Fatboybakes' Fattening Favourites

Shudder. Where are the happy faces of wonderment, and the first day of school feasts, and the comic relief Dursleys, and the magical world that makes us want to enrol in the nearest coven? In its place, dark, foreboding, grim, sinister evil abounds..... As far as I recall, when I read the book, I thought it was a bit anti climactic, compared with the first 3, especially my all time favourite Prisoner of Azkaban. Some more I must have paid premium prices to get it on the first day of release, IN LONDON!!! I recall lugging back the books, (yes, BOOKS because others asked me to buy also), only to find out you could get them here. Of course these days, we are much wiser.....and just wait for a year after the release and when Popular sells them at like 50% off. Having said that, I actually found the movie to be fantastic. From my vague recollection (I must have read the book when? 5 years ago?) I think they must have omitted the interesting fact that Journo Rita Skeeter could whats the word...

It was one of those rare occasions that I was actually late for a pump class, and of all the classes you do NOT want to be late for, Body Pump ranks high up there, because of the time needed to set up the board and the bars and the weights and the mat. To have to weave your way through the labyrinth of pumpers, and to bow your head in total embarrasment, and to manouver your way to find an empty spot, with step board and mat in hand, without hitting anyone, sheeeesh........ Anyway, managed to catch at least 3/4 of the warm up. There was one chappie there who actually had 17½ kg on each side, for the squats track. Wow. Some more he quite tall, looked really precarious. Hmmm, for my own record, my current weights (each side)for body pump at the moment are : 11kg (each side) for squats 7 kg for chest 10kg for back (clean and press) 5 kg for triceps 5kg for biceps 5kg for lunges (I'm sure can load more, but after biceps, usually feel like dying) 2½ kg for shoulders Let's see if got...

Finally, Body Attack. Tag line - Everything else is just a warm up. Location for the launch, FF Axis. Saturday afternoon, normally nap/ massage time. Thanks to Gorgeous Woman, and also Shades, for getting me a guest pass; (3 more days to go, before I can flit around in the various FF centres like a butterfly on heat)... I popped over to the gents for a piss, and when I returned, the QUEUE for registration was longer than the queue for free food for the homeless on Christmas night, at some soup kitchen. It pays to suck up to favourite instructors, who had queued in my place. (oh dear, I hope this doesn't get anyone into trouble). After queueing for registration, we had to queue yet again to enter the class. The kiasu streak in me wanted to ensure I get a place in FRONT, so I can see what was going on, so there I was, obediently like a sheep to the slaughter, queueing. The warm up was okay, no sign of anyone collapsing yet. The action started with track 2, a combination of leg lifts,...

Befittingly, starting with a hangover. Due to the lack of sleep the previous night, (I'm running up quite a hefty sleep deficit, better recover before body attack launch tomorrow, or it might be heart attack), I decided to pamper myself to a 1½ hour massage at about 4pm. There's this place in Jln Batai, near MJH, behind Hock Lee's. RM45 per hr, RM65 for 1 ½ hours, before 4pm. (Happy Hour, they call it). Masseurs and masseuses from Middle Kingdom. Very very good. Anyway, should be able to catch up on sleep tonight lah. Got cell group, so it's gonna be a sedate night. Dinner.... wife bought dinner for the family and me, at Dynasty, in the Renaissance. The KL Gourmet Fest is on, so dinner was quite interesting, and reasonably priced as well. (for that kind of place). Wife also baked a carrot cake as a birthday cake. So it was Mrs Fatboybakes. But actually, Mrs Fatboy used to bake way before I even held a cake mixer. So far, all my presents this year have been gym wear. Gre...

I had a horrendous sleep last night, tossing and turning, despite attending back to back pump and combat classes yesterday, AND watching a play at actor's studio, BSC, JIT HAPPENS AGAIN, AND having a couple of drinks after that. As a result, I am zombified today. I was wondering this morning if I should crop off my now signature chin hair, as a symbol of a new start, for my last year in the 30s. My first thought was, oh dear, I'll be attending the Body Attack launch this saturday at Axis, and my only ID to obtain my pass, WAS the goatee. So I guess the shaving, if at all, would have to wait till Saturday evening. And much as I wanted to attend gorgeous woman's body step class today lunchtime, I had to have lunch with the family. JIT HAPPENS AGAIN - starring Jit Murad. I'm actually quite surprised that the Malaysian humour threshold is quite low, and he managed to garner gales of uproarious laughter from pretty mundane stuff. Slapstick even. It was mildly enterta...

