Beta-Glucan-Containing Bread, 1st Attempt

Yesterday was my first trial to make my bread. Well, it's not difficult at all, considering i always made some with my mother back then. Bread, cookies, cake...PIECE OF CAKE (*wink2)! But this one, of course the challenge is a little bit different. 1. it is my thesis research, although i HATE this ridiculous research*, i still feel a pressure in it. 2. sophisticated-whatsoever-breadmaking-instruments used here, so i have to operate it well and everything.

*How come it's not RIDICULOUS? I was doing mutation in Aspergillus and enzyme -metabolite-stuff for my undergraduate research. And now..I HAVE TO MAKE BREAD??? Oh..My..LORD! Ishbir..ishbir..Ishbir. I guess my academic life is upside-down. Well, i remembered my undergraduate advisor ever said that my research was usually done by the PhD student. It WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. That's why it took almost two years to complete it. But this one, my master thesis, it is definitely an undergrads level. I feel so stupid doing it. But, yeah, i have to hang on just for some more months, finish it, and come back to my hometown. Maybe later in the future i'll have a chance to start over my master degree. Well, who knows^^. GANBAREEEE!!!

OK, back again. Here's the Basic Bread Recipe (per 600 g dough) from Ms. Sophia Ferng, my breadmaking instructor :

1. High Protein Flour (85 %)
2. Low Protein Flour (15 %)
3. Milk Powder (4 %)
4. Sugar (10 %)
5. Salt (20 %)
6. Water (49 %)
7. Egg (15 %)
8. Yeast (1.2 %)
9. Butter (15 %)
10. Ganoderma lucidum beta-glucan (1 %)

I'll type down the steps and procedures, so later i can peep on it whenever i need it.

• Weigh the ingredients.
• Blend the whole ingredients in-Ms.Ferng-consecutive-order, which are : (6 + 7) + (4 + 5) + (1 + 2 + 3 + 10 ---> SIEVED) + 8 + 9 (!!! butter can be added ca. 4 minutes after the former ingredients were blended). Each addition should be conducted with a blender in a slow speed, then after ca. 1 minute, rise to middle speed. Took ca. 20 minutes to blend the whole ingredients. Don't forget to put more high protein flours in the dough and knead it if the gluten hasn't formed yet, or if the dough feels too weak.
• Fermentation process (1 hr; 35 centigrade; incubator).
• Divide the dough into small-40-g-portions.
• Put some pressure to make well-round-shaped-free-air bubbles-40-g-portions.
• Final fermentation (30 minutes; 35 centigrade; incubator).
• Bake fermented-dough (15 minutes; 190/150 centigrade; oven).

I was simply burst into laughter when i took my baked breads from the oven. Look at this and you'll know why i laughed :

 

See? Almost all of my breads were SMILE-SHAPED a.k.a cracked in the middle ;p. Hmmm...i wonder why it happened. I think the whole procedures was just OK. The baking temperature was also fine. Ms. Ferng was also wondering why it can be happened. Or, maybe because of the beta-glucans addition? Dunno. Have to figure out about this MYSTERIOUS CASE ;p. Meanwhile, HWAITING!!! Monday, i'll try to start over again^^.

Btw, speaking about the taste, Wahid, Eti, De' Ajeng, De' Agatha, Hansen and some of my labmates were become my panelists back then. They said that my breads taste good. I don't know whether they said that for the sake of friendship or not (*xixixi), but all in all, i can conclude that an addition of beta-glucan into the bread didn't change the bread's taste.

Note : Errr, but actually Wahid said that my bread was salty. Xixixi. Sssshhhhttt...;p

Becoming President of ISA-NCYU [*whew]

On 28th July, i received a message from Clare, ISA's (Int'l Students Association) instructor's assistant, that i've chosen to become the Vice President of ISA. At that time, i thought..."Well, OK. I only become the Vice President, so it wouldn't cost me anything. The President will handle everything and i just need to back her up". But..hahhahaaa...that silly thought was merely a thought. Although i was chosen as a Vice President, i am actually The President itself. Confused enough? Same here =)). OK, let me break it down. In NCYU, there is no way in the world that a graduate student can be a President of ISA-NCYU. Period. That's the rule. Considering graduate students have rather shorter period of study, that's why the president must be an undergrads. For my case, because i'm a graduate student, OIA needs to "hide" the fact that i'm the real president, thus OIA put the vice president title on me. Hahahaaaaa...no matter what and how, it's just too ridiculous to me. But...what can i say....

