Ice-cream Treat to Chill Down a Friday Afternoon

Two quarters ago, it was Ben & Jerry’s. At 2 pm, we were full with anticipation of what type of ice-cream it would be this time round. Wow, Haagen Daz! My favourite! However, this did not come in the normal form that I was familiar with – the tub form. It was a stick.

Oh…. How heavenly! The chocolate nut coating was firm but not hard, so it did not crumble with each slurp or bite, yet it was not so hard that it pained the teeth. The vanilla inside was creamy but not too sweet. In addition to vanilla, there was coffee almond and cookies and cream to choose from. We gathered around to have the ice-cream and chit-chat while we finished our ice-cream.

Hmm…. I must go to the supermarket to check if such ice-cream is on sale.

Hong Kong Café (茶餐厅)

It has been about 2 weeks since we last had lunch together. This time round, 5050 initiated the lunch about 2 days ago. Previously, 5050, KW and I often only decided on the day itself. It has been an unspoken agreement that Friday is reserved for our lunch gathering.

Being almost half a Hong Konger, 5050 naturally opted for Xing Wang Café (兴旺茶餐厅). Xing Wang Café seemed to have revamped its menu. I did not recall seeing so many choices the last time I was here. After coming back from Hong Kong, I seem to view such café in a different light – with a tinge more comparison to those in Hong Kong. Certainly, Xing Wang has a more modern décor than many café in Hong Kong. Although the type of food offered is similar, the taste has somewhat been modified to suit the local taste buds better.

I had the fish fillet mee sua (a form of rice vermicelli). 5050 had the wanton soup noodles (instant noodles kind and not the local mee we normally see). KW had the fish cheese baked rice. After finishing his noodles, 5050 still felt abit hungry, so he ordered a French toast. When it arrived, we nearly fell off our chairs because of its size. 5050 decided to make us share his calories and KW and I each took a quarter of the toast. The toast was quite well-done with a crispy skin and a soft buttery inside. It was sweet.

After lunch, we happened to pass by another new eatery. It would be one of the alternatives we can have for our next lunch. :-)

Helpful Singaporean

An insect stuck onto the back of my blouse without me knowing while I was on my way to work. A helpful lady informed me and helped removed the insect from my back. On one hand, I was grateful for her courage, especially in front of a hideous insect. On the other hand, I was slightly perturbed by the nonchalance of other fellow commuters. They have not informed or helped me despite the insect being on my back for a long while.

High Class Japanese Cuisines

It was a celebratory lunch for the completion of a project which was held at an authentic Japanese restaurant at a restaurant near the office. I have never known that there is such a hideout along Devonshire Road - Yoshida Sushi. The little waterfall at the entrance of the restaurant welcomed us while the cheerful “Irashyaimase” (welcome) from the Chef and the waitress greeted us.

There were set menus which were served with an onsen tamago (hotspring egg), a fish soup and fruits. There were also ala carte. We opted for the set. I had the shirayaki unagi (grilled eel) which was plain unagi without the teriyaki sauce – a welcoming change. It was the first time that I had onsen tamago. In other Japanese restaurants, usually the chawanmushi would be served instead. It was a soft poached egg served in shoyu (light soy sauce) and a little wasabi. It was so soft that we all drank the egg down instead of eating it with a spoon. The fish soup came in clear or miso. The clear soup was sweet with the light taste of salmon.

It cost about $50 per set. To a salaried employee like me, it was simply a luxury which I would not be able to experience and afford on a regular basis. Fortunately, this was on the boss. Hee hee.

A Day of Art Immersion

In celebration of the Hari Raya Puasa, the Museums of Singapore lined up many different programs which are related to the festival or which could allow participation by both the young and old.

It was the first time to Singapore Art Museum despite hearing so much about it. When we stepped into the courtyard, we were greeted by an aromatic waft of satay. Satay, one of the traditional Malay food, was distributed free to visitors. One of the overseas visitors was initially slightly apprehensive of the satay. However, he chomped into his satay in a more carefree manner after seeing the greedy swallowing of us locals. What a nice welcome especially when I was pretty hungry.

