A gift of Love

Assalamualaikum peeps,

It is my birthday today and since it is our mid-semester break, I am celebrating it at home with my folks and I bake us a decent cake. Well, I talk about the cake in my next post cause now I am focusing on the birthday gift I received from someone even though I should be posting this on yesterday midnight but I was too busy sobbing and catching my breath. Well, it is from somebody that I love. *batting eyelashes*

He did not buy me a diamond ring for my birthday, or an iPhone, but it was more than enough to me. Yes, the subject I am talking about right now, is my one and only Inche Jimmy.
Well, he gave me a bundle of books. Books that I always imagined or planned to have. It was nice, isn't it? Somebody, hell yeah somebody you love and you care noticed the little things about you. I am so touched to receive the gift and I cried after I opened it. You might find this silly, crying over a few pile of books. Not to mention old published books but, whatever, this is me and I like the way I behave. *smug face*

I think maybe it is because I posted about the previous entry before, about "A Girl Who Reads" quote, that a girl who reads would love to receive a book on her birthday and blablablaaaaaa. And maybe, maybe that is why he bought me books! But books which I really really really wanted to have.

Thank you for these babies. Even these might have to wait. I really wish I can actually read them like right now, but I have another commitment. My final year project is my priority now even I was struggling hard with my inner self right now. 

Most importantly, I thank Allah I found you. 

Date A Girl Who Reads

You should date a girl who reads.

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books 

instead of clothes, who has problems with closet space because she 

has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants 

to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will
always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking
over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out
when she has found the book she wants. You see that weird chick
sniffing the pages of an old book in a secondhand book shop? That’s
the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when
they are yellow and worn.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street.
If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on
top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the
author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls
who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through
the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she
understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound
intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday,
for Christmas, for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry
and in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her
know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she
knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s
going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will
never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your
need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value,
nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads
up to the climax. Because girls who read understand that all things
must come to end, but that you can always write a sequel. That
you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is
meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read
understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the
Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up
at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup
of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours, but she
will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the
book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert.
Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst
and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your
lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will
introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the
same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she
will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your
 boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who
can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her
monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re
better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it,
date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.”

― Rosemarie Urquico

For my Malay readers

CINTAILAH PEREMPUAN YANG MEMBACA

(Oleh: Rosemarie Urquico. Terjemahan: Izmil Amri)

Cintailah perempuan yang membaca. Perempuan yang berhabis 
duit untuk buku danbukan baju. Dia punya masalah dengan ruang 
lemari baju, kerana dia punya terlalu banyak buku. Cintailah 
perempuan yang punya senarai buku-untuk-dibaca, perempuan 
yang punya kad perpustakaan sejak dia dua-belas tahun usia.

Carilah perempuan yang membaca. Dialah perempuan yang 
sentiasa menyimpan buku yang belum dibaca dalam tas tangannya. 
Dialah yang meninjau-ninjau di dalam kedai buku dengan penuh 
rasa kasih sayang. Yang menjerit kecil apabila ketemu buku yang 
dicari. Kau lihat gadis aneh yang mencium bau halaman buku lama 
di kedai buku terpakai itu? Itulah dia perempuan yang membaca. 
Dia tidak akan dapat tahan nafsu untuk menghidu halaman buku 
lama, terutamanya yang sudah mulai kuning.

Dialah perempuan yang membaca sambil menunggu di kedai kopi 
hujung jalan sana. Kalau kau lihat cawan kopinya, krimer bukan 
tenusu maseh lagi terapung di atas, dia sudah pun keasyikan. 
Hilang tenggelam dalam dunia bikinan si penulis. Duduklah di 
sebelahnya. Dia mungkin akan menjeling, kerana perempuan 
yang membaca tidak suka diganggu ketika membaca. Tanyalah 
jika dia suka buku yang dibacanya itu.

Belikan dia secawan kopi lagi.

Katakan pada dia apa yang kau fikir tentang Murakami. Lihat sama
ada dia sudah melepasi bab pertama Fellowship. Fahami bahawa
jika dia katakan yang dia faham Ulyssesnya si James Joyce, itu
hanyalah kerana mahu kelihatan cerdik. Tanyakan kalau-kalau
dia suka Alice, atau jika dia mahu menjadi Alice.

