Ramadhan: 10 First Days with Grace

As a muslim, I'd like to thank Allah for giving me yet another meeting with the month of Ramadhan. Yes folks, it's fasting time! The weather's just nice at this time around; not too hot and not too cold, meaning that we the muslims in Malaysia need to thank our God even more. What comes to my mind this Ramadhan is: food! Yeap, delicious foods. That's why this month's season, is the season of food. And as a celebration of Ramadhan opening days, I've added in a few new sections for this main page. Hooorayy! Just don't get too hungry yet, the days have only just begun. Well, I hope all muslims in the world would have a nice Ramadhan start. The first 10 days...let us grab this chance to improve our 'ibadah' even better, and may Allah fill us with His grace. Aminnnn!

[UPDATES]
Wait! Didn't I wrote the entries on '1 September'? Why does it show '31 December' then? Haha, no matter. We've got to be more patient this month, so that our good deeds multiply! Readers, please pray that I would not be writing lazily this month because of fasting. I'll always remind myself that we can't be weak when it comes to Ramadhan, but must be much more stronger! Enjoyy...!

1. "Shot! :: My Cup of Tea" - http://dansoriginal.blogspot.com/

[RECIPE]
Welcome all to one of the brand new section in DANS mainpage! Since it's already the fasting month and I've choosen 'season of food' for September, I thought I'd put up a recipe section for all those cooks-to-be (or maybe you're already good at it and want to add in your knowledge). Cool! But do be prepared, I'm not at the level to create my own recipe yet; so far their extracted from a website, a television serie or a book (which I will be crediting at the end). Cool! Let's start with a recipe of a dessert...

-Buttermilk Crepes-

You need: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 teaspoon (tsp) of vanilla extract, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 and a 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tablespoon (tbsp) of unsalted buter melted.

What you do then:

1. Whisk together eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract in a bowl. Then add the sugar.
2. In another bowl, carefully put in cinnamon, flour and baking powder together. Sift it (I think it means 'gaulkan') before whisking it into the other mixture earlier. Stir in melted butter afterwards. If the new mixture is too thick, add buttermilkslowly into a pourable consistency. Let it for 10-15 minutes before making.
3. Heat a flat, non-stick pan (regular pan works too!) over medium heat for 5 minutes. Grease the pan lightly with oil before adding 2oz of the batter into the centre of the pan. Cook for 2-3minutes until edges brown. Flip the crepe gently and cook for another minute, before removing from heat.
4. You're done! Continue with the rest of the batter. Sprinle some sugar on the cooked crepe, and roll it into a cigar shape. These crepe can be warmed in microwaves, and they also freeze very well! Enjoy.

Well, there you have it. This recipe is taken from AsianFoodChannel (AFC) website on Anna Olson recipes, so credits to them! I think crepe is like 'lempeng' or 'apam balik', so maybe you guys can add in some nuts, jams or ice-cream inside your crepe. Try it this fasting month! No need to buy desserts at the bazaar then do we? Happy cooking everyone!!

Your say in Independence!

In line with Malaysia's 51st-year of independence, let us all Malaysians shout "Merdeka, Merdeka!" in our hearts aloud! Let me remind you not to just say the chant without really understanding what independence means, now and then. Along the lifeline of myself, I've enjoyed Independence Day in numerous ways. The most exciting was probably during Form 3, where the students at my school had to paint the national flag on pieces of cloth. The class with the longest flag wins. What was interesting was how some of the students from different classes were very clever to make some sort of alliance among themselves, combining their cloth with the others. In the end, all classes began to combine. That day we produced a REALLY long flag, hand in hand, making us all winners! That's why until today, I believe unity is the core of any type of independence. (*wink*) This year's Independence Day, I'd like to dedicate my best regards to the young people of the nation! My cousin here, Siti Syafiqah, is a really sweet and intelligent little girl. With proper attention and teachings, many children like her would continue to make our country's independence strive and preserve its true meanings forever! ----> (What's your say in independence? Come, write about your thoughts in the commentary collumn. Speech, thoughts, dedications...anything related to Malaysia's Independence Day is welcome! No new updates this time, and Happy Independence Day!)

[TRIBUTE]
This tribute is dedicated to everyone who did their best to achieve and preserve the nation's independence! The spirits will burn on. A speacial tribute to Malaysians today, keep up the good work and achieve for the best. Good luck everyone!

