Serene Sundays - And it's a wrap!

It's been a busy weekend for me! My sister has finally gotten married! (YAY!)

 I'm so glad everything went well and smoothly without hitches

Peace out Y'all~

Manic Monday- Working student life?

Well, I practically worked the whole week last week which was why there wasn't any post.

People who study and work at the same time...I will never look at them the same way ever again

They are some kind of magical beings who manage their time so precisely and appropriately.

I look at them in awe and with complete respect because I am struggling to do what they seem to be doing so effortlessly haha!

I gotta go slay the 8000 word assignment now. :(

Hopefully, I'll be able to produce a better next post  

Asia Colion

Terrible Tuesday- Yup, bad days happen.

Hello Everyone! I've missed blogging quite a few times now haven't I?

I've just came back from a terrible day at work. How terrible you ask me? Probably not as bad as yours! 

Terrible Things Today (Tx3)

• Student #1 destroyed 3 story books and a jigsaw puzzle board by using saliva

This gives a whole new meaning of being hungry for knowledge, honey...

• Got unintentionally knee-ed in the head by student #2

I know you're angry at me for not giving you the storybook, but books are meant to be read, not thrown onto the floor.

• Student #3 refused to do worksheet even when I'm sitting within reach

You can do this sh!t sheet, I saw your previous work. This worksheet can definitely be done by you. No, I don't care if you're still in holiday mood.

• Student 4# wet pants

When persons' gotta go, please go! All this pee and poop just gets me down.

• Student #5 got injured from running around

Injuries are not cool....your parents are gonna think that I'm abusing you. It's more like the lot of you are abusing me!

• Student 6# tried to take me into the toilet 

My dear, you gotta learn how to clean up your own dirt cuz, gurl, I ain't got time fo' dat!

• Student #7 spilling my nicely arrange teaching materials all over the floor and mixing them up

I...can't.....even....explain to you how troublesome it is to sort out 3 sets of alphabet cards(26x3), about 20 over occupation flash cards and 20 over transportation flash cards...well actually, I can. It's like: !@#$%^&*(*&^%$#$%#@!@!@#$%^&*()_))(*&^%$#@!

• I've probably lost my voice today from trying to control the class today

Antic of student #1,#3 and #7 occurring at the same time. Lovely!

See, not really as bad as your day. Oh gosh, I'm such a complainer! Bad Asia, bad!

I sincerely hope you had a much better day than me because nobody, and I mean nobody, has to deal with book eating students, pee and being knee-ed in the head all on the same day. Haha!

On a happier and less complain-ish note, I left work early today because I be like, imma be awesome and go home and not be uspet over all that has happened today la la la~

And here I am complaining on the internet like the social media abuser that I am~

Cheers to the bad days and many more to come!

Asia Colion

Whimsical Wednesdays- I say Capt'n, now buy a flow'r off a poor girl

Hello everyone! It's certainly been a while now hasn't it?

Today, I was preparing some party favours for a doe party and the party's theme was regency time period. Think Pride and Prejudice and any Jane Austen novel/movie.

Regency = old times in England, ladies had governesses and men went to Eton. Pretty fancy in my opinion. I was really cracking my head over what kind of party favours to prepare and then I chanced upon this:

Not exactly recency period, but I'm pretty sure flowers were sold by poor children and the well off people would sometimes buy a small posy of flowers out of whim.

I thought it would be a good idea to give my guests cute little posies of flowers and roses was a very popular flower during the regency period because creating hybrid roses was considered a 'sport' back then and people would try to breed as many different kinds of roses.

The idea was just too cute and there is a shop near my home, which sells beautiful fake flowers for a good price.

They actually sold foam type fake flowers, which I chose over plastic and satin because they look much better compared to satin and plastic.

 Foam flowers also have this kind texture which is not as stiff as plastic yet not as soft as satin which makes it keep its form better yet still look soft.

They have a kind of natural look to them and from far away, I think they look pretty realistic :)

The stems were thin and soft wires which were easy to manipulate, but once bunched up, it made a pretty sturdy stem.

Before wrapping with florist tape

After wrapping with florist tape

Wrapping the stems with florist tape (which the store also sold) gave the posies a more polished finish as well as to prevent people from getting poked by the thin wires

 I realised much later on that I probably should not have tied the ribbon before wrapping the florist tape but, I guess it's preference.

