I can cook Chinese!

I cooked dinner today. I managed to put together a not-too-shabby Chinese style dinner for my brother and Alex! Quite proud of myself sia...here are some pictures (courtesy of Mr Lim).

This dish doesn't look like much, but it sure tasted good. I fried snow peas, fresh shitake mushrooms and prawns together, and the only seasoning I used was vegetarian oyster sauce. It looked a little...errr...brown, after I added the sauce, but it smelled and tasted great! My brother and Alex both approved of this yummy dish. The snow peas were surprisingly easy to cook. You just need to rinse them and stir fry them in some oil until they all puff up and look plump.

The fresh mushrooms are exceptionally juicy lor...I don't think I will ever truly like dried mushrooms ever again. Wahahaha...

Now this omelette was an excellent lesson for me. Here's what I learned about long bean omelette frying:

1. Stir fry the chopped long beans lightly in oil first to cook them thoroughly. This brings out the sweetness and makes it easier to combine the flavours of the beans and the egg.

2. Mix the fried beans into the beaten egg mixture to ensure that the beans are evenly spread throughout the egg mixture. (Failure to do so results in the above omelette - looks like the Earth where the beans make up the land, and the egg make up the water)

3. Use a non-stick pan to aid in omelette frying and do so on medium heat.

4. Flipping the omelette takes skills and practice. Without these, you may end up 'chipping' off a piece of the omelette leaving less than round. (See above for 'chipped' omelette)

This picture is a bit blurry (blame the photographer...HAHAHA), but it's a sample of the soup I cooked. It's really easy to make yummy soup. Just boil dried ikan bilis in water until fragrant and the ikan bilis is soft. Then add a little salt (or in my case, I cheated and added one chicken stock cube). Add diced potatoes and carrots and boil till soft. Then roll minced meat (I used pork) into little balls to add to the soup. Voila! A hearty soup with lots of ingredients to chomp on! ^_^

Three happy boys!
From left: Alex, Xing Wei and me!

After dinner, I was trying to sharpen my knife (it's too blunt already...cannot cut things properly...). And while I was doing so, I managed to 'persuade' Alex to do the dishes and to hang my laundry! Wahaha...manipulative me! Heehee...

Here's proof:



I love cooking...what shall I cook next? Hmmm...

*think think think*

GuildWars: Eye of the North

Today I delivered an ultimatum to my shit of a tuition kid. I'm sick and tired of setting aside time for his tuition sessions, only to have him cancel/postpone on me. Argh! I told him he's going to set the timing and then I'm going to appear regardless of whether he can make it or not. Yeah...

Anyway, onto cooler matters...

GUILDWARS: EYE OF THE NORTH!


This weekend is the preview weekend, and so far, it's been a blast! The new characters are looking cool and some of the new skills are not too bad. I'm trying to play as much of it as I can...don't think I can finish all the available quests though...ah well. Fortunately, they are letting us keep whatever we get during this preview period, so that means when the game actually starts on the 31st of this month, I will have a slight head start already! Woot!

Here are some screenshots from the new game:

From top:

Hot new Norn babe Jora,

Her possessed brother who cannot change back to human form,

Shamanistic ritual to summon ancient bear spirit

&

Ancient bear spirit (appropriately and unimaginatively) named......Bear.

I sense a conspiracy...

I always surf www.magicthegathering.com and the new set's theme decks seem to indicate some kind of 'collaboration'...I may be wrong, but don't you think the artwork on the box looks suspiciously similar to The World of Warcraft? Maybe Wizards poached WoW's artists? Or maybe the artists' have been free-lancing (which is normal) and they ran out of ideas, so they started to sell to both Wizards and Blizzard?

Heheh...just speculation of course, but one thing's for sure... The new set looks incredible! ^_^


Very WoW-esque right? I'm quite excited about it actually...but I don't know if I should splurge on the new set or not...jialat...another dilemma. Sighz..

Movie Marathon + Shopping Madness!

I watched TWO movies yesterday!

First up, it was The Simpsons at GV Plaza! Hilarious I tell you! I guess since it's nearing the end of it's run, that's why the cinema was generally empty. Also it was a weekday afternoon, so I'm not surprised. My friend and I were the ones laughing the loudest I think...also because I don't think everyone in the cinema got all the jokes and references. Ah well...the humour was lost on them I guess.

