Wednesday, May 31, 2006

I am a natural night owl. Sigh. Every holiday, I make the transition to sleep-at-3-am so fast that I can hardly believe I don't do it all the time. Harrumph. What a lousy time to revert to nightowlhood though, because the nights are freaking SWELTERING. I am sweating as I type this at 2.30am.

I received my renewed Amex credit cards! Please congratulate me, I have been a certified card-carrying member of the BigSpenders Community (TM) for a three years running.

Wenhui was saying the other night that if you total up your purchases for a year, the total amount will shock you into shopaholic sobriety and teetotalship. Unfortunately, I doubt even that would deter me. I don't think I spend a lot, but it seems like my cup (and closet) overfloweth with clothing, shoes and all manner of accessories. Ah well, perhaps it has to do with the fact that I don't clean my stuff out a lot either. Humph.

OK, that goes into my to-do list for June Holidays - clean out room, take photos of stuff and stick on Yahoo Auctions. Haha knowing me it will STILL be on my to-do list at the end of June and the list itself will slowly wilt, grow mould and disintegrate under the combined efforts of my disattention and the termites/ants/spiders that crawl around my un-cleaned room.

Hmm.. Joking on the termites, ants and spiders.
You believed me???
Sigh.

This is such a random post. Goodnight.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

It's hard to say goodbye.

I'm laying down to rest my post as Teacher-Advisor to the Students' Council come next Tuesday.

Its been an eventful 2.5 years with the 30th, 31st and 32nd SC; despite all the heartache, long drawn out meetings, dozens of niggardly little things to settle, events to cover etc etc etc. I realise I will miss this post alot and I don't think any other CCA even comes close to allowing me to form the kind of bonds I've formed with my students over the years, or the insights into the uniquely-HwaChong-spirit that keeps people coming back for more MAF after MAF.

Sigh.

I will miss Council.

ke ai de huang cheng, wo wen nuan de jia
wo men gong tong chuang zhuo li xiang de tian di..

Monday, May 08, 2006

Hair days

My hair behaves like an independent entity. Sigh.

Today, I look as if someone clopped a limp furry octopus onto my scalp.
And Mr Floppy up there has considerably less than 8 legs.

Other days, I swear I could 165cm height with my upstanding crowning glory - those are the days I spend loooooooooooong periods in front of the mirror attempting to tamp my hair down with water, gel and brush.

Bah I need obedient hair.

On another note, I bought my mum $100-dollar shoes for Mother's Day and I've offered to pay the cost of a vacation for my parents - to Batam, on a cruise, or to the Philippines - they have yet to decide.

Gaaaaaaaaaah I need more money. Sigh.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Obvly avoiding any semblance of useful work..

heh.

OK! first up! Food Reviews:

#1 - Crystal Jade Golden Palace
Paragon, Level 5

Opulence personified, the small (less than 200 seater) place screams posh nosh from every pore. From the paper-cutting decorated windows to the cushioned darkwood chairs, the ambience is reminiscent of some feudal lord's manor at the turn of the century. Service is tops - the waitstaff there really work together and attend to your every whim. Not ngiao at all. =) My family is particular about Chinese tea, so the waitress generously pumped our teapot full of leaves when it was too bland, and came up with tray after complimentary tray of gongfu tea upon seeing that we liked it.

The food is very good although expensive. A 3 person lunch consisting of 4 dimsum items, one dish of pork and one of noodles and 2 desserts set us back about $60. Dimsum is the same price as any other CJ outlet though, so you might as well go there for the best dimsum among all. Beats Din Tai Fung hands down if you ask me. Downside though, this is the Teochew style outlet, so no xiaolongbaos for you. Bah.


#2 - Botak Jones
Some random roadside coffeeshop along AMK Ave 5

The setting couldn't be more different - one in uppity Paragon, another in the heart of the heartlands - but yet the food is equally good. Botak Jones is started by some (i'm guessing) botak Aussie named Jones who has set up shop in a kopitiam setting. He does fish, chicken, lamb, beef - all the traditional grill items - and he does it GOOD. Portions are big, the fries come in mountains, and he doesn't stinge on condiments. It was my 2nd visit today and so far I have tried the signature Fish and Chips, Cajun Chicken Breast and Chicken Gumbo.
The fish was totally fresh and deep fried to perfection - crisp outside and flaky inside. Pacific Dory is used for the fish and it is a very good choice. Cajun chicken breast will destroy all your preconceptions about breast meat - it is so tender and juicy the meat almost falls apart in your mouth. And it's topped with mozarella (sigh dreamily) and cajun sauce. The best part is, you get restaurant-quality food for just slightly more then food court prices (prices start from $5.50 and hit a max of $12). Downside is the wait (with the popularity of the place, the wait can go up to close to an hour)
And apparently they have an outlet in Tuas too. =)

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Females rule. =)

Write-up taken from Discover Magazine, Issue May 2006
Written by: Jessica Ruvinsky

The cost of maleness takes on new meaning as researchers have discovered that bats with the largest testicles have the smallest brains.

