milk
YS:I've force myelf to drink more milk everyday because I am afraid of osteoporosis...
: (???) err do u know that too much milk is harmful for u? And that it doesn't really help?
I sent her some sites on that...
You die of either broken bones or cancer. Choose one.
You either die young or die of cancer at an older age. Choose one.
The thing about extending lifespan is that it comes with a higher probability of cancer.
Death is inevitable. Its a disease to which we have no cure of yet.
The highest rates of female cancers (breast, womb and cervical cancers) in the world can be found in milk-producing / milk-drinking countries:
Denmark (139 per 100,000 population)
Scotland (136)
Hungary (129)
England / Wales (127)
Ireland (126)
New Zealand (124)
Northern Ireland (123)
Singapore ranks 18th (110), on par with the US.
Cancer of the lung, breast and colon increased 2 to 3 times among Japanese women between 1950 and 1975. During that period, milk consumption increased 15 times, meat, poultry and eggs climbed 7 1/2 times, and rice consumption dropped 70 percent. (more...)Labels: food
salmon pasta
just made salmon pasta for dinner. My first attempt and i thought it was pretty good!
Briefly surfed the web for the simplest recipe yesterday. Stopped by the supermarket on the way home and bought some milk. Reached home, turn on computer and started cooking while running between kitchen and living room (where the computer is).
I think using a crushed garlic (with garlic presser) instead of a chopped garlic makes a huge difference. Mainly, the garlic 'juice' stays, while previously, chopped garlic tends to brown too quickly and burn.
So i am in a cooking mood now. I feel like getting a bread maker. I like dense bread rolls with crispy crust. Had a really good one in california once and a finnish told me thats how bread in finland tastes like. Dense.
Labels: food
goodnite world
Once again, its time to sleep. and i am reluctant to do so. We spend almost 1/3 of our lives sleeping.
There is so much to do sometimes that i really don feel like sleeping. I want to watch another film, listen to another song, read another article, think about stuff, read a book, eat ice cream... but no, I can't do that because I need to sleep.
goodnite world. See u in like 5hrs (i need more sleep than that i suppose)
I am probably feeling this way because I had coffee just 2 hrs ago. haha
apple job
A reporter at the Garden State Plaza (GSP) recently discovered that it is apparently more difficult to get a job with Apple in any capacity than it is to get into Stanford University, and that the company hires only one percent of applicants
(more...)
crumbs...
K: I stopped dancing for 7years. When I tell my friends that I went back to ballet, they go "Aren't you too old for that now?"
: I get a lot of that too
K: These people don't really live a life. The just go to work, eat, shit and sleep everyday!
K comes from quite an affluent background. Its easy for her to say this. Money is never a problem.
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When you are single, you wonder if you will always be alone.
When you have a partner, you wonder if you will be happy together always.
There are so many things in life to wonder and worry about. Seems like a never ending vicious cycle.
Its as if we live to worry.
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I ran to the library a on Friday to return a dvd. Looks like running is becoming my mode of transport now. Kills 2 birds with 1 stone. Although I could't stay long in there cos I was getting wierd glances! haha
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I don't like letting people into my life. Because when they leave, they leave traces behind that is hard to erase.
I've always done my running alone. Its time for my own n i like it that way. Until i met a guy who likes to run. I liked him so we ran together. Now that he is gone, traces of him remain on my running route. Memories of him are evoked when I do something as routine and simple as an evening run.
I should run alone. really.
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There are guys who are emotion-sluts. These are the people who don't want a proper relationship. They admit being players and yet they enjoy the thrill of having some "emotional" side to they flings. There is this guy, J who confides in me that he is "with" a gal who gets jealous whenever he talks to me. I was like, then don't talk to me. He goes "But its more fun this way".
These people don't have proper relationships, one night stands are lacklustre in its superficialness. Therefore, they go for such cheap thrills. Male bitches abound.
Oh, but why do I care? In fact, I encouraged him! (at least to just go for the sex)
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My little day dream fantasy one morning on my way to work. I notice that whenever I cross the bridge, my palms n feet tend to get sweaty! So just this week, i thought that I could be the ancestor of future x-man like mutants. Imagine if my sweaty palms condition becomes totally exagerated. I could give out high speed sprays of salted water to attack people! Upon contact with copious amount of my sweat spray, they are instantly immobilized when my sweat crystallizes! Cool huh? So i was telling m. xanthus about this and we started thinking what my salty character's name could be...