It's my latest earworm, that song that keeps replaying in my mind. It's actually a hymn, titled King of Kings, Majesty. Now, the reason why it suddenly came to mind was because of the "controversial" chorus, which original (and correct) lyrics say, "Your Majesty, I can but bow, I lay my all, before you now". "Controversial" because in the recent church service, it was pointed out that it should be I CAN'T BUT BOW. Now, I am no linguist, and certainly no expert in grammar, (though I've been accused of using big big words on the blog that require a certain instructor to peruse the dictionary), but I can't but wonder if CAN'T BUT is more appropriate than CAN BUT. Then yesterday, in the shower, as the words rang in my head, I had an epiphany!!!! Strictly speaking, they're both not wrong, BUT, there is a difference. I CAN BUT BOW, implies an absolute natural response, as in, I CAN ONLY BOW, (as in there is no other response that wo...

Of all the group exercises I go for (combat, step, pump and very very occasionally, body balance), the one I find most torturous is Body Pump. With all due respect to the creators of the program, there is only so much one can do with weights, and they have already succeeded to a large degree in taking away the monotony of usual free weights, and certainly better than the cold icy machines. In fact during the warm up track yesterday, it suddenly made me think of fave pump instructor , (now no longer teaching at MJH). Not sure what that song is called, but yeah, I digress. (Apparently its sleeping alone). Okay, my original point being, pump is torture. You ache, time passes slowly, (unlike body step, which seems to fly in a jiffy), and by the 6th track, (biceps), I am almost hoping the instructor will scrap the rest, and go straight to the abs, especially for them 45 minute classes. BUT NOOOOOOOO, kudos to the instructors these days, who are very gung ho about fitting in an entire 1 hour...

I don't usually update the blog on sundays, but I don't foresee having any time tomorrow, so since there's time on my hands now, why not, albeit violation of the sabbath. The highlight of the weekend, without a doubt, has to be dinner last night, ie, saturday night, at the home of wormhole friend of sitcom namesake fame. Now, this is no ordinary home, as the chappie is quite a famous interior designer, and has been featured in many magazines, and newspapers, most recently being THE HAVEN, from the EDGE. I say, I forgot to take pictures of his place to paste here but it was featured in the STAR as well, some months back. Anyway, Mr ID cooks all the peranakan dishes himself, which the guests lap up like buka puasa time. Lovely salad with edible flowers, to start with, followed by nonya fishcakes, some bak of sorts, a lovely tamarind fish, omelettes extraordinaire, and brinjal in some tangy sauce. Oh dear, I sound very unculinary, coz there are proper names to these things; th...

My earlier post on wormhole friends seem to have irked a few people. I got a call from Ipoh banker, asking why he wasn't considered a WHF, and another lawyer in that building across Wisma technip, (the old wisma inai), said I've been demoted to his B list since my blog entry. Under scrutiny as well were some of those named AS WHF, who others felt shouldn't be accorded that honor, because they were merely a link in the chain, that subsequently lead to the REAL WHF. Over the weekend, when and if I have the time, I shall plot out a family tree, and we shall see from there who the real WHFs are. Just had a lovely SEX AND THE CITY (in the city) kinda lunch, with topics ranging from the 7 dwarfs, to urm.......[censored]. The usual, Red Planet, Bad Boy, Chubby Sabahan Baby, and guest starring new friend Gunther, Goody Two Shoes, and Cadbury Model, were present for phase 1 of lunch; phase two, in KLCC, Goody 2 Shoes left us, but was replaced by Unfaithful, and her sidekick, Gold...

I don't remember talking like this when I was five. Heck, I don't even remember being five. Son: Papa, why these days you never go scuba diving? Me: Urm (I'm sitting on toilet bowl actually, and trying to deliver) Son: Is it because of the pregnant lady? Me : Huh? Son : My pregnant mother won't let you go is it? Me: Urm..... Son: Why? Me: Urm... Son : Anyway, what are you going to do with all your scuba diving gear? Me : Keep it la. Son : Oh, since you're not going scuba diving, can you please keep the gear properly for me so I can use it next time. Me : Out out, smelly lah.

Hmm, I actually left a combat class yesterday immediately after the warm up, coz I was bored. Okay, there are a few factors. 1. It wasn't the usual instructor. 2. It wasn't the usual instructor. 3. It wasn't the usual instructor. Oh dear..... I can see now why people need personal trainers. It really is QUITE DIFFICULT to motivate oneself when one has been demotivated from the onset, especially on those cold, impersonal machines. It was a dull gloomy day anyway. Did the usual cycle mill, but had I had a passport, I probably would have driven to another centre to catch another class (with favourite pump instructor teaching rpm). When it came to the weights, yawn, I was looking around already for people to chat with. Found my chat mate at the juice bar, so that was the end of the workout, all of 40 minutes. What a waste of time. The other bad thing is, I heard the combat instructor answer a first timer, that you burn 300-400 calories per session. SHEEEESH, is that...

Just got back from our 20 week scan. Brought daughter along, who was heard mumbling a prayer just prior to the scan, "Dear Father God, let it be a girl". Well, that was the result, no bola to be seen, so likely to be a girl. YAYYYYY.

Oh, forgot to mention that over the weekend, upon the insistence of my son, Aun Aun, we foray into the hitherto unknown realm of making local "kueh". In this case, ondeh ondeh. Bought all the stuff, (hmmm, profit margins for this kueh is phenomenal)....and proceeded to follow the recipe from Lee Sook Ching's THE MALAYSIAN COOKBOOK, or summat. Problem : NO indication of how many servings the recipe catered for. Very annoying. But didn't take a genius for figure out at 3/4 cup flour wasn't gonna spawn very many balls. Increased accordingly. To 1 cup, I think. I oso stupid. Then it said 2 tbspn pandan juice, to form a dough. 2 tbspn liquid + 3/4 cup flour....hmmmm, seeing is believing..... sure enough, it was more like 5 to 6 tbpsns liquid before the flour resembled a dough. Anyway, our efforts yielded all of 1 dozen balls, out of which, half were whacked by Aun Aun. Verdict : Easy to make, quite therapeutic, waiting for balls to rise, and love the aroma of juice of ...

The woman whom I am actually scared of is in town. Don't get me wrong, she's a dear friend, its just that I'm scared of her, the way a henpecked husband might be scared of his wife. One snarl from her is enough to make me yield in submission. She's scary. Anyway, so since she was in town, we got together, some old friends and us, and whiled the night away, chatting, she regaling us with tales of her aging father; the tales are really hilarious, but need to be narrated by her herself. It was nice to meet her and her long time friend from Perth, who is just as hilarious. Also present was newly converted yogi, another old friend, whom I've known since 1983.... 22 years. Actually, she used to be called my dive wife, as we used to go diving together, and she has probably travelled to more places with me than with her own husband. As if by some cosmic force, the real wife (mine) and she also gave birth to our daughters on the same day. The ex IT specialist extraordinaire ...

Starting from Friday afternoon, it was one hectic rush, trying to fit all non work related stuff into like whatever time that remained of the day. Let me see, there was the usual body pump class, with a replacement instructor. The old one has been exiled to Uptown, due to the viccissitudes of change within the instructorhood...I overheard murmurings, some people saying, "whatttt la he, can't he even spare ONEEEEE class in john hancock". I feebly sprang to his defence, saying, "I don't think he had a choice la". The pump instructor looked vaguely familiar, and it bugged me the rest of the night, and saturday, trying to figure out WHERE I'd met him before. Pump was followed by combat, with favourite combat instructor. Ironically, it's the first time I've managed to attend the fler's class since he started teaching this 7.50pm slot at MJH. As usual, he had his legion of screaming female students.... to my abject HORROR, during the muay thai trac...

One of our pastimes when we were younger, in between the pubbing and the partying, was getting together for a spot of Pok Kuat. Literally, in Cantonese, to Join Bones. It's actually a different version of Gin Rummy, or commonly known as Dead Gin. We don't use the normal cards they give on airlines, but rather, tiled cards, like mahjong. And like geriatrics trying to pass time, we'd play and play and play..... As time went along, and as more and more of us got encumbered with parenthood, pok kuat sessions became rarer and rarer. The unencumbered got together for sam kah mah chiok, (three leg mahjong), as it was easier to organise, and required fewer people. The encumbered were left to fend for themselves, and sought other activities, like stalking instructors in gyms, making friends half their age (which people mistake as their children), hosting board games parties in an attempt to cling on to the last vestiges of youth. But sometimes, when an important person comes to town...

If only that gorgeous woman had looked up, or even glanced up briefly, at the mezzanine studio, as she was chatting with NH, she would have seen a goatee frantically waving and smiling at her. Instead, the goatee had to watch her bolt out of Menara John Hancock and hop into a waiting cab. Circa 12.55pm, Thurs, 10/11/05

I found out from a reliable source why the KL Plenary Hall for the Jose Carreras was so hot. Apparently, the diva, ie, Jose, doesn't want airconditioning. No air cond in his room, car, or hall. Okay, so it wasn't because the KL Convention Centre management was too stingy then. Wormhole - Intra-universe wormholes connect one location of a universe to another location of the same universe. A wormhole should be able to connect distant locations in the universe by bending spacetime, allowing travel between them that is faster than it would take light to make the journey through normal space. See the image above. Inter-universe wormholes connect one universe with another [1] , [2] . This gives rise to the speculation that such wormholes could be used to travel from one parallel universe to another. A wormhole which connects (usually closed ) universes is often called a Schwarzschild wormhole. Another application of a wormhole might be time travel . (Thanks HL for solving the mys...

JOSE CARRERAS was in town. Together with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, he performed at the spanking new KL Plenary Hall, in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. It has oft been said that when a star comes to KL, it probably means they are fading stars.... since no one really currently famous ever comes to town. In the last few years, we've had err, Sarah Brightman, (definitely has been, if been at all), Engelbert Humperdink, (slap forehead), Michael Bolton (dunno if he's come yet, but another icon from the past). The only current "superstars" that actually come are probably the Cantonese flers. Anyway, tickets were priced at RM280, RM380, and RM 680. As I thought, there is a niche market for Malaysians willing to fork out that absurd amount to watch, but what was interesting was that we are more practical than we give ourselves credit for. The RM280 seats, right up there in the clouds, were packed, but the RM380 seats, were literally empty. So you had the stall...

Last night, as we lazed around a friend's place (after an insalubrious meal of claypot loh shee fun and siew yoke noodles), to welcome guest of honor, BKTW (not Bak Kut Teh Wow), from Bangkok, inevitably the topic of blogs popped up. BKTW, a Malaysian working in Bangkok, with his wife and daughter, apparently keeps updated with our social scene and happenings by reading my blog. The host had wifi, and a canggih manggih phone that allows you to surf the net, so instantly, I was seeing my blog on the teeny weeny screen of the HP phone/palm/pc whatever else they fit into those contraptions. Vibrator. The usual comments, "Wah, you got so much time to write a blog one ah?". "What? You update everyday ah?" "Mou yea hou chou ah?" The truth of the matter is, 1. yes, I do have time on my hands, with this putrid property market, 2. it really doesn't take that long to update a blog. Without pictures, it'll take what? 15 minutes? 3. it is rather addict...

Sigh, the holidays are over. What is there to look forward to now? Oh, I guess there's Christmas, which yay, falls on a Sunday, so we get two for the price of one. ie, only need to go for one church service that week. [running away and taking cover from the lightning strike]. Then of course, there's the 18th anniversary of my 21st birthday coming up, heralding my last year in the 30s. LTA, if you're reading this, well, one last year, before you and I can say we are in our 30s at the same time. I can't believe that board games night was only a week ago, and two days. Another sterling account of the event on HL blog . Lovely pictures as well. I particularly like the one of shades and his gf. Okay, lets recap the tai tai dom. Monday - Rainy morning, perfect for sleeping in, but baby was up and about. (By baby, I mean the youngest, who is 3). The older two kids had been shipped off for Vacation Bible School. Gosh, monday was so long ago, I can't remember what happened...

I'm not sure if this is an infringement of copyright, but since Calpurnia requested the recipe for the cake I referred to in Weekend of Farewells , I'm taking the liberty of putting this on the net. It's from Nigella Lawson's NIGELLA BITES book. If you're reading this, Nigella, please don't sue me, I'm a great fan of yours. For the cake: Group A 400 g plain flour 300 g caster sugar 50 g cocoa powder 2 tspn baking powder 1 tspn baking soda pinch salt Group B 3 eggs 142 ml sour cream (small tub...local brand sun glo would suffice) 1 tbspn vanilla essence Group C 175 g butter (pref unsalted), softened 125ml corn oil Water 300ml cold water Oven at 180C. Line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins, (they're shallow cake pans, basically) In large bowl, mix group A ingredients. In another bowl, mix group B ingredients. In yet another bowl, mix group C ingredients with mixer. Beat in the water later. Add group A to group C and mix together on low speed. Add group B ingredients ...