A Stepford Girl

Re-start

2007-10-15T01:29:00.000-05:00

Time flies, I've been back for more than 6 months. And this blog has been in a deep sleep since March. Time to wake up, baby...

It's been raining all day. Guess I like to write when it's raining. The greater the intensity, the more I feel like writing. Maybe it's the sound of rain splattering on windows, maybe it's the dark, ominous feel when rain clouds block the sky... =)

Just came back from Taiwan. It's been raining non-stop there as well, thanks to Typhoon Krosa. The rain's definitely not as heavy but the wind is strong. My umbrella's almost gone... It's the most slack, relaxing trip I've ever had. I like it. I like my trip companions. They're easy going and non-threatening.

Thanks to the superb trip, I expereinced the worst mood crash ever when I returned to work. Too much work, too much competition, totally unecessary. This translated to severe shoulder cramps, eye fatigue, malaise, facial and dental pain (thanks to a collection of greenish mucous in my sinus, I think) lasting from Friday to Sunday.

I think my eyesight is deteriorating. Maybe it's stress (working too much on the computer), maybe it's psychological. Anyway, I bought an eye supplement containing Bilberry, Eyebright, Lutein, Vitamin A, Beta-Carotene, citrus flavanoids, blah blah... Hope to give my eyes more tender loving care.

The rain's stopping, my blog's ending.

Looking forward to the next rainy day... =)

Last week in Houston

2007-03-30T10:00:00.000-06:00

Oh well, I'm finally back from New York... Actually, it's been a week already and it has been a really crazy week. Lotsa cleaning and packing to do since I'll be leaving TOMORROW!!! I hate moving. It's so stressful.

What I enjoyed most in New York were the musicals and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Les Miserables was absolutely amazing. A tragic and beautiful story but one filled with hope, grace and mercy. The songs were great, sometimes funny and the sets were pretty interesting too. Would definitely watch it again if I have the chance. Phantom of the Opera is another amazing show although the element of surprise is not there since I already watched the movie. Again, I must say, the sets and songs were beautiful. Definitely worth watching again.

The Tiffany collection of stained glass art at the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts was simply mesmerizing. Words or print alone cannot describe the splendor or beauty of it. You have to see it in real life! And I always thought Tiffany was just an overpriced brand catering to people with money to burn. He was a guy who actually had talent for stained glass! Whatever happened along the way, I don't know... At least now I have a little bit more appreciation and respect for Tiffany, the artist.

The subways in New York were real convenient but real dirty and stinky. You kinda get used to the stench after some time. They're pretty old and rickety too. Was it worth going up to the Empire State building? Well, the view was nice but it's not worth the price or waiting time. C'mon! I had to queue to get down as well! Argh! Was Times Square interesting? Well, if you like lotsa neon lights and bill boards. I'm neutral. I like the New York Public Library though. It was really grand and the architecture beautiful. Makes you feel like a 19th century scholar...

I like New Haven, there's a cafe at every corner and there's no lack of museums too. Yale was very beautiful. Looks so regal when surrounded by snow.

Bottom line, New York is great for musicals and museums. New Haven is a nice place to live.

Of Fate and Fortune

2007-03-16T09:05:00.000-06:00

What a dampening start to my day! First, I woke up at 430am and found out that my flight to New York got cancelled due to an ice storm warning. Then, I was put on hold for 1 hr 20min before I got to speak with a rep from JetBlue. After arranging to depart on Monday morning and cancelling my accomodation for the night, I realised that the day wasn't as bad as I envisioned. Instead, it would get better throughout the day. I really really thank God for the following:

1) I don't have to brave the biting cold in New York or walk around in cold, soggy shoes.

2) There is breakfast today at the office. It was an amazing spread of pastry, dark chocolate truffles, casseroles, fruits and banana nut muffins. Yummy!

3) I bought tickets for Les Miserables for next Friday instead of today. If not, I would have to kiss my $75 goodbye.

4) I only need to cancel one night of accomodation.

5) I get to see Scottish festival concert at Toyota Center tonight.

6) There is St. Patrick's Day parade at downtown tomorrow. It will be warm and sunny, not cold and wet!

7) Miller Outdoor theatre opens tomorrow night with an Irish dance performance. It's FOC!

8) I will have more time in New York since I won't be visiting Shenandoah National Park as proposed in the original itinerary. Oh well, maybe next time...

Yeh! Nice turn of events! Isn't it great?

Trashing bulls and kicking horses

2007-03-07T23:57:00.000-06:00

Well, that's what you get to see at the Rodeo, bulls trashing and horses kicking some serious butt! I'm not sure what the criteria for judging is but it seems that as long as you can stay on the trashing bull/horse for more than 8 seconds and still do so with finesse and grace, you'll score very well with the judges. Some contestants got thrown off in less than 2 seconds so it's pretty serious stuff... Of course, there are other less violent contests, like chuck wagon racing, teamwork lasso and calf wrestling, just to name a few. In calf wrestling, the contestant simply jumps off his horse and subdues a calf by bringing it to the ground and tying up all four legs. And it's supposed to be done in less than 10 seconds. Amazing... It's a pity I'm sitting so far away from the field.

All in all, the Rodeo is an amazing event. It started with a prayer, followed by the national anthem and then there was the spectecular fireworks! Yes, fireworks in an enclosed stadium! I've never been so close to fireworks before and it was real pretty =) Liked that a lot!

However, I can't say I liked the Sheryl Crow concert which follows the Rodeo. The music was so blasting loud, it made me sick. Didn't really enjoy her songs too. Guess I should have gone for a concert with a more country feel. In any case, ear plugs are a must for any future concerts I go to.

Houston Rodeo Carnival 2007

2007-03-05T17:32:00.000-06:00

We went to the Rodeo Carnival on Saturday and it was great fun! The rides were amazing and I'm just glad we bought the $50 coupon booklet. Well, it was the first time I've ever taken any rides that flip 360 degrees and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be... The trick is not to resist being turned upside down, just fall in the direction you're being thrown at =) That certainly requires a good degree of faith in the harness that's holding you to the seat. Oh well, what the heck, I survived anyway. Altogether, I think we took about 6-7 rides. And there wasn't any queue since we got there early, like around 10am.

Yup, this is one of the rides which I took. Kinda like a crazy windmill...

And there were lotsa animals to see as well. Horses and premium cattle aside, it was like a minature zoo where you can get up close and personal with the animals.

My favourite pic: Me and Mr. Llama =) I think he looks real cute!

The stack of cheese fries we had was soggy and absolutely bad. The funnel cakes were good though. Freshly deep fried, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and sprinkled with a generous dose of icing sugar... Other killer junk food which we did not try include deep fried snickers, deep fried oreo cookies, deep fried cheesecake, deep fried coke popsicles and deep fried whatever-you can-think-of.

I love my kitchen!

2007-02-19T18:03:00.000-06:00

I love my kitchen and I love cooking!

Remember my confusion between puff pastry and phyllo sheets? Well, after I sorted them out and got out of my depressive state, I bought the phyllo sheets and continued where I left off. And I must say that my baked asparagus in phyllo sheets tasted pretty good! Got to work on the presentation though... NL baked a couple of HUGE spinach-cheese pies with the phyllo sheets and it was great too!

I also made a sweet treat with the leftover puff pastry and I'm pretty happy with the results! The filling was just made up of semi-sweet chocolate chips, walnut pieces and toasted coconut. Really, can't go wrong with these ingredients...

There's this southern food called grits which I got from the supermarket. It's kinda like oatmeal type of stuff that people eat for breakfast. Well, I cooked it with cheese and it tasted absolutely disgusting!!! Yuck! Then I saw a recipe on Food Network and decided to give it a try. Basically, instead of cooking it like porridge, I baked it with cheese and eggs. My goodness! What a DIFFERENCE an egg or two makes to the dish! I went from hating grits to loving it =)

Finally, I tried making meringues the traditional way. Yes, whipping egg whites manually with an egg whisk instead of a food processor. It was hard work! Some people think I'm crazy but it's possible! How do you think people in the pre-food processor times made meringues? Anyway. it was really really satisfying seeing my egg whites go from liquid to a smooth, airy foam! The meringue cookies turned out pretty well except it was a tad too sweet for my liking. I'll have to half the sugar next time...

Happy Chinese New Year!

2007-02-18T20:14:00.000-06:00

Hmmm... Didn't realize that it's been so many days since I last blogged.

So, it's New Year's Eve yesterday and we had steamboat at a friend's place. Yup, it's the Singaporean gang again =) Let's see. Do I miss the festive mood, food or visitations to relatives? Well, not quite. We didn't have pineapple tarts, prawn crackers, BBQ pork, mandarin oranges or any nuts/dried fruits/pickled fruits platter. But it's ok! At least I'm having a lot less calories! It's nice and quiet here.

The steamboat was... well, how should I put it? I'd rather they just ordered a few pizzas. There was too much food. Too many varieties of fish cake and fake crab meat to be exact. Was it worth the money and time? Certainly not. Does it taste good? Well, MSG good! Can you cook steamboat with a rice cooker? Maybe not such a good idea. But it certainly was nice to have some canned abalone, shrimp crackers and chocolate love letters! Geeze, and I should know better than to cross paths with Miss Martha Steward, the most wonderful domestic goddess, when it comes to preparing food in the kitchen. Just like my mother.

Bad food is fine in the company of great friends, that is, until they decide to play a board game for hours and hours on end after dinner. I just want to go home and sleep, really. But the game is not ending because the dice throw is just not in our favour. And I can't just leave cos we carpooled here. So what time did I reach home? 2:45am. Geeze! What the ****!

Don't get me wrong. I like the game, really. It was great fun but tiredness combined with dry contacts can really foul up my mood. So much for steamboat.

Oh Glorious Sun!

2007-01-25T13:15:00.000-06:00

Oh Glorious sun! The sun is finally back after one whole week of bleak and weary darkness. Yes, it seems the earth was shrouded in an envelope of grey. It was cold, wet and absolutely chilly. Today, the sky is clear and shines with a brillant blue. I could feel the slight tingle of the sun's rays on my face, warming up my hands as I strolled along the path...

Nah... What a terrible description. But ya, in short, the sun's back.

Finally, the holiday plans with Clare and gang is beginning to take shape. I hope it'll be a fun trip!

I suck at pastry making!

2007-01-21T19:45:00.000-06:00

I tried to make some pastry. It turned out quite bad. The recipe called for phyllo sheets and I thought they were similar to puff pastry... So, I bought puff pastry instead since I can't find phyllo sheets at the supermarket. Bad mistake, really bad mistake. Anyway, I finally found some phyllo sheets at another supermarket. When I tried to separate the sheets, everything I touched tore. I think I'm really bad at this... Makes me quite depressed. But, I will try again!

Had some yogurt with granola for lunch, some chips and tang yuan in peanut soup (courtesy of NL). Gave me a terrible disrrhoea (Food poisoning? Gastroenteritis? Whatever...) It must be the yogurt. I'm boycotting it from now on. Then again, maybe it's just the combination of all those junk that's not going well with me. I'm gald it's all over now. I will not eat anymore junk for meals.

Watched Goodbye Lenin! last week. It's a pretty interesting film and I quite like it (4 stars out of 5!). In East Germany, a proudly socialist woman goes into coma and wakes up after the Berlin Wall came crashing down. As any major shock might precipitate a fatal heart attack, her son tries all ways and means to prevent her from knowing the truth and preserve the way of life she knew and believed in. Funny and absolutely heartwarming. And the guy's pretty cute too!

NL's watching The Killing Fields right now. I tried to watch, I really tried. But I just can't get past the first 45min. Doesn't connect with me emotionally and I guess the storytelling is just plain bad. I'm sure it's a really meaningful show but I'll rather read the book than watch the film.

Iced

2007-01-18T11:20:00.000-06:00

It's a cold, cloudy day today. Like my mood most of the time. Sometimes, I think I'm like the Snow Queen. I often detach myself from my feelings, I watch from afar as my physical being goes through the day, carrying out activities like everybody else. I think and muse over life. What if? (That's the catch phrase of the SciFi channel...) What if I'm doing something totally different? What if I'm working as a pastry chef? What if I'm growing vegetables? What if I'm a waitress? Would I be happier? Different? More passionate?