: salt woman? Sounds rather bad though..
xanthus: (thinks..) how about Crystallo?
: that sounds cool,.. oh how about NaCli?
you know for salt..
learning to love
About a year ago, Kenneth and I were having a discussion on love. He felt that sometimes, arranged marriage tend to last because the couple learned to love each other. While in today’s society, we talk about rights and freedom of choice, arranged marriagees is one of those things which I scorn. Simply because I’d always believe that everyone has a right to choose who they want to spend the rest of their life with. Is that too much to ask for? But is it better?
Yet, on retrospect, we also see that having the freedom to choose our mate does not guarantee a happy ending. Is it about tolerance that we lack? That we have grown up in a consumerism era, spoilt for choices, always striving for better newer things such that we do not know when to be happy with our mate? Just like we all go for newer, more technologically advance hand phones, bigger tvs, faster computer processing power, are we all also thinking of going for better mates?
Some people tell me that they are looking for “the one”. I think it’s a myth, really. What if there is no such thing as “the one”, and that you will only find “the one” when you learn to love and accept that person? Looking for “the one” is like some kind of misguided belief. People are always talking about it but does anyone find it?
We look for certain traits in our partners. Sometimes, we expect partners to come off the shelves packed with these certain traits that we want! That’s how finding the right mix of cereal works (banana nut crunch? Or blueberry?). People are acquired tastes. Just like oat and wheat (and anything healthy). We stumble upon them, and learn to love and acquire a taste for them.
I thought of this because just recently, through some incident, I realize that no matter how my sister can irritate me at times, I still love her. That’s the magic of sisterly love. She on the other hand is always complaining about my lack of planning and how she has to accommodate me when I spring “emergency” situations requiring her help. Yet, she still loves me. She has learned to love me other the years.
My nieces are no exception. Being only 4 years apart, I remembered how the elder child will always keep an eye on the younger one. Things that only sisters do. Such as sneaking into the kitchen late in the night for tuna and crackers, using the bathroom together (when they were younger of course), squabbling over toys etc. Now, it’s the “I find her irritating” phase. Yet, as much as they can bitch about each other, scream at each other, at the end of the day, ask any of them “do you love your sister?” Its always a “yes” no matter how sulky that can sound.
Maybe, its time that we stop being spoilt. Its time that we learn to love.
Falling in love has never had a reputation for making much sense. Dante glimpsed Beatrice a few times and wouldn't shut up about her for decades.
Why should not-falling-in-love be any more rational?
It comes down to the deterrent power of a Phil Collins CD in a woman's car. Or, a guy who habitually sticks his tongue out while eating, like a lapping dog. His girlfriend returns him to his cage, permanently.
Centuries from now, scientists may point to this as the moment in time when the pickiness gene became dominant. In the end, it will come down to one really old, lonely guy and his list.
"She must have blue eyes. She should like animals, but not in a weird way. No thin lips. No lawyers," he'll be writing, just before he keels over and the human race comes to an end. (more...)
traveling armchair: dumb brits with nothing to do.
traveling armchair: dumb brits with nothing to do.Hilarious! But I am sorry that she has to go through this.
the eyes
Borrowed a couple of feel-good chick flicks.
One of the being The Prince and Me. As much as it was a cliche story line, i enjoyed it.
I am not going to say that shakespear used a couple of times makes it different.
Superficially, I'd admit that I think the Prince looks gorgeous. Its the way he used his eyes. I don't know if its a caucasian thing. Really, having blue eyes set on me sends a chill through me. I think it must be the way light is reflected through them, making then more translucent, giving it a certain dimension compared to dark-eyed people.
I met someone who, has such blue eyes too. And when he uses it on me, it freaks me out in a way. Because it feels as though you can be trap in that gaze for a long time. I always pull away. Blue-eyed people probably make good dancers. As what my teacher will say, you must have the ability to use your eyes to attract the audience. (she is rather good at it, and no blue eyes) Maybe its not the eye color?
Blue colored contact lenses might do the trick!
m: I remembered you use to do that.
: I still do that!
Home Run
I ran home from work today =)
I enjoyed it and decided that I will do that more often.
The route through South Buona Vista was really nice. A gentle descend (compared to Mt Faber's which is so hard on my knees) coupled with a 'fresh' forest feel was great.
One day, I will run to work. That will be a gently ascend, i'm sure it will be fun too.
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So why run home?
