::tO mY bEAt::

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Another Week in Vitznau....

For some reason, with each passing day, my heart protests to the fact that I’ll be going home to Malaysia. I never thought how much I’d feel attached to my current home in Switzerland. It definitely has been a great eight months here in DCT. What with all the life experience I’ve gained, friends I’ve made, and not to mention this little quaint village of Vitznau I’ve learned to love, just three more weeks left, and a sad farewell I’ll have to bid.

Anyhow, let’s end that emotional initiation. Yesterday, I woke up to a welcoming bath of sun ray, which lasted for as long as an eye blink – ok, I’m exaggerating…it’s somewhat a little longer than that, but the erratic weather here has been horrendous. A smile to a thought of a beautiful day as I imagined and hoped it would turn out to be. Lazily I got ready to go to Luzern with Jessica, wishing I could stay in my bed awhile longer.

We skipped brunch as we planned to get ours in Luzern, at a Thai restaurant. This was supposed to be the roommie outing we’ve been meaning to have for weeks. Being girls and considering it’s a Saturday, we took our leisure time to get prepared. By the time I finished my prayers, it was already 1340, and the next bus was in less than 15 minutes. We left Vitznau at 1354.

In Luzern, we bought instant noodles to stock up for the next 3 weeks at Kam Tong, our first stop. Thereafter, we headed to the Thai restaurant. Boy, was that a good meal! I had fried seafood noodle, which soo reminded me of Malaysia, while Jessica had her seafood noodle soup. We also shared a platter of raw prawns, marinated in chilies and vinegar. That was the spiciest appetizer I’ve ever had! But both of us managed 6 pieces each, which left our eyes teary and red, while our mouth burning from the spiciness of the prawns. It was indeed one of the best meals I had in Switzerland since I set foot here.

We went to Migros, a smaller version of Malaysia’s Giant Supermarket, to get provisions for tomorrow’s intended Vietnamese lunch. Did I ever mention how good a cook Jessica is?? Whatever is produced from her pot will turn out to be something so delicious you can barely resist the temptation and stop eating. Trust me; it’s not only me who melted away when I had her cooking. Anyway, she promised me a vegetarian Vietnamese dish tomorrow. I can hardly wait! Hehehe….We managed to get all the things, including a kebab for Benk benk before leaving at 1712.

After Asr, I went to Sara’s room to give her a birthday present and to hang out with the Korean gals for a few minutes. I’ve always liked being with my Korean friends. There’s always something new for me to learn, be it the language, culture or traditions…and ehrm….food as well ;)…I was surprised to see more people than I expected to be there. But it was still an enjoyable time.

I stayed there until I received a phone call from Jessica, who asked me to join her for a drum session at the basement. It was without doubt one of the coolest experience I’ve acquire since I got here. Firstly, I didn’t expect whatsoever I was about to witness. Benk Benk was undeniably one of the best drummers I’ve ever met. You know, the kind of talented person, when they start playing, all mouths will be drooping to the floor. Yes he was that good. I mean, he could practically go on and on without music, and I assure you, none will be bored. It was remarkable I tell you. I was given a short lesson of drums and will probably learn more in the coming week. ;)

Anyhow, after my drum session, Meera and I decided to take a nice night stroll out along the lake. I was in for yet another shock. You see, since the floods and rain, both of us haven’t been walking. For one thing, it has been raining on and off, since last week. As our school was on a slightly higher ground and wasn’t so badly affected, we hadn’t imagine what we were about to see. The mud residue that was still apparent by the road side also didn’t tell much of the damage that was cause. 3 minutes after walking, we finally reached our favorite park, which we used to hang out in. With eyes as wide with disbelief, the ugly scene of total damage that welcomed us slowly sink in. Never had I envision such a disturbing scene. In the dark, the path between flowers and trees were literally destroyed, full of rocks, logs and mud. My sanctuary was destroyed, and God knows how long it will be till they restore it once more; though I’m praying hard so that that would be before I leave soon.

