Malaysia Online Shopping Fashion Shop with "plus size" available......yeah!

I was out today to TESCO Supermarket. They have little arcades with shops selling clothes as well.

I wasn't there to buy clothes but I got curious. Hey, maybe among all those blouses hanging on the racks, there could be something for me. NOT! This is Malaysia! Apparently, all clothes makers assume that since we're Asians, every woman here is size S (small) or XS (extra small).

By all accounts, yeah, I am short as most Asians but I am also curvy unlike most Asians. That's where the problem is.

So, at home while checking my FB account, I saw this Ad for the following website.

Malaysia Online Shopping Fashion Shop 马来西亚网购服装专卖店

I got curious and clicked. Here's the screenshot.


Scrolling down, I saw a nice black dress with the description "plus size". Hmm...? Not so convincing with the super dainty slim model they're using. However, when I cliked on the info, they really list out the "plus size" measurements for L, XL, 2XL and 3XL. OK :-), now I believe them.


I think the dress is beautiful. Don't know how it would look like on me. One will never know till one actually buys one. Too bad they're not using "plus size" models for the "plus size" range :-(

My first "broken heart anthem" and goodbye Jani Lane

Goodbye Jani Lane.

For those who grew up in the glorious days of 'hair band', this name was the ultimate epitome of hair metal cheesiness. From a trivia given on the American Top 40 radio show I used to listen to back then, I found out that the name Jani was ctually his twist on the pronounciation of his name Johnny......it was meant be pronounced Jah-ney, hence J-A-N-I. However, when he used that spelling in LA, people read it out as Jay-ney. So, the pronounciation stuck.

Being offline for a few days, I wasn't aware of Jani's passing till I saw a posting on the band Ratt's Facebook Wall saying RIP Jani Lane. I wasn't shocked by the news as it has been well-documented how Jani struggled with alcoholism for years. In fact, I'm sure I read somewhere or heard an interview with another musician from that era that Jani had been warned by doctors that if he didn't sober up, he'd die within a year. His condition I believe was THAT serious.

I remember Jani during his happy days when Warrant had a Top 10 album back in the late 80s. I saw behind-the-scene pictures of the Cherry Pie video shoot in Metal Edge magazine and immediately had the feeling that Jani and the model Bobbie Brown were attracted to each other even though she was dating Matthew Nelson (from the Nelson twins) at the time. In fact, Matthew was there at the shoot visiting her. I was right, Jani and Bobbie married just months later.

I also remember buying the Cherry Pie album one night on a school bus trip to the town that my teachers arranged when I cried in front of them at the teachers' office. Embarrassing to remember my crying scene in front of my Chemistry and Art Head teachers but hey, it got us the evening out in the school bus!

Jani of later years (one of the better looking pictures)

......and Jani as I knew him back in my school days........

It was shocking to see how Jani looked like years later. With the grunge years, many 'hair' rockers fell on hard times financially but the depression and failed marriages probably took a toll on him.

As for me, I will always remember Jani as the guy who wrote my first 'broken heart' anthem. At the time, I was going through my first 'heartbreak'.....ya..ya..ya..back in school. When I bought the tape, I immediately took a liking to TWO songs on it. One is the brilliant Uncle Tom's Cabin which showed off Jani's ability to write darker songs and this one.......I Saw Red. It was written from his own experience but I feel he captured the ultimate betrayed feeling of catching the one you love red-handed with someone you know. In my case, a girl I helped writing her English essay for was seeing a guy I liked without me knowing. Hey, if I knew, I wouldn't have bothered helping her. Thanks Heaven, I had this song from Jani to bury my 'misery' into.

So this is how I will always remember Jani....

Jani and the song I will always remember him by....

Why are they sending kids on the streets to be beggars?

The fasting month of Ramadhan has started for Muslims all over the world. It started on 1st August in my country. Sure, in this holy month, we are encouraged to be more charitable and helpful to other people but there was an incident that just happened that put me in my own moral dilemma.

I was filling up my car at a petrol station when I saw a girl with a receipt book standing and walking around approaching people. Asking for donation. I'd seen at the same station a few days before that and I was surprised to still see her there that day.

As expected, she then approached me saying it was for an orphanage. I just grinned uneasily. This is hard for me. Yes, I do feel sorry for her having to walk to strangers asking for money. Yes, Islam teaches us to be charitable to the poor, the needy and to the orphans but at the same time Islam does not teach us to be street beggars. You know what I mean?