After that I decorated each posy with organza cloth and ribbons to make it all girly and pretty. Initially, I was going to make them all the same, but then I couldn't decide how to decorate it. In the end, each posy has a different pattern. Haha!

Now pop them in a wicker basket for that rustic look and you're all set to go!

Personally, if I got flowers as a gift, I wouldn't know what to do with them, but I hope my guest like it.

Asia Colion

Funtastic Fridays- Sorry!

Hi everyone! I will have to apologize for such a late post today! I conveniently accidentally forgot that I had a staff meeting today.

Initially I wanted to make  peach pie for this post, but due to really bad traffic, I reached home really late and was unable to make the pie. 

At most I actually posted? Haha

Watch some adventure time instead. Adventure time is my favorite cartoon crack (anti-drug). It's so crazy that you'll be going "what the...heck just happened?!"

Yup. My not so secret hobby. Enjoy or have the feeling that you've just wasted 15 minutes of your life haha

Let me know what are the craziest cartoons you still watch in the comments below!

Asia Colion

The Mid Autumn festival post

1. Prepare some Chinese tea or tea of your choice
2. Find a nice and cool place to sit comfortably
3. Please play this video at  a low volume to set the ambience

All set and ready to go. Story time!

In the cool darkness of the night, I sat on the terrace facing the garden. The sound of the stream flowing and the wind blowing gently through the wind chimes was soothing. Sad and lonely even. 

Sitting on the terrace on a full moon night always brought back memories of her.

She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, yet she seemed unattainable. I was a simple archer and she was a palace maid.  Nevertheless, the opportunity arose for me to win her hand in marriage and with my simple archery skills I had her, but all too soon she slipped through my fingers.

If only I did not let the fame and popularity get to my head, then she would not have to experience the fear and anxiety of the pill falling into the wrong hands. It's too late now. She's gone and it was my own folly that brought it about.

On full moon nights like this I wonder is she thinks of me or even remembers me. Will lighting up these lanterns help her so see me down here?

Chang'e I miss you.

Hey everyone! I know this story is a little bit sad and solemn but it's my interpretation of what a sequel of the story of the moon lady would be. This is the original story (The story of Chang'e and Hou Yi) which I'm referring too (original story) This is a story about the mid autumn moon festival

Happy Mid Autumn Festival everyone!

Eat lots of moon cake with Chinese tea and light up some lanterns!

I don't pray to the moon lady (Chang'e) it's just a folklore which accompanies the festival for me

Enjoy!

Here's a picture of a pretty mooncake from Chorus Hotel~

Asia Colion

Funtastic Fridays - Life's like a box of chocolates...

It's Friday! I have never appreciated Friday as much as I have today.

The quote "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get" from Forrest Gump the movie,

rings true for me today. I never knew that you can do something that you like and still feel so tired.

I would like to think that I worked hard this week and now it's time for some pampering!

Cue music, rockabilly time!

Nothing as pampering as a good self pedicure session! I personally feel that I neglect my feet a lot despite all the hard work they have to do with making me mobile.

Especially when I used to go for ballet classes... the abuse I put my feet through (shudders)

Inside our pretty little ballet slippers is probably a pair of feet uglier than average feet

The thing about doing pedicures for me is that , I have really tiny toenails (or nails in general)

Check out my cute feeties! (I'm being sarcastic, I know it looks terrible.)

Going to a nail salon to do manicures and pedicures are an absolute waste of money, especially if they only have options for painting nails. What my feet really need is to be rid of callouses and dead skin cells (and an exfoliation would be nice)

A lot of my friends ask me what I do with my free time, I usually just tell them I read books, but I'm actually watching cat videos on the internet! HAHA!!

I may be Kidding,  I do read books, but I also watch cat videos online and sometimes, I chance upon really....interesting stuff, which I end up reacting like this: YEEERRR!! SO CUTE ONE!!!

Yup, so, now you know what I do with my free time.

I'm off to enjoy the rest of my funtastic friday~

Let me know what you do during your free time in the comments section !

Asia Colion

Random Ramblings- Battle on!

After a long sabbatical, Asia Colion jumps back into the battlefield called working life!

