Pizza!

The first season of Gossip Girl has ended and I will blog about my opinion on the whole season in general and the huge difference about the series and the book later in the week because I haven't watch the finale yet.Can't wait!

I have been keeping myself occupied with cooking and reading and driving my mum to places for errands .Am halfway through the book The Bean Trees.I baked pizzas for the family a few days ago and here I include a passage from Elizabeth Gilbert's book 'Eat Pray Love', on the best pizza in the world.The book is about Elizabeth's journey to Italy,India and Indonesia.And I bought it a few months ago because I love buying any books about a person's travel to Italy.I have a whole collection of Frances Mayes books--she's an American who bought a house in Tuscan and her books is about her discovering Italy and it's charm.Although 2 of her books that I have are not just about Italy,for instance the book 'A Year in the World' is about her traveling to Scotland,Fez and many more great places and the book 'Swan' is her first fiction.Okay..I am totally getting sidetracked here,so down below is an excerpt from Elizabeth Gilbert's book that I have typed for your reading pleasure.. ; )











'......before I left Rome he gave me the name of a pizzeria in Naples that I had to try,because,Giovanni informed me,it sold the best pizza in Naples.I found this a wildly exciting prospect,given that best pizza in Italy is from Naples,and the best pizza in the world is from Italy,which means that this pizzeria must offer....I'm almost too superstitious to say it..the best pizza in the world?Giovanni passed along the name of the place which such seriousness and intensity,I almost felt I was being inducted into a secret society.He pressed the address into the palm of my hand and said,in gravest confidence, "Please go to this pizzeria.Order the margherita pizza with double mozarella .If you do not eat this pizza when you are in Naples,please lie to me later and tell me that you did."

So Sofie and I have come to Pizzeria da Michele,and these pies we have just ordered----one for each of us--are making us lose our minds.I love my pizza so much,in fact,that I have come to believe in my delirium that my pizza might actually love me,in return.I am having a relationship with this pizza,almost an affair.Meanwhile,Sofie is practically in tears over hers,she's having a metaphysical crisis about it,she's begging me,"Why do they even bother trying to make pizza in Stockholm?Why do we even bother eating food at all in Stockholm?" Pizzeria da Michele is a small place with only two rooms and one non-stop oven.It's about fifteen minutes walk from the train station in the rain,don't even worry about it,just go.You need to get there fairly early in the day because sometimes they run out of dough,which will break your heart.

By 1.oo PM,the streets outside the pizzeria have become jammed with Neapolitans trying to get space on a lifeboat.There's not a menu.They have only two varieties of pizza here--regular and extra cheese.None of this new age southern California olives-and-sun-dried-tomato wannabe pizza twaddle.The dough,it takes me half my meal to figure out ,tastes more like Indian nan than like any pizza dough I ever tried.It's soft and chewy and yielding,but incredibly thin.I always thought we only had two choices in our lives when it came to pizza crust--thin and crispy,ot thick and doughy.How was I to have known there could be a crust in this world that was thin and doughy?Holy of holies!Thin,doughy,strong,gummy,yummy,chewy,salty pizza paradise.On top,there is a sweet tomato sauce that foams up all bubbly and creamy when it melts the fresh buffalo mozarella, and the one sprig of basil in the middle of the whole deal somehow infuses the whole pizza with herbal radiance,much the same way one shimmering movie star in the middle of a party brings a contact of high of glamour to everyone around her.It's technically impossible to eat this thing,of course.You try to take a bite off your slice and the gummy crust folds,and the hot cheese runs away like topsoil in a landslide,makes a mess of you and your surroundings,but just deal with it.'

Yup people..we in Malaysia have been fooled by pizzas by the likes of Pizza Hut, Shakeys & Domino's...
So I tried to replicate the pizza that Elizabeth had in Naples...but my pizzas although they are thin and doughy..the edge of it were crispy and they were only doughy towards the middle.And thanks to my mum who has her own herb garden..I manage to have fresh basil on my pizza too...But oh..wouldn't it be great if I could fly straight to Naples and eat at Pizzeria da Michele???sigh....

My homemade pizza sauce








The pizza dough that I made









Let it rest.........








Knead and shape it...








Ta-dahhh!!!

New music!!

Music is my life!In my comatose laptop,I have about 900+ songs plus..I listen to everything and anything..Provided that it doesn't make my ears bleed...And currently I am listening to these albums and songs...