It's ok for orphanage or any non-profit body to ask for donation but I think sending out children on the street to beg for money from strangers is NOT the way to go. I believe in 'raising funds' instead of begging. Why can't these kids be taught the right way to make money? By actually working for it? I mean, why can't these orphanages organize a Bake Sale for example or put up a food stall at a Ramadhan bazaar? Let the kids take part in it by taking turns with each other. Or how about getting them to make and sell Eid Cookies through proper channels or even NGOs? This will be more character-building for them instead of walking around as beggars.

I refuse to support any begging activity especially if it involves sending children out on the streets to approach strangers for money. So, I didn't give her anything as much as my inner conscience shooting guilt in the back of my head. I still think begging is wrong. Sending children out to do it is almost equivalent to human trafficking crime to me.

It's hard as I was torn between the issues of Humanitarian, Human Trafficking and my own Moral Dilemma but I chose my stand that day.

I'm thinking of a blog redesign....

The thought has crossed my mind many times. This blog can't stay forever looking like this.


It's only natural that with my Art background, I should have been doing my own blog design instead of using the pre-made templates from a template site. This template from FinalSense is beautiful. No doubt about it and the top picture suits me to a tee. However, with the changes in my life, I think it's time for an overhaul.

No, I have limited knowledge of HTML coding. Let alone CSS. It's just now that Blogger has begun accommodating 3-column templates, I am now eager to use it. I have always wanted my personal Info to be on one side and my Links or Ads to be on another. Also, with most screens are wider now, I can now afford to keep the 900pixels width for my contents.

There is only one thing that's stopping me though. In many previous posts, I already formatted certain blog contents with bold fonts or different sized fonts to emphasize certain points in the stories. If I change the template, those formattings will be gone.

But still.......the new look will come :-)

Cupcake bakeries ~ is taking over the world and your bank balance not going hand-in-hand?

I love baking (obviously) even though I don't have that much time to do it nowadays.

Anyway, who in the baking world does not know of the cupcake phenomenon? Or is it a cupcake fad? Personally, I can't see it much as a fad because cupcakes to me translate as "portion control" for the sweets lovers. Besides, you can pick many different flavours in small portions rather than one cake with one flavour.

However, it scares me to read that the famous US cupcake bakery Crumbs made only $34,400 profit in the latest quarter after a turnover of $9.7 million. In the year before, it made $219,500 on a turnover of $7.1 million. Huh?!!

Read it here.

Crumbs Bakery Peanut Butter Cup Cupcake.....hmm....looks good.
Reason given is the rising overhead cost due to their expansion. So, is it worth it to have your brand name/branch everywhere? Sometimes, maybe it is not. It is difficult to maintain standards in mass production (Trust me, I'm a factory worker).

Chocolate Chip Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting from the Coffee Beans & Tea Leaf cafe. Yummy too. The cupcake is dense like soft cookies.

Maybe good things really should come in small packages :-)

Everyone is beautiful but are we grateful?

Something that touched me deep happened tonight.

So many things were going through my mind as I walked to a shopping mall on the way home from work. I thought of that someone and how things went bad between us (my fault). I thought of my wishes. Troubles at work. Things that I read today.....etc....etc.

When I was walking around near a beauty section, I saw a married couple with their kids. 2 older pretty girls and 1 baby in a colourful flowery pram.

I walked past the father who was holding the handle of the pram and saw the baby.

What I saw tugged me at the heartstring. The peacefully sleeping baby had no nose and more than just a cleft. The upper side of the mouth was not formed and continue to the area where the nose should have been.

At that moment, I left my troubles in a bubble for awhile. I wanted nothing more than to hold that baby in my arms and whisper "You are beautiful, sweetheart". My eyes started to tear up. Seeing how peaceful the baby was, sleeping in the pram. Not yet knowing what this world could be and what the future would hold.

How ironic that we were at the beauty product section. A wave of shame swept through me. Beauty product sections in shopping malls exist because of our vanity and insecurity about our looks. Yet, who are we to complain that we're ugly when our Creator had given us everything in place?

I glanced at the parents of the baby and saw that despite it all, they were proud to show the world that this special child was theirs and that the child was celebrated in every way.

I walked back to my car, trying to hold back my tears. I didn't want the parents to see me like that. I got in my car, turned on the music with a slow rock song. I thought of the baby, Nikki Sixx's new song Lies of the Beautiful People and of course 'him'. Tears started trickling down my cheeks. Have I been ungrateful?

