BirdNest Soup (Home-made Recipe)

There are many ways to cook raw edible birdnest. I have yet to try adding other flavor in but will do so in the future. Honeydew birdnest soup sounds tasty :9

If you like the smell and taste of red dates, I suggest you to include them in as one of the ingredients. However, if you do not like red dates, there is no need to include in and you still can have a nice soup!

Things you will need:

1) A ceramic bowl (or whatever you call it). If you do not have it , please buy one as it is quite useful. Just a small one will do :)

2) A slow cooker. Any type of slow cooker will do as long as your ceramic bowl can fit in.

3) A small towel/cloth (to avoid direct contact between the ceramic bowl and the slow cooker).

4) 250 ml of clean water (half of the small 100plus bottle). If you want to keep the "saliva" structure, I suggest you to put 250 ml of water. If you prefer more watery type of birdnest soup, you can add up to 300 ml of water.

                                     

5) A raw edible birdnest that has been clean beforehand. *This tutorial is meant for the size of birdnest as shown below* If the birdnest is bigger in size, the amount of ingredients as well as the water needed will have to be adjusted accordingly.

6) A few rock sugars, depending on the level of sweetness that you want. 

7) Three red dates, or according to your preferences. If you prefer more, add more. Your soup will end up having heavier red dates taste.

Steps in cooking your birdnest soup:

a) Clean the raw birdnest once again to remove any additional dirt.

b) Optional:- Soak the raw birdnest in a bowl that contains 250 ml of clean water. Soak until you feel the raw birdnest is soft and "open". This is to make the raw birdnest absorbs the ingredients better while cooking it.

                                      


c) Once the raw birdnest softens, pour it together with the water into the ceramic bowl. Then add rock sugars and red dates according to your preferences.

d) Place a small towel/cloth under the ceramic bowl before putting inside the slow cooker. This cloth is to avoid the mixture inside the ceramic bowl to boil too quick. It is also to prevent direct contact between the ceramic bowl and the slow cooker, or else, you will be hearing "dang glang dang glang" noises!! XD

Finally, pour in some water to start boiling. DO NOT pour too much of water or else it will take ages to boil!! Just roughly enough to cover the towel as well as the bottom of the ceramic bowl. If possible, set the mode to High.

Taaadaaa! The final product... If you soak the raw birdnest beforehand, then the boiling time should be approximately around 1 and a half hour. However, if you did not soak it beforehand, then you should set the time to around 2 hours.
The boiling time varies therefore it is still best to keep observing. If you see the outer water is boiling, let it boils for around 15 more minutes before you open the ceramic bowl cover to check the inner soup! If the raw birdnest is ALMOST dissolved, then it means you are done cooking. DO NOT wait until all the raw birdnest dissolved to water-like structure! 

I am sure you will prefer to have something to"eat" while drinking the soup, rather than just plain birdnest soup!

ENJOY~

I hope you will have fun making this soup! The satisfaction you get when you drink and enjoy every bits of it!

Any questions or doubt please feel free to ask me. If you have other ways of doing it or you have a better recipe, share it with me :)

Blame

There are so many unhappy things happening around me nowadays. I really need a break from all these! I am too tired to even care about it anymore.  I got BLAMED for something that I did not do. Do you know how's that feels like?! After all that I have done for the friendship, just one small mistake which I barely involved in it, destroyed all the good things I did in the past. Sad. This friend of mine should know me better that I wont do such thing. I admit it was partly my fault too. I should have stopped the other friends from playing that prank, but I did not. Well, that's just me...I don have the power to overcome them. I am just as weak as you see me the way I am. 
I don't mind being accused or getting the blame for this matter. But what I "tak puas hati" is that, I got all the blame whereas the real culprit is still out there and even still talking to each other. Arghhhhhhh! What have I done to get such treatment! If staying away makes you happy, then I am more than happy to do so. But I just hope we won't regret the decision. 
I really do not hope or wish that all my friends will one day turned to be " Somebody That I Used to Know". I want them to be somebody I know and am happy with them.


Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)

Twisted

It's sad when the people that you care the most, those who you put your trust on them and all they do is just plain ignoring it. I know I have lots of weaknesses and I do lots of stupid things. But hey...no one is perfect in this world. It's the effort you put in becoming the man you wanted to be that counts! I am constantly trying my best to impress people around me who I care, but I am just a human (sensitive and weak human) and stupidity is one of the many characteristics a man can have. 


Most people judge so quick by what they see and it never occurs to them that the things they see are not what it seems to be! How I wish they can make the judgement after they found out the truth!

I am really tired trying to impress the people around me just so that I can be treated good and be likable. I thought I can stay strong and continue doing it, but I guess there's limit to what a heart can take. Not trying to brag around but I think my biggest weakness is my kindness. I often try so hard to treat people good no matter what it takes because I still believe in friendship-relationship-or whatever you call it. I have so much faith in it that it blurs me. Sometimes I really cannot believe how a person can take someone for granted and still, feels nothing wrong by doing so. I once told myself it's OK to let people take me for granted as long as I get their attention. Now to think back of it, I feel like an idiot! If a person truly cares for you, he/she will do something for it. I don't have to do anything to impress or to get their attention. I don't know and don't care what people think of the value of a relationship is, but for me, I will always value and treasure the relationships that I have.

The world indeed a cruel place with lots of different people with different minds, thinking and intentions. 

