Beverages

Looking for two beverages, please do tell me if you know of any of the following:

COFFEE

1) Strong, but low-sugar/sweetener content

2) Decaf with as little chemicals as possible

GINGER DRINK/TEA

Spicy in the stomach but not on the palate

Update: Oh I just realised it is no longer "blogspot.com" but "blogspot.sg"

Update again... : I was thinking of trying out goat milk from Hay Dairies, but... DILEMMA! I either have to go down to Lim Chu Kang (it's somewhere along the SCS 28km NE march route so it's not exactly convenient) or order via its delivery service which requires a minimum 1.6L purchase. How??

16 July

The horizons appear much brighter when you have things to look forward to do. Even apparently mundane tasks like clearing out your desk and wardrobe, refiling your paperwork and throwing out the clutter. Which is what I am going to do later tonight and tomorrow onward, hopefully finishing next week and preparing for the return to academics. Clothes in good condition that haven't been worn for months are GOING (to the Salvation Army). Waste papers on the desk are GOING (to the karung guni). The miscellaneous trash is GOING (to be binned - what else?). My life is GOING (to be an uphill battle).

When it comes to education, I am not a savvy investor. I have once been included in a collective rebuke - labelled as 'having no sense of ownership' by an infuriated educator. Apparently a monthly school fee of about thirty dollars was insufficient to wake up my idea, such that the current situation asks for more than five thousand a semester to keep me awake to reality. I did not appreciate the high quality of education provided to me at a low cost of one dollar a day back then; now I have to pay a handsome sum for one that is unlikely to be in the better segment of Singapore's market. I am not comparing the dollar-for-dollar value of pre-university and university education, just that if I have done better in pre-university I will certainly be forking out lesser monies right now.

Keeping in mind that I am paying more for a tertiary education than most of my friends out there, while receiving one that is unlikely to be better than what they are receiving, AND considering the fact that I am signing myself up for a life that is meaningful but unprofitable, do you believe me now when I say I am not a savvy investor?

That is the economic part, which will probably follow me into my future rat race. It's time to straighten out my finances before it's too late; to make an attempt to break from the inevitable bread-and-butter forces that will push me toward the path that my parents have taken.

I started off the day on the wrong foot - my mind fraught with negativity. The day progressed slowly and was made worse by 'deaf' shoppers. Zero sales figures coupled with the team leader's unwillingness to help pushed me towards the verge of volcanic eruption. One customer walked in and asked where was tower two. I replied that I didn't know and she retorted "You work here and you don't know??" and walked off without a second word. Was boiling mad but I recalled the saying "把脾气拿出来是本能，把脾气压回去是本事" - interesting huh? But later on, *faith in Singaporeans restored!* a lady walked in to thank a guy who gave her directions. So I guess for every person who is "心理不平衡" there will be another who is perfectly normal and understanding. Next I saw parents who only use their mouths to control their kid, but physically fail to keep him in check (is this what they call 爱的教育 nowadays), then I witnessed a father sternly disciplining and physically stopping his young son from continuing a dangerous deed. Balance? Yep.

Looking forward to... something

This week must be food week? Mum mentioned a korean eating place near chomp chomp which has an awesome $10 lunch promotion. The meal comes with ten side dishes, all refillable. I suggested trooping down together this afternoon for me to widen my korean food horizons but due to unforeseen circumstances lunch became dinner at a more costly place at Kovan...

Excellent service came with
BBQ beef
- grilled to perfection by manga character-like guy who should be the manager

- not for the weak-hearted

Spicy pork ribs

- grilled nicely as above

- but still has lingering 'raw porky' taste

Pork kimchi pancake

- delightful crisp

- same lingering taste as above

Ginseng chicken stew

- average

Radish duck wrap

- dryness is balanced by wet, crunchy radish slices

- starting to like duck but the folks disliked the smoky taste

Spicy stir-fried rice cakes
- too tender

The folks were planning to go to sakura this coming friday, but I compelled them to cater to my whims because I was going to Qun Zhong Eating House for 锅贴...

So sakura next week...

Then some other buffet near Tuas...

It's not food week; it's gluttony month!

Questions > Answers

If we didn't expect something in return for a good deed done, then why do we feel indignant if someone we helped snubs us?

Why are so many people willing to spend their hard-earned cash on technology they can never fully appreciate?

Why can't HTC add a removable battery with a larger capacity and microSD support to their flagship products?

The funniest thing I've heard today

“在哪里跌倒，在哪里躺下。”

July draws near...