A car came to park beside mine. It was full of men when I turned my face to look. Maybe a family of father and sons. I bet they already saw me crying. I reversed my car to leave but I think those men were all curious about my teary eyes as they just stood there after getting out of their car.

I drove away with another lesson learned.

The metrosexua​ls are here to stay.... :-)

Blame it on the likes of David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, the star footballers (soccer players) of the world but metrosexuality is here to stay and conquer our men......and I like it....haha!

While waiting for a mechanic to take a look at my car aircond problem earlier last week, I walked to an Optical shop nearby and casually looked at the Coloured contact lenses promo ad outside the door. A young man came out in pristine outfit with a flyer in his hand. All hair in place. Clear skin. Big eyes.

He greeted me, starting to talk about the promotion they were having. I just stood outside listening. After walking in and out the door several times with different flyers, he asked me to come in. Haha. Poor guy. This is why a career in sales and marketing is a doomed road for me.

I walked in, feeling sorry for the young man. Hey, he was nice. No harm there. Inside, there was another young guy with a pair grey contact lenses. As they were both talking, I looked at them. I think it's fair to say that these guys have more hair product on their hair per day than I've ever had in my entire life!

I wasn't interested to get any coloured contact lenses because I don't really like them. They're a bit dry as the water content is normally below 50%. However, the guys were just doing their jobs. Besides, I have naturally brown eyes which people always mistake for coloured contact lenses anyway.

Before long, I changed the boys' promo talk to another topic. About car maintenance and vacations in Port Dickson (PD). They told me how they enjoy beaches and privacy during holidays. They gushed about Eagle Ranch Resort in PD. Incidentally, it is a place I've been wanting to go. I have a thing for Cowboys and Indians since I was a kid and this place seems like the kind for me. We also talked about the mystical Pulau Besar and our wishes to go there only hindered by the scary stories about it. It was fun sometimes having friendly conversation with total strangers....hehe.

The whole time, it was impossible not to observe the boys' haircuts, their skin, their overall grooming and their demeanor. Yes, they even had nice teeth. Like I said, these guys probably put on more hair products on their head in one day than I've ever had in my entire life. The skin showed that they took the time to choose what skincare would work for them. Mind you, this is just a shop in a small town i.e upgraded village. Not in a big metropolitan.

Ok. Patiently taking their time chit-chatting with me, I thought it was only polite for me to try on the coloured lenses. In this case, Circle lenses that make the irises big like Anime characters. Once I had them on, the boys actually really looked at how those lenses looked on me and commented which colours they thought suited me better.

"Oh, don't pick this one. U look too cartoon-like," "This one is better for u," "She looks different, doesn't she?" (asking his friend)
"Would u like to try this colour? It will look good. Trust me," "Hey, look. Your natural eye colour makes this lense look different," "U see that? How the colour looks on her?" (asking his friend) "Oh, certainly pick this one. It looks so good on U (smile),"
etc.....etc....etc......

Hey, who needs a girl companion to shop with when we can have this kind of male shop assistants?

So, what's a girl to do? Yup, I was so taken in by the charms of the metrosexuals. I came in not wanting anything to do with coloured contact lenses and by the end of the conversation, I willingly forked out RM60 for a pair of Brown Circle Lenses which I do not really need yet those metros liked on me. I don't even know when I'm going to wear them.


To add cherry to the topping, as I sat at the car workshop waiting for the mechanic to work on my car, Mr. Metro No.1 whizzed by in his little car, honking and smiling with a friendly gesture.

I don't know about you but I like men to be accessible, unashamed of being in touch with their inner effeminacy and yet still secure about their sexuality. I certainly am not turned on by men who think they should keep their manliness in check all the time by acting serious and tough or the way we call it in this country = "control macho". Cute and playful are way more fun to me.

Lord of the Rings. Aragorn or Legolas?

the strong and serious Aragorn......?

OR

the agile and playful Legolas?

You know MY answer :-)

The little adoration continued today.....awww....sweet

Following what happened on Friday night with that little girl in my previous post, I'm happy to report that I got another sweet surprise today from a little boy.....awww.

I was walking around looking at all these beauty products randomly at Watsons in Jusco shopping mall today. I had to attend the wedding of a colleague earlier. It was hot and I came to the mall to cool down in the airconditioning in the building.

