Have a break...Have a Kit Kat...

I'm gonna take a break for a while. My final exam for the first semester is starting tomorrow..Humma2...I'm taking a total of 6 papers this semester : Spanish, Chemistry, Mechanical, Konstruktionslehre (Theory of design), Physics and Mathematics .Insyaallah if I'm ready, I'll take all the papers, if not, I would have to drop KOL..huhu...Luckily there's a big gap between the papers.After Chemistry, I'll have a 5 days gap before doing my Mechanical exam.After that I'll have one month Winter break before sitting for the last three papers..Huhu..Oh I'm excited cuz my mum and my sister are coming to visit me during the Winter break..teruja sangat tapi still pikir kena gigih belajar..howoe...

I guess it's time to do the Hamalaimalaimalaimalai - Humma2 - Howoe exercise again to calm down the stress due to the examination and keep me focus..Am I ready to take the momentous exam? Hurm...I'm not sure bout that..But I am ready to burn the midnight oil to study till the last minute..I am a last minute kind of guy after all..so yeah..

Things I need to accompany me while i burn the midnight oil to study...Heee..

 The most important thing would be to have my snacks next to me whenever I need to recharge myself with a bar of chocolate or leftover cookies i have in the jar..yeah..

 Clementine (small mandarin orange) and peach fruit gummi to provide me with enough vitamin c to keep me healthy and fit throughout the day...

Coffee, carbonated drinks and water to quench my thirst..Pepsi to make me say ahhhhhhh after a long study.

Owh u know what, Pepsi is derived from two old English words : "Pep" which means to be upbeat and happy, and "si", an old English word that implies seeing through thoughts, as though you are having a vision. So you get "Happy Visions." Source: Yahoo! Answers.

 Bread and Nutella chocolate spread to cater my hunger during supper.Owh and so that my stomach won't be making weird noises while i'm studying..Berkeroncong je slalu perut ni..hehe

 So yeah rakan2, I'll be away for a while...the next post will be in early Feb, insyaallah...Hopefully I'll get new ideas on what to write about in my blog...

For the time being, Nabeyl says peace out yáll!!! Tschüss und mach's gut!

Broaden your Culinary Horizons

Do your ever get bored of the same dish  you cook everyday? You'll surely wanna try to cook something different and extraordinary, right? There are so many recipes that you can choose from...Italian, Greek, Mexican, French just to name a few...

Don't you want to tease your taste buds with these lovely cuisines? I know you do..It's a turn off when you know that the delicious recipe you want to make contains a form of alcohol. You'll just say..Aaah, we can just leave it out..it won't make that much difference.Maybe, but who knows one teaspoon of wine might make wonders to your food? Changing the whole taste and aroma of the cuisine..What to do? What to do? We can't use wine in our food.

Well, guess what? You can make some non-alcoholic substitutions.I'll like to share some of the substituition you can do to various forms of alcohol.

Non-alcoholics substitutes from A to Z

Ingredients   -    Description    -    Substitution

Amaretto - Italian almond-flavoured liquor - Non-alcoholic almond extract or marzipan.
                  (Substitute 1/2 teaspoon almond extract to 2 tablespoons Amaretto)

Applejack/Apple brandy - A brandy distilled from cider - Unsweetened apple juice

                                         concentrated 

Beer/Ale - A fermented liquor made from malted grain - Chicken broth, white grape 

                  juice, or ginger ale

 
Bourbon - A whiskey distilled from maize - Non-alcoholic vanilla extract,Sparkling apple 

                 cider, sparkling cranberry juice; or sparkling grape juice.

Brandy - Liquor made of distilled wine or fruit juice - Raspberry extract

Chambord - Black raspberry liquor - Raspberry juice, syrup or extract.

