Raw Oats

I am freaking lazy.

I am the epitome of laziness.

Because of that, sometimes when I am too lazy to make myself something to eat - I just eat oats and cold milk. Thing is, I don't steep them first. Of course, I buy only rolled oats so I don't have to nibble through the tough husk. It is generally fine to eat rolled oats raw because the process of making them involves steaming and so they are actually already cooked beforehand. Besides that, the flattening makes it easier for our digestive systems to break them down for consumption [1].

I read that grains generally contain phytic acid, that if untreated can combine with other nutrient in the digestive system and prevent absorption which will then lead to mineral deficiencies. Soaking with warm water will then neutralize the phytic acid and make the oats suitable for consumption [2]. Oats are good fiber material, but excessive consumption can lead to irritable bowel syndrome and constipation - an adverse effect.

I normally try to eat healthy and cook everything from scratch - like if I want to make pasta, I will make them from flour and eggs instead of buying those instant ones you need to steep. This year, I got to know an Australian exchange student from my class (Hey Hugh!) that regularly brings fruits and vegetables to nibble on. I would see him munching on nuts, eating apples and oranges and most recently nibbling on carrots. Raw carrots. That actually piqued my interest to eat things raw (except meat of course).

The breakfast I have now is most commonly oats and yogurt. Not sure if it makes me any healthier, but I certainly don't feel anymore different. I also add in two eggs, either half or hard-boiled - no sauce, no salt.

Being lazy might actually be beneficial for my health - lets see how this goes in the long run.

[1] Stakal, K 2011, "Can You Eat OatsRaw", Energetic Health, Organic Authority, read 24 November 2015

[2] "Why you should never eat raw oats" 2014, Claire Obeid, The Wellness Project, Sydney, Australia, read 24 November 2015

【Cover】 Ring of Fortune/佐々木恵梨 (プラスティック・メモリーズ OP) 【InochigakeHekireki】

The name of the song is Ring of Fortune, from the anime Plastic Memories. One of the songs that captured my hearts from the anime this season. I do hope for at least a good ending though! 

The anime at first gave me the "Chobits" vibe, but as I continued watching, I realized that almost every episode has at least one scene which made my eyes water :/ no kidding.

There audio here is rich, but the S's are really sharp and combined with my lousy processing skills it is even more so. If desired, download the higher quality version right here:

https://app.box.com/s/d9j2kovcbtqv7qy...

Or if you prefer streaming, you can even find it on Soundcloud :o

https://soundcloud.com/shodaimehs/rin...

I've got myself a new microphone, but I have not did the selection of choice properly and it's really sucky to have to edit the audio to make it sound up to par :( 

Anyway, when recording this - I tried to put in what I usually go through in life. Hearing random voices and trying to go on with my life and learning how to love. (Yeah thats not a recording gone wrong when you hear random talking voices. definitely not subliminal either)

Originally sung by Sasaki Eri.


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Lyrics (From Animelyrics)


Hikari o atsumete Yozora no kanata e 

Sayonara no omoide o 
Hitomi ni tataete Mitsumeru yume Tooku 
Kowarete shimau Utakata no memorii 
Samishisa no namida Sotto fukou 

Nobashita te wa kanransha Yasashiku toraete 
Mezame souna Kioku no kakera 
Utsumuite Kiete hoshii to inoru kedo 

Kimi ga mitsuketekureta kono koe o 
Ugokidashita tokei no hari  
Sekai wa yagate irodzuite 
Purasutikkuna kokoro ga kagayaki dasu yo 
Wasurenaide Oboeteite 
Itsuka mata meguriaeru hi made Zutto 

Yuugure Tomoru hikari 
Chiisana gondora nobotteyuku Sora e 
Tonari ni suwaru Kimi no nukumori ni 
Naze ka na Namida ga hoho o tsutau 

Meguri mawaru kanransha Shizuka ni yurarete 
Mune no oku ga Harisake sou de 
Mado no soto Nagareru kumo Miageteta 

