Cheesecake recipe galore!

I'm a ripper... i have pratically ripped 127 cheesecake recipes from kraft.com.au. i've printed them out and gog to start trying them... once a week? once in 2 weeks? muaahahahaa... i love cheesecakes! here i come!

Bored... Freaking bored...

On monday went back to clinic. as usual, white blood cell count low, so given booster, sent home to go back on tuesday. tuesday was the start of my 4th cos. half way thru? or 3/4 way thru? tt depends if i'm having 8 courses or 6 courses. doc hasn't said anything abt tt yet... hopefully its only 6 courses... i'm getting damn bored and sian!

as usual lah, tuesday i came back, slept all the way till dinner time. went to bed kinda early at ard 10pm... dunno y this time round i feel slightly more tired... ystday i had an afternoon nap n went to bed ard 10.30pm too...

bored... freaking bored...

Famous Amos cookies...

Last wednesday should be chemo day, the start of my 4th course. But i had a sore throat and some facial swelling. doc said that it was radiation recall, the after effects of radiotherapy after chemotherapy. Besides that, my white blood cell count was slightly low, but not too low to be given booster. so she told me to rest for a few more days. gog back tmr... so either tmr or tuesday, the 4th course will start...

On friday, my mum n i decided to try a recipe. i got this recipe from email quite a few times n it claimed to be the recipe for famous amos cookies. the taste was there, but the texture was a bit salah, a bit wrong, did not feel like the ones u get at the shop. the ones at the shop were crunchier and had more "holes" in the cookie cos of the "raising" effect and were darker. mine were lighter in colour and did not have "holes". dunno if its a fake famous amos cookie recipe or i should put more baking soda.

then, the gals came over at nite to keep me company. thn we ordered kfc for supper... haha...

One year already... Flowers, Goal and Kuishin-bo...

On friday, dear took leave to spend the entire day with me. y so special? cos its our anniversary! so fast, one year already... time really flies...

so, he came over while i was bathing and left the bouquet he bought for me on my table. so i only saw it when i went back to my room. the bouquet had a dozen roses. the roses were not pink, nor were they red. the colour was kinda a mixture of both.

we left the house abt 1pm and made our way down to ikea for lunch. y ikea? i'm an ikea friends member n everyday, something from the menu will be specially discounted for members (limited to 2 dishes per member), besides that, there are 2 free drinks. friday was swedish meatballs day! i love the swedish meatballs at ikea.

after lunch, we went down to tiong bahru plaza. i think i'll be making trips there often from now on. reason is that they have a DMC store there. First one in singapore i've seen. DMC is a company specializing in cross-stitch and embroidery stuff, and having a store like this, i can easily get my materials. after getting some stuff from their gold concept (DMC thread "filing" system), we made our way down to plaza sing.

we picked up our tickets for Goal! and had our toilet break before going into the cinema. those who had not watched Goal! MUST watch! For someone like me who's fighting for survival and wanting a second chance at life to fufill my dreams, i can relate to the main character, Santiago Munez.

Throughout the movie, i cried a few times. i cried when munez's dad took his money to buy a van. his dad wanted to path a future and career for him by owning a business, but to munez, tt's not suited for him. he wans to play soccer, professionally. to him, tt's a career most suited for him. munez needed that money to go to newcastle for a trial. for that moment, all his hopes and dreams were dashed. Just like me, when i was first diagnosed.

then when he finally made it to newcastle, fellow reserve squad members made things difficult for him. they rough tackled him, did not pass the ball to him so he did not have a chance to show off his skills and worse of all, crushed his inhaler as he had asthma. just when he thought he had at last reached england, it would be easier from then on, but no, he still had to cross hurdles. just like me, just when i tot i had finished radiotherapy, crossed the hurdle and won the battle, and was well already, my backaches were actually signs that the cancer cells had spread, to my bones n liver. now, i have to cross another hurdle and receive chemotherapy.

At the end of the movie, i cried again. Its all smooth sailing for him. but when for me? to me, when its smooth sailing for him, it would be the day i have won this battle. dear cried at the end of the movie too.

