Irish Coffee Cupcakes

Are you a coffee-holic? yes? well look no further!! You've stumbled upon the right place :)

A few days ago i was tempted to try out Martha Stewart's recipe for her decadent Irish Coffee Cupcakes recipe and i was "WOW-ed" for the amazing taste the cupcakes offer. Originally, the recipe has been used for years for the celebration of St. Patrick's Day, but every day is a cupcake day, so why not aite? :D

Martha has done a phenomenal job in reinventing the traditional drink as a cupcakes for grown-ups. The moist, delicate cupcakes are flavoured with espresso (i've used coffee granules as a substitute) and brown sugar, topped with billowy whipped cream frosting spiked with whiskey (i've ditch that out of course). A dusting of coffee powder/espresso/mocha powder makes a festive finish.

Head on here for the recipe :-)

http://www.marthastewart.com/314060/irish-coffee-cupcakes

So, here's the pic of my coffee cupcakes :D

Told ya it looks tempting!!

SERIOUSLY GUYS, GIVE IT A TRY. If you're a coffee lover, i swear, this air-whipped, lavish&decadent cupcakes swirled with the whipped-cream and the espresso dusting, will leave your taste bud drenched, and crave for more.

JPA-MARA Scholarship Interview 2015 (SAC)

I had a super wonderful awesome time with kumpulan 2. It was seriously the best scholarship interview i've attended (hah, like i've attended that much of an interview... anyways, moving on).

The JPA-MARA scholarship interview is different and unique, fun and exciting in the same time,

1) The interview is held in a group, thus you'll feel less nervous

2) It's like doing some kind of a school presentation for English/Bahasa class

3) TEAMMATES WERE SUPER DUPER FUN&SPORTING.

There were 2 sessions in total, 1 for BM and 1 for BI

Thus, on 26/3/15, I've went to INTEC Shah Alam for the iv. 

1st Session

Roughly, there will be 14 people in a group and the group is further subdivided into 2 more groups, consisting 7 people per group. (but on the day 2 people were absent for some unavoided reason leaving only 12 people behind.)

1) Ice breaking session (5 minutes)

we played the numbers game. nothing much to say, it was a quick activity to kinda make the candidates "wake up" because our iv session was in the afternoon (biasa la petang mengantuk kot)

2) Case-interpreting session (15 minutes)

we were given 2 papers with topics. 2 topics in total, 1 for each group.

tajuk:

"Pertanian adalah Perniagaan"

anda sebagai pemimpin pada tahun 2040 haruslah _________

->teknologi yg perlu diketengahkan

->cara untuk meningkatkan/menggalakkan industri tempatan

ugh it was one of the hardest topic so far and i was LACK OF INFORMATION.

there's this one guy in my team (under fast-track in UPM,pertanian, kencang kot, glad he was there and he knows a lot about pertanian kinda stuff! you're my life saver!!!)

the panel will keep an eye on you so BE ACTIVE and TALK, ALWAYS KEEP THAT SMILE ON YA.

3) Mahjong Paper  (15 minutes)

Write out every key points on the paper

4) Presentation (30 minutes)

Every person is given the chance to talk. Don't worry and SHINE :) keep on asking questions for that extra merit.  

(oh masa tu the 1st group, the panel tanya dasar kerajaan terhadap insdutri pertanian. SERIOUS, TAK TAHU APA. OUR BAD.)

done yay! proceed on the second session, BI Session

2nd Session

1) Case-interpreting session (15 minutes)

topic: STILL, ON AGRICULTURE.

->food safety, challenges and ways to overcome

->technology that gov. should implement

2) Mahjong Paper  (15 minutes)

Write out every key points on the paper

3) Presentation (30 minutes)

Still, the same flow as the BM Session, just keep on talking with a good body language and an EXCELLENT ENGLISH.NO ROJAK PLEASE. i know rojak is nice but you have to avoid it. 

you don't have to have any accent, just speak FLUENTLY.

DONE AND YASSSSSS IT'S TIME TO GO HOME!!

made new friends!! (best part of it)

-Arissa Munira

-Irfan Khalil

-Iman Aisha

-Fara Shuhada

-Daniel Ibrahim (BUDAK FAST TRACK UPM, KENCANGSSS)

-and etc. etc. 

MEET AISYAH ASBAR. BUDAK KENCANG BASIS 9A+ :D

Iman kena dare dengan Irfan naik kerusi ambik selfie :p

Our last group photo before going back home :)))

Sealed with kisses,

Nadia. xx

My Next Step

Okay so the result for JPA-MARA and Yayasan Khazanah were out yesterday (17/3/15) and I was SO EXCITED because my applications were a success for both scholarships! Can't thank you much enough, thank you Allah, and please, do guide me towards the end of the iv sessions ^-^
InsyaAllah, Dr. Nadia-soon-to-be.