So far it's been  my first 2 days at work and I've learnt immensely within 48 hours....I won't deny it, it's been tough

Things I've discovered I need after my first 2 days:

• I NEED more patience
• I NEED to be a devil for students to listen to my instructions
• I NEED to sleep at 8pm 10pm everyday for the rest of my working life (Lest I die from exhaustion at work)
• I NEED build up my muscles and stamina (Teaching little kids was was physically challenging than I thought it would be)
• I NEED to be able to tolerate dirt and dirty surroundings and saliva and poo and rice on the floor... (God, please help this clean freak)

On a more positive note:

• I find my work enjoyable
• I have very nice co-workers and a great mentor
• I get to leave work at 4pm and avoid traffic jams
• Lunch is provided! 

I never thought I would say this, but I think the students are so cute and funny sometimes. However, when they misbehave, they gotta be prepared for my unquenchable wrath!

I think I made a student cry today because I made him pick up buncho paint containers which he poured out  all over the floor  haha.....yeah, I'm a demon 

My own impression of myself would be that I'm just one of those monster teachers who seem to make my students' life miserable because I'm quite strict with them.

My tolerance for misbehavior is not very good

My face when students are misbehaving

Stuff I say throughout the day in class:

• Sit down. One...Two...Three...(Makes student to sit down)
• Stop! Put that back!
• Mr. X (Calling students by their surname)
• No shouting in class!
• Wait for your turn!
• Share with your friends.
• Etc. (This list could go on and on if i don't stop now)

Over all, I would say, my current view of my job is pretty positive, but it's only been  two days. Maybe my opinion will change by next week.
Going to charge up so I can teach terrorize my little minions my cute little students tomorrow!

If you were a teacher, what kind of teacher would you be? Strict? Kind? Always get bullied? The I-don't-care? 

Let me know in the comments below!

Asia Colion

Funtastic Fridays- Favorite things

It's Friday again! What better way to start of the day than to have your favorite breakfast food?

I don't really have a favorite breakfast food. It's a game of roulette in my brain minutes before I wake up and whatever food on the list gets chosen will be The Favored Breakfast of The Day.

Today's Favored Breakfast of The Day: Over peppered sunny side up egg and cheese sandwich

I could only capture my over peppered (I love pepper) egg because I was so hungry I ate my sandwich immediately after I assembled it. (You're not really missing out much, it didn't look that great anyway. Neither does my egg)

Other than sunny side egg and cheese sandwich, I love ICE-CREAM, but I love HOMEMADE ICE-CREAM even more!

Do I even need to tell you how much more delicious homemade ice-cream is compared to commercially made ones? OF COURSE NOT!

However, I found this ice-cream pre-mix in my local baking shop and I was really mindblown...I never knew they had such things, but I realised that this is probably how ice-cream is made commercially as an afterthought. Pretty disappointing, I know.

This pre-mix just lost it's mindblowing magic

Despite the fact that this recipe only calls for two ingredients (Full cream milk and the ice-cream mix), It requires too much fancy baking equipment. Weighing out ingredients like milk in grams....seriously? Come on!

It was a tad bit too sweet, so I added in some green tea powder to neutralize the  sweetness that's why it looks green.The flavour being too sweet would be another drawback about using ice-cream mix

Before

After  

I let it soften a bit before transfering to a freezer box for storing

Scoop, serve and enjoy!

P.s It's not as good as I thought it would be, I should expect that since it is a pre-mix. Still, this feeling of unsatisfied-ness is just so annoying!

I'm probably gonna make ice cream from scratch some time soon.

So, what is your favorite food? Let me know in the comments section!

I''ll be going off to enjoy the rest of my Friday. Ciao~

Asia Colion

Random Ramblings -The not so secret confessions of a graduate

So a while ago I said something about a graduation post and here it is!

Like I mentioned an earlier post (click here) I've finally graduated with a degree at last!

I am no longer a dishonor to my family! :')

The Not so Secret Confession Time:

1. I hate having photos taken of me

• I should be awarded a Masters of looking awkward in almost every picture

Exhibit A: Dat. Awkward. Grin.

• However, there will be those RARE candid shots which actually look normal and not awkward, I could almost dare say, nice! 

Exhibit B: Granny Shot, Captured by Andrew Mah

2.  Before my graduation, I used to get nightmares that the administrator in charge of the Results Portal made a mistake. We get our results earlier than our graduation, online, so I knew what my “grade” was.

