Things to Do

I haven't written in yesterday. My bad.

Anyway, I've been going back to my friends, giving them a hand wherever they need help in the charity dinner we've been organizing before my absence. I must say they've been preparing a lot for this event, and I truly feel that there couldn't be a better team to handle all the last-minute problems.

But that's all in the recent past now. I've got a list of things to do for the foreseeable future to keep me busy till I go back to college:

1. Final editing of the Opinionated Monthly magazine. Yes, I'm staying on the Editorial for the remainder of the year until the next intake is ready to take over. Since I volunteered for the post, it is my duty and responsibility to stay on this project till the end (for me). Our "omniscient" Editor-in-Chief will be mailing me the soft copy of the final draft for me to tinker with the layout before it is published next Tuesday.
2. Visiting the MIB. No, this does not stand for Men in Black, but the Malaysian Institute of Baking. A friend is attending a course for the Certificate in Baking, so I'm going over there to see if I can't still join, since I'll be missing four sessions already.
3. Packing for a one-night trip. One of my cousins in Johor is getting hitched! So we as a family (excluding mum who is away on a business trip to Bali) and as many from dad's side will be going south tomorrow, in time for the wedding dinner. And yes, I'll be bringing work with me on this vacation (refer to item 1).
4. Joining a corporate team in a video project. I was in charge of making the corporate video for Dad's company a few years back. Now that the company has again expanded, Dad wants the video to be updated. I'll be some sort of a consultant and active participant in the process.

I think that's about it. It's going to be quite a busy holiday for me.

W.H. Davies - Leisure

These past few days have been most exhilarating, at best. Having the chance to be around people and doing useful things, both for others and myself, and taking up that chance, is a blessing greater than anything that I could have ever asked for, and I'm eternally grateful for this opportunity to pick myself up again.

Nevertheless, one must always remember to rest. Religions across the world have emphasized this and allotted at least one day in a week of seven for rest. The Jews have their Sabbath, Muslims their Friday (rest from work, at least - it's mainly for prayers), Christians their Sunday, and so on and so forth. Even science has proven that rest is essential for the body to the benefit of better health. So it is no wonder that humans, and even animals of every shapes and sizes, need some form of rest for rejuvenation and restoration.

Today's world seem to prohibit true rest. The world around us has evolved at an accelerated rate, and that acceleration is fast becoming exponential. We are constantly pressured to complete one thing or another, and when we are not doing anything, thoughts of immediate tasks and duties and due dates for uncompleted work fill our heads.Our lives seem to live for the next moment, often for the next day, and the extreme ones for the next decade! Sometimes, it is good to detach ourselves from all that, and just savour the moment, the hours, the days, spent for relaxing.

Hefty words aside, in my opinion W.H. Davies captured this importance for rest in his beautiful poem, Leisure:

What is this life if, full of care

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care, 
We have no time to stand and stare.

Dorian Gray

 (Warning: Spoiler Alert!)

"Forever Young. Forever Cursed."

So says the tag-line of this horrific yet enchanting version of Oscar Wilde's only published novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oliver Parker did such a wonderful job directing the film that I must include it in my list of better film adaptations of written works.

I myself have only read the abridged version of the novel, and thus missed out on what must have been the author's more lurid descriptions of the life of debauchery Mr Gray (Ben Barnes) had plunged himself into. Hence, the film itself is rather shocking to watch for the conservative viewer. Viewer's discretion is heavily, heavily advised.

Ben Barnes of "Prince Caspian (2008)" fame certainly did a remarkable job of appearing so unaffected by the acts and sins he committed himself to. While this may to some extent attract the scorn of critics, I think such acting is essential for depicting the Dorian Gray the author created. Certainly, such cynicism towards the brighter side of life, and the intense dedication to hedonism, makes Barnes' character a powerful anti-hero, one that viewers, I imagine, must love to hate and hate to love.

Colin Firth is, well, quite comfortable in his role as Dorian Gray's acquaintance, Lord Henry Wotton. Dear Harry mentored Dorian, preaching to him what he dared not practice, effectively transforming the mild-mannered, handsome young country boy into the cruel, sadistic bastard many still read about today. Firth manages to display, even from behind a stately beard, Wotton's emotional transformation from the devilish pride of a mentor, to the growing concern for a friend, and ultimately to the great hatred towards the monster he created.