Like the deep blue sea, my mind is blank and calm, but it also has the potential to generate a storm. An earthquake occurs on the seabed, creating waves many miles away from the origin. Sometimes events occur, only to surface years later. Well, so far, there hasn't been any outbursts of any kind... I feel so iced today. I see fog floating by the window. And sometimes, I wonder what life would be if I'm somewhere else, doing something else.

Freezing Day

2007-01-15T16:04:00.000-06:00

It's Martin Luther King Jr Day today and we went Downtown to watch the Parade. Bad idea. It was freezing and the wind was merciless! Even though I was wrapped up in many layers, my extremities were really experiencing the onslaught of icy, artic weather. Was quite worried I would get frostbite and lose my fingers and toes. But then again, I saw some people out in the open just wearing T-shirt and pants. I even spotted a girl wearing slippers. Helllo! Are they crazy? Wonder if they have anti-freeze cruising in their blood stream... I guess the performers really had a hard time too. Got to play their instruments without gloves. And the cheerleaders were in costumes fit for summer. I really wonder how they get by with the entire length of their legs exposed. And still keep smiling...

Anyway, Fox TV is finally showing the latest season of 24! I just love that show... I think I could just sit in front of the TV and watch 8 hours at one go. It's so fast-paced and exciting that the hour literally fly by... Poor Jack! Got rescued just to be sent to his death. He's pretty traumatised and damaged, physically and emotionally, ever since the last time I saw him. He's so different! But of course, he won't die for the next 24 hours...

Random spurts of thoughts

2007-01-09T21:05:00.000-06:00

Yes, it's been some time isn't it? I sort of went into the habit of not going online. Being in an online community just isn't part of my comfort zone. It's like a workout for me. Gotta get in front of the computer, lift my fingers and get them moving and typing to the right sequence of letters. The you gotta think about what you want to say and how you want to express yourself. So what happened in the lapse? Well, Andrew was here so we just spent more time sight seeing and making meals. I enjoyed the drive to San Antonio. Just a bit stressful. You think Sentosa is touristy? You haven't seen San Antonio. Well, it's a quaint little place with beautiful architecture and a river by the sidewalk. Like Boat Quay, only it has a more rustic feel.

Watched a couple of movies. V for Vendetta (5 stars!) The Sentinel (3.5 stars!), Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest (4 stars!), World Trade Center (3 stars). Somehow, I just wasn't touched by the film. Not as intense as The Pianist or Munich. Tried to watch Lain, a Jap anime. Had a hard time keeping awake. Too little dialogue.

Nilian's watching Closer now. I left halfway and came in to write my blog. Doesn't that tell you something? Look at the lives and morality of the characters in the film. What can the world offer? Nothing. Love? Hardly. I doubt most people are like the characters in the film but it's kinda depressing looking at their lives. I could easily be like one of them. I guess God watches over my sanity.

I like the online magazine Wired. Lotsa interesting articles about advancing Science and Technology. Went for a clinical trial today. Nothing invasive, just play a game and they pay you according to how well you score. Purpose is to find out how different people deal with trust, competition and co-operation. So I made $65 in one hour. Hope they call me up again for another trial =)

Geeze, I hope to catch an episode of CSI after Nilian is done with the movie. Oh I think she's done. Yeah!!!!

Food and Movie week =)

2006-12-20T10:50:00.000-06:00

Phew.... What a week. No-stop food action! Monday, the director of our cell processing facility treated all staff to lunch at a restaurant. I had fried green tomato salad as appetizer, angel hair pasta sauteed with prawns, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil and apple bread pudding for dessert. Finally, a cup of coffee to end the meal. Food wise, it wasn't the best. But it was still a pretty enjoyable meal. Liked the fried green tomato salad best. Actually, the green tomatoes aren't sour. They aren't tart and they aren't sweet either. Hmmm... So it's pretty tasteless. Well, I liked it cos it's light. Everything else was pretty heavy.

Today, we're going to have Christmas potluck lunch. Lostsa food lined up! And not to mention, I've received lotsa presents from the staff here. Well, mainly chocolates and sweets. Someone gave us homemade cookies and scones, marshmallow chocolate coconut sweets and spicy pecan cheese logs! Yum yum... And we made cookies for most of the staff too. Quick, fast and fun! Courtesy of instant cookie mix... Went through about 80 cookies in 2 hours...

Watched Ghost in the Shell and Inuyasha Movie 3 last night. Ghost was good. It's pretty philosophical and has an art-film feel. Very haunting music too. I must say that it's pretty visionary considering this film was made more than 10 years ago. Looking forward to watching the next Ghost movie. A bit heavy but I certainly enjoyed it. Basically, the film is about what happens when computer programs acheive a certain consciousness of themselves. How do you define life when humans and computers merge? Where do you draw the line? I think I prefer this to Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Inuyasha movie 3: Swords of an Honourable Ruler was the best Inuyasha movie I've watched so far. Fast-paced action and poignant reminiscence of Inuyasha's parents. A pretty fun movie =) Never a dull moment.

All I want for Christmas is... Cloud's hair gel!

2006-12-16T21:07:00.000-06:00

Watched Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. I must say that the graphics were fantastic. Better still if I'm watching it in HD or maybe on the big screen. Everything looks so real! Personally, I love Sci-Fi but I won't recommend watching this if you don't have prior knowledge of what goes on in the universe of Final Fantasy. What's worse is that the subtitles aren't working so I had to listen to the English track and yuck! That just didn't feel right. Anyway, Cloud's really cool, and I really really want his hair gel. You should see how his hair never gets messed up whenever he engages in battle. Geeze, and the wind is always blowing against him so his hair is perfect no matter which angle you're looking from. You know whaat, he probably plucks his eyebrows too... They look so well manicured.

Cloud has this huge motocycle with storage utilities on both sides that fan out, displaying his collection of blades when required. It may look cool on print but it really looked like a chef displaying his knives whenever he does that! The villians looked pretty good too, with perfectly re-bonded hair and man... look at all those sculpted bodies... Anyway, the feel is pretty much like The Matrix and Moon Child (staring Hyde, Gackt and of all people, Lee Hom). Final verdict: Looks great but boring. Should have checked out the history and background first before attempting to watch the movie.

Divine Inspiration?

2006-12-10T15:08:00.000-06:00

Some of you may or may not know that I attend the Houston Chinese Church every Sunday. So far, I find the sermons pretty interesting and uplifting and I'm just glad to be there... It's interesting because I don't hear such topics being preached in the main sanctuary very often back in S'pore. Most of the time they're only covered during small group bible study. Well, the topics discussed include marriage, singlehood, sex, even church discipline. The topic on Church discipline was pretty interesting. I've not really heard anyone talked about it except when I was doing Literature in Sec 4 reading about Joan of Arc. It's addressed in the sermon on 15/10/06 if you're intereseted. Most of the material comes from 1 Corinthians. They've got a comprehensive website which has sermon transcripts as well so if you're interested, do go and take a look at the weekly messages.

Houston Chinese Church

You can access the sermon transcripts by going to Church Corner>Sunday sermons>Chinese worship service sermons

Other than church and the supermarket, I've been to a friend's housewarming party on Saturday and watched a couple of DVDs over the week. Yeah!!! I finished watching Inuyasha Movies 1 and 2. Romatic comedy adventure. Don't really have to think too much to enjoy it =) Watched Mystic River too. Hmmm... Not too bad. Pretty sad show. I don't really hate it, I don't exactly like it too. A History of Violence was better. At least it had a happy ending =) Kinda similar to Kill Bill but not as wacky.

It's Freezing Out There...

2006-12-04T21:06:00.000-06:00

Yes, it's freezing out there... Temperatures hovering around 0-10oC... But no snow... What a waste.

Well, guess it's some time since I last wrote anything in my blog. Phew! The computer at home is finally up and running! That is after a 'detox' session at Challenger and a 'face-lift' involving a new flat screen monitor... Now they're even upgrading to an original version of Microsoft Office... Well, not that I'm really big into pirated software but I just find the price of the original Office a little too steep. Come to think of it, Microsoft Office is probably the most common word processing tool around in the world and yet, it cost so much. They should really keep the price below S$100. Yeah, make that below $50. This will really help reduce the number of pirated copies floating around.

Anyway, nothing much happened this weekend. Bought a lot of useless stuff though, like cookies and nuts... Too much junk, too much junk. Rented and watched the movie 'Thank you for smoking'. Smart and funny... A satire, really. It's about a spokesperson for the tobacco industry, how he deals with the media and questions from his 12-year-old son. Worth a watch.

The day after Thanksgiving

2006-11-24T20:49:00.000-06:00

It was Thanksgiving Day yesterday and I had a really good meal. So good that it made me sick... I mean, I ate too much, not the food poisoning kind of sick. It's the I'm-having-a-good-life kind of sick... Ok, never mind. Anyway, Karen picked me up and we went over to Christy's house. We had alcohol free margarita while the food was heating up and we just sat around and chit-chat with the guests. They were mainly Christy's parents and parents-in-laws... And of course, we had the turkey and cranberry sauce, baked stuffing, sweet potato casserole, baked potatos with sauce, steamed corn nibblets, gyoza and the wonderful Yorkshire pudding... That has to be my favourite food for the day =) Actually, it's just plain muffin-like pastry. Something like choux pastry but lighter and more airy. And it's not sweet. Definitely an English thing. Well, Christy's parents-in-laws are English... Oh and the dessert was pecan pie... Man, it was so sweet and rich, I guess that's what made me sick. Anyway, at the end of the day, I packed back some leftover turkey and Yorkshire pudding =)

Well, since NL is away in Chicago for the Thanksgiving holidays, I have the whole house to my self! Yeh!!!!! Kinda enjoyed it though, being alone in the house. Anyway, I went shooping at Sharpstown Mall in the morning. Not many people there but well, still pretty enjoyable. Actually, the day after Thanksgiving is a day of BIG SALES! The large malls open at, guess what, 5am! Crazy rite? I'm not that crazy, I went at 930am... Anyway, went back to make lunch for myself and watched some TV. Well, I had the leftover turkey and yorkshire pudding! After that, I went grocery shopping... More enjoyable than the mall, I guess. Ended up buying lotsa stuff... Hmmm...

More turkey and yorkshire pudding for dinner... I just love the long weekend!

TV addict

2006-11-20T22:50:00.000-06:00

CSI is on everyday, and it's becoming like a daytime soap opera. Still like the original CSI best. CSI NY comes second =) Cold Case and Without a Trace are good too. But they're only shown during weekends... Well, that's good or I'll really be watching too much TV. House is very interesting and funny, though I'm clueless about the medical terms most of the time. House is definitely one of my favourite shows... The cases are too complicated to describe...

I like Discovery Health channel too. Mystery Diagnosis is pretty intersting. Try to guess what condition these people have.

Here's an easy one:
An active college student finds herself drinking water all the time. For the next four years, she drinks on the average about 11 liters of water every day and of course, goes to the toilet pretty often. In fact, she wakes up in the middle of the night to drink water and never sleeps more than 45min in a row. As a result, she has difficulty in concentrating and her studies suffered. The doctors have ruled out brain tumours, mental illness and diabetes mellitus. She had a seizure one day and decided to really seek professional help. She was admitted to hospital and her vital signs monitored while being deprived of water. She starts shivering sparodically but still goes to the toilet often, producing lotsa urine. A few hours later, she is shivering almost constantly and her skin is dry and wrinkly. BP is falling dangerously low and she lost ~2kg of body weight. What is she suffering from?

