Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Onde-onde Project

Hello!

Call me obsessed, because I am. I am obsessed with Onde-onde. LOL! For Malaysians, I think most of you will immediately recognize the look and the shape and also the taste. Onde-onde or in other name; Buah Melaka is one of Malay desserts or we call it as "kuih" that only can be seen or at least has demands during the Ramadhan month.

I am not sure for other months because honestly I only see it during Ramadhan. It tastes very sweet for it has palm sugar or gula Melaka (hence, the name of Buah Melaka) in the center, covered by chewy texture of wheat flour and glutinous rice flour combined. It is very light, soft green in colour produced by the Pandan leaves (blended and filtered) juice. Some of the sellers put some green colouring to have this very neon-y green to attract the buyer to buy it (I assume), but I would prefer the natural way of using only the Pandan leaves for the colouring. Boiled it and roll it on pile of grated coconut and voila! You can either serve it hot from the boiler or you can also serve it cold (it takes about an hour in the fridge for the Onde-onde to cool off and to have the cold gula Melaka inside).

I decided to make it my own yesterday because I have bought so many Onde-onde from different sellers but they never done or make it right. Its either the flour is too thick, the sugar is too little and sometimes there is only flour but without the sugar, sometimes it is too big you can't even put everything in your mouth and sometimes, it tastes, funny. Hence, make it my own is the best way for me to stop complaining. My mother taught me how to do it and frankly I almost lost my finger for cutting the palm sugar (LOL!). Just a minor cut, but I'm alright! This is the easiest thing ever. Seriously.

The recipe? You can just Google it, its everywhere. But this is my own version of Onde-onde. The serve is, for 2 pax, about 20 pieces of rice balls in total. Here you go.


You need:

2 spoon of wheat flour
250g of glutinous rice flour
5 Pandan leaves
Gula Melaka or palm sugar
Coconut shavings

The steps:

1) Blend the Pandan leaves together with some water to produce juice. Pour through a fine sieve strainer, discard solid and put aside the juice. Onto the dough!

2) Mix wheat flour and glutinous rice flour together in a bowl. Add slowly the Pandan juice into the mixed bowl until it forms a kneadable ball of dough. If you like the colour to be more vibrant green, you can add artificial food colouring.

3) Make a small ball and press it to put the palm sugar inside (at the center) and I like it sweet and it is better to have a lot of sugar at the center, so put a lot of sugar, and roll it again to make a sphere. P/s: Avoid using your palm when rolling the rice ball, it will soften the dough more quickly.

4) Once you ready to have rice balls, heat up the pot of water to boiling. Drop those balls into the boiling water, let it cook until it floats. Once it floats, pick it up using strainer, drain well, and roll it in a plate of grated coconut or coconut shavings.

5) Place it on a very nice plate, serve it. Let it cool if you like the center to be chill. Whee!

Easy! Enjoy!

Clockwise: Wheat flour, Pandan leaves, glutinous rice flour, coconut shavings, gula Melaka

Mixing it!

Voila!


Malina, x

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Eurasian?

Eur·a·sian
ˌyo͝orˈāZH(ə)n/
adjective
adjective: Eurasian
  1. 1.
    of mixed European (or European-American) and Asian parentage.
  2. 2.
    of or relating to Eurasia.
noun
noun: Eurasian; plural noun: Eurasians
  1. 1.
    a person of mixed European (or European-American) and Asian parentage.






I took a quiz on BuzzFeed called "23 Problems Only Eurasian People Actually Understand" posted by Sarah Fung and oh my word, I can relate to all of those problems. I don't think I'm a Eurasian though, I still think that I am an Asian because I live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and I can speak Bahasa Malaysia and I eat all those Malaysian and Asian food, so that makes me think that I am way more of an Asian than all of you Eurasian people. Well thing is, out of 23 problems, I can relate to most of problems there are in that quiz, especially...


3. You’re tired of people saying, “Where are you from? Yeah, but where are you really from?”

Heck yes. Not just tired of when people ask me, it even got more tiring to answer and explain it in great details because I can't just answer with a short, concise word for having parents who are not originally from this country (I should say?) and mixed of here and there parentage. My ex-classmates and even my lecturers and supervisors were all curious and ask


5. And you never know which box to tick when you fill out surveys with questions about race.

So I ended up just tick "Malay" because my name sounds like a Malay name, my face looks like a Malay face and my friends are majority Malays. Lewlz.