A failed birthday surprise? Got caught by the protagonist in the act of linking up with fellow perpetrator... Haha! You spoiled the surprise yourself!

So if school starts in July, I've got to prepare myself for things I have been avoiding... Got to be tough and have some self-discipline, and toss some of that awkwardness out of the window. Tighten my belt and pull up my socks, so to speak. Cheehow mentioned something about a part-time degree, but I shrugged that notion off. Too difficult for me. Then there will be a period whereby everyone is enjoying their orientation camps and looking forward to a new life, while I'll be worrying about starting off school on the wrong foot?

Been wanting to volunteer my remaining free weekdays away but that's not going to happen anytime soon because the volunteer schemes require me to be 'of age'. So October you'd better come soon then I will have better opportunities coming by.

Yup, just trying to get by. My life feels like a field camp - counting the days towards 'exercise cut', always running on 50% battery and getting by on mucky rations.

风中摇曳的烛光

所以，不要过着那种还债的人生。还没开始就动摇，那是不祥的预兆。

超好吃的，我发誓，我确定，要我跪下来吗？

So......! Mr YA finally 实践诺言, bringing us to the famed Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle.

Three of us had mee kia da, ai hiam. I was not ravenous so I ordered the $5 bowl while the rest went for the adventurous $6 deal. There is also a $4 option. The $6 bowl looked the same as mine, except with an additional meatball (and more noodles?). Sorry to burst your bubble YA but it wasn't that extraordinary! Indeed, the turkwa was not overcooked, retaining the softness and 'powdery' texture that good turkwa should have. The bak chor was well minced and fresh. There were also two dumplings for each of the $5 and $6 bowls, which we wouldn't usually associate with bak chor mee. Long queue, 35 minutes wait; not an EXPLOSIVE meal. :)

Aramis, Athos, and Porthos

And so we concluded our adventures on a high note! Actually, no, our departing meal in Hanoi was instant noodles served with 'lean meat'. And it was 45.000 dong too, which roughly equates to S$2.80 per bowl. Similar taste to the Nissin cup noodles but at twice the price! Oh by the way, they use decimals as digit separators and vice versa for their prices...

(Wanted to add a photo here but it was taking forever.)

We stayed at three places over our 7-day stint in chaotic yet efficient Hanoi. Hanoi Old Centre Hotel, on a junk with Oriental Sails, and a hotel at Sapa whose name I can't recall. I thought the food and lodging at all three places were perfect! (Mr YA might have a fit over the use of 'perfect' here but it really was amazing, and at the risk of sounding unappreciative, better than home!) Yes we didn't have the 'great city view' on our first day in old centre, but the immaculate service and friendliness more than make up for it. The sticky rice with roast pork, banana pancakes, toasty baguettes and omnipresent sweet pineapples-watermelons-bananas combo are spirit-raising too.

The junk (again, wasn't up to Mr YA's standards/expectations) was pretty awesome too; we met a couple of friends from Singapore (teachers! 为人师表). I really liked the bathroom because it didn't give me the creepy feel of foreign toilets. Homely bathroom! And really clean too. Lots of dishes during meals (strange to jump from the WC to food right after) - really nice decorations too. Fried taro, green papaya salad, water chestnut-carrot salad, just a few I can recall. Oh and fried spring rolls! They are everywhere.

The food at Hoang Ha (did I spell that right?) and the other Sapa hotel was fabulous too! Pumpkin soup or potato and ham soup?? I prefer pumpkin soup! Would make a pretty good dessert too, if sweetened. Didn't really like the lemongrass though, left a bitter aftertaste.

So most of our time were spent walking to our 'Objectives'. The first food adventure should be the one to Quan An Ngon! A ?Marche?-styled eatery that lets you place orders using a single menu. The place is crowded, but we were still comfortably sat at a relatively private corner. We had our virgin bun cha here! Barbequed pork balls (slightly flattened at the top and bottom - think Earth) and slices in a smoky soup, paired with vermicelli and veggies. Highlight!! Some roll-yourself spring roll which we all pretended to be 'grand masters' at. I tried bia hoi, cold hanoi beer and the rest had SAPODILLA SHAKES. Mr WS said it was chiku (see this).

We tried xoi xeo and bun cha at other places, and I figured we were being scolded for being stingy tourists (sharing one bowl among three pax!).

I guessed I enjoyed the trek the most, even though there were some minor 'hiccups' - me not buying souvenirs from the 'yellow-robed girl', and failing to tip our guide D: even though he was fairly good. Mr YA's camera also suffered a mishap here and I believed suffered a sleepless night with it being in foreign hands (repair shop). But the walks to find 8.000 dong (roughly $0.50) bottled water and clothes were surprisingly ?fun?.

