Exploring Eckhart Weekend

Call it revenge of detoxified tastebuds . As I was convinced and inspired with the new detoxified well being, an encounter with an aunty who brought the past to the present, tossing the known reality to yours truly has thrown my psyche completely off balanced.

In retrospect as I drove away from the middle section of this wondercity I call home that day, wondering; I could not help thinking what seemed like a harmless question was in many ways also to affirm a fact and gaunge my reaction. Unfortunately and unexpectedly for me this minor encounter has completely affected me in less than lovely ways for more than two weeks. :(

A business trip to the east coast; the hours spent in the usual mid year east coast heat - waiting in futile for my nemisis to form skin and its feet; followed by a bout of flu and wrongly prescribed medications; I am extremely glad that the bad is slowly going away, thanks to God's will of allowing me to explore and showing me the many ways and outlets of cooling it off and letting it settled.

My saviour-nonplanned-I-go-wherever-my feet-takes-detachment escapades have taken me to: the knees at halo; local Japan, local Spain, local street of one decadent gem full of sweet treats, ageing the whites for beloved 'nemisis', using the leftover yolks for one sweet sandwich; mixing semolina for a tangy buttery bundt; forcing the mind to complete THAT RUN non-stop; and ultimately to an 'encounter' with Mr. Eckhart with his take on health and life - running, surfing, photography, horses, the outdoors, going out to get what he wants, and creating a life that he wants to live... Sweet :)

My fear of a repeated experience and my concern on how it is still affecting me remains at large, but I am glad and grateful that He had metaforically brought No Reservations' Mr. Eckhart through my recently viewed pages over past weekend.

Sweet Sandwich Of Creamy Coffee

One perfect recipe of a butter cake, strong medium roast espresso by Illy, snowlike powder sugar and creamy butter. These are the words to describe this sandwich of a dessert.

I was left with six yolks from my experiment with the "Nemisis" using the French meringue method. With yolks to use, I decided to go back to Rose for her recipe of All-Occasion Downy Yellow Cake which I took from her award winning book published in 1988. The cake is light and yet buttery and it goes well with any type of frosting.

Espresso Butter Frosting
1 cup butter
4 cups icing sugar sifted
2 T espresso
1 teaspoon coffee extract

On slow speed, beat butter till creamy. Add icing sugar little by little. Add the espresso and continue to mix till creamy consistency is achieved.

One thing that still amazes me is how with a slight change of ratio of butter, flour, eggs and sugar; one can get a different variety of butter cakes. I have a weakness for butter cakes. It always brings me back to the younger days where my mom would bake a loaf of her delicious yellow cake for tea or for the weekend. The smell of sweet butter vanilla scented treat would linger in the kitchen for hours.

For this treat, I decided to try a mixture of coffee creamy frosting, and sprinkle it with silver beads of regular and mini sizes to create what is my tribute to Jenn A. Dior dress to the Golden Globes in 2003. A perfect excuse to finish the beady sprinkles and yolk in the house :)

Detox Like A Champion

I decided to detox. It is necessary. I decided end of last month that I would do it starting 1st June 2008 for 21 days. I figured it would be easier to track in terms of the number of days.

The decision to detox came much earlier than how I would do it. So, just a day before I started to detox, I searched the internet on different methods and explanations. There's Dr. Joshi. Gwenyth made him famous as he made Gwenyth look like not only like the old slim healthy Gwenyth but even better Gwenyth! Then, there is Weight Watcher's Detox programme.

The glaring difference between the two; WWD allows all type of fruits and does not allow eggs; whilst DJ allows eggs, no fruit except for bananas. Both advocates drinking at least 2 litres of water and eating plenty of green vegetables. Both disallow red meat, dairy and hard cheeses, fried food, wheat and whole wheat products, added sugar, sweets, alcohol, carbonated drinks, chocolates. Joshi's book can sometime be confusing as I felt that he didn't fully explain certain concept thoroughly but it seem to work for a lot of people. I will follow Joshi but for first few days will be a mix of Joshi and WWD. (because I have couple of apples and grapes in the fridge which I don't want to throw them away)

Why 21 days? Well, I read somewhere, if you could do it for 21 days you could probably be rid of the bad habits for good and reinstate or reset your taste pallet. Hmm, not that I want to kick out Ribena and Cupcakes. :) I hope 21 days detox will reset my pallet, make my liver cleaner, my metabolism higher that the choo-choo trained speed it is now in burning away energy, better skin, lighter weight than my now whopping 70kg - so that I can run again, hence gives me more energy.