Zutto kono mama futari Yorisotte 
Unmei no wa Kurikaeseba Omoi wa yagate tsunagaru yo 
Kotae o sagashi Mirai e negai tsudzukeru 
Mayowanaide Shinjiteite 
Omoide wa honmono ni naru kara 

Koware sou na Kioku no subete 
Utsumuite Kienu you ni to inoru kedo 

Konya Yume no jikan wa owari tsugeru 
Kowakunai yo Sekai wa mada yasashiku irodzuiteru kara 

Kimi ga mitsuketekureta kono kotoba o 
Unmei no wa Kurikaeseba  
Omoi wa yagate tsunagaru yo 
Purasutikkuna kokoro ga mitasareteiku 
Wasurenai yo Oboeteru yo 
Itsuka mata meguriaeru hi made Zutto

Transliterated by Kazari

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Personal feelings


Was quite a very emotional song. I sung it with regards of how the special person feels up my world with many different colors. How I will never forget the word uttered to me on that fateful day - and how I just wanted to leave everything behind and go... but I did not.


I added in ad-libs in the song at multiple parts to signify the minute depression and anxiety I have towards life. The voices I hear is similar to what I have acted out right there. As I become more and more stressed out, the voices become clearer and clearer. But they still seem to be in a different language which I cannot quite concur to. But that's a different story when I am near the special person. The voices all disappear. Thank you.

Cover - Le Jour (Original by Satomi Sato) (Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete - 失われた未来を求めて)

The anime is Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete - 失われた未来を求めて- À la recherche du futur perdu

I didn't finish watching because I had limited internet back home where I can record, but I know the gist to the storyline. When I first started watching this anime, the opening song; Le Jour struck a nerve and it got me addicted to replaying every first few minutes just to listen to the song again and again.

I contemplated covering the song earlier - but I had classes and when my classes ended I went on a holiday trip to Queensland, Australia. Needless to say, this cover became delayed by two months or so before I finally went "Fck it, I MUST do it TODAY". And it took me around 6 hours to record. The MV itself took me around 5 hours, due to movie maker going buggy on me.

Again, as with Kuusou Rumba - the cover is HEAVILY customized. I would love to give my hearfilled thanks to sky_starry for the instrumental. Sound effects and illustrations used in the making of the MV are creditted in the video.

Uploaded this half an hour prior to Lunar New Year - just that it takes so long to upload. Happy Lunar New Year :)

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So yeah, I am back in Malaysia. The flight back was long and taxing. International flight was okay - I got to rest my long legs and all that but the domestic flight sucked real bad. I mean everyone wants to save money - but we do not need to be tortured so badly we have to squeeze into our seats and have nowhere to place our legs (yes, it sucks being tall). AirAsia is such a bitch to tall people with long legs :/

The weather in Malaysia is still the same - humid and hot. It rains freaking every day in Kuching. Drivers in Malaysia are still inconsiderate (70% of them!) - like they cut into lanes without any signal and park like assholes. I am glad there are a few special people in Malaysia who actually gives a flying fck about how they drive. It is safe to say that I will still look to public transport as a relevant means of travel - and since Malaysia's public transportation system is .. underdeveloped, the best life for me is out of it (no braindrain! well - partly it is because of the job opportunities as well but I just want out).

It is funny how everyone is wishing EVERYONE a happy CHINESE New Year. I mean it is a new year for Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese etc - would people name it Korean New Year or Japanese New Year? I think not. The best bet is to rename it Lunar New Year, but well - conventions set by predecessors are hard to change. 

New Year New Me, bake more. be healthy. meet new people. be awesome. dont cry. dont think suicidal thoughts. no self harm. 

Croquembouche Recipe

Backstory

So after watching MasterChef Season 5 and seeing Courtney, Christian and Jaimee making the incredibly beautiful and stunning profiterole tower, I took a liking and kept a mental note about how ONE DAY, I WILL BE THE ONE MAKING THE SAME TOWER OF YUM. And I did.