The rest of the night I spent in bed as much rest was still needed. I’ve been sick for more than a week now and everything has been really slow for me. My studies have been greatly affected, but hopefully, today, given the moody weather outside, fewer distractions will encourage me to learn something and catch up on work. Anyways, Zara is smsing me right now! Owh I’m soooo excited, hopefully, my recovery will allow me to post more stuff next week. Till then….mata ne!

Monday, August 22, 2005


Chef Urs...our beloved Pastry & Choc Chef Posted by Picasa


Maurizio & Alejandro eating freshly baked pretzels Posted by Picasa


Hat's on people!...eerrr...hats?? Posted by Picasa


Danish Pastries Posted by Picasa


Slices & Muffins Posted by Picasa


Some sweet looking sweets! Posted by Picasa


In the Keller's Bakery Shop Posted by Picasa


Keller's Beery Cake Posted by Picasa


Strawberry Tart Posted by Picasa


Vicky, Meera and I....baking our imaginary bread in the industrial oven.... ;) Posted by Picasa


Brioches in Freezer Posted by Picasa


Choc. Gipfelis in Freezer Posted by Picasa


freshly baked breads Posted by Picasa


Freshly baked croissant aka gipfeli in switz Posted by Picasa

Slow Week....

Ok, I know I’ve been lagging. Granted, this week wasn’t a busy one for both kitchen and management classes. But this has been one of the rare weeks I actually get to rest and relax. We’ve been making ice-creams, sherbet, sorbet and deep-fried products, which was fairly easy and then I hadn’t had any management classes till Friday.

On last Wednesday, the whole EPC class went on a trip to one of the most famous Baker/Confectionary Factory called Keller Regensdorf in Zurich, Switzerland. We left school as early as 0400 in the morning!!! It was flipping funny to hear all the strategies plotted to make sure we woke up. Chai and I agreed to wake each other up. Meera decided not to sleep. I guess she woke Alejandra up – they’re roommates. Chris ran at 0230 in the morning. Yes. Ran! He went running in the middle of the night along the lake I assume. It was amazing! But the best of all was Alejandro. Haha!! He drank 1.5l of water to make sure he’ll wake up in the middle of the night when nature calls! When we heard that, the whole bus was laughing our heads off!! It was sooo funny. The rest of the group either slept early and set their alarm clocks, or did as Chai and I did - call each other up.

We reached Keller at around 5 and were greeted by Mr. Keller himself. The first sight that caught our eyes upon reaching the doors of the factory was the fresh and sweet smelling breads and pastries. It was so mouth watering that hunger threatens our self-control. We were brought to see different parts of the factory; the checking station, where products are ordered and checked before they leave the factory’s premises, the dough production site, the sandwich and croissant production site, the chiller area, the fermentation room, the pastries and sweet production site, the baking area, and many more. It was amazing how they start work in the middle of the night, and just before 6, their products were baked, packed and subsequently were sent out to the whole of Zurich. It was awesome! I’ll post up pictures of the trip soon.

The next few days, I had such pleasant sleeps and every night was spent with a friend, watching Hell’s Kitchen and Naruto. The weather, being rainy and gloomy only added the feeling of comfort in my snuggly bed, where my two favorite pillows laid. Aside from relaxing, I’ve managed to do some soul searching by talking to people about thoughts and feelings. So basically, it’s been a wonderful week. Life is beautiful Alhamdulillah….

Saturday, August 20, 2005


cookie box Posted by Picasa


18 types of cookies....aaaaalllll yummilicious!! Posted by Picasa


petit four platter Posted by Picasa


yummy cookies!! Posted by Picasa


the E group Posted by Picasa


sweet meringue dessert Posted by Picasa


elephant meringue Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Culture Shock!!

I’m sorry to those who were consistently checking up on my blogs. However, last week was yet another busy week for me. Had 2 tests on top of our busy kitchen schedule. We had 16 different types of petite four, and chocolate decorations to do. It was really nice! At the end of it all, we managed to get 2 boxes each to bring home. Actually, we were allowed only one, but since our class had to forgo two days of holiday (one from last week, and the other was the day after I came back from Germany), Chef Urs allowed us two. My whole class planned to send the other box we got home. Hehe! Actually, that’s one of the main reasons why I didn’t want to update my blog. I soo wanted to write this in, but knew if I did, my mom won’t be surprised about the present I sent for the family :D I posted the parcel back to Malaysia on Friday for CHF19. Quite amazing how cheap it was given that it took less than a week for a box that big to reach home. Thanks DiePost!! Hope my family had fun eating it. Ooh! Hope the petite four were still intact! Hehe!