I will be detoxfying like a champion and I will be updating this same blog for next 21 days. Hopefully, I can gain an insight of what works and what doesn't - for future reference. I hope to find something that I can easily when I need to; and I can't completely live without latte, the occasional cupcakes and macaron, red meat and ribena. ;)

DAY 1 - Sunday 1st June 2008

After a night of good food at OPUS Bistro; I am all psyched to detox without much reference or reading. I started the day with a 7km brisk walk around KLCC park; had nice breakfast at Chinoz (minus the usual coffee and latte) followed by lunch and dinner at home. I drank 1 litre of water.

Start: Water no lemon
Breakfast: Japanese Prawn Udon** with Wakame, Pineapple, Carrot, Banana Smoothie**
Lunch: 1 cup rice with mom's singgang, green salad and 3 glasses of ribena**
Dinner: 220 gm grilled honet chicken breast, 10 French string beans, and mixed green salad
Snack: 2/3 cups pistachios**

Water: 1 litre (Half of required)
Exercise: Brisk walk alternate with jogging
Feels: Good

Overall I feel fine. Only later I realised that what I had today needed further refining as some of the food I had is forbidden food in the world of detox. ;) I found out on 2nd day that those with stars** are NOT detox food.


Monday 2nd June 2008

Second day of detox and first day at work for detox. I didn't have breakfast at the time that I usually do - ie 830am. I had plenty of warm water and a banana around 10 am. I felt a bit famish around 930am. But, throughout the day I felt fine. Today is a rest day, so no jogging or brisk walking. I was delightfully surprise that Phyp decided to detox and asked me how it has been so far.

Start: Water no lemon
Breakfast: 1 Banana
Lunch: 1 cups of white rice, ikan kembung (indian mackerel) assam pedas, string beans at Level 4 .
Dinner: 1 cup cooked quinoa, 1/2 can mackerel in brine, Baby Spinach, French string beans
Snack: 5 pistachios*

Water: 2.5 litre*
Exercise: Rest day
Feels: Ok to good

It is also today that I had started to drink hot water with some lemon. Toilet stops before noon... more than 3. I read that frequent toilet stops is good as our urine releases some of the toxins that exists in our body.


Tuesday 3rd June 2008

I know today is going to be a challenge. I woke up with a text message from Vicky to see if I am free to do lunch at the Thai restaurant that I had promised to take her to. Celeste and the maid Kak Ida will join us. I could not say no because of two good reasons. 1. I had postponed on Vicky due to my travels more than twice! 2. Vicky is 6 months pregnant with her second and I will not be able to see her as often when the new baby arrives. So, I had planned the day's meal around what I had at lunch. I started the day with hot water with lemon. 1 drank 3 litres of water today. Frequent stop to the toilet like the day before and also during the night. I planned to walk and jog but by 3pm it started to rain - I started to feel lazy and decided to go home instead. But at 5pm, the rain stopped and Suzen had dragged me into my exercise attire and onto the park. I did four (4) rounds of brisk walk mix jogging. I felt that it was extra difficult for me to do this today... the taste of lime, garlic and heaty chilli I had at lunch constantly crept up at the base of my throat. Extra huffing and puffing.

Start: A mug of hot water with some lemon
Breakfast: 1 cup quaker oatmeal made with hotwater and 1 Banana
Lunch: 2 cups of white rice, half of Siakap (Baramundi) w. lime, chilli & garlic, 2 Fresh Vietnamese Rice Rolls
Dinner: 2/3 cup cooked quinoa, 1/2 cup Siakap fillet from lunch, Baby Spinach, Rocket
Snack: 1 cup of shelled salted pistachios*

Water: 3.0 litre *
Exercise: Brisk walk
Feels: Tired, anxious and very sleepy after lunch.