9. You’re tired of the myth that Eurasians make for successful models.

Umm, have you look me in the face? Well, exactly.


11. Shopping for skin care products and makeup is hella confusing.

Umm, yes. Every single time especially for makeup products like foundations and compact powder. They just couldn't find the right skin tone for my face *cry out loud*


12. When you go on holiday in Asia or South America, everyone speaks to you like you’re from there.

Ahh this. Yes. I went to Paris last February and I was wandering around in front of the Notré-dame Cathedral with my sister, then this group of South American I reckon, they came to me and asked, "Are you from Brazil? De donde es usted?" and I told them, no I'm not Brazilian, you must be mistaken. Then they were like, "Really? Dios mio. I thought you're from Brazil. We are from Brazil. You really look like one!" Well, there you go.


13. But at the same time, everyone in your home city thinks you’re a tourist.

I did my degree year in one of private institutions in Malaysia, that consists of so many nationalities, its like the Earth populations in one campus (not literally, my campus isn't that big but enough to fit all nationalities there. LOL!). We were all unite in a campus and my friends from Kazakhstan once asked me my nationalities and my ethnicity. They thought I'm not local and a foreigner like them too! Same goes to my local friends (Malay, Chinese, Indian), they also thought that I'm not Malaysian. They got this crazy idea of calling me "anywhere but here" girl. Hahah!


16. Or that you’re “not really Asian”.

Yes, I get that a lot too. I can't help but to wonder (still) what my exact race is. Racially mixed parentage left you confused, well, most of the time. My father is half Persian and half Chinese. My other is half Chinese and half Malay. That means, I am half Chinese, one quarter Persian and one quarter Malay. No? It's easy to just say that I am 100% Malay due to my looks, my name, where I live, what I eat, what language I speak and I speak Bahasa Malaysia fluently (I think), my accent, where most of my relatives are currently at, where my friends are (most of them are Malaysians). But whatever it is, I am one of a kind. I am one in 7,404,976,783 people of the world.


Malina, x

Makeup Motto


"Inner beauty is great but a little mascara and a dab of lipstick never hurt."

New Members in My Makeup Bag!


1. De'Wajah De'Blossom Lip Colour Set



Rose Pink, Soft Pink, Pale Pinkish, Pale Orangy

I bought these four bestfriends from Zalora and it is freshly delivered to my door step this evening. It costs RM 89 for all four shades of pink. Tried it, and I personally don't fancy the stickiness because I'm a great talker, so I can literally feel there's something on my upper and lower lip as it finds each other. You know the feeling when you ate a very oily food and you can feel the sticky, oily sensation on your lips and you just want to wipe it off? Yes, that feeling. But I love the pink shades! Don't get me wrong, I still love it, but I need to do some lipstick hack 101 to make it more matte-y. Tissue and powder. Yeah, you know the drill, ladies. LOL!

2. Kiss Proof Soft Lipstick Powdery Matte; 008, 011, 006


I went to this boutique in my neighbourhood and I saw this one very pretty girl, I think she is around 22 or 23 years old and she is the one who manages the boutique. She is very friendly, and attentive and helpful. While I was talking to her as I paid for things I bought at the cashier, I can't help it but to ask her what lipstick that she was wearing that day because I literally find for that matte effect and also with that shade, like everywhere! The closest to that shade is the Kylie Lipkit. Yes. It is so hard to find the lipkit especially in Malaysia. You have this Kylie Lipkit inspired but it is always sold out and you have to wait for another batch to come, and sold out again and again and eventually you just give up and want to look for other options. This one is! It is Kiss Proof matte lipstick. The only thing that makes it differ than the famous lipkit is that, Kiss Proof offers a pencil lipstick and need to sharpen it instead of the liquid with the applicator attached with the lid. They have in literally 'every shades you want' and of course I bought the most famous shades that Kylie's has. Hey, I love the colour, not the brand. So as long as I have these shades, I don't want the Kylie's one.

