Had ham and cheese omelette for breakfast this morning. It was the first time in a long while that I had 3 eggs, instead of the usual 2. Managed to fold the omelette in a neat way this time around, and I am proud of this little achievement. However, I forgot to add soya sauce to the raw egg mixture and it ended up quite tasteless. So, I had to add the sauce manually to the fried eggs themselves.
Went to Auchmuty Library to continue to source for literature melting points. But using the Sci Fi Scholar is such a hassle. If too many people are using the program, you will not be able to log into it. As a result, I could not use it for the entire morning. Plans always deviate from ideality. I had intended to find Adam personally to seek his help in locating chemical literature, but it was a total failure. I knocked on his door, only to be greeted with silence. Tried calling thrice on his office phone, but no one picked it up. Looks like I have no choice but to attempt to call him up tomorrow again. It is imperative that my lab assignments get done, for the exam dates are looming closer and closer.
Today is the last formal lecture for Green Engineering, and Michael lectured about the case study of the FCC unit, which was 100% descriptive. He will be posting some past year examination questions, and I certainly hope that they will be reused, so as to cut down studying time. Went to Auchmuty library again to print a reference for CHEM 3210 lab and continue searching for literature melting points. I managed to find the melting point for one compound, seems little, but it is better than nothing right? It was raining when I was strolling back home from UoN. Cannot even remember when was the last downpour. Previously in late April, there were many intermittent and unpredictable showers in a day.
Have been feeling really chilly these days, so much to the extent that I wore my woollen socks to school today. That helped to a significant extent, at least my feet no longer shiver from the cold air. I must really take extra good care of myself now, for the winter season and examination period are approaching. Cannot afford to fall sick! On a totally unrelated note, I had no choice but to waste 2 fruits yesterday. Both my last banana and apple had turned brown. Heart aches but I cannot risk getting food poisoning at this crucial period.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Difficult Retrosynthesis Workshop
Yesterday, I managed to sleep at more appropriate time at 1 am. But somehow my body refused to remain in a deep mode anymore and here I am, awake typing this blog entry. Two blankets aren't enough to keep me comfortably warm, I need my woollen socks too. Using 2 blankets,gloves and woollen socks will be ideal, but the gloves are so chunky and restricts my hand motions. Nevertheless, it is just another 44 more days more before I return to Singapore.
It was another fruitless day searching for information to do my CHEM 3310 lab reports and assignment. Still have yet to receive an email from Adam, think I have to go knocking on his door and ask him personally for help. Having so many undone pieces of work weighs a ton in my mind. Not to mention, I cannot have absolutely full 100% in my exam revisions. To add to even further damage, I cannot comprehend what is going on during CHEM 3210 lectures recently. The professors seem to be mumbling most of the time and I still cannot catch their accents completely. Desperately require a miracle now.
Retrosynthetic workshops will replace CHEM 3310 wet lab sessions from now. And the questions Adam posed to us are so difficult! The molecules are so complex that I do not even know how to cut them into appropriate synthons. We are expected to memorize more than 100 kinds of reactions, including their reagents and conditions for the upcoming organic chemistry exam! This is so depressing, for my memory capacity seems to decrease as I grow older. UoN's workload seems to appear even more demanding than NTU's now. So much for saying that overseas education is much less stressful.
Went to the library with Cathy to source for our melting points after schoo. She introduced a new website to me, called Chemspider. It is even more comprehensive than the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, and according to her, you can find the melting points of very complex compounds there, albeit the fact that they may be given in a different name. Took a photograph with her for memory purposes. Hope I have the chance to take one with Kelly and maybe Renee as well.