A friend once told me: You treat people around you nice and good and when they don't do the same, you "merajuk". You expect them to treat you back the way you treated them. This is the part of me that I am trying so hard to change! I know there's a saying "Give more, expect less", but it's really hard to do so. My friends are all that I have besides my family. So, I tend to put so much hope/expectation on them and I give them all the love I have. I understand that most of them have partners and therefore they have responsibilities and I should expect less in return from them, but sometimes I just wish all my efforts can be seen and appreciated. And I am truly sorry if those expectations made anyone feels miserable. 

Maybe the way I express my feelings or my "love" is weird and inappropriate, but that's just part of who I am. I just hope the people around me feel it and understands me better. 

I really want to hold on to what I have now, but seriously I am worried I am not that strong anymore to take all that. Things can get so twisted that I don't even know what's real and what's fake anymore. 

There are certain parts of me that I know I must work hard to change but there's also certain part of me that will always remain a part of me!

It's always a GOOD TIME!

If you are feeling down, listen to Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time.  I can ensure you that you will feel much better! Try listening to the song in the morning while watching the music video. Your day will be much more brighter. Such a refreshing song. This is gonna be my addiction for the week!  Hopefully you guys will like this song like I do! Enjoy :)

Woah-oh-oh-oh

It's always a good time
Woah-oh-oh-oh
It's always a good time

Woke up on the right side of the bed
What's up with this Prince song inside my head?
Hands up if you're down to get down tonight
Cuz it's always a good time.

Slept in all my clothes like I didn't care
Hopped into a cab, take me anywhere
I'm in if you're down to get down tonight
Cuz it's always a good time

Good morning and good night
I wake up at twilight
It's gonna be alright
We don't even have to try
It's always a good time

Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh
It's always a good time
Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh
We don't even have to try, it's always a good time.

Freaked out, dropped my phone in the pool again
Checked out of my room hit the ATM
Let's hang out if you're down to get down tonight
Cuz it's always a good time

Good morning and good night
I wake up at twilight
It's gonna be alright we don't even have to try
It's always a good time.

Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh
It's always a good time
Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh
We don't even have to try, it's always a good time.

Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh
It's always a good time
Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh
We don't even have to try, it's always a good time.

Doesn't matter when
It's always a good time then
Doesn't matter where
It's always a good time there

Doesn't matter when,
It's always a good time then

It's always a good time
Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh
It's always a good time
Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh
We don't even have to try, it's always a good time

Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh
It's always a good time
Woah-oh-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh-oh

We don't even have to try, it's always a good time.

Good Idea or Bad Idea?

Nothing special about today. Just some normal routine (going to classes, having dinner and lunch with my fellow friends). One thing bad about today is that I am kinda feeling not good for not having able to attend the birthday celebration of someone. I know I can just go but I think I am the type that follows the majority/crowd. I hope I wont be hated just for that. So, Happy Belated Birthday to that someone! I hope you enjoyed the dinner.


On the other hand, one thing that gets me all excited is that, I found out that I might actually make some extra income by selling bird nests! But as usual, I am paranoid about things such as: 

What if they found out my house location and decided to rob the house?

I cant put my family at risks. Well, by just posting this blog post, I guess I am already announcing it to the world already. How I wish at times like this I am less paranoid and just take the risk! I can really use that side income for things that I need.

Fresh Start!

Ok, I have been abandoning my blog so often I feel so guilty. I promise I will keep updating you. You will be my personal diary starting today! I think that's all for today since I have a test tomorrow and I still haven't touch ANYTHING yet.

Malaysia's Largest Room Database - iBilik

Recently I came across this iBilik, formerly known as "CariBilik" a place where you can find accommodation regardless of the duration of your stay. With over 100 000 listings posted online all across Malaysia such as Johor, Melaka, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak and more, you do not have to worry about your accommodation whenever you are planning for a trip! 

For this post, I will focused more on the accommodation provided in Malaysia rather than in Singapore or Indonesia.

    First of all, credits should be given to the main page of the website. It has such simple layout yet still providing all the needed information. The first thing you will see when the page loads is the map of Malaysia and underneath you can find a search bar where you can enter keywords and search instantly! Most youngsters or even adults nowadays focused more on simplicity. They prefer things to be simple and easy to be understood. They get frustrated and fed up if the interface of a particular website is complex and poorly organized. So, for convenience, there is a list of popular places that people searched most frequently at the right hand-side.  

    If you are looking for rooms for rent, all you need to do is just click on the Rooms For Rent button on top of the website and start searching!

    If you plan to stay for only few nights, you can opt for the Short Term Rentals. They provide different rates solely for this purpose.

    If you have properties to let/sale/rent, you can easily register and start placing your listings immediately FOR FREE! 

That's it! It's just as simple as that. No hassles and frustrations.

As can be seen from the picture above, iBilik URL is everywhere on taxi! This is a good way to promote the website as many tourists are using this services. 

Advantages: 

• Pictures are provided so you can get some rough ideas on how the rooms, surroundings, environment and etc look like.
• The titles are short and precise with some short descriptions below (most listings come with the rental price).
• Owners provide most of the information needed if not all so that you can choose and judge better.
• The page is not complicated as compared to other websites. You can find what you wanted to find easily! Moreover, it has less advertisements to confuse you around.

Disadvantages:

• Owners seldom update their listings when the properties are no longer available.
• Many duplicate listings where it makes the searching process a little difficult.

Overall, I think iBilik is the website you would want to visit when you are planning for trips or for students, it is a good place for you to search for your accommodation. 

P.S.: Head over to the website now and try your luck there! :)