• I got nightmares that I did worse than stated on the Results Portal quite frequently (Kiasu much? I think so! haha)

• Fortunately, I did unbelievably well (HALLELUJAH!) by God’s grace because it could not have been my own efforts (I mean, I’ve been a dunce from the time I started kindergarten, real honest. My parents can attest to the validity of my statement. (Sad but true)

3. I bought my graduation dress the day before my graduations (Because I’m fab like that~)

• I was going to wear something simple and plain, but my flighty friend, Sienna Newton Ho, was like: NO! YOU HAVE TO WEAR A NICE DRESS!! (She just wants me to look good in the photographs, God bless her soul, but I think I’m a lost cause)

• No dress, no matter how nice will save me from my awkward photo sickness :’)

Here are some pictures from my graduation that are not awkward

Not awkward...

  

...because I'm...

...not in it!

On a more serious note (get your tissue ready):

• I thank God for always helping me through my whole life and especially during the tough times in uni (all those tears and sleepless nights!)
• I would like to thank my parents for allowing and even encouraging me to enter University despite knowing what a dunce I really am and how expensive it is to send a child to university. Your support did not go unnoticed.
• I thank my whole family (sister, uncle, aunty, cousin, etc) for supporting my choice of degree despite how unpopular and unrecognized my degree is (I studies Education in Special Needs) in Malaysia.
• My classmates and friends, I love you guys! Uni life would not be the same without you! 
• All those surprise meal deliveries
• Late night support helpline
• Forcibly making me take a break because you know I'm gonna have a breakdown if I don't
• Heart to heart sessions about our struggles and then encouraging each other
• Crazy mamak/ makan session
• Taking me to the clinic when necessary
• Random joyrides-turn-shopping-trips to relieve stress

Of pearly whites and awkward grins

Class of 2014! I ♡ you guys 

The extended Uni family!  I ♡ you guys too!

My not so sexy back, boo yeah!

You know who you are and I thank God for you constantly! ♡ 

Asia Colion

Funtastic Fridays - Scrumptious Scones

TGIF! 

Thank God it's Funday!

I am happy to announce that Funtastic Fridays are back!

And this week. it's....(drumrolls)...

Now, doesn't that just look scrumptious?

Scones! (ba-dam-tss!)

Here's how these babies were born!

This recipe was adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/scones/

Ingredients (Listed from left to right, top to bottom)

•  1 cup milk
• 3 cups flour
• 170 g unsalted butter, cubed (and kept as cold as possible, freeze it)
• 5 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt (I used Himalayan rock salt, but you can use regular salt)
• 1 egg, beaten lightly

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Before you jump right in, here's some thing's you must should do(trust me on this one, I learnt the hard way):

1) Put what ever bowl you're using to mix in the fridge/ freezer and let it become nice and cold

• This will help the scones rise better by keeping your mixture (especially in warm climates)

2) Freeze your butter after you've cubed them

• Because you need to keep thing cold, so your scones rise higher

3) Preheat your oven at 200C degrees

• Grease your baking tray or line it with baking paper

4) Clear a large enough surface for kneading the flour

• Finally, some action!

5) Make sure your hands are clean and your fingernails trimmed

• Obviously, for hygiene reasons. Especially trimming nails...

Let's get on with the show!

1) Place flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into the cold mixing bowl and mix till combined

2) Throw in the cubed butter and, using your hands (you can use a pastry cutter but I like using my hands) break up the butter and mix with the flour until a bread crumb texture is achieved.

Your mix should look like this (this step is totally not long nailed friendly, hence, trim them)

3) Pour milk into the beaten egg and mix till combined

4) Make a well in the mix and pour milk and egg mixture into the well. Mix until you get a gooey mess.

• At this point you might think the gooey mess is a mistake, but DON'T PANIC! It's all part of the plan.

5) Flour your surface generously, much more generously than I did please!

Gooey mess FTW!

6) Scoop out the gooey mess onto the floured surface and knead away!

7) Feel free to add more flour as you knead and shape it into 1 and a 1/2 inch (approximate) and you're ready to cut

8) You can use a scone cutter but if you don't a straight glass will do the trick! Flour the cup thoroughly and press down into the flour to create round cuts!

• Optional: egg wash, use a basting brush to brush on beaten egg onto the top of the  unbaked scones

9) Pop them into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Why, hello there! Nice day for a spot of tea!

10) Serve with butter and jam (and clotted cream if it's available!) And now you're done!

Once more this recipe is adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/scones/
I used this recipe and made changes as I saw fit.

Enjoy!

Asia Colion