Exactly one month ago, I celebrated my 27th year here on earth. Ahhhh! I am getting older now! However, I do not feel that way; it just feels like another year has been added to my age and that is it. Hahah! I live by the quote of “Age is just a number”. I honestly did not get "that" heavy feeling that others get whenever they are past their silver years already. I think they call them "Quarter Life Crisis"? I mean, I still do not take everything seriously unlike those who think maturely and I believe I am not yet ready to settle down with my own family as compared to all my others friends who already did. I may be a late-bloomer after all. Setting this aside, I celebrated my birthday here in Qatar again and it was the third time and I've got no regrets for this. (except for the fact that I cannot be with my family physically)

Still though, I was so lucky to have some great set of friends here in Qatar that they never fail to greet my birthdays with cakes. ‘Coz they know me too well enough to know that I am a certified sweet-toothed. Haha!

 2016 & 2017 Birthday Greet

2019 Birthday Greet (sorry for the messy room :P ) 

With all 3 of my birthdays here, they always give and surprise me at the first few minutes of my day, and I am very much thankful for that. Of course, my family and friends who were time-zones apart from me never forget this day of mine especially my loving family (who I misses so much already). The mere fact that they gave me their sweetest wishes and regards were good reasons enough to be so very grateful for them.

Since I am not a child anymore and am a full-grown adult now, birthdays are no reasons for me to leave from work so yes I got to continue taking care of patients in the Operating Room. That being said, I got to have a simple pizza celebration with my colleagues.  It was a good thing that we were not that busy that day unlike all the other days that we tend to get our lunch during snack time already! hahaha! God really was favoring me that day. :)

That day was really a whole day celebration for me, or more like an eat-all-you-can-birthday. After work, I headed straight down to Applebee's and got myself the foods that I have been craving for. You see, I have been on a constant diet for now, and I usually control my food portions but this day was an exception. You’ll be surprise in the next few minutes by how much I ate.. hahaha!

Please pardon this yet another ancient post from my previous escapade. It is from 2 years ago so please just bear with it. I simply needed to post this just so I can at least easily go back into these little food adventure I got into. 

BurgerSam

I have this undeniably sweet obsession with Oreos. I may have been choosing anything from a menu with the word "Oreo" in it. Specially if Oreo is mixed with cheesecake. I mean, imagine, 2 of my guilty pleasures, made into one! How can that be any guiltier?

And since I am a sucker for Oreo Cheesecakes, for the very least, I should be able to make this for my own right? And I did! I actually made it from scratch and not from those ready-to-make boxes out there. Booyah! But not to burst my own bubble, what I actually made was the no-bake version for the fact that it is way easier to make. Still though, a No-Bake Oreo Cheesecake is still an Oreo Cheesecake.

So behold, my very own No-Bake Oreo Cheesecake with Dark Chocolate Ganache and Twix Toppings! 

Ingredients: (for a 6in. pan)

Crust

☑ 12 pieces of Oreos

☑ 3tbsp melted butter

Filling

☑ 250g Cream Cheese, softened

☑ 200ml Whipphing Cream
☑ 10pcs Oreos, broken to pieces
☑ 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

December 20, 2015 - 27th birthday of my sister so she decided to treat me out on a lunch date. Originally, we had planned to have a go at Niu by Vikings in SM Aura. We were after their lunch buffet but since we didn't make it to the buffet schedule we decided to give Todd English Food Hall a try.

I admit it, I am not the biggest fan of marshmallows. I even have to remove each one of them before I let myself indulge in a dessert with marshmallows on it. Not until I had a taste of smores that I finally made an exception for my dislike with these fluffy sweets. But I will still be removing each of 'em from any other desserts I'll be having (I am such a picky eater. I know!). And the delights of smores made my convoluted brain come up with a little food experiment. With the use of the all-time-favorite sandwich-cookie, comes my very own "Oreo-Smores Rolled French Toast". Though, I'm not quite sure if I was the first to conceive this idea, but still I came up with this on my own.

• Loaf bread
• Oreos (Chocolate Cream fillings)
• Butter
• Chocolate bar (or Chocolate Spread)
• Marshmallows (or ready-made Marshmallow spread)

Me and my group mate would always order this dish whenever available in the menu. We would even request them to cook this if we are on duty. That's how addicted we are to this meal. And so, with this addiction, this certain group mate of mine decided to learn the recipe and shared it to me.

Second attempt

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Again, not much for the appearance, but it tastes good. Bon appétit!

I have always wanted to make myself be the next Master Chef PH (like that will ever happen. Hahahah!). Or maybe I got a bit overboard back there, just to be simple home cook would be enough. You see, cooking is a bit of an alien for me. I love watching every cooking shows I stumbled upon but I actually don't know how to cook. I'm already 23 years old and still, my parents always do all the cooking around here.  I might actually starve myself to death without them. Such a mockery, I know! Wait, wait... I know how to fry! That still counts, right? Hahaha! Anyway, you already know that I'm a newbie, so I will then start off with the easiest recipe that I found on the internet - making a Gimbap.

*I don't have the actual measurements of each ingredients, I just made an approximation on how I like my Gimbap to taste.

Instructions:

1. Cook the omelette. Crack 2 eggs in a bowl and add a pinch of salt and black pepper. Beat the eggs with fork. Preheat the pan with a drizzle of oil. Turn down the heat level to low before pouring the egg mixture into the pan. Pour and spread it so that it fills the pan. Cook until all the eggs are fully cooked. Let it cool on the side.

2. Slice everything into strips. Cut the carrots, cheese, meatloaf and omelette into strips. Cut it into your preferred size.

4. Season the rice. In a small bowl, mix the rice with 1 tbsp of rice vinegar, 1 tsp of sugar and a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp of sesame seeds. Gently mix the rice with a spatula, being careful not to squash the rice. Let it cool enough to be touched with bare hands.

7. Arrange the fillings on top of the rice. Do not put the fillings on the bottom edge of the rice. Make a space of at least half or an inch, then lay all the fillings. Arrange the fillings in a neat and horizontal way.

8. Roll the Gimbap! Slowly and gently roll the mat from the bottom (the part nearest you). Press down while rolling to push the fillings in. Use firm but gentle pressure to hold the ingredients in place.