Graduation, Our Own Way

I present to you, the row of gorgeous young women of TESL (batch 7)! Another part of graduation, completed in style. Everyone looked great, everyone looked happy. I wished we would stay like this forever, but then again, future has its own way of presenting itself. For me, Graduation Day is not just about the certificates and flowers...it's also about how much I realised that we have all grown up! Upon our first meeting on 2006, until the day we officially completed our studies...lots of things has happened and changed. I'd like to dedicate to everyone a huge thank you and congratulations, espeacially my beloved classmates, for making it through it in one piece! What was most important to me, is that we did it together. As friends, as a group, as TESLs, as a family. We finally completed our studies in our own way! I opened with a picture, and I seal with it again. This time, it's the charming young men of TESL (batch 7)! Enjoyy your days.

[UPDATES]
TESL people are speacial, and if you are one I hope you feel speacial too. Updates for this time folks! Remember to wash your feet at night to avoid nightmares. Enjoy these piece! (the link is next to the title)

1. "Zero Degrees: Three" - http://dansoriginal.blogspot.com/
2. "Dwane VS The Enigma" - http://dansoriginal.blogspot.com/


[REVIEW]

Need some chill in your spine? Or just looking for interesting information on occults? Today, I'll review a spooky book entitled "Missing: Spirited Away" by Gakuto Coda which I find it a very interesting read. This novel is a unique novel, where the mystery of the story really gets deeper and deeper along the end, making you want to know more and more. A rough synopsis: there was a group of 5 friends in a high school club, each having different personality and traits. One of them, Kyoichi Utsume, has a mysterious ability connected with the 'other' world. To make it short, one day Kyoichi vanished! Their friends then desperately went on a lookout for him, trying separate methods. Mystical and scientifical. I won't go on further, but I would recommend it if you're into occults and ghosts. It's quite popular in Japan, there's even a manga on it! Well, right now I'm reading the second book "Missing: Letters of Misfortune", and I think it's really good. Take care~ (Ratings: 4.4 out of 5)




*"MISSING: SPIRITED AWAY" BOOK*

The Drive: There Was a Jam, There Was an Advice

It's the end of a holiday season and the rain keeps pouring down each day, as if it were tears of those who wished their holiday was a day longer. Hehe, well the rain is quite refreshing nowadays. It has been too hot in the past few weeks. Recently I had two seperate drives with my parents; one with my mom sending my brother back to his boarding school and one with my dad as we went to lunch after my official business. The drive with my mom was quite smooth at first (eventhough the rain seemed dangerous that day) but it got slower on the way back. There was a road block by the police officers (I think there was a murder!) and the traffic jam lasted for eternity. I remembered during Form 4, in an English oral exam, I was asked how do I see Malaysia in ten years time. One of my answers that I remembered was, "I see Malaysia having flying cars on their roads and many underground tunnels to solve the endless problems of traffic jams." Well, can that really happen? I guess I was too naive back then, but I did wish during the drive with my mom that Malaysia would hurry up with the flying cars and underground tunnels!
Haha...then the drive with my dad was filled with advices for me. I think I've changed a bit with more maturity, as I never really talked with dad about myself when I was younger (though I still am very quiet in the family). One thing that he said, was to learn from your past. And I will dad!

[UPDATES]
Readers, there is a new title this time! It's a part of my 'TESL Production' project, so do check it out okay? Dwane's the main cast this time. Hehe...enjoy and have a nice rainy season. Oh yeah, there's going to be a speacial release titled 'Your Say in Independence' here. So I want you guys to give me your speech later to show your love to our country, Malaysia!

Click the link next to the titles for the new releases:

1. "Zero Degrees: Two" - http://dansoriginal.blogspot.com/
2. "Shot! :: Teachings of a Homeless" - http://dansoriginal.blogspot.com/
3. "Dwane VS The Enigma: Prologue" - http://dansoriginal.blogspot.com/

[FEATURE]
In this post, I'd like to feature something speacial to me as writer personally. I present you: Pilot G-2 Pen! The only type of pen I put my trust in to. I began to use this type since form one, and I always make sure I have one in my pencil case up until today. The pen helps me in having a smooth and quick writing (I tend to write much slowly with other type of pens), and I think the design is fairly simple and attractive (a bit unnecessary here...hehe). However, the only fatal weakness is that the ink is VERY sensitive towards water, and is unsuitable for exams/forms purposes. Sigh, but I still love this pen! Try and win my heart, other pens! ;p