Only revised Warwick's set of alkene and alkyne lecture notes yesterday, which is nothing much to shout about. Today, I have an agenda to fulfil, seek Adam's help personally on searching for literature, doing IRHR 1001 readings and doing up bits of my lab reports. Speaking of reports, I handed a couple of them to Adam already. Pray that I can pass them despite not putting in my best efforts. * cross fingers
It was another fruitless day searching for information to do my CHEM 3310 lab reports and assignment. Still have yet to receive an email from Adam, think I have to go knocking on his door and ask him personally for help. Having so many undone pieces of work weighs a ton in my mind. Not to mention, I cannot have absolutely full 100% in my exam revisions. To add to even further damage, I cannot comprehend what is going on during CHEM 3210 lectures recently. The professors seem to be mumbling most of the time and I still cannot catch their accents completely. Desperately require a miracle now.
Retrosynthetic workshops will replace CHEM 3310 wet lab sessions from now. And the questions Adam posed to us are so difficult! The molecules are so complex that I do not even know how to cut them into appropriate synthons. We are expected to memorize more than 100 kinds of reactions, including their reagents and conditions for the upcoming organic chemistry exam! This is so depressing, for my memory capacity seems to decrease as I grow older. UoN's workload seems to appear even more demanding than NTU's now. So much for saying that overseas education is much less stressful.
Went to the library with Cathy to source for our melting points after schoo. She introduced a new website to me, called Chemspider. It is even more comprehensive than the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, and according to her, you can find the melting points of very complex compounds there, albeit the fact that they may be given in a different name. Took a photograph with her for memory purposes. Hope I have the chance to take one with Kelly and maybe Renee as well.
Only revised Warwick's set of alkene and alkyne lecture notes yesterday, which is nothing much to shout about. Today, I have an agenda to fulfil, seek Adam's help personally on searching for literature, doing IRHR 1001 readings and doing up bits of my lab reports. Speaking of reports, I handed a couple of them to Adam already. Pray that I can pass them despite not putting in my best efforts. * cross fingers
Monday, May 19, 2008
Oily sausages
Fell asleep at 9+ pm and woke up at 2+ am just to blog and brush my teeth. But I forgot to put my laptop back on the table and switch off the light. As a result, my sleeping position was really awkward. This explains the aches on the upper part of my body. And, I noticed that I am prone to sustaining blue blacks here, which is not a good sign.Blue blacks take at least a week to heal.
There are many species of birds in the vicinity of North Lambton, and they like to perch on the maple tree which is almost bald and the overhanging telephone wires. I saw birds that are yellow and red in colour on the maple tree when I was strolling home from school, Also, there was another species of birds resting on pink roses that are blooming beautifully. Previously, I have seen unusual birds with a horn like structure on their heads. This feature reminds me of a unicorn, which is an imaginary horse with a long horn on its head. Unlike in Singapore, I rarely see sparrows and mynahs.
Tried the food in Shortland Building's canteen for the first time. Ordered kway chap with chicken and vegetables for lunch. The gravy was tasty, for chinese herbs and spices were added to it. But the kway chap was far too little, compared to the generous helping of the side ingredients. Furthermore, a small bowl of noodles,vegetables and meat cost $7.50 ! I finally understand why everyone has been saying that Chinese cuisine in Australia costs a bomb! Since I was still a little hungry, I went to buy a fish fillet, which is also very expensive at $3. Guess I will stick to good old Subway the next time round.
Bumped into many familiar people today, such as Eva in Auchmuty library, Zhaowei before Green Engineering lecture in the computer lab, Kwang and Linkooi. Interestingly, I saw Linkooi and Kwang two times in a day! Today's Green Engineering lecture was about the case studies done on the Chloro-alkali unit. The contents remind of me of CBC 931. Still remember it as a module which puts your memory capacity to the ultimate test. The questions were mainly descriptive with little application. Michael wants to have an extra lesson on Week 14, hope he changes his mind because all of us need that period of time to study!
Had indo mee, cheese and garlic sausages and a banana for dinner. The sausages are so fattening, the oil started oozing out after I warmed them in the microwave. Luckily, they were chicken sausages, or else the oil content would be even higher. Decided to save the last two sausages for Saturday, for Rachel's cooking experiments. :P I reckon that she will make a sumptuous side dish out of them.