I was standing at the shampoo section when I saw this little boy on a pushchair wheeled by his father. The boy looked about 1yr++ and still couldn't form a proper word. He had curly brownish hair. He looked up and his eyes stared straight at my face. For awhile, I thought he was puzzled or scared. Well, I couldn't read his expression.

Then, the little boy broke into a smile showing his tiny teeth. I smiled back at him as his father pushed his chair to the end of the rack behind me. The boy leaned over to look at me and started waving his little hand with his baby voice uttering what must have been a baby's "Hi!". I waved back at him and his enthusiasm was just oh-so-endearing. His father just smiled, amused.

Well, that certainly made my day. I hope God will keep on sending me little sweet surprises day after day. Thank you for your gift.

:-)

It feels good to be adored......again

I just went through something I'm not proud of recently.....about 3 weeks ago regarding a person. Don't want to go into that in this post.

So, maybe God had somehow arranged the Universe to perk me up last night and it feels goooooood!!

I was driving home from work when I had to stop at a traffic light when a saloon car carrying a family with young kids stopped on my right. There was a curly-haired little girl sitting on her mother's lap at the front seat. She looked like less than 2yrs old. She turned her cute little face and saw me. Something must have triggered her in the head when she suddenly stood up, smiled showing her tiny teeth and waved at me. I was taken aback. Wow, it'd been such a long time since a stranger's baby did that to me. I got quite a number of this kind of experiences when I was a student but as a working girl? This must be the first in years that I could remember.

Somehow the traffic light took quite some time to change to green, so the little girl was more than happy to be "friendly" towards me. She kept smiling and waving that even her mom and her older brother (about 7yrs old) noticed me too.

When the traffic light turned green, her dad sped the car away. It was a much bigger car than my "trusty rusty antique" so I was left behind in the trails. However, the car sped away with the cute little girl smiling even bigger and waving at me even stronger. Now that's the memory that is etched in my mind as I'm typing this.

Yes, it feels good to be adored like that especially if it's from a little soul. Random act of adoration. It's a baby. No agenda. Just pure adoration. Thank you God for this little gift :-)

Beastly the Movie and my stream of thoughts.......

I went to watch the movie Beastly not too long ago.

I haven't read the teen book this movie was adapted from. So, my opinions here are solely based on the movie. The following are the thoughts that streamed through my mind as I watched it:

1. The scripwriter tried too hard to make the lead character Kyle the most conceited looks-obsessed guy that actor Alex Pettyfer ended up having to keep a straight face while saying some of the downright corniest lines ever uttered by a movie character I have ever heard in my life!

2. Mary Kate Olsen alien-meets-bag-lady fashion sense actually works very well in the movie. She was the coolest-looking person in there. From the Witch Cloak to the Madhatter to the Goth Mary Quant to the White Goddess, she visually stole the screen from Alex Pettyfer.

3. Neil Patrick Harris managed to provide the comic relief with the very little material they had given him.


4. The storytelling needs to learn a lot from Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast. The script came across as choppy and the "falling in love" build-up felt a bit "cut & paste". I felt that the roles of Kyle's unofficial "cheerleaders" i.e his helper Lisa Gay Hamilton and his tutor Neil Patrick Harris could have been widened more to heighten the "will they fall in love" anticipation factor. Both actors gave great performance despite the minimal time though.

Ok. They could even learn from the High School Musical I movie. Despite its cheesiness, HSM I is a very well-written story which I enjoy immensely. The drama, build-up and climax all in the right pacing. Beastly suffers from choppy pacing.

5. I felt no connection at all to the "Beauty" in Beastly. The movie gives very minimal insight of who or what she is as a person. This "Beauty" just does not have the warmth that Disney's Belle gives you very early in the story. It could also be that Vanessa Hudgens' acting is pretty much flat that the whole "kindness-and-heart-of-gold" thing just wasn't convincing to watch.

Ms. Hudgens has the Jennifer Aniston syndrome. She plays Gabriella Montez (High School Musical) over and over again just like Jen plays Rachel (Friends) over and over again. Very limited acting range.

6. Kyle a.k.a Hunter "beastly" look certainly isn't beastly in New York City! In fact, it can actually be really cool. I thought, 'Freak Show....Coney Island'......hmm

7. Oh my God, Alex Pettyfer is the upgraded and updated version of Nick Carter (BSB) in British form!

2011 now and Good Riddance!