On the other side of the courtyard, a big canvas was put up for all the visitors to take part in painting a big mural of Singapore. We were occasionally distracted by the body-painting models parading around the museum.

Walking into the galleries, we were captivated by a pinkish corner with many small figurines of wedding couple stacked into many tiers like a cake. They look adorable from both near and far.

Each gallery has a different theme or a different featured artist. Hmm, I cannot understand the abstract art at all. I was more interested in the portraits of the older Singapore which seemed to offer a peak of the life of Singapore in the sixties and seventies.

It was not only an art immersion from the exhibits in the galleries, the beautiful architecture of the building and the colourful mosaic on the floor complemented the art pieces. It was a different way of spending a holiday.

Oldies, New Arrangement

We had just finished lunch and we were lured by Jacky Cheung’ ballad. We decided to walk into That CD shop, sat on the sofa and totally immersed in the melodious singing.

The next 2 songs completely swept us off our feet. They were oldies which were newly arranged and sang by the contemporary pop singers. Wow, we seemed to go back in time yet there was a new twist to the nostalgia with the contemporary arrangement. Apparently, we were not the only two who were hooked. There were 3 or 4 other patrons asking for the CD – High Society (Oriental) Vol 1 and 2. My mum was rather captivated and nearly wanted to purchase the CD. In the end, we decided against it because of the high price.

Nevertheless, the songs made a deep impression on us and kept ringing in our ears for the entire day. :-)

Destined to Fail as an Engineer

I knew since a long time ago that I will never make it as an engineer. This belief was finally put to test today when I was assembling my new standing. I took an hour to piece together a fan. If I applied such productivity as an engineer, I was quite certain my boss would send me packing within a week. Fortunately, I ended up in a profession that was distant from engineering.

The fan parts came in 4 main components – the base, the stand, the motor and the rim and blades. Putting the stand to the base did not take much time. Fixing the motor to the stand was manageable except I took ages to find a suitable screw and to tighten the screw. Then, it was fixing the outer rim to the motor. Despite looking at the diagram for many minutes, I was still confused on how I should append the rim. Putting on the blades and screwing them to the motor and outer ring was relatively easy. There came the most difficult portion – fixing the front rim with a tightening of screw. Putting the rim on was ok, but I was completely baffled by a small piece of plastic at the bottom of the rim. How should I fix it? What was the purpose? The last step was to screw everything up. Why did I need the screwing up? How did the screw help station the plastic? I kept fixing about before I finally got it.

Tah-dah! I finally got it about and running. It was the testing time. I tried switching on the fan. It worked. The different speed worked. The different mode worked. The oscillation worked. Yes! I did it!

Lack of Night Life in Singapore

I have always been a morning person rather than night person. Hence, inactivity in the night life of Singapore does not particularly bother me. It is also difficult for me to determine if there is truly no night life in Singapore since I am usually asleep by then.

I rushed from work to the Brain seminar at SMU without dinner. The seminar was from 7pm to 9.30pm. By the time the seminar ended, I was famished.

I rushed to Plaza Singapura to grab a dinner. OMG, the foodcourt has already closed. Then I went in search of a restaurant. I stood outside a Japanese restaurant and the manager told me that there was only ten minutes left for the last order. I charged in. I did not need 10 minutes to order as long as they allowed me more than 10 minutes to finish the food.

I ordered within 2 minutes from sitting down.

They took about 10 minutes to prepare the food.

I took another 5 minutes to gobble down the food. (I have always been a fast eater unless I am sick.)

The time I took from order to finishing the food was even less than the time they required to prepare the food. I digressed a little. Anyway, this was the first time I started lamenting about the lack of night life in Singapore – one could not even find a decent place to have a meal after 10pm.

