a little surprise

life is full of surprises

My office plant was badly injured in a tragic accident last month. Lol.

After the accident, I left it die a slow death. 

About a week after the accident, I found one of its leaves still green and healthy.

I threw the dead plant and kept the green leaf in the pot by the window.

Days later, the admin discovered my 'leaf' and questioned about the plant.

I told her I accidentally killed it, hopefully the leaf would grow into something.

Days later, another accident happened. The pot toppled and I lost even the last piece of leaf. Hahahhha.

Came in to work today and saw a brand new baby in the pot. 

What a surprise.

I asked the admin where did this come from?

She said 'maybe it's from the leaf you 'planted'.'

Lol.

She wouldn't admit it's from her. 

Whoever it is, thanks anyway.

happiness is...

...to love and be loved 

When all you need is name the food... 

And you get them fresh out of the kitchen.

Baking is patience, hobby, passion, time, skill, luck, courage (to fail), and love in a mixing bowl.

And so much hassle to wash and clean after that! Feel so sorry.

I have to be careful with what I wish for next time around. 

choc chip cookies

matcha pineapple tart

matcha souffle

Sometimes being single also means that friends will shower you with more love to the extent that you don't need a prince to be treated like a princess. 

Thank you for loving me. 

it's not just me

the worst conversations involve two things:

- a person who doesn't listen

- a person who interrupts

So, the admin now knows about my frustration towards the team leader's laziness and irresponsibility - not much on his incompetency, yet.

Last week, our internal reviewer reviewed my report and added some comments to it. When the comments were sent through, Mr. Slack told me to 'have a look at the comments and make changes to the report accordingly'. 

Duh??? I know what I should do. Don't instruct for the sake of instructing. It only makes you look redundant in the office. Please speak something people don't already know.

After I finalised the report to include the comments, he told me he actually do not 'really' agree with some of the comments the reviewer made. Like wtf? After changes have been made, only then he realised he doesn't agree with the comments? Wonder what was he doing for the past 2 days.

Only when the deadline is near, he decided to be 'knowledgeable' and 'critical' with his thinking. He started commenting on and disagreeing with petty little things implemented by our internal reviewer. 

I told him to go and discuss with the reviewer as I don't find anything wrong with those comments. 

As they were discussing, he was busy interrupting (as usual). Can't just let people finish their sentence. zZzz. 

Then the reviewer started doing the same to him. Both were busy talking and no one was listening. Lol!

Then the admin secretly handed me this note:

Yeah. It seems like it's not just me.
People would naturally end up in a heated conversation with him because he is so darn irritating. He doesn't listen!!! And the things he argues about are petty and insignificant, just like the mind who speaks it.

It makes me feel so much better because I'm not the only one who thinks he speaks a funny mind.
Finally, people are noticing.

be nice. be considerate.

it's the thought that matters

Went to The Missing Piece at Macquarie Centre for the second time.

The first time I had the Hashtag, it was juicy.

This time around, it was dry.

Overall, the food's okay.

Their cronuts were good.

Love the mocha!

$7 cronut

The table next to ours happened to order the same food as us.

The waiter mixed up the orders and sent our food to the next table so we had to wait longer to get served.

Though we didn't make a fuss out of it, when we were paying at the counter, the lady gave us a little token of apology.

Very sweet of them :)

Thanks for the free cronut, we certainly didn't expect it.

Little gesture like this tells us that nice people will be surrounded by even nicer people. So we should always be nice. Haha. 

Perhaps our willingness to forgive makes them feel more apologetic and all the more to be nice to us.

sweet apology

the free-of-charge cronut

On the other hand, at the carpark, someone decided to be a d**khead.
Car too posh that it needs more than a metre space from other cars?
This is as bad as when an 'able' passenger parks on a disabled parking spot.
He was lucky that there are less uncivilised people in this suburb that his car would be left unharmed.

the yellow writing says: you're a f**king tosser

This is when it's handy to have pen and paper in the bag. Hahaha.

Hope he improves his parking skills next time around.

1 extra spot in the carpark does make a lot of difference, dude!

baking for the happiness of others

cookies are made of flour, butter, and love

matcha shortbread cookies

I never liked baking.

Because baking is a complicated thing.

For a successful product, you have to get the measurements, temperature, timing, sequence, ingredients, and everything else right.

There are too many ways to fail. 

Even if the recipe was followed 100%, there would still be chance for failure.

Engineers hate risks.

I guess the root of it is, I can't stand rigidity. Hahaha.

I like to be able to bend rules as I wish, add flavours as I go, and still end up with a yummy dish.

The only things I've baked for the last 10 years were:

- Shepherd's pie

- Banana bread (pre-mixed from the shelf)

The reasons I baked this time around were:

- Because Miss petite said the recipe is easy to follow (means less room for failure)

- For the sake of friends who love food and matcha, and can't be back home for CNY

- Because my sis baked and failed twice, and blamed me for giving her the recipe. Lol. I'm the best candidate to prove that the recipe is noob-proof.

in the making

the burnt batch. still yummy.

Though the outcome was successful, I need a break from baking!
Lol.
So much standing, washing, cleaning...and worrying from start to end.
And oily hands the whole time!
Went to bed with backache.
Woke up with backache.
Told the admin I have backache, and she said, 'Ok, I'll buy you a back support.'
Few mins later, she told me she has placed the order online.
Sometimes, she's just like a mum (when she's not mad or grumpy). Hehe.

I found the happiest and most satisfying thing about baking is not the outcome, it is knowing that it'll make people's day in one way or another.

#behappy

Recipe here: Matcha Shortbread Cookies