Another case:
41-year-old woman, exercises regularly, plays soccer, enjoys wakeboarding. One day, sharp pain in her chest while jogging. Thereafter, she feels fatigue most of the time. Soon, sharp pain in the ankles and in the thumbs, sometimes radiating to the shoulders. Since she types a lot at the workplace, she thought maybe it was just repetitive strain injury. It got worse and she saw a doc. Diagnosis was carpel tunnel syndrome. Brace and anti-inflammatory medication did not help. Soon, swollen ankles and joints in her hands. Difficulty in performing everday tasks like cooking and dressing up. X-ray looks normal. Not Rheumatoid arthritis, Not Lupus. Some doc thought she was suffering from depression (Duh!). One doc noticed discolouration of skin on the hands. Reynaud's Phenomenon? Slight thickening of the skin noticed. Tada!!!! What's she suffering from?

These are not exactly interesting conversation topics but well, it's just my cup of tea.

Thanksgiving treat and I'm eating way too much...

2006-11-20T22:20:00.000-06:00

Holidays are here again! It'll be Thanksgiving Day this thursday and as tradition goes, there'll be much fun, joy and laughter... Lotsa feasting too. Kinda like Chinese New Year, I think. The time of the year when families gather and enjoy good food. Of course, it all started out as a, well, time of thanksgiving to celebrate the safe arrival of pilgrims in America. Back then, there wasn't so much to eat and I guess they had to steal some from the locals as well... Now, it's mostly about football and turkeys =)

Since many people know that I'll be alone for Thanksgiving, they've kindly invited me over for dinner... Everybody is so warm and hospitable! And we had a Thanksgiving feast today at the office. It was potluck and everyone brought something. It was amazing! I think we had >20 dishes on the conference table. There was roast chicken, ham, meat pie, mini quiche, shrimp, rice, pasta, salads, chips and dips, fried noodles, chinese stir-fry, gyoza, sushi, several potato dishes, several egg dishes, cranberry granola casserole, cheese cake, custard pudding, chocolate, cookies, my very own chocolate brownie and many more... I was surprised the chocolate brownie was wiped out. I just made it from a brownie mix... Guess you can never go wrong with brownies =)

Sigh.... Quick! Get me away from the TV! Argh!!!! When I watch TV, I have an insatiable need to snack. I'll have my dinner, fruits and then follow up with my homemade peppercorn and parmesan cheese yogurt dip with crackers. Help! I need to lock up the food cabinets in the kitchen =(

Exciting weekend Part 2

2006-11-12T21:38:00.000-06:00

Ok, finally, we're at Sunday. Went to church as usual... What's unusual was the baptism that took place during the service. You see, I know there're baptism pools, baptism basin (like the one in SAC) and baptism in the sea. But this was certainly something out of the ordinary and I thought it was real funny and interesting... First, they introduced the believers that were going to be baptised. They went on stage with white robes and I realised that they had no shoes on. The believers exited the stage though a small door at the side and I didn't see them again. The back curtain was drawn apart and there was a clear screen in the middle. When the pastor and believer appeared behind the glass screen, I realised they were in water, waist-deep. Like a fish tank! The mike was picking up the sloshing of water as they walked in and I just thought it was so funny! The believers were baptised by immersion into the water and it was as though I was looking through an aquarium tank... Hmmm... Interesting... I guess they can't have the baptism pool outdoor as it would be too cold.

Later, we went to the Nutcracker Market. Lots of Christmas decorations! And chocolate, candy, jams, spreads, dips, crackers and other great stuff. They were pretty expensive though. But we still bought some stuff... I got a scone mix (just add water!), several dips (just add yourget or sour cream!) and a few boxes of caramel candy. Oh my! The caramel candy was amazing!!! It was simply heavenly... All these cost abt $30. We went around sampling, tasting all sorts of stuff until I was full. Darn! Shouldn't have eaten a sandwich before I walked around the place. And it was so expensive! $6!!!! Well, at least I didn't eat the pizza... We had a caramel apple coated with roasted pecans. It's a must-try! Wasn't too sweet cos they used green apples instead. Definitely worth $6...

Went grocery shopping after that and met K and her boyfriend for dinner at Mi Luna, a tapas restaurant. It was definitely a more relaxing setting as it wasn't as noisy. The food was great and they all came in small servings. We shared an asparagus tapas, mushroom tapas and goat cheese with tomato tapas. I had two beef skewers with saffron rice and caramelised onions. Nice but the onions were a bit too sweet though.. We had a round of Sangria (red wine with fruit juice) and I think it's really nice. Nicer than the margarita. I had two glasses...

Gee, quite a bit of alcohol this week... But I'm ok with it. I think my tolerance is pretty high. But I won't drink too much cos I won't want a pot belly! Haha...

Hmmm... enough writing. Time to catch CSI.

Till the next time...

Exciting weekend Part 1

2006-11-12T21:06:00.000-06:00

Ah well... It's been an exciting week. Actually, it's pretty tiring too. Lotsa meetings to attend and still deal with our environmental monitoring. Glad we won't be doing that from tomorrow onwards. We're moving on to Flow Cytometry! Woohoo! Thursday evening, Dr Gee, the QA director of the facility decided to bring us and our boss out for dinner at Pappasito's, a Tex-Mex restaurant. The food was great, but as usual, I'm feeling uncomfortable with socializing. We had a round of Margaritas and man, it was pretty strong. Kinda like bitter slurpee... We went to Miller Outdoor theatre to watch a traditional African drum concert after that and it was real good. Very high energy but not as diverse as STOMP!

Friday, some people went out for Happy Hour after work and we just tagged along. So, it seems that alcohol is really pretty cheap here. White wine was going at $2/glass! Well, somehow, I wasn't in the mood for wine but instead opted for a cocktail instead. I like colourful drinks... Anyway, I went to the counter and ordered an Irish Luck. Pretty much just honeydew flavoured rum. The waitress looked at me, asked for my ID, looked at it, looked at me, went to the manager and came back to me telling me she can't sell me any drinks. Duh!!!So I told her I just want cheese sticks. Anyway, one of my colleuges came over and bought it for me instead. Well, I'm not supposed to be drinking anything so I had to be real secretive about it at our table. I didn't talk much. The cheese sticks were good though. Heh. Anyway, I take that as a compliment. After that, we went to Miller Outdoor for a Celtic music concert. The performance was great! The fiddle (it looks like a violin) has a really resonant tone and I liked it very much. The guy playing the bagpipe seems to never run out of breath so it was pretty amazing too... However, every piece seems to have a part that is common to all and as the Singaporean gang was there too, more socializing. I'm getting real weary.

Saturday, P and J took us out to the Pow Wow at Trader's Village. The Pow Wow is a yearly native American costume and dance competition. The costumes were impressive! The dance was so-so and the food, nothing interesting. We had fry bread which pretty much tastes like 'han jing peng', if you know what it is. Round, flattened version of the you tiao. It was topped with a generous serving of beans and lettuce. I was sitting in the grand stand watching the performance, the sun was scorching my back but I was freezing cos the wind was blowing into my face. The native American crafts were pretty but far too expensive in my opinion. And Trader's Village is really a big junkyard. Nothing I would like to get there. Came back home in the afternoon and slack around the whole day.

Turning up the Heat

2006-11-05T07:59:00.000-06:00

We visited NASA Space Center yesterday together with the gang of Singaporeans. It was slightly more interesting than the Science Centre back in S'pore. Cos we get to see the control room and training areas with mock-up models of actual space station and spacecraft. Not to mention a really really large rocket that has been retired. It was pretty amazing! Exhibits wise, it was kinda like general material science which I think the Science Centre would do a better job. And I think the 3D simulator was crap. You know, it's those little capsules you sit in which rocks back and forth while you watch a roller coaster ride. Terrible. We met up with K, our boss, and she came along with us too.

We had lunch at this placed called Patu Thai in Rice Village before going NASA. The curry fried rice was good but the serving was ridiculously large. The mound of rice would certainly last for 3 meals... Dinner wise, we travelled a little farther south from NASA to this place called Kemah Broadwalk. Kinda like Clarke Quay in S'pore. Lots of restaurants, bars, game stalls, amusement rides. We eventually ate at a restaurant called The Flying Dutchman.

It was a really posh restaurant and the food was real good. I ordered an appitizer a friend recommended and well, it wasn't that great. Mushrooms baked in cream cheese and crab meat. Sounds good but... Maybe it's because no one's sharing with me. I had pan-seared tuna for the main course and it was good too. Why wasn't it great? Well, because of all the socialising I had to try to do. I guess it's pretty stressful for me to eat and try to talk to people I'm not familiar with. I hate socialising but it's a critical skill I've got to master, somehow. Sometimes I wonder why I'm so uncomfortable talking to people. Maybe it's because I don't like to tell others about myself. How long does it takes for me to make friends? Years I guess. And it helps if we're not in the same age group. Maybe it's because all my life, I've been competing with my peers.

I wonder how others can socialise with ease. Maybe they've practised long and hard too. Maybe they're born with the gift. Maybe they're struggling just like me but does a better job at covering it up. Maybe we all go thru life trying to deal with our hurts and disappointments and at the same time trying to live with others' expectations of ourselves. It's time I ditch my emotional baggage and any misgivings about my upbringing. The time has come for me to be me and not be afraid of not being like everyone else.

So Truth must come into my Mind to displace any Lies that have been ingrained. I am a child of God. I am loved, respected, accepted and valued in the eyes of my Creator God. I know because He cared enough to send His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sins. He could have just wiped us out and created a new set of human beings when we repeatedly go against Him but He didn't. Do I love people I don't like enough? Maybe not. But these are people God loves too. I know I've changed a lot in the past 10 years but the process continues. Perhaps I've come to a critical point where God is turining up the heat to separate out finer impurities from gold to give a purer gold.

A fine day

2006-11-03T10:26:00.000-06:00

Yup, it's Friday morning and I'm at my desk. The weather is great, and it's a cloudless sky today. I love the cloudless sky. It's beautiful, it's perfect. Nothing much to do for the week as I'm already done with most of the work. Temperature in the morning is about 6oC. Coldest which I've encountered since I'm here. I'm wearing jeans, T-shirt and a sweater. That's it! And I don't feel cold... Guess I have pretty much acclimatized to the weather already. Strange isn't it? I hate the air-con but I don't mind staying out in the cold. Well, I guess this isn't exactly cold to some people... I still see a handful of them in T-shirts and shorts...

Friday is breakfast day so someone will buy breakfast and anyone can just go eat them in the board room. We just sat there, ate breakfast and chatted for one hour. Today's menu consist of apple pie, chocolate bread, bagels and cream cheese and orange juice. Oh well, Friday is a happy day =) Bagels with cream cheese are good. I'm beginning to like them.

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

2006-10-28T16:12:00.000-05:00

We went to watch STOMP! on Wednesday.

Nobody makes everyday noise as appealing and energetic as the production, STOMP! I really like it! You should watch it if you get the chance. Never knew you could create such interesting and enjoyable 'music' with metal drums, water cooler containers, pails, brooms, pipes, road signs, plastic bags, even lighters. The whole performance is an amazing, high-energy, perfectly well-coordinated rhythmic soundtrack. There's no storyline and no dialogue but you won't feel bored throughout the 1.5hr. The set is at a construction site though. It's very funny and interactive too. The audience would get invloved with the coordinated clapping and well, it kinda feels like we're part of the performance too =) I think the performers are really talented. To me, it's like coordinating a drum set. No way am I ever going to keep the beat and rhythm for more than 30 seconds! That's why I'm here and not performing on stage... (^_^) We got the promotional tickets at $30 and also had the good seats so it was really worth it.

Went to the Bible seminar today and it was really interesting. I liked it a lot. I think there're too much distractions in S'pore. Too many shopping centres and movie theatres to draw attention away from the more important things as such. It's about the Book of Job in the Old Testament. Why do bad things happen to good people? Well, we had two 1.5hr lectures today and more to come tommorow so maybe I'll talk more about it the next time.

The Traveller

2006-10-21T14:00:00.000-05:00

The Traveller by John Twelve Hawks.

Need I say more? Every word I type, every website I visit, every electronic transaction I make is recorded and watched. Do I subscribe internet, get water and electricity from local providers? Do I have a bank account? I'm in 'the grid'. Everything I buy from the supermarket is being tracked and information sold to companies for marketing purposes. 24-hour electronic survellience, GPS on every vehicle and handphone which allows your exact location to be tracked. Electronic chip in every person for identification and purchasing? Well, it's not exactly science fiction. We're already putting them in our pets.