Testicles are almost always bigger in animal species in which females mate with multiple partners, says Scott Pitnick, an evolutionary biologist at Syracuse University. When females are promiscuous, the sperm of different males must compete to fertilise each egg. Because males with more sperm have a better chance of producing offspring, the frequency of large testicles in those species increases. The pattern holds among all animals, including primates. Gorillas, who keep their harem close, have small testicles, while libertine chimpanzees have large ones. Those of humans, whose mating habits fall in between, are midsize.

Testicles and brains both require a lot of metabolic energy - and among certain bats, brains seem to have lost out. Pitnick and colleagues Kate Jones of the Zoological Society of London and Gerald Wilkinson of the University of Maryland analyzed the relative brain and testis mass of 334 bat species. In species with unfaithful females, males invest almost fives times as much in testicles and 27 percent less in brains. The testicles of the most cuckolded bats approach one-tenth of their body mass. For men, Pitnick says, that would be "like walking around with bowling balls between our legs."

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Dinner anyone?

Bleeding Human Heart

Ingredients:

4 cups of water
four 3-oz. boxes or two 6-oz boxes of peach (pink; think of lung tissue)
or strawberry (redder; think of livers and hearts) gelatin dessert mix.
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
one 12-ounce can unsweetened evaporated milk

1/2 cup grenadine syrup
1 cup light corn syrup
one small bottle (0.3 fl. oz.) red food coloring
3 drops blue food coloring
one 1-gallon food-storage bag (the plain kind without the zip closure)
6 1/2 cup heart-shaped gelatin mold or cake pan


Directions
Boil the water. Put the packaged gelatin dessert and unflavored gelatin in a bowl and pour the boiling water over it, stirring constantly. Cool to room temperature (very important or the next step may present problems). Stir in the condensed milk. Note how it already is acquiring the color of freshly skinned flesh.


Pour the mixture into the gelatin mold. Cover the bottom of the mold (this will be the top when you serve it) with a layer about half an inch think. Refrigerate until it gels firmly.


Meanwhile, prepare a nice bladder of blood. Stir together the corn syrup, grenadine, and food colorings (we do it right in the measuring cup to save dish washing--every erg saved in preparation is an erg one can use to enjoy the Payoff). For the bladder (the bag that keeps the blood together inside the mass of gelatin) take the gallon-size food-storage bag and turn it inside out. Pour the blood mixture into one corner of the bag and twist it closed so that no air bubble is caught between the sauce and the twist. Tie a knot in the twisted plastic. Adjust the position of the knot so that when the bag lies on the counter, it's about 1 1/2 to 2 inches high, and tighten the knot. With a pair of scissors, snip off the frilly extra plastic outside the knot.


When the gelatin on the bottom of the mold is stiff and firm, position the bladder of blood in the mold, with the point of the bag just inside the point of the heart. Make sure there is at least 3/4" of space between all sides of the bag and the walls of the mold (this will ensure that your guests don't see clues ahead of time). Pour in the remaining gelatin until the mold is as full as you can handle. Don't worry if you see a little of the blood-bladder grazing the surface of the gelatin, as longs as it doesn't project too much; the side you are looking at now will be the bottom when you serve it.
Refrigerate until gelled firmly to the texture of fine, lean organ meat. It takes about 4 hours.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Beware, 06S71

After discovering that my students' blogs, I went to add their links in my sidebar.

I tried 06s61.blogspot.com - fine

06s7c.blogspot.com - also good

06s7e.blogspot.com - no such site (fine, they don't blog, or are too sophisticated for blogger)

06s71.blogspot.com -


hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaa... 71=malicious.

I like that.. it brings back old memories of MY 71, 96S71.

prettaae pix.

Not me, the cats and dogs.

I think cuteoverload.com is my sanity-saver, some days.




Diversions

People often comment that i have strange ways of amusing myself, relaxing myself and destressing myself.

Instead of vegging out in front of the TV, immersing myself in the content of VCDs, DVDs and the latest on HBO, I instead choose reading, doing jigsaw puzzles, games like Bejeweled, Farm Hustle, Sudoku and Text Twist. All of which require brain work, and most of the time a time-limit. Most other people find these games infinitely stressful..

Why do I like to play such games? Maybe it is because..
1. They are free (hehe)
2. They are always accessible
3. There are infinite possibilities, I can play everyday and still not run out of different versions of the same games
4. They can be complete in a short (ok less than 10 min) period of time which honestly is all I can afford off work
5. I want to prove my brain is still useful in areas not related to my work (yes and amen!)
6. They allow an improvement in levels of skills ie ,I train my ability in different areas each time I play the different stuffs
7. I feel satisfaction in seeing a list of words completed, a jigsaw puzzle with every piece in place, a Sudoku with all the numbers correct - you get the idea. The C in me still applies to games.

That's the perfect 7 of reasons! haha!
(actually, I cannot think of more to make it a perfect ten, so.. too bad..)

Join me in the games sometime! =)

Monday, May 01, 2006

rebuked

Received a rebuke today, from a quarter i did not expect, for something I did not intend to offend.

Surprised it would have been taken that way, and yet pained by the hurt in her voice.

I guess it is just the fallability of communication, and that we are working towards the same goal from two separate baselines.

I am shocked at myself for tearing, and cannot stop even now.

But tears are not the solution. Work is.

So I will go think of how to make things better. -nods-