Homemade Almond Milk

I'm a huge fan of Youtube because it is my survival guru. No kidding, I learnt how to cook properly on Youtube, I learnt how to bake on Youtube, I learnt how to put on makeup on Youtube. And today I'm going to share what else have I learnt from Youtube, making my own almond milk.

Almond milk is not common in my place. I know about it from watching Youtube videos of some beauty guru breakfast meal. They brag about how good it is and what a great substitute of dairy milk it is. You can read about the benefit of almond milk here. 

Since almond milk is not readily available and if available, normally cost triple of the normal milk, I decided to make my own. It is so simple and take less than 10 minutes (if you minus the soaking time). I used this guide from The Kitchn and and this video from Youtube.

Ingredients needed are:

1 cup of raw almond

2 cups of water, (more for soaking)

Sweetener like maple syrup, I used honey

Got my raw almond from Farley for RM7 for 100gram. 

Step 1 is to soak the almond overnight or up to 2 days.

I soaked my almond with water for one and a half day. They said the longer you soak your almond, the creamier your milk will be.When soaking the almond, don't put too much water, put just enough to cover all the nuts. Then cover the lid with towel and leave it for at least an overnight. The almond will soaked up the water and become plump. 

After an overnight, your almond water will look like my photo above. Don't worry about whitish bubbles. It is phytic acid released by the almond.

Step 2 is to throw away the soaking water and rinse your almond thoroughly.

At this point, you almond will be plump. Rinse it properly to get rid of the leftover soaking water.

Step 3 is to combine the almond and water in the blender.

1 cup of almond calls for 2 cups of water. Make sure the water is clean and safe for drinking.

Step 4 is to blend the almond and water at high speed.

I blended mine for at least 3 minutes at high speed then stop at interval to check if my almond has broken up properly. I shook the blender gently and continue to blend for another 2 minutes until the water is white and opaque.

I only stopped when froth like above formed.

Step 5 is to strain the almond into cheese cloth or muslin.

I don't have cheese cloth or muslin cloth so I use coffee strainer instead which works perfectly line. Pour the almond into the coffee strainer like my set up above. Remember to put a strainer under your coffee strainer to ensure no almond crumbs get into your milk.

Step 6 is to press the almond.

After pouring the almond into the coffee strainer, gather all of it and twist the coffee strainer off. Then press with all your might to get all the milk into the cup. And lastly, add in honey for sweet taste.

I got 2 bottles of almond milk from the recipe above. Almond milk can be store in refrigerator up to 2 days. As for your almond crumb, you can make a meal out of it. Just google any recipe that using almond crumb.

My total cost for the almond milk is only RM7 which is super cheap and I get yummy homemade almond milk out of it. The recipe is so easy and basically fool proof. You should try it at least once. As for me, why buy if I can make it at home for lesser price.

Lemon Drizzle Cake

I have tried cupcake many times before and now I wanted to step up my baking game by making cake. As a starter, I picked the easiest recipe from my favorite baking side BakingMad. I looked through the site and found Lemon Drizzle Cake to be the easiest one. Only need 5 main ingredients that readily available in my kitchen.

The recipe is here. I however omitted the cornflour and ground almonds because I don't have any. It doesn't compromise the taste of my cake because it is still delicious.

My ingredients. I halved all of the ingredients because I wanted a smaller cake. 

I think the most important step in the whole process if sieving the ingredient especially the self raising flour because I skipped this step in my cupcake when I made it first time. My batter was clumpy :(

Tada my lemon drizzle cake. I overdone the lemon drizzle with caster sugar and it was too sweet. Hence I only drizzled a little bit. And my cake cracked at little bit when I took it out of the tin because I didn't greased it properly.

I super love how simple yet delicious this cake is. I'm not one to brag but I've nail it down for this one. Now I'm off to make banana cake. Bye!

Tanah Lot | Bali

I promise this will be the last installment for my Bali trip back in April. I was so lazy to finish the blog post for Bali but I thought every part of Bali deserves a post on its own. Plus it is my first ever solo trip. Every adventures need to be jot down here for my own future reference.