Given the amount of OT we clock, it is not unusual to leave office at 10 pm. Yet, there is nowhere we can find food. For those who are blessed with family, their family members can help them pack food at an earlier time. Imagine if we are living alone, going home at 10 pm is almost equivalent to having no dinner. What a sad way to end a hectic day…

Functions of the Brain in Our Daily Lives

“If the student has not learnt, then the teacher has not taught.” Everyone can learn but differently. When a student has not learnt, it implies that the teacher has not applied the right method to motivate the learning.

If you believe that the bigger the brain, the more intelligent the person is, you cannot be more wrong. The brain of Einstein is much smaller in proportion to his body size. The intelligence of a person is dependent on the density and connectivity of the neurons.

Is there any unutilized part of the brain? Our brain is a scarce resource. Once we failed to use certain functions, the part of the brain will be overtaken by other functions. For instance, a person who loses his sight will soon find that the part of the brain which used to control sight will be used to control his hearing and touch.

If you believe in subconscious learning, please stop doing that as a good night sleep is better for learning. A person who has a sound and dreamy sleep can learn better than someone who has not. During dreams and sleep, the brain will be organizing the memories and learning points. Brain power is a scarce resource. Playing music in the background to allow the brain to learn during sleep will rob resources for the brain to organize the memories and reduce efficiency of the brain.

Do you know that our brain matures from age 20? This is why we define minors to be anyone below 20 or 21 years of age. A tiny part of our brain governs the control that we exert to doing anything bad or morally wrong matures when we are 20. People below the age of 20 may not be able to control themselves despite knowing that they are doing something wrong.

Do you know that playing majong is a good way of exercising our brains? There was a 81-year lady who has a high brain power because she has been playing majong for 70 years.

The fact that our phone numbers are not more than 9 digits is not a mere coincidence. This is because our brains can only remember up to 7 +/- 2 characters at any point in time. If we are in the midst or remembering a phone number and someone speaks to us in a 9-character sentence, this new sentence will overwrite our previous memory and we will forget the number.

The number of hours of sleep you need is also determined by the brain. This is why some people need more hours of sleep to feel refreshed while some can just sleep for less than 5 hours a day.

On the more paranormal side, phenomena such as ghosts pressing on your bodies and seeing the light at the tunnel just before passing out are figments of our brain activities. Ghosts pressing your bodies can be explained by the relaxation of the body muscles while the brain is alert. Normally, sleep induces the relaxation of the muscles before bringing on the onset of dreams to prevent sleep walking. When you suddenly wake up, your brain is alert but the recovery of the body may be slower, so momentary loss of use of the physical functions, including difficulty in breathing is resulted.

It was a complete overhaul of the midwife’s tales on brain power. The seminar which was held at the SMU - School of Accountancy was not completely scientific and factual in nature. The main speaker was Professor Hong Lan (洪兰) of Yang Ming (阳明) University of Taiwan. The host of the evening was Doctor Li Qing from Institute of Mental Health.

If you think the whole evening was crammed with facts, you cannot be more wrong. In addition to overthrowing some of the myths on our brains, Prof Hong Lan also provided a philosophical perspective on the functions and characteristics of the brain. She tickled the crowd with anecdotes of her relationship with the elders in an attempt to encourage the crowd to understand the thinking of the elders. For instance, in teaching elders new skills, we cannot employ the same method as we use in teaching young children because we need to take into account that the elders have more wisdom. She also shed light on how a person’s character can change with damages to the frontal lobe. Hence, it is important to protect our frontal lobe as any damage is permanent.

Everyone is inclined towards being a pessimist as there is a small part of the brains which may make us feel that we get off the wrong side of the bed for the day. Yet, this part of the brain is important because it is meant to be a caution and to warn us for any danger ahead. Yet, we need to lead a happy life for the dopamines (happy hormones) to overcome this part of the brain.