Alangkah senang bercinta dengan perempuan yang membaca.
Hadiahkan dia buku pada hari jadinya, pada Hari Natal dan pada
setiap ulangtahun. Hadiahkan padanya hadiah kata-kata, dalam
puisi, dalam lagu. Berikan dia Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings.
Biar dia mengerti bahawa kau memahami yang kata-kata itu adalah
cinta. Fahamilah yang dia sememangnya tahu beza antara dunia
buku dan realiti, walau dia bersungguh juga mahu bikin hidupnya
seakan buku yang paling dia suka. Bukan salah kau kalaupun dia
mencuba begitu.

Apa cara pun, dia mesti akan perlu mencuba juga.

Berbohonglah padanya. Jika dia memahami sintaks, dia akan
faham keperluan kau untuk berbohong. Di balik kata-kata ada
perkara-perkara lain: motivasi, nilai, nuansa, dialog. Tidak akan
kiamat lagi dunia, kalau kau bohong padanya.

Kecewakan dia dengan kegagalan. Kerana perempuan yang
membaca tahu bahawa kegagalan selalunya membawa kepada
klimaks jalan cerita. Kerana perempuan yang membaca faham
bahawa tidak semua perkara berakhir begitu sahaja. Masih boleh
ditulis sekuelnya. Masih boleh mula semula, lagi dan lagi, dan
masih boleh jadi hero. Dia faham bahawa dalam hidup, mesti ada
satu dua watak jahat.

Kenapa takutkan segala yang bukan kau? Perempuan yang membaca
memahami bahawa manusia, sama juga seperti watak dalam buku, berkembang.
Kecuali dalam siri Twilight.

Kalau kau ketemu perempuan yang membaca, janganlah dibiar
pergi jauh. Bila kau ketemu dia di tengah malam jam dua pagi
sedang memeluk buku ke dadanya dan menangis, buatkanlah dia
secawan teh dan peluk dia rapat-rapat. Kau mungkin kehilangan
dia untuk seketika, tetapi dia tetap akan kembali pada kau.
Dia akan berbicara seolah watak di dalam buku itu hidup, kerana
untuk satu ketika, watak-watak itu benar-benar hidup.

Kau akan melamarnya di atas belon udara panas. Atau ketika
konsert rock. Atau secara bersahaja bila dia jatuh sakit.
Atau melalui Skype.

Kau akan tersenyum sampai telinga dan tertanya-tanya kenapa
jantung kau masih belum meletup keluar dari rongga dada.
Kau akan menulis kisah hidup kau berdua, punya anak-anak dengan
nama pelik-pelik dan selera yang bukan-bukan. Dia akan perkenalkan
anak kau kepada Cat in the Hat dan Aslan, barangkali pada hari yang
sama. Kau akan berjalan di musim salji bersamanya bila sudah
berusia nanti, dan dia akan bacakan Keats dengan nada lembut
sambil kau ketis salji dari kasut.

Cintailah perempuan yang membaca kerana kau berhak. Kau berhak
untuk dapat seorang perempuan yang boleh memberi kau kehidupan
penuh warna. Kalau kau hanya sugul, membosankan
dan tidak serius, adalah lebih baik kau bersendirian.
Kalau kau mahukan dunia, dan
dunia-dunia di sebaliknya,
cintailah perempuan yang membaca.

Atau lebih baik, cintailah perempuan yang menulis.

My Love For Books

Assalamualaikum and good evening guys!

I am so sorry about the last time I updated this blog. Life is not easy huh?
I failed to wish my readers for Eid Ul Fitr and yet I am also failing in the attempt to wish you guys for Eid Ul Adha. I just can't keep my promise nowadays. Been busy with so much obstacles in life.

I've been living my life for a while. Reminiscing the good old days, when I was young. Someone told be it is pathetic to hold on old memories and the reason people hold on to their old memories are because, their present life are full of craps or whatsoever.