Thinking back again about my former former former experiences, most often i always ended up become THE LEADER, ever since i was in elementary school. Well, i have no idea whether those leader-image has been embedded on me nor suit me well, but that's the facts. So, knowing about that upsetting thing happened to me, i was like "here it goes again...".

Started from a few weeks ago, because new students were coming, my hands are getting full. I wish i have some extra hands (plus heads...or bodies T-T). Conducting new students orientation, scheduling those and that meeting, planning this and that festivals, int'l events and everything. I am SUPER-PACKED. Moreover, Mrs. Yang, the instructor of ISA is definitely a PERFECTIONIST. Two words can describe her : STRICT and DISCIPLINE. No space for mistakes (*whew). She even mentioned this : "This year, we have to arrange MORE EVENTS, Bunga. We have to show everyone that ISA is well-maintained and really become int'l students center of activities". Hahahaaa..aa..a..i could only smiled weakly as a response.

Well, since it's already happened, there's no way back. OK, I'LL DO MY BEST!

...بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Intolerable Heat vs Nice-Warm Hearted Roommate

These past few weeks i always have a problem with HEAT *deep sigh*. Yeah, yeah, because i am a FLOWER, so i can wilt easily *joking*. Knowing that i couldn't sleep well at night, my lovely roommate named Cindy, offered me to exchange bed.

OK, first, let me explain my room's layout. Each room consists of four bunk beds. Well, it's not a real bunk bed, but a set of bed along with the desk, drawer, wardrobe and regular student boarding house thingy, just like this :

So, Cindy and me have a deal last night that we will only exchange bed, and still put our stuff on it's regular place. Luckily, both of our beds are side to side, so we don't have to cross-walk or something^^. As a result, the situation when we will go to the bed or after we woke up is very funny^^. Usually, we just have to climb up/down on our beds area. But now, i have to go to Cindy's area and vice versa. Hihihi. The main purpose of doing this funny thing is to get me closer to the aircon. Cindy's bed is closer to the aircon and my bed is closer to the door. Moving to Cindy's bed means the aircon will directly cooling me down. NICE^^. So, last night, for the first time, i can sleep tightly. Cindy..Cindy..Cindy..i can't thank you enough for your kindness^^. Alhamdulillah...

My Second Eid El-Fithr in Taiwan

It feels like i was just celebrating my Eid El-Fithr in Kaohsiung and went to Cijin Beach with Laskar Chiayi, along with Eka and Sinta (*minus Elle^^), not long ago. *Natsukashii*

Eka, tentu saja si anti difoto itu yang memotret. *rindu*

Jangan cari kaki Komir...GA ADA. Xixixi...

Ini yg bikin Sinta^^

For my second Eid El-Fithr, i went to Tainan to do my Eid El-Fithr prayer. Don't think that i'll do the prayer in Tainan Masjeed, because it's way too small and too far from Tainan downtown. And actually, i don't really understand about this, but Tainan Masjeed is the most inaccessible among all masjeed in Taiwan. Weird, right? How come baitullah is barred to the public activities? Don't ask me...ask Tainan Masjeed's Imam.

OK, back to the track. Well, because i was responsible as a caterer (*read : PJ Konsumsi ;p) at D-Day, i went to Tainan the day before and stay overnight at De' Tince's room at NCKU dormitory. So, D-Day-minus-one, me and Laskar Tainan (*huhhh, De' Tince ngikut2 aja ;p) headed to Gongyuan Elementary School's Auditorium to finish our preps. After worked together, we broke our last fast (happily).

The most important thing i want to complain badly is NCKU dormitory, to be exact Sheng Li 6 dormitory...HAS NO AIRCON. Two small-tiny table fans were definitely failed to cool down the room. *wilted in the heat*

Why i complained badly about that? Because actually, that night, i barely able to sleep : 1. Because of the heat; 2. Because i have to write down 18 postcards for my family and friends. So, my needs of aircon was absolutely high. Xixixi...

