Departure

 

This is me boarding

The train to my next life

This is me waving goodbye

From a platform of regrets

This is me departing

My brief, beautiful fantasy

 

This is me being grateful

For reigniting the flame within

When it was just a dying flicker

This is me come back to life

When my senses were comatose

And my spirit was in despair

 

This is me leaving now

Dragging emotional luggage

With unsung songs and unshed tears

This is me saying farewell

To all that was and all that could be

Departing from wishful thinking,

Heading to the destination of reality

 

 

* As can be seen, inspired by my other obsession since childhood, The Last Unicorn :)

Press Undo

I miss 

Things I never had

I have memories

Of a life I have not lived

Reminisce

A laugh, a touch, a smile

That never happened

Cherish a past

That was never written

And look to a future

That will never be

Shed tears

For who I never was

Smile wistfully

At joys that remain unknown

I turn the page

And it’s gone

A life unlived

A footprint unmade

A hand unheld

A twinkle, a spark, dead

And I shall forever hold my peace

In the silence of words unsaid

 

 

Not Even You, Lestat

You may know the song, Lestat

To awaken a sleeping Akasha

You may have the power

To reach the depths

Of her vicious, damned soul

You may have the key, Lestat

To unlock her darkest secrets

And use them

To charm, to lure, to tempt

As you so wish

But not even you, Lestat

Can bend or break

Or bring to the knees

The demon within

Can put out the savage flame

Once ignited and burning wild

Not even you, Lestat

Can play with fire

And walk unscathed,

Remain unburnt

Not even you, Lestat

Can untwine from

 The serpentine coils

 Of this hissing snake

Or drown in these eyes

Of abysmal depths

And swim away

To safer shores

Not even you, Lestat

Will be spared vengeance

Retribution, agony, wrath

I have risen

I am here

Drink from me,

Forever is yours

* When I was growing up I was obsessed with Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, particularly with the charismatic Lestat, Prince of Darkness and the Queen of them all, Akasha. I had a Lestat poster that I loved, with the movie's tagline 'Drink from me, live forever', hence the phrase at the end. I so wish somebody gets the idea to make this into a tv series - what with the lame stuff out there, seriously :S

Some pics for the fans :)

The movie poster of Interview with the Vampire with Tom Cruise as [Anne Rice initially objected to casting him but was pleased after seeing his performance apparently]

And, Stuart Townsend and Aaliyah as Lestat and Akasha in The Queen of the Damned. The movie was released 6 months after Aaliya's death in a tragic plane crash.

Bleed For Me

Bleed for me, my pet

Let me revel

In the scent of your life

Your sweet heavenly breath

Let me dance

In the twinkle in your eye

Let me sing

The song of your beating heart

Mortal flesh and bone

That turns to dust, and gone

Bleed for me, my angel

Let your crimson juice

Quench this raging thirst

And I shall give you

An eternity

Of darkness and desire

Of secrets forbidden

Of pleasures taboo

Of a savage lust unknown

And a brutal embrace

Hot kisses on cold lips

Vicious bites on soft flesh

Bleed for me, my little one

Open up your soul

And let me feed

On your secrets, desires

The sorrows and pain

The joys of your pure heart

Let me taste

Your pulsing fresh life

Your young sweet blood

And your innocent faith

In these demon wings

That enfold you now

In these claws that hold you tight

In these fangs that trail

The quivers of your veins

Oh yes, bleed for me

And in harmony shall be one

Pouring liquid souls

Into the infinite vastness

Of dark and damned immortality

 

* After ages of not writing I am so glad to have found my darker voice again. A thank you to all the dark forces that inspired me - and a 'seriously do not worry' note to all who might share concerned looks at this point :P

Oreo cheesecake cupcakes - Brightens up the day instantly!