There are many species of birds in the vicinity of North Lambton, and they like to perch on the maple tree which is almost bald and the overhanging telephone wires. I saw birds that are yellow and red in colour on the maple tree when I was strolling home from school, Also, there was another species of birds resting on pink roses that are blooming beautifully. Previously, I have seen unusual birds with a horn like structure on their heads. This feature reminds me of a unicorn, which is an imaginary horse with a long horn on its head. Unlike in Singapore, I rarely see sparrows and mynahs.
Tried the food in Shortland Building's canteen for the first time. Ordered kway chap with chicken and vegetables for lunch. The gravy was tasty, for chinese herbs and spices were added to it. But the kway chap was far too little, compared to the generous helping of the side ingredients. Furthermore, a small bowl of noodles,vegetables and meat cost $7.50 ! I finally understand why everyone has been saying that Chinese cuisine in Australia costs a bomb! Since I was still a little hungry, I went to buy a fish fillet, which is also very expensive at $3. Guess I will stick to good old Subway the next time round.
Bumped into many familiar people today, such as Eva in Auchmuty library, Zhaowei before Green Engineering lecture in the computer lab, Kwang and Linkooi. Interestingly, I saw Linkooi and Kwang two times in a day! Today's Green Engineering lecture was about the case studies done on the Chloro-alkali unit. The contents remind of me of CBC 931. Still remember it as a module which puts your memory capacity to the ultimate test. The questions were mainly descriptive with little application. Michael wants to have an extra lesson on Week 14, hope he changes his mind because all of us need that period of time to study!
Had indo mee, cheese and garlic sausages and a banana for dinner. The sausages are so fattening, the oil started oozing out after I warmed them in the microwave. Luckily, they were chicken sausages, or else the oil content would be even higher. Decided to save the last two sausages for Saturday, for Rachel's cooking experiments. :P I reckon that she will make a sumptuous side dish out of them.
Start of Revision
Woke up at 8+ am the morning to have breakfast together with Rachel. I had bought half a dozen instant pancakes from the Woolsworth in Glendale Stockland for I wanted to finish my box of butter. Felt a sense of deja vu when we stood at the kitchen table eating and chatting simultaneously. That was because there were not enough seats at the dining table the evening before. Bidded Rachel goodbye after breakfast, and off she went to church and then straight back home.
Since the Internet was throwing its usual tantrums again, I decided to utilize the start of the week productively by starting my examination revisions. Managed to study all of Adam's lecture notes, which consist of 4 sets. The contents were relatively simple to understand but a significant amount of memory work is required, such as the reagents and the conditions used. Still contemplating whether to go for CHEM 3310 lecture tomorrow, for I do not have the lecture notes with me. Also, I dislike the idea of being pressurized to wake up early for lessons, no doubt that the campus is only 15 minutes walk away.
Bowie is going home with Weifun on the 29th June, which means that I have to spend almost a week shivering, because I wish to return her blanket personally. Rachel says that July is the Newcastle's coldest month in the year. Chatted with Agnes briefly online and I am happy to know that she and Lijuan have decided to enrol into NTU as direct 2nd year students. Which means that we are fated to meet each other again, despite having left JC for 4 years. Although they have taken the long,ardous path to University, it is definitely worth the wait. For they had excelled academically in NP, compared to JJC.
I need to go grocery shopping on next Saturday, or else I will have to eat plain noodles for lunch or dinner. The supply of frozen condiments deplete at a faster rate than expected. Boredom always leads me to think of food,food and more food. Can't wait to eat a couple of pancakes with butter spread tomorrow morning. =D. On a sidetrack, North Lambton is a suburb in Newcastle, to be most precise.
Since the Internet was throwing its usual tantrums again, I decided to utilize the start of the week productively by starting my examination revisions. Managed to study all of Adam's lecture notes, which consist of 4 sets. The contents were relatively simple to understand but a significant amount of memory work is required, such as the reagents and the conditions used. Still contemplating whether to go for CHEM 3310 lecture tomorrow, for I do not have the lecture notes with me. Also, I dislike the idea of being pressurized to wake up early for lessons, no doubt that the campus is only 15 minutes walk away.