If we believe that we can do something, we will be able to do something. This is because the brain signals that arise from thinking about something are often the same as that when you are really doing something. The brain activities associated with imagining one is running is the same as that when the person is actually running. Similarly, when we punish a person, the brain signals of the people observing the punishment is that of the person who is being punished. Hence, punishing one to warn to others is not without its wisdom. The autistics have difficulty picking up skills because their brains are not able to produce the same signals through observing what others are doing.

The external influence is more important to the development of the personality than DNA. The study of a conjoined twins revealed that two almost similar beings in terms of DNA could have vastly different personalities – the elder sister was outgoing while the younger sister was reserved. Moreover, their experiences post-birth should be similar as they had to be everywhere together. It was discovered later that the difference was caused simply by the behaviour of the parents towards the two sisters. The elder sister liked to smile more and thus attracted more attention and praises. This caused the elder sister to be more confident and outgoing. The moral of the story was that we should praise our students or children more so that they could develop self-esteem. This perhaps would be contrary to the Asian culture where compliments were often deflected in name of humility.

It was like going to both a biological and philosophical lecture. Yet, the stories helped us to understand a difficult topic in a layman and entertaining manner. It was definitely an enriching experience.

Karaoke Party

Sam, Brother and Senior have been talking about going karaoke for ages. Finally, we have settled on the date to go.

An invitation was sent out to the whole gang of Brother and Sam. I decided to join them for the fun of it this time, but I had to leave early. CY, Brother, Mich, Sam, Gary, KY and Senior were there.

I have not seen Senior for more than half a year. I thought he looked thinner and I commented on it. He asked if he had looked more handsome. I asked if I should tell the truth or not. Hee hee, I thought I would be able to outtalk him this time round. *Devilish grin* Sigh! I still failed. Guess what his response was? He told me that regardless of whether it was the truth, he was already married.

It was also a rare opportunity to hear the people I have known for one year singing the various familiar tunes. Suddenly, they metamorphosised into Fei Yu Qing, Jay Chou, MC Hotdog and even Snow Patrol. I still had difficulty singing in front of a big group of people, so in the end, I went out of tune and squeaky.

Nevertheless, it was relaxing letting hair down and laughter.

Lack of Aircon in Train Cabin

Was I an anomaly?

Was the train cabin simply too crowded?

I kept feeling very suffocated in the train cabin? I was definitely not imagining the turning down of aircon because I was tall enough to stretch my fingers towards the aircon vent. The air that flowed down was weak and warm. Was this an attempt to cut cost with the rising fuel cost? Or was this an attempt to be environmentally friendly as a degree increase in the temperature will go a long way in saving the earth?

Well, although I support and even applaud such attempts to manage cost and save the environment, we should still be mindful of hygiene and health impact. In a crowded train, good ventilation with sufficient airflow is important to prevent fainting and to minimize the spreading of viruses and bacteria.

A Warm Morning Greeting

If you pass by Somerset MRT on weekday morning, you will not fail to notice her charming smile and chirpy greeting. She lightens your morning with the latest news for the day and her “Good Morning”. She is the epitome of someone who has a passion to serve.

For many who are handing out free papers or brochures, they often bear a look of death – black, somber and unsmiling. Contrary to the former, she puts on a radiant smile, greets everyone with a cheery “Good morning” and thanks anyone who takes the Mypaper from her. For the occasional non-Chinese who takes paper from her thinking that it is Today, she will even tell them it is a Chinese paper.

She motivates the morning crowd to face the day with new energy and to take pride in the work we do. I strive to look towards the new day with as much enthusiasm as her.

Craving for Japanese Food

I ate little for breakfast because of the yoga lesson. I ate little for lunch thinking that we were going for high tea buffet. in the end, we forgo the buffet and decided to go for early dinner instead. By early, I meant really early at around 430 pm. Suddenly, we had craving for Japanese cuisine and decided to patronise Suki Sushi the second time.


No queue. Good. The last time we were there, there was long queue. The last time we were there, I came late so did not have time to enjoy the meal. Now, I could finally take my time to browse through the menu, soak in the zen-like decor and taste the exquisite sushi. There were so many choices - paper steamboat, sushi, maki, teppanyaki, don, etc.