[BLABBERS]
Again, the society strikes an otaku branch. This time it hits those figurines lovers. I'm not much of a figurine collector, but I understand their dissapointment when some people think that they collect models for dirty reasons (like accusing all manga fans as also readers of hentai). I have to say, that there are some obscene models but most (90%?) are decent items suitable for all ages. Maybe some had accidently put out a provocative figurine for display, but some hard warnings would have been enough and they would learn their lesson. No need to blame and 'hit it hard' on ALL fans right? To all figurine lovers, don't get down when they say you're weirdos. As a manga fan, I assure you it's fun being weird. No, not weird. We're eccentric! =)

My Feet Walked Up to 'Classics'

The unusual and mysterious sub-concious mind. I went to a bookstore yesterday hoping to find something interesting to read, and decided that I'll find a book under anything except from the 'Classics' shelf (since I thought I've had too many classics for once). Turned out I was wandering aimlessly from aisle to aisle, when a horror book caught my attention. It seemed interesting with a catchy title, I was quite delighted reading the book's description. My jaw dropped when I noticed that the book was under the 'Classics' section. Maybe I do have some kind of weird connection with classical books? Finally, I bought the book (entitled: "Not Exactly Ghosts" by Sir Andrew Caldecott) and also a Malay novel (entitled: "Dear Yayah" by Farihah Iskandar) which is quite rare in my actions of buying books. The last time I read a Malay novel was probably during Form 5. Well that's a two years gap! Mind do have its ways for quirks and surprises. =)

p/s: Right now I'm beginning to open my heart to different aspects/genres in books, as a part of my training to become a writer. My fatal weakness has always been in description of surroundings and physical traits of characters. Help! It's Anisah's birthday today, so happy 20th birthday girl(no updates this time, folks)


[REVIEW]
"WALL-E", another wonderful production from Disney/Pixar. I've grown up watching most of their production (missing only "Cars" and "Finding Nemo") and all of it managed to capture my attention with their unique characters and themes. Last time I watched "Meet the Robinsons" who taught us to 'keep moving forward', this time with my family; "WALL-E" had succesfully showed its own teachings to not be too dependable on technology. In the story, Earth had been too filthy to live in and all humans have gone up to space to spend some time there while robots called WALL-E clean up the mess. Turned out that most WALL-E robots malfunctioned, leaving only one left doing its work. Many years later, a robot called EVE came to investigate Earth... What's interesting in the story is mostly how human emotions are prominent in WALL-E's character. He (or it?) shows fear, curiousity, lonliness and even love towards EVE. These traits seemed to mock the 'sloth' humans up in space, where they themselves act like robots; not walking by themselves, unsociallised, oblivious of their surrounding. After watching this movie, I'm sure most of us would want to do better for ourselves!
(Rating: 4.2 out of 5)

p/s: The romance between WALL-E and EVE was interesting as well. I liked the way EVE shows her womanly 'seriousness' and 'wrath', while WALL-E managed to show the 'idiotic' and 'stubborness' of a man in love! But what's worth the awe, is how both took care of each other. You would want to think twice before making a woman angry - with the 'wrath' and all. Hehe...

Perhaps I'll go faster..?

Meet Togepi, one of the cutest Pokemon! The gittering eyes, the naivity of its movements...I just feel like hugging it, if it was real. It's good to once in a while imagine unrealistic things to lift the mind off of stresses and pressures. Perhaps you want the power to fly, maybe you want to possess the economics of the world, or you just want to confess to the person you like! Having dreams of your own really puts a 'kick' in your life; spicing it up here, sweetening it a bit there. But don't get too caught up in your own imagination. Sometimes, it really hurts when reality starts to bite back. Hey, if that dream of yours is achievable...work hard towards it. There's always a twist in every aspect of life.



[UPDATES]

Well, that's fast for a new update. I thought I could only manage once a week, but my spirit is pretty high these couple of days. There's a new segment in my fictions, so check it out (using the links below) and enjoyy readers!!