Ever since the events of February 7th, our tiny society has been chaotic to say the least. My hubs, family and friends, and I myself, have been going around in this hectic rollercoaster that is Male for three months now. So I decided to do something nice and brighten up their days (and mine of course) with some utterly delectable goodies. Then I got stuck. For inspiration I went through my usual favorite foodie blogs and stumbled up on some new ones too... and came across this recipe on www.relativetaste.net - a wonderful blog with pretty pics and clear instructions (just what a person like me wants!) The blogger, Kim, had adapted the recipe herself from Martha Stewart. She'd made some changes and they sounded good to me!

My good friend Shix makes yummy oreo nobake cheesecake - I couldn't get enough of it! But since cupcakes are more my thing and baking is, well, sort of a chill pill for me (whatever works eh) I decided to go along with Kim's recipe. I must say I was delighted with the result!

So here is her recipe with my comments:

Ingredients:

§  36 Oreo cookies, 20 left whole and 16 coarsely chopped [I made 12 cupcakes so needed only 12 whole oreo cookies and chopped 16 as directed]

§  1/2 cup of sugar

§  2 large eggs, lightly beaten

§  1/2 cup sour cream [couldn't find sour cream anywhere in Male' - sad situation I know, so added plain greek yoghurt for a similar taste]

§  1 pound cream cheese [I added two packages of Milkana regular cream cheese available at Fantasy Store]

§  1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

§  Pinch of salt

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 275 ˚F [about 150 C]

- Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners and put one whole cookie in each paper lining. [I just used my usual paper cupcake cups - medium size]

- Beat the cream cheese on medium high speed until smooth.

- Gradually add in the sugar until well combined, then beat in the vanilla.

- Pour in the eggs slowly, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl.[I liked thisstep - I am big on reducing waste!]

- Add sour cream and salt. [If you get sour cream in Male' do let me know where! If not yoghurt does just as well]

- Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

- Divide the batter between paper cups, filling each almost to the top.

- Bake for about 22 minutes or until filling is set. They will not get brown, but don’t worry, they’re done.

- Transfer to wire rack to cool completely [ido not have a wire rack - i just left them on my counter top for a while]

- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. [This was the hardest bit - they smelled so good, keeping them in the fridge for 4 hours untouched was no mean feat!]

Well, infact I didnt leave them untouched. I served my hubby and my dad-in-law as desserts after dinner, and they seemed to like. 4 hours was not up but I couldn't delay any longer and they had set pretty well.

I also realized I had overbaked it a lil bit, as I suspected. Whoops! Next time I'll be more conscious of time :)

And I do have to make another batch soon, didnt get to share any with my friends. We had visitors and after family, the 12 cupcakes had vanished before we knew it. Met up with my lovelies tonight and promised I'd make them some, hopefully they'll turn out better!

Back to blogging - with a screwpine bang! Bring on the Kashikeyo craze...

I've been so hooked on twitter past couple of months that I've been neglecting my dear airyfairyblissful blog. Yes the 140 character limit is annoying at times, but tweeting just became so easy, so convenient! But here I am, back to my blog, my happy place, my little corner on this vast web...sigh. This feels good.

Ok, so to get started on blogging again, I've brought something exciting to share. Screwpine jam! (the fruit is locally known as kashikeyo).Well, I've been engaged in various culinary experiments lately and most of them have turned out to be delightful. Some like the Middle Eastern couscous and lamb, Thai red and green curries, Indian dosa, Vietnamese vermicelli, Ukrainian crepes and Palestinian ma'amoul have taken me on multicultural gastronomic global adventures. I have celebrated cuisine from around the world with family and friends and rejoiced with all sorts of baked goodies. Because I always have to move on to new experiences and learn new things I got interested in making my own jams, and the rest is history.

Well not quite. First I made date jam and it was delightful. In fact the first batch of a kilo of jam ran out so quickly that I made another batch using a different type of dates. This also proved to be a useful lesson as this jam tasted different. I learnt the best texture, color and flavor of dates for that beautifully smooth, flavorful but not too sweet jam that everyone liked.