To be objective, I would say that the movie was not something that we could not have enjoyed on TV...so Homer was right, right at the beginning at the film. AH well...good laughs, are, well..good laughs, so I'm not complaining. =)

At Plaza Singapura, I also picked up a copy of the latest and final expansion for GuildWars! Blew $59.90 on that sia...but it's worth it lah... If not I will whine about it till the end of days anyhow. So might as well satisfy myself right now! Heheh..so excited about it. I get early access this weekend....all that new game content! Confirm mind-blowing I think...heehee

Later in the evening I met up with Xinwei, Max and Yiting to catch 881! Another excellent movie produced locally! I laughed and cried and enjoyed the Hokkien though I didn't understand about 2/3s of it...but I tried my best to recall what little Hokkien my mom had taught me, and it wasn't too bad...at worst, I resorted to the convenient subtitles lor...hehe

The emotional scenes really struck a chord with me, and I teared quite abit in the cinema. I wish I had someone to lean on though...heheh..ah well...all in good time. =) Before the movie, I realised that the pair of shoes I was eyeing at Pull and Bear had received a second mark down! It's now $39.90 from the previoue $49.90! I was so excited lah! So how? Buy lor... WAHAHAHA.

In total, I blew close to a $100 on shopping, and I don't even dare to add the movie tickets to everything lor...

All in all, I had a great day and really enjoyed myself! Now I have to go and pore over my readings liao...sigh...

9am class tmr...sianz...

Pol Starmaker the Diva Elementalist

I haven't really posted much Guild Wars lately...so here's a little something for those gamers out there.

"Watcha looking at?"
"C'mere! C'mere..."
"You wanna piece of me?"
"Nah uh..." *Diva finger wave...*

Who says MMORPG mages can only cast spells and look sexy in next-to-nothing armour? LOL!

First Day of School!

Heyhey ladies and gentlemen!

This is the mandatory first post of the semester. I had lessons from 9am to 2pm. And they were generally really fun! I enjoyed myself, and I had enough company as well.

The new FASS canteen is swell, and though I've yet to eat the yong tau foo (cos' of the long queue and limited lunch time), I still loved my entire 35mins I spent there. ^_^ The view is now spectacular...can see the sea now leh. And there's now a nice new staircase leading to the guildhouse! Wheee...

I should go and sign up for my gym membership soon. Will wait till the end of August so that I maximise my time, ya know?

Just went to Big Bookshop in Clementi to do stationery shopping and bought everything I needed for cheap! Shiok lah! Glad I went there instead of the CO-OP. I'm now in my CCA room wondering what else I should do. Bored bored bored...

Songs of the Sea

Went to Sentosa to watch Songs of the Sea with HX, Ding and MM. It was soooo LAME can? LOL. But fortunately the company was excellent and we had a lot of fun talking and being silly and nonsensical.

Generally, I felt they should've done away with the terrible storyline and just focus on the pretty light, fire, water and sound effects. I mean, a rehashed musical fountain would be much much better than some lame-ass story plot about reviving ancient spirits of fire, light and water right?



Beautiful evening sky...so nice right?



Strolling along Tanjong Beach before the show...Wahahaha....and there were many many cute dogs too! ^_^



Water! Lights! Sound! Songs of the Sea!



Wahahaha...silly picture we took with the lame ass lionfish, Oscar.

That was my National Day for you. Fun fun fun. Glad we still have time for silly things and great friends. ^_^

Silly Things Nice Things

Some random pics from here and there... :)

Big Kids! (Silly and Nice)


Beyonce and Audrey Hepburn! (Nice)



Lim Bo Seng disciplining his students. (Silly)

Those unafraid to dress up! (Nice)


Lazy Marketing...Same faces for different languages. (Silly)


Abracadabra...(I'm SO not convincing anyone...lol) (Silly)


Slitty-eyed, drink in one hand, mic in the other...CANNOT be good. (Silly)

I'm obviously red from alcohol consumption and scaring somebody...bad bad bad (Silly)


Totally not ready... (Silly)


Much much better... (Silly and Nice)

I think that should be enough photos for today...lazy to write = post pictures lor....wahahaha.

PS: The above pics were from events held during the past two months or so, and are in no particular order.

Dinners

I've had a couple of great dinners the past few days. Sadly, I only pictures of Monday night's dinner at home. Mom cooked quite alot..and it was all good. Hehe..here are some pics.

Chicken Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

The chicken meatballs were not made from mince chicken bought from the supermarket ok? My mom actually bought lean chicken meat and chopped it up herself. I guess it's more effort, but at least you know exactly what is going into your meatball. Regular mince meat has all sorts of additional stuff together with the meat lor...skin, fats, bone, etc etc.

The tomato sauce was made with tomato juice as a base...quite interesting actually. No tomato paste also...yummy.

Meatballs with Pasta (they go well together!)

Besides pasta, Dad made these cheese buns to go with the meatballs also. They didn't taste half bad! The recipe is quite simple also I think...just flour, eggs, milk and shredded cheese...must remember to ask Dad next time.

Funky Cheese Buns

Of course we must have our greens...and my mom stir-fried my favourite! SPINACH!!! Wheee...it was done without any seasoning whatsoever! Cool right? Only some dried ikan bilis and sring onions. Very 'light' tasting. ^_^

'Light' Tasting Stir-fried Spinach

That was Monday's dinner...I love home-cooked food. Always a joy to eat (or more like OVEREAT..it's always like that in my house...haha).

Tuesday, I had dinner with Matt at The Asian Kitchen. Sadly, it was a tad disappointing. The chicken was tough lor..and my Pineapple Curry had no pineapple. :(

Just now I had dinner with Grace and Eugene at Sizzler. Been soooo long since I had a meal there. Sadly, I was a little off form...so I didn't whack the buffet with my usual fervour which I reserve for buffets. Sooo sad...and Eugene just laughed genially when I complained about my lack of form...HAHAHA

Later today, I'm going shopping with Ray for our theme dinner this Saturday. We're gonna go PRIMARY SCHOOL!!! Hope the auntie doesn't frown at two grown men trying on Primary School outfits. Heh...so gonna have fun tmr! Mwahahaha.

PAYC rocked!

The camp ended last week and it can be summed up in a few words:

Small, short, and extremely fun!

My OG won Best OG! Wheee... Geishas FOR THE WIN!

LOL.

My fellow OGL was the coolest guy ever lah...had a lot fun leading our OG together. ^_^

I think on the whole the small size of the camp was what made it extremely enjoyable and memorable. I got to interact with almost everyone in the camp and that was great. It's been so long since I did all these 'leadership-esque' things lah...and I'm glad I finally have the chance to 'refresh' myself.

I got to know a few of my close friends better also...but at the expense of their liver though. Why do I say that? Aiyah, because on the last night of the camp, we had a lot of alcohol at our disposal, and some of my friends really don't go well with alcohol...a lot of secrets were shared that night. But I appreciate them more now...cos' I am sure if there had been no alcohol, I would not have heard all those things I heard.

I also got to appreciate some new friends better as well. Clarence was one of these people. I felt as though I had found a new brother. I just really want to thank you for being the person you are. Always ready to share your heartfelt opinion and always ready to show your appreciation to those around you. It's so rare to find an individual who isn't afraid to reach deep down and approach a subject from the most sensitive areas. That takes courage man...and great calmness as well.

I salute you bro!

I'm watching Harry Potter tmr! Totally geared up for it...but I am a little afraid of how long it might be...hope it's full of excitement and not too draggy. Hehe

Political Association Youth Camp

Today I went down to Sentosa to do pre-camp activities for the PAYC next week!

I'm quite psyched up about the entire camp actually! The games are a good mix of lame and fun stuff, and the whole teaching values things is expected and great as well. I shall be FUN next week, cos I think that's what the campers would appreciate the most.

I shall be FUN, COMPASSION and ATTENTIVE! Yesh...those things! HEHEHE

I learnt a few things about my friends today. I totally DID NOT know that dear Mr Lim cannot tahan balloons! Squealed like a girl lor...his manly image totally ruined. *disappointed* Clarence is freaking corny, but extremely chummy and fun to talk to as well.

Grace is really running this thing well, and I am quite glad for what is in store for us all! The fact that most of it is in Sentosa just freaking rocks! ^_^ Can't wait!

More updates soon!

ICT 4th - 8th, Tanjong Gul Camp! (REVIEW)

This post is long overdue...I have soo much to say actually, but I've just been too lazy to type out my entire experience for the past week lah. I think I will break it down into a day by day format, so that it's easier for me to remember, and easier on the eyes of all of you readers out there as well. So here goes...

Disclaimer: There will be usage of military jargon in this post. I apologise for any lack of understanding that I may generate with the usage of such terminology.

Day 1

I woke up early in the morning and dressed up. It's been awhile since I put on a No. 4 uniform, and carried my full pack. The feeling was one of nostalgia. I got on the bus and there was one other guy with the exact same 'set up' as me. One full pack, one extra big bag for stuff, and one sling bag. I was quite amused and kept grinning...the poor guy probably thinks I'm crazy or something. LOL.

On the train, there were quite a number of people reporting for their ICT as well. Everyone had the same HAIRCUT (high slope all around), same BARANG-BARANG (duffel bag & full pack day!), same CLOTHES (green's the colour of the day) and the same SIAN LOOK on their faces. Quite an amusing sight.

Dr Liem picked me up from Boon Lay station so that I didn't have to take the disgusting bus all the way in. 30mins of industrial park hell you know? yeesh...thanks, but no thanks. Once I scanned my IC and 'in-processed', it was time to do the assumption parade. Fortunately for me, I was the S1 (read: manpower officer/human resource manager etc), so I was in charge of ceremonial shit, so I did not have to form up with the rest....kekekeke. Unfortunately, it actually rained on our parade! Everyone was drenched on the first morning of the ICT...sian diao. My nicest No.4 was wet lor...and I was planning to wear it for at least two days some more.

Anyway, the main activities for the day were briefings and preparation for IPPT the next day! IPPT is the most dreaded thing in this ICT (for me lah)

Day 2

Waking up early in the morning is a bitch! But no choice, have to wake up is have to wake up. Fortunately I am an officer, so got abit more freedom. Heehee...

I head down to the ELISS centre...it's this new automated centre where everything is tracked by a chip in a number tag issued to you. Quite cool actually. My Standing Broad Jump (SBJ) actually passed leh! I managed a 216cm...amazing. I guess all that squatting in the gym really did count for something. The other stations were not too bad. Chin-ups I managed 8 only, a bit lacklustre compared to my fellow officers - most of them managed 12. Shuttle run and sit-ups were still 5 points for me - 9.9secs and 43 sit-ups.

My 2.4km run was the ultimate test. Although I had cleared my SBJ already, I did not know whether my running would still be able to make it you see. They have a gantry system in Tanjong Gul, where you run through it, and there are sensors which pick up the chip in your number tag. I cleared my first round in 5mins 45secs...quite slow actually, and in the second round, I began to get the 'shit-this-is-confirm-a-13mins-plus-run' feeling. My RSM was at the gantry cheering all of us on you see...he kept shouting to all the HQ officers, "Come on Sir! Go go go!" Hahahaha...see? really came true lor my prediction. By that time, though I was dispatched first, the other HQ officers had already passed me. My S3, CO, QM, MO, S4...so you can probably guess how I was feeling.

I still rushed for the finish line anyway, and when the scoreboard registered my crossing with a beep and a lighted score, I was delighted to see 12mins 15secs on the electronic scoreboard! Amazing!!! After not doing anything with regard to IPPT for TWO YEARS, it's amazing that I could still pass! Wheee!!! ^_^ RSM was most impressed that all the Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) managed to pass their 2.4km run, and he kept praising all of us, saying, "Wah, all the PSOs in this battalion 'eh zao eh'." (This means 'can run one' in Hokkien)

I was happy the entire day, and I certainly enjoyed my night's off that day. Met up with my friends (Gerald and Alex) who lived near to Jurong Point, and we walked the entire mall, like, 20 000 times? LOL...JP is really only THAT interesting. My day ended with Alex seeing me off, and Dr Liem coming to pick me up to go back to camp together. Whew...the scariest part of ICT for me is finally over! Heehee...yay

Day 3 -5

These days were filled with a lot of 'army stuff'. This means more military jargon then I care to share, and general complaints about the inefficiency of the NS administration. But those things aside, the people who were from my higher HQ are still very nice people, and I am glad that I have a team of dedicated people willing to explain the workings of NS administration to me. ^_^

Thanks also to the friends in my unit for making life bearable as I fought a hard one week battle with fucked up systems and terribly thick-headed chief clerks. Hahaha...new friends were made during the week, and old friends updated. Aaah...my life is good. S1 supposed to be super stressful, but I am lucky to have so many friends around me supporting me. ^_^

747 Guards is going to be a GREAT NS unit! (yes, my unit number is freaking cool lah!)

ICT 4th - 8th, Tanjong Gul Camp!