Rebecca Hall, while only a supporting character who made her appearance towards the climax of the film, played Wotton's daughter Emily to great effect. One could actually feel the effect she has Dorian and his emotions. I don't know whether this is what really happened in the original novel - I certainly doubt the ending is true to Wilde's classic - but she certainly made a big impact on the silver screen. It is a pity her role is reduced to emphasize Dorian Gray's conscience. (Seriously, there's only so much debauchery and beauty one can take from a character blessed, or cursed, with eternal youth.)

The photography of the film is commendable too. Close-ups of Dorian's sex scenes, while appearing so sensual, gives a third person's point of view (or immense disgust) towards acts of debauchery. It certainly made me baulk. That aside, scenes of improving technology, the dark sides of London, and war against Germans tell how time has passed. These guys have finally realised how to present time changes without sticking stuff at your face and exaggerating the ravages of time on everyone's face. (Well, everyone, except Dorian, of course.)

This is most certainly a cautionary tale, and has remained strictly that. Instead of emphasizing on the consequences of immortality, Parker did a good job of highlighting Dorian's horrifying lifestyle and how it affects his soul, as depicted on his painting. On that note, I like how the painting only made so few appearances in the entire film, so that instead of "the picture of", the film is simply about Dorian Gray as a hedonist. However, towards the end, I must admit it is some sort of a mess, as the movie rushed ahead in its attempt to pull back to the cause of Dorian's eternal youth.

However, post-climax, the viewer's focus shifts to Lord Henry, who, in a very simplistic manner that lasts only two scenes, is shown to be living with the consequences of having made Dorian into the way he was (Gray's dead by then). Before facing the slightly burned painting, now restored (or close to, I think) to its original magnificence, he is seen in an empty ballroom (his house, it must be), trying to get his daughter back, who estranged herself from him thinking he left Dorian to burn alive in his attic, where he stores the cursed picture. True or not, I think he must be feeling the pain of causing a young man, with a full life ahead of him, to barter his soul for the earthly pleasures of life. Certainly, Dorian listened to him instead of his other friend, the society artist Basil Hallward who painted Dorian Gray's picture, but it was Wotton's continued coaching that turned Dorian against Basil's concerned warnings.

All-in-all, a stunning, horrific, true-to-novel film by the seemingly conservative British.

The Maze

I've just realised I haven't been putting up enough recipes as I should. I think it's partly because I haven't been creating new recipes lately, but oh well, I still have my recipes on hard copy...

A few hours ago I completed the revised edition of The Maze, a short story that won second place in a short story competition back in my old school when I was in the Forth Form. The plot centres around the meaning of life, the sacrifice an individual made upon it's discovery in a famous mythical labyrinth (Percy Jackson fans would know what I'm talking about), and the arguments for and against its publication.

The revised edition includes a lot more detail in thoughts, less so in the material stuff in the story. I guess I've been doing that lately, ordering my train of thought, to keep it on track and that it connects one carriage to another. This is all in preparation for my next two writing projects - one, a series of short stories that hopefully will make it to the printing press someday; and the other, my long-awaited novel, which hopefully would follow the publication of the first project.

That's a lot of hope put into it there....

I have to be careful though, so as to not immerse myself too much in my personal world of fiction. I once confided in a friend that I often have trouble keeping my feet firmly on terra firma, metaphorically speaking. In a sense I think more like Plato than Aristotle. Plato's ideas generally deals with the metaphysical, while Aristotle emphasizes the search of knowledge through diligence and perseverance. The latter seems more reasonable in the world today, where in my opinion most people concern themselves with worldly matters, rather than spiritual...

Anyway, coming back to writing, Inkheart (2009) is a refreshing take on the theme of fiction in general, and on those who play a part in its creation. I have not read the book in ages (I think I will, as soon as I finish my current reading list); nevertheless, the character Fenoglio on screen described the loneliness writers may feel, that they sometimes wish to be in the world they had created to escape the harsh realities of life in the material world.

