biscuit experiment - result

This is a continuation of my 1st post dated 9 Jan on the biscuit experiment. I'm going on record now to say that it definitely works!!

As I mentioned previously, I was going to experiment on a bigger batch of biscuits. These I put an airtight container 1 week ago and today we tried a few of the originally 'bad' biscuits and it's about 90% back to normal! Amazing!

our l'il cuppy-uppy-up cake

I have to say that having a little munchkin in the family changes everything. Especially a really cute one like my niece. *grin*

We'll start with her *cheese* pose.. everytime we tell her to say cheese, this is what she'll do..

her new best friend, the penguin..

making faces at me.. and being all shy at the same time..

my all time favourite.. is she cute or is she cute?

manja-ing my bro... yup, she definitely has him wrapped around her l'il pudgy finger..

and of course, she loves being behind a camera as well.. i guess an interest of photography runs in the family.. hehe.. at least the later generations.. she had to resort to taking her granpa's photo with her daddy's phone because I banned her from touching my camera with her oily, saliva covered fingers..

All this took place last night when we had an early reunion dinner because everyone is going away for Chinese New Year. As usual I had to photograph everything we eat.. ^^

Just a simple dinner of this thing-a-to-eat.. I dunno the name since it was all written in chinese..

this one i know.. shark's fin!.. not very yummy though.. felt more like eating very thick glue..

I can't believe even a dead fish can give me the evil eyes...

the one dish I really do not look forward to eating during every single CNY.. the dreaded pork knuckle..

this one I don't mind eating.. and quite yummy too

Abalone, mushrooms and vege.. to be honest I don't really remember the taste because I was too busy photographing my niece..

this one i remember.. probably due to my still half empty stomach as I was more focused on my camera and capturing the moment rather than food.. an unusual occurance I have to admit..

One thing I realised after last night, (besides the unbelievable fact that I can actually forgo food to focus on my camera).. is that photographing children is a full time job and the most difficult thanks to their boundless energy. The perfect moment can come and go in the blink of an eye.

But one thing does stand out though, and that is, having the cute little munchkin around brings out the kid that I believe still resides in all of us "adults". Also, it's very heart warming to see the appearance of true smiles that comes from the heart and shines through the eyes.. which we somehow lose through the years as we grow older and the walls we build becomes thicker and taller?

Is it always so important to keep our composure and to show the 'perfect' face everytime a camera is aimed our way? It's almost like an automatic reflects. When one sees a camera aiming one's way, the smile will be automatically toned down, the head will tilt at a certain angle, etc..

I guess viewing the world behind a camera does make everything clearer and I would like to remind myself and all who reads this post that a smile that comes from the heart is a priceless thing.. so smile..with not just your lips but with your heart too.. :)

bonne journée!

biscuit experiment

3 days ago my colleague told us something amazing. Apparently, one can put the crisp back in a soft biscuit just by putting both the soft biscuits and new crispy biscuits together in an air tight container.

All this started when I took out my supply of office biscuits and discovered that they've gone soft like bread because my container is useless. Since none of us have heard of this method, my colleague decided to prove it to us by starting an 'experiment'. We put 3 of my 'bad' biscuits in with 3 of her 'good' biscuits and left it in her air tight container 3 days ago and today we tried the bad biscuits and found that it's really got some of it's crisp back! Not completely yet, so we concluded that more good biscuits might be needed in order to get better results.

Also, we were told that this method works for other stuff as well like chips. But it doesn't work for biscuits/cookies with stuffings.

So we're off to experiment with a bigger batch of biscuits... ^^

New Year with Garfield and Friends

Welcomed the year 2009 at my friends' Yan's and Lisa's places yesterday. Went for what was suppose to be a new-year-celebration-tea that turned into an all night event. We started off our 'celebration' with some pisang goreng and something-else-that's-goreng (sorry I don't know the name).



Then I met a real life 'Garfield'. His name is actually Ryu but he's the biggest cat I've ever seen. According to Yan, his owner, he used to be as fat as garfield. He's lost a lot of weight due to an operation to remove his kidney stones. I for one had no idea that cats can even have kidney stones but apparently they do suffer the same diseases as us.

Check out his size. Yan was saying that he still weighs a ton especially when he's walking on you. Not that he'll 'walk' on anyone else besides his owners. Try it and one will most likely get a taste of his unsheath claws plus sharp teeth. That's one fierce bugger. To think that I was actually scared of a cat! Embarrassing but true..

So there we were waiting for Lisa to arrive and also waiting for dinner. And poor Rosita was so tired but still wanted me to take her photo. *grin*

Had my first taste of homecooked Nyonya Laksa which was really yummy. Thanks aunty!

After dinner, we went on a shopping expedition for supper (actually some considered it dinner still) and snacks to sustain us until the new year. We bought some doughnuts, a pint of baskin robbins ice cream, drinks and snacks. Unfortunately, once again I've forgotten to take photos of our food because I was distracted by other stuff.. :P

Next, we were off to Lisa's condo for some gaming and movie time.
Unfortunately, the dvd player konked and Rosita was giving me the evil-eye because instead of helping I was taking photos. (I do seem to be getting the evil-eye a lot whenever I try to practise my photography skills.. )
Then we played a mean game of Star Wars Monopoly where me and my little R2-D2 kicked their collective asses! *snicker*.. but I'm now banned from playing Monopoly with them ever again. The only way they'll allow me to join in is as the banker.. *hu hu*

Since I can now consider that as my first and last game with them, I should take this opportunity to gloat a bit.. see that (below)? I was the only one with hotels.. hehe... well, in this case, it's called Spaceports (if I'm not mistaken, since this is Star Wars after all)..
A close up of my bootiful spaceports that earned me either 1120 credits or 1200 credits every time they were 'fortunate' enough stopped on my property.. hehehehe.. which I should mention is what bankrupt Rosita.. *smirk again* And everytime they role the dice they would pray to go to jail rather than pay my very nice spaceports a visit.. spoilsports.. *grin*
After I whooped their asses, we watched some t.v and then M Naser came on and was unanimously declared as the last true Malay man in existance by my friends (in fact, some of them would have loved to marry him.. when he was younger).

When the time came for the countdown to 2009, we went to the balcony and cheered to the sounds of fireworks. The operative word here being 'sounds' as we couldn't really see the fireworks since KLCC was at the back of our building. But I do believe we were the noisiest of the lot amongst the condo blocks. *grin*

Of course we couldn't begin the new year without a festive and boisterous caterwauling session in the car on the way back to Yan's place. It was immensely enjoyable despite not knowing half the words to the songs on the radio. :)

And that was my new year eve celebration last night. Although it was only a small condominium living room, it was still great fun because it was spent in the company of fantastic company. So my thanks to all for inviting me for an evening filled with merriment and laughter! Happy 2009!