Again, I crave for something salty tonight, so its nuts tonight... I had some pistachios. It is salted pistachios, which is a no-no in the detox world. So between dinner and bed time; I had about 1 litre of water. This did not help my sleep later. Also one news today, Nad is detoxing too. :)

Wednesday 4th June 2008

I woke up feeling very sleepy and tired (i strongly believe it is because of the interupted sleep i had due to frequent toilet calls during the night) but today is going to be a good day. Though I am fronted by another challenge. Elaine is in town and had asked to meet for lunch or dinner. I told her about the detox and we decided to go for Japanese (minus the soy sauce and sake in the rice). Up till lunch, I have drank about 1.5 litres of water. Today, despite the heavy meals I had yesterday, I can feel that my clothes is actally getting looser and that my skin looks clearer. Previous two days work is starting to show results. So that's a reason not to bail or fail out of this detox programme. Finishing up my apple in the fridge - one of Joshi's forbidden fruit.

Start: A mug of hot water with some lemon
Breakfast: 1 Banana and 1 Pacific Rose apple**
Lunch: 220g home grilled chicken breast, 2 cups mixed green salad and rocket leaves, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil dressing
Dinner: 2/3 cup white rice with cod fish, celeriac mash and julienne carrots and bell peppers
Snack: 1/4 cup almonds

Water: 3 litre
Exercise: Leisurely walk at lunch in Suria KLCC
Feels: Ok. A lot sleepy during wake up time and a little sleepy in the afternoon.

Comparing how I feel today to yesterday at mid afternoon; I feel better today than yesterday. The busy work plus a bout of spring cleaning (Oprah's advise on throw a couple of brown bags of office junks away) has kept me busy and my mind off detox and food.


Thursday 5th June 2008

Compared to last few days, today I don't feel tired or sleepy. I missed the starter hotwater and lemon but have so far (by lunch time) managed to drink plenty of water and avoid the food that I am supposed to stay away from. I am 1.2 kg less than I was last week and the weekend I was at south of the border, so that's great :). George came late afternoon. That explains the extra tiredness and cramps few days before. Had a conversation with Suzen at lunch who pointed out... "I thought chicken is bad for you?" :) I am with blood type B.

Start: Water
Breakfast: 2 cups peppermint tea, 2 t honey, 2 poached eggs, 1/2 slice of gluten free wheat free toast
Lunch: 218g Nando chicken breast, 2 cups mixed green salad and rocket leaves, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil dressing
Dinner: 1/2 cup cooked quinoa, 1/3 cup brown rice, 1/2 can of mackerel in brine, Mix green salad
Snack: 8 five inches of celery sticks, 1 banana and 1/4 cup almonds

Water: 3 litre
Exercise: 1 hr briskwalk and jog around KLCC Park
Feels: Good today, not sleepy, not tired.


Friday 6th June 2008

George decides to slow down. Almost noon. Feels good so far. It's a slow day at work. Our paymaster has the day off. I can't wait to get home later. So much to do. The weekend is just around the corner! :)

Start: Hot water with lemon
Breakfast: Banana and 1/3 cup almonds ( i wanted to have oatmeal but didn't have time to make it earlier)
Lunch: 3/4 cup brown rice, 1 cup garden salad and 2/3 can sardines in brine, olive oil and lemon
Dinner: 1 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup sugar snap peas, 1/2 can mackerel in brine, olive oil and lemon
Snack: 3 five inches of celery sticks, 1 banana

Water: 3 litre
Exercise: Msg, It's a rest day.
Feels: Good today, not sleepy, not tired. :)


Saturday 7th June 2008

Today is liver flush day. :) Why flushing the liver? Well, the good doctor said it is to improve liver function by stimulating the elimination of toxins and waste products from the body. Also to purify the blood and lymphatic system. I have forgotten how I did it the last time so today, I am just going to go with the flow in terms of what to eat. Or do I eat at all when I am doing liver flush? I can't seem to remember. One thing for certain that I know, is that when you do liver flush drink, you lie down after that and move before you take them. So, as planned this morning I went for my walk slash jog at KLCC park. I am about to take my liver flush drink, so... salut!