I will be having my first ever in-camp training until Friday! I'm actually quite excited to meet up with all my friends from my NSF unit! Heehee...

I have IPPT on Tuesday morning, and I know I'll probably fail terribly...sigh. I can so imagine the sergeant saying this:

"Sir! Come on Sir! You can do it!"

Sooo paiseh can? Haiz...what to do? When you let yourself go, you can only expect things like that. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing all my fellow officers again! We had fun times during our NSF days, so I hope the coming week will the same.

First day will be a bitch for me...confirm a lot of jokers AWOL, report late...blah blah blah...ah well...gambatte ne for me!

Seeya all next weekend!

Poke-madness!

Alex and I have been playing Pokemon on GBA emulators on our PC/laptop for the past few days...it's getting bad man...somebody save us! LOL...

Musings

As I walk with trepidation into this new life, I think about the severity of my actions in my past life. It seems as though I have learnt many new things about myself, or at least they seemed to be new things. I highly suspect they are things that I've always known, and just have not thought about for a long while.

The ability to socially meld into any setting is a powerful one, and is something that should be cherished. I do, however, wish to be able to project this ability differently - into more, umm, varied facets of my life. The shining Sun sprays forth its golden light into the world, and ignites growth and power in all beings. That being said, the darkness within men's hearts are also a strong power, when our hearts and minds happily act as conduits for this vileness that resides in all of us.

Of wisdom and courage, we have some, and sadly even that is rarely exercised. Follies in judgement often lead to heartache and frustration, eventually cyclical patterns then forever taking hold. Drawing reference from my favourite Naruto - you will always be forever stuck in the genjutsu, until you die, or disrupt with your flow of chakra. It's pretty interesting how the simplest solutions are ever present around us, and yet we fail to see them with our eyes which have grown myopic and petty and stubborn over the years.

This long holiday is going to be just that - a LONG holiday. The annoyance of it all...sighz...what to do? Next week is ICT (In Camp Training) for me, and I am quite looking forward to it, and yet dreading all that I have to accomplish within the few hours of the commencement of the ICT. *fingers crossed*

On a brighter note, I've met new friends recently, and they all seem like well-mannered, technically well-adjusted individuals of our harsh society. Good good...more sane people to support and to be supported by. Whew...such is the grace of the universe, the people, and the powers that be. *ommmm*

LOL...

This post has been a random musing brought to you by XJ. May you glean whatever wisdom you may find in it (goodness knows I sure can't find any..hehe), and take home whatever pleasure you may gain from reading this post.

Worst Semester Ever!

I got crap grades...

CAP actually dropped by 0.2...

Gosh...those of you who remember my previous CAP score will now know that my plans of doing Honours are in danger. I think small class sizes really screwed me this semester, and I DO NOT (for the life of me!) have the 'sociological imagination'.

Anyway, not in the best of moods right now, and PLEASE don't ask me if I'm ok...I hate that shit. You have to be specially 'trained' to navigate that area of questioning without me thinking that you sound like the greeting card attached to the wreath they send to funerals. LOL

I guess that makes it super clear about where to put my priorities next semester i.e. no more CCA shit for me. I can build my CV in other ways. Sighz...

Off to tuition, poor uni student, with crap grades, still needs his $$$ you know?

Ciaoz!

Again and again!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...

SKYPE ROCKS!

Lessons Learnt...

1. Money blows Family and Integrity out of the water time and time again.

2. I should learn to care a little less...it makes things easier.

3. Respect is soo easily lost...

4. Patience is a tough virtue to practise.

SMSes

amidst all the useless but well-intentioned SMSs
only one moved me to tears...

thank you for saying what, even i myself did not realise, i needed/wanted to hear
i thank you so much for knowing me that well...

thank you so much from the bottom of my heart...
really love you for being here for me
^_^

*stunned*

I am glad that I managed to tell him that I loved him and that I was thankful for all his love.

He was waiting for me to come see him...only me...

Then he left...