Champagne - Sparkling white wine - Sparkling white grape juice, ginger ale or soda water
                
Claret - Light red wine or Bordeaux - Diluted currant or grape juice,cherry cider syrup

Cognac - Aged,doubled-distilled wine or fermented fruit juice - Juice from peaches, apricots 

                or pears

Coffee liquor - Coffee with shot of liquor - Expresso, non-alcoholic coffee extract; or coffee

                        syrup

Cointreau - Liquor made from bitter Seville oranges - Orange juice or frozen concentrated 

                   orange juice

Creme de Cacao - Chocolate liquor - Powdered white choc mixed with water, vanilla extract

                              and sugar

Creme de Cassis - Blood-red blackcurrant liquor - Black currant jam

Creme de Menthe -Thick,sweetened mint liquor - Mint Italian soda syrup; or non-alcoholic 

                               mint extract

Frangelico - Italian hazelnut liquor - Hazelnut or almond extract

Galliano - Golden Italian anise liquor -  Liquorice extract

Grand Marnier - French orange-flavoured liquor - Unsweetened orange juice concentrate,

                          orange zest; orange juice; or marmalade

Grappa - Italian grape brandy - Grape juice

Hard Cider - Fermented, alcoholic cider - Apple cider or juice

Kahlua - Syrupy Mexican liquor made with coffee and cocoa beans - Expresso with cocoa 

              powder

Kirsch - Colourless cherry liquor - Syrup or juice from black cherries, raspberries,

             boysenberries, currants, grapes or cherry cider.

Mirin - Rice wine like Sake - White grape juice with lemon juice or zest

Port wine - Portuguese fortified wine - Concord grape juice mixed with lime zest or 

                  cranberry juice mixed with lemon juice

Red wine - Sweet or dry wine - Beef or chicken broth

Riesling - White grape wine - White grape juice mixed with water and a pinch of powdered 

                sugar

Rum - Liquid distilled from molasses or sugar syrup - Pineapple juice flavoured with almond

           extract

Sherry - Fortified dessert wine with nutty flavour - Apple cider, vanilla extract, or coffee syrup

Tequilla - Liquor made of agave plant - Cactus nectar or juice

Vermouth -Wine infused with herbs - Water; apple cider or white grape juice mixed with

                  lime juice

White Burgundy - Dry French wine - White grape juice diluted with vinegar

Substitution is not only for alcohol, there are certain ingredients that you can substitute when you don't have those ingredients in your kitchen.If you wanna know more about this, check out this awesome website, GourmetSleuth.com .There's a culinary dictionary with over 1800 cooking ingredients, infos on their substitution and equivalents.Cool huh?

Yeaaahhh..There's no more excuse to try other cuisine containing any form of alcohol after this..Teruja boleh try dengan gigih recipe Jamie Oliver lepas ni..humma2..

 Tschuess und mach's gut!!

I miss you, TIRAMISU

It has been only two days and I can't get my mind off the Tiramisu that I made last weekend...hee..over x? yeah..but I really miss you, Tiramisu.

Tiramisu is Italian for "pick me up". Tira - pick .. mi - me .. su - up
It is well known as an Italian dessert consisting of layers of sponge ladyfinger cake soaked with coffee, layered with mascarpone cheese and whipped cream and finally topped with grated chocolate or cocoa powder. Normally people would use rum or wine to add taste to the dessert.But for us, we can use pineapple juice flavouring with almond extract as a substitute.
I found a recipe on allrecipe.com on how to make a delicious Tiramisu. I made it last weekend and it turned out great even though it didn't look as beautiful as the tiramisu you find at a bakery shop but yeah..yang penting sedap kan..I feel like sharing the recipe here...enjoy..

The original recipe has rum in it but i just left it out and didn't substitute with anything..just added a bit more vanilla essence and yang penting buat dengan penuh kasih sayang..haha..

The Ingredients

6 egg yolks

3/4 cup white sugar

2/3 cup milk

1 1/4 cups heavy cream 

( you can use more if you like to make more layers for the tiramisu)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 pound (approx 500 gram) mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature.

It depends on ur taste, if you like strong coffee, you can use espresso but if you're like me who prefers mixture of coffee and chocolate, you can use mocha or cappucino with chocolate.

1 package ladyfinger cake ( 200gram).

It depends on how many layers and how big is the tiramisu u wanna make.

1 tablespoon cocoa powder to decorate...or grated chocolate...

Step by step instruction

1. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with sugar until well blended.Whisk in milk and cook over medium heat until the mixture boils.Stir constantly.Let the mixture boil for 1 minute before allowing it to cool slightly.Cover the bowl and let it chill in the fridge for about an hour.
2. Beat heavy cream with vanilla essence in a deep bowl.It's better if you have the egg beater.If you don't, you can use a hand mixer just like what I did.Merecik la skit tapi nak buat camne kan..

