Sunday, February 14, 2016

Valentine's Day 2016



I absolutely love it, me encanta esta. 

The glitter on the tips of the gorgeous roses had me squealing in excitement. 
The baby bear had me cooing and the chocolates had me giving up on diets. 
The letter melted my heart and had me feeling beyond warm and giggly.  

The best thing is that it all came from you.

Gracias por todo! Soy tan afortunado de tenerte en mi vida.

Happy Valentine's Day, hermoso! 

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Pancake Day

Pancake Day.

A day that gets me squealing in excitement.

For those of you who know me, I am a huge fan of pancakes.

I love pancakes. Love them.

Having said that, I love nearly every type of food and cuisine as you can tell from my size.

For 17 years of my life, 17 years, can you believe it? I have never heard of this amazing day until this time last year.

And yes, we do have pancakes in Malaysia but the hype was not as real!

I do however, remember making pancakes for Yenn and Foong once, that was pretty fun.

I know you don't need a special day to have pancakes for breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, dinner or supper but there is just something so damn magical about having it on a special day dedicated to pancakes.

I've always had this longing, this cliche hope, this typical wish, to wake up to pancakes for breakfast made by my lover. Yes, I'll make my lover pancakes in the morning as well don't worry. It's a two-way street and I pray to God that my lover will love all the cheesiness I come with. I also pray hard that he is cheesy himself and is willing to do it all with me! I'm pretty predictable, a hopeless romantic, and I love the fairytale romance and all the cheesy shit (minus the unnecessary drama) movies throw at me.

On a more serious note, Pancake Day is also known as Shrove Tuesday, 47 days before Easter Sunday. It varies each year and this year it fell on the 9th of February, about two days ago. Diane, my law tutor told me it was a day where you 'cleaned out the cupboards'. Did you know that pancakes were invented as a way to rid the cupboards and pantries of fatty and perishable foods before Lent? Using the leftover milk, flour, butter and eggs, you whip up a batch of scrumptious pancakes.




On this Pancake Day 2016, Jane and I had pancakes for lunch.

Unfortunately, I was an absolute 'donut'! (A term I grew very fond of due to its reference to food.)

As I was making the batter, I had this nagging feeling that I was forgetting something.

What could it be?

The egg was already beaten in. I double checked the food bin for its shell.

The flour was in. The powdery surface and mug was concrete evidence.

The milk was poured in. I'd know because I poured half a cup for myself.

A pinch of salt was mixed in. I remembered clearly because I was singing Salt & Peppa's ''Push It'' as I was dropping it in.

So what could it be?

Fortunately, I found out what it was when unpleasant lumps started forming in the batter.

Jane glanced at it and then looked at me.

''Ace, did you sieve the flour before mixing it in?''

I said it once, but I'm going to say it again. What an absolute 'donut' I was!

Rookie mistake, I can't believe i forgot to sieve the flour.

Thankfully, it turned out fine after sieving the batter.

It wasn't as good as Mary Berry's or Jamie Oliver's obviously but it was edible, I was really happy and I guess that's what counts!

Back in Malaysia, the pancakes I've had were thick, fluffy American pancakes. It's pretty different from the pancakes here. Unlike the American pancakes, the pancakes here are originally made flat, large and thin. They both taste really good! I can't and won't choose my favorite type or topping! Fruits, Maple Syrup, syrup, honey, nutella, peanut butter, any spread - still amazing!

Oh, and it also tastes amaze-balls with lemon juice and sugar!

I'm going to be honest and admit that at first, I was a little sceptical with the combination of lemon and sugar but I'm so glad Jon & Jane introduced it to me.

Overall, it was a good day!

P.S Don't ever forget to sieve the flour!



Friday, January 29, 2016

"You're good, but not as good as the others"

I have always been reminded to be thankful to God for everything I have.

There are always people who are better off or worse off than you.

I mean it's true, i do agree and understand that it's the reality of life.

Theoretically and metaphorically, I get it.

But realistically and literally? I don't.

Knowing something and fully understanding something are two very different things that only seem the same but aren't.

It's just recently that I've learnt what it actually feels like. I used to think I knew how it felt like, but right now, I truly understand.

The truth is that it hurts like crazy.

It hurts knowing that you're good, but not as good as the others.

It hurts being told that you're good, just not as good as the others.

It hurts being so close to something yet so far.

It hurts that no one understands you. And when they try, half of them just end up hurting you even more.

It hurts that you're so sick of explaining why you're upset that you just say you're fine.

It hurts that everything you do never seems to be good enough.

It hurts that you don't have time to deal with your feelings.

It hurts that those feelings in its untouched glory are shoved into an imaginary box.

It hurts that you have to keep away from people in fear of lashing out and hurting them unintentionally.

However, in the midst of it all, it's really nice to know that we aren't alone.



Friday, January 1, 2016

Day 1 out of 366

I saw this photo of the fireworks display in London ringing in 2016. I couldn't resist.


Wishing my family, loves and friends a Happy New Year!

May 2016 bring even more eye opening lessons and experiences, blessings, happiness, love, joy, serenity, adventures & memories. Here's to another amazing year and many more to come.

God bless always.

xx

Ace

Friday, December 18, 2015

Travel


The quote says it all.

So much has changed after the recent vacation I took with my family.

The wanderlust in me grew even stronger.

As we all know, the world is such a beautiful place. The culture, people, food, history and the idea that there is a certain mystical quality in each and every part of the world intrigue me. Each country, each city or even town, holds a sort of beauty of its own that sets it apart from the others.

And cruising? The thought of waking up in a different port each day is just so damn fascinating. I absolutely adore meeting different people from all over the world who, be it by fate or coincidence or God's hand, all decided to get on the same vessel, nearly all sharing the same love for the high seas.

Besides, romance on the high seas isn't impossible -wink wink-

I can't wait to travel and explore even more in the future. With every single thing you learn about a new place, you uncover something about yourself as well and I think that's absolutely fascinating.

With the experience I had in the Mediterranean, one of the new things I've understood without guilt is that it's alright to want a good life. It's alright to adore nice things. I have been criticised as being materialistic and someone who fancies the 'high life'. If it means I get to cruise and travel the world, why not? If it gives me motivation to work hard so I can afford the luxuries of life and travelling, why not?

Obviously not everyone likes travelling, but I am beyond positive that travelling is something I want to be doing with each opportunity I get. If you don't fancy travelling, don't tell someone who loves it that they should "just be happy where you are". Happiness is subjective and it's good to either keep an open mind or to keep one's mouth shut if one has nothing positive to say.

"Opposites attract" I was told but I am definitely more drawn to people who have more or less the same outlook and genuine interest as I do in travelling.

I can't wait to do this with my lover.