Can't believe I've been away from this blog this long. Typical me. Call it the fluctuation of passion. When the passion is high, I'd make a resolution to post everyday. When the passion runs a bit low, I'd do it weekly. Then, it can be down to monthly but this has been my all-time low with a lapse of a few months.

My 2011 didn't start off well. First of all, I was down with bad fever. Then, the problem at work with my newest subordinate came to its breaking point. The guy left the company and I am utterly relieved.

With this blog starting and quickly turning into my channel to vent out, I think it's time for me to tell my story from the last 3 months that I am so happy to have an ending for. I have mentioned it before that I had this young guy in my Section whom we hired to train to be a Radiation worker, replacing the girl who resigned before.

This guy couldn't speak very well during the interview. But I just figured maybe it's because we had required for them to speak English. I saw the warning sign when I looked at his Application Form and saw that he spelled the word English as Inglish. What the heck? How can you make mistakes like that? An average public schooled person in Malaysia would start learning ENGLISH at age 7 up to age 17. It has always been spelled with an E not an I. So, how did this guy manage to mess that up? That should've been the major red flag based on which, I should have rejected him.

At the same time, I was so desperate to fill in the job vacancy to answer to the SONY people when they found our Section had problem catching up with our workload due to manpower shortage. So, we had to take him as the other interviewers already picked the other candidates. I was left with only this guy. So, he came in and I became an "officephobic" within a week. Sunday night gave me the worst anxiety because I knew I had to face this person and Heaven knew what things he'd do to send me to my boiling point.


These are my reasons for wanting to shout all across the universe with a cosmic megaphone......GOOD RIDDANCE!!!

1.  He was quiet, quiet, quiet. Once, the rest of the team were busy attending to the people from SONY and he was left on his own in front of the PC. He didn't say a word to anyone, not even to the boy who came and sat next to him to use the other PC. For the WHOLE day! Not a single word.

2.  He talked to a total of only THREE people by his own will. One was his former collegemate, one was a fellow interviewee and another was his cousin. That was IT. He talked to me simply because he HAD TO. The only times he'd speak to other people was when I told him to. I even had to tell him what to say and what question to ask to those other people.

3.  He would inform me every time he finished an assignment and then ask what else he was supposed to do. Then he'd stand there waiting for me to give next instruction after another. He'd do this 3 to 4 times a day!

* I can't accept this from any Technician and above. That is OK for the low level employees like the Operators or the Inspectors. Not a Technician! A Technician should have been able to think and analyze at least within his own job scope. If not, you should have been relegated to the lower position and lower salary. A Technician should have asked questions in "Why's" and "How's" and NOT "What's". Certainly NOT in the veins of "What am I supposed to do?" nor "What do I do now?" every day.

4.  He would isolate himself at break times. He'd sit either by himself or with any of those THREE people he knew (Refer No.2) instead of hanging out and socializing with any of our Division member. Let alone our Section member!

5.  He would arrive late on average twice a week. It was normal for him to miss one or both morning meetings every week. This drove me mad because I hold the meetings only TWO times a week so as not to give stress to my subordinates. Daily meetings are useless anyway. Other sections still do it daily. Why couldn't he commit to only TWO mornings per 5-day week?

6.  He jumbled up the XRF parts control system terminology I had painstakingly established with my former boss and colleague several years ago for his own convenience. We had written a manual (which he never tried to read), made visual displays and even roped in the IT members to set up a special Menu for this activity in the MRP system to ensure things were done right. I even carried a one-to-one training for every new member on this. How DARE he changed things around?

7.  I once asked his help to correct the wrong markings I mistakenly did to a drawing. Let me repeat that.....a drawing. Yes, that's ONE drawing! I had specifically pulled out the drawing and showed what corrections to do and where. Moments later, he came to me and asked, "Err...which drawing is it?" I felt like rolling that drawing tight and hit his head with it like a stick.

Could things get any worse? Oh, yes it could!

Here's No.8...............


8.  He didn't like to wear deodorant.


So, how bad did he make me want to resign from my post and flee? So bad that I had actually browsed for jobs in Japan!

My car is back from the workshop with a new life.......and God knows how long would it be

Yup. I got my car back after a long hiatus. It went to the mechanic for a month to have the engine replaced. With a car produced in 1992, there is no way we can get a truly "new" engine. It's a used engine from God knows what year just to enable my car to move. My father is already telling me he saw some oil leaking on the garage floor after my car repair. I think it could be the Gear oil. Oh, the exhaust has been emitting smoke again barely 2 days after the engine replacement.

