. besides removing hairs, it also works as an exfoliator. i don't know about you but my legs are the most neglected parts of my body, except when i shave, which i hate as it is such a hassle and sometimes i do get nicks or bumps. grrrr. i hardly exfoliate or scrub my legs. the most i would do is apply lotion on them after bathing. after you use the Smooooth Legs, you can feel your skin soft as the dead skin cells have been exfoliated during the process. you will also notice that the pads will turn greyish-whitish. so does you skin.
However, do take note that it doesn't take long for hairs to grow. i don't know if it's my hormone but i noticed that hair started sprouting out again in 2-3 days. this is because it only 'cuts' the hair and it does not get to the root of it. but then again, so does shaving, right? but fret not, once you feel hair is growing again, just repeat the process.
as for the pad, i can use 1 big pad for twice application. the next time i'm removing my hair, i'm gonna have to use a new pad as the old one has run out. good thing that i got extra pads from the blogshop.

So there. this was my honest review and i am not paid or made to do this review by the blogshop. i just feel like doing it. if it works for me, why should i keep it to myself, right? ;)

do it online

when it comes to shopping, be it online or offline, one thing i'm sure of, i hate rude, ignorant & annoying sales assistants ("sa"). aren't you annoyed when the sa followed you everywhere you go in the store? aren't you annoyed when the sa immediately arranged the clothing the moment you touched them?

the same goes to online shopping. from my little experience, most blogshops would put a disclaimer warning that they only want serious buyers, no back-outs, do not email/inquire unless you're really interested, no MIAs or they will publish the name and email address of the person.
some blogshop owners become so friendly and excited when you email them and once you get the products, they kept quiet and if you email them, the email(s) left unreplied.
however, i am lucky that so far my online shopping experience has been great. recently i purchased a clincher and i was surprised to see a top in the package. i emailed the owner and asked if she had sent the package by mistake. to my pleasant surprise, she said that the top was for me, free of charge because she did not want to waste the postage.

i have also received my maxi, which i ordered from La Robe. the material is soft and satin-like, very light and very comfortable. however, it is a bit long and i've yet to alter it but i wore it anyway.