The idea is not unlike that of the Panopticon. Thought of by Bentham in 1791, it is actually a prison which allows the all prisoners to be watched from the guardhouse but not the other way round. As the prisoners do not know when they are being watched of if there is anybody watching at all, he must assume that he's being watched all the time and so will no longer entertain any thoughts of escape. Surveillence is often used under the guise of protection from terrorist or anti-social behavior. Freedom and privacy becomes an arbitary term no one truly understands anymore.

The book describes what can happen in the very near future as the technology is already here. All we need is a crisis to make people believe they need to be watched in order to protect them from further harm. Hmmm... Sounds like 911? Well, it's anybody's guess. So what's not good about regulating public behavior? It lowers crime rates and possibly protects us from harm. But since all our life can be tracked and catagorized, wouldn't it be very useful to criminals who are tech savvy as well? Hmmm... =)

I guess the theme is not unlike that of 1984, V for Vendetta and Enemy of the State. If you like conspiracy theory, this is the book to read. It's exciting to see how people can possibly 'live off the grid'. Although I must say that I don't agree with the theory of Different Realms and that there's no conclusive ending. Well, it's Book 1 of a trilogy...

There's so much more you can find out by googling 'Panopticon'. Fellow citizens, we're being watched. Enjoy the security and safety. You paid for it with your freedom.

Try the game! It's quite fun. But it'll be more enjoyable if you know roughly what the book is about.

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/traveler/

Popco

2006-10-21T13:13:00.000-05:00

To know more about Popco and other books by Scarlett Thomas, check out this website:

http://www2.bookgirl.org/index.php?page=home

Essentially, Popco is about seeing the world from a different perspective. Why do we buy the things we buy? Why do we need to get that new MP3 player that can store >10,000 songs when we don't have so many songs to start out with? Why do we almost always order Coke when we don't really know what drink to get at the hawker centre? In addition to exploring these issues, a large portion of Popco also deals with codes, encryption and the history of some really interesting maths puzzles. A bit hard to grasp sometimes but well, she kinda made Mathematics sound really sexy and cool... =) In Popco, there are also references made with regards to modern farming practices and how revolting it really is. Just that such things are not really what you'll expect to see on television or learn in schools. Oh well, read on and you might just be inspired to be a vegan.

Personally, I think I'm a social meat eater. I prefer plant based food because I really like the taste of it, but will have meat when it is offered or if it happens to be on my plate. I like beef too but I'm aware that there's a finite chance of getting Mad Cow Disease. Then again, you can get E.coli poisoning from spinach too (it's on the FDA website)...

Not eating meat will not make you a better person. Eating meat does not make you sin. Because it is not what goes into you that makes you a good or bad person but what comes from within your heart. I'm more concerned about cruelty to animals, actually. And maybe what the extra antibiotics/growth hormones cocktail fed to the animals is doing to my health. Hey! Maybe that's why my sis is so tall! She eats too much meat and has an overdose of growth hormones. Maybe one day I'll quit meat... Maybe.

Got Milk?

2006-10-18T21:12:00.000-05:00

Think you know all about milk? Check this out!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1104740,00.html

Hmmm... Point of the article is that milk isn't as good as it seems. May even bad for health if you drink too much. And the animals aren't really comfortable producing it. Really? Isn't every health authority you know promoting the goodness of milk? Well, the article contends that it is precisely the case because these health officials also sit on the board of milk-producing industries.

Uh oh. Another case of deja vu! It kinda sounds like an article I've read recently about doctors corroborating with big pharma companies to promote their drugs to the public. And not necessarily for the documented illness the drug is supposed to treat. Anyway, I shall not smear the integrity of all doctors. I guess most of them really want the best for their patients but sometimes, the marketing strategies of these large pharma are so pervasive and prevalent that it just seeps into their lives inconspicuously. What do you think of research funded by pharma companies and published to make it look like an independent source stating the efficacy of the drug? How about pharma companies paying influential docs to speak at seminars about their drugs to their peers/junior docs? Or the pharma companies organizing education seminars that talks about new developments (and then their drugs get inserted into one of the presentation slides)? At the end of the day, no one really knows it's the pharma companies that support all these activities. I don't think I gave a really good description of it. But I read it off the FDA website so if you're interested, check it out =)

I've got some more stuff to tell you guys, like the two really interesting books I read so far but guess I'll leave have it to next time... I'm kinda tired from playing an online game and the computer radiation is frying the fingers on my left hand. Kinda stings. Maybe it's just carpel tunnel syndrome... Whatever.

But do check these two books out:
Popco by Scarlett Thomas
The Traveller by John Twelve Hawks

The rain, the food and the tango dance

2006-10-16T10:04:00.000-05:00

It was a pretty depressing Sunday morning.

All I wanted to do was try to get to the Houston Chinese Church which is slightly out of town but first I had to get through the thunderstorm. My shoes were wet, my skirt was wet and my precious map was wet from rain attacking me at an oblique angle. I just felt like going back home and getting under the layers of my comforter. And I was waiting at the wrong side of the road. Luckily, the bus was going in a loop so I managed to get to the place I wanted to go. The church service was pretty similar to back home in SAC, kinda like a cross between the 930am and 11am service. They sang the same songs but just with slightly different Chinese translation. It felt like home, really. And the teachings were biblically sound =) So I guess I'll be going there for the weeks to come...

I'm glad I didn't just go home and sleep because the rain was pounding. It was well worth the extra effort. And I have overcome yet another fear of navigating to unknown places. Some people have excellent magnets and compasses in their brains. I think mine is spoilt and rusty. Haha...

It's a lazy Monday morning... No work due to a disruption of power supply. No power for the computers, can't get into the lab. Blame the bad weather... There's a tornado and flash flood warning but it's out of Houston City. Isn't this great? I'm as excited as a school kid who doesn't have to go to school...

Met a couple of Singaporeans working and studying here for dinner. A pretty fun bunch I guess! We had Thai food but it tastes more like Chinese food. I think we should quit eating Asian food here. Tex-Mex and Greek food are better... I seem to be talking about food non-stop... I guess I should change the focus of by blog entries, really...

Watched a Tango performance on Saturday night. Pretty fun! The dancers were really good and they had a live band playing at all times. We just sat by the open area. And there were so many ppl there! They had blankets, picnic baskets, cooler to keep their wine and drinks, dogs, even chairs! I should bring a cushion next time...

Food for thought

2006-10-13T21:56:00.000-05:00

Having lived here for 2 weeks now, I've gotten used to doing my own cooking but not the housework. I still hate the housework. But I make sure I do it regularly lest it gets so dusty that I don't want to do anything about it. Like the fan in my room back in S'pore. It's quite icky... I don't want to touch it. Ugh...

So what kind of stuff do I cook at home? I haven't tried any of the microwavable dinners or instant stir-fry packets ever so common in the supermarket. I don't even buy canned food. It just feels so unhealthy... Anyway, there's always pasta. I love pasta. We've got spaghetti and penne and all I need to do is grab a handful of it and boil it. Then I chopped up 3 large fresh mushrooms, a few baby carrots and a bunch of french beans. Next, I heat up the oil, sprinkle a generous amount of chopped garlic and just sauteed the vege. Then, I add the pasta and spaghetti sauce and let simmer until done. Cool! Taste quite good! I think I just described my dinner today...

Anyway, I do other stuff like stir fry lettuce with carrots and/or mushrooms w/oyster sauce. I'm taking quite a long time to eat up the lettuce cos I'm just cooking for myself. Um... I pan-fry chicken as well. I tried to buy other stuff like beef but there's only the jumbo packs which I don't know how long I'll take to finish them... To me, it's pretty jumbo but to the Americans, I think they're just nice for two dinners... Sometimes, I have peanut butter sandwich with banana for breakfast or sandwich with cream cheese and turkey ham and cheddar cheese. I tried to cook potato stew but somehow the potato and vege became really soggy. After that, I didn't dare cook my vege for too long and now my carrots are always half-cooked. I've also done pan-fried potato slices with melted morzerella cheese. Hmmm... so far so good =) There's also fresh milk stocked in my refrigirator. Yes, fresh milk with all the fat but it doesn't seem to keep very well so I guess I'll just get the reduced fat ones.

As for eating out, I think Subway's my all-time favourite! You get a drink, a sandwich of generous proportions and chips for just $4.32. And different flavours for different day of the week =) Oh but I do love the steak and cheese sandwich... Greek food is definitely good as I've described previously. And my current craze will be Mexican food. I've tried it once at one of the many foodcourts in Texas Medical Center and it was just fantastic... I had the Mexican rice and black beans as side dishes and tortillas with melted morzerella cheese, zucchini (kinda like cucumber) and corn... Real good. But it is slightly more expensive, about $6 each meal. Going to try more of their stuff next time =) I wanna try Texan BBQ and maybe buffalo wings as well. Pizza Hut sells them but I'll have to get 20 at one go... I wish they just sell like 10...

We celebrated someone's birthday today and had burgers for lunch and chocolate cream cheese cake for dessert. I ordered bacon and cheese burger thinking there's only going to be bacon and cheese but it came with the beef pattie as well so I'm quite surprised that I actually can finish this Carl's Jr sized burger... Something's happening to me...

There are many things to do here on weekends. Basically there many museums you can visit and we've got some corporate discounts as well so it's actually quite affordable. I can watch IMAX shows for just $4.50 and on certain days, it's free admission to the museums if it isn't free at all to begin with. There are festivals every now and then so weekends are never boring. There's also the Miller Outdoor Theatre where there's free performances every weekend. So just pack some food and enjoy the fresh outdoor! Yipee!

Houston, problem solved. Welcome home.

2006-10-07T18:30:00.000-05:00

REad the previous entry before this. No particular reason, just in chronological order...

Just to share one incident of culture shock. I touched down on Saturday, woke up on Sunday after a good night's rest. Right, time to get lunch. So we took the rail to downtown. It's more like ghost town. Only road sweepers and a few scattered people on the streets. Isn't it weekend? But all restaurants, shops and shopping centers are CLOSED!!!!! AFter walking around for awhile, we finally found Macs and Subway. And they close at 4pm so I'm going like, What about dinner?!!! So we located a convenience store and I bought canned soup and instant noodles. Nilian's got all sorts of foodstuff from home so she's fine. We just bought cookies for breakfast. I felt so depressed! It's like my whole life has been surrounded like shopping malls and suddenly they're taken away from me! Felt like crying... I think I have an unhealthy dependence on malls. So we went back to our hotel room and watched TV. They were showing the entire season of Law&Order: SVU so we just watched episode after episode. There was also Cold CAse and Without a TRace. Then took a nap and woke up in the evening for dinner... At least there's good TV shows to watch...

But anyway, now that we're settled in our new apartment, everything's much better! There's CSI, Grey's Anatomy and many other nice shows. Of course, there's Raw on Monday Nights at 8pm!!!! Woohoo! Looks exciting... Finally, it's not at an unearthly hour...

Crystal, the facility manager at Baylor, took us out to the Greek Festival today... She's this really nice, friendly and fiesty Mexican gal that have just taken such good care of us while we're here... And the food at Greek Festival is wonderful!!!! Kebabs, sweets, salads, ice-cream, wine... There's everything! Even souvenirs and groceries from Greece. And it was so darn hot... but hey, I didn't perspire cos the humidity is so low. Just feels like being oven-baked.

What I have eaten:
Souvlaki-tenderloin cubes w/onions grilled over burning coal
Dolmades-Five grape leaves stuffed with ground beef and rice. Slightly sour, very delicious!
Loikomades-deep fried donuts coated with honey and icing sugar
Ice cream with baklava shavings (taste like pastry crips coated with honey, I guess)
Spanakopita-spinach and cheese puff pastry (Going to eat it soon. Had to dapao cos I'm too full!)

Also tried a bit of Greek Salad w/feta cheese from Nilian. Didn't quite like the feta. Guess I'll just rot at home for the rest of today...

Houston, we've got a problem.