Somehow, I thought that it was a wonderful idea to run home from work. I exercise, and I reach home. That aside, its a great source of motivation to just run. I mean, if i start the run, I just have to finish it to get home. Its the sort of situation that may seem like desperation will see me through. If I am running somewhere near my house, I can stop any time i want and simply walk back. But the run from office to home is different. Stopping half way to walk back will take too long. Its, i suppose a challenge that I threw myself. The rules, rule was simple, no stopping except at traffic lights. Anyway, it wasn't as tough as I'd thought, as long as I ran at a leisurely pace.
Labels: runs
the way to the holy see 2004
Labels: travels
coffee
I know of a way to wake up feeling totally refreshed every morning.
Coffee at 10pm, to bed at 2am, and i wake up feeling happy.
Seems insane, but it works!
Labels: food
worlds first..
woes of being a parent. woes of having to face public toilets. Woes of having to go out with your little daughter on a sunday afternoon. in crowded singapore. Truly, 4.5million singaporeans take to the streets on the weekends. And there are only so few places to go to? Today, I walked in to the public toilet at City Hall MRT station. You smell the stench before you enter. And there was this helpless mother making her daughter pee into a plastic bag simple because the q was too long and the poor child could not hold it in any longer.
I thought that singapore was a clean, green and fine city. Shame on our toilets.
I thought singapore was going to have the FIRST toilet college in the world (see, we really need it). Shame on our toilets.
(A german friend who visited singapore remarked that we have a thing for words like "first", "largest", "biggest"... eg. "worlds tallest man made waterfall", "the southern most point", now to add on will be the worlds first toilet colleage)
Its amazing how in our squeaky clean island, we can have such awful toilets. In particular the ones you find in the MRT stations. Another really gross one is the Ang Mo Kio station's toilet. It was such a traumatizing moment when I have to use it I'd rather not think about it now.
I am not some spoilt city brat who can't go to toilets without gold taps (haha). I've been to Nepal where the toilet was simple a hole in the ground. Yet it was totally bearable. A little shack out in the open, is always full of fresh mountain air and plenty of ventilation. The toilet never stinks as badly as some of them here.
My heart goes out to that poor mother. In fact, i think kids should just stay at home till they can behave and learn to use the bathroom not at the last minute. I remember seeing a family at this restaurant once. Father, mother and little daughter enters restaurant. daughter went into the babt chair. Father leaves the 2 of them behind (to go shopping??).Poor mother had to ensure that daughter eats. All this while she was throwing fries all over. How delightful. how adorable! I have nothing against kids who behave. those who don't should just stay home.
A thin line
I don't know why but I was talking about my first boyfriend just now. About how he was totally possessive. He learned not to be so in his next relationship -- he trusted his galfriend, gave her complete freedom and such but it didn't work out anyway. She went back to her ex. There is just so much one should be possesive about, and just so much 'freedom' one can give. Its a fine line, a complex balance. Too much possessiveness suffocates the relationship. Giving complete 'freedom' could simply feel as if one doesn't care. Truly if one cares, there is not such thing as not interested in what your partner is up to in the name of giving him/her freedom.
My sister doesn't seem to care about her kids. Today they were sitting for the RAD exams, and their skirts were not ironed. shoes were not cleaned etc. She simply told me that she wants her kids to learn to iron her own stuff. That they should learn to be independent. Yet i feel that when you let kids do whatever they like without a certain amount of guidance, the screw up. One should be concerend enough yet give their kids some autonomy to learn "independence"
But that is such a fine line again.
The Source of my depression...
rad
Its been almost a year since I started ballet. Not counting those times I danced during school time.
Finally, I'll be taking the RAD examinations next week. Can't wait for it to be over. we have been practising for it for weeks. Listening to my teachers yelling and screaming at us to point, to jump, straighten and lengthen. It was stressful. There was one particularly bad session when my face broke out in pimples at the end of it!
whatver. I don't think I will flunk it.
Labels: dance
It needs a frame..
Labels: art
Never been kissed
One of the first things I want to know about a guy who I could be potentially dating is this:
Have you had a girlfriend before?
This might seem to be a redundant question to some (“You mean there are guys at this age who has never dated before?” yes) but its true that there are such people around. I don’t know why, but somehow, knowing that this guy has never dated before can be appalling to me. He is probably never been kissed, he’s a total nube at how to treat a gal. He is going to go through the first-boyfriend problems such as possessiveness. (Its my general observations that boyfriends tend to be more possessive in their first relationship). That aside, you will wonder if there is anything wrong with this guy…
Of course, there are wonderfully eligible guys out there who may never have a galfren before. I’ve yet to meet them.