Here's sharing of some of the food we had. It's not too much, is it? Opps......

First Class of Yoga

I have not been so nervous for a long time.

Will I be the only one who cannot follow the instructions of the teacher?
I am very inflexible even when I was in school. Quoting a guy friend who used to have flexibility issues, “I can sit but cannot reach”. He is a guy. He can afford not to pass his sit-and-reach. Who has heard of girls failing? I did not fail but I barely passed.

Will I injure myself?
I may not be super frail or fragile but I am super clumsy and blur. Sometimes, I know I am injuring myself but I will react a moment too slow to stop the injury, so I always end up with serious injury. Moreover, my recovery speed is slower than normal, even my GP cannot believe what I always take ages to recover from the common ailments.

Will my classmates laugh at me? Will the teachers scold me? Will the teacher disallow me from joining the class because I don’t have a yoga mat?

I have thousand and one questions on how the session will be.

When I stepped into the class, I was one of the early few. The trainer appeared friendly. People started streaming in slowly. Most of my classmates were young teenagers. When almost everyone was in, the class started.

The teacher was patient in explaining about breathing techniques and the sequences of each poise. Yet, for someone who was foraging into yoga for the first time, no matter how detailed he had explained, it was difficult to put together the poise. Of course, my arch and stretches were not as beautiful or effortless as the trainer. In fact, in a couple of posies, I ended up feeling slightly twisted and locked.

One hour flew past. I seemed to have barely started before it was the end of the class. I will try to practise at home to be more ready for the next session.

First thing first, I will go and get myself a mat so that I can at least be ‘equipment-ready’ for next class.

Long-Awaited Gathering for the Musketeers

It was ages since the musketeers last met. I could not remember the last time we met, at least a month before my Hong Kong trip. It seems like we have been missing out on each other’s lives for months. For one reason or another, we have always been busy with something so that we ended up not being able to meet.

Finally, we are meeting. The first thing was to find a decent place where we could answer the calls of our growling stomach and sat down comfortably for a night long’s talk. Sushi Tei was our first choice but there was a horribly long queue. We decided to switch places. Finally, we found this small eatery where there was a 15% promotion for UOB cards. Ah Peng and Ms Chan went for the fish and chips while I chose the spaghetti goreng (stir fried spaghetti). We also ordered a seafood tofu and cake in a cup to share.

After a long while, the food was finally here. I was already starving so I gobbled down my food while Ms Chan and Ah Peng continued talking. Needless to say, with that speed of eating, my dining etiquette was momentarily thrown out of the window, unlike Ah Peng and Ms Chan.

Anyway, the focus of the meeting was not meant to be food but that of catching up. Ms Chan shared with us the latest focus and development in her life, while Ah Peng remained mysterious about our probing of her latest development. There was so much to say with so little time. There was only one solution to this problem – meet more often. *Grin*

Saddest Thing to Hear

"I will not be able to participate in your tomorrow."

This was what Richie said when he was about to separate from Xiao Bei.

Who?

Richie and Xiao Bei were characters from the Taiwanese drama serial which I was watching recently - "爱情魔法师" (Magical Hairstylist of Romance). Richie was aware that Xiao Bei cared more for Ya Si. Moreover, he seemed to bring more tears than happiness to Xiao Bei's life. Thus, he decided to set Xiao Bei free.

Regardless of whether it is between intimate lovers, closest kins or best friends, the statement is still filled with extreme sadness. It reflects an ultimate moving out of another person's life with no recourse or reconciliation.

Sigh! I hope I will never need to hear that from anyone to anyone.

The last Quarter of the Year

1 October, the start of the last quarter of the year, the last leg of 2007, the panic button is pushed. Oh dear! There are only 3 months left to complete the resolutions for the year. I am scared of looking back to find that I again let time slip past without knowing what I was busy with.

