internet...
I just moved in to a new place over the weekend, no internet or cable set up which is killing me. I get restless. I wanted music but hey Pandora will not work without internet access. I wanted to get some homework done but wait a minute, my bioinformatics assignment requires me to be online. I admit that having tv is a source of distraction, but not having internet is like a double edged sword. It seems like i can't get anything done.
I should just stop whining, go home and unpack. Its amazing how much one can accumulate in merely 2 years. Someone suggested that i get rid of some of my clothes and i thought, no way!
food rants
Its so true our love for food, typically local food is what makes us Singaporeans. Or at least me, a singaporean. Having been away from home for over a year, what I miss the most is laksa, char kway teow, nasi lemak, and the list goes on. Of course I miss the usual family and friends and the comfort of being home (rarely the climate) but these people are simply a phone call or email away. Its the FOOD, that i have no way of getting around! I will scour the internet for recipes or just description of singapore cuisine but nothing can satiate the cravings i have for something like Otak. There are a couple of dishes that I can make, the simple stuff such as soy sauce chicken but there is no way i can master laksa paste, or make satay the way it is back home (Thai restaurants here have their own version of satay which pales in comparison...). Thankfully, with the advent of food preservatives and vacuum packs, I've friends (actually only 1) who sends me the occasional care package of an assortment of pastes. So today, i managed to satisfy my laksa craving. And geez, this particular brand is spicy -- i think its better that Prima's. I don't think i've have had anything this spicy and tasty in such a long time. My version of laksa is made up of sotong balls (to replace fish cake), mix of frozen scallops, prawn and calamari, and sliced tau pok (this is the most important ingredient to me). I wished i had "hums" too. I've not come across "cu mee fen" here so i thought i will settle for "bee hoon" which unfortunately, turned out to be "tung hoon" (yeah i can't tell these 2 apart and the names they have there are just different -- ie mung bean noodles, bean thread noodles are actually both the same as i have just found out). Since i didn't fancy tung hoon in my laksa, I wind up with "mee sua" instead. It was still good, and so spicy that my nose got all runny and my hands were shaking (ok, i know i am weak when it comes to the real spicy stuff). Though what possessed me to crave for this dish on one of the warmest Santa Cruz weekends, i don't know. Which makes me think that Singaporeans must love our food and the spice so much that we will eat all that in the sweltering heat! I certainly -- recalling those lunch hours at that Holland Village Nasi Lemak/Katong Lakso stall, where we were practically sitting in the sun except for a wimpy red umbrella for shade...I am looking for the day where there is an instant pack for char kway teow, hokkien mee, chai tao kway which can capture the "wok hei"I am also thinking that I may be able to make nasi lemak but i fall short of the chilli and otak *sighs* I found ikan bilis at the asian market. its not the ones used in typical nasi lemak, its a chilli ikan bilis snack from thailand but that should suffice.Its hard describing these food to americans. There is nothing like that here. The american version of chinese food is fried, greasy and too salted. I feel sickened if i have too much of it. And fortune cookies!!! Where did that come from? At least here in santa cruz, i do know of 1 chinese restuarant that deviates slightly from the usual greasy fare. Imagine how pleased I was to find "Niang Dou Fu" which is steamed soft "dou fu" topped with minced pork and shrimp. And "dou miao" stir fried in oyster sauce and garlic. Simple but yummy dishes. But I think thats as far as it goes. Most of the items on the menu still succumbs to the typical misguided american taste. I recommeded this restaurant to a friend (american) who didn't like it... i guess thats why most places here still do all the fried stuff.I will admit that singapore's char kway teow isn't the healthiest stuff around, but its worth the cholesterol for that! hahaha... I always think that if i have to eat supposedly unhealthy food, it has to be worth it. If i were to have ice cream, it better be good ice cream, chocolate -- good chocolate, cakes -- good cakes etc u get the idea.Guess i should stop ranting on about food. To singaporeans out there living in singapore, easy access to all these hawker food... cheap food, i envy u. [Now i can understand how Jon lost weight in London and while on hols in singapore, drank up all his laksa gravy -- i would do the same now too!] Now All of a sudden, i am thinking of the food at Geylang, the 24 hr Dimsum, the "tian ji zhou" (frog legs!!), "you teow" and soy bean curd.. argh! The truth is, i can't even justify how and why i will gain weight here aside from the prevalent high fructose corn syrup and whatnots that stealthily creep into your seemingly healthy food such as yoghurt.I know the laksa on the right really doesn't look all the great. but seriously, i as long as it tastes as good, i am a happy person.[thanks to celeste who provided the paste.]
bored
Its ironic that in this age of internet connectivity, where almost all sort of information is within easy reach, I find myself prone to boredom. I miss those days when a book is all I need to stay preoccupied.
thoughts again
The best and worst in people materialise in hard times. And its disheartening to see the latter. I guess its a test of one's mettle, true colors show up, every facade disappears.
big sur marathon 2009
After i was done with the QUALS -- by that i really mean it in caps.... someone asked me if that was the hardest thing i've ever done. I don't know because after it was all over, it didn't feel like it was such a big deal. Granted that while waiting for my results, i was sitting outside the exam room utterly convinced that i failed and was wondering when i should reschedule my next exam... Thankfully, I passed.
Anyway back to the question, which someone (Bill) answered for me:
? : so do u think this is the toughest thing u have ever done?
me: (silence... i was seriously thinking about it)
Bill: Her upcoming marathon!