Everything begins with a dream.

Applied for IMU (Khazanah Watan) and University of Edinburgh (Khazanah Global)

Kolej Mara Banting!! & off to Ireland I go InsyaAllah ^-^

Medical Profession; insyaAllah.

My passion for providing desperate people with healthcare is conveniently supported by both my aptitude and affinity for scientific study. Throughout high school, biology and chemistry classes have been my most rewarding and enjoyable academic pursuits. I love the sense of achievement when I finally understand how a complicated chemical reaction progresses. While my classmates are preparing to graduate from high school and “been done with school”, I feel I have only sipped from the ocean of information that I want to learn.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” That is the magic question that is most often asked of children. For many youngsters, the answer wavers between a lawyer, a teacher, a policeman and alternates every week. For me however, the answer has always been a constant “I want to be a doctor!” Initially, my desire to become a doctor was raw and unrefined. Motivated by a naive altruism, “I wanted to make the world a better place”. Although I do not exactly remember how that goal became my number one answer, I have held fast to that ambition ever since. Beginning in primary 6, I became an avid spectator of public television programs aired in the US involving hospital themes. By the age of fifteen, I had realized my passion for medicine and the human body. It was one of the post-PMR activities and we were brought to UM for a trip. We were given the opportunity to witness a general surgery procedure. After seeing my first biopsy, I left the room feeling fascinated and informed. I was in awe of the surgeon for her expertise with the instruments but I also felt assured that with proper training, I could also complete the procedure. That also deepened my fascination for the human body and the practice of medicine. Throughout the days, I could only taste excitement and passion for medical studies.

A future in medicine will fulfill every desire and demand that I require in a career. I need to be able to work with others, think critically, study the human body, and work diligently under pressure. Because religious faith and family are important parts of my personal life, I desire a career which affords me the opportunity to professionally express myself. I am not only choosing to be a doctor, but it feels like as if the career has called me. I am drawn to medicine for its continuous challenges, new technology, and for my love of learning. I yearn to be a part of the growth in the medical field. To learn my whole life, loving the challenges, and never becoming stagnant in my knowledge and experiences. Predominantly, I will have the opportunity to make a positive impact on the quality of life for many people. To listen and understand my patients, to help them in every way my education has taught me how, and to see them as more than patient, as the most precious human life- that is the gift that a career in medicine offers. Through compassion and care for each person, I hope for a better Malaysia; a better tomorrow, a better living, a better future.

A good doctor is approachable and a calming figure in a patient’s life. When a patient is faced with the emotions and uncertainty of birth, illness, injury or death, the doctor is there to congratulate, comfort or console. A good doctor is one who attends to a patient’s feelings just as quickly as he/she makes a diagnosis and also mature in action and thoughts. He/she is able to handle difficult situations with professional ease and is able to relate patients much different from themselves. He/she is aware of the importance of his/her responsibilities and completes them accordingly. With these characteristics clearly outlined, I am even more certain of my future success in medicine. As a rule, I have always been an even-tempered individual. My emotions rarely go to extremes, and I am usually the first person to attempt to calm or soothe a friend. Being a SBP student, I am known for being a perfectionist. Spending the extra time to make sure a task is done correctly and completely is, for me, time well spent. I am also extremely approachable, with my ever-present smile. My best friend often nicknamed me as Dr. Nadia, perhaps she caught a glimpse of my developing personality and saw the beginning of a good doctor.

The final line of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73”- “Love that well, which thou must lose ere long”- captures how I would like to be remembered at the end of my life. I want to be remembered not as just somebody who loved their community, but as somebody who loved it well, somebody who didn’t just take a look back, somebody who put attention and effort toward following her ideals. Shakespeare deliberately includes the word “well” at the end of his sonnet to avoid a clichéd statement about love and loss, to convey that the idealized notion of love being all that matters is false. He indicates that love alone is not enough; it must be accompanied by dedication and hard work. I think these are crucial words of advice for a future doctor. They help me understand that my strong desire to help my community is not, in itself; enough to make me an effective health care provider. I will need to read article upon as research progresses. I will need to deliver bad news to patient in a calm and encouraging manner. I will need to work long hours when I’m tired. I look forward to medical school as a place which I can apply Shakespeare’s instructions to my life as a doctor and to continue to construct a legacy of one who loved well the world, the nation, the country in which I love- Malaysia.

Sealed with kisses,

Nadia Alesa. xx

Ahlam, A Blooming Red Rose

The flowers that grows to glad all Earth,
Are emblems of a better birth,
When we shall wake beyond the skies,
And see the plains of heaven arise.