Bowie is going home with Weifun on the 29th June, which means that I have to spend almost a week shivering, because I wish to return her blanket personally. Rachel says that July is the Newcastle's coldest month in the year. Chatted with Agnes briefly online and I am happy to know that she and Lijuan have decided to enrol into NTU as direct 2nd year students. Which means that we are fated to meet each other again, despite having left JC for 4 years. Although they have taken the long,ardous path to University, it is definitely worth the wait. For they had excelled academically in NP, compared to JJC.
I need to go grocery shopping on next Saturday, or else I will have to eat plain noodles for lunch or dinner. The supply of frozen condiments deplete at a faster rate than expected. Boredom always leads me to think of food,food and more food. Can't wait to eat a couple of pancakes with butter spread tomorrow morning. =D. On a sidetrack, North Lambton is a suburb in Newcastle, to be most precise.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Bar Beach and Iron Man
Today was terrific! Finally fulfilled my long awaited wish of going to watch Iron Man with Rachel. Before that, we went to Bar beach for a couple of hours. Let's recount the memorable events that happened today.
At about 10.15 am, Rachel arrived at my house. After some chit chatting and preparation, we proceeded to take bus number 101 to Bar Beach. The journey was about 40 minutes and we had to walk for a long time before we reached our exact destination. We encountered a drunkard in a car's passenger seat who ranted at us in a jokingly fashion. Seems that outrageous antics like these are very common in Newcastle. Nevertheless, we just ignored him and continued on our walking. The weather was sunny yet cool. There were a lot of individualistic looking houses in the vicinity of Bar Beach. They came in many hues and designs, which probably stemmed from the owners' creativity juices. Interestingly, we saw many miniature sunflowers on the grass. I must say, they look really cute!
The first we did when we reached Bar Beach was to satisfy our cravings for seafood by going straight to the food kiosk. We ordered a seafood platter for $22 and it was quite worth the price. The variety of food on the platter was rather wide. We had fries, calamari rings, prawns fried in batter and large slices of fish fillets. And of course, not forgetting the tartar sauce and the lemon juice that enhance the taste of the mouth watering seafood. Both of us really ate to our hearts' content. But I felt that the number of calamari rings was far too little, there were only 4 of them. While we were tucking in, we saw several seagulls perching on the tables and walking around. For a peculiar reason, I was really fascinated by them and a fleeting thought passed my mind : I want to keep one of those cute white birds as a pet! But I know that it is not possible, because seagulls are wild and they may get aggressive if you don't satisfy their famished stomachs.
After the satisfying meal, we rested on the cool and sandy shores of the beach. We saw several long and thin ships from afar and families treading in the inviting blue waters. The appearance of Bar Beach, in my opinion, looks rather similar to that of Nobbys Beach. But all beaches are relaxing getaways from the hustle and bustle of the city. Just admiring the crashing waves and the blue hues can have a therapeutic effect on one's mind. And of course, the company does wonders too. Every weekend outing allows us to understand each other better, for we share new things about our past and current lives.
We could only spend a couple of hours there, because we had to leave 1t 2.30 pm to catch Iron Man at 4 pm in Greater Union Theatres. The frequency of the public buses is really low on weekends, which sounds really ironical. Because the streets should be more crowded during on Saturday and Sunday. The journey back to the bus stop seemed shorter, compared to that of from the bus stop to Bar Beach. The breathtaking sights at the beach and the tantalizing seafood platter had probably rejuvenated our spirits, giving us an outburst of energy.