 

     3. Whisk mascarpone into the egg yolk mixture until smooth.

     4. Dip the ladyfinger cakes into the coffee or you can also drizzle the ladyfingers with the 

         coffee mixture..Tengok preference la..kalau suka ladyfingers tu lembut boleh dip kalau 

         x drizzle je on top...rasa crunchy pown sedap...

     5. Arrange the ladyfingers on a caserole dish or dulang or a springform.Depending on the 

         size and shape you want your Tiramisu to be.

     6. Spread half of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers, followed by half of 

         whipped cream over that.

     

     7. Repeat layers and lastly sprinkle cocoa powder on top. Cover and refrigerate for

         atleast 6 hours.Paling baik 24 hours sebab lagi lama lagi sedap...2 hari lagi 

         bertambah sedap...3 hari xyah cakap la kan...owh I did the Tiramisu in a large

         springform..so I just did one layered Tiramisu..hee...tu la pasal x cantik sangat..

Nabeyl presenting the Tiramisu...sila indulge yourself with this heavenly dessert...

 Guten Appetit...Bon Appetit..¡Buen provecho!..Buon appetito!.. Selamat menjamu selera..

Tschüss und mach's gut!!!

The power of Spanish telenovelas...

There was this one phase in my life where I couldn't get enough of Spanish telenovelas. During that time, Spanish telenovela was a huge hit in Malaysia. Tanya la bapak-bapak ibu-ibu kakak-kakak abang-abang adik-adik semua la yang korunk kenal mesti dorunk pon tengok Spanish telenovela jugak...

The Spanish telenovelas started affecting my life slowly since I was a kid. I kept on telling myself that I want to learn Spanish one day, so that I can watch the telenovelas without reading the subtitles..bajet kan? But yeah, since young I've always wanted to learn this second most spoken language in the world..second weh..second taw...English third kot..German no 10...and our national language, Malay is in the ranking at number 30.

I got an opportunity to learn Spanish at my university but there's a catch to it. I can learn the Spanish language but with German as the medium.Dah la still fresh blaja German nak blaja Spanish plak kan..But then, I think to myself.When would I ever get the chance again to learn Spanish for free? So i went for it..Took a beginner Spanish course and alhamdullillah i passed the exam with a good result..happie..terus motivated nak sambung second course kan..hee

 Ada gaya hot spanish actor x? haha...

After reading this article, I found out that watching telenovelas can actually help you to improve your Spanish tremendously. Not only that, listening to Spanish music can also do some good to you.Sambil menari Salsa belajar Spanish kan..

Here are some intro-videos from various Spanish telenovelas that I like..Mengembalikan nostalgia gitoe..

Mis tres hermanas


Yo soy Betty, la fea


La mujer de judas


Prisionera


Juana's Miracle


Rosalinda


Pasión de Gavilanes




The best way to learn spanish...
This website, SpanishDict is a really good website that I would recommend to those who want to start learning Spanish. The website offers various programmes to help you learn Spanish.It has a Spanish-English dictionary with provided pronunciation, interactive videos with variety of courses, vocabulary flashcards, Word of the Day, Phrasebook, Answers Forum and also Chat..Cool huh?

There are also other cool websites for you to learn a new language like Spanish.You can check out my old post entitled Learning a new language made easy. Best kan...jom ramai2 blaja Spanish..

Till the next post...Hasta la vista, baby!!!

Seven days in Europe...

What can be done in 7 days? 7 days would definitely not be enough for you to explore and experience the lifestyle in Europe...you'll get a bit of here and there...but yeah, you'll have to rush and there'll be no time to dilly-dally...time is golden right? What can we do is just to make the full use of it..

Hanis was here for 7 days...oh boy they were short 7 days...
Everything was planned in advance so that we could optimize the time she was here.From the moment Hanis arrived, we were already in the mood for some action...Throughout the trip, the experiences that we had were like a series of unending roller coaster rides..There were ups and downs, adrenaline pumping, exciting and scary, fun and hilarious, tired and moody moments and etc..

However,in the 7 days, we got to experience many new things together, explored and learnt the exciting things Europe has to offer.Even though we only spent the time in Germany and Holland, i think Hanis got the general view of the lifestyle here in Europe.