After the movie, we went down to suntec for jap buffet dinner at kuishin-bo. not worth 40 bucks. it had ample variety that looks 40 bucks, but the dishes were salty and tasted so so only. they had a lot of meat and seafood, great for meat-lovers, and had only a salad, teppanyaki veg n cucumber sushi as proper veg only dishes. even the nabes (claypots) and soups had little veg in it although i n dear chose those. they should have a dish of stir fried shitake mushrooms or something. even the veg tempura was mostly spring onions, sweet potatos and mushrooms. but the food's really quite fresh. dessert spread variety was not bad, but few edible. really not worth 40 bucks, unless u whack the steamed crabs n prawns, soft shell crabs n ebi tempura.

after the dinner, we were walking over the tower three's (carrefour) taxi stand as there should be more taxis there, when we saw those capsule dispensers. They had one which dispenses anime, one piece, characters' handphone ornaments. i wanted ruffy n between me n dear we had only 4 1-dollar coins. one capsule cost 3 bucks n they only accepted 1-dollar coins. so we walked over to the arcarde to change for more 1-dollar coins. i changed 15 coins. while changing we saw a machine.

for 1 dollar, u can have 3 tries on this machine. u have 3 tries to accumulate a score of positive 5 to dispense a prize. prizes were like handphones, mp3 players n psp. seems easy? thy have loads of negative numbers n once u hit the "computer" n stop on those numbers, whatever score u have will be lowered, limited to zero. tried a few times for fun, but no luck. we went back to the capsule dispenser for my ruffy. 15 dollars and 5 capsules later, no ruffy but other characters, even 2 pirate bo.

then we went back to the arcarde for more coins. n of cos, we tried our luck again on the machine. no luck, but we discovered some tactics, which may or may not work. then we went back to the capsule dispenser. this time round, it was dear who put in the coins n turn the knob, guess what, it was ruffy!

we made our way to the taxi stand but it was a long q. so we called a cab n got home.

ystday, chelsea trashed bolton 5-1 n bolton was 1-0 up early in the game. when will teams learn how to hold on to their lead n win chelsea. chelsea must drop points in order for any other clubs to catch up. if not, the epl this year will be a one horse race.

just like today's f1 race, the chinese grand prix, final one of the season. it was boring... renault was 2 points ahead of mclaren for the constructors champion n alonso n fisichella were in pole n grid 2 position for the race. raikkonen was in grid 3. when the race started, fisichella was in charge of "blocking" the mclarens while alonso sped away, faster n faster lap timings with each lap to distance himself away from the mclarens so they have no chance to catch up. just when i tot raikkonen has chance to overtake alonso, the safety car's out... today, the safety car's out twice! totally spoiling the race, i think. lap by lap with the SC on, alonso cruises lap by lap in 1st position. boring...... of cos alonso won the race with raikkonen in 2nd.

Who is Noire?

Some pple just like to b secretive, no idea y.
Noire, u reminded me of my dreams n goals.
Noire, u only leave a pm on irc.
Noire, i know u might hv a good chance of reading this.
Noire, who in the world r u?
Noire, pls own up n identify yrself d next time u pm me.
Noire, i would like to thank u personally for the pm-es u left me.
Noire, i dunno how come u know i'm sick, but i guess u might have heard frm someone.
Noire, pls tell me who's the someone u heard from if u wana keep yr identity a secret.
Noire, pls understand that communication works both ways, so i wana reply to u.
Noire, pls tell me who u r.
Noire, by keeping quiet, u're kinda driving me nuts.
Noire, here's the pm i got from u today....
sorry i think i flooded u. but in case u didn't receive the msg.. i'll paste it here again.. i feel you need this msg.. it'll remind u of some things in your life. You're fighting hard and you're fighting well.. never let the evil win.. you're born with a strong and fiery heart.. you have softball to play.. to see the home runs.. to go to the Baseball League in the states to watch the matches.. you'll go. I know you will :) Your dreams await you. They are always there waiting.. just a stone's throw away. You may be worn down.. you may be in pain.. but take it slowly.. one step at a time.. fight the battle a little step at a time.. you'll eventually prevail. I believe in you. Jas is always a warrior, a stubborn one :P No one can ever take your dreams away from you.. no one. You'll reach your stars one day. Meanwhile.. let's win this war and all these battles! One step at a time! You can do it, Jasmine the strong cancerian! Ganbatte kudasai. Jas-chan.

Bored n restless...

Chemo on thursday. then reached home, slept... woke up for dinner, fell asleep again... then only woke up the next day ard 12. mayb slept too much, tt's y from then on, i feel energetic.

on friday, i went grocery shopping with my mum. ystday, tried some recipies with my mum again. at nite, dear came over to watch world cup qualifiers with me. today, slacked the whole day at home with dear, eating porridge my parents bought back n watching F1. at nite, went grocery shopping again...

bored, restless, bored, restless... tt's me for the past few days...

for the past week, 2 news "shook" the world. Bali attacked by suicide bombers n south asia hit by a 7.6 earthquake. wht in the world is the world coming to? here i am, fighting to live, battling with health. here there r, pple, fighting to live against mother nature. yet we got idiots who simply have no regards for life, bombing others to death. wht ironic contrast.

