Trying Too Hard?

Dear Qwerty,

I am sleepy but I can't sleep.

It happens too frequently these days. My body is tired but my mind is alert.

Till then.

One Step Forward

"Green"- courtesy of Jenny Downing at Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Dear Qwerty,

Today I have sent out my resume to a company of my dream.

I pray that the resume will be safely delivered to the hands of whom it should meet. I pray that me and my friends would be accepted. I pray that I have made the right choice. And I pray that they too will make their best decision.

But however it may turn out, I thank God for everything.

Help Me Understand the Lyrics of "Hijau"

Dear Qwerty,

I am currently translating the lyrics of "Hijau" by Zainal Abidin, but the last two stanzas are being some obstinate boulders.

The stanzas are written in Kelantanese dialect, which I am not familiar with. I have tried researching and asking for online help. Perhaps everyone is busy. Maybe it's time for me to bug real people around me to help me with it.

Hijau is a very moving song about how mankind, in their pursue for superiority, has neglected their responsibility to care and respect the nature. It's about how the nature is dying due to our unconscious selfishness. While we are celebrating our latest technology, we fail to realise that we are actually celebrating a premonition of disaster.

This song is a wake up call to all mankind. And I feel the responsibility to share it with the world.

I'll be back.

All My Classes Are Cancelled Today

Dear Qwerty,

All my classes are cancelled today.

I must quickly find some ways to make it worth.

Now let me share with you some of the photos I've took when we go to Monkey Beach. I have been delaying this post for an eternity.

Model: Anonymous (which is not me of course)

This is when we first arrive. Nobody was there, The beach is  beautiful.

Then we found a swing and played while waiting for others to come.

This is a little sand turtle that my friend has crafted.

This is the view from the lighthouse we visited.
We had to climb for about half an hour to get there.

Bye2!

Why Are Children So Cute?

My niece - produced by Paint.

Dear Qwerty,

I was sitting on the floor. My 3 years old niece came to me and lay her head on my knee. I stroked her hair and said "wow, you're so much like a kitten!", which means that she is as cute as a kitten.

But suddenly, she got up, stared at me, frowned in confusion, and asked "but kittens have to stay outside...".

I can't stop laughing.

She is usually very quiet and would not stay away from her mom. But that evening she followed me everywhere and helped me with everything. Then, before they leave, she asked me to kiss her cheek (how adorable!!!).

And she kept on waving from the car as her father drove away. I waved back with both hands till they are out of sight.

Why are children so cute?

Till next time.

The Hottest Salad in The Universe!

Dear Qwerty,


My roomate teach me how to make the spiciest salad I have ever known.


Thinly slice sourish (nearly ripe) tomatoes -> Sprinkle with chopped green bird eye chilli -> Sprinkle with lots of salt -> Savor


It's surprisingly delicious! If you are crazy about chilli and can't finish a meal without it, you should give this a try.  


WARNING: Not for those with pitiful tolerance towards chilli.


What is it down here? It's meant to be an illustration to help you imagine the prototype.

A slice of tomato with chopped green chilli and salt.

See ya!

Simple, Cheap and Delicious Beef Soup

Dear Qwerty,

Do you know that we can make soups and stews in a rice cooker?

Well at least that's what I did after coming back from Tesco. Yesterday, I went to Tesco to buy some rice. I also thought of buying some vegetables and fish to make a simple soup, but while browsing through the meat aisle, I saw prepacked fresh local beef and imported lambs at some seriously cheap price. The local beef was priced at around RM2.50 per pack (usually RM6-7) and the lamb cuts were at cents!  I thought that they are nearly spoiled meat, but when I checked, they are just fine. I bought a pack of beef and lamb (I can't buy more since I don't have a fridge to store them T_T). Then off I went to buy the root veges that would go with the soup.

I'd like share the recipe with you, which does not requires much ingredients but tastes amazing!

Ingredients:
Your choice of beef, cut into bite-sized chunks.
Some carrots, cut into chunks.
Some potatoes, cut into chunks.
One medium sized shallots (or red onion, but yellow onion is acceptable), chopped.
Some flat-leaf parsley (or parsley, or even celery sticks!)
A good dash of allspice (or any spice you have at the moment)
Some ground black pepper 
2-4 beef bullion cubes (this is so cheap, you just HAVE to use this)


1. Brown the beef in littlest oil possible.
2. Add chopped shallots, cook until translucent.
3. Add water as needed.
4. Add bullion cubes, start with two then add more if required.
5. Wash and finely chop roots and bottom part of parsley. Add to the soup.
6. When beef is tender (for me, I like it just cooked, tender or not), add potatoes and carrots.
7. When potatoes are tender, add in 3cm-chopped parsley leaves and cook till it wilted a bit.
8. Taste the soup, make adjustments as needed (I meant adding more salt or spices!).