Then I made mango jam, which I myself can't get enough of! Again I went through a pile of recipes and mixed it all up to get my own formula. And it seems to have worked well! Here I've posted a pic of the Ukranian  cream cheese crepes I made for my friends with date and mango jams.

Encouraged by the favorable results, I was revved up to try more local  flavors (thus exotic jams). By now my dear husband, family and friends had all begun to share concerned looks amongst themselves - my jam obsession was running wild. I was most determined to make screwpine jam - and unfortunately (or fortunately, from how one sees it) when I am bent on something I can be very stubborn.  So I drag my hubby despite much protest to the local market (I luuuurve the throbbing pulse and activity, the vibrant colors, the smells, the textures....ooooh.... husband of mine was of course itching to get out of there).

Anyways, I found my beautiful ripe screwpines and gleefully rushed home to make my jam. Since there was nothing, NOTHING, nada, zilch on the internet or any recipe book about making screwpine jams [one website actually said screwpines were not consumed by humans!] I tinkered around and made one up. Everything I read indicated that the pulp of screwpines and screwpine leaves (known as pandan leaves), as well as pandan essence, are used to flavor jams and preserves, but nowhere have I found it used as the main ingredient of jams. I have always loved the taste and smell of screwpines, and figured, why not give this a go. I loved the end result, and I think anyone who likes kashikeyo will do too. Maldivians have used kashikeyo in various dishes - we make juice, a dessert called kashikeyo fo, and even to flavor rice and bondibaiy. And now screwpine jam :) an exotic food from an exotic fruit found in abundance in the exotic Maldives, so very fitting. All hail the gorgeous, much underestimated kashikeyo!

[NOTE: After I had tweeted about this, fellow tweep Ms AsmaRasheed informed me that they do make screwpine jams at one of the Maldivian resorts - Kuramathi, and I'm told its quite popular!]

The beautiful succulent kashikeyo (screwpine) fruit....

Voila! Smooth, sweet screwpine jam :) - I must admit for those who are not fans of this fruit like my adorable brother, this jam is not for you. But since most Maldivians seem to like kashikeyo fani (juice - so popular during Ramazan), I believe this could be a yummy alternative to the typical berry jams we have for breakfast or with crackers for evening tea. Variety is the spice of life, after all!

I hope to explore and experiment further with a variety other local fruits and exotic flavors - more jams on the way! Keep dropping by for my jam and other culinary experiments, and other random experiences (very colorful ones too - as we live in highly charged, politically volatile times here in the Maldives)...

Well I also hope to bottle my jams in pretty jars with cute labels and get them out in the market someday. A girl can dream eh? ;) So many balls in the air at the moment, perhaps I can handle one more!

Until next time, toodles!


Ps - Incidentally I also got a letter of termination from my former job at the President's Office today (so today's a day of memorable events!). Funnily enough it was marked Very Urgent. Thats such a joke, since I havent been to that office for the past 3 months. Why? Because the democratic government of the Maldives was overthrown by a coup d'etat on 7th February and I believed the current 'government' was illegitimate. And after 3 months, it suddently became urgent that they terminate me, and the delivery person was calling frantically to locate me. Erm, still not getting the urgency of the matter, I was a bit puzzled but accepted the letter - as far as I'm concerned I've left the place on 7th February with President Nasheed, and that was that, so letter or no letter I had walked away a long time ago :) I breathe easy being away from that place that has now being tainted and polluted by undesirable elements. Perhaps this just shows how efficiently they go about their business - 3 months to send a termination letter? I am grateful that life has presented me with wonderful opportunities and a whole new exciting chapter in life - like they say when one door closes, another opens! And I'm grateful that my determination to fight against the coup for democracy and justice has not wavered for a single day since then :)

VTV, DhiTV, Rajje TV and Hassan Saeed....todays thoughts...

