Verves In Composition

My morning starts with a cup of coffee. And because I’m high on it now, I’d like to share the best cup instant coffee known to a Malaysian produced for Thai commercial retail consumption.

I had my first cup of ‘Khao Shong’ when a Thai lady opened up a store and tempted me with a cup off coffee when I walked in zombified. It was an instant pick up and everyone who I’ve brought there to sample that cup of coffee never failed to agree with me ‘How absolutely friggin great that milky coffee was’

When the lady affectionately known as ‘auntie’ to me decided to move to a most inconvenient place in Selayang, I was desperate to know her secret to that piquant perk-up. I sneaked over to the counter striking up conversations about Thailand and lo-behold. Jars and jars of KHAO SHONG COFFEE!

Thus in my recent trip to Bangkok, I went ahead to buy a couple of packets of Khao Shong.

Oh yes I’d even camwhore with a packet of coffee.

There is just something about it’s rich commercial aroma. Flavorful, not too strong with a aroma that hits your senses to the very end of tasting. Remind me to fix you with a cup if you can drop by my humble abode.

Anyone teased, tempted or dare I say tormented to have a cup yet?

I’m going to have to start repairing my shoes if I’m going to attain at least the literal part of the sentence….

Best foot forward.

What a way to start the new year, sorting out my heels and pumps so I can wear more of them.

I’m really lucky to be able to afford so many nice shoes.. and yet…
Urgh. Unfortunately, all my heels have really noisy effects after some wear and tear. The rubber just gives way and thus exposing the screw or metal part or whatever it is that makes my presence know when I walk down the stairs.

It’s unfortunate that one of the local heavily franchised stores famous for shoes (Yes we all probably know which store already since they have an outlet in every major shopping mall in the country) have really nice shoes but really LOUSY RUBBER ATTACHED TO THE HEELS. If any fellow company representatives of that store knows what I am talking about, please go do something about the rubber on the heels. You probably would even recognize some of your designs in the first photo.

I’ve got at least a dozen shoes to take to the cobbler when business resumes after the new year slog.

Does anyone know how much it will cost to just replace the rubber part?

It’s 2008!
Three hours left until the first day of the new year comes to an end in the Malaysian Time Zone. And I’ve spent the first few hours stoning away, partying and just recovering from the after-’syiok’
To much of my horror and surprise. I still have so much backlog events, to-dos, and god knows what to settle in the early of the year. The last few weeks of 2007 have just been abit too much for me to handle. The excitement, the sweeping changes, and adjustments that I had (and still, have) to make for myself and the people around me.
Asides from the fact that 2008 would mark my coming of age to being two dozen years old (which I am somehow not looking forward to) I HAVE SO MANY THINGS AT THE TOP OF MY HEAD AND A POST IT NOTE OF THINGS TO DO A MILE LONG! have some devoirs and duties that I need to settle and new commitments that I’m glad to be a part of.
But right now, I’ve got to clean out my desk, tear down unnecessary idol posters of my younger days from the walls, set a personal cup and coaster on my desk so I’ll drink more water, count how many pairs of high heels that need to be fixed and set a budget for it, write for practical charm, clear out dried up pens and nail polishes that are just doing more than collecting dust, recycle tonnes of used papers, wash bags that have not been used for ages and make good use of them, sort out the plastic and paper bags in the room, get rid of all the unnecessary casings and boxes, throw away bras with crappy padding and replace the current underwear drawer with a better one, wash every corner of where wall meets floor because my maid is a complete imbecile, attempt to fix my PS2, plan to get my Bah Kut Teh fix, sort out and recategorize my accessory collection, order new bust free bras, cook Lainey-cinno a chocolate mousse cake, write thank you notes, plan for my first trip overseas with girlfriends, save up for that trip to Turkey in 2009, Remind myself everyday to train for the next two Marathons for this year, pay up for hosting, open a new bank account, make sure that….. I just have alot to do.