Anyhow, maybe later if it happens to me to stay overnight again in that place (during the summer, of course), i'll try to do this things. *i really want to try "breathe like a dog" one ;p*

Although Eid El-Fithr prayer was planned to be held at 9.55 am, the whole Eid El-Fithr committee already standby at the spot by 7 am. Done this and that. Around 8 am, people started to come. Allaahu-Akbar. Allaahu-Akbar. Laa ilaaha illallah. Wa-Allaahu Akbar. Allaahu-Akbaar. Wa lillaahil-Hamd. Auditorium echoing with Eid El-Fithr takbeer. The prayer was started on time. After khutbah, recited do'a and shook hands, we ate some Indonesian cuisines which already cooked by mbak2 TKI (= Indonesian workers).

After everything was done, all of the sudden came a Taiwanese journalist. She was apparently rather interested in the crowd at Gongyuan Elementary School. So, she asked tons of questions about what's going on, Eid El-Fithr thingy, Muslims habits and many more (*whew). She told us that she wanted to write down an article about today's event. Then, Edo got an idea. Brilliant idea. He asked ME to write down an article for that journalist (*WHATTTT????). And because she wanted to put the article on the day after's news, so she asked me to send it by e-mail before 2 pm (*that was 12.30 pm back then). So, while the others were busy with the whole cleaning process, evaluation meeting and pictures taking, i was sat on the "remote" place, far from them, typed down the article in a RUSH. *what an experience!*

That's why, in the end, i felt bad mood because i was pushed to do something in such a short period. Thanks to Edo. *smirk*.

Last but not least, here are some of my Eid El-Fithr pictures :

Yang lain boleh dg tenang menanti sholat Ied dimulai, kita2, sie konsumsi kerja terooos (*tuh di belakang ono^^)

Minal 'aidin wal faidzin ya...*salam2an^^*

Saatnya mejeng^^

"Mbak2...antri njih", kata Wahidun^^

Taqobbalallahu minna wa minkum

Minal 'aidin wal faidzin

Otousan no Tegami

"Bunga tersayang...jauh di negeri orang membuat hati menjadi sedih dan terharu, terutama pada momen indah idul fitri. Papa dan Mama ingin berkumpul dengan Bunga, tapi keadaan tdk memungkinkan. Mudah-mudahan tahun depan Bunga sudah dapat berkumpul kembali dengan keluarga di Yogya. Bersama ini Papa titipkan *......censored* untuk membeli yang Bunga inginkan, hitung2 untuk beli baju atau kue lebaran. Salam sayang dari kami di Yogya untuk Bunga dan teman-teman"

That's the letter from my father i found along with my Mom's package (*forget about the "censored part", OK? ;p). I always know that my father can be very poetic^^. That's why he always becomes my homesickness's reason. Well, in the "regular situation", i will definitely burst into tears while reading that kind of letter. But because Komir, the one who brought me that package, gave the package when i was in Tainan (when i'm staying at NCKU dorm, to be exact), means there were a lot of people, so i thought i couldn't cry (freely) there. Hehehe. Sorry, it's not correlated with my PREMAN-image nor pride. I just feel insecure crying in front of others. But then, something funny happened. Febby and Dessy, -Edo's friend and fiancee (*hihihi, peace, Ner ;p), catch red handed me accepting the package, and then they were rudely snatched my letter away and read it out loud. After read a sentence...THREE OF US ENDED UP CRYING TOGETHER! Hahahaaaa...

Honestly, i'd rather accept letters than phone calls from my family, especially from my father. I mean, listening to their voice directly, surely hard. It's getting better now. But still, it's not good for my mental state (*it's not like i have some "mental" problems ;p). Despite of that, i'm glad that i can experiencing this kind of "long-distance" relations with my family. Everyday, i have to figure out how to survive and detach myself from an acute homesick disorder. It's a great challenge for a home-girl like me. Yet, i don't want to feel mellow all the time. There are plenty of things we can do to distract us from feeling so blue. We just have to find those things out.

Well, for my case, i just have to keep it up for some more months^^. Meanwhile, GANBARIMASU^^!!

*PS : For the ones who are living far away from their family : Guys, we will get through it for sure^^!!!