1. "Zero Degrees: One" - http://dansoriginal.blogspot.com/
2. "Shot! :: Dreamless, Colourless" - http://dansoriginal.blogspot.com/


[TRIBUTE]

Today, I'm giving my tributes to the teacher's all around the world. Either you're teaching English, Maths or Sciences; you guys have one goal in common: to produce an educated generation which would lead the world to peace and stability! Hoooray for teachers! A speacial tribute to the teachers of SKBBS, MJSC LENGGONG, MJSC KKB, KMPH and KMS...you guys have definitely inspired me in many different ways. Thank you!


[BLABBERS]

I've been in the mood of collecting interesting pictures lately (like I did once in the past) but everytime I went to the search engine, I don't know what to search for! Hoping that someone can provide me with some good links, and I thank you in advance. Oh, and I'm going to have salami for the first time tomorrow. Pray that I experience a great taste of flavour and texture. Damn I sound like a chef! Hehe..until next time. Congratulations to Chong Wei for acquiring the title of Dato'!

Worries of the eldest brother...

Mmmm...most of you might already know, but I'm a person that tends to worry about others too much. How they feel, how their actions may affect them, how my actions may effect them...these are the regular worries that comes to me when I interact with people. I become totally worried when it comes to my siblings. It's sometimes hard when you're the eldest. You try to be that caring and cool brother, but you don't realise that sometimes you're just being hard on them. Many of my friends have never seen me get really mad or upset, but my brothers have seen everything. Either when they went out of sight during dusk, or when they don't get what I was teaching them (the same thing over and over again); my emotions do run a bit out of control. Sometimes I think I'm much nicer to others than them. But I know that's not true. I always believed that sharing all of our emotions (happy, sad, angry, depressed) with someone, means that you want them to understand and care for you. Even though they rarely show it, I'm always touched by how they look up to me and love me. =)

[Thank you to Farris and Hafiy for being such great brothers. Farris is a brother that thinks his thoughts aloud and always share the same interest with me. Hafiy on the other hand is adorable when occasionally, he would ask me to hug him. Sigh...love you guys!!]


[UPDATES]

Alright, my first blog title (for this time) is out! I hope readers would enjoy my writings much more this time! Oh, and don't forget to check out Dwane's blog. Very poetic and touching... (just click the link next to the title)

1. "Zero Degrees: Prologue" - http://dansoriginal.blogspot.com/


[REVIEW]

I went to watch a movie the other day and decided to give a review on it since the storyline was quite interesting. The movie was called "Mirrors", and it's an 18SG movie (not suitable for the young...hehe). What attracted me in this 'horror + psycho' genre was the impression of mirrors it used in the story. In the movie, the main character is confronted with some sort of evil inside mirrors which wants him to find 'Esseker'. It turned out that the evil residing in the mirrors was the psychotic nature of a person named Esseker, collecting human souls by killing them through any kind of mirrors. The movie did a wonderful job in inflicting some sense of paranoia (is this a word?) towards mirrors, as the main character could not escape from mirrors wherever he goes. There are mirrors in the bathroom, in a locker, attached to cars and even puddles of water could be some kind of mirrors. If you were chased by something from the mirrors, can you really escape? Realise this, mirrors are everywhere!
(Rating: 3.5 out of 5)

Thus it begins,yet again!

Welcome all to yet again to another part of DANS writing production. This is my 3rd time setting up a 'blog plan' (since lotsa problems occured before this that stopped me in my tracks) so I hope this time my blogs will live on (updated frequently) as long as I live! Wuhuu...let the bloggings begin! Take care and enjoy readers...




[UPDATES]

As an introduction to all readers, espeacially if you're new with me and my writings, my name is Daniel Azere (with DANS as a pen-name), and my writings usually consists of the fictional/fantasy genre. This time, I will put on reviews and comments on loads of things on this page (with updates of my writings) while I'll separate my fictional stories on a separate blog. Links will always be updated on this page, so in order to make it easy for everyone, just come to this address (http://danslinkage.blogspot.com/) to take a look at what's new and updated.

There are still things that I need to do, so my artwork will be for online viewing by 19th August. Don't miss it!!

[ADVERTISEMENT]

Attention to all TESL batch 7 students, do please go to this link;
http://www.friendster.com/bulletin.php?bid=71826546&uid=8201772

Thank you! Hehe...

[BLABBERS]

Awww...Malaysia's archery squad is in a pinch. The results of the singles yesterday was quite dissapointing, which two of our national contestans lost by only a one-point difference! Huhu...tough luck guys, you did your best! Oh, and congrats to Chong Wei (badminton) for making it to the semi-finals! :)