My resolutions have just evolved into a to-do list. If there is a God….God help me.
Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

I love, love, love Carbonara! Almost broke and just too lazy to drive out for Italian food, I actually cooked my own version of the creamy delight (and also packed some up to deliver to Mabel). Off I go shopping for…

• Fettuccine
• Whipped Cream
• Air Flown Wild White Mushrooms
• New Zealand Cheddar Cheese (Parmesan Cheese too expensive ler)
• Streaky Bacon
• White Wine
• Chopped Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Butter
• Ground Black Pepper
• Sage
• Thyme

Soak them wild mushrooms with Sage and Thyme while cleaning them up, slice, clean and soak once again in the bath of herbs.

Drain the water, add more Sage and Thyme and sauté the mushrooms over high heat with a dash of olive oil and white wine.

Don’t forget to cook the streaky bacon with some butter over in another pan. When done, chop them up into mini bits.

Throw in the whipped cream, melt the cheese over the pan, add some more butter and the bacon bits in with the mushrooms. Add a tablespoon of chopped garlic and sprinkles of ground black pepper.

After sauce is think enough, leave over fire to cool. Sauce will thicken further while cooling. Serve with pasta of choice

Cheesy, Creamy the finest ingredients and with a dash of alcohol. Yum, Yum. Anyone jealous yet? Btw, Mabel literally drank all the sauce.

Laine and I are such bloody coffee addicts… one of our favorite hang outs would have to be the Starbucks outlet in Leisure Mall cause we’re really ‘tight’ with the baristas there Which other girls except us get personally invited to check out the new Christmas goodies and blends? Lucky lucky us!

My name can be so misleading to make people think I’m into the hype of Christmas by ‘April’. I’m such a camwhore even when I’m having my coffee.

Laine is such a good friend. For two nights in a row, she has willingly surrendered herself to being ‘kidnapped’ by me to get sugar and caffeine intoxicated. ON PURPOSE.

This is our favorite Barista! Auntie Cheong Mabel! Just look at her ‘syiok syiok‘ with all that cream! *Licks lips* Mabel loves me so much, she did this on purpose…

But I love her for it… *feels so loved* Here are the other things worth trying! Toffee Nut Latte especially on a breezy rainy night along with a Chicken Cranberry Sandwich for munchies!

So the next time you’re about Starbucks in Leisure Mall, look round the corner for Lainecinno and Aprilcinno (OMG THE NAMES WE GIVE OURSELVES WHEN WE ARE HIGH ON COFFEE) then do something in the Spirit of Xmas, (refer to last photo for gift suggestions).

I turned around at my usual Starbucks at the call of my name…

‘APRIL YIM!!’

‘Eh, hi, hi!’

‘You going clubbing ah?’

‘No lah. Why do you think so?’

*Points finger at outfit* ‘What are you wearing then?’

Elaine, my favourite ‘bobo‘ calling friend then explained..

‘Woman, technically what you’re wearing is hot pants lah, and in such a Chinese-old fashion area.. is damn eye catching lor.’

I really wasn’t expecting to actually go to that area cause we both were in Bangsar earlier on for sushi and some shopping. But yeah we caught the attention of a really hot gym goer who did a double take on us. Prolly cause of my ‘hot pants’ woman…

I’ll have to pack a pair of jeans in my car in case I decide to pop by ‘ah beng’ areas last minute.

OH MY GOD WHAT IN THE WORLD, WHY THE HELL AND WTF AM I RANTING SO MUCH?

I’ll be so busy I got my schedules packed until 2008.

This is damn ridiculous.

Anyone want to come to Live & Loud KL with me and me mates?

Everyone in the blogosphere probably knows by now that my good friend minishorts is getting hitched soon I’m really excited for her and to be involved in her wedding plans! 

So there is this woman planning and budgeting and she is upset with how much flowers can cost. Through such conversations. We have very much concluded …

 

Minishorts: i’m not going to throw it because stupid malaysian women jump away when they throw it
i been to 5 weddings with throwing bouquet
NO NEED lah sampat only throw the bouquet

April: EH! THROW AT ME!!!!
i catch one. hahahaha

minishorts: YOU SAMPAT i give you lah after that 
i kid you not
the bouquet is the most useless accessory a bride has
dunno who last time say have to do very big now you know why i say overprice ..stupid corsages are a waste of money

FLOWERS ARE DAMN EXPENSIVE THINGS AND USELESS.

but what to do? nice mah…

Hillarious. Anyway, back to bouquet catching.