While Fenoglio's work Inkheart may not be the ideal fictional world (the villains described are just too darn scary), I find that I agree with him. You are often forced to isolate yourself in creating fiction, so much so that when you re-emerge into the real world, you often find it so cruel and merciless that you wish to just stay in that world in your mind and never have to leave it.

Of course, that's just one way at looking at life. I think some authors like to exaggerate the harshness of everyday life, so that when they venture out the real world, they would feel glad that it is not as dark and gloomy as the world they had created. George Orwell must certainly think so, although his works (I'm talking mainly about Animal Farm and 1984) are meant to be read as a warning against certain forms of government.

Well, that's me on fiction.

(I like this topic, I think I'll come back to it in the future.)

Free-Lance

I've just offered to be a part-time contributor to my old school's monthly digest. I used to be the deputy editor, and it's been fun, even if I contributed to only one issue officially.

I think by doing it this way, I'd be able to look forward to a productive job at the end of each month. Plus, if the Editor-in-Chief agrees, I will stay on the team as a layout editor, so that my vision of a more attractive magazine can be realised! (I won't be not expendable too.)

Besides being an editor, I can also write my way into the magazine. I've got an idea for a series of short stories, starting with one that I've worked on many years ago. I'll do some tweaking on that one before I send it. Of course, it will be published on this blog the moment it is in print.

I've always been dreaming of being a free-lance writer. Now that I have an avenue, it would be the first step into the world of literature. I really hope that I'll be able to sell some of my pieces to popular magazines and newspapers one day. Besides the extra income, I'd be able to introduce myself as a writer, which is not as common a job as you might think...

Mightier Than a Sword

Recently I've been given streams of story ideas, some of which pertain to a long-delayed writing project - my first novel. While I enjoyed writing short stories and the occasional poem, they are merely short journeys to a limited destination. A novel, however, is ever-changing, like the weather - at a whim you can change a tiny detail into the basis of a remarkable sub-plot, or the essential pivot of the central plot, and of course vice-versa.

Not going into details much, I've decided to give the investigative novel a shot, partly because I've been reading so many Detective Conan cases (hey, I didn't say I'm not a manga fan). It actually might be an interesting angle to write about, and I can utilise my trivia to make up an intriguing case. Also, I find switching between time-lines, between different eras, a rather difficult but most satisfying read, especially when you expect them to connect to each other at one point or another. Kate Mosse and, to a degree, David Gibbins, used this writing technique to produce astounding works of literature, and I'm bent in attempting to do the same.

The topic is a phantom presence. The setting is an out-of-the-way boarding school. The main characters are from different times, but are somehow connected.

This would be an awesome adventure to write.

Passion Smoothie

Eh, forgive the name, I just thought it would sound catchy.

I happen to have a little le Monin passion fruit syrup at hand, so I thought of this rather on-the-spot. Made it twice, once for friends and once for family, and they all liked it. Here's the recipe:

1 apple
2 pears
2 oranges
70 ml Passion fruit syrup
ice and water

1. Peel oranges and dice all fruits into the blender.
2. Add passion fruit syrup, and as much ice and water as desired.
3. Blend until desired consistency.

N.B. For the best results, use a really good blender.

Hindsight / Reflection

I think I'm really getting addicted to this whole blogging thing.

I guess this can be a good thing. As I record the things that I had done, and the thoughts I had had, I may be able to look back to these actions and train of thoughts, examine them and ultimately understand myself more, bit by bit.

On the other hand, this may turn out to be dangerous. If anyone has the same intentions as I did, they would also discover me and myself, and we all know that knowledge in the wrong hands is a dangerous thing. But then again, no one's reading this blog. At least, not yet...

It has been another good day, the past four and twenty hours.

I've been given another chance to test my culinary skills. I followed recipes, true, but still it takes some culinary knowledge to get them right, understand how they worked.