The trip to West Lake wasn't too interesting, but the day was rescued by the 5.000 dong ice cream (unknown flavour!) and a hearty dinner at our favourite location in Hanoi, Quan An Ngon. Shrimp pancake with rice paper, chee cheong fun-like dish, buns with pork filling, and grilled squid. Sound ordinary but pretty awesome. What I didn't like was the last day! Tried to find the museums but went to the wrong one in the end!! And I think we missed a part of the temple of literature too.

But now it's back to the grind of the routine here - but the best we can do is to do something different each day to make this routine more interesting. We've got to do something different to see a different result. And I must tell myself that 还没开始就动摇，要怎样坚持理念？

Monday greens

This is one of those days when I don't feel like doing anything. I have already been relentlessly reminded to get off my ass to get one of these things done instead of being a useless skill-less unemployed bum: Go apply for school; go learn some important skill ('that a guy MUST have', like driving); write in to HOTA and tell them to stay away from my organs (I was trying to delay this so mum would forget about it); go do something important with my life.

These days I keep getting flashbacks about my trainee days in ns, mostly in that dreaded place called pasir laba camp. When I was at my lowest, where were you? Same bunk as you but I never did get a firm hand to pull me up. And yet you claimed that I was one of your closer friends. All I ever had was the familiar tall dark figure of mr HBH in camp. I won't ever forget what happened in neo tiew - the fog and camo smudges in the loose, scarred goggles; the fit-like panting; the tears; the cold feet; the stares; the face; the disgust - or on that nights-out evening.

My painting lies unfinished on the desk, things that I need and want to print are still in soft copy. The world goes by outside the window. I am overwhelmed, not by the things I need to do - I have rarely been overwhelmed by that; it is the monsters that I hide under the bed that threaten to spill over into my rational life. What do you want? Someone I got to know yesterday said that. I didn't know because I didn't dare. All these mollycoddling for years have broken me down. I feel like blaming someone for stunting my growth. I always thought I was easily understood by my parents! Only recently I realised how wrong I was. No one knows what you are hiding if you don't say. Sometimes your enemies know you better because they can tell you are hiding stuff.

I don't know if I have become quieter at home, and noisier outside. I adopted a don't ask don't say policy. If I wish to talk about it I will drown you in my saliva. If not, don't ask - it doesn't help with the blood pressure. Maybe it's time for you to think about my behaviour and not for me to keep checks on my temper. I endure so much inside then I tolerate so much outside, I may implode.

±

On a brighter note, I did a four-hour cycling trip to pasir ris park last saturday before I met up with my buddies ws and ya (haha!). This is the route I took:

Starting from the park connector (serangoon park connector?) at the end of hougang ave 5, I sped in the direction of halus wetland. Upon reaching the connecting bridge, dismount and cross.

Next, find the road that connects halus wetland to pasir ris farmway 3 and cycle non-stop onwards! Eventually you will reach the junction that will lead you on to pasir ris drive 1. Keep going on the left side of the road and you encounter a park connector (can't remember the sungei name). Turn in and go, go, go and you will see a horse-riding school later and soon you are at the park.

Did a quick spin and decided to come back quickly because my saddle was becoming loose again.

In the afternoon I was planning to go to cafe e jardin but damn it my brain forgot it was a public holiday. So it was closed. So we ended up at Subway, and I fumbled around before asking the subway guy (who was very polite and friendly) for the password to the joint's wireless network. As usual ya was being selective about his googled sites but eventually we went to get our one million dolla-dong! :D

Updates

So I just weighed in today: 64 kg; am surprised that I did not hit the 65 mark!

But the muscle is wasting away! Went cycling today, intended to go one round from punggol park to punggol waterway and back, but took an unintentional detour (the PCN disappeared :/) and went wandering the streets near Montfort Sec. Then my saddle suddenly twisted and I nearly fell in the middle of the road. A few metres later it sank back to the original position (I adjusted it). Whew! I kept playing in my mind places where I might get into horrific accidents... Fortunately, I got back home in one piece.

And now I'm trying to photocopy some stuff for my mum; the printer has been erratic of late - a paper jam, weird 'chopping' noise - some kind of printer head misalignment issue I guess. I have used a HP Deskjet (the best and smallest so far, but expensive cartridges), an Epson, and two Canons. The HP Deskjet was ancient, but it did its single job well. The cartridges were expensive, more than fifty bucks for each, but I suppose that was the market price then. The Epson was a free gift; the ink was cheap but the quality was obviously good enough for black and white documents only. The Canons were all-in-ones that were a master of none and the MP276 was faulty out of the box..