2006-10-07T18:13:00.000-05:00

AS you can see, I really can't be bothered to update my blog. Don't think I want to talk about my Taiwan trip anymore cos it's just so tiring to write about it. I've got lots to say but sometimes, it's just hard to express all my emotions and what I've seen that I find it tiring to write a travelouge. I just want to give everyone an accurate picture of what the place is like so it can get pretty stressful. Yah, cos my English isn't exactly that good.

Ok, so now that I'm in Houston, I should have more free time on hand. Yep, I'm here for training as most of you would have known. And I'll be in this vast expanse of land for 6 months! I want to put up some pictures but I forgot how it's done cos I haven't written anything in months... So too bad.

I'm living and working in a very happening place in Houston and that is the Texas Medical Center. Yes, it's really big with lots of high rise buildings. All sorts of hospitals and research institutes here. And the hospitals look like hotels. Ya, you know, like Raffles Hospital and Camden Medical Center back in Singapore. There's Texas Children's hospital (the larest pediatric hospital in US), MD Anderson (best cancer research and treatment center), Baylor College of Medcine (where I am at) and many more. I think it's about as big as Orchard Road.

Land is abundant and cheap I guess. And everyone gets around by private transport. I just got to deal with the limited bus and rail service. How limited is limited? The rail is about 10 stops and goes along one straight line. REally stressful getting around in the first few days. But we've kinda figured things out so it's not so bad now.

Green Island--Part 3

2006-07-20T08:37:00.000-05:00

Finally, we've reached the last day on Green Island. We woke up at 3am and went to the saltwater hot spring. There's only three such hot springs in the world so we definitely had to go! Well, you may ask, Why 3am? Crazy ah! Cos it's summer and sunrise is at 4am!!! Anyway, so we got there and i really did enjoy the hot spring. There were so many stars in the night sky! Really beautiful... By the way, we're not the only crazy ones. There were many others there for the sunrise as well... Alas, when the sun came out, it was blocked by clouds. Geeze! What a letdown! But it's alright, the coastal view was beautiful enough for me to disregard the slight disappointment =)

We had to try the hai cao bing (literally meaning sea grass ice) before we leave so we ordered two bowls among the three of us. Hmmm... it's just ice decorated with pudding, jelly and sea grass. The sea grass looks like green moss and taste quite bland. It's not pungent like seaweed, just has a very light sea taste to it. We bought home some sea grass flavoured mochi too. Something special instead of the usual fillings.

So me and Nilian parted ways with Jean, our companion, and left for Kaoshiung while she went back to Taipei. By the time we got to Kaoshiung, it was about 9pm. We checked into this government affiliated hotel (or hero house, as they call it. Dunno why, sounds funny) and walked around the supposedly very happening Love River. Well, I think Clarke Quay and Boat Quay is more happening... The place looks quite dead! The reason that it was a weekday. Great...

Green Island--Part 2

2006-07-20T08:19:00.000-05:00

Rise and shine! Day 2 on Green Island! We started the day with snorkelling on the beach. Hmmm... First time wearing a wetsuit! Ok lah, it's quite comfy =) To prevent our goggles from fogging up, the guide crushed some leaves from a creeper plant growing nearby and coated the eye shield with its sap. It really worked! No fogging for the entire snorkelling trip! Wow!

To snorkel, I had to breath in and out through my mouth only and it was pretty difficult in the beginning! Cos if I attemptted to breathe through my nose, water will get in and I'll choke. At first, I felt rather panicky and often got water into my nose but after a while, it got easier. The view beneath wasn't breathtaking but it was beautiful enough to be enchanting. It's really like swimming through an aquarium with all those colourful Nemo-like tropical fishes and corals below. When we tossesd bread pieces, the fishes will swim to us and gobble them up. Really fun! Time passed quickly and before we know it, it's time to go... Hope to go snorkelling again next time!

Thereafter, we drove around the island and visited the various sights. Most memorable was the rock formation that resembled sleeping beauty and er... her dog =) The viewwas fantastic! I just love natural coastal scenery...

At night, we went around the island on a guided tour to see wild deers and insects. It really depends on your luck. We saw only two or three wild deers that night. The insect of interest (I for got its name) resembles a grasshopper, only more slender. And it gives off a sweet minty smell. There is absolutely no street lights as we moved around at night. It was total darkness! But we managed to get around with strong headlights and reflective markings on the ground! Ya, so that was it. That's our night tour.

Green Island--Part 1

2006-07-20T07:59:00.000-05:00

So, it's been one week already... Almost halfway into my holiday trip. Today, we packed our bags and left Ruisui for Taitung. Following that, we booked a 3 day 2 night tour to Green Island and took a ferry there... The sea was pretty choppy but it was great just standing on the deck and feeling the strong breeze on your face. With the ferry bobbing up and down with the waves, it did feel a lot like a roller coaster ride! And yes, my hair was in a mess after that!!! After checking in into our room, we more or less just lazed around for the day.

We had hot pot soup stew for dinner. Nothing fantastic and quite expensive. Oh well, what can we say? It's a tourist destination =) After dinner, we walked into a souvenir shop and really got stuck there for a long long time! The gifts were just fantastic! Very colourful and artistic. I just can't help but buy and buy and buy!!!! Arghhhh!!!!! After that, we didn't dare go into other souvenir shops anymore... On Green Island, every other shop sells souvenirs, local delicacies or offer scuba diving.

The island is pretty small if you can get around by car or motorcycle. But since I can't ride a bicycle, we got to rent a car to get around...

More updates of my trip... 5th and 6th Day

2006-07-15T09:04:00.000-05:00

Hmmm... Let's see, so what have we been doing here? After resting in Hualien for 2 days and waiting for the typhoon that never really came, we went to Hualien Ocean Park, now known as Farglory Ocean Park. Privatised already I guess. WEather was fine, cloudy with occassional rain. Well, it's a really small park, not many rides, very few people (which is a bad and good thing). Although we don't really have to wait for our rides, the whole place feels quite dead without the crowds. Maybe people are not coming cos of typhoon warning. Some rides are also under maintenance... But the pirate ship was pretty good. Almost 90 degrees from the ground at the highest point!!! I can literally feel my butt lift off the seat momentarily. Ahhh!!!! So scary!!!

Ok, maybe i should say something good abt the park. The aquarium is informative and interesting. Dolphin and sea lion performances are pretty fun. There's also a water ballet performance together with an introduction to the dugong. It's called the Mermaid show. Quite good! Actually, there should be street performances and floats procession but maybe it's weekday and not many people so they didn't have it... Hmmm... Maybe kids will like it better. Still prefer Seaworld, Movieworld and Dreamworld at Gold Coast. But maybe can try Genting... Cheaper and nearer. Seems like their service have improved... =)

So after Ocean Park, we took a really early train to Ruisui, a town slightly further away from Hualien. Went water rafting. The scenery was very good... Lush green mountain ranges and floating clouds... Really scenic... There were abt 100 ppl (mostly tourists from other cities in Taiwan) and they were really playful. Maybe we seemed a bit too serious. They were more interested in splashing water at other boats and grabbing 'hostages' (paddles or ppl!!!) than rowing. Hmmm... Got a bit irritated at first, then i thought, Hey! maybe we should be a bit more sporting and play lah... You know, we're like the only ones who were trying to coordinate the rowing, going 'One! Two! One! Two!' but no one really care... Duh! And we tend to be quiet and concentrate on what we're doing, giving instructions when stuck on the rocks... But it's ok, when we're stuck, the speedboats (rubber boats) will come and give us a push...

Maybe Taiwanese are just more friendly and laid back. Everyone is like Zeli and Jo!!! We're more performance oriented. The driver who drove us to and fro the rafting area was really friendly. He has his own tour business, eatery and teahouse and we really enjoyed his company. Bought some tea from him and ate his specialty dish Green Tea Meat Dumplings. Deep fried but not oily. Tastes a bit like soon kueh. Needs a bit getting used to.

Greetings from Taiwan

2006-07-13T06:54:00.000-05:00

Hello hello! It's been a very tiring 3 days in Taiwan so far... Lots of travelling and walking... Oh well, that's what budget travelling is all about isn't it? Nope, haven't been to any shopping malls yet. Right now, we're stuck in Hualien cos of the impending typhoon. Then again, the weather's pretty good, only slight rain and occasional gusts of strong wind. Quite disappointing actually cos we were expecting stronger wind and rain. You know, like cars flipping, trees toppling and stuff like that so we can capture it on camera...

Anyway, we touched down in Taipei on Monday, got to know a fellow traveller from Singapore and now she's travelling with us. Went to Shilin Night Market on the first night, had beef and squid teppanyaki. WEll, they used lots of oil and butter for teppanyaki, even for the vege!! Urgh! But the shaved ice with fruits was great! Smoothest ice shavings i've ever eaten. Texture was close to that of ice cream! Yum! Everything else was deep fried and deep fried and deep fried. Urgh!

2nd day, we went to Yehliu and Keelung. Lots of pretty rock formation at Yehliu. Mushrooms, ginger, beancurd, Queen's head, Fairy's slippers are some of their names, and yes, they do look like that! But it was SO SO SO HOT!!!! Never wanted aircon so much in my life!!! But I'm glad the sunblock and umbrella worked. I'm not sunburned!!! And I'm glad i wore shoes... Next up, we went to Keelung. Ok, not bad, night market like Shilin. Ate crab stew (real crab!) and 'you fan' of butter rice. Great, another oily meal. We also went to fairy cave at Keelung. It's a limestone cave with very very narrow passageway. Got to walk side ways and bend down to get to the other end of the cave. Felt rather claustrophobic!!!

3rd day, woke up at 530am to get ready for train to Hualien. Had mantou and soyabean milk. Very Nice. Thereafter, we went to Taroko national park via hired cab. The 'pek pek' (or uncle in local language) was very nice, chatted with us and introduced the sights along the way. Well, my dear partner wasn't very happy at the end as she didn't get to walk any of the trails. Only travelled along the road and took pictures. Well, why so rush? Cos we hear reports of typhoon on the news and would like to see marble rock formations before it gets destroyed by the typhoon... Well, actually i'm quite glad we didn't do the trail. Don't think I can take it. Cos it's been quite tiring from all the travelling. Oh, the food in Hualien is not bad. Ate this stew meat rice which I think is the best meal so far! Cos it's delicious and NOT oily. Haha...

4th day, still in Hualien cos typhoon suppose to hit today. But it's still sunny weather until evening. WEnt to the beach to see the waves crashing on rocks but well, waves not very high. I think the waves we see in Jeju are angrier... Today is the designated rest day because of typhoon so the town's pretty dead. And movies are expensive. Maybe about $12 and I thought it was expensive in Singapore!

There's only 2 things on Taiwan's news. The first family's prince consort (Ah Bian's son-in-law)and typhoon. Nothing else. Macs is relatively cheaper. Only $2 for fish burger and they got more deserts. Maybe will eat that another day.

Until next time... Enoy!

Movie movie on the screen...

2006-02-12T06:33:00.000-06:00

I watched The Constant Garderner on thursday. The movie's pretty 'constant', not much action. Perhaps I'm one of those who cannot appreciate arty-arty films. Prefer something with a bit more adrenaline. Somthing that moves a bit faster and people who speak a bit clearer (maybe I just need subtitles. Duh!)

Well, Fearless was nice. Packed with lotsa punches, kicks and breaking bones. But uh oh... the story's not very close to actual events. From historical texts on the Net (ok, I'm not sure if they're really accurate), I have gathered the following inconsistencies:

(1) The movie tends to romaticise the relations between Japan and China by making Huo and the Jap contender get along like best friends... In actual fact, I think the Japanese contenders (not just one) were pretty sore with Huo's superior skills.

(2) Nobody poisoned him on the spot. He won despite the odds of many against one. Huo was poisoned later when he sought treatment for a cough at a Jap hospital.

(3) Huo didn't fight O'Briens, that big guy who looked like he just walked out of WWE. Apparently, O'Briens didn't think he could win Huo and so didn't turn up for the fight...