Start: Water
Brunch: Liver Flush Drink as per concocted by Dr. Joshi 300 ml of grapefruit and lemon juice squeezed out their cocoon, mix with 200 ml drinking water, 2 grated garlic gloves and 1 inch ginger root and 2 Tbs cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
Dinner: 1.25 cups brown rice, 1 cup of steamed long beans and sugar snap peas, 2/3 can of sardines, lemon juice and olive oil
Snack: 1 Banana, 5 oz plain yogurt with 1 teas honey.

Water: 2.5 litre
Exercise: 5 rounds of the park. 4 parts walk, 1 part jog.
Feels: As experienced before, after taking liver flush drink I would feel for couple of hours... giddy. woo woo.


Sunday 8th June 2008

Today marks a week of my detox program. After a week, I think the detox is working. My pants is slightly loose and most significant change I notice is that my skin is clearer and that my pores are less visible. I am less bloated than before starting this programme. The fact that I really wanted to do this has helped me last one week. I managed to stay away from most of the detox don'ts. Not all, but most. As for cravings, I don't crave for the things I love that much past week. The only thing I crave for was something salty. I succumbed to a handful of salted pistachios and almonds, but managed to keep it at a minimum. I didn't go overboard and I up my water intake subsequently.

Start: Hot water and lemon juice
Breakfast: Plain yogurt with honey and 1 banana
Lunch: Sushi and drinks at Yo! Sushi. (I avoided soy sauce)
Dinner: Poached salmon with 1 cup of basmati brown rice, string beans, sspeas and olive oil with lemon
Snack: None today

Water: 3 litre
Exercise: Leisure Walk
Feels: Good.


Monday 9th June 2008

A bit sleepy at wake up time, but generally feels good. I am keeping my hunger pangs and cravings with a bag of celery today. Woke up this morning to make home made packed lunch. I suspect my 8.30 am o'clock punch in will be prevailing throughout my detox program.

Start: Hot water and lemon juice
Breakfast: 5 oz plain yogurt with 1 teas of honey and 1 banana
Lunch: Poached salmon, 3/4 cup of basmati brown rice, green and yellow string beans with olive oil and lemon juice
Dinner: 1/2 cup of basmati brown rice, 1/3 can of sardines in brine, aragula, lemon juice and sambal belacan and 3 oz yogurt with 3/4 T honey for dessert.
Snack: 20 three inch-cut Celery sticks, 17 almonds

Water: 3.5 litre
Exercise: 1 hr at KLCC park. 3 round brisk walk, 1 round jog.
Feels: Overall good but could be better.

I didn't enough energy for the exercise. I wanted to do 5 rounds. Or could it be psychology as I had run in stretch work pants instead of stretch running pants? I thought I had put in the right one in the bag in the morning. Must double check next time. ;)


Tuesday 10th June 2008

A bit sleepy at wake up time, but generally feels ok.

Start: Hot water and lemon juice
Breakfast: 1 cup of quaker oatmeal with 1 T honey
Lunch: Asparagus egg wrap (made fr. 2 eggs), olive oil, asparagus with side serving of green & yellow string beans and lemon juice
Dinner: 1/2 cup brown rice with fresh ginger, 12 mini asparagus spears steamed, olive oil, 1/3 can sardines in brine, & leek soup.
Snack: 20 three inch-cut Celery sticks, 8 pistachios, 1 banana in the afternoon.

Water: 3.2 litre
Exercise: Msg. Rest day.
Feels: Hmm...not too bad, but face feels a bit dry and have a bit of headache in the afternoon.


Wednesday, 11th June 2008

Woke up ok. Left home 645am and didn't have breakfast till about 8am. Mighty mighty hungry this morning.

Start: Hot water and lime juice
Breakfast: 2 eggs soft boiled with pepper and dash of soy sauce, 2 cups of ginger tea, 5 almonds
Lunch: 1 cup brown rice with fresh ginger, celery and 2/3 can sardines in brine, olive oil & lemon juice
Dinner: No appetite. 1 banana and unsweetend organic cranberry juice mix with water and 1 T honey.
Snack: 15 Almonds and 15 Pistachios.

Water: 3 litre
Exercise: Walk around the park. 4 rounds walk 1 round jog. It could have been a better walk. Point to remember... leave the office at the office and not to bring it on my walk!
Feels: Ok. Skin is a bit dry today. Hmm... Slather slather lots of moisturiser.

Thursday, 12th June 2008

I am halfway into the programme. Peter C asked me yesterday, what do you do on the 22nd day?... My reply was...party party party!!! :) Hmm.. my biggest challenge is that I love food too much! and when I do like something, second helping is my friend. Must try to work the brain differently.

Start: Hot water and lime juice
Breakfast: 1 banana, 5 almonds
Lunch: Mystery Lunch at MO
Dinner: 3/4 cup quinoa, 1/2 can mackerel, olive oil and lemon juice with side serving of garden salad, 1 cup dutch lady plain yogurt with 3/4 t honey
Snack: 15 almonds, 1 banana

Water: 3.2 litre
Exercise: Rest day.
Feels: Sleepy sleepy late afternoon. Skin still feel unusually dry.

The mystery lunch turns out to be business lunch and we had Japanese at MO. I ordered grilled salmon with side serving of steamed vegetable and miso soup. Had 3 pieces of sashimi and some edamame with the group. I avoided the soy but had miso. All salty fermented goodness. So that is a strike in Joshi's book. So later, its a tupperwarefull of water. Hope that does the deed and I am back neutral again. :)


Friday, 13th June 2008

Hmm. Ok yesterday, I was salt overload. Notice the bloat which I would not have if I was not in my 12th day of detox. I did some housework yesterday. Not sure if I am now super sensitive to household detergent, but I woke up with plenty of body ache. That however, went away by 8am today. Feels alert! Will this stay till end of the day...shall see... ;)

Start: Hot water and lime juice
Breakfast: 1 banana
Lunch: 3/4 cup quinoa, 1/2 can mackerel, olive oil, 1 birds eye chili, lemon juice, side serving of garden salad & petai.
Dinner:
Snack:

Water: 3 litre
Exercise: Rest day.
Feels: Ok, not tired though skin is a bit dry.


Saturday, 14th June 2008

It's a Saturday. Synonymous with the day when if I was not on detox, I would eat everything in whatever amount. Today is the day I start to feel 21 days is a lonngg time. I longed to go to the Lake Garden. The last time I was there the lake was empty for construction. I can't remember when that was. Probably Feb, even late January. That how long it has been that I have not been exercising.

Start: Water with no lemon... I was rushing to the lake
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/4 melba toast and 3 cups camomile tea with 1 T honey
Lunch: Grilled salmon with beans and carrots, and drinks
Late afternoon and early evening Snack: 1 plate salmon sushi, 1 plate salmon sashimi, 1 plate p maki and 2 plates Edamame.
'
Water: 2.5 litre
Exercise: One and half hour of brisk walk, jog and stairclimb at The Lake Gardens.
Feels: Good.


Sunday, 15th June 2008

It's been two weeks since I started the detox. Unlike last week when I did the assessment on Saturday and the Liver Flush drink on a Saturday, I decided to do it on Sunday with the plan to stay at home all day and rest. :) I had the drink around lunch time after I got home from my run and groceries. Did some simple light breathing exerise and napped after taking the drink. Unlike last week week, this week, the Liver Flush has made me feel a bit nauseaus as I work up. Luckily I had some Lemongrass teabags. Popped a kettle and had two cups with some honey. The nausea dissapeared. :)

Start: Water
Breakfast: 2 bananas
Lunch: Liver Flush Drink as per concocted by Dr. Joshi 300 ml of grapefruit and lemon juice squeezed out their cocoon, mix with 200 ml drinking water, 2 grated garlic gloves and 1 inch ginger root and 2 Tbs cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
Dinner: 6 oz grilled cod with lemon slices and thyme, 1/2 cup each of steamed cauliflower, brocolli, yellow string beans and 3/4 of brown rice cooked with olive oil, ginger and chopped white onions
Snack: None today.

Water: 3 litre
Exercise: 1 and 20 min of 3 rounds of stair climbing, jog and briskwalking at The Lake Garden.
Feels: Good except for the nausea after my Liver Flush drink.