Last night's dinner have been another success... moderately anyway: 

• My sister liked the angel hair carbonara I made for her alone, although by my standards it has too much Parmesan. Needs to be balanced by another type of cheese.
• The salad's crunchy, but a little conservative about the vinaigrette, and more fresh onion rings would make it spectacular.
• Also made chicken tahini - the marinade's a recipe that worked out most excellently (made the chicken really tender and tasty), and I made a roast rack out of carrots on a bed of onions and garlic, which made them taste absolutely heavenly. Served this with a simple angel hair with basil, and the carrots in the roast. Tried to make a gravy but that didn't work, I'll need to remedy that in the future.
• For the drinks I made a fruit smoothie flavoured with passion fruit syrup. I made this before for my friends - they loved it, and so did mum and sis. Didn't get dad's comments 'cause he came back late, but it's okay with me.

Went out with a few IB friends - Cassie and Hidaya. Hidaya brought her "sister" Rika, an exchange student from Germany, to Petaling Street. They needed to get a few things for decorating the hall for the charity dinner next Friday. I don't know if they got everything since I left early to get my sister from school, but it felt good to be with them some of the way. I actually liked spending time with them while they shop, which may sound unusual for guys who don't like to follow girls around to shop. (I guess that's because I also get to look around at stuff and pick out a few things for myself!) They also made me discover how at ease I can be around girls (it's only me and them three), and that's always a good thing.

What's in store for me the next few days? Well, the parents are not around, so I'm in charge of the house (mostly), and that means taking care of my sister and her schedule, which can get pretty hectic during weekends, but it's fine with me. Got to have some time for church (finally decided to go back to the Lord), but it's only for a few hours, and any time helping others is spending time with God.

... So, I'll write again some other time.

A Friend In Me

The last two days made me realise just how much fun time spent with friends can be.

On Monday, what was supposed to be a tasting of some of my cooking and a quick viewing of the new condo we're supposed to move into in June with one friend turned out to be one heck of a time with three. Called up Angeline and asked her if she's free for lunch at my place, and we decided to invite others who were free on Monday. The others turned out to be Hsien Yew and a new girl, Pamelyn.

It was about 10 in the morning, so I suggested we went for a jog/walk at the Kiara Park hill/jungle (near Bakti in TTDI). Oh man, did we test our stamina there! It was a great time to catch up with them too, and get to know Pam.

When we finished at about half past eleven-ish, I lead the way back to my house where everyone got a chance to take a shower. All of them pitched in to cook lunch (under my direction of course - hey, it's my kitchen and my recipes ;P) and took turns to use the shower, so lunch was ready in about an hour. Got good reviews of the eggplant salad and angel hair with sausage, so I will be posting those recipes here soon.

Well, we got 3/4 of an hour to kill before Pam had to go somewhere else, so they decided to try out the Wii. Tried to use the karaoke mikes on the Wii, but they failed again, so we went multi-player on a racing game. That was really fun - I've never played the multi-player version with two remote controllers and two nun-chucks before, so it was a good experience.

I didn't actually get to surprise them with the new condo, but it was a good time nonetheless.

And yesterday evening Hsien Yew suddenly surprised me with free tickets for a preview of Toy Story 1 & 2 - in 3D! Was supposed to shop for ingredients for tonight's meal for the family with Dad, but decided to do that solo in Mid Valley after picking up the four free tickets since I was the closest to the shopping mall. Didn't get all the items on my list, partly because they don't supply them in the Jusco supermarket in Mid Valley (should have shopped in Carrefour instead - that's bigger - but Dad has the J-Card).

We met up before the screening. Hsien Yew brought Pam and Joshua, so good to see him again! We had a bit of time to catch up, so it's cool.
Our seating was terrible, it was too much to the left and the screen was unusually small, so 10 minutes into the movie we swapped to some vacant seats in the middle of the third row from the top. This wasn't so good either, our view was slightly blocked by the railing, so at the interval between TS and TS2 we "upgraded" to the row above us.
I've seen both the films before, but it was still quite fun to watch, and the 3D effects were really good, unlike some other 3D films. I guess after so many attempts they finally got it right. lol
The movies finished at 20 before midnight, and all-in-all it was a fun time. Myself, got some tweaking to do on my laptop so I only slept at 1.