Thankfully, 363 goes to Glendale, otherwise we would not be able to catch Iron Man, yet again! In fact, there are several buses that reach Greater Union Theatres, including 101. I treated her to the movie and each of us bought an ice-cream. The chocolate coating of my raspberry ice-cream is just so addictive, I can never get enough of sweet food. Ironman is an awesome Marvel blockbluster movie. The fast paced and heroic actions kept us enthralled for the whole 2 hours. No wonder so many of my friends gave it good reviews. The ending is great too! Shane, the traitor perished. Pepper and Stark ( Iron Man) became a couple after several emotional tumults. I have set a new record for the frequency of watching movies - this is my 3rd movie in 7 days. Previously, I had watched When It Happens in Vegas and 21 on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.
While waiting for the 6.51 pm 101 bus which stops directly outside the cinema, Rachel and I decided to some quick grocery shopping at Woolworths. I ended up buying more than I had expected. Such as hair rubberbands, cheese and garlic sausages and a dozen pieces of cheese slices. I had lost my thick yellow scrunchie on the way to Bar Beach and I need to tie my hair up for CHEM 3210 lab sessions. The almost biting chill from the wind that blew in our direction while walking home was barely bearable. It is becoming more and more obvious that winter is approaching with each passing day. At Bar Beach, we discovered that the sky looked unusually dark at only 3 pm! Usually in the mid afternoon, it should be blindingly bright instead.
Rachel has never failed to create a storm in the kitchen every weekend, thanks to her overflowing creative juices for experimenting on food "concoctions''. She marinated the chicken dices with garlic,wine,soya sauce and pepper, fried fish fillet and a couple of cheese and garlic sausages with spring onions, stir fried Singaporean noodles and frozen condiments with teriyaki sauce. The end products of her culinary experiments not only smell aromatic, they taste just as good as well! I can never get enough of her cooking. Luckily she only cooks for me weekly,instead of daily, for I have an unusual voracious appetite for her food. And that will result in a happy but chubby Yvonne. Good riddance, as if I am not fat enough already!
For dessert, I had a really fruity tasting yogurt. But for Rachel, she had a boiled apple with cinnamon sticks. This is my first time eating such a dessert and it probably would not be be last. Time sped by when we were joking, bursting out into guffaws, and singing literally any random songs that came to our minds in my room. Before we knew it, it was already 12 midnight. Rachel was kind of exhausted by then, due to the lack of sleep. She is really as busy as a bumble bee, with seemingly endless models to make and assignments to do. So, we can only meet on weekends, until 2nd of June when she will be completely freed from the shackles of academic related matters for the semester. Till then, I shall strive to utilize the time of weekdays to study hard, so that I can unwind and relax without worries on the weekends.
At about 10.15 am, Rachel arrived at my house. After some chit chatting and preparation, we proceeded to take bus number 101 to Bar Beach. The journey was about 40 minutes and we had to walk for a long time before we reached our exact destination. We encountered a drunkard in a car's passenger seat who ranted at us in a jokingly fashion. Seems that outrageous antics like these are very common in Newcastle. Nevertheless, we just ignored him and continued on our walking. The weather was sunny yet cool. There were a lot of individualistic looking houses in the vicinity of Bar Beach. They came in many hues and designs, which probably stemmed from the owners' creativity juices. Interestingly, we saw many miniature sunflowers on the grass. I must say, they look really cute!
The first we did when we reached Bar Beach was to satisfy our cravings for seafood by going straight to the food kiosk. We ordered a seafood platter for $22 and it was quite worth the price. The variety of food on the platter was rather wide. We had fries, calamari rings, prawns fried in batter and large slices of fish fillets. And of course, not forgetting the tartar sauce and the lemon juice that enhance the taste of the mouth watering seafood. Both of us really ate to our hearts' content. But I felt that the number of calamari rings was far too little, there were only 4 of them. While we were tucking in, we saw several seagulls perching on the tables and walking around. For a peculiar reason, I was really fascinated by them and a fleeting thought passed my mind : I want to keep one of those cute white birds as a pet! But I know that it is not possible, because seagulls are wild and they may get aggressive if you don't satisfy their famished stomachs.