Oh well... If they had kept to the original history, it won't be so exciting, eh? Not many movies I'd like to watch lately. With the prices of tickets pushing $10 on weekends, I'm really really reluctant to watch any movie unless it's really attractive.

The blues, the blues, the blues...

2006-02-06T02:36:00.000-06:00

Oh well... What a sucky day. Didn't do well for my presentation. Just can't seem to get it right. Speak too fast, disjointed in between slides, not critical enough of the data, blah blah blah... Yeah... I really really didn't know what to say about the data. Just believed what was reported. Sianz... Maybe I need more practice. Well, at least there's nothing much for me to do now. Finally got down to using the com and chatting on MSN =) And of course, free enough to blog.

I think cell culture will be quite intensive. Got to grow more CHO cells. Yup. Better enjoy now cos I dun think there's going to be any more coffee breaks... Tsk tsk... Finally, a Reality Check. Time to get back to the real world.

I just want a MOS burger

2006-02-01T00:10:00.000-06:00

I've been saying that I want a MOS burger for days. I need it. I need it. I need it. I want my MOS burger!!!! Wonder if the scallop + asparagus burger is just as nice as the Kakiage burger... Mac's rice burger is -10 on my gastronomical scale for its dripping oil and over-fried taste. Nothing close to the refined subtleness of MOS rice patties. While Mac's rice burger chicken filling is just plain deep fried, MOS' seafood counterpart is deliciously light and flavourful. Great. I'm making myself crave for it more.

Yes, I just want to eat a MOS burger.

Whipping up a dust storm

2006-01-23T07:30:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling obliged to say something in order to keep this blog alive. It's mighty dusty here, isn't it? Guess it's just not me to tell the whole world what's going on in my life. Well, maybe it's just that this blog's lacking a direction... Alright, let's just quit thinking for a moment... I've been torching too many of my brain cells lately.

My presentation's finally over! Time to enjoy Chinese New Year in peace. Have become a lab rat recently. Too much cloning, transforming, transfecting. But hey, E.coli can be pretty hardy. Easy to grow and feeds on cheap food. Silly CHO cells need better food but still get contaminated and die easily. But then again, it could just be us. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

Labwork can be quite fun actually.

Finally, Back to Earth

2005-11-26T03:49:00.000-06:00

Yes... No more updates about my Thailand trip... I'm finally back on Earth.

Yup, I've put on a new blogskin lately and managed to get the music up and running. I'm not really a fan of Final Fantasy but I just think the graphics are fantastic. One of the best. Story wise, haven't have time to find out about it. Seems pretty complicated... I like this blogskin a lot... Very simple, very elagant.

Today was St Andrew's Family Day. Signed up for touch rugby. My my, what a tiring game it is! Defys all logic... Got to pass the ball backwards. Took quite some time to get used to it. And it was run, stop, run, stop, run, stop, etc... More tiring than netball or captain's ball when all you have to do is run and throw the ball forward. Lots of strategizing involved but what the heck, we just tried to ram our way through. Didn't score any touchdowns but we were damn good at defense. Ok, maybe not that good. Just consoling ourselves.

Then it started to rain. Very heavily. But the refree told us to continue playing. I guess they're really pro! I dun mind getting wet but I just can't stand soggy shoes! Wasn't in the mood to run after that. Just let one of the girls run past me. Felt so lazy to chase her cos I didn't want to fall in the mud. Selfish me right? I just brought the whole team down. Oh well. But we were supposed to let them win so they can get into semi-finals since they have more chance than us =) Haha... All in all, a pretty enjoyable day!

Shedding benito flakes

2005-11-21T21:21:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm really too lazy to continue describing my journey in Chiang Mai. Perhaps just a a short summary. Went for one-day trek consisting of jungle trek, elephant ride, white water rafting and visiting of Hill Tribe village. Almost died suring the jungle trek as the ground was slippery and steep and my sandles were rubbish quality. Maybe I'm just deluded into thinking that I'm very fit. The group was quite fun though. Miriam and Julia, the mountain gals from a small contry in the Alps (can't remember the name). Tik and A (I dun know how to spell but it's really pronounced like the letter 'A'), uni students from Bangkok. Really wierd to see native Thais joining such a tourist-like trek. The cosmopolitan Iskandar who has worked in South Africa and Australia and his friend Dan, the seasoned backpacker. Surprise surprise!!! Both are Singaporeans! Anyway, white water rafting was the best but I didn't get to paddle cos I just can't be bothered to switch places with Miriam or Is. Ya, I was just sanwiched in the middle for the whole time.

Phew! Finally got to do some shopping on the last day! Tada! So now I'm back, and my skin's shedding like there's no tomorrow... Not necessarily a bad thing I hope. Yup, the shedded sun-burned skin looks like benito flakes. Yup, the dancing flakes found on top of tako pochi balls.. Never ventured to taste it though... =P

Day SEVEN @ Chiang Mai

2005-11-08T02:54:00.000-06:00

Yawn!!! It's 7am and most people are stirring from their restful sleep... Beds are folded up and breakfast is served for those who wish to have them. We decided to just eat at our guesthouse as the in-train menu seems pretty expensive (by thailand's standard...) Yup! We hopped onto a tuk tuk and came to Julie's! Put down our bags, took a shower and had an early lunch at the guesthouse. I had phad thai again but it kinda sucks... Tastes quite westernized (got tomato sauce) and not like those which i eat on the streets

We went to NL's massage school and I tried thai massage (1.5hrs) for the first time. Quite comfy! Although it seems like they're trying to contort your body, it's actually not too uncomfortable. Just a good stretch! Very relaxing, can put you to sleep. But perhaps it'll be a good idea not to go on a full stomach. NL tried their foot massage and decided to take up the course which runs over the weekend.

Visited more Wats in Chiang Mai City... Very gold and very elaborately decorated. Some have murals depicting battles and the life of Buddha. There was one which was made entirely of teak. A point to note: stray dogs were everywhere! However, these strays were far from dirty, scraggy and hungry. In fact, they all looked very healthy! Most dogs are large and have a very beautiful coat of hair... Seems like the locals really do take good care of them... I don't see many cats though, perhaps just one or two and they were quite afraid of humans, unlike the dogs... Hmmm... wonder why? Never see cat meat on any menu what... Anyway, we wanted to visit some museums but they were all quite out of the way...

We walked along the streets and stopped at a cafe (finally! modern civilization!) for coffee. It's called Black Canyon Coffee and kinda resembles Coffee Club in S'pore. I ordered a frappachino sort of drink and almost died of sugar overload. NL tried iced green tea with milk. Not bad but also loaded with an equally fatal amount of sugar...

After that, we went to the Night Bazaar. It's shoppers' paradise! Though not as cheap as you can get at Chatuchak Market (Bangkok), it's kinda alright... Yeah... Lots of ethnic stuff, clothing, accesories and art houses. Mainly for tourists, i guess. But i can see that NL is not really in the mood for shopping... Just walked on and on and on...

Day Six @ Ayuttaya

2005-11-05T08:38:00.000-06:00

Day Six! Still at Ayuttaya but we went to their museums instead. Got to know quite a bit of the history behind Ayuttaya. It used to be an important city in the past. Very cosmopolitan, and many different people came, traded and exchanged cultures. Chinese, Jap, Portugese, French, etc etc. There was an exhibition about most of the town's attractions at the tourist authority of thailand (TAT), very well done indeed! Should have went there to find out about the attractions first before walking around. Nice weather today, no sun! Gee, there is actually a day where i looked forward to a cloudy day... U can imagine how hot it has been for the past few days...

Started to rain all of a sudden and we just went back to Tony's. Chilled out for a few hours before taking the train. NL read her book (LOTR) and i just read the Lonely Planet Guidebook... Actually the overnight train is quite fun, collapsible double decker bunks on both side of the train cabin. Walking space was a bit cramped due to all the backpacks but the bed was quite comfy... And the rocking motion of the train just puts u to sleep...

Day 5 @ Ayuttaya

2005-11-04T08:54:00.000-06:00

Oh man... I'm glad we left that ghostly building early in the morning... Happily sat on the train and went on our way. Halfway, the police (yes, they have train police) came to check our tickets and told us we bought a standing ticket. What!!! So we gave our seats to an old lady and her grandchild... Geeze... Lucily we only had to stand for about 45min... Checked in at Tony's guesthouse. Nice place, better than Apple =) Friendly staff too...

Went around, looked at various temple ruins and got to know some of their history... Super hot! No cloud cover. Don't care. I used my umbrella even though i looked a bit silly. All street signs were in thai. Not very tourist friendly... But we get by, with NL's beginner thai and thai looks.. And everyone thinks i'm jap or korean. Konichiwa! Annyung Haseyo! are some greetings i get. The locals will just blabber to NL directly in thai and she'll be like Huh?!!! No. 1 thai phrase she has to know is I'm not Thai... Heee...

Dinner at Macs was not bad. They had this black pepper pork burger which was very tender and very nice. The fries taste funny though.. Oh and they had many different types of sundaes n mcflurry. Some with jelly... We tried berry oreo mcflurry. Sugar overload... (*o*)

Day 4 on River Kwai

2005-11-04T08:44:00.000-06:00

Yup! it's the kayaking trip. Happily put on sunblock and went to kayak. Haha... I guess i kinda overestimated my self. 4 hours kayaking under the merciless sun (and the guide told us it was abt 3 hours. Perhaps we kayak too slowly...) My arms were aching and the sun provided no relief. My goodness! What was i thinking of...? Anyway, when i came back, i realised i had serious serious sunburn. My legs were like half cooked with funny patterns cos i didn't apply sunblock evenly (again!!!!). My face was a bit burned too. Looked like i put blusher across my nose and cheeks...

Anyway, we took a train back to Bangkok (3hours!!!) and stayed at one of the lousiest guesthouse ever. Cos it was near the train station (early train the next morning...) You know what it looks like? Good enough for a chinese ghost story aet in the 1930s. Yup, even NL had reached her tolerance limits. So why did we stay there? Good question. Oh and i finally had a MOST EMBARRESSING MOMENT of my life. You can ask me about it when i get home...

Day 3 @ Erawan

2005-11-04T08:32:00.000-06:00

Today's the day for trekking at Erawan National Park. Hopped onto a bus at the interchange and went happily on our way there. En route, the bus broke down. First, the driver tried to rectify the problem. Didn't work so he drove to a mechanics shop and got it fixed. Well, kind of waited for about 45min before we could continue our journey. Anyway, reached there and started to explore the place... My gosh, i think i spent more time trying to catch up with my dear friend (NL) than enjoying the scenery. Such treks are chicken feet to her, i see. Quite siong actually, much more difficult than Bk Timah (of course, what the heck was i thinking of...) We had to walk across running water several times to get to the variouys waterfalls (7 levels in all) At the last level, i didn't want to climb anymore as i'm just too tired from chasing NL so she went ahead on her own. But she came back and told me the view was worth it so i just went ahead anyway. I've never ever touched so many plants and gotten my hands and feet mudied so thoroughly before!!! Well, some nooks and crevices were just impossible to walk over. Got to climb them... The locals however, could trek over easily even when they're in slippers! So agile!!! Oh yes, the view of the last waterfall was great! Many people were swimming in the pool as well...

On my way back, i slipped and fell, knocked my head and went into a coma. Yeah right. Just kidding. Only scratched my arm a bit. I know i was just an accident waiting to happen. Mylegs were wobbly (too tired) and the rocks were slippery (so are my sandles)

Day TWO @ Kanchanaburi

2005-11-04T08:18:00.000-06:00

Morning! Woke up, packed up and left Khao San. Walked a bit, took a ferry across the river, hopped onto a swangteaw (public transport in the form of a truck) and came to the train station. Bought some mini youtiao, toasted banana and soya milk from the market. The soya milk actually came with various condiments. Can choose from red bean, pearl, etc. Just like bubble tea... Zoom! 3hrs later, we reached Kanchanaburi! Stayed at a guesthouse called Apple. Visited the Death Railway Museum, WWII cemetry and saw a small section of the Death Railway. Bought one young coconut and one large pomelo along the way (it sucks!!! Worst pomelo i've ever eaten, so hard and dry and not sweet) Come to think of it, It's really sad, once you know the history behind the railway. I mean... it's all book knowledge to us but imagine all those atrocities actually suffered by those POWs. Most died in their prime, as observed from the cemetry. Youngest was 18, oldest was just a bit over 40.