What to Expect

Expect freaking profiterole tower covered with delicious toffee. In the profiterole, you will have beautiful tasty freaking cream yaw. And if you are expecting to make this, be prepared to risk two hours or more, since it took me about the same time. A complex yet fulfilling dish.

Ingredients
Part A: Profiterole

Part i : The Puff
a) One finger of butter (About the size of two fingers width - I would say around 70g)
b) Milk (200 ml - yeah, I freaking measured, Yay me.)
c) Plain White Flour (I used around 100g - YES I MEASURED)
d) 3 Eggs

Part ii : The Cream
a) Double Cream (The whole cup)
b) Milk (1/3 of the double cream cup)
c) Icing Sugar (I used two teaspoons)

Part B : The Tower of Sauron ( I mean the tower of profiteroles)
a) Profiteroles from Part A
b) One cup of Castor Sugar
c) Half a cup of water

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Procedure
Part A : Making the Profiteroles (The torturing part)

Part i : The Puff
a) Pour the milk and put the butter in the pan and stir with a wooden spoon until it boils. Sift the flour into a bowl and pour it into the mixture after it boils and stir until it has the consistency of soft dough. BRING AWAY FROM FIRE to cool.
b) Bring back to the fire, and beat in eggs one by one while stirring constantly. You do not want the eggs to be fried. To make the process easier, pour cold milk into the pan while doing this. Stir and mix until the mixture has a soft consistency.

When you hold the mixture up with a wooden spoon, you can technically see the batter falling. Its like the consistency of wet mud.

c) Prepare a piping bag and fill the piping bag with the batter. Pipe the batter onto a prepared baking tray lined with baking paper.

How to pipe the profiteroles? Start at the bottom, pipe a little - when you see the batter forming a circle around two inches wide, adjust the height of your pipe higher and pipe again. Then, stop piping and remove the pipe. You do not need to create any pattern by rotating nor piping in a circular motion, the only motion you need to move is upwards from earth. Your piped batter should look like poo, if that is easier to note.

d) Preheat the oven at 190'C double fan forced for around 10-15 minutes and start baking the "to be" profiteroles. It should take around 25 - 35 minutes to be ready. Note the color of the top of the profiteroles should be brown.
e) Take out the profiteroles from the oven when ready, and with a skewer (I used a chopstick coz I asian yo) poke a hole at the bottom of each profiterole. It is easier to do it while it is hot, so get used to enduring the heat.

To know whether you are doing it right, remember that a profiterole is a cream puff. The puff should be just filled with air. It shouldnt have the consistency and texture of bread. So when you poke the bottom of the puff, you should realize that the middle is basically empty.

f) Set aside to cool

Part ii : The Cream
a) Pour everything into a mixing bowl and whip until it has the consistency of cool whip.

If you are lazy, you can just whip the double cream until it is soft instead of using milk and icing sugar. It won't taste as good, but on the bright side it is easier and healthier - NO DIABEETUS YO

b) Fill in a piping bag (I used an icing bottle and a funnel so imagine my pain) and pipe into each profiterole by using that hole you made in its bum. Gonna make more dirty jokes but too lazy to think.
c) Leave the profiteroles bottom side up for the cream to set.

Part B : THE TOWER OF SAU.. Profiteroles. (But hey, tower of god, babel, druaga, saviors etc would work too)
a) Pour the castor sugar in a pan with the water and spread everything evenly.

Don't stir the mixture please. During caramelization you should not lay one finger on the mixture. Just let it boil and caramelize.

b) Boil until the mixture bubbles and turns brown. (Yes this is the caramelization process)
c) Remove from heat.
d) Now, prepare your profiteroles. Dip the bottoms of each profiterole and build them on each other to form a tower.