After the satisfying meal, we rested on the cool and sandy shores of the beach. We saw several long and thin ships from afar and families treading in the inviting blue waters. The appearance of Bar Beach, in my opinion, looks rather similar to that of Nobbys Beach. But all beaches are relaxing getaways from the hustle and bustle of the city. Just admiring the crashing waves and the blue hues can have a therapeutic effect on one's mind. And of course, the company does wonders too. Every weekend outing allows us to understand each other better, for we share new things about our past and current lives.
We could only spend a couple of hours there, because we had to leave 1t 2.30 pm to catch Iron Man at 4 pm in Greater Union Theatres. The frequency of the public buses is really low on weekends, which sounds really ironical. Because the streets should be more crowded during on Saturday and Sunday. The journey back to the bus stop seemed shorter, compared to that of from the bus stop to Bar Beach. The breathtaking sights at the beach and the tantalizing seafood platter had probably rejuvenated our spirits, giving us an outburst of energy.
Thankfully, 363 goes to Glendale, otherwise we would not be able to catch Iron Man, yet again! In fact, there are several buses that reach Greater Union Theatres, including 101. I treated her to the movie and each of us bought an ice-cream. The chocolate coating of my raspberry ice-cream is just so addictive, I can never get enough of sweet food. Ironman is an awesome Marvel blockbluster movie. The fast paced and heroic actions kept us enthralled for the whole 2 hours. No wonder so many of my friends gave it good reviews. The ending is great too! Shane, the traitor perished. Pepper and Stark ( Iron Man) became a couple after several emotional tumults. I have set a new record for the frequency of watching movies - this is my 3rd movie in 7 days. Previously, I had watched When It Happens in Vegas and 21 on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.
While waiting for the 6.51 pm 101 bus which stops directly outside the cinema, Rachel and I decided to some quick grocery shopping at Woolworths. I ended up buying more than I had expected. Such as hair rubberbands, cheese and garlic sausages and a dozen pieces of cheese slices. I had lost my thick yellow scrunchie on the way to Bar Beach and I need to tie my hair up for CHEM 3210 lab sessions. The almost biting chill from the wind that blew in our direction while walking home was barely bearable. It is becoming more and more obvious that winter is approaching with each passing day. At Bar Beach, we discovered that the sky looked unusually dark at only 3 pm! Usually in the mid afternoon, it should be blindingly bright instead.
Rachel has never failed to create a storm in the kitchen every weekend, thanks to her overflowing creative juices for experimenting on food "concoctions''. She marinated the chicken dices with garlic,wine,soya sauce and pepper, fried fish fillet and a couple of cheese and garlic sausages with spring onions, stir fried Singaporean noodles and frozen condiments with teriyaki sauce. The end products of her culinary experiments not only smell aromatic, they taste just as good as well! I can never get enough of her cooking. Luckily she only cooks for me weekly,instead of daily, for I have an unusual voracious appetite for her food. And that will result in a happy but chubby Yvonne. Good riddance, as if I am not fat enough already!
For dessert, I had a really fruity tasting yogurt. But for Rachel, she had a boiled apple with cinnamon sticks. This is my first time eating such a dessert and it probably would not be be last. Time sped by when we were joking, bursting out into guffaws, and singing literally any random songs that came to our minds in my room. Before we knew it, it was already 12 midnight. Rachel was kind of exhausted by then, due to the lack of sleep. She is really as busy as a bumble bee, with seemingly endless models to make and assignments to do. So, we can only meet on weekends, until 2nd of June when she will be completely freed from the shackles of academic related matters for the semester. Till then, I shall strive to utilize the time of weekdays to study hard, so that I can unwind and relax without worries on the weekends.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Lazy Friday
Today was quite a lazy Friday, for I did not do much work due to sheer laziness. Ironically, I have decided to start revising for exams on 19th May, which is exactly a month before my first paper. There is an urgent need for me to master the skill of multi tasking, finishing up the heinous lab reports and revising through the lecture notes and textbooks. Adam has yet to reply my email on the lab enquires I posed to him, hopefully he will reply by Monday. Dislike the fact that I cannot hand up a complete lab report due to so much "lobangs'' in them. So far, I managed to do the mass spectroscopy question in Project 7 and type up the introduction and experimental sections of Project 2.