I spent my last full evening in Bali with another tour from Pak Putu. This time I went for Tanah Lot tour. The sky was bright and beautiful in the morning but came afternoon, it was overcast and drizzling during my tour.

First place to visit on the tour is Taman Ayun Temple. This is inside of the garden. Sorry for the low light photo, told you it was overcast.

Entrance of Taman Ayun Temple. It was really impossible to get a photo without having others photobombing you. The flock of tourists were everywhere. 

I would love to know more about the history of the temple but Pak Putu was not well versed with the story of the temple. I asked some questions but he couldn't answer me. :(

The garden itself is not too large and most part of it are still under maintenance. Some workers were working hard restoring the ruined statues under the rain. Our visit there finished in just half an hour. It was raining and I was cold. Plus Pak Putu himself did not know the history of the temple. So, it was quite boring for me.

Spotted lots of Ogoh-ogoh sold in Bali. Ogoh-ogoh is the statue which have forms of mythological beings especially demons and is used during Nyepi Day. If you're planning your trip to Bali at the early of the year, make sure you take note of when is Nyepi Day because on that day, no activity are allowed and everything is closed. Nyepi Day basically means Silence Day which follows by New Year in the Hindu Calendar.

Next we moved on to Tanah Lot which took about one hour ='=

I was getting dizzy from the moving vehicle and the cold from the rain. Thankfully I brought shawls to wrap myself in. Very useful to bring along shawl because some temples have strict dress code and lady should covers their leg.

The famous Tanah Lot which is a cursed place for couple according to the history. This is where the Bali Curse started. Legend has it that the couple that visit Tanah Lot together will break up afterward. Not sure how true the story is but I'm not taking chances. But I did read that lots of couple, even the steady one broke up after visiting Tanah Lot.

It been raining the whole afternoon, so the tide was high and the current was strong. We couldn't walk over to the temple but being there watching it from afar was awesome. The strong wave crashing against the rocks made it even more wonderful.

I kept walking to edge of the rock to get close view of the wave but Pak Putu kept stopping me. It was dangerous but I couldn't help it. I love the water and kept imagine how does it feel to swim there wtf morbid much.

I spent close to one hour in Tanah Lot just taking in all the view and the experience. I even saw a surfer surfing on the strong wave. He made it look so easy. 

After Tanah Lot, I asked Pak Putu to drive me to the famous Warung Nuri in Seminyak. Everyone keep bragging that the pork rib is a must try in Warung Nuri. Honestly during my whole trip there, I did not had any meal that satisfy me.Probably because I didn't venture out much. The only time I walked around Kuta was before my flight back. 

I wandering around Kuta in my effort to search for bakso because I was craving one. Found a place that serves one but it is a rather high end place and sadly the bakso suck. I was reluctant to walk further because a tout keep following me to promote his motorbike wtf.

I was really mad at him. When he first approached me, I ignored him. He kept walking beside me asking me gazillion questions. I tried to lost him by entering a craft shop but the damn bastard was waiting for me outside. He literally been following me the whole street for 20 minutes. 

In the end, I got so mad at him and snapped at him to leave me alone. It worked. Sigh, I should have just yell at him at the first place. 

Anyway, back to Warung Nuri. It changed its name to Wild Hog. So, next time you're in Bali, look for Wild Hog instead.

The interior is very quirky and the patrons were 80% foreigners. 

I had the famous pork rib and Bintang beer. My verdict, it wasn't up to the hype. Sorry everyone but the pork rib was just so so to me. I didn't try anything else because I was alone and had nobody to share with.

Well, this is the downside of solo travel. You have nobody to split the food and the transport fare. But it is still enjoyable for me. A friend asked when I will do my solo travel again, right now I'm not so sure when. With the weak Ringgit, I have no mood to plan my travel for next year but so far I have some trips that I already confirmed.

If I were to do another solo travel, I think I will head over to the country Down Under. Hehehe

Weekend in Miri

I don't really like driving for a trip because I always feel like it is not safe but this time we had to choice but to drive to Miri for my sister wedding. Haven't had a road trip that the journey up to 5 hours for 2 years at least, I forgot how much fun it is. 

We went with 2 cars, the bf and I in one while my brother and aunts in another. Super convenient when we had car in Miri because we could just take off to anywhere anytime we want. No rushing at all. 

5 hours later, we reached our hotel. I couldn't feel my butt ='=

Meeting baby Kelly. She's no longer a baby, how time flies.

With my Baby! I used to spend every school holidays with them.

Since everyone was busy with the preparation for the reception at night, I took them out for lunch at Kenny Rogers. Sorry to say but Kenny Rogers really sucks. Don't know why their food standard can drops this much.

Many selfies ahead because we only meet like once a year.

Since I don't come to Miri often now, I die die also must squeeze some time to meet up with Vero, my uni best friend. If you been reading since I'm in uni, you will know Vero because she's my housemate, coursemate and clubbing mate wtf.

Last time I saw her was last year during Bern's wedding, she was heavily pregnant that time. Now, little Lola is out and I got to meet her for the first time.

Cutie pie Lola. Kelly squeezed in because she got jealous if we hold another baby.

With Vero and Lola! It was a short meeting but at least we're able to update each other on lives and gossiping wtf.

My bf and I went shopping after lunch and somehow got carried away. I blamed Daiso (omg, I really love Miri Daiso because it literally have everything and super neat. I could spend hours in there browsing baking stuff) and computer shops. Dinner started at 6.30pm but we only got back to the hotel at almost 5pm.

Took a quick shower and put on my dress. I need to have my hair and make up done as well.

Race against time so I just had my make up every where. Put my foundation in the bridal suite because I thought that's where they did my hair. Wrong room and moved to my aunt room.

Hair and makeup happening at the same time. 

Got everything done in less than 20 minutes but I left my makeup stuff everywhere. 

All set and ready. Not bad hor my makeup. I did it myself. *pat self on the back

I even managed to put on fake eyelashes

It was a short weekend in Miri because I left on Saturday to spend a night in Bintulu visiting the bf's sister.

Flat hair don't care wtf

Cheeky Eden. He can speak so well and like an adult now.

And become super clingy too.

Went back to Sibu on Sunday night and picked up Pino. Poor dog got infected with tick while staying at pet boarding shop. Only managed to clear him after two weeks. I'm not going to send him to that shop anymore.

Suzan & Domanic Wedding Reception

So my sister was having her wedding reception in Miri last week. They got engaged back in 2010, which is like the longest engagement ever. 5 years, can you believe it? Wedding has always become my favorite occasion but handling hers that night makes me think twice about having wedding reception.

I was only helping during the reception entrance to maneuver guests to their table and it stressed me badly. It was not an easy job to coordinate people. Some are requesting to change table, some are even thick face enough to bring not only plus one but a plus two and a plus three. Walaooo, this kind of guests really boiled my blood. I can't imagine the stress that the bride had to bear.

All of these incidents make me think twice about having a wedding reception. If it were up to me, I'll skip it. All the stress, arguments and headache are not worth the one night event. 

Rant aside, it was a great night. I got to see my relatives and we all having fun despite some hiccups here and there. 

Me and Baby ready for our task.

The rest of the crew hahaha

I was surprised with the photo props that prepared by the Hotel because mostly the bride has to prepare it on their own. Too bad the photo booth was slightly secluded, so not many guests are aware of it. Which is also a good news for us because we can hog the booth. hahahha

This one is very apt

Back on duty! Because most of the guests are at least one hour late.

Spotted the bride and groom.

I super love my hair and makeup that night. My hair was done by my aunt's friend and I did my makeup on my own. You know it is a an important day when I bother to put on fake eyelashes. I think this is the same fake eyelashes that I wore on their engagement day. wtf

Hello newlywed!

I like their wedding cake, simple and elegant.

In case you are wondering, the groom was waving to the drone flying above and my sis was ermmm...

Must take lots of selfie because it is good hair+good make up day.

With bride whom I wish all the happiness in the world. May God bless their union with abundant love and happiness.

The sibling trio minus my younger sister whom just started uni and couldn't join us for the night.