If I ever buy a new printer, it should be back to a HP.

Deception

I lie on a regular basis, and unfortunately, all these lies are directed to my family members to avoid conflict of interests and needless arguments. I do keep some secrets; I believe everyone does, but I rarely lie to my friends.

Sigh.

I feel that puberty has hit me late

'His bold prediction, popularly known as Moore's Law, states that the number of transistors on a chip will double approximately every two years.' - Intel

Warning: Some minor technicalities in first two paragraphs.

I hail from a period of Pentium 4 computers (AMD was fairly popular too, but the Pentium 4 series had a very deep impression on me with their 'Intel inside: Pentium 4' metal plates on PCs). Macs were rarely seen. My first family PC was powered by AMD's Athlon (I think K7), followed by an Athlon 64 3500+ (still single core) after the former's demise. 2012, I am using a 2009 Core 2 Duo in an Intel-dominant market where Core i5s abound.

As average Joes, we are always far from the frontline of technology. We don't have the moolah; we don't have a need. Things are mostly advancing faster than our rate of adaption. Firms are always churning out new and increasingly similar product ranges to try to cater to every available consumer in the market. Typically, these product refreshes or new lineups comprise several models - sometimes with overlapping qualities -  each time, and we see these updates happening once or twice each year. Have you wondered why can't we have new software that can effectively utilise our current hardware setup? 'Hey my XP machine can't handle Vista' was a common grouse when Vista first emerged. To be fair, XP was a 12-year OS. But did Vista turn out to be a better option for us the computer novices?

Our society is emulating the progress of technology. It is moving forward; some values are discarded and some are clung on. Pre-martial sex was really, really taboo 10 years ago. Maybe it happened anyway but no one talked about it. But now we are more open about it. It has become more acceptable. While our parents look so disgusted about it, we don't find it a big deal. So who decides what values remained in our roots? How do you set your rules?

Is it correct that parents ought to go with the flow and learn new ways of educating their children? In the past, the cane/feather duster/broom was a powerful weapon. I used to nick the canes and hide them in my drawer (poor choice, I know). The skin would 'pop up' like veins after being whacked. I don't know if I learnt my lessons then; it just made me madder and want to break things. But we still did not shout at our parents in public and throw things at them.

My parents' and teachers' times were of being made to kneel on durian husks for punishment and making their way alone to school on Sec 1 registration day. Nowadays I see maids carrying bags for Sec 1 students. I guess that's okay too, after the NSF incident. However I am proud to say that Holy Innocents' Primary School, then under the firm but kind guiding hand of Mr Jimmy Tan (see Mr Sng too), stressed to students to carry their own bags.

Why do kids seem so bad as compared to our generation, or is it always like this; we seem bad compared to the previous generation? Are they old-fashioned? Will we become obsolete too? Should parents learn how to employ new methods of education to adapt to what their children have become? Or maybe the parents have already failed in fulfilling their role during a part of their children's growing up, thus having to turn to newer methods of parenting?

Been listening to 'Don't give a damn' on UFM 100.3~

New set of wheels

I got a couple of scrapes now due to poor cycling technique.

I bought a new bicycle! It's much bigger, smoother and in all ways better than the decade-old fixed gear bicycle we took out from the store recently. A small tip that you may know already; to remove rust from your beautiful chrome frame all you've to use is a scrunched up aluminium foil ball and some water. Prepare some kitchen towels/toilet paper to clean up.

I haven't been exercising for quite a long time because I am disallowed from high-impact activities for the upcoming few months, and the only aerobic exercises I do are jogging and swimming. "But swimming isn't high-impact, is it? Quite the contrary, in fact." Yeah, but I have developed a rather attention-seeking spare tire around my diaphragm area and I would like to keep that under wraps and away from public scrutiny for now. Haha!

I like how exercising kills my appetite for crunchy unhealthy snacks, but I always need to drag myself down.

“一日不见” “如隔三秋”

唉，还真是体弱多病啊。

xC's birthday party/35-minus gathering: And the gastric dude strikes again! And I can't find the medicine I got from the MO!

只有忍~ 忍好像是我的命运啦。好多想说的话一直封住嘴忍着不说，会不会变自闭啊。
所以只有在这里问了咯：
过得好吗？是胖了还是瘦了？有没有收到我去年年底的问候？有什么感触吗？

呵呵 我是忍者。

The worst time for gastric pains is outfield... My packing list for a stint in the forest always includes Gaviscon and MO-prescribed general stomach medicine.