We do mid-year review for the financial performance and projection of the business. We do mid-year review for our work performance. Yet, sometimes do we do a mid-year review of our personal goals. The pursuit of personal goals is often shelved when we are preoccupied with our career goals or sometimes due to pure procrastination. For many, it is definitely a combination of both.

There are two main priority goals this year for me. These two are in addition to the perennial goals of spending more time with family and friends and having more personal time. These two goals are to travel and to pick up new hobbies / skills. I have traveled to three cities in two countries this year (Bangkok, Hong Kong and Jiangnan and Shanghai). Hmm, so I can proudly put a tick against the item of traveling. Task completed. Of course, this does not stop me from planning more trips next year.

On the second goal of picking up new hobbies/ skills, I have yet to make substantial progress. My original plan was to learn driving but I gave that up as I still had not saved enough for a car. Then I dabble into photographic but I must admit that my skills still stagnant at the novice stage. I have wanted to pick up yoga for some times, but often put that on hold with heaps of reasons like no time, cannot commit fixed schedule, etc. Finally, I decide to wait no longer. Signing up will discipline me to commit to attending the classes. My first lesson will start on Saturday. I am looking forward to it.

Alright, I must plough through my memory to think what other goals I have set up and yet to accomplish. It is time I start to do something about it. Don’t laugh, you should also start examining your own resolutions. Let’s take stock again on 31 Dec. It’s a date, don’t forget.

To View or Not to View

Honestly speaking, it does not qualify as thriller since it is aired at the primetime TV slot of 9pm. Yet, my heart beats faster when the killer is near and I cover my eyes when the psychopath approaches the victim. In short, I have a love-hate relationship with the latest Channel 8 series.

The plot is exciting with much audience engagement. When I follow the development each night, we seem to be drawn into the whole mystery solving business. I seem to participate in the clue findings, the speculation and the anxiety. Just as I think the resolution is near, there will be another twist which overthrows the previous assumptions.

So much excitement is not too good for the faint-hearted, especially just before bed time. However, I still cannot resist the temptation to watch more as we want to know who is the real killer. I am torn between continuing watching and having a good sleep.

What do I do? The best is to continue watching but cover my eyes and ears when some of the more gruesome parts come on screen. Notwithstanding, it is still one of the best TV serials which I have watched, at least it is a good deviation from the local family drama.

Little Red Hearts

For the past 2 to 3 weeks, readers of Today would have noticed the advertisements which taught readers how to fold little red hearts. For each red heart folded and dropped into the post box, SingTel would donate $1 to the beneficiaries.

This was not the first year that the campaign was launched. Yet, this was the first time I spent about an hour gathering the papers I had, cutting out the red rectangle and folding them into red hearts. It was not a difficult exercise but required some patience and instruction following.

I dropped the red hearts into a box which was set up at office lobby to facilitate collection of hearts from staff. I was surprised to find that the box was nearly filled. On some of my colleagues’ tables, there were also small hills of red hearts.

A little effort from us could go a long way to helping those in need. We might not be wealthy enough to make generous sums of donations but we could definitely pitch in efforts to help.

Did you fold any this year?

Durian Curry Puff

Monday blues. It was made bluer by the tonnes of work that awaited me when I returned to office after a 2-day absence.

Finally, it was end of the day - the time to reward myself a little. After dinner, I have decided to pamper myself further with a small dessert. Duh-duh, the choice of the day was durian curry puff from 1A. I have eyed the curry puff since it was first advertised on TV about a month ago, so what better day to try it than a day flooded by blues.

Although it was slightly expensive because it cost $1.60 per piece, it was cute with crispy skin. The durian filling was soft and fragrant. When I took a bite, the hot durian melted in my mouth and filled my mouth with the strong flavour of durian. It was heavenly, especially when I was quite a durian lover.

After finishing the durian curry puff, I kept smiling and smiling all the way home. Eating the durian curry puff was blissful and satisfactory. It certainly made my day. Even now, as I was recalling the smell and taste of it, I could not help smiling and smiling. Ahh.....