Croquembouche - the tower of profiteroles should be hollow in the middle. If you are new or is lazy, then you can just make one in which the middle of the tower is also profiteroles. A little less traditional but hey, it is nice to be lazy.

e) After the tower is done, with the remaining caramel/toffee - use two forks. Dip one fork into the caramel, press one fork on the other for a few seconds and separate to form a string of toffee. Weave it around the tower to form a web.
f) Repeat the toffee weave several times.
g) Weave several more times around the freaking tower.
h) FREAKING WEAVE IT BABY
i) Serve

During this process, it is important to construct the tower fast - or else the toffee will cool down and harden. Of course you can leave it be under a small fire, but you risk burning your delicate fingers when the mixture is bubbling. I burnt mine several times doing this even after removing the mixture from the fire.

Chocolate Tiramisu Recipe

Backstory

Sometimes when I am down (mostly a week or so before freaking valentines day), I just need something to maybe "Pick me up" and make me experience a haven, a sanctuary of escapade from everything else that just "let me down".

Tiramisu is the perfect dessert for that, as it literally means "pick me up"! I kinda went the kinda vegan way (no eggs, only milk), as the recipe does not contain eggs nor do they contain mascarpone. Also, I dislike Alcohol and Caffeine, and so Rum and Coffee/Expresso was not something I would love to incorporate into something that I want to "pick up".

What to Expect

Well, you should not be expecting the flavors of rum and caffeine which I feel is some sort of delicacy, or something of an acquired taste that my tongue does not respect well. The cream will not have hints of eggs or mascarpone either, so that means that the tiramisu will be far softer than any that you have ever tasted before. It tasted like heaven for me, so everything is sort of going great for me.

Ingredients
Part A: The Bases
a) Lady Fingers (Or you know, sponge fingers where they say it differently)
b) Hot Chocolate
c) Water

You might want to make enough brew of the hot chocolate so that you can easily just dip the lady fingers in, the rest of them you can drink later on, so there is really no wasting going on.

Part B: The Cream
a) Thickened Cream (Half the bottle)
b) Milk (Full cream is better, but yeah you get the idea - 1/4 of the bottle)

In the video, I used one whole bottle of thickened cream and so I put in half the amount taking the bottle by size. I realized it was too much and so half the bottle is actually enough.

c) Mixture of Cacao Powder and Icing sugar. ( 1/4 of each which contributes to half a cup )

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Procedure
Part A: The Bases
a) Brew the hot chocolate by boiling water in a pan and then stirring in the hot chocolate until mixed well.
b) When it starts to boil, take it off and let it rest.

Part B: The Cream
a) Pour the thickened cream into a mixing bowl and add milk.
b) Add in the mixture of cacao powder and icing sugar and stir to mix.
c) Now, beat/whip the batter in an electric mixer at medium speed until the batter has a consistent color.

If you dont have an electric mixer you will have a horrible time and a muscular arm by the time you finish!

d) Once the color is consistent for the batter, beat/whip at high speed until soft peaks form. Took me around 8 - 10 minutes to get it to that consistency.

Part C: The Tiramisu
a) Layer the bottom of the mold with a thin layer of the cream.
b) Line the second layer with lady fingers quickly dipped in the brew of hot chocolate

If your mold is too small, you might want to cut the lady fingers with a knife first before you dip it.

Also, make sure you only dip the lady fingers and not SOAK them. If you soak them, your tiramisu will be SOGGY and it will mean "put me down" and that means that the tiramisu has failed in its attempt at making you want to pick it up.

c) Layer again with cream and continue the process until you get at least two layers. The last layer must be cream!
d) By using a sifter, dust the top of the tiramisu with a mixture of cacao powder and icing sugar.
e) Refrigerate for around 4 - 6 hours.

If you refrigerate for less than that, you can see that the lady fingers have not yet completed their mission of absorbing the liquid, and so you can still see the lady fingers. I do have people I know who love that texture (like my dad), so it is up to you. I love to leave mine in the fridge overnight to chill before I have them.

Plating
a) Remove from mold with a (whatever its called) but I used a rice scoop (flat)
b) Sprinkle sliced hazelnut on top of the tiramisu

Some people I know laughed at me when I told them I put hazelnut on the tiramisu and said that it was unconventional. I told them the recipe in itself was already unconventional (no eggs, no mascarpone, no rum, no expresso) - and so I am kinda original. Kinda.