Hahaha. Well, I do find it is true somehow. *pity me*

It is not like my present life is full or craps, but I miss the old me I guess. The 'nerdy' girl who loves to read. Yeahhh, what else can I do in the past, when I was controlled by my aunt and her daughters. They were not 'controlling' me actually. I did think they were messing with my life but when I get older like now, I actually understands that was the good thing to do and I thank them for doing that to me.

I was banned to watch TV's on school days so the only entertainment I got was books. A shelf full of books. So I guess that is how I developed my love for books! *smiling*

I was a librarian in elementary school and I love to be surrounded by books. Fictions mostly. Since it is hard to ask for books supply from my parents, (books can get quite pricey to us back then) so I just stick with the library option. Right until secondary school until I met someone who also loves to read and willing to let me borrow some of hers. I randomly think about her when I read. *sounds weird but I am thankful to her I guess*

Norlina Deli, I you ever read this. Thank you for those years of book supplies. I wonder where are you now. I am back being a bibliophile now and most in my circle doesn't have the same interest as me. How stressfull! I can't comment or randomly talk about them.

I am still alive.

Assalamualaikum.

5 months going M.I.A 
but now I'm back. Been busy with my internship. A lot had been going in and out. Seriously like A LOT. I think I might just let them slip this time sebab I am too lazy to update or shorten them. Dah basi weyh. hahaha.

5 months. seems like a long period of time, but it is short actually. Still can't believe next coming September is my final semester. Final semester for my degree. Yup, degree holder for Landscape Architecture. 

I do not want to end my student life. What should I do? 

The time will come even when you said you're not ready. 

Time waits for no man. Either you be prepared or you'll be sorry.

3 days left before Raya is coming. Ramadhan is leaving but still, *sigh.  3 days. Let's do everything a normal young woman can do in Ramadhan. I am not going to wish everyone 'Selamat Hari Raya' since there are still 3 days left. 

Why do I sound so sad? 

Fudgy Chocolate Brownie

Assalamualaikum guys,

It's been way too long since I last wrote here. Forgive me will ya?

A semester has passed and I am not so happy with the result. Why? Because I am sure that I can do better. The results are just fine. It is better that last semester though but my cgpa dropped by 0.01 from last semester. Still sad about it. Most of the people congratulate me and said that "you've done well what." 

But I am never satisfied. Aku ni tergolong dalam kalangan orang-orang yang tak bersyukur ke? Aku bersyukur la dengan apa yang aku dapat tu. But..what if I say I know I can do better than that?

Whatever, benda dah lepas. Salah sendiri. Sem lepas memang macam malas sikit. HAHAHA
Sampai habis sem, planner tu tak pernah organized. So, to cure my sorrow, I eat a lot of happy food which are somehow not healthy. Chocolate do make you healthy at some point;

Seems yummy eh?

I've lost the template of my watermark for this blog, so no watermark for the pictures. I've try this a few times and it is now my favorite recipe. My family loves this too. Lets take a look at the recipe then.

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup salted butter
228 gram chocolate chips/ chopped chocolate *I'm using cooking chocolate*
3/4 cup sugar *skipped this as cooking chocolate is already sweet*
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour (80 grams)
2 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence

*a little note here. For those who prefer a less fudgy or cake textured brownie like me; you should add in 1-1 and 1/2 tsp of baking powder.

Toppings:

Chocolate chips
Almond flakes
(or anything else you prefer)

Directions

Melt the butter and chopped chocolate about 5 minutes using the double boiler method.
Remove it from heat and leave it to cool.
Whisk the sugar with the cooled chocolate-butter mixture. Add eggs. Whisk in vanilla essence.
Gently fold in flour, cocoa powder and salt.
Fold in chocolate chips and almond flakes.
Preheat the oven first for 10 minutes.
Pour batter into the baking tin.
Sprinkle some of the chocolate chips and almond flakes and bake it for 30-45 minutes with 175 degree Celsius.

Tadaaa! Ready to be baked. 

If you don't have the baking paper like I use here, you can always use traditional method by coating the baking tin with butter/margarine. 

That is all. Thank you for reading.