The last time I stood in the crowd of fighting young single women. Being tall obviously I stood in the back. I looked down on my feet. 

I heard screams and I looked up. If it were’nt a bouquet of flowers, I would have broken my nose. Well..looks like I’m going to catch the bouquet without even putting up a fight. I’m going to be given the bouquet. The first bouquet must be a hoax…not married yet also. :p

Thanks very much to Pelf for help putting up this interview together to get it featured on www.domestikgoddess.com

Thanks again Pelf!

I thank my parents for giving me the name I have now. Though it has a penchant for leaving me suffixes (e.g. -fool) conversational/pick up lines that are far too predicatable. April is a nice name that gets me places…especially when you’re in a country other girls rarely have this name.

However until today, people still keep christening me new, unique and urm, well. misleading names. Here’s what I remember.

Ms. Bossy- Given to me by my cousin Allistair. When this boy of 7 years came back to stay with his 3 year old cousin sister and family. He brought back some really AWESOME M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand) figurines. Somehow the dude actually befriended the opposing criminal organizational band V.E.N.O.M. (Vicious Evil Network Of Mayhem) in one of his imaginary playtimes. In my fragile little 3 year old mind was a neon bllboard of information popping out…YOU DO NOT MAKE MATT TRAKKER AND MILES MAYHEM SHAKE GOD DAMN HANDS! (GAWD, WHY DO I REMEMBER ALL THIS POINTLESS INFORMATION)Disgruntled that should NOT be the way to play M.A.S.K., I snatched each figurine away and dictated him how to play it the RIGHT way.

Tau Fu Poh (Bean curd auntie)- I eat meat like I’m on a vengance spree to kill animals that have defied my human sanctity. I never ate a single leaf of vegetables until I turned 18 or 19. But if there was one vegetarian bit I loved was bean curd (Tau Fu). Between ages 5-9 years old, every family meal ALWAYS had Tau fu JUST FOR ME.

Saboh Queen (Short for Sabotage Queen)- Given to me by my bro/sis cousins Jamie and Andrew followed by other cousins, Rene, Collin and Richard. On the occassion, that I completely dumped my 14 Barbie dolls and sold my soul to Sega and Nintendo Consoles, I would challenge my older cousins to games. Everything from organ ripping duels in Mortal Kombat, IQ Puzzles, and of course…RIDGE RACER! I always teased every opponent giving them false hope to win and then give them a slow, dying suffering death.

Ostrich-with-a-flat-nose - This is one I shall never ever forget. Poh Leng, my form 1 class mate (the braniac of the class) said that’s what my name spelt backwards (Lirpa) probably meant. Being Naive and I certainly didn’t want to burst her bubble, I was potrayed as an Ostrich in drawings in the classroom. I did object however that Ostriches cannot have flat noses cause they have BEAKS and I most certainly do not have a flat nose myself.

Whale - Marie did this to me. I can’t remember what sparked this. But I must have been swimming like one since we were both in Swimming club together. How disrespectful of her to call her Vice President of the club that hahahha!

Pink Lady - One of most well embraced nicknames. I liked the reason behind it but not the name. It sounded almost like I was dressed in an Victorian dress but with carrying pink porkies under my arm. My choir girls gave this to me while I was reigning as President of the club. I had everything in pink. From a pink liquid paper, to pink staples and even a pink coloured geometry set! I had it all!

Sneezing Banshee - The origins of this name seem very blurry to me. I can explain that it’s because I have a sneeze that is measured between 6000-8000 Hz. Ear piercing. You DON’T WANT to stand next to me when I settle my reflexes.

Ronda Queen - Ah mom calls me that. I’m daring and adventurous enough to go driving anywhere and everywhere alone according to her.

Deep Throat - The Blogosphere has been kind enough (or cruel) to bless me with this name for my uncanny ability to down a large chunk of food down my esophagus in one raptor like swallow. I can (and will if there is a dare involved) swallow a whole piece of cake down in one gulp. Think Secret Recipe size. I got alot of emails and requests from fans when this video was posted up…but to answer your curious minds…. I HAVE NOT TRIED OKAY?

Make Up Monster - Yes I am one. I have more makeup than a fingernail clippings a human being can cut off in a lifetime.

 Now…what other nicknames have you got for me?