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIXBdGDH5oc&app=desktop

Baked Lamb Loin sitting on a bed of Salad

Ingredients
Part A : Lamb Loin
a) Lamb Loin DUH
b) Seasoning
- Salt
- Pepper
- Rosemary
- Fried Onion/ Garlic :/
- Whatever seasoning you like and love and adore, even your boyfriend's hair EHEHEH

Part B : Uh um, Salad :/
Part i : The Actual Salad
a) Spinach
b) Grated Carrots
c) Chopped Blue Kraut (Or as my fellow Asians say, red cabbage )
d) Cabbage
e) Up to you really, I know people who suggest adding in Feta, Goat Cheese, Haloumi, Lettuce, Assortments of nuts (Pecan, Macademias, Pistachios), Lettuce and other things you can put in salads, and again, I dont despise people who put in their boyfriend's hair or anything, as long as its edible is the rule in salads

Part ii : The Dressing
a) Olive Oil
b) Rice Wine Vinegar
c) One or two drops of fish sauce (Yes, sounds crazy but it is true)
d) Apple Cider Vinegar
e) Soy Sauce

Experiment with the dressing until you find the best mix of flavors, mine is a teaspoon of everything except the fish sauce

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Procedure (Damn its simple)
Part A : The Lamb Loin
a) Get ready a baking tray, lined with aluminium foil. Preheat your oven to a 180 degrees Celcius. Lay your Lamb loins down on a bed of roses, sink it in a river at dawn.. I mean lay the loins on the aluminium foil in the baking tray and season them to your preference. Rosemary should be sprinkled on top of the lamb loins.
b) Bake for half an hour or so, until you can smell the aroma. Took me more than half an hour to get the lamb to be done medium well at a 180'C, but if you are experienced then you can use whatever temperature you like to speed up the process. It is up to you to cook either rare, medium rare or well done. I like mine well done - to check if it is well done, press your index finger against your thumb for the texture you should feel when you poke the lamb loin.

Part B : Seriously? You need a procedure for Salad!?
a) Mix the ingredients in 'Part i' in a small bottle so you can shake it well.
b) Chop the ingredients in 'Part ii' to your liking and put them in a salad bowl
c) Toss ingredients well.
Procedure for Plating
a) Prepare a clean plate
b) Decorate the base of the plate with a bed of tossed salad
c) Lay the lamb chop on the bed of salad like a sleeping prince
d) Garnish with fried garlic and onions
e) Use a high quality camera to take a picture of it, and preferably edit it before posting to instagram
f) Consume

The salad can be prebought if you are too lazy to make it from scratch

Baking - My Approach to Serenity

So I am embracing my newfound love for cooking. It started early last year in 2014, when I have just moved to a new house. There was no internet, no fixed line (yeah, you could have seen how disappointed I was and how much I ranted, just on and on for the past few blog posts).

With nothing to do (I just do not want to imagine what my parents do in those days when the weather wasn't so hot, crimes weren't occuring as often in Malaysia etc) except jogging to spend my evening, my holiday mornings became boring. I started watching a few shows on TV like Masterchef and Hell's Kitchen. When I saw some leftover ingredients in the pantry at home, ideas gushed into my mind and for the very first time - I cooked my very first dessert; The Panna Cotta.

The Panna Cotta is a very simple dessert. You just needed to mix together Milk and Whipping Cream in a pan and heat it until it simmers. Bloomed gelatine is then stirred in until mixed well and then the mixture is poured into ramekins and put in a refridgerator to set. When set, the sauce is made by caramelizing sugar and then adding some milk to give a praline taste to it.

From then on, I started baking more and more. I made Sponge Cake, Swiss Rolls, Cookies, Tiramisu, Cheese Cake etc.

I even moved on to making savory food - for example; Macaroni, Curry, Steak.

Every time I cook, I gain the confidence to cook the next dish. In the kitchen, I actually felt tranquil. This is where I felt I could enjoy my life. 