(running does make me think a lot)
role revarsal
I was invited to a friend’s housewarming over the weekend. And boy did he cook! I guess it wasn’t anything spectacular but really, I was impressed. I guess I am easily impressed by anything that goes beyond pasta and instant food. (in defense, I must say that although I can only cook pasta, I do it well! Haha). He was immediately more attractive to me.
Strange that these days, I find a guy who has “domestic” abilities attractive. Those who can cook, clean and basically keep their house in order impresses me. Partly because I am not good at any of these and also because somehow, a guy who can do all these things says something else about himself. Perhaps, it’s a sign of independence, the ability to look after himself at least that assures me that he can take care of me too. I think these traits are important especially in Singapore where many people live with their parents till they get married. As a result, most of them struggle with housekeeping and cooking. (I’ve married friends who tells me that their husbands really can’t take care of themselves and don’t know how to do simple household chores…) I am too, a result of this society but in a different way. Growing up with a traditional, conservative thinking mother, I have been thought to do housework because to her, every woman should be able to take care of their husband and kids. I always have to do my laundry while my brother does not. What injustice! I don’t mind doing my laundry but why does my brother get away with it? Geez…
I appreciate these so called domestic qualities after I’ve spent some time living alone abroad. During school time, it wasn’t really counted. I never had to cook, home was only 30mins away so essentially, I was not independent. But when I was in Italy, I was totally on my own. Grocery shopping, planning what to cook, learning to cook simple stuff all these were something I’d never done in Singapore. Instant noodles were expensive so I’d prefer to cook something else instead. I remembered having to learn from my housemates who were also all younger than me. Margo (gorgeous blond babe) told me that she started cooking really young. Its part of their culture in a way cos food outside is so expensive. Once I was lamenting to Paula that I can’t make salad because I couldn’t find dressing at the supermarket…
: how do you make your salad when I don’t see any “thousand island” at the supermarket?
P: You make them
: What? You mean you can make them???
That’s it! I sounded like Paris Hilton. Nothing else exist outside “krafts”
Its something like a role reversal for me. I actually learn how to cook from men. From my brother who taught me how to crack my first egg, to my ex boyfriends who could whip up like meals I thought could only be found in restaurants. They make it look so simple. Recently I watched someone prepare steak with mushroom sauce… he was like done in 30mins. No sweat!
I think Singaporean men should honestly live alone for some time. I think NS helps but its not enough because they still get to go home every weekend to be coddle by mama.
I don’t think I’ll make a perfect housewife in my mum’s eyes. But at least, I can survive on my own.
In her shoes
Women are known to love a couple of things obsessively. I am no exception.
Shoes are like one of my greatest love. And finding the perfect pair is my perpetual dream. Because you see, I have the misfortune of being born with hyperhydrosis. In english, it means excessive sweating. For me its in the feet and hands. Living in a tropical climate doesn't make it any better. After some walking in almost any shoes, my feet will almost always start sweating. And it works in a feed-forward fashion, once it starts it doesn't stop unless I dry it. Its partly psychological too. The more I worry about it, the worse it gets. Its a socially embarrassing situation too. I therefore, will probably never do ballroom dancing -- unless gloves are acceptable. And I also rarely hold my boyfriend's hands (unfortunately, I had a boyfriend once who took it as a sign that I didn't like him). Imagine how i love to touch but is hampered by a film of sweat. when there's sweat, touch feels different too. Maybe, thats why I like the beach. It calms me immensely, everything is wet and salty anyway!!
Therefore, my shoes have to be slip proof. Is a huge discomfort to be walking in shoes when my feet feels wet. I basically start to slip and slide in them. Its so incomfortable when I remembered once, i actually removed them and walk barefoot. (it was so late, there was no one around..) Shoes with insoles covered with fabric, or is leather, or is embossed with some designs (to provide more friction) are the kinds I go for. This is criteria #1.
Heel. I learned to buy shoes through the hard way. When I was younger I had bought many mistakes and the painful lessons i've learned are never to be forgotten. If the soles are too thin, they don't provide enough support and you will strain your feet.