Cravings cravings cravings. Big craving day today. Crunchy Hawaiin styled muesli with fruit, nuts and oats clusters. Groceries today was time spent checking out labels of wheat free and gluten free muesli. I found a couple but they were all either or; not both. (Must check the books on how Jamie and Nigella did his /her own home made muesli, perhaps when on maintenance later, I can create something that is both detox and type-b friendly). Left the aisle with a reminder that I have less than a week to go and the good plain oat is waiting for me at home. ;)

Monday, 16th June 2008

Decided to finish my unsweetened Cranberry Juice that I still have in the fridge by making 'The Fat Flush' drink. Adding the flaxseed. I know, I know no other fruit other than banana. But, Joshi has also devise the Liver Flush drink which uses Grapefruit!.. :) Keeping my fingers crossed that the alkaline state is still attainable. :)

Start: Hot water with lemon
Breakfast: The Fat Flush Drink, 1 banana and 1 cup of plain yogurt
Lunch: 6 oz grilled cod with lemon slices and thyme, 1.5 cups of fresh watercress, 3/4 of brown rice cooked with olive oil, ginger and chopped white onions
Dinner: 1/3 can of Mackerel in brine with steamed brocolli and cauliflower, 1 t. olive oil.
Snack: The Fat Flush Drink

Water: 2.2 litre
Exercise: Rest Day
Feels: Good

Tuesday, 17th June 2008

I shouldn't rush through breakfast today, but I did. Nothing happened but I could have enjoyed it more eating slowly. I was late for work. A rare occasion but it happens occasionally. So, no hot water with lemon as the starter drink. Note that yesterday's lunch was good. I wasn't sleepy in the late afternoon and it lasted me way thru dinner time. Very late dinner time at 1am. I was tired. Fell asleep immediately after getting home from work.

Start: Water
Breakfast: 1 banana and 1 cup of plain yogurt with honey
Lunch: 6 oz grilled salmon with lemon slices , 1 green salad mix, 1 cup of brown rice cooked with olive oil, ginger and chopped white onions
Dinner: 6 oz poached salmon, ginger, sprinkling of flaxseed, 1/2 cup each of brocolli and cauliflower, 5 small asparagus spears, 1 t extra virgin olive oil
Snack: 1 banana

Water: 2.8 litre
Exercise: Msg. Mopped floor
Feels: Ok. It's been a busy day.


Wednesday, 18th June 2008

I'm out of lemon.

Start: Very warm water
Breakfast: 3/4 cup oatmeal made with water and 1 t honey, 2.5 cups ginger tea with 2 t honey
Lunch: 6 oz poached salmon, 1 green salad mix, 3/4 cup of brown rice cooked with 1/2 T olive oil, ginger and chopped white onions
Dinner: Hot Peas and Celery Soup! (Peas, Celery, Ginger, Garlic, White Onions, and Thyme)
Snack: 2 bananas, 10 pistachios

Water: 2.5 litre
Exercise: Brisk walk around KLCC Park (If it doesn't rain)
Feels: Good.

It rained so no exercise today. I just feel like soup for dinner. I went to buy a new immersion blender to replace my 15 year old blender which was recently busted. A Phillips. Soup was made by mixing the chopped veg with some mineral water, brought to a boiling point and then left simmered in low heat for 10 minutes. A pinch of salt. Then, I blended the vegetable soup to get a smooth thick soup. I was happy with it. Tasted nice. :)

Thursday, 19th June 2008

I have lemons today so it is back to the hot water and lemon juice drink. I am thinking about cravings. Mine is not that bad. If there I was to list down food that I craved and couldn't wait to have, then its latte, beef and ribena.

Start: Hot water with lemon juice.
Breakfast: 3/4 serving yogurt with 1/2 T honey, 1 banana
Lunch: Lemon Sole bathed in Hot Peas and Celery Soup, Lemon juice and steamed asparagus and carrots.
Dinner: Lemon Sole with thyme, steamed asparagus, green string beans, 1/2 T olive oil, & lemon juice.
Snack: 1 banana, 20 almonds, 2 mug of Lemongrass tea (so nice), 1 glass S water.

Water: 2.5 litre
Exercise: Brisk walk around KLCC Park (If it doesn't rain)
Feels: Good.