画面

I have started a new blog (see left)! Well it's not new - about one and a half year since it made its quiet debut - but I have started building its content, and by doing so I hope I can be spurred on to keep doing it. Makes sense? Take a look first. It's not great but I'm trying to improve. If one day it becomes/seems great to you please do share with your friends.

You may notice that my titles often don't coincide with their corresponding posts, so I will put more effort into thinking up more relevant titles, rather than words that describe my current moods or recent experiences. In today's case, I am referring to the moving images that are conjured in my mind when I read fiction books.

Do most people read like this?

When I do, I have a (bad) habit of skimming over the words - especially if the action gets fast but the sentences react disproportionately - and put more concentration into the visualisation and emotions of that exact moment. I find that I get a richer experience overall than when trying to absorb each word or character.

My choice of books of late includes those in the《四大名捕》series by 温瑞安 and my first ever 古龙 novel:《七种武器》. So far my impressions are that these titles deviate slightly from the good-triumphs-over-evil stories of loyalty and brotherhood from 金庸 that many people wish they can see in reality (but if so then books will be written about worlds in which evil triumphs over good instead).

Here's a screenshot to end off:

Google Translate fail

Also, the Bluetooth on my laptop has started showing signs of defiance. My wireless mouse has been denied all rights and I am back to the trackpad. On the bright side, my trackpad allows dragging now!

Omu Rice

九把刀

Today I did many small foolish things, some seen and others concealed:

I mistook the curry that came with my lunch as soup and took a large spoonful of it. And I only connected the dots with the distinct taste of curry five seconds after I did this.

I followed the wrong agent into the working area of the office when I was job-seeking.

I came out at the wrong landing when taking a lift that only catered to three storeys.

I stood in aisles of toys looking for playthings that were created for less than half my age.

And things that went unspoken and yet hovered in the air.

And perhaps many others which went unnoticed by myself.

Sometimes I sleep late.

Because I can't sleep at earthly hours; I toss and turn going through the 'horrifying' experiences I underwent that day, and I always come up with a better solution to each problem, a better reaction to what somebody said, a better emotion that I should have felt. I 'day'-dream about my counterpart in an alternate universe. If you are interested, I can share my/their stories with you.

The only way to fall asleep then is to stay up late. Only when the body is wasted can you fall asleep more easily.

Lunch was an average Tonkatsu Curry Omu Rice and Tori Teriyaki Maki which sorely lacked its teriyaki-ness. And tori-ness. I managed to pass on my chopstick kungfu (and in return was enlightened with other knowledge). Had planned to have Soyato afterwards to wash it down, and a visit to the temple to ease the stomach, but an unplanned appointment forced me to discard my cards.

I've tried to keep myself engaged during my long break but somehow my efforts just keep breaking up. What constitutes a necessary evil and what is something that is only done for the sake of doing? I am a visionary enthusiast, with a short attention span and no backbone. There are things to be done and jobs to be had, yet these obligations are left hanging. Why are there so many constraints? Why does there only appear to be one narrow path before me. I am alone in a minefield, and I must help myself. But the path gets so narrow, I'm walking on  tiptoe. Then I'm walking on one foot, tiptoe. Then it gets too demanding and you would rather give up and just lie down on the minefield, ah, how momentarily comforting the cold, hard ground is going to be and then boom, you are blasted to unrecognisable debris.

Which is the right thing to do, and which is the easy way out? Is the easy way always the wrong thing?

Feel the fat

After a few months of proudly declaring how long-lasting my Nokia 6700 Classic has been, something ominous has finally occurred: the device takes pretty long to open a short message, and sometimes fails to open messages at all. But I don't swallow my words; I believe something is wrong with the SIM card. Time to spend that $15 to get the replacement I have been putting out for a while.

When you have no income or allowance, you feel the pinch more. So I've been thinking to re-contract to the iOne Value with a SMS value-added service:

iOne Value
- Plan $15                                 80 minutes, 50 messages
- Caller ID $5
- VAS $5.35                            600 messages
Total: $25.35

iOne Plus
- Plan $24 (discounted rate)      100 minutes, 500 messages
- Caller ID $5
Total: $29

I have a 30% discount on all mobile lines currently, and have not included the GST for the above. Idea?

:A Visionary Enthusiast:

Source: Dictionary.com

I was thinking of switching the positions of the links on the left to make a side profile of a face - the kind of face formed by the outline of vases, you know? But was too lazy to try.