Turkish bread

I am posting this recipe to record a simple Turkish bread recipe that I found online. I tried making this today but has mistakenly put more water than I should. Still, the bread turned out pretty good except that I couldn't make indents as the dough was pretty sticky. Better luck next time!


Turkish Bread
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Mix all the ingredients and place in the bread maker:

350ml Water
1/3 cup olive oil
4 cups Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Yeast (soak in warm water for 15 minutes before mixing)

Set your machine off making your dough. Mine takes 1.25 hours in the machine on dough setting.

Then divide it into three balls and roll each out into a rectangle 35cm x 15cm. Make indents in the bread using your knuckles. Wash with an egg wash (1 egg and 2 tsp water beaten together) and sprinkle with sesame seeds or nigella seeds. Set aside in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes.

Bake each on a lightly greased tray at 220 degrees Celsius or 10 - 12 minutes

Ngeng...ngeng...ngeng macam nyamuk

I teach part-time so I go crazy the rest of the hours when I am not. Salwa keeps me insane during those hours, thank god for that. I talk to her in kitty voice coz she's a cat but my husband says I shouldn't coz it drives him crazy. For god's sake, she is the only amusement that I have when I am at home, alone. Sometimes I pretend as if I am her mommy and she is my little baby girl.

Gosh those free hours really do make me go insane.

Teaching is tiring. A session of lecture or lab really worked me up. I'd usually slump myself on the sofa when I get back home, try hard not to sleep but would end up snoozing for at least an hour. I have no complaint for that. It's OK, because teaching is never boring, it's always engaging.

So at least that confirms the fact that I am not lazy. I used to think that I was a lazy bum coz I used to drag myself to work everyday. But that was different - that was working behind a desk 8 hours a day pretending to be busy, or sitting in a meeting pretending as if I cared. There's no such thing here, accept for pretending to be smart when you are bombarded with questions that you are clueless about.

Hubby is encouraging me to get an IT job coz it's more promising. My heart sinks at the thought of it and I just wish I'd never have to go back to office work. But I do know that sitting around playing with my cat will not do me any good. If only I can get a full time teaching schedule, that would be awesome.

On another note, my cat has some sort of a yo-yo diet going on. One day she's fat, another day she's slim like a model. She loves sitting on top of me as if she's light like feather. I have never actually weigh her, bet she's at least 2.5 kilos. I sleep on the left side of the bed, and so does she. She sleeps right next to me every single night, always aiming for my left arm *cough* pit *cough*. Whenever I sleep on my tummy, she gets confuse coz it means my left hand is in the middle of the bed and she doesn't like that.

Silly cat.

I think she's bright for a cat. If only there's an IQ tests going on among cats I think she'd easily ace it. Oh, and she can act too. For example, she likes to greet me whenever I get home. I can usually hear her running from the room towards the door, but the moment I open the door she'd sit still or stretch herself, pretending as if she doesn't care. I wonder who taught her that, or why she is acting that way.

I have lots to tell about Salwa, but I won't bore you non-cat lovers about my silly cat's tales.

Signing off for now, with love.

This is a hate post

I hate one person at my work. And because of him, I am starting to hate his whole race.

I know it's a strong statement, but I've had enough of them. I don't remember them having so much hatred in their heart while we were in school. There were a number of them in my class, and we never had any problem getting along. Probably because we grew up in a small town, probably because we were still naive.

Things started to look bad when I was in the UK. I remember helping out 2 fellow classmates in the first semester. I have nothing against them, in fact I was more than happy to help my fellow countryman even though we were off different race. However, when it was my turn to seek for their help, I received so many excuses from both of them and at that time, I understood. People from their race will only use people from my race for their benefit, but will never help you in return. It's like a rooted kind of hatred that was built the very day they were born. Hate the Malays, do whatever it takes to make their lives miserable, even if they do you no harm. They stole our rights, they took what was ours, so let's team up and go against them though we live side by side. Make them believe you, put on you best smiley face, and then stab them when they are not looking.

Who stole who, may I ask?

I used to be a believer in the people's coalition. I used to have high respect for one of their leaders. I thought he was smart, articulate and fair. I saw it all crumbling down after 2008 GE. He was not smart nor articulate, he was cunning. He was everything but fair. He did not want justice for everyone, he wanted justice for his own race. Everything was about his race.

I have never been so proud to be a Malay. Malays may not be the strongest nor the bravest, but we are the most compassionate. Of course we have our downsides too (who doesn't?), but it is trivial. We are good hearted naturally, we were brought up to see the good in people and to forgive / forget people's wrongdoings. We are all human, and human makes mistake. Sometimes we do compete, but unlike them, it's never poisonous.

Glad to get it out of my system.

Told ya it was a hate post.

Is this the one?

Jakson has been here for the last 7 years. He is originally from Brazil, and came to New Zealand for a brighter future. He did not know much English when he first came, so I assume he took whatever job he could in order to survive, and to help pay for his sister's university fees back in Brazil. He knew that the only way to improve his career was to master the language, so he took several short English courses along the way as he could not afford to go to school full time. After 7 years of hard work, he decided it was time to improve his skills so he quit his job and enrolled for the programme. He strongly believes that there is time for everything, you just have to be patient and you will get there eventually, one step at a time. He thank god for the opportunity for tertiary education as it never crossed his mind before, probably due to his hardship. He knows everyone in the school as he loves communicating. He was the first person who thanked me for teaching him and that made me smile the whole day ;)

Ricky was born in HK, but grew up in New Zealand. He went back to HK after his primary years, if I am not mistaken. He came back earlier this year to pursue his tertiary education as he is an NZ citizen. He says his English is rather rusty as he did not use much while he was back in HK as he was working in a restaurant - waiting tables, I assumed. Like most Chinese, he is very competitive. He strives to be the best and he worries too much about how he is performing in school. Yesterday for example, he asked me whether he has failed his first assignment after I commented on his group's presentation. I tried to comfort him but deep inside what I felt was auwwwww he he. He's just too cute to worry about something like that in the first semester!

Bhavan is the only girl who says hi to me in the morning. Other girls are still pretty shy to even greet me, let alone ask questions in class. She too, came to NZ 3 years ago to pursue her tertiary education. She studied for a while and left school after a year as she was unsure about what she really wanted to do. She told me it was very difficult to find a good job and ended up working in a supermarket for a whole year before deciding to come back to school and finished her diploma.

I don't know much about Jagdeep and Fernando, all I can say is that they are good students. They are both confident and aren't afraid to speak up. As for the others, I hope to find a way to connect to them too.

I have a new profound respect for them. They are motivated, they take time to really ponder about what they want in life, and they do it with a smile.

For me, there are tons to learn in this new field. I worry lots. I worry about them not getting it, I worry about going too slow or too fast, I worry when I go blank while presenting. Ha ha. I hope I can learn as much from them as they can from me. I thank god for this opportunity - an opportunity to see if I can really make it in this field, an opportunity to see if this is what I am looking for all these while.

:)

A clue on how to pursue your dream career

If you suddenly won the lottery and had all the money you would ever need for a secure and comfortable life, what would you do?

It's funny how things turn out sometimes

You can be so certain about something but in the end, it could turn out to be a total opposite of what you expected. And you can be so unsure about another, without knowing that you actually nailed it big time.

But that's life aye? If everything is so sure than life would be one boring, straightforward journey. Like the saying goes, the only certain thing is uncertainty.

This time around, it's regarding my permanent head damage application. Like I said before, I was so certain that I nailed Massey, but turns out the guy wouldn't sign the paper until I can proof to him that I can get the participants sorted out. Boohoo. As to Auckland Uni, I was given the green light to proceed with the formal application after the meeting with Dr G and Dr K. And I thought I was blabbing away during the meeting. Funny aye?

Whatever it is, it is still a long way to go. I am not sure whether this is the right path for me - my heart is telling me it's not. Hmmm. I am only doing this to kill some time. I'll give it a thought when the time comes!

The waiting game

The waiting game is daunting but at times, can be good for the soul. It gives me hope and keeps me going, though I must admit that at times, it drives me crazy too.

But what is life without hope and uncertainties?

Lots of stuff have been going on lately. I have a lot at hand at the moment and it's only a matter of time before I get them realized, Insyallah.

Yesterday was kind of an important day for me. I was supposed to meet both Dr G and Dr K last week on the 24th, but failed to turn up coz I got the days mixed up. I guess that's what happened when you're unemployed, you lose track of time, or days. Boo hoo. Nevertheless, they were both very kind, as all Kiwis are, and scheduled another meeting yesterday at Symonds's instead of at Epsom's. It somehow felt like an interview, a rather bad one. Ha ha. Some of my answers were too short, while some were rather winding. I did not know why I was nervous. Anyway, both of them are supposed to provide me with some answers before the end of this week. I am not quite worried as I think I've pretty much nailed Massey if I fail to get this one.

On another note, I am looking forward with the second round of interview with M*** sometime next month. It's pretty hard to get an interview with a foreign name and I am crossing my fingers for more opportunities to come. I know many are in deeper trouble than I am when it comes to career and moolah, so there are lots to be thankful for even in this situation. I should probably do some certifications while time permits as this might improve my chances for landing a good job.

I have rather good news with regards to my medical condition. My iron level has gone up to its normal range based on my blood test two days ago. My hemoglobin however, is still low despite the improvement in my iron level . That explains my fatigue and forgetfulness. The doctor has prescribed me with more iron tablet and I do hope with God's will that by October, all will be back to normal.

I am looking forward for a weekend getaway with FRW and A's family. 2nd July 2010 will mark our 6 months anniversary and we are celebrating it in Matakana, a small winery town north of Auckland with a few good friends, just how we like it. I was surprised to know that hubby planned the getaway in commemoration of our anniversary as I have only recently remember. He can be quite a romantic at times ;)

I am officially 6 months old wifey tomorrow, how time flies!