Well, I guess the "stingy" genes do run in my family...ha..ha! My friends at the office have been nagging me to buy a new one. In fact, I, myself declared on this blog a year ago that I would be getting one by the end of LAST year. Well, it's been a year after and I still am taking my rides on a "rusting piece of steel" I call MY car. Everyone is puzzled over my attachment to my car.

Ok. In tandem with my "stinginess", I am contemplating whether to get the cheapest car in Malaysia right now which is a Viva 660 which is a petrol super saver OR just upgrade considerably to its 1.0 Automatic sister. The 660 Model has no power steering, no power windows, no hand grips at the back seat and no stereo system. I don't really give a toss about "accessories" like reverse sensor or alarm. My trusty (rhymes with rusty....xD) old car has no such things. However, I DO need power steering, power windows (front seat), hand grips (all seats) and stereo system. If I do get this "sardine can" Viva 660, I will have to spend a bit to have these installed.

Well, it's not really those extras that bother me. They can be done. It's the being tied with another hire-purchase loan that bothers me. It's no fun getting into your 40s still having to pay for your ride.

Well, life's like that.

Mad about Ben Barnes....it's the Chronicles of Narnia Voyage of the Dawn Treader!

Went to watch the new Narnia movie last night after work......because I fell in love with Ben Barnes from the last Prince Caspian Narnia installment :-)

Not going to really make a review about the movie here. I just want to talk about the people in it....mmmm ;-)

The trailer. Oh, little Lucy has blossomed!

Blossoming into a young woman brings insecurity to Lucy this time.

Wishing she looks like her sister Susan.
I wish Lucy was a few years older in this movie actually. Read on to know why.

Hmm......I think actress Georgie Henley has grown into a very pretty young woman. Oh, just look at how they styled her hair. Beautiful. Now I wish mine could look like that!

I always have a thing for long-haired pretty boys.

Thanks to growing up in the 80s :-)

Hey, I DID say that I went to watch Ben Barnes primarily. Yup! I'm very satisfied with what I'd seen.

Oh, he looks good from any angle.
Caspian greeting Edmund.

I wish CS Lewis paired Lucy up with Caspian instead.

Throughout the movie, I wish Lucy was older. Older enough to be paired with Caspian. Personality-wise, she was the one who would be good for him in the long run. I know that's not how the book is but the thought just crossed my mind when Lucy coyly asked Caspian "had he found his Queen?"

In real life, however, it would be like pairing brother and sister if Lucy and Caspian got together.
This is a shot of Ben and Georgie during a movie break in Prince Caspian. Aww!

What's a movie nowadays without some comic sidekicks?

Btw, I think Eustace stole the show in this movie.

Now this is what ruined my Ben Barnes moment in the movie........and the reason why I wish Lucy was older.

Why the HECK would they make a Paris-Hilton lookalike as Caspian's potential love interest? Duh!
Please at least change her makeup.

Grrr.........those movie people! You guys spoiled my "out-to-see-Ben" night!

My first Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

I did it! I did my first Vegan baking on Friday night. It's Vanilla Soymilk Cupcakes. Totally vegan. Not that I'm a vegan but I've always been curious about vegan cakes. How good could they get without the eggs?

Here is the recipe I did.

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup soymilk (I actually used sweetened commercial soymilk in a bottle)
1/2 tbs sugar cane vinegar (you may use any type of clear vinegar I think)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (all I had was cheap palm cooking oil)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl. I like to use a whisk here.
2. Pour the vinegar into the soymilk, stir a little to mix it and let it curdle.
3. Pour the oil into the soymilk mixture and stir well.
4. While still stirring the soymilk/oil mixture, pour it into the dry mixture.
5. Carefully mix it all together till there is no lump.
(I am scared of over-mixing because of previous gluten disaster cake batter)
6. Fill up your cupcake liners of choice.
7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 deg C or 340 deg F for about 15 mins.

I managed to yield 9 cupcakes on a Standard-size Cupcake liners. About 3 1/4 oz size.

The texture is pretty fluffy for an eggless cuppie.
It will never be a sponge cake but not as dense and heavy as I expected it to be.

How did it turn out?