Failed carrot cake...

I think i found a new love...
...
mayb not, its a love affair revived...
...
but i'll never ever leave my current bf...
...
but this attraction is too strong...
...
so i decided the best solution is to yi jiao ta liang chuan (one leg step two boats)...
...
dear, pls dun blame me. pls forgive me.
not that i wana cheat on u...
...
but its only cooking n trying new recipies!
k, i admit its damn cheesy... but since i'm rotting at home, might as well try recipies from the loads of recipies my mum n i keep. last week, we've already tried banana cake. today we did some cookies n carrot cake. the cookies were easy so i'm not gonna talk abt it.

let's tok abt the carrot cake instead... now i understand y cafes charge an avg 5 bucks for a slice of carrot cake, either that or its at least 50 cents more expensive then the other cakes. the preparation is crazy...
first, u have to grate the carrots. then u have to cut the walnuts n raisins into smaller pieces. all these took me 2+ hours. luckily it was done last nite.
then u had to beat the eggs first then add oil, sugar n vanilla essence. after that, u add in detergent. that was wht my mum did... she tot the yellow liquid in the measuring cup still had oil. which in fact was detergent i put in to rid the oily oil.
so we had to weigh the sugar n start all over again... so beat the eggs first then add oil, sugar n vanilla essence. then after blending them, add in flour, cinnamon powder, salt n bicarbonate of soda. n then, blend again... then after that u add in the carrots, walnuts n raisins.
so many thens, cannot all add in at one go... tt's y the preparation very troublesome, even minus away the detergent part. then we still had to prepare the icing with sugar, butter n maple syrup.
honestly i consider the the cake a failure, even the icing is also a failure. the cake is too moist n oily. have to squeeze n drain the juice out from the grated carrots the next time round n cut down the oil. the icing was too sweet. before weighing the sugar for the icing, my mum told me to cut down the sugar given in the recipie, but it was still too sweet. so we might b trying the carrot cake again next week.

oh yah, din do chemo on monday cos white blood cell count was low. doc gave me booster jab n 3 day course of antibiotics. so tmr i'm back for a blood test. blood count ok, chemo. not ok, i guess its another booster n return on friday...

Tributes

Tossing n turning in bed, no idea y i can't get to sleep. no idea y sleepless nites often happen the nite before my chemo! maybe i'm too excited? maybe i'm too worried? mayb i'm thinking too much? no idea...
as usual, tmr i'll have to take blood test first. can chemo, do... cannot, take booster, return the next day...

while i was reading my study bible just now (its a bible accompanied with paras explaining certain verses), i came across some paras n reminded me about this stranger, a stranger whom i'd call B for now, someone who i believe is very kind. so since i cant sleep, i might as well come n type something in here that i was thinking about.

i know of some frds who know of my condition but chose to keep quiet cos i guess they dunno wht to say. i got a poly frd whom left a very short friendster msg saying "get well soon". i got other friendster msg n smses with similar meanings, some even offering visits. regardless of whether its just 3 words or a wholesome lot, i really appreciate cos battling alone is boring n no fun.

B, someone whom i dunno, left me a friendster msg that left me touched n pleasantly surprised. knowing a stranger that knows of my condition even spurs me on further to fight. i'm no attention seeker n its not that i wish everyone knows of my condition. but pple who knows me knows that i'm d sorta type of person who dun like frds to get upset or worried over me. so u can actually imagine how i felt whn i was hearing one of my jie meis crying over the phone whn she called me once i discovered i was sick. my heart almost broke then while crying along with her n while pretending to be strong. because of all these "so-called" attention, because of all these loving concerns, its only spurs n urges me to fight n win the battle. so i was really touched when B left me the friendster msg, cos it was a person whom i hardly knew, urging me on to fight n win!

now it just leads me to ponder how many more of my frds out thr actually know i'm sick. and also who was that fella called Noire who pm-ed me on irc (yes, i still "play" irc cos there's a great trivia channel) while i was 'parking' (a term for staying on the channel but not talking n no 'movement') saying "jas, be strong and cheerful even when the going gets tough.. when your heart is light and joyful and your head is clear.. your body might feel better and heal faster. I will pray for you all the time." this fella knew my name, but i had not seen this nick b4. if by any chance any of u who knows i'm sick but yet to contact me, or anyone who knows who's Noire or if you're Noire, pls do b kind, drop me an sms or a friendster msg to let me know i'm still alive n on my way to victory. call me a sucker for attention, call me thick skin, call me whtever. letting me know u're out there really lets me know that i'm still alive n kicking n that i'm still human. pls let those sms or friendster msg keep coming in.

another person really deservering mention is my loving dearest dear dear. although i look like a freak now, balding n super freakishly skinny, he still says that he loves me deep deep n that i'm still the most beautiful gal in d world. hehe...

to everyone else who has been thr all along letting me know i'm still alive, thanks so much n God will definately bless your kindest soul.