So it really were just a sequence of BEEF-SHALLOTS-WATER-EVERYTHING BUT PARSLEY-PARSLEY.

This recipe is student-friendly, just use whatever ingredients on bargain at the supermarket. As long as you have the beef and the bullion, you can't go wrong. :)

Till then!

Decorations for Bulletin Board

Dear Qwerty,

As promised, here are the pictures of what I have done for our bulletin board :)

First I made some random deco items using used boxes. 

I cut out the shapes and pasted some coloured papers accordingly.

I used a black marker pen to draw the outline. 

My favourite! I love the buttons, They are the size of my palm. I like the huge heart too.
The little black and grey dots were made using a paper puncher.

I made lots of these! The dots are punched out of waste papers (that I have used to make something else).
I used a liquid paper to line the red strawberry. ^^

Tulips ready to fill up some empty space.

Another favourite yay!! I felt so happy when I was making this.
I used some cardboard and coloured papers to decorate the wooden cloth pegs.
And no liquid paper involved! ;)

This is to encourage my friends to scribble something on the board
(I  reserved a space just for random doodling). They can write about just anything!
I think it will make our board less boring >_<

This is our organisation chart. It was supposed to look like a rope ladder
(umm..do you know what I mean??) but in the end...T_T

So this is the final product!
The strawberry-lined corner is where we doodle our thoughts. :D
But look what happened to the chart. I had to remove the string and cram the photos like that.
There isn't much space T_T

The cloth pegs had now transformed into photo pegs!

The heading that I feel insecure about.

I kept all the deco items in a round cookie tin. I have thoroughly washed the tin but
it still retains the butter-cookie smell. But I love it that way! :P

It was so fun making all these decos that I often stayed so late at night (even until 5am!). But once I put everything on the board, I got a fever for days afterwards.

I hope that this post will give some ideas for those who are responsible for their club's bulletin board. I remember scouring the internet for ideas but couldn't find one that suits Malaysian students' style @_@

Bye-bye! :)

Dear Qwerty,

Today I rearranged our club's bulletin board.

I made all the decorations in 3 days. I stayed up till late at night to finish them, but it was fun! I can't upload the pics today due to the sluggish network, but I'll try again later or tomorrow. :)

Till then, bye!

Beautiful Fabric

Dear Qwerty,

The parcel has arrived ^^

I purchased some beautiful fabrics from Fabric Fanatics. I thought that cotton would be softer than linen, but I was wrong. Linen is softer and looks better too. I am glad that I have bought the principal pattern in linen ^^

Next time, I will buy mostly linens.

The buttons are bought offline.

I will make some pouches and tote bag for my mum using the fabric. I'd like to make a makeup bag for myself too :)

Right now, I always look at Japanese craft magazine to get some ideas on its design. I don't understand what were written but the pictures are enough to make me understand. Right now, my favourite books are on crafts and recipes :)

I am going to start with the project during my semester break. I will try to post the picture here when they are completed.

Bye bye..

My Cloud Castle

Dear Qwerty,

Have you ever watched the show 'Cooking With Dog' on YouTube?

It is a Japanese cooking show. I learned to make bento from them. The instructions are very clear and they use simple ingredients. How would it feels to be able to eat light foods like that everyday? It must be wonderful. :)

This is a page from Suzy Charaben Book. It  teaches us how to make bentos.

When I own a house, I'd like it painted white with some pastels. The curtains would be white or earthy tones. Then, I would like to have wooden furnitures too. Not those made of expensive woods and decorated with elaborate carvings - just some simple, functional furnitures. Something that makes you feel relaxed and at home. Like in a summer cottage.

Something like this, but neater :)

Then, I would like to plant a lot of beautiful flowers outside. I think I will have a lot of yellow flowers :) I love roses too, but I don't like red roses. I prefer roses with softer colours. Oh, I want to have a small section of my yard as an edible garden. I will plant many different kinds of herbs in the small patch. I want to plant carrots too, although it is not considered a herb.