ALBUMS

1.We Sing.We Dance.We Steal Things. by Jason Mraz

-excellent album!Though I have to say that Jason is being very 'explicit' nowadays..hehehe.Listen to 'Butterfly' and you'll know what I mean..*blush*.
My favourite tracks from this album is Butterfly,If it kills me,Lucky(a duet with Colbie Caillat),Details in fabric(feat.James Morisson), & Coyotes.But overall,each song is great in their own way.






2.Viva la Vida by Coldplay

Woohoo!!!Coldplay is one of my utmost favorite bands & they're back..although their album will be out sometime in June,two of the tracks from the album Viva la Vida which is the title track and Violet Hill is out for download on iTunes.The song Violet Hill is amazing(am listening to it again)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It's different than their previous stuff but it's excellent!!!!




3.Rockferry by Duffy

She sounds like Amy Winehouse only sexier and without the coke addict look.haha.I love the songs Mercy(I'm sure many of you have heard it on the TV),Syrup & Honey and Warwick Avenue.Mercy made me want to dance...^_^









4.The Story and The Song by Between the Trees

This is their 1st album and on iTunes they are called as an alterno-pop band.I love their single White lines & red lights and also 2 other songs The forward and The way she feels.








4.Hook me up by The Veronicas

I used to be a big fan of The Veronicas...I still remember the time whereby I would emulate their glossy red lips look and Izza & me would watch their clips and live performance on YouTube.But when I listen to this album...it's such a let down.They sound like Aly&Aj!!!!It's a mish mash of electronica..yuckksss.But there is a diamond in the rough in this album which is the song In Another Life.If you're a former fan,when you listen to songs like Popular and Untouched..it makes you want to puke.Seriously!Especially Popular because it made them sound like Avril Lavigne 'Girlfriend'...barff!!!!



SINGLES

1.Shine by Anna Nalick
 From the singer who brought us Breathe and 2 am,comes the new single Shine.It's great and I love the chorus part.It's a very uplifting song....Great to listen on a bad day!The lyric are clever too..like this part,'There are times when the poets and pornstars align and ,You won’t know who to believe in.Well that’s a good time to be leavin’







2.Sweet and Low by Augustana

I was obsessed with their 1st album,Midwest Skies and Sleepless Mondays.And then they re-released the song Boston in their 2nd album,All the Stars and Boulevards...I loved the song Boston and listen to it for days and days..a year before it made its way into Malaysia's airwaves .This new single from their 3rd album,Can't Love Can't Hurt, is way mellow than their hit single which was my fave, (because of the beautiful piano intro) Boston...but it's just as good!The vid for Boston was way better(loved playing the piano by the beach look) but in this vid,the new singer for the band,Dan Layus..looked hot!The former lead vocal for the band,Josiah Rosen,left the band for a solo career on April 2006.I love the song Twenty Years in the album too..but I haven't got hold of the whole album...yet!!!hahaha.When I have my hands on the whole thing,I'll write my review here!!Long live Augustana!

3.Say by John Mayer
The new boyfriend of Jennifer Aniston released this single awhile back ago so this is a late review for me... and the song is great but it's nothing to shout about..I don't know when he will release his new album since this single was release late last year...hmm....

This story reminds me of a friend

I went to Bryan Boy's blog and found this entry on Ali Micheal.On how she was only picked for one Paris show because they claim that her legs is too fat and in the recent TeenVogue article, she said that because she was pressured to lose weight,she didn't get her period in over a year and the doctor said because of the fact that she is not consuming any fat into her body,her level of estrogen is so low that she might not be able to have children on the account that her ovaries have shut down.Below,is the interview with Ali Micheal on the Today Show.


And this is the article that was featured on TeenVogue

http://www.teenvogue.com/industry/2008/05/alimichael

I have a friend who a while back ago was so obsessed over losing weight(you know who you are & I hope you're not doing that anymore) and yup,her mother brought her to the doctor and the doc said that some of her hormones are low and others are too high.I used to live with her and yeah,a person's diet does affect their health.When you don't eat properly,you kind of know that sooner or later your hormones will act up and that what happened to my friend.Hmm..I guess Ali's story does resemble what she was going through.But not just her either...I have another friend who didn't get her period for months because of her diet.It's worrying because like it or not,the pressure to be thin does not just exist among models,it exist in the 'real' world too.Granted, afew years ago,I even had a friend who paste pictures of before and after of Lindsay Lohan(she used to be healthy and then skinny) on her desk to motivate her to lose more weight(didn't matter the fact that she wasn't even overweight!).