Shimbashi Soba revisted...

After an out-of-the-wordly-horrible lunch at Ramen Ramen ystday which kinda spoiled my day, everything was made rite again with dinner at Shimbashi Soba. muahahahaha! yes, i was at Shimbashi again! even my dad said the 70+ bucks we spent there compared to the 30+ earlier in the day was more worth it.

i went with my parents n we ordered Set A, Set B, Gumoko Soba n Chicken Crepe Salad. the sets are avaliable daily from 2.30pm onwards. whereas the Gumoko Soba and Chicken Crepe Salad are only avaliable this month cos they are monthly specials. yummy...... still savouring the taste now... set A was teriyaki tori, salmon sashimi, fish cutlet with noodles (soba or udon, chilled or warm). set b was soft shell crab, agedashi tofu, beef (done the yoshinoya beef bowl way) with noodles (soba or udon, chilled or warm). i took set a, my dad set b, my mum gumoko soba. as my dad dun take beef n i had to stay away from anything uncooked (to prevent any infections), i traded my sashimi for my dad's beef.

everything was as good as expected but the beef, i tell you, was better then expected. think yoshinoya beef bowl, but no beefy smell n thicker, tastier gravy. if shimbashi decided to do cheaper take-away bentos for lunch-time office crowd n introduce teriyaki chicken bowl n beef bowl like yoshinoya, yoshinoya would be outta business in no time. which actually, would b quite a pity cos i love yoshinoya too. but honestly, i love Shimbashi better! hehe...

if anyone gog to Shimbashi this month to try food, pls pls try their monthly specials. the monthly specials this month all sound damn good because the menus all comes with descriptions of what you are ordering (unlike at Ramen Ramen whr u hardly c pics or any descriptions - ok, i know i'm slamming them again, but i cant help it).

Another comparision i'm gonna make for Shimbashi is Ichiban Boshi. I've been to Ichiban Boshi 4 (or issit 5) times already, but the urge to keep going back is not as strong as Shimbashi. Maybe its the specials menu that's y i would wana go back n try the food. Ichiban also serves specials at different outlets although i'm not too sure how often they change the specials menu. however, the urge to check back the specials n try them is definately not as strong as Shimbashi.

i think now, if anyone feels like treating me for lunch or dinner, the 1st place i'd name would be Shimbashi. if anyone dunno whr to eat and asks me to suggest a place, i'd name Shimbashi. if anyone wans to celebrate any occasions, i'd name Shimbashi. I LOVE SHIMBASHI!!!

p.s: anyone (who loves japanese food, esp soba) reading this blog entry, i beg u, pls go try!!!

Ramen Ramen

Total writeoff... unless its the only food left in singapore then i'll go eat it. compared to Ajisen, i dunno who's worse. Looks like now i still can find a good ramen place in singapore. think i'll stick to my Shimbashi soba still...

Thumbs down: The ACOUSTICS was damn bad, everything was echo-y n u cant hear the staff properly. the lights are dim but luckily bright enough to make out what you are eating. place is blardi small (no wonder for the long qs). seats are damn blardi hard too.
Redeeming factor: the AROMA of the tonkotsu soup fills the place yet you dun walk out smelling like a piece of pork.

Thumbs down: The NOODLES were damn bland. we ordered a sweetcorn ramen, a chisu ramen (which was chasu ramen with cheese), tori karaage n grilled codfish. besides the noodles, the browish overnite beansprouts in the bowls of ramen were a big turnoff, all my appetite n anticipation to enjoying a bowl of ramen disappeared as soon as they appeared. the ramen came with the soup warm, not piping hot, on another tot, maybe even lukewarm. the tori karaage's batter was overly flourly n the chicken bland. the grilled codfish had a fishy smell.
Redeeming factor: the SOUP was tasty even when its cold. although the tori karaage's batter failed me, the chicken inside was bland, the chicken came piping hot n juicy.

I would think that's all i would comment on ramen ramen. by the way, their speciality, ramen ramen ramen is just plainly chasu ramen... compared to ajisen, sigh, each has its own thumbs down factors... ajisen's noodles are nicer on its own, even without the soup n they boost a wider variety, if only they maintain their standards for every bowl, every outlet...