I don't usually do this kind of stuff with school friends - they're either not free all the time or wrapped up in their activities all the time, so it got kind of depressing after a while of asking them out and got rejected again and again. Going out with church friends was refreshing, and I'd definitely do it again.

Tagging

You might have noticed that my posts aren't tagged. Or labelled. Not one.

I just don't see the point of grouping diary entries (not that this is anyway) into separate categories "for easy reference". How exactly do you catalogue random thoughts? Sure, you may write about the same topic once in a while, or about the same event for a number of consecutive days, but it's not like you're writing it for anyone to read, even though it may seem so.

Okay, for a blog that offers recipes among other things, certainly I want to share them with the world, although I really just put them here for keepsake. But seriously, if I want anyone to read this, I'm not going to make it easy for them (sorry guys). I don't write often enough to label them. Never had (though this is not saying much), never will.

Speaking of future posts, I'm having a nagging itch to write nowadays. I wonder if this is the side effect of a certain "supplement", or just a hidden desire to waste my time writing my thoughts down. Either way, I feel that this is a welcome change if you'd notice how sporadic my posts were in the past.

It's not just blog posts too - I'm finally putting my first novel in pen (okay, more in pencil than pen). Well, not finally, I've made several attempts in the past, but I've never got to the climax before. (Does this mean I don't want it to end just yet?) Got a new approach, but the interesting plot is still there.

'Course, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step...

The Little Prince

I guess it is thanks to the work of translators that we are able to enjoy a great variety in books comfortably in our first language. (Unfortunately for me, that is English.)

I have just finished Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince, and I must say it is astonishing. This is my second time reading it, and I must admit I was not mature enough in my reading to fully appreciate the impact of such an unassuming book that captured the minds of not only children but also adults, who hailed it as a modern classic.

Written by a French pilot who sought asylum in America when France was taken by the Germans during WWII, it recounts the narrator's encounter of a strange little boy who apparently arrived on Earth nearly a year before from a distant asteroid. Through the narrator's patient observation and growing interest in the young, self-styled prince, we look into the lives and views on life and man of various quirky characters through the prince's eyes during his journey from his little planet to Earth.

This is a wonderful story written in the second person's point of view, much like Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie and Have A Little Faith, and other thought-provoking and influential tittles. Unlike those tales however, The Little Prince is written as an allegorical children's book, something like George Orwell's Animal Farm, so that it can be enjoyed by everyone of all ages.

The little ones would be fascinated by the prince's travels and encounters of the "grown-ups" and plants and animals, and would easily pick up some of the more obvious lessons, such as nipping problems in the bud and constant vigilance and diligence.
The "grown-ups" who read this book, however, may find more profound truths hidden in the observations of the little prince. Each of the adults that he meets in the six asteroids he stops at before arriving on Earth teaches us something more about different kinds of people, some of which may reflect our own personalities and how ridiculous they seem to the innocent but observant eyes of a child.

The most essential lesson that everyone ultimately learns and is reminded of as the story draws to a close is that "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." It reminds us to look beyond the material to find that the most important thing to us is really the immaterial.

My hope for this book is that its lessons reach the minds of a generation that is increasingly engrossed in material wealth. As for me, I'm going to give this to my sister to read.

Alfredo Sauce

A simple white cream sauce that forms the base of many of my delicious pasta recipes (primarily because I'm a big fan of this sauce in the first place, so I kept trying to perfect it!). With just a little tweaking, this can be transformed into the popular carbonara sauce, but I have yet to try the traditional carbonara sauce and so will not dive further into that now.

Anyway, this is my version of the sauce:


1 1/2 tbsp    light butter spread
1                  garlic clove
1 1/3 cup     skim milk
1 tbsp          all-purpose flour
80g             cheese

1. Melt spread in a saucepan and and saute chopped garlic.
2. When garlic is fragrant enough, combine with milk and stir frequently.
3. When milk is hot enough, or begins to froth, lower the flame to medium and add the cheese.
4. Stir well before adding the flour dissolved with a little water. Leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce reaches a creamy texture.
5. Toss with pasta of choice and serve.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

• The skim milk is used for a low-fat sauce. Of course, any other type of milk will do.
• Alternatively, wheat flour may be used.
• Preferably, use a combination of 50g cream cheese and 30g Parmesan of Romano cheese. If not available, three slices of cheddar cheese (most common and cheapest cheese on the market) will do.
• For a more fragrant sauce, add herbs of choice (I'd use a nice combination of Italian herbs) and maybe another garlic clove.
• Add grilled chicken and mushrooms (sauted with the garlic in the beginning) and steamed broccoli for a quick meal.