I seriously call upon the management of VTV to conduct some training to improve the English language aptitude and translation skills, because I feel bad seeing reports being so off the mark from what people actually say. I'm sure it must have just been mistakes borne of ignorance and not intentional, because why will they want to distort news and misinform the public? *tongue in cheek* Why indeed? Tonight I was watching the news on VTV and there was a headline that claimed 'Indian government does not support MDP activities', but when they showed the news conference, what the Indian diplomat actually said was India will not direct any party to act in any way, and that applies across the board, to MDP as well. He added that to ask MDP to carry on with their activities was out of the question. Basically in a nutshell, Indian government does not wish to comment on the party activities, either to encourage or discourage. So VTV kind of got it so wrong, and its not the first time its happened.

Talking about India, how ugly, seriously UGLY, was the scene the new spokesperson Abbas made in front of the Indian Foreign Secretary at the all party talks. If I were Dr. Waheed, I'd have fired him right away out of sheer embarassment. Wait a minute. He can't. He admitted himself. He has no control over who's in the top posts of his government.

Anyway, I also watched a repeat of the Khabaru Therein program with Dr. Didi this afternoon. The presenter kept asking if Didi didnt think it was a problem that MDP has been holding continuous rallies at Raalhugandu area, obstructing people from going for evening rides 'haveeru fini buru' and all. Dr. Didi gave his answers, but if it were me, I'd stare at him mouth agape and eyes wide and ask, "You are worried about evening bike rides when a government has been overthrown by a coup? Thats what bugs you the most? Besides its mostly the youth who go for rides, and most of the youth are here protesting, so no we dont think its a problem". Then the guy was asking Dr Didi if he thought cooking and playing music and sleeping in tents was part of peaceful protesting. I'd say what else could it be? They must have some pretty serious grievances if they're leaving their own well stocked kitchens to come and cook at Raalhugandu. They must have some heavy stuff to protest about if they're leaving the comfort of their beds and couches to camp in tents at Raalhugandu. These people must be moved enough by something significant to spend day after day, night after night, protesting. Isnt that more of a relevant question? Why have people from all over Maldives come and camped here? Why have fishermen left their fishing boats, why have the farmers left their fields, why are office workers not worried about having to wake up early morning, whats everyone doing there, are they there for nothing? Because they dont have families, jobs, homes? Besides whats wrong with a lil music, bunch of people having a barbecue and socializing. This country could do with a bit more of that at the moment anyway.

Since I'm talking of TV channels I'll mention Rajje TV also. They're playing Dr. Hassan Saeed's leaked audio on loop. Its kind of funny. Well who am I kidding, its downright hilarious. That guy needs to hold his tongue. He did the same to Anni when he was appointed Anni's advisor. Now he's doing the same to poor Dr. Waheed, who made the same mistake and appointed him advisor again. There he goes, badmouthing Dr. Waheed, claiming he's the weakest, least prepared politician for the job etc etc. And they've been partners in crime for just three weeks. Niiiice. Talking of Hassan Saeed's leaked audio, something  he said got me a lil heated up. He said this is a new kind of coup (well he did admit it was a coup, whatever kind it was) and it will make an interesting case study. I wanted to thump him on the head and shake him a bit. A case study? Seriously? This is your country you're talking about, your country that's falling apart and your people at each other's throats, powderface. This is more than a case study to us! Go do another doctorate, you and your party cohorts could do some more PhDs, perhaps write your thesis on how to bring about coup, how to torture and oppress your fellow citizens, how to kill democracy...you take your pick.

Well tomorrow's a bid day, and its late. Got to turn in for the night. But before I sign off, I'd like to say how much I enjoyed the Freedom Parade on 26th. The turnout was massive! I salute the youth who turned up with their tincans, their drums, their flags and ofcourse their unwavering spirit and enthusiasm. Saabahey Dhivehi zuvaanun! And I wasso impressed with the turnout at the ladies rallies, they've come out in droves. Saabahey anhen kanbalun :) I was so proud of everyone there, and so pleased to be a part of it. Nightynight people!