Friday, 20th June 2008

I am travelling to Kuantan today, so its rush rush. Mak is supportive of my detox and she promised that she won't tempt me with home cooked meal... not at least until tomorrow night. :) My skin is less dry this week.

Start: Hot water with lemon juice.
Breakfast: 1 banana, 20 almonds, 2 mugs lemongrass tea
Lunch: 1/2 cup brown rice, steamed green string beans and carrots with olive oil & lemon juice.
Dinner: 1 cup rice with carp fish Singgang, 1 cup salad greens and few petais
Snack: 2 bananas

Water: 2.5 litre
Exercise: Travelling day
Feels: Good.

Saturday, 21st June 2008

At last, last day of my detox programme. Sunday was "Hari Raya" :)

Start: Hot water with lime juice.
Breakfast: Quails eggs and Rice noodle spicy soup
Lunch: 1 banana
Dinner: 1 cup rice with carp fish Singgang, 1 cup salad greens and few petais
Snack: 2 bananas, Singgang soup

Water: 2.5 litre
Exercise: Rest day
Feels: Great!

SUMMARY:

I made it through this detoxifying programme! All in all, it was not that bad except on Day 15 when suddenly I felt 21 days is quite a long time but it went away the next day. It was overall not bad because this is probably because I really wanted to do it. No force. I managed to stay away from the Don'ts and stay with the Do's. There were cravings but it was manageable. There was very little terrible withdrawal symtoms. I didn't experience any headaches. However, there was one side effect which I have experienced but I have never seen reported. I was very very sleepy for almost 3/4 quarter of the way. These are the outcomes:

1. Well Being: Not tired, not hungry but very very Sleepy! from the 1st day for over 10 days

2. Nature Call: Small calls - On average at least 10 times per day; Big calls- On average only 3-4 times per week. ;)

3. Skin: My largest organ the Skin, is clearer than before I start the programme, my pores are visibly smaller. It did went through a few days of extreme dryness. I am still not exactly sure why.

4. Food: I have developed the love for yogurt, brown rice and bananas. I have rekindled with the food that I have forgotten and reintroduce them into my kitchen. (Quinoa & Oats)

5. Weight Lost: 5 KGs in total :).

Orange Scented Bundt Blossom

We here are lucky because orange are always in abundance regardless of what time of the year we are in. I have been craving for a real good orange pound cake lately. My exploration into my little corner library has taken me into the depth of about seven to eight baking books. All that was found on orange and a pound look good and I decided on one.

I went and bought the ingredients at the local groceries; but only to stumble upon a great new book titled Mix and Bake by Belinda Jeffery at the local book store which I have to drop by each time I am on my way home. One of the bookstore lady and I started to chat about the current local news and the subject, as always, turned into ‘Which cookbook today?’

The tale of my orange pound cake cravings was imparted and she immediately recommended that I explore Mix and Bake as she has heard good reviews of it from several customers. As it was like how things were meant to be, a big bold orange cake caught my eye and it was aptly regarded as one of the author’s favourite; and that I can now confess that it is indeed could become true to any baker and in yours truly case – The Most Beautiful Orange Cake In The World.

I had also wanted to treat Pip and the girls at the office with something girly and different. The end result was a Bundt cake with drops of 18 pink ribbons and pink flower blossom as the center piece. The cake was taken to the office and tied with plenty of locally bought charms. The rituals of what usually done at bridal showers was celebrated for a birthday or in our case, October Girl Birthdays.

With the pink ribbons pulled, each charm took away with it crumbs of this delightful velvety and bold orange cake. Off we all went with our charms, together with the scent wonderful citrusy slice each individually packed in a round Tupperware for what would be and hopefully a heady, heavenly sweet experience at the end of day break of Ramadhan’s fast.

Cupcakes

I experiment, I bake, I decorate, I buy, I blog and I eat cupcakes. Friends had asked me why cupcakes?

Simply the reason being, because I love cupcakes. The cakes; the perfect frosting; from silky smooth ones such as seven minute icing to creamy gritty, the light and sweet Royal icing; and the sweet American buttercream icing. My favorite-can't-resist flavour has to be pound cake cupcake with pink american buttercream frosting. This is followed closely by red velvet cupcakes topped with light pink american butter icing; and chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate american butter icing or peanut butter frosting. That's my top three, tho, there is no telling that I would not resist any other combinations.

My passion for cupcakes cultivated not just recently, but when I was young. My first memory of cupcakes was at my grandmother's home when during Eid she would, along with the house longtime help, Mak Yoh baked a batch of pound cake cupcakes. Back then, it was simple. The only adornment used was half cut red marachino cherries, placed in the center of the unbaked cupcakes. This became a tradition in the household when every year, during both Eids, we would have cupcakes. The simple recipe was passed on to my mother.

I have to give credit to SATC for making cupcakes the craze it is today. In one of the episodes; Amanda and Carrie sat outside on a bench in front of a bakery in NYC deliciously eating a delicious looking pink citrus coloured cupcakes. It made the bakery a must-visit for cupcake fans when in New York. That bakery was Magnolia Bakery. The bakery and how it started made headlines across the media and the internet. The owners Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torey who started the bakery and wrote a book together, but have since went their separate ways. With one of them setting another bakery of her own named The Buttercup Bakeshop, also in New York City.

During my visit to London in Spring of 2006, I came across a bakery in Portobello market area of Nottinghill. To my greatest delight they sell cupcakes. The bakery, has about 5 delicious flavours and some seasonal ones. I opted for red velvet with cream cheese frosting; while my beloved partner then decided to go for lovely chocolate with white frosting (and was the first to ask, how much calorie do you think this is?) :)

Over the years, I bought and now own 90% of cupcake books printed and sold on Amazon and Kinokuniya. Haha... what a way to spend my money :) I have tried at least one recipe from each. Each one of these books have been my source for inspiration to not only bake new cupcakes but also for me to create new combination of flavours.

I started blogging on cupcakes. The list of bloggers are endless. My favorite is Chokylit's Cupcake Bake Shop. The rest are as inspiring and they came from many different locales, mostly from the US. We have since established contact with other thru emails. I went down to Singapore to attend one of the cupcake workshop conducted by one of the bloggers. We share tips, recipes and stories. It's positively crazy out there. We are nutty bunch who are just nuts about cupcakes.














Cupcake Blogs














Cupcake Businesses














My Cupcake Photos














Some of my cupcake books

My first search on cupcake in the internet was for the the bakery I visited in the queen's city. The next search has taken me to Sprinkles Cupcakes. A business was started by two investment bankers who due to the dot com doom, decided to explore pastry baking and went into cupcakes. My research on cupcakes has virtually taken me to over 50 different cupcake businesses around the world. Virtually. I have to give credit to the writers of Cupcakes Take The Cake for contributing to that increase of that number, because their blog is different. No recipes. They had uniquely created a space for cupcake bakers and enthisiasts to share their experience, photos, and establishments.

My baking and exploration of cupcakes continues. I tested few family cake recipes and turned them into cupcakes. One had asked, don't you get tired or bored? Sure, I get tired but never bored. Cupcake baking is slightly different from cake in which the earlier would require you to scoop and drop the batter into the paper case - a task which takes slightly longer from baking a cake.

I bake cupcakes for others, I would also order and buy when I feel like having others, too tired from my day job and don't feel like baking. We have many cupcake home businesses. I have not tried all of them but my favorite has to be Abrina's (Section 16); Bijou (Mont Kiara) and Marmalade (Mont Kiara). Tinkerbell Cupcakes will become BIG. Delicious Cafe by Ms. Read (Bangsar Village 2) make fine no frills cute and simple royal icing cupcakes. Chinoz (KLCC) should improve theirs while Heistand Bakery(Bangsar Village) should stop selling them until they definitely improve. Though I have not tried, I admire work done by Cuppacakes, My Vanilla Pod and So Sweet Pliz. They make beautiful cupcakes.

Wish me well on a cupcake dream.

Hello Tinkerbell Cupcakes 07.07.07

Original fairy cake bakery, offering more than eighteen different flavours, visit http://www.tinkerbellcupcakes.com/ for details ;)

A Kiss And A Hug

The kiss and the hug. The eyes closed. The pout. The hair. The hands. The arms that closely wrapped the body. The smiles. The co-stars. The background colour. I just love these two pictures. Everything about them. One of the best unedible food in my bistro.