The Point of No Return

Whoever came up with that phrase is a genius, I must imagine.

I guess it can be used to describe a moment in time or a point in life where you can only move forward, sort of like a denouement in a story where everything that has been happening converge before reaching a spectacular climax, where you can no longer turn back and must continue forward.

There are plenty of these "points" on the roads: narrow one-way streets that force you to continue straight ahead with no chance of making a U-turn any time soon if you happen to be lost and want to reverse-engineer your way back to somewhere you're familiar with. 'Course, these roads aren't always narrow (take the highway for example), but they always force you to look dead ahead and give you no choice but to go on in that direction.

Similarly in life, the weary traveller arrives at these points of no return every once in a while, following a series of life-altering experiences from which he must learn in order to move on, thinking that life's a downright b***h and griping about this and that while being forced in one direction. At this point, he would remember the roads he could have taken, all those miles ago, and dream of what could have been.
If he choose to think like that, anyway.
One could also refuse to entertain such thoughts, and instead look at the valuable lessons one has learned going down this road and reaching this point of no return, treasuring them and promising to learn from them, and let the river of life take his boat to wherever it may lead, or at least until another crossroads where life once again offers a choice.

Going on and on about this, I can most definitely say I'm at the point of no return, and I have to face that reality. I put myself in the IB programme thinking that somehow, I could return to the person I once was, two years ago at my old boarding school: the active, all-round, intelligent (to a degree), hard-working me. But now I have come to realise that that person is no longer me - I have let myself go, and now must work with what I am now; and this person that I have become cannot cope with the IB.

Of course, I still have a decision to make: either stay in the programme, face whatever that may come and accept the outcome; or quit the programme now and take a course that I'd actually like so that I'll stick with it (my parents insist on me getting a uni degree). Factoring in the fact that the IB is the second time I've been in a pre-U programme, I've yet to complete a Pre-U whereas all my secondary school classmates are already doing their first year in university, and I'm already 20...
I really don't know what to do.

Is this programme, this road, right for me in the first place? Have I taken this path for nothing? Which choice is the right one? What does God expect of me at this point? What was His will and have I failed Him? Have I failed myself?

"Do the right thing, come what may."
Which is the right thing?

The Connection

It goes on,
it goes off.
And sometimes
it doesn’t come on
at all.

I want it fast,
it prefers to
take its time.
And when you need it most
it crashes
like so much trash.

It is amazing how
such a high-tech piece of
“equipment”
can be so
undependable,
unreliable…
Unbelievable!

It is the blasted
Connection
I am ranting about,
the invisible link
to the wonderful world of
the Internet.
It baffles me how
such a superficial “tool”
can be so utterly
temperamental.

The I.T. guy that came in
said something about
the DNS
(and a bunch of other stuff I can’t remember),
but I knew that
the Connection
has a life of its own.

Exodus

I just cannot believe I'm coming back here.

More than one year ago, I thought I lost the will to keep updating this thingamajig because of so much other stuff to do, not to mention more time spent with new friends. And now, once again, I found the will to again publish my thoughts to anyone who cares to read them.

Yeah, the title means I'm going to try to take most of my thoughts and put them into writing. That hopefully would include shorts and poems, the latter only if I'm not chicken enough to actually put them here.

'Course, it's not thoughts alone. I've been recently reintroduced to the kitchen, where I do battle with time and lack-of-ingredients-and-kitchenware to achieve the victory of creation. I've decided to publicise a select number of successful recipes - select because I don't want them taken out and displayed as someone else's. I have intellectual property copyrights too, y'know!

Guess that's all for now. Signing off.