But then again you just have to ask..Why do these girls who are not overweight in the first place,feels the need to lose more weight?A friend of mine that I mentioned above whom had problems with her hormones, was hurt over the remark of a former friend over her weight and that sparked off the whole obsess with her weight thing but even a year after that remark,she still had problems with her eating habits.Does it mean that once you start to lose weight 'unhealthily' you find it hard to be healthy again?Or does it all stem from insecurity and lack of self esteem?It is something to ponder about.Early this semester,I also started to lose weight a after 2 of my guy friend said that I have started to look chubbier.But I didn't stop eating,I just exercise my ass off,doing Mari Windsor's Pilates everyday.But I haven't done so in over 2 months and have been eating too much 'bad' foods and yeah,I have gain a few pounds now.I know that as long as I get back on the right track and exercise more,the pounds will come off.So here's a toast in being healthy!

Pikuniku!!!!

Last week,on Wednesday morning me and my friends had a picnic together...It was an occasion that was planned weeks ago but due to the fact that everyone of us was busy and the dates clashed and recent 'hot' events happened(ahakzzz)..we finally manage to get everyone together for a of fun under the sun..Initially it was supposed to be a roadtrip to PD but that didn't turn out as planned as well,so we head over to Putrajaya instead....Didn't matter where the place was as long as all of us are together..it'll be a fun,fun time!!!Plus the fact that next semester Izza won't be around since she'll be studying in Australia for student exchange programme...sob sob...

We're suppose to go at exactly 6.30 a.m..But you know boys right??One particular boy,who asked me to wake him up...whom I miscalled & text twice asking him to wake up and then when I went to Izza's & Tatie's house with Nad & me arriving at the same time with our cars..I called him again so many bloody time & while I drove to Chip,Jeng,Acad,Moja & Azri's house in Suria,Izza called him on my cell but still no answer..

And then after that he called me sayin that he haven't cooked the 'savory' food that he was suppose to cook yet(each one of us have to bring food that we cooked ourselves..though Nad bought delicious Nasi Lemak..yay!!And Acad..well...Acad bought his Boro which we fed to the fishes in the lake..muahahhah) and I was like...takyah masak bwk tikar jer...hahaha..Yesh the culprit is Mr.Freaky..aka Firdaus Putra our beloved Ethos president ...was the reason why I didn't get to watch the sunrise during the picnic because all of us went at exactly 7.30 am instead!
In my car was Freaky,Izza,Acad & Jeng.While in Nad's car was Azri,Chip,Moja & TatieIn the car..as I played my favorite cd's,Izza requested for the 'kong-kong' song...hurmpphh...

Basically,the 'kong-kong' song is Hao Xin Fen Shou sung by Wang Lee Hom & Candy which I memorise the lyrics and even know the meaning of the song & I love the song and even blog about it in my FS blog last year but when Izza & Tatie listen to it in my car when we go out,they'll mock the chorus part and started calling the song the 'kong-kong' song..huhuhu.....
So Freaky,Acad,Izza & Jeng also started to mock all the Cantonese,Hokkien & Mandarin songs that I play in my car that morning...huhuhu...
The start of a great day!! That's me driving with the latecomer next to me..















What they did at the back while I was driving...Acad&Izza the camwhores!!!










We stopped halfway at Putrajaya cos I don't remember the way...hence..since all of us are camwhores....Even the drain becomes a place to take photos..tsk2...













So we finally found the place & proceed to lay the tikar and ate breakfast..Took more pictures...












And played a little bit of Uno..











And took more pictures....












Since it was getting hotter the peeps suggested Alamanda and I asked Freaky to drive my car as a punishment and he even drove when we went back to Shah Alam & fill the tank with his money..hahaha..


At Alamanda,we walked around to cool down from the heat...and then played at the arcade..I can still hear Moja's scream when he played Daytona(mmg sah2 xpernah drive!!), and the 3 girls screaming during Daytona too..I played the dance off with Freaky(mmg laa kalah!!Dia terror!!!).Jeng,Azri& Acad also played the Dance game.













After Alamanda...the peeps want to find a place for us to take pictures some more...

I am soooo going to miss you guys during this semester break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Till next time.....hopefully we'll see each other at Roxy's Summer Splash or my birthday bash(crossing everything and hope that it'll happen!) or Izza's send off....Love you guys----Izza,tatie,freaky,acad,moja,nad,chip,jeng & azri!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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