In my spare time, I want to try new recipes from my cookbooks or make fabric crafts using beautiful fabrics.
If I can afford it, I'd like to have a piano too. I can't play piano, but I love the sound it makes. Is it a crazy idea to buy an instrument you can't play? But I still want it >_<

I feel happy just by looking at this.

Of course I want to have a cat as a pet. But I won't buy it off a petshop. I don't like petshop, they lock the animals in small cages and the animals looked bored. I want to pick up some cats that looks sorry, like abandoned kittens. I'll clean them and feed them well until they look really cute :)

This is like the poem Lake Isle of Innisfree :)

OK, I'm done with (too much) day-dreaming. Till then~

I Want to Work Hard

Hi Qwerty,

I want to be a hardworking person like Akanishi Jin and Kamenashi Kazuya.

I will do my very best in whatever I'm doing.

Till then.

This is Not an Insomnia

Dear Qwerty,

I am sleep-deprived. And it is not caused by insomnia.

Too many things to settle at too little a time.

See you.

This is a Promise I Make for Myself

Dear Qwerty,

I have two things that I must do next semester.

1. Learn Piano and have a keyboard.
2. I forgot.

Maybe later?

Hari Bersama Komuniti at Teluk Bahang

Dear Qwerty,

The School of Humanities held an exhibition at Teluk Bahang, yesterday.

I had a lot of fun with the folks there. They are friendly.

I tried playing games at each booth and got a lot of prizes. But every booth gives away exactly the same prizes. So now I have a pile of identical notebooks in my room lol.

I also made some new friends. But my favourite is a girl named Syafiqah who studies literature. She is very polite and smiles a lot.

I walked to the end of a very long jetty (look at the picture below). There is a small platform at the end where we could sit together and enjoy the breeze. We could see the Monkey Beach across the water. It is beautiful.

This photo belongs to Kazuo Lim Khee Boon

There was a place called Interpretation Centre. It is a very interesting place. It even smells like a jungle. Seriously.

Me and my bestfriend wanted to explore the Taman Negara, but we couldn't make it since everyone else wanted to leave early.

While we were heading back to USM, I slept in the car.

Last night, I slept like there's no tomorrow. I had a lot of dreams too.

I hope to visit Teluk Bahang again. The water is very beautiful.

Till next post, bye!

Sting - Songs and Lyrics

Dear Qwerty,

Have you ever heard the name Sting?

He is the one who sings the song Rise and Fall with Craig David. You know what, he is actually the mysterious singer of the yele-yele song that I have been looking for for a very long time.

So do you know how the yele-yele song sounds like? Check this out:

The title is actually Desert Rose. Call me crazy, but I LOVE THIS SONG. Even the MV is freaking cool! Well, except for those scenes that are not appropriate for children....

And there's another song of his called the Shape of My Heart. Another favourite of mine too. It was edited into the scenes from the movie Leon: The Professional. This is one of the most stylish and meaningful movie I have ever watched. It is full of metaphors and shows the important philosophies of life that we always knew but often neglect. 

Enough with words. watch:

Till next post.

Easy Lime Juice Recipe

Dear Qwerty,

This is how I like my lime juice prepared:

1. Roll the limes between your palm and the tabletop. Press lightly while rolling.
2. Rinse the limes, cut into halves and squeeze out the juice (enjoy the fragrance).
3. For every lime, dissolve a heaped tablespoon of sugar in hot water to make a syrup.
4. Mix the syrup with enough cold water, and add the lime juice. Give it a good stir. I usually add 1 glass of water for every lime.
5. Plunge some ice-cubes into the jug, and enjoy!

I love the fact that the lovely smell still lingers on my fingers now. ^^

Till next post.

DMT Effect

Dear Qwerty,

I can't get enough of Afgan, Letto, and Aizat.


I listen to them before I go to bed, while in the bed and till the very last moment before I drift into the world of dreams.

Till next post, sweet dreams.

A Voice from Heaven

Dear Qwerty,

I thought every singer will sound nice when he/she speaks - like Justin Timberlake or Mandy Moore. The moment they speak we would know that they can sing too. But today someone has changed my perception - Afgansyah Reza. He sounds so ordinary when he speaks, but his singing voice melts my heart away.

So heartbreakingly beautiful.

Good night.

No Promises

Dear Qwerty,

If we can't hold on to our words, we should give them to none. Right?

Some people just don't understand.

Till next post.