I use to not wear much heels because they make my feet slide more. Then someone pointed out to me that heels really change the way one looks. Its true. The posture changes, the legs look lengthened, leaner, the calves prettier. Now, i am all for heels. Heels come in various types. There's the chunky ones, which provides stability, and the stiletto types which gives you a slight sway as you walk ( its the attempt to balance of course!). My fav currently is the cone heel. Its like a stilette which flare up towards the bottom so that it still looks pretty but is more stable.
upper. This is simple. Straps may be pretty but one has to be careful. Many years ago, i had a pair of strappy platforms-- so pretty but really, when I walked in them, especially downhill, every single strap cut into my feet!! It was total Pain. My feet turned red. My toes are kinda long. They flare out easily. So well, open toe shoes should be the type which keeps my toes together...
Shoes are important because they can make you feel good, confidence stems so much from the posture which comes from the pair of shoes u are in.
Clothes maketh the man
Shoes maketh the woman.
Labels: films
run
After complaing that I have not ran in 2 weeks, I finally got to do it today.
There are 101 reasons why I don't run. I don't have the time, its too late after work, its raining, I am dead tired, I have to go out with friends, I just ate too much, etc etc
really.
And I noticed that when I had a boyfriend, i ran more. Simply because I don't have to go out with so many other people. I had almost a social life of nil. I remembered something i read from A.S Byatt -- Love is like a prison where everything around you gets smaller. Something like that. Maybe.
So I did a different route today. I wanted to check out if there was any way i could from my place cross over to Normanton along the AYE but not run on the AYE. I knew from Street Directory.com that there's a loop which goes rather near to it. I was hoping oto find some little foot path that could lead me right to Normanton (this is important because that also means that I can run home from work, without running down South Buena Vista road which i think could kill me).
Ran at Bury Road. What an ominus name! It was already dark, and the road looked deserted. I decided to go ahead since I don know when I'll have the time to run again. Its one of those horror story scenario. Deserted road, quiet, a few houses - colonial style therefore looking very haunted. Street lamps lighting up the way.. I don't know where I am going at all. Further in, it was lke a bat's paradise. quite a couple of them flapping about. And I thought, now we have the dracula effect settling in. Although it all seemed rather daunting, its actually a nice place for a run. Its quiet, theres barely any traffic, therefore my air feels clean. In fact when I look at the map again, its almost at Kent Ridge park. And i thought to myself, how wonderful it'll be if i lived here.... its kinda fun to run about lost. I asked a jogger (the only one i saw) where a particular road leads to, he told me its some roundabout (which i later somehow didn't quite find and so had to turn back maybe i should have just ran on) He was quite cute. =) I ran past some nice houses too. By then it was really dark. I turned back and tried a different road but about 100m in, it all got creepy. Felt like i was running through a forest. Just grass and trees, and some huge drain... street lamps became the white kind which just makes the entire place feels cold too. Scary. I decided that was the end of my adventurous run for the day and turned back to the road I came in by.
Think I ran a lot. Cos some time after that I could no longer feel my feet. My stopwatch says 54min when I stopped at CMPB.
Feeling very good now =)
Labels: runs
watever...
: I may be single, but I am not available
On retrospect, when you say a line like this to someone, its basically a nice way of saying that I don't like you. And really, it means "I may be single, but i am not available to you"
On marriage, someone asked when will that happen to me. And without thinking, i went
"marriage is not for intelligent people"
(i instantly regreted saying that)
Hello World!
Hello World!!
From Mac, from Home! =)
: My flies are really happy. They live on a bed of food, and we even provide them mates!
The space isn't big but they are comfortable. In fact, they don't even fly out much when I open the cage!
May: That sounds just like SIngapore. Small space, but the people are comfortable!!!
Ultraviolet.
That’s certainly not my type of movie.
“Hi my name is Violet. UltraViolet”
Translates into
“Hi, my name is Bimbo. UltraBimbo”
(quoted from esther)
After years of watching Chinese kung-fu films, Hollywood fight scenes just aren’t spectacular.
The special effects are (Kudos to matrix) but hey, films such as “Hero” has it too! Its no biggie, really.
web
So I met someone who is a friend’s friend’s. (I could simplify it by saying I met someone through a friend.)
I didn’t give him my number, but a friend gave him my email addr (office). And with that, he did a google search and …
Found out much more about me.
Granted that there are many other people with my name + family name, its not easy to figure out which one is really me, but, my company puts my picture on the web with my full name which makes searching easier!
The thing is that these sites are stuff which goes all the way back to university days. They just didn’t take down the page. I mean with my full name you can find out which university I was from, where I went for student exchange, what I did in school, which eventually even links you to my personal home page. (which gives even more information though it hasn’t been updated in years.)
Its creepy how much someone can dig out just through the web. Thankfully that person who did that isn’t some weird stalker psycho.