(17/1/2015), i've attended a driving class to prepare for KPP01. I swear it was hella boring of a class and i admit i kinda slacked off, not that it was my fault but hey it was super stodgy&tedious. Despite that tiresome class, alhamdulillah, i'm really glad i've attended and i've met a very vibrant soul, a soul of hope and belief.

Ahlam bt Muhammed.

How would i define her?

She's as pretty as a blooming flower. A livid,ravishing,delicate flower. A flower she is, a gem that gives  glow and colour for the poetry of nature. She's like, a full blown red rose, an emblem of beauty. And each time i gazed at her perfect ash-gray coloured eyes, i was dazzled and mesmerized.

When I was in the class, I sat in the back row, yep, it was easier for me if I zonked out. Hahaha, how peculiar i was because in class (at school) i sat in the front row! Okay but driving class and academic class is different okay. It's TOTALLY MISMATED. Okay that's not the point over here. Okay back to the topic.

30 minutes after the class had started, a lady in purple jubaah caught my attention. It was not because of that jubaah, but it was because the niqaab she was wearing. She certainly had some sort of an "aura" that made me intrigued to get to know her.

Since she was kinda late, the instructor was really grumpy towards her, man, i despised him!! He even made fun of her because she was wearing the niqaab. I just COULDN'T ACCEPT IT. Dude seriously, i would have smack him up in the face for that abhoring behaviour! She replied a few words in English and i knew that she was aggrieved of his misbehaviour.

The class went on for around 2 hours and a half, and finally it was our break time for brunch. Since i had no company, I went to the cafe by my own (seriously this is how a forever alone feels like??) gosh, i felt so lifeless and forlorn, I had the urge to socialize with somebody.

When I was at the cafe, I was really famished thus I bought some sandwiches. Dude, the place was filled with men, everywhere! I was really scared because I was all alone on my own, but then, from a far, that lady in purple caught my attention again. She was alone too, I approached her as she was unwrapping her sandwiches plastic.

"Assalamualaikum"

I said the salaam and I gave her my sweetest smile.

And then I introduced myself and we started talking :) She became my friend in just a short while. She's 29 years old, and she's from a suburban area in Yaman. There was something about her voice that i found rather captivating. Her voice was subtly sensual and smooth, a velvety whisper, her voice was rather sultry and melodic.

From some strangers to a friend :) Alhamdulillah i had somebody to be with the whole day! She told me her story and I was totally enchanted and I couldn't help myself to ask for more. I like to listen to other people's story, how their life journey is. Journey is like a story book, it is livid and fresh.

She told me that she was engaged when she was 15! Wow, I was totally astonished. I mean, the man came to hand-in marriage when she was so young? Seriously the man had some guts! She was engaged for 10 years and finally she was married at 25. She's currently under a scholarship from her country (if it's in Malaysia, it is like khazanah negara scholar) my o my, she's certainly a bright girl! She told me that the scholarship was a blessing for her, since 18, she had been to universities all around the world, under full sponsors. She had learnt about so many different culture while studying in the same time! (that is certainly, my life goals, sobs) And currently, she's studying under linguistic course in UPM, living with her husband and a daughter in Serdang, pursuing master studies. I've asked her mostly everything in overseas! How's life is like in UK, US and so on. MasyaAllah sister, you've totally inspired me. She had a hard time studying back in the US because of the skeptical thinking of islamophobic, and plus she was wearing a niqaab too. I knew how harsh it was, reality, it's saddening.

Break time was over and we went for dhuhr prayers together. And that is when I get to see her face :) I'm not able to describe how beautiful she is. As far as that I can say, she's as beautiful, as lovely as a blooming, red rose. An emblem of beauty. And now that I can truly see the beauty of Islam too, we, are the protected pearls.What Islam has established for woman is that which suits her nature, gives her full security and protects her against disgraceful circumstances and uncertain channels of life.  The status of woman in Islam is unprecedentedly high and realistically suitable to her nature. Her rights and duties are equal to those of man but not necessarily or absolutely identical with them. If she is deprived of one thing in some aspect, she is fully compensated for it with more things in many other aspects.

I wish that I could spend more time with you, sister Ahlam. Thank you for everything. Thank you for being an inspiration, a motivation. 'Til then, hope that we will cross our path again.

May Allah be with you at every step you take,
May Allah guide you in each decision you make,
May Allah help you when life gets rough,
May Allah Bless you with more than enough,
May Allah protect you when you fall,
May Allah hear you when you call,
May Allah sooth your heart when you don't understand,
May you always be in Allah's loving Hand.. 

Ameen

a blooming red rose.
-A.M.

Sealed with kisses,