Tommorrow my group from my Advertising Principles class will be hosting a charity event at the old folks called Rumah Charis...

It figures that the group automatically made me in charge of the drawing session part of the event just because I said I was majoring in Graphic Design. Oh well. What's done is done and I just have to deal with it, I just hope nothing goes wrong tommorrow.

I'm both excited and scared.

Wish me luck!

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Today is a Saturday.
Today is Deepavali.
Today is October 17th.

Oh that's right.

It's my birthday.
It's my 22nd year living.

I'm officially 22 year old.



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Before coming back to Malaysia from Peru... my mother made an extreme effort to teach me how to cook some of her dishes so that when I return, I don't return to eating frozen, instant and pre-made foods. I can't really blame her for wanting me to eat proper, cooked food... I am after all living on my own with my kid brother and neither one of us are great chefs. I mean, come on--we don't even know what to eat half the time to care enough to learn how to cook them. The only decent thing we both can make are french toast, omelletes, scramble eggs (only because our omelletes got ruined), potato wedges, white rice, fried chicken, steak and yeah... That's pretty much it.

The first recipe I tried cooking when I got back home was nasi goreng (fried rice), it turned out okay I suppose. I mean, both my brother and I are still alive, right? I can't be that bad lol! It looks fine, the only problem was that it was really--REALLY tasteless. Compared to my mother's nasi goreng... it had only 50% LESS flavor than hers. But that didn't stop us from eating it... we were too hungry to care lol.

Moving on, the second recipe I tried was curry rice... yeah... I cooked the rice perfectly as always but I can't say the same about the curry... It turned out so, so, so very weird. I don't think I can find a word to describe it actually. However, there is a bright side to this story! The beef pieces I put in the curry cooked right and turned out to be tender. So yeah... As I was eating it for dinner (yes, I ate it because I was too hungry), I began to feel like a cooking retard. *sigh* Keep trying, right?

Alright, the third recipe that I tried cooking tonight. One of my favorites that my mother cooks to perfection and I really, really, really didn't want to mess this one up! It's another recipe with white rice which I know I can cook (only because it's the easiest), I more concerned with the sauce that goes with it. Tonight's sauce was kuah kicap (black sauce made from oyster sauce). As I was following my mother's recipe (literally, had it printed out and with me constantly), I began to feel at ease because everything seem to flow smoothly and I felt that everything that I was doing was, was, was okay. I had no worries at all throughout the entire time. And when it came to taste-testing it... it turned out to be... absolutely... PERFECT!!!!!! I was elated and totally high with pride and mostly euphoria. You should have seen me--I was doing a little victory dance in the kitchen. So yeah! I can cook! YEAH!!!

To my kid bro, thanks for being my guinea pig and eating all that I cooked... even though they were crap lol. And thank you for saying that my kuah kicap tastes like Ma's. Thank you.
I'll keep on trying to cook and improve!

I CAN COOK!!!

Just got back to KL two days ago from Peru and damn am I tired! Enough said. Time for rest.

Phew! Just got back to Lima from my Cusco trip... my ears are still ringing . Anyway, here's just a summary of my four day trip there.

Day 1
Reception at the airport of Cusco.
Transfered to the Amaru Hostel.
City tour at 2pm-6:30pm that included Qoricancha which is otherwise known as the Temple of the Sun, the Cathedral of Cusco, the famous fortress of Sacayhuaman, archeological sites of Q'enqo, Puca Pucara and Tambomachay.

Thoughts?
First day in Cusco? Altitude sickness... got an annoying headache most of the time which robbed me of my fun during the city tour, but at least there were pils for me to take to remedy that lol . The archeological sites required some hiking but at least we got to see some Inca ruins .

Day 2
Woke up early and waited for tour bus at 6am.
Transfered to a train station in Poroy in which the train ride lasted for 3 hours.
Arrived to Aguas Calientes, from there took a bus to... MACHU PICCHU!
Had a guided tour at the "Lost City of the Incas" for about 2-3 hours.
Took a bus back to Aguas Calientes for lunch.
Took a train back to Poroy.
Took a cab back to Amaru Hostel.
Arrived back around 9pm.

Thoughts?
The trip started out as freezing as hell!!! (Freezing as hell--so I've created an oxymoron ). Fortunately, it got warmer as we got nearer to Macchu Picchu but sadly... when we finally arrived there ... the weather was too hot! And for the first time of my life--I got sun-burn on my nose!!! Plus, I now have a good tan lol . On a childish whimsy, it was also my first time riding a train so that was cool .

Day 3
Had breakfast and got ready for the Sacred Valley of the Incas trip.
Visited the village of Pisaq and their local market.
Drove throught the Sacred Valley and had lunch later.
Visited the archeological site of Ollantaytambo.
Visited the Chinchero market.
Returned to the Amaru Hostel in the late evening.

Thoughts?
The local markets here were so interesting! They had lots of handicraft made by the locals such as pan-flutes, jewelry made of gemstones, clothes and hats made of alpaca wool or fur and so many other things. Unfortunately, every market here in Cusco and probably the rest of Peru... they all sell the same kind of things . The bus ride through the Sacred Valley was a bit too dizzying for me (then again, I suffer from motion sickness ), but the view was amazing. The vast landscapes, the rolling mountains and the great open sky--they were totally and a paradise for photograpers I think . Ollantaytambo was interesting also, my parents couldn't make the climb though...

Day 4
Arrived at Cusco airport around 11am.
Arrived back to Lima around 2pm.

Thoughts?
Though it was tiring most of the time... I had fun . Ended up drinking lots of their coca tea to help remedy the altitude sickness . Yes, when I say coca tea it's actually tea brewed with coca leaves... which is the same thing that cocaine is made from--BUT--the tea and the drug are two different things. Coca leaves can actually be used as a medicinal ingredient like ailing tourists with altitude sickness lol! Also on this trip, saw lots of ! They were everywhere . The archeological sites were and with a great view once you get to the top so it's worth the effort . However, you have to be physically fit for these things because it does a lot of hiking... so my parents ran out of breath first before me and brother did, so poor them . I think it was just the thin air that made me so out of breath often when I did this. Either that or I'm just out of shape. Damn! The only thing I didn't like about this trip was that Cusco had a LOT of stray dogs ... and remembering my childhood days of me being chased by dogs... yeah, I have a great fear of dogs and they scare the living shit out of me lol .

Yeah... fun but tiring. When you have the time and MONEY to come here... you should because everyone has to see Macchu Picchu at least once in their life, right?