Well, we walked a bit around the town (quite sleepy in the afternoon, mostly auto shops) and booked a kayak trip 2 days later. Went back to Apple and ate at a nearby market. Had Phad Thai again! And there was this thing that looks like chee cheong fun wrapped with sweet chai poh. And bread that looks too much like hotdogs (that's why i bought it in the first place...) Later that night, we sat down at another guesthouse and chilled out for the night...

Day ONE at Khao San

2005-11-02T07:25:00.000-06:00

Hello people! Time to update my blog... Yup, finally found a place where there's cheap internet... And I've been in Thailand for a couple of days now... Too bad, couldn't blog everyday so just have to backtrack.

Day One. Got out of the airport, waited for a whopping 55min to clear immigration! Argh!!! After that, hopped onto an airport shuttle and came to Khao San, the backpacker's ghetto as they call it. Yup! Lot's of guesthouses and eating places. Something like a more happening Holland Village. Everyone looks suspiciously like Jap. Otherwise, that place is choke full of angmohs... We checked in to Nat's guesthouse (spartan!!! No hot water, not even a mirror), lazed around and went out for dinner. My favourite? Phad Thai (Lots of vege with noodles)!!! Just so delicious... Oh and there were plenty of fruits too. Esp love the young coconut. Great juice (and everything's so cheap)! So happening at night! There was the Asahi Band Competition so it was loud trashy techno music all night long. And yes, our guesthouse is just along the main street where the action is... (*_*)

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

2005-10-28T22:46:00.000-05:00

Yo everybody, I'm at the airport waiting to board the plane now... Wow, first time on my own, it feels pretty exhilirating! Yeah.. A bit unsure sometimes, but it breeds independence and hardiness I guess. And i like this sense of advanture... Anyway, the timer's ticking away at the free internet koisk (only 15min...)

Going off! Bon Voyage!

Random thoughts

2005-10-19T09:54:00.000-05:00

One day, I asked Gladys if she's interested in a particular seminar which talks about the medical advancement using stem cells. She answered:" What's so interesting about stem cells? Don't they just come from plants? You know, 'stem' cells?" Sigh... What more can I say.

On another occasion, I asked if she feels a sense of nostalgia upon hearing a particular song which was quite popular in our younger days. She replied:" Why? I don't feel like I want to vomit leh..." Nostalgia, Gladys, not nausea... I just find her very amusing sometimes... Her English isn't bad. I guess she's just... confused.

Yup, long time since I blogged. Too lazy... Perhaps I should read more so as to be able to comment more. Les Miserables is collecting dust at my office. I guess I should just bring it home. Higher chances of me reading it... Okie, short post for a start. Hopefully it'll get my momentum going...

Napoleon's demise and the Battle at Waterloo

2005-08-01T08:58:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm a bit more occupied in the lab, I haven't got much time to catch up on Les Miserables. Well, now that Fantine is dead and Jean Valjean is (once again) on the run... the book goes off to comment rather extensively on Napoleon's downfall... I wonder if it has anything to do with later chapters cos it seems like a history text more than anything else. However, for someone who knows nuts about French history or the names of their generals and strategic places, this book is still pretty engaging and interesting. The descriptions of people, places and the battle were exceptionally good. I would never have picked up this book to read if not for the abject boredom I was experiencing two weeks ago. Now, I'm actually excited about the book!

Things I never knew about Napoleon...

The pivotal point which brought about his defeat was the Battle at Waterloo. Had it not rained the night before, he would be able to start the battle earlier and won. The Prussians would not have arrived on time and tipped the scales to the advantage of the English. Had his guide informed him correctly that there were obstacles where the English could have troops hidden, Napoleon would not have sent his men to their graves. All in all, a military genius was brought down by 'the hand of God', so the author says.

Both sides were thorougly exhausted, all troops were in (show hand!!!) yet neither showed signs of giving up. Victory only hinges on he who perseveres one moment more... At this time, Ney (I assume it was one of Napoleon's general) asked Napoleon for more troops "and Napoleon was exclaiming: 'Where does he think I can get any? Does he expect me to manufacture them?' "

Signs of desperation...

Ok, now for some light-hearted entertainment, lame game as introduced by Gladys... They can be pretty addictive!

Dun let the 'cursor-catcher' grab your cursor! Easier said than done when he has so many lame zhao
http://pya.cc/pyaimg/pimg.php?imgid=14192

Nanaca Crash! Super kawaii but lame Jap animation! Crash into the guy and send him flying as far as possible
http://www.puppyrush.net/kp/nanaca-crash_v106.swf

Try your skills at parallel parking! Think I'm a goner... 1 min 36s to park a car and I knocked into the cars and curb three times...
http://bbs.carcn.net/bbs/non-cgi/usr/1/1_6020.swf

A Morning in Norkia

2005-07-24T07:41:00.000-05:00

Just an afterthought.. I've put up a new song from Last Exile OST 1...

It's called A Morning in Norkia

Beautiful, isn't it?

Lovely day...

2005-07-23T01:13:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone... It's been some time since I've updated my blog! Cos I'm just too tired. Work is boring and meaningless (so far) cos I've done nothing as yet. Yup! You heard me. I've done NOTHING as yet. So far, I've been taking naps and reading story books while waiting for my stuff to arrive =) It's really tiring not doing anything at all... Maybe to some people, it's bliss. But to me, I'm really tired of it...

But I must day, Les Miserables is a very nice book. Not hard to read at all for a classic! Though it may look intimidating (the book's really thick and the words are quite small) it's actually very interesting. Of course, knowledge of French history is an advantage cos there are many references to the French Revolution, Restoration, etc etc... They are the reasons why people behave in a certain way... It's a tragedy. Nothing good ever happened in the 200 pages I've read so far. It just gets more and more appalling, how people treat one another.

Highlight of the week:

I'VE FINALLY RECEIVED MY LAST EXILE'S CD!!!!! HOORAY!!!!

Cost me abt $40 sing dollars for the 2 OST... Sigh... Made in Taiwan, not the original Made in Japan one... But never mind, it's just as nice... The music is really good!!!! OST 1 starts off chirppy then became more military style towards the end. OST 2 sounds really breezy and comfy... Just like being in an impressionist painting. It' s like standing on a grassland, feeling the warm sunshine and cool wind on your face. Nothing but picture-perfect scenery =) Also contains tracks of military grandeur towards the end

One of these days, I'm going to get Aerial Log. If I have the money, I'll get Spheres 1 and 2. The illustrations by Range Murata are simply amazing! Really really beautiful... And someday, I'll visit Comitek in Japan. Exciting times ahead...

I must say that I'm pretty much against Dio x Luciola yaoi stories. Dio may be a bit effeminate but I always believe that Luciola's just his best friend. Nothing more. Since I'm in a good mood today, I've decided to put up more pics from Last exile! Dio, Luciola and a very pretty pic of Alvis...

what's playing on my CD?

2005-07-10T03:54:00.000-05:00

Really, I really like songs by 信乐团. Though I may not fully appreciate the guitars and drums, I like the overall feel of their songs... It rocks but not too loud. At least I can still make out the lyrics without external help =) Although mostly rock ballads, there are also some songs about friendship, so it's really not your typical soapy, I-can't-live-now-that-you're-gone type of album, which is so perversely popular in Chinese music industry... They also don't sing the karaoke-freindly 3-3-7 beat songs, which I guess makes their songs special!

I'm also really attracted to the voice of the band... You can literally feel the emotion and passion permeating through when he sings. It's sad, yet not overtly melancholic. It's strong, but not overpowering. It's controlled yet raw and passionate. Aiyah... I'm not making sense right? Anyway I just like them very much.

Two songs which really left an impression, 挑性 and 离歌. Very melancholic. Of course, there's also the very high-energy 天亮以后说分手. A very masculine song, the theme being 'guys have feelings too'. 死了都要爱 is also very good. I guess these songs are not something anyone will dedicate over the radio to their loved ones. Kind of too dark and deathly. Totally opposite of 老鼠爱大米! Anyway, that song is really an overkill...

Well, I've graduated. Just glad to have the day off =) Not much thoughts abt the ceremony. It's just a... ceremony. Glad to have my cert, though

The slacko researcher

2005-07-04T07:53:00.000-05:00

I've finally started work! Hooray!!! Gone are the days of crippling boredom and dreadfully slow afternoons... At least now I'll have something to occupy my mind. BUT, as I'm beginning to realize, there isn't much for me to do at the moment so I'm literally just waiting for time to pass and trying to act busy. It's really hard to research without a PC. Well, I can read the journals but it gets a bit dry when most of the terms are Greek to me... Looking forward to more hands-on work next week... Oh well, at least the labs are clean (very very important!!!) and the people are friendly =)

I'm just not going to update my blog as regularly as before as it's really hard to write creatively on a regular basis... I'm lacking on the ling gan... Yupz... guess all my energy will be geared towards getting sugars to stick to gold (Erm... that's a really simplified way of looking at my research) Just one more piece of inconsequential infomation: The current music playing in the background is Fukaimori, by Do As Infinity, taken from Inuyasha!!!

Buried in books (Part 2)

2005-06-22T07:14:00.000-05:00

I think I quite like the wisdom tooth extraction surgery. Couldn't really chew for the first 3 days and so stops me from unnecessary eating. But now that my mouth isn't so swollen, I'm beginning to snack again... Urgh!!! Pull me away! Lock the fridge! Although I generally feel healtier not snacking during late night TV shows, I just can't help it now! Help me!

Ok, shall I tell you about the other book which I read? It's Final Diagnosis by Bary Birken, 2001. I'm a sucker for medical thriller mysteries... It's actually quite similar to all the Robin Cook books which I read... Rouge researchers, human guinea pigs, serial killers. They can all be found in hospitals. In Final Diagnosis, the action takes place in a private hospital specializing in fetal surgery. As the chance of going into premature labour is very high (approx 50% even with current drugs), the research team at the hospital has came up with a new drug to prevent it. It worked wonders and almost 100% of all patients who received it did not go into premature labour. However, as some curious reporter scratches the surface, cracks appear... Spoiler ahead! Teratogenic agents! By this time, the plot becomes quite obvious right?

This book is less technical than most Robin Cook's books and I guess it's just ok... There're more exciting medical thrillers out there but for those who enjoy a direct, uncomplicated book, here's one for you!

I kind of like murder mystry as well and I think The Straw Men is a very interesting book. It tells of a group of people who, in my opinion, are out of their mind and need psychiatric help and probably should be locked away in a prison. But they're educated, rich and has all the right connections. Hardly the kind of people you'll suspect to be guilty of ritualistic killings. It's one of the rare books that doesn't have a happy ending. There's also a sequel to it which I haven't read. It's called The Upright Men. Both books by Michael Marshell.

Tell you more next time =) Goodnight! I'm actually just talking to myself right?

Buried in books (Part 1)

2005-06-22T04:40:00.000-05:00

Guess what's in the background??? The inexplicably crappy Da S and Xiao S trying to pronounce 'Back-street Boys'... Yup, it's my sis' daily dose of entertainment news... Sometimes, overdoing it (act cute) can be quite draining.

Borowed four books and finished reading two so far. Actually kind of realized that there are certain genres of books which I always borrow, even though the stories are beginning to sound similar... But I enjoy them nevertheless =)

Virus, written by Molly Brown in 1994 talks about organic computers (that's when you fuse brain cells and electronic circuits together). At 248 pages, I would consider it a short story and a pretty enjoyable one, to say the least. Nothing too complicated and quite predictable actually. I like hacker stories but I like organic computers and AIs better. They have a really sinister air about them, always trying to eradicate humanity... And they're certainly smart enough to do so, just too arrogant... Anyway, it might just happen in future (I mean AIs, not takeover bid of humanity). I've seen research papers about merging brain cells and electronic circuits, so the book is no surprise. Of course, it was written in 1994 .