3. SILKYGIRL Matte Fever & Moisture Boost



There are two different types of SilkyGirl lipsticks here; One is the Matte Fever & two is the Moisture Boost for more moisture, glittery effect on the lips. I personally love the matte one and my absolute favourite is the Matte Fever No 01 Vogue. I wear it for casual look or for a day out with my family or friends, simple, no-makeup look. It is very light, non-sticky, matte effect. It feels like I don't even wear any lipstick, I sometimes forget that I even wearing one! I have 4 other different colours which are; 01 Latte, 02 Desire (these two are the Moisture Boost), 02 Coral & 04 Siren. It is so light and I love the twist stick other than the pencil one because I hate to sharpen the lipstick. LOL! This one is a must-buy.

4. Revlon lipsticks Matte & Crème



For more professional look or official/social events like meetings, conferences, weddings, reunions, dinner dates. I will apply these babies on my lips. These are from Revlon. For the non-Matte effect, its called Crème. I have in two shades which are; 240 Sandalwood Beige & 225 Rosewine. The Matte one is number 015 called Seductive Sienna. Loveeeee this one!

5. Too Faced Natural Eyes Eyeshadow




I recently went to Sephora in KLCC, they have offers for Black & White card members, I happen to be one of them so I decided to take a look at the new revamped makeup store. They have this new area for "Bestsellers" or "New Arrival" section (I seriously can't remember what is the name of the new section but what I know is that section is da bomb!).  I am pretty clueless when it comes to makeup, so with this new section, it really helps me to know what is new and to select what's best in the current market. One of my friends actually recommends this to me for a natural eyes makeup look. It is Too Faced, Natural Eyes. It has many shades and I think they have it in two different batches for this package and I picked this one out because I love some brown-ish, gold-ish makeup for my eyes. It gives me a fresh yet sexy and elegant look (I think?) and it also matches my skin tone. It comes with instructions with three different looks on how to mix & match the colour to apply onto the eyelid. It makes my life much easier! Love it!


6. Revlon blusher in 004 Wine Not Lie-De-Vin



7. Clarins Be Long Mascara in 01 Intense Black





"PUT ON SOME LIPSTICK & PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER"
- Elizabeth Taylor

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Ramadhan Kareem 2016

| SETTINGS |

Where I am now: On my bed at home. MacBook on my lap. Frends headphones on my ears.
What am I listening to: on Spotify - Discover Weekly
Time: 00:26


Salam & hello, guys!

Been busy living life is definitely an excuse for me not to blog that much but I am doing my best to find some quiet and calm time to have that perfect vibe and a great state of mind to blog. This time around, I want to rant about Ramadhan.

It is only the second day of Ramadhan, and to be honest, I feel like this year fly by so fast! I was in Doha for three months, then off for my Euro trip for a month, living life in Malaysia and now it is already June?! I don't know about you but I do feel like the next time I blog, it'll be December. LOL! Kidding.

Some of you might think that why on Earth I only have the time to blog when it's Ramadhan but not any other month. Well, the short answer for that is, no bad vibes around me and I finally have the time for myself.

I am doing my best on becoming a better person as well as a better muslimah (if I must say), hence, I did some readings on my religion. I admit though I will be turning 26 this year in July, I have a lot to learn about the do's and the don'ts. I am doing the best I can. Since it's Ramadhan, I think this is a good opportunity for me to implement and do something on what I have read.

I came across this post on Instagram the other day, that mentioned about daily goals we can achieve during this Ramadhan month.


PRAY ALL FIVE FARD SALAH ON TIME
PRAY SUNNAH SALAH
PRAY SUNNAH TARAWEEH
DO DHIKR AFTER EVERY SALAH
MAKE DONATION AFTER EVERY TARAWEEH
PREPARE FOOD TO BREAK FAST WITH FAMILY
QIYAM WITH FAMILY AT NIGHT
READ QURAN BEFORE GOING TO BED


My main purposes for this Ramadhan are to do as many good deeds as you can, to collect as many pahala as you can & do things to please the one and only Creator. Let's leave those bad stuff and let's focus on bettering ourselves. It should be easy now knowing that it is only between you and Allah. No other things can come between you and Him. If you want it, do it and seek for His blessings. I may not be the perfect figure to talk about this, but hey, at least I am trying! :)

We can do this. Let's do our best in seeking for more pahala and blessing and enjoy your Ramadhan, guys! May you have a bless one!


Salam,

Malina A.