Asia's Next Top Model, Cycle 1 - Episode 5

The girls found out that they need to share beds now. Helena had to share it with Aastha and Sophia, leaving both of the girls with rage. They plainly distaste Helena and it obviously showed on TV.

Filantropi wrote a goodbye-letter mentioning every girls in it. For Helena, she wrote a reminder and tell her to not be mean to the other girls especially Melissa. I seriously think it wasn't necessary to embarrass her like that, especially she was still in the model house and still had to face everyone. Earlier, some of the girls were reading the letter in the kitchen and was focusing at Helena's part of the msg. Then she walked in when the girls were laughing about her, and Kate gave a little jump when she saw Helena was behind her. I felt sorry for Helena, she realised that the girls were obviously talking about her. To cover the awkward situation, Rachel asked Helena to read the note - She unnecessarily had to deal with the note in front of all the rest. Filantropi should not do that.

The 1st challenge was a group challenge, whereby the girls were divided into groups based on their roommates. Each group was given a theme & need to symbolize the theme in their clothing and overall looks. 1st group was Rachel, Melissa & Step and they need to give a sexy look. 2nd group was Trang, Jessica & Kate and they need to give an edgy look. The 3rd group was Helena, Aastha & Sophia and they need to give a quirky look. Overall, the 2nd group was the winner but as an individual winner it went to Jessica. She got some cash prize for shopping & bought a little something for the girls. mmm That was very nice of her too, just like Trang.

For the 2nd challenge, the girls were brought to Nongsa Point Marina, Indonesia to have photo shoots. The theme was top model vacation and was won by Kate for the first time. She was very ecstatic. For the first time, she won a photo challenge best shot. Good for her.

I did agree with the judges, she look really stunning in this pose. Didn't seem to show a playful lady that she is.

Helena had a conversation with Stephanie and expressed her feelings about the situation she was facing right now. Steph said Helena was alone and it appeared as mean to the other girls, but no one ever got close with Helena, so they dont really know the person she is. Helena was having a hard time to get a friend and constantly tried to make some friends but always misinterpreted by the other girls especially Sophia who thought Helena was being manipulative. I cant deny that Helena was a bit mean, when she spoke about Melissa.That girl should give Melissa a break.

Trang was eliminated due to her poor in communication in English. Everyone was surprised, and it proves that English is very important, regardless the look.

Beef and Mushroom Stew recipes

Today I finally got the chance to cook the beef which I had in stock. Yesterday night I thought I wanted to cook but instead, we had a dinner outside as I was very tired after work. My husband requested a beef stew but I didn't have any idea how to do it. Thank god, there's an awesome technology called the 'internet'! So I googled up the recipes and stumbled upon a few blogs which recipes were quite easy, so I copied them and applied in my cooking. But some of the ingredient wasn't included in my cooking as the shop just nearby my house sells a very limited things.

So these were the steps:

1. I boiled the beef with water, ginger and salt and close the lid. I left it for about 40 minutes and finally when the meat were soft, I turned off the stove, collect the beef and dispose the boiled water.

2. Fried the beef in hot oil. Of course, I used a frying pan for that. The beef were cooked with black pepper powder until they turned a bit golden brown, turned off the heat and transferred to one side.

3. I used 6 shallots and 5 cloves of garlics and cut them into cubes. Put it aside.

4. Then, I took another group of shallots and garlics with the same amount as the previous one, cut into slices and fried them till they turned crispy brown. After turning off the heat, this fried shallots and garlics were blended and turned into a paste. You may add some water in it to blend them easily. This paste was put aside.

5. Then, I heated the frying pan with some cooking oil and put in the shallots, garlics, and the paste and evenly stirred. I put in the fried beef and stirred some more. Then, I added 2 teaspoon of wheat floor, 2 teaspoon of oyster sos, a half glass of water, some salt and some sugar. After evenly stirred, I put in potatoes and carrots which were chopped earlier into cubes. I close the pan's lid and left it till the veggies were cooked.

6. Finally, I put in the mushrooms and some soup leaves and stirred again till it married nicely. When the food was done, turned off the stove and I served it with rice.

My husband loves it so much and asked to add the rice for 2 times ;-) I was very glad and happy with the success attempt. I have a magic fingers after all! despite my lack of experience, hehe ;-)

In the making

The finish product! Nyum nyum! Ready to eat with rice :-)

Asia's Next Top Model, Cycle 1- Episode 4

11 girls still remained in this episode, Aastha was saved when Bei Si was eliminated. However, she was still complaining & crying about her new hair-style. Luckily for her, Trang was there to be a shoulder to cry on.

I just couldn't seemed to understand why she didn't move on, her hair wasn't that bad. But Helena said Aastha is the kind of person who loves to complaint a lot, so I guess there's nothing to wonder about.

This time, Joey visited the model house & gave them a challenge of photo shoot - being sexy.
In this challenge, Helena and Jessica were both excellent, they had use their prop very well. Helena posed very sexily with her telephone prop and was the winner of this small challenge, leaving the girls fuming due to her success of winning too many challenge in a row. Aastha said, "She just won because she got a perfect prop". Someone being jealous, huh?

As the prize, Helena got to pick 2 of the girls for a dinner with the judges - Nadya, Joey and Todd. She picked Rachel and Gee, but they were both disappointed with her as she was too controlling on the conversation with the judges during the dinner. She was the only one speaking too much and asking too many question, leaving the other 2 girls out of chance to speak. To me, what was their problem? It was Helena's prize, and she got every rights to enjoy her prize more. She was doing the right thing. The 2 girls were just being ungrateful.

Earlier before the dinner, Helena invited the girls for swimming, but they all ignored her. Again, Sophia misinterpreted Helena's intention. I was very tired of Sophia too.

Later in the episode, Helena spoke with Jessica, she tried to win Jessica to be her close friend. But as I expected, many of the girls seemed to think that Helena was being manipulative. I actually understood her situation and felt for her. She certainly didn't try to control anyone, all she was doing was just trying to find a close friend. Someone who could actually see her as a friend, not an enemy.

The second challenge for the girls was a boxing photo shoot. Kate was being too playful with the boxing props and judge Daniel scolded her, leaving her feeling too embarrassed. During the shoots, Helena was overdoing her sexiness, pulling her clothes here and there while Melissa showed some good progress. She was praised by the judges as they could recognised her hard work. I personally thought Sophia's shot was the best and yes, she did won the challenge.

During the elimination, Kate wrote a letter to the judges to explain herself and to prove that she too, was a serious contestant. She read the letter out loud in front of the judges & they looked satisfied with her effort.

Filantropi and Gee were both eliminated as the judges thought that there was no more rooms for improvement for the both of them. I kinda agree with the judges, but if either 1 should stay in the competition, it would better be Gee as her talent outshines more than Filantropi.

New 'bundle of joy' in my family

Yesterday night just after work, my family and I went straight to Malacca to visit the new born angel in our family, my eldest brother's son- Muhammad Ali Bin Faizal.

Alhamdulillah, my sister-in-law had safely gave birth to her second son yesterday after the Asar prayer which was around 5pm at Hospital Besar Melaka. He was born on 7th February 2013, means he will be celebrating his birthday every year on the same month as his Aunty Tasha ;-)

I was at the office when I received the news from my brother. The second I heard the news, I shed tears and felt really grateful for the event. Earlier that day, I was very worried of their conditions after knowing from my brother that his wife had been suffering from a contraction since yesterday morning while they were still at home.The due date was supposed to be early of March, but it turned out a month earlier than that. I couldn't help but to feel worried and anxious.

Minutes after the SMS, I called my husband and we planned to visit them that night and return back to KL on the same day. It was a last-minute plan, so I called my mom and asked her to get ready. Of course, my little sister was there too.

We began the journey at 9pm-we need to check the condition of my car & everything, and reached there by 12am. I felt so tired, it seemed like a very long journey as we were a bit lost & couldn't find Pusat Bandar Melaka.

At the hospital, the security guard did not allow us to visit the patient easily. We need to take turns to see the mother & the baby but sadly for my husband, he couldn't join in. Only ladies are allowed to visit during the late hours - They don't allowed late visitors actually but our case was an exception- we came all the way from KL. Alhamdulillah for that.

 

So my husband waited at the waiting area with my nephew Hanaffie. He played his uncle's iPad and was so engrossed with it, he didn't even want to kiss his favorite Aunty:-( Now uncle Haikal has become his favorite Uncle. He was with my husband all the time!

 

Eventually I managed to visit my nephew. Look at him, he's gorgeous.... I love him so much already ;-)

p/s: I just cant wait to have my own baby!! Hehehe...

He is so adorable. Aunty Tasha loves you so much, baby Ali ♥

Welcoming my second nephew into this world

Today my sister-in-law, Kak Liza is already admitted in the labor room & my eldest brother had just informed me that the cervix is by now opening up to 5 cm. I think it will be fully dilated by today and soon my new nephew will be born into this world! Oh my god... I just can't wait to see him, and I am so excited for this news!

But at the same time I am very scared.. I hope my sister will not be suffering much on her contraction & I pray everything will goes smoothly. Omg I am so thrilled and worried at the same time!

My husband and I, we are planning to visit them in Malacca this upcoming Monday. I am bringing mom and little sister too! Please pray for them guys. Hope Allah will protect the baby and the mom, Amin..

Aunty Tasha loves u all so much ....