Actually I feel Nymphomation by Jeff Noon is something similar (computer programs coming alive) but more dreamy, imaginative and most unlikely to happen. He also wrote Automated Alice, a kind of technological twist to the orginal Alice in Wonderland. And Pollen focuses on virtual reality, which he claims is the reality in the future. Guess what? Virtual characters, which are personas of real people, try to take over the material world. In a nutshell, his works are wierd, really wierd. Out of the ordinary and I'm not too sure if he's trying to bring a deeper message across, or if the metaphors mean something. Know something, you should really read his books. Oops! I seem to be digressing too much... Never mind, talk next time

Battlefield Oral Cavity

2005-06-18T05:16:00.000-05:00

Ok, so Battlefield Oral Cavity doesn't make much sense... But you could most probably guess that I've finally removed my two wisdom teeth. Hiaz... A long wait, it has been. Actually the procedure was pretty painless even with all the cutting and drilling. Thank God! Actually
I think I've got quite a high threshold for pain. It's just the anticipation of pain that unnerves me... Was initially worried that it might be painful cos I didn't opt for sedation( it was so expensive! $400 for one hour, just for the services of an anesthetist). In the end, all went well. The chatty surgeon put me at ease and I tried my best to breathe through my nose, which was next to impossible... Found out during the procedure that my left wisdom tooth was lying transverse instead of upright. Interesting... just like my sis who got an extra tooth growing upwards in the upper jaw. Tsk Tsk... Totally no sense of direction... In that case, he got to crack my tooth into several pieces before removing it. Doesn't hurt but sounds threateningly painful. Drill...... then CRACK!!! Too bad I can't piece them together cos some of the fragments are so small, they got thrown away...

Extracting the right one was quite uneventful. For the whole time, I didn't know when he was removing the tooth or stitching the skin together cos my eyes were covered with blue disposable paper. Better that way, I guess. Oh, but I caught a glimpse of the scaple before he cut my flesh on the left side... How menacing... Hehehe... Didn't try to peep again after he cut me up. When everything ended, my lower lips felt so numb and distended! Just like those cartoons depicting tribal people with huge lips... But actually I look normal. My cheeks and throat felt numb too and I couldn't swallow so on and off, I drip biohazard waste like blood tinted saliva. Hehehe... Just glad it wore off throughout the day... Hmmm... my left cheek looks swollen with a little bruising, but my right side feels perfectly ok. Yeh!!! Still no pain as of now!!!

Well, I brought home my remaining teeth in a container which still had pieces of flesh attached and I just love to scare my sis with it. Hehehe... such a scary cat. Anyway, just decided to soak it in warm soapy water to remove the flesh. Not sure if it's supposed to be done this way but anyway, it worked! Could literally see my flesh cooked and separated from my teeth. Cool! Looks like pork... =) Nope, I'm not trying it. To my dear sis: Actually the blood I'm tasting is not disgusting at all. Taste pretty delicious!

Well, looks like Battlefield Oral Cavity has ended in victory with minimal casualty. Yes!

Alien growth in my sinus

2005-06-09T06:12:00.000-05:00

Actually it's nothing serious. No need for surgery. So much for the adventure =) You like the song playing in the background? It's Find the Way, from Gundam Seed. I think the Gundam series has been around for decades... And it's a bit too bloody for me... But I like the song. Even went to buy their soundtrack. I'll be away on a youth camp in Malacca. Really looking forward to it. You know, I actually quite enjoy interacting with teenagers =) Guess I haven't really grown up...

Oh, before I forget, I would like to credit Gladys Tan for helping me put up the tag board, music and picture. Thank you so very much! You know, she wouldn't stop bugging me, kept telling me to credit her when she already credited herself so many times on the tag board...

Anime craze

2005-06-06T07:45:00.000-05:00

You know, I really like Last Exile. It's got a vintage feel with a futuristic edge. I guess what impressed me most is the friendship between Dio and Luciola. Perhaps we could say that Dio's sanity was preserved by Luciola, his one and only friend for many years in the Guild, before he met Claus and Lavie and gang. Their journey did not end with a happy note. I was much saddened by it. Last Exile tells of a wonderful story of friendship and love, of life and death. It's a sad story, you know. And it's a work of Art... There's a particular website of Last Exile that I like very much, especially their fan fiction on Dio... =) http://halo-productions.com/LastExile/

Inuyasha is different. It's funny and straightforward. Love. Kill. Sibling Rivarly. Revenge. No need to think too much. It's quite entertaining actually =) Can't always watch teary animes. That will be too exhausting. According to me, cartoon animations are supposed to be entertaining and funny, like Madagascar. With more than 160 episodes, 3 movies (4th one in the making, I think) and more than 10 CDs (What..!!! There's even an orchestra version. Sounds quite strange actually) Guess I could call it an epic...

Sometimes, I think cosplay might be fun. If I got to make my own costume, then simplicity is a must =) Perhaps I'll start from Kikyo. Never Kagome cos I'll look strange in standard Japanese schoolgirl uniform. It's only meant for short people. Next up, maybe Sophia in Sylvana uniform. If I'm game enough, I'll try to cosplay Inuaysha, complete with fake ears and hair wig!!! Lastly, I'll go for Sesshoumaru. He's got more complex armour...

Ah well... I'm day dreaming again...

Losing Steam

2005-06-06T07:01:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody, welcome to my blog... At a grand old age of 15, my sister still makes spelling mistakes that are... erm, well beyond her age. She spells 'volcanoe', 'penguine' and 'dolphine' instead of using the universally agreed form as given by the Oxford English Dictionary. Sigh... You should read her blog and Loo's blog. So many interesting activities... not like me. Only update about once a week =)

Since I'm a responsible fan of Last Exile, I've decided to buy its OST. Having said that, I checked out on the internet and decided to visit some anime stores in Singapore. First, I went to Comics Portal at Roxy Square. After walking around in the dark, dingy and cigarette-smoke smelling complex, I finally found it! It's supposed to have an extensive collection of anime merchandise and soundtracks!!!

Know what? It was closed (-_-"). Hmmm... according to my source, it should open from 11am-8pm from Monday to Sunday... Ok, never mind, maybe I should have called in advanced. Went to have lunch at Mos Burger. Splat! Pooi! The milk tea tasted sooo sweet! Yuck! Hmmm... Undeterred by this setback, I went ahead to Sunshine Plaza and Sim Lim Square. There are a few anime shops at Sunshine Plaza but all were closed except one. However, this one didn't have Last Exile Soundtract as it was sold out. Know what, the CDs on display were dusty and dirty... Tsk Tsk... Should have taken better care of their stuff. Oh, there were lots of merchandise (notebooks, cards, key chains and all) but they were all kept behind glass cabinets. And the sales people, they looked sooo bored. Didn't even offer to help me order the CD. What's their problem!!! Haiz... Guess we're really lacking in 'service DNA'... And the one at Sim Lim Square? Didn't exist anymore...

Maybe I shouldn't have gone on a Monday. All I wanted was to find the Last Exile soundtrack... I may even get poker cards if they didn't look so pirated (like the ones from Comic Connection). HMV sells Last Exile soundtrack but at $60, I'm not crazy or dumb enough to get it. I'm a responsible fan with a budget =)

Since I've spent quite a lot of bus fare, I've decided to walk from SLS to Little India MRT. Well, almost got lost in the winding streets of Little India... Fianlly! Saw Mustafa Centre!!! I really think I have a deficient sense of direction... Anyway, took train from Farrer Park to Sengkang, rented Steam Boy DVD and came back. Phew!

Actually, Steam Boy is not as good as I hoped it will be. So sad!!! What the heck. Maybe it's just that my TV resolution is lousy. What a disappointing day...

Of Orthodontists, Prosthodontists and Dental Surgeons

2005-06-01T03:38:00.000-05:00

I thought there were only two classes of dentists: orthodontists and... erm, dentists? Actually there's more to it than meets the eye. My ortho. doc sent me to a dental surgeon who ONLY does surgery so he had to send me to someone else to fix my decayed tooth first (Oh, it's kinda embarressing isn't it? Decayed tooth? At my age??? Well, maybe I don't have an immaculate dental care regime but I do bursh my teeth, you know... Hmmm... Never mind.) So what do we call someone who does not do orthodontic correction or surgery? Prosthodontists, apparantly. And he does crowns and dentures and stuff (Prostho=Prosthetics?). He actually doesn't do fillings... -_- But as the surgeon says, he could probably do fillings with one eye closed (He's probably thinking: Duh! Fillings are chicken feet!) Can't help but feel that isn't it a bit too specialized???!!! But well, I'm not complaining. Their service is good, and you feel like it's worth the money...

What next? After the filling, went for an X-ray. X-ray showed some growth which is radio-opaque (meaning... like bone, shows up as white patch on the film) 'Oh, it could mean anything,' so says the dental surgeon. Perhaps a cyst. It's pretty common considering my nose is perpetually blocked, like a clogged drain, for most of my life. What's interesting is the surface of the cyst-like pocket. Could it be tumour, eating away at my bones? Could it be just harmless tissue? Nobody knows, yet. So I was scheduled for CT sinus at Paragon. Two types of people probably hate CT and MRI scans: Claustrophobics and people with blocked nose. I belong to the latter. It's so hard to lie on my front, keep still and breathe through my nose! Didn't know I could be so figidtey... When someone asks me which organ I use to breathe, I will probably say: My mouth.

Wow... this is so exciting!!! GReat discovery of a lifetime! Alien growth in my sinus!!! Ok... I'm overdoing it... But I really feel so excited about it! It's like some adventure! Something out of the ordinary! Really, what's there to worry about? Just remove it if it's detrimental to health...

And I still haven't removed my wisdom teeth...

Last Day of May

2005-05-30T21:23:00.000-05:00

Hmmm... Let me think... What's there to write? I see that it's been almost a week since I published my first article. Come to think of it, there's really nothing much exciting going on in my life. Like my B-type boyfriend says, "We're like parasites" Indeed, we are. Sponging off nutrients and money from our parents and doing nothing useful for them in return. So what am i? Bird's nest fern? Liana? Heh. Oh well... What's to be done? I'm unemployed and un-motivated to do anything else. Wanted to watch the DVD I rented yesterday at Play! station but can't play it on my computer. Maybe the disk driver is burned out. Maybe it's a virus. Heck! I don't even use the DVD drive very often. After much deliberation, I decided on "After the Sunset". I like crime and Pierce Brosnan looks not bad so... yeah... I got the disc.

Oh, by the way, I've finished reading "State of fear". Hmmm... really an interesting read! Finished the book in 2 days. I can't believe some fiction book can contain so much graphs and journal references... So do you believe in global warming? Everybody does isn't it? Well, what do you think raw data collected by scientists show? You'll be surprised. Nobody can predict long-term climate change. So whether we'll be roasted or frozen in the future, nobody knows, not even those damned computer simulations. We don't live in an ideal world which can be easily described by computer programs. So predicting climate is just an 'intelligent guess', which means... well, it's just a guess, really. Means nothing.

Know something? We can actually affect weather conditions. Like create a tsunami, enhance hurricane, create more lightning and thunder. I'm serious! Read the book and you'll have some idea how it may be done (WEll, don't know if anyone's tried it before... How about make some snow in Singapore? Heh.)

Ok, excuse me. Perhaps I'll talk more about my favourite anime- LAST EXILE, next time.

A slow Start

2005-05-24T01:53:00.000-05:00

It's a cloudy day. There's nothing much to do except read, I guess. I'm such a bookworm and I love fiction, especially books by Michael Crichton. Very engaging and often draws me into an alternate reality where it's so real that even when I've finished reading the book, it feels like I'm stuck in a state of limbo, wishing I was part of the story when it can never be... Perhaps I have a vivid imagination, that's why. I'm good at nothing except daydreaming... Ha, Not even writing. For now, my favourite books by MC are 'Rising Sun', 'Timeline' and 'Prey'. Going to start on 'State of Fear' Looks like a deliciously interesting book... I've written a few stories before, maybe i'll upload them when I have the time...