Proabably. Now that i have completed the marathon, i don't know the answer either. I had a chemistry teacher in junior collage who observed that students who did some sort of sports tend to perservere as much in their studies. This is slightly against the notion of pale-faced geeks cramming books under the fluorescent lamp. Personally, I can draw analogies from running and apply it to everyday life. A marathon, while mentally inconceivable, can be done. Because once you start, there is no way you can simply give up. The wall you hit on the 17th mile, makes me wonder why did i ever sign up for this tortuous event. At some point, you are physically numb and mentally blocked. But you plod on because thats the only way to reach the end...
The finish line at the end is probably the best sight ever. Its like seeing water after thirsting for days in the desert! The final dash for the oasis. ok i am totally exaggerating... but that was how it felt like.
I think we always make things out to be harder than they really are. Because when we look back, it always doesn't seem like such a big deal after all.
14mile - Waddell creek to silver falls, Big Basion
So i finally signed up for a marathon. There are a couple of things i think one should experience at least once... and of course, completing a marathon is one of them. Recall the time when i signed up for a half marathon and never did it. I have 2 versions as to why it was a no-show. To people who i don't know very well, i tell that i had an ankle injury. To my closer friends, i just tell them the blatant truth -- that i overslept. Both are equally true but seriously, i would have ran with my injured ankle. But maybe it was a good thing i didn't run, because my ankle recovered after 2 months of not running. [after all that TCM of rubbing my ankle, which hurts like f***ing a lot during each 30min session, which didn't help]
I did my 1st 14mile run last weekend. It was a rainy Valentine's day! haha. My longest run ever and i never thought i could do it. but hey, i did. All it takes i guess are running buddies, water and gu (and bearclaw). It was pure exhilaration after 1.5 hour into the run. Sweat/salt encrusted face, and legs cakes with mud... but it felt so darn good. =)
rain
m: Its a beautiful day!
: its grey!
m (laughs): you will not survive in denmark
I am used to sweltering hot summer days, everyday. Its a beautiful day when you can feel tropical warmth without the overbearing humidity that is so typical of Singapore. Here in california, we get exactly that in summer. A few months of perfect weather. Then fall sets in, daylight hours gets shortened, the sun takes a break with the occasional special appearance and its awful weather to me almost everyday now. I stay indoors most of the time and wished that humans hibernate too. Today, for some unknown reason, i looked out into my backyard and lo and behold! A rainbow! Rainbows, as i have written before, are very special to me. And i believe many people share similar sentiments too. It struck me that its only on grey wet days like this that we get rainbows. So i suppose i should appreciate the rain as much as anything else, for without the rain, we don't get rainbows. I put on a rain jacket and walked out to snap a couple of pictures. It was a great time to be out, the sun was setting, casting its rosy hue across the horizon. The grass and leaves were wet with rain, and it was all so quiet. It felt like a new world.
If you will look closely at the picture, you may spot the rainbow.
Its Fall
what's in a name??
"
What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet."
There i was, confounded by the act of having to
name my hard disk partitions! I mean, seriously, they are just partitions, why do i care so much about the name??
When i was 7, we had 3 pet bunnies. We named them 1, 2 and 3. Which is so un-child-like! Its as if we were naming genes discovered in yeast or C. elegans which is rather methodical and orderly such as Atg1, Atg2, Atg3 so on and so forth.
Back to the present. Partitions. My old lap top had partitions named E and F -- again, not very creative i must say. I had this other hard disk partitioned into Pigu and Mogu. After a japanese cartoon which i got addicted to for a while on You tube. Today, i am trying to be creative. I want to name my partitions in a way that reflects me. It is a Western Digital hard drive, called Elements. See, thats a cool name. Why can't i think of something like that too? Simple, elegant. Can't have anything too complicated or unheard of, unpronounceable. Recall my first hotmail address. I was in this phase of spelling everything backwards. And i was really into Anne Rice's vampire series. So it became eripmav at hotmail dot com. That was accompanied by a more complicated password which i have long forgotten. Its been a bloody long time since i tried to log in to that account.
I am dive-sick. I wished i could have done more scuba when i was back for the hols. So, therefore in memory of my dive trip, i finally decided on Manta and Nudibranch. I decided that 2 partitions were enough since i really don't want to go through the entire conundrum of more names! Manta, because i would really like to see a whole school of them. Nudibranch, because i have always liked these beautiful invertebrates.
Instant Gratification
"Although this study is being conducted on Delaying Gratification, several important insights can be made about your emotional state based on your pattern of responses. In general, you are about as satisfied with life as most people. Overall, you seem to be a fairly relaxed person who is not easily bothered by daily stressors. Lately you do not worry very often, and you rarely feel sad or depressed. Either you have very low levels of anger or you hide it well. In terms of physical health, you tend to be about as healthy as most people. Lately, you feel well and do not report any physical complaints. For people who are not as satisfied with life as they would like to be, the following feedback on delaying gratification may suggest useful paths for changing behavior. Foremost, your responses indicate that you are sometimes able to withstand discomfort for the sake of long-term gains, but in some areas you are more concerned with immediate pleasure. In terms of eating habits, you may have some healthy habits but also tend to occasionally indulge cravings or eat unhealthy foods. In general, physical comfort is important to you, but sometimes you are willing to experience distress if there are positive long-term consequences. In social situations, you sometimes focus more on meeting your own needs than pleasing others, but seeing other people happy also makes you happy. Financially, you may try to save money when possible but also splurge from time to time. In school and work, you may have tried to work hard but sometimes procrastinated."
http://www.happypsych.com/
