August 29, 2008
We are off this evening! Our flight is at 4.30pm and it’s taking us to England!
Places that we’ll be at in England are Surrey, Oxford, Milton Keynes, and Brighton
We they fly to Dalaman. Where? Turkey! We are visiting Adam’s dad who lives in Turkey.
So don’t miss me too much when I am gone. I will be posting photos of the trip on FB when I get home.
Take care people. Selamat Hari Merdeka to the Malaysians!
August 28, 2008
Yup! My first ticket in the US.
Last Friday after a pool party at my apartment, Adam, myself and some friends decided to go to a club Downtown. At around 10.30pm we left for Downtown. 1 street before I get to my destination, a police officer on a horse approached my car, asked me to wind down my window and told me to park by the side.
I made 3 traffic violations!
Violation #1 – State Inspection sticker has expired.
In the US you have to send your car for a state inspection annually to make sure your vehicle is safe on the road. My sticker has expired 4 months. 
Violation #2 – Address on driver’s license not updated
You are supposed to change the address on your license if you move to a new address. We have moved to this place for about 2 years now and my license still have the old address on.
Violation #3 – do not have physical proof that the vehicle is insured.
I didn’t know we have to keep a copy of the car’s insurance in the car at all times. I didn’t have one to show the police officer. YIKES!
The officer gave me a ticket and told me I have to appear in court by the 24th of September. I have to ensure that I have corrected the above before I go to court.
I know, appear in court for minor violations is laughable don’t you think? So this week I went to get the state inspection done and changed the address on my driver’s license. Today I went to the court thinking I can show someone that I have done the necessary and that they will dismiss my citation.
I went to the information counter and told the lady what I was there for. She gave me a slip of paper and asked me to go to Court 7. I thought I was there to show someone my documents and then I can leave. I was wrong. I was actually in a real court.
I am not kidding. It’s a proper court with wooden benches. A judge is sitting right in front with the US and Texas flag behind him. There are 2 court clerks in there and a police officer.
Everyone has to sit at the right side of the court to have their ‘case’ heard. It then depends on what the judge’s sentence is and you can either contest the judgement or not. I was told to pay a $20 fine. That was easy.
To me going to court is for major stuff. I was in jeans, spaghetti strap tee and sandals. Not very formal for court hearings don’t you think?
This definately tops the list of Houston adventure. Not that I want to do it again but at least now I can tell people I was tried at a Houston court 
August 15, 2008
I went on my first sailing trip last Saturday. We have a friend here for work from England and asked us to join him and some friends on a day out sailing off Kemah into the Gulf of Mexico.
I had the opportunity to drive the boat! I was behind the wheel for at least half an hour. It was so fun! There isn’t any photos of me behind the wheel as Adam was busy drinking and serving drinks but here’s one of Adam.
Adam behind the wheel.
We were out for about 4 hours. Before we drove home, we stopped at Kemah Boardwalk for dinner.
View of the boardwalk and the sea from where we had dinner.
Sunset at Kemah.
It was a really nice day. I am now looking forward to more sailing in Turkey next month!
August 9, 2008
I baked again!!! This time I made a banana cake.
Why banana cake? We have over riped bananas at home and I feel bad throwing them out. So I thought of making them into something yummy. So here’s a shot of my cake.
My banana cake.
I have not made banana cakes before but have tasted many. I just know that my banana cake has to be moist and does not contain banana extract (I hate the smell of fake banana and the taste of it – yuck).
Moist-on-the-inside-no-banana-extract banana cake.
August 8, 2008
As promised in my previous post, this entry will be on Adam’s Stag do. Adam’s bestman (Martyn) planned a skiing/snowboarding trip to Avoriaz Morzine. This is their normal annual pilgrimage to the mountains but this year they have incorporated the stag-do. They stayed at Chalet Snowboard for a week of fun.
The guys at Chalet Snowboard in Avoriaz Morzine
The Super Heroes and The Clown.
Wolverine, Captain America, Batman & Robin were at our wedding.
August 7, 2008
I know I know… it’s way overdue. I only got the DVD with photos from Julie last week. When Adam was away on his Stag Week in the mountains of France (I will show some pic of that in another entry), my gfs and I had my Bachelorette Party in Houston.
Julie planned everything and I had no idea what we were doing the entire day. The instructions I got was
I later found out that I didn’t need to use all of the things I packed. It was just a trick to scare me.
The day started with a call from Julie at 10am telling me she’s at my apartment. I went down and saw her with Jayde and Lesley. She said she’s taking me somewhere… after 10 minutes of driving, we arrived at Hermann Park. To my relieve, we were going to have a little picnic with champagne. The weather that day was gorgeous! Alison met us at the park.
Me with my champagne at Hermann Park
After that we were off to Rice Village. I was a little worried that they might make me do something silly in Rice. We walked around and came to a spa. I was really touched that my friends actually planned a spa treatment for me! I had a Hydrobath and an hour’s body massage while the girls had mani and pedi, facials and some had massage. Austral met us at the spa.
After that I was taken back to Julie’s apartment and a few more friends joined us (Pooja, Beatriz and Cristiane). I didn’t know what was happening next until a lady appears at the doorstep with a suitcase. She’s there to teach us exotic dancing. Yes, we all learn how to give a lap dance. It’s bloody hard work and all of us were aching all over the next day.
Our instructor with her very high heels demonstrating a lap dance.
After the lesson, they made me wear a Frenchmaid costume and do a rendition of what we just learned. My ‘performance’ was taped. The video is safely kept, no one is going to view it EVER! Well, except for those who were there.
A group photo with those who were there and me in my Frenchmaid outfit.
This is when the evening progressively got worse for me. I was told to take a shower because we were going out for dinner. I was wrong to think that I could put on my black dress. They made me wear a ‘coconut’ bra with plastic flowers stuck on it, grass skirt, and a viel with devil horns. Agnes, Claire and Samantha joined us in the evening.
Oh! Did I mention that my friends hired a stretch limo for the night? With champagne in the limo? Yes, it was so cool.
Anyway, we didn’t go for dinner, we went to one very nice bar in Houston. We went to the Sky Bar. Good thing we were there around 8pm. It’s still early and the place was pretty quiet.
Sorry. This is the only decent photo I can show.
Julie was kind enough to give the girls a Scavanger’s Hunt list. It’s a list of things my friends have to do. Every item done will give them some points. The person with the most points win something. On the list are things like: -
The ‘hunt’ started at the Sky Bar. I am glad I was not required to do anything but just drink. Samantha won I believe.
We left the bar for the restaurant now. Julie then made me change again. This time into this ugly hippie outfit.
Me in my hippie outfit.
We went to a very nice restaurant in downtown Houston. It was embarrassing. Walking into the restaurant, I kept telling everyone that my friends made me wear this outfit. I am not kidding.
We had more drinks at the restaurant (I don’t remember how much we have had by now but loads since we started at 3pm) and then to my surprise, a stripper appears! He gave me a lap dance and entertained all the girls as well.
Me unzipping my stripper's pants (happily).
Can’t show other photos if not a hitman will be sent my way. But yup, this took place at the restaurant. We had our very own private area, so it wasn’t too bad.
We had alot of fun in the restaurant, the food was really good too. Since most of us were already drunk, we did some really silly stuff which I can’t disclose here. I can’t show many photos too but here’s one.
I don't remember what we were doing but yes, the white wine, red wine and cosmo are mine. Oh! That purple cup (was filled with red wine) is mine too.
After the restaurant, some of my friends left and the rest of us headed to a club downtown. Julie allowed me to wear my black dress finally but not without putting some finishing touch on me.
Me in my black dress with bunny 'accessories'. I had a bunny tail too!
We didn’t know which club to go to, so we just walked into the first club we came to. To our horror surprise, it’s a black club. They play black music and frequented by only blacks. Because we were getting alot of attention, we stayed
The ride in the limo home was hilarious. Partly because everyone was already so drunk. We have loads of video clips to remind us the wild night we had.
Again, thank you Julie, Jayde, Lesley, Alison, Austral, Pooja, Beatriz, Cristiane, Agnes, Claire, Samantha, Cristiana and Michaelle for a wonderful night.
August 6, 2008
We will be off this weekend! Adam is presenting at a conference in San Antonio come Monday. I will be tagging along to have a few days of doing nothing, enjoying the Hill Country and maybe some local wine (I’ll bring some of our own, just in case). Some much needed R&R for someone who does nothing much
The initial plan was to leave Houston on Saturday to a tiny town in the Hill Country before we head to San Antonio. Accommodation has been booked but last night a friend called and asked us if we wanted to go sailing. Well…. OF COURSE!!! So we are ditching the Saturday plan and will be going sailing instead. We will drive to San Antonio on Sunday.
Which reminds me, a friend is arriving from Mexico City on Friday! Ok, we will meet her for dinner on Friday since we won’t get to see her until we go to Mexico City again (sometime in Oct).
Another friend is here from London, we have to have dinner with her (maybe tonight?) before she leaves though we will be seeing her in London next month.
Sometimes my life is pretty exciting.
August 6, 2008
I have not been baking for many years now. Over the weekend I bought myself a hand mixer. Since I am now a proud owner of one, I have to make good use of it right?
This is what I made!
Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake
I have made this cake a few times many many years back. Recently I came across the recipe again so I thought I’ll give it a shot.
Chocolate Batter
Preheat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a baking tin with parchment or greaseproof paper.
Melt chocolate and butter over a pot of boiling water. Mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl, mix cocoa powder, plain flour, baking powder and sugar.
Remove bowl with melted ingredient from the pot of boiling water.
Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the chocolate and butter mixture.
Add 2 tbsp of the chocolate batter into beaten eggs and mix well. This is to make heat up the egg mixture a little so that it does not turn into scrambled eggs when it’s mixed with the batter which might still be a little hot.
Then add the egg mixture into the chocolate batter.
Keep folding the batter until it achieves a silky texture.
Stir in nuts if using.
Pour batter into the prepared baking tin and set aside.
Cream Cheese Topping
Whisk together cream cheese, sugar and egg yolk in a bowl until smooth.
Spread the cheese mixture over the chocolate batter.
Swirl the cream cheese batter with a butter knife.
Bake in the oven for approximately 30 – 45 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes before cutting.
Enjoy!
I like gooey yumminess of the chocolate portion. Love it with black coffee. YUM!