There are so many moments to be treasured...
In 7 days, we made fun of each other
In 7 days, we learnt the true meaning of friendship
In 7 days, we discovered new things about each other
In 7 days, we learnt to sing together
In 7 days, we cooked together
In 7 days, we made new friends and share the bond of friendship together
In 7 days, we became closer best friends, just like what Hanis said in her Blog,
"Dah macam air yang dicincang tidak akan putus kalau SYABAS tak putuskan. Bak kata Spongebob kepada Squidward, "We're like brothers, only closerrr"

Remember my post that goes way back in 2009 entitled Another tick on my "Dream On" list, this trip is definitely in the list too..and now I have another tick on my " Dream On" list..hee

The last few moments we spent together...

On the train to cologne, the place where we stopped before continuing our trip to Frankfurt..

Exploring the city of Cologne...

Eating fish & chips from Nordsee...shrimps juga...yummy2

The shopping street in Cologne

The shop to buy leather handbags...Insider secret kot...x ramai tau this shop..

Hanis bought a handbag as present for her mum here..

Dah macam paparazzi shot kot....In front of Hard Rock Cafe Cologne

We went in to have a drink...

LEGO shop in Cologne

Chomeyl kan keychain2 ni...Characters ranging from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Toy Story and many more..

Our last dinner together at Pizza Hut Mainz Central Station..

Best pic of us together...

I miss you, Hanis.

Aku balik Malaysia this year, kita kena hangout slalu...Karaoke, jalan-jalan, and kaw belanja makan plak..hehe..Owh ur paru sambal x dapat rasa kat sini...kena masak untuk kitorunk nanti...take care..

Tschüss und mach's gut!!!

Get the party started with Karaoke!!!

Why would you spend a lot of money to sing karaoke with your friends outside when you can do it for free at home?

Yeah, Let's have a Karaoke Party!!!

Things required for the karaoke party are :
Laptop or a PC
Speaker system with bass
Microphone
Food and Drinks
Audience / Friends

Optional:
Big Screen
Disco light

You see, you don't need much to have your own Karaoke Party at home.You might have to fork out a bit for the speaker and microphone but it'll be worth it if you're a Karaoke lover like me..hee

You must be asking where can we get the songs to sing for the Karaoke Party, right? Youtube, of course!! And if you remember my post on Confession of a homesick karaoke singer, you'll know where you can find variety of songs with karaoke features on the internet. 

 

 Semua lagu2 sesuai buat Karaoke Party ye...Duet favourite lagu Hanya Memuji la kan..bleh nari2 skit..hee

Oh I just found out about this website...It's a perfect website for your karaoke session. It is called TUBEOKE...You get to see the original video of the singer and the lyrics would be next to it..
The website might not be able to provide all the lyrics for the songs you search, but most of the popular karaoke songs have lyrics provided..So..It is really worth it to give it a try!!!

 

 

 

Darwin and I organized a gathering at our place last week.We invited few friends to join us on the wonderful day.Oh yeah, Hanis was also here that time..so it was a good plan to have a gathering..The original plan was just to cook something together, hang out and simply having fun chatting and bla bla bla...But out of sudden, Hanis came out with the idea to have a Karaoke Party.We have all the equipments at home, so why not, right?I was kinda surprised to see how my friends were enthusiastic with the Karaoke session.It was seriously an awesome Karaoke party for us.

 Hanis dah macam mc kot malam tu..cari-cari lagu..suruh orang nyanyi..terbaek ar..

Nampak sangat perubahan lagu daripada serious ke Waka-Waka..hehe

Presenting the Karaoke Queens, Hanis Zalikha and Siti Amir

Owh not forgetting the delicious food that we've prepared...Nasi lemak with ayam berempah and for dessert we had Bread Pudding, Oreo Cheesecake, Fruit Cheesecake and glazed kuih Keria...Owh2..teruja nak bagitau, we made Sirap Bandung aiskrim soda as beverage.

Nasi Lemak ngan lauk pauk...

Desserts

Makan2 sambil karaoke...ala2 kat hotel ada orang buat persembahan time makan kan..

Other activities of the night beside Karaoke-ing ...Guitar jamming, going online and simply chatting around..

 Gambar pegang bread pudding ni sesat tertibe...rindu nak letak gambar sorang2 last..hee..

Hope you guys enjoy the post...Tschüss und mach's gut!!!