It is my first time frying beehoon with Malaysian Satay sauce for lunch today. Had to soak the beehoon in warm water for a few minutes before stir frying it. The end product was delicious, but the sauce wasn't evenly spread out on the noodles and ingredients. It reminds me of the satay beehoon back in the Chinese Garden hawker centre cum market in Singapore. But their satay beehoon contains cuttlefish and kangkong. Mine contains crabmeat, vegetarian chicken, fishcakes, brocolli and carrot slices. I regret buying the red grapes from Woolsworth at Glendale Stockland mall, because they contain seeds! It is so troublesome to spit out the seeds every now and then, instead of chewing the fruits leisurely.
The Aarons have started utilizing the cooking utensils in the house recently, instead of depending on instant food for meals. Initially, I was taken by surprise when I saw Aaron frying an egg yesterday. Instant food may be convenient, but it is not healthy in the long run, due to the amount of preservatives and artificial flavourings that the food manufacturers put in. I choose to eat fruits like apples,bananas,grapes and prunes when I am feeling peckish, instead of potato chips and ice-cream. This is really strange, for I had never once bothered so much about my diet. My afternoon snack was the usual helping of green bean soup, this time I boiled it for 90 minutes instead of an hour. But apparently, the duration is still not long enough for all the beans to rupture completely.
Spent quite a lot of time smsing and chatting with Edward on the phone today. Seems that he's really stressed over the upcoming exam preparations. Look forward to sitting the Singapore Flyer with him when I come back, and of course go and visit yummy food haunts together. Speaking of which, I just only have 49 more days left in Newcastle, in other words, 7 weeks. I foresee that I would have a lot of catching ups to do with my good old Singaporean friends. Being overseas has endowed me with the confidence to cook a simple meal for myself. Back in Singapore, I rarely ever cooked on my own accord. Suddenly, I find myself recalling the food that we prepared during Home Economics lessons in Secondary 1 and 2. And I vividly remember that potato salad was one of my favourites.
Rachel will be coming tomorrow morning, her presence signifies another fun weekend ahead. Look forward to having tons of fun at the beach and I keep my fingers crossed that we will be able to watch Iron Man together this time around. Speaking of the movies, it will be the 3rd movie that I watch this week! But I ain't complaining about it at all.
It is my first time frying beehoon with Malaysian Satay sauce for lunch today. Had to soak the beehoon in warm water for a few minutes before stir frying it. The end product was delicious, but the sauce wasn't evenly spread out on the noodles and ingredients. It reminds me of the satay beehoon back in the Chinese Garden hawker centre cum market in Singapore. But their satay beehoon contains cuttlefish and kangkong. Mine contains crabmeat, vegetarian chicken, fishcakes, brocolli and carrot slices. I regret buying the red grapes from Woolsworth at Glendale Stockland mall, because they contain seeds! It is so troublesome to spit out the seeds every now and then, instead of chewing the fruits leisurely.
The Aarons have started utilizing the cooking utensils in the house recently, instead of depending on instant food for meals. Initially, I was taken by surprise when I saw Aaron frying an egg yesterday. Instant food may be convenient, but it is not healthy in the long run, due to the amount of preservatives and artificial flavourings that the food manufacturers put in. I choose to eat fruits like apples,bananas,grapes and prunes when I am feeling peckish, instead of potato chips and ice-cream. This is really strange, for I had never once bothered so much about my diet. My afternoon snack was the usual helping of green bean soup, this time I boiled it for 90 minutes instead of an hour. But apparently, the duration is still not long enough for all the beans to rupture completely.
Spent quite a lot of time smsing and chatting with Edward on the phