-The love for Bavaria –

Some say “Money can’t buy happiness’ but I truly believe that it can buy your dream car which gives you the happiness and you are closer to live a perfect life. Your dream car may be anything. Some love local made cars and some love imported cars. It is totally depends on the person with specific desire.

Many doesn’t know that one of my main goal is to be a car racer. Yes, I always wanted to be a racer and when it comes to racing, you’re pretty much closer to the cars. Well, BMW have always been my favourite car. The love for BMW car is something special and it’s more like a desire. Owning a BMW using my own sweat money is what I call goal. From the interiors to the exteriors are all my favourite things about BMW. Definitely counting years to own one and drive it with the feel of being content in life.

-Food for the soul-

The day you start appreciating music will be the day you start living your life. I listen to music whenever I’m too happy, too sad, too excited or even too broken. Music helps me to face and go through my downs and lighten up my ups. The only thing I rely on in life is music. Gotta agree that I’m a dependent upon music but that’s pretty much better than relying on humans I guess. There’s no such thing as bad music, it’s all about the good music which helps me go through my life peacefully. There are uncountable favourite songs of mine but love genre have always been the best I can listen to.

Have you wonder how does music can calm you down make you feel better? Yes, I did. Research confirms these personal experiences with music. Current findings indicate that music around 60 beats per minute can cause the brain to synchronize with the beat causing alpha brainwaves (frequencies from 8 - 14 hertz or cycles per second). This alpha brainwave is what is present when we are relaxed and conscious. To induce sleep (a delta brainwave of 5 hertz), a person may need to devote at least 45 minutes, in a relaxed position, listening to calming music. Researchers at Stanford University (press release 2006) have said that "listening to music seems to be able to change brain functioning to the same extent as medication." They noted that music is something that almost anybody can access and makes it an easy stress reduction tool.

The people listening to relaxing music showed a stress response that was shorter compared to the other groups. The shorter response helps to prevent the body from getting worn out. This means that listening to relaxing music might help to improve the stress response and health.

-Yummy Chocolate Moist Cake-

This cocoa-based cake is deeply chocolatey and incredibly moist. It surprises me every single time with how good it is for something so easy. It is a great emergency chocolate cake to have in your repertoire for forgotten birthdays, last-minute visitors, or urgent Friday night chocolate cravings. I love to smother it in gooey marshmallow frosting (the seven-minute kind made with just whipped egg whites, sugar, and vanilla). Mmm… Drooling again. Note to self: try to control that. This time I smothered it instead with a super easy cocoa buttercream frosting. Not the fancypants Italian buttercream, the shortcut American-style buttercream that is basically just butter, icing sugar, and cocoa powder. Again, brain short-out aversion strategy.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 cups granulated white sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk or substitute by putting 1 tbsp white vinegar in a cup then filling the rest up with milk; let stand 5 minutes until thickened

1/2 cup butter melted

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup hot coffee or 2 tsp instant coffee in 1 cup boiling water

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch baking pans (or line with parchment paper circles) and set aside.

In the large bowl of a standing mixer, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla extract and beat until smooth (about 3 minutes). Remove bowl from mixer and stir in hot coffee with a rubber spatula. Batter will be very runny.

Pour batter evenly between the two pans and bake on middle rack of oven for about 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs attached.

Allow to cool 15 minutes in pans, then run a butter knife around the edges of each cake. Place a wire cooling rack over top of each pan. Wearing oven mitts, use both hands to hold the racks in place while flipping the cakes over onto the racks. Set the racks down and gently thump on the bottom of the pans until the cakes release. Cool completely before handling or frosting.

The Land Below The Wind

Being a person who loves beaches and hiking mountains, Sabah was the place suggested by most of my well-wishers when I thought about backpacking alone for few days. I do really felt like escaping from the reality throughout the days I were in Sabah.

It felt like getting fresh seafood after so long when I went to the night market in Sabah which was just 5 minutes away from the hotel I stayed in. Getting those fresh seafood cooked immediately there itself was an amazing experience for a foodie like me. Of course, not forgetting the place I visited on the first day of my stay in Sabah which is the Mount Kinabalu. That hiking session was totally worth my time and energy since I got to see the most beautiful view.

Sabah will be a place to remember for the rest of my life. I think I chose the right location as my first solo vacation since I got to place myself nearer to the nature and things I love. Beaches like Manukan Island and Sapi Island was the main attraction there, besides Mount Kinabalu. The crystal clear water definitely induced me to try snorkelling and I would say that it was the best activity I ever did in Sabah. It was definitely a treat for me and I am definitely visiting Sabah again.