Baking is my new hobby - borne from the emptiness of having nothing to do.

Resignation, Retirement and Breaks

Recently, my dad told us that he was tired of working and wanted a break - and to work as close to home as possible. No one was surprised, really. This was following the recent cases of horrifying aircraft incidents such as hijacks and attacks, and my dad just so happens to be a pilot. Not for an airplane, but for a helicopter (but who cares, its still an aircraft). Inclusive of the fact that Ebola had just started to get into his country of work - his retirement plan is now becoming seemingly a necessity instead of a want.

As the main breadwinner in the family, he works hard to fund all four of his children's education - to a tertiary level, which is no walk in the park; so him wanting to take a well deserved rest is no biggie, really.

I, as the youngest in the family is still pursuing my bachelor studies (third year as in 2014) - with a simple 20% scholarship as there was no better scholarship scheme that fitted my background (Yeah, I am an honest guy that wont dare input false information for a scholarship), and this current scholarship is a bit of a foul because a CGPA of 3.75 is to be maintained for the scholarship to carry forward, and it is just 20% of the fees. I know of better scholarship schemes that offer a full payment of school fees with just a constant maintenance of a 2.00 CGPA, and to think I couldnt apply for it because of my background status (like income, etc) that I didn't dare to forge. 

Maintaining a CGPA of 3.75 sounds easy, but it actually isn't. The GPA corresponding to the marks are as such:

80% - 4.00 GPA

75 - 80% - 3.67 GPA

- - -

- which means that I am only allowed to obtain at least more than 80% for all four subjects and have only a few chances to pull the continuous CGPA up if I slip on a few subjects, but not all. The truth is hard and painful, like running into a brick wall. And there is nothing much I can do, except complain and pray that a better scholarship scheme will run headfirst into me; and that chance is also getting slimmer. No one in the right mind will offer a scholarship scheme to a third year student, finishing in another year. 

This painful fact is why I try so hard in my studies, though many people might see me as lifeless and booky. I have put aside a few best friends to study, and I regret that deeply even though I don't feel as if I have a choice. I wanted to apologize to them; but I feel as if I will be that little brat that apologizes and then does the same mistake again - and again. 20% is not much, but if it can lessen my dad's burden then it means a lot to me. 

I still fear of the day when this scholarship crumbles, even though I try so damn hard to redeem myself in it's grace. I fear of the day my dad will have to work harder even though he wants a break - just to pay for my studies, just to fund something that should no longer hold any more importance to him.

My dad had been trying to offer me the best - he wants me to study overseas, live overseas, experience the life overseas. I tried nicely everytime to offer a counter-excuse to refuse. Why? Because I know he will have to work harder. I know that he will have to suffer in order for me to obtain a meager half-baked experience overseas. Even though the offer seems too good to be true, I would rather work hard with my own sweat and blood to obtain what I want. I know of a few people that have practically begged their family for a chance to be overseas - I do not think of them as spoiled, there might be a pinch of envy in one corner of my heart; but I am happy for them.

I have just started my internship programme last month, on the 14th of June 2014. Working as a trial for not even a year, or thirty years up like my dad - I have already felt depressed and tired. I had practically not much time to do what I loved and wanted, and that was enough to give me suicidal thoughts. Thankfully, my brain had more control over my heart. I am grateful to my brain for self-inducing stupidly optimistic reasons for me to live on - and so I did. This is one of the reasons I felt that my dad should be able to rest if he wants to rest - putting aside the fact that many hap-hazardous incidents are threatening his life.

After the announcement this morning, I went online and looked for reasons that people may retire and what might happen to them; and I became more understanding towards my dad's plea for a break. If you want to read more about it, you can read it here: http://www.financialsamurai.com/the-dark-side-of-early-retirement-risks-dangers/

I just hope that my dad will not feel like he is useless in society's eyes after he takes a break - and if he continues looking for a new job in his homecountry, then I hope that he gets a relaxing job.

XOXO

KiiKii the Yu