On Saturday, despite the protest of my intuition, I decided to accept my roommate’s request to go to the street parade with her and a few others. It was supposed to be one of the biggest events, where people in Switzerland would sing, dance, eat and wear outrageous costumes. I was hoping it would be something like Fasnacht, where people were in costumes and bands, and they would march down the road to demonstrate their creativity and to celebrate their beliefs - something more of a culture exposure event.

So after brunch and laundry, Jessica (my roommate), Ting, Chi, Hien, Vicky, John, Peter and I, embarked a bus to get to Luzern. It was of a good start as we were laughing and joking most of the time. Jessica and I, especially, had lots and lots of fun! We were listening to her Korean songs (she was singing to it too) and were making fun of things around us. I was already congratulating myself for the choice I made. We arrived in Luzern 10 before 3, met up with the rest of the group and had to get tickets to Zurich. Because of some complications, we only got onto the 1536 train. The one hour train ride was a pleasant one, with some conversations here and there, but mostly looking at the scenery and at stops, people. I was amused with how bizarre the costumes these Swiss could wear. You see, the street parade was supposedly a day of rejoice, were everyone is welcomed to express their love of things (or people) and perpaduan dalam Negara mereka. And so, straights, gays, lesbians, punks, weirdos, crazy people, normal people, the young, the old, well, to sum up, EVERYONE, come out on this day, celebrating.

Obviously I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I was in for a shock! I had never seen such a sight. The moment we stepped out of the train, I could see so many people that were literally clothed but naked. At first, our group was so surprised with what we saw that everything seemed funny. It was really odd to see such things in a so-called civilized country. Once we started walking though, I started to feel uncomfortable. Allah knows how disgusted I felt about the whole thing. The only time I was happy during that whole “trip” of mine was when I found a Korean shop, and managed to get some Korean foodstuff, taking pictures with Jessica and Ting and the time when I found Chinese vegetable fried noodles. Aside from that, everything was so irritably sickening, that I felt like shaking people and asking them what the hell they were doing!

Imagine a whole city acting like animals, exposing their shame (which in their case I think would be pride), dancing aimlessly, getting drunk, wearing despicable costumes and going crazy. The whole atmosphere was revolting. The only reason I stayed back for as long as I did was because I had to wait for 7 o’clock to get a free train ride home. Throughout the time I was there, I was constantly reminded of my dad who had once related to me about his dream. A dream where, many were hunting for Muslims, but because of the exact conditions I witnessed, the small group of Muslims, were too hard to catch. Every time the Muslims were almost caught, they would turn into a street and would disappear amongst the crowd, as if they were always protected by Allah. I just hope that I am as lucky as those Muslims who were always protected by the Almighty. I couldn’t imagine how these people couldn’t see that their silly attire and actions were not but a disgrace to themselves. How could their minds be so corrupted? How could they be so blind. Only sadness, disgust and wonder fills my memory of that event.

Anyhow, I retreated the earliest I could, and reached home by 9. That was definitely the most relieved moment of my life in DCT. Haha! The sight of my room – such a comfort one would never know unless something unpleasant happened. Chai had a good laugh at me after I told him what happened. Haha! And so, after borrowing cds from him, I had a good time in my room relaxing.

The next day, my school had a football match (which they lost, as they’ve always-hehehe). It was definitely an exciting event. Reminded me soo much of my high school days where life weren’t so complicated. Huhu!! I miss my friends back home !! I love the new one I’ve made too. Life is beautiful.

Looks like I have to pen-off right now. I’ll be writing the latest, perhaps again tonight. I hope it’ll be possible. Anyhow, wish me luck on my next exam on Friday – German! ;) later peeps!

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Choices, Confusions..HOPE

I never knew job hunting is such a trying task. Granted, I've been lucky enough to get people (friends, aunt and my beloved parents) helping me to get them. But still! It's soooo strenuous! And all this few months of searching only to work for a total of 6 months. Then, if you're like me, you'd want to have alternatives. As it is, I won't go jumping around shouting hoorayy when I need to work. I mean, I love studying, but the prospects of working doesn't really seem to excite me. So now, with a need to complete my advanced dip. course, I'm oblidged to work.

As many may know, I was offered a position in Empire Hotel Brunei for my industry training. I was very happy about it as I was confident that I'll be cooking and dealing with halaal products only. Meaning, though I'm thrown into the fine dining kitchen, I've got nothing to worry about wine and pork. Brunei is afterall particular in this matter. The thing is, I'll be getting OnLy 200 Brunei Dollars per month. Which is unfortunately not enough to support myself there. Then, I applied to Dubai with the help of Azmil. I was hoping chances are good there too. But haven't got an answer about that since the very day I sent my resume. I'm sure a lot of people who've done some job hunting would agree if I say that the wait kills!!!

Anyway, my parents has been planning for me to have my industry training in Malaysia. Alhamdulillah, by the grace of the Almighty, I've been offered a position in Shangri-La KL. My chef's were both very very happy for me for not everyone get the opportunity to work in a prestigious hotel. I'm definitely happy about that too! Heck! I even get to choose the areas which I wish to be exposed to! So what else can I complain about? Well, for one thing...it's freakin unpaid!!!! Sure, I'll get to place Shangri-La Hotel in my future CV. But the plans I've made when I get my paycheck!! NOOOOO!! It'll be quite impossible for me now to save up to go to either America, which I've been wanting to do for years, or korea to visit all my friends there!! And that sucks!

On the other hand, I'll be closer to almost everyone who's important to me, have a home to return to everyday, get good halaal food, and have nothing petty like laundry and rent to worry about. So I am very lucky indeed. :) And, although I'll be fussing about how I'll have no paycheck for the 6 months I'll be working, being with everyone is sooo worth living for, even without that paycheck. Plus it is jUsT 6 puny litte months of my life. I hope it'll be one of the few interesting things that will happen to me. New experience, more exposure. I hope all will turn out fine. Jaffri, if you're reading this....I am finding that sparkle in my life. ;) wonder if u still remember that? haha!

Well, that's all the future I'm hoping for anyways. For now, the present is what I have to concentrate with. Afterall, we plan and Allah decides....

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Can you hear me now?

Sometimes, feelings are so annoyingly hard to comprehend. It gets worse when you can't seem to express this foreign feeling that you're deeply affected by to anyone. Not because you don't want to, rather because even your heart knows not what this feelings are. Internal conflictions welcome themselves without being invited. Confusion arises and threatens our conscience. Concentration deteriorates, you become restless and everything else seems not worth worrying. And you wish someone would hear you say: Can you hear me now?

For some reason, I'm feeling like this tonight. I'm joyful but in one moment, melanchonic. I went from signing to dancing to laughing to sulking to feeling irritated to being in the state of confusion to hating myself to liking me again. I tried doing soooo many things to distract myself. Unfortunately, to no avail. maybe is just hyperactiveness. But then again, do u get depressed with hyperactiveness? God knows what's got into my puny little brain tonight.

Any clues people? Gosh I need to get a life....

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Fireworks Again!

Tonight, I was in Luzern to witness the biggest fireworks! It was simply breathtaking. I mean really. I could only smile and look with wonder and astonishement. It was amazing! The best thing was, it went on and on for like half an hour! I just wished they'd have these fireworks thing more often. It was soooo colourful with different ways of popping into the sky....different shapes, different sound. Some looked so wonderful I didn't feel like I was on earth. It looked like glittering stars! The whole show was properly coordinated and planned. Anyways, I'm feeling tired now cos it's been a loooong day and if I continue, I'll bore the life out of whoever's reading this with my all so crappy words. So I guess I'll blog soon...later!


like the galaxy.... Posted by Picasa


Breathtaking Fireworks... Posted by Picasa


5, 4, 3, 2, 1...blast off!!! Posted by Picasa


Jumpin jumpin jump Posted by Picasa