人生下一步

记录一下，2024年3月30号，我退下来了。12年了，在2011年尾开始到今天，一共走过了12个年头。

人生很短，时间飞逝。

从今天起，好好过自己想过的人生，加油↖(^ω^)↗

Random 

Did you use the shampoo M gave us? 
Oh, I did, it made my hair feels weird.

This shampoo, this very bottle, I have had people leave it at my place, is like nobody wants them and it made perfect sense that they leave it to us cause we will use anything.

We are like the bottom of the hill, everything comes to us. 

人生下一步该怎么走？

想说真的辞职不做了，然后呢?不懂啊，纯粹不想过朝九晚六的生活，如此而已。想再出去走走看看，去不同地方生活，再重新体验一下。想带妈妈搭火车，看能不能一路去到越南？

曾经读过好像是张小娴说的，人的一生应该反着来过，在体力最好的时候享受生活，在不怎么想动，动了全身痛，体能恢复超慢的时候再来工作赚钱。

现在多数人却在自己最好的几十年拼了命的赚钱存钱，然后想着60
后退休才来过生活。45岁的我已经不如30多岁的体能，不敢想象60岁退休要过的是怎么样的生活啊？

钱呢？省着省着用应该还好，到时再看吧，计划赶不上变化，尚有出走的欲望就出发吧，以后的事再来想想办法，人生总有无限可能。

伦敦-我来了

9年前吧，第一次到了伦敦。幸运的是，子明和莲薇让我住在他们房里。虽然是打地铺，但因此省下不少费用，找工作也可以不那么急，那么压力。

这一次，会和R同行，也不再是背包旅行，会住酒店。

好期待。。8年后重新走在伦敦的街头会是怎样的感觉。。

Trans Naning - Possibly longest day hike for me

The word Trans in a hiker world can be really daunting, some Trans hike is longer than the others, but to me the word itself has special meaning - long and hard hike, which truly is not always the case but close enough.

So when Airene mentioned Trans Naning, I did a double take and told her I would need to have a look at the elevation profile and read other people's blog before I decide. So happen a friend did Trans Naning just not long before and knowing that our fitness level is close enough I realized that maybe Trans Naning is not as scary as I worry it to be.

Fast forward to few days before the hike, I made sure I plan for enough snack/lunch cause the estimated time is between 7 to 10 hours, so definitely will need my energy. I had made some white chocolate macadamia strawberry blondie (white choc brownies are called blondies) so I brought a few slices of those, some cherry tomatoes, my hiking essentials - mix nuts and took some time to decide how much water I need, in the end I decided on 2.5l, but also add another small bottle with 300ml inside as back up in case I finish my water before the end of trip.

Some rain after 11am according to the forecase which dampen my spirit a little as walking long hours in rain is really no fun, I kept hoping for change of weather but had prepared myself for the worst of it. Splatter of rain hit us as we were walking up the tarmac to the trail head but thankfully that's all there is for the rest of the hike, yay!!

It was a very long hike, feels forever at some part specially coming down from the last peak of the day as we navigate the steep rocky with hint of root trail. For the most part am thankful that there is not as many leeches as I feared, in fact I escaped untouched, even though there has been some close call.

We successfully find all the check points - Tampin Utara, Selatan, 609, 607, Rembau, Gagak & Datuk and also the campsite by the river where we had our lunch, so peaceful by the little stream. The group before us arrived at Datuk before us but left not long after so we had the whole peak by ourselves, enjoying the 360degrees view. Just us, just us....

 

Life since Covid-19

Our life as it was went through drastic change. We now need to include mask as our essential besides our wallet, phone and keys before we left the house.

Covid-19 got the whole world to it's knee, suddenly the world is again as big as it really is. People can no longer hop on the plane to visit the other side of the world whenever they feel like it. Instead of planning for holidays, we stared at the case number on daily basis hoping for miracle.

Malaysian government decided to stop us from going overseas beginning March 18th 2020, we can no longer look forward to spring in Japan, autumn in Spain, we can't even look forward to the deep blue sea on the island at the other side of the coast, our movement is now confined to the state we are in, sometimes the district we are in.

Being in a relationship requires work, but being in LDR during this pandemic pose a challenge that we did not foresee, so much more effort is required to maintain the relationship. While am not exactly counting the days but everyday I keep contemplating if I should attempt to apply to leave so I can visit R in USA, but I hate the idea of quarantine so much so that I have not done it till now. Perhaps R does not mind the quarantine as much as I do, but the idea of putting him through the quarantine seems unfair either, so status quo it is.

Some days is easier than the others, some days I feel so empty inside it hurts. Then I wonder if the heartache of the break up is perhaps less torturing than the idea of not knowing when we can see each other again.

Financier in Madeleine Mould

My latest dessert/baking craze - financier (small french almond cake), saw it on the fb page of a cafe (Chapter 1 I think) and after checking online for recipe and steps, decided that it's worth a try. Been baking it continuously for 3 weekends now, and still loving them. Burnt butter made the whole thing smells so good. 

A hit especially with Ai Ling's furry son due to the butter.

Decided on the recipe from Joybaking with my own tweak.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter
1/4 cup (30 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (55 grams) ground almonds (can use almond meal/flour)
75 grams confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted (*60g is sweet enough)
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large (90 grams) egg whites, lightly beaten

Instructions:
Financiers: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) - convection mode.
Place the butter in a small light colored saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted let it come to a boil, swirling the pan occasionally. As it boils you will notice that a foam will appear on the butter's surface. Continue to cook the butter until it looks clear and the milk solids have dropped to the bottom of the pan and have turned golden brown. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a cheesecloth-lined strainer. Let cool to room temperature. You will need 1/3 cup (80 ml) of brown butter. Use the leftover brown butter to butter the molds (use a pastry brush).
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, ground almonds, confectioners sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center and fold in the lightly beaten egg whites and the brown butter.
Fill each mold (only have silicone madeleine mould) almost to the rim and bake in the middle rack for about 10 minutes, move tray to the bottom, set to bottom broil (3mins) then move to top and set to top broil (3mins)
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. These are best eaten warm from the oven, but they can be covered and stored for a few days at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Makes about 15 Financiers in Madeleine Mould

Read more: https://www.joyofbaking.com/Financiers.html