1. The milk thing

I think the kind of milk you use will affect how this cupcake will taste. My cupcake tasted like soymilk. I know some vegans avoid any soy which I will never understand why. It's one of my favourite drinks since I was a kid along with chrysanthemum tea, sugar cane juice, lychee, grass jelly. I haven't yet tasted almond milk or rice milk but I'm sure what those taste would greatly define the final cupcakes if you want to eat unfrosted.

2. Light sweet tooth

There is something that feels really light about this. There is no rich taste of the normal recipe with eggs and cow's milk. The egg and dairy cakes are rich and delicious but to an average person, after 2 or 3 cupcakes, you have to stop. It gets too much. With this vegan cupcake, I found myself easily putting 4 cupcakes into my mouth and not feeling this was too much. They were like sweet bread to my tongue. Meaning it will be much easier to pair this cupcake with any frosting you want.

3. Texture and all

What happened when I tried to peel off the cupcake liner right after baking.
The cake got peeled off too. Ha..ha!

Look at the cake ending up on the liner!
The cake is moist. Very moist. The oil and soymilk must have done it good :-)

4. Better after they cooled down in a few hours or the next day.

This is the cupcake the day after.
The cake did not come off like it did when peeled off hot.

The inner texture. Better than some of my non-vegan cupcakes.

I think I have made something non-vegan similar to this .
If I can achieve the same result minus the eggs, then I think I would rather go for the Vegan version. More convenient and less calories.


It looked and tasted better the next day. Soft and moist.

5. Why vegan baking appeals to me?

Eggs are tricky to keep fresh if you don't have a fridge. I would rather fill up my mini fridge with fruits. Butter is too expensive and also take up space in the fridge but we have plenty of cooking oil in stock everyday. I haven't yet tried things like Canola Oil and the likes but other than Peanut Oil , I think most oils are pretty much tasteless.

6. Would I make them again?

YES! Definitely.

What? No posts for October?!

I can't believe I didn't post anything in October. I'm not proud of this, you know. It means I couldn't even pull myself away from getting too immersed in my busy October schedule for my personal life. I'm guilty of not replying yet to my friend's email. I owe her that.

So, what happened in my life back in October?

1. I went through a series of Audits and Customer meetings. Had a "verbal tension" with this lady from Purchasing. Actually, I do like her but sometimes, when it comes to work, she treats me like I should be chanelling all of my time and resources for HER agenda. When she didn't get what she wants there and then, she would start rattling off words which boil my temper hot. Hey, I can't just split myself into 4 lady!!

2. I got a new boy in my Section. A cute boy and he drives me nuts. No, not that! Ha...ha...! It's just that he's got what I call "the today's generation's syndrome". Meaning, today's kids are pretty spineless expecting things to be served to them on a silver platter. These kids live in an age of the Internet and cellphones. Nobody left schools nowadays without knowing how to use the computer. These kids want things easy and crumble easily at any hint of hardship. So, what's my gripe on my newest boy? Well, he's polite. They all are. However, he drives me insane when he feels the need to come to me EVERY time. Oh, another big gripe of mine about kids nowadays is they have UGLY handwriting and this boy is no exception. I hope by the end of the year, he will be more and more independent. I probably can't do anything about the handwriting though.

3. It's hard not to want to shout profanities at work to some nincompoops in the Administration for making our lives super difficult.

4. For the umpteenth time, I wish the Alien would just DIE! Anyone who knows my blog for quite some time would know who the Alien is. There is an Alien parading around in our company HR as a human. That creature is the most INHUMAN being I've ever known. This is what happened. I got my latest Payslip and saw that they cut out TWO HOURS of payment for my two overtimed Saturdays. As it turned out, the Alien had instructed (this is not written anywhere in the company rules) that any employees in my salary threshold will lose ONE WHOLE HOUR of payment if we scan in our employee card at even ONE MINUTE over 8.00am!!!! Crazy!!! The thing is we only get paid MYR6.25 per hour which is less than USD2! This is insane! Guess what? I have a new wish for the A*****e. I hope he dies of some anal disease or something.

My company's recent 21st Anniversary Buttercream Sponge Cake.
I burned my fingers accidentally while lighting the candles.

5. I finally got through the company's Annual Celebration. I was forced to work alongside the Alien closely yet again this year for it. What a nightmare! The only good thing I got this year is the fact that my friends took some great quality photos of me. I actually looked good without the metallic weird makeup they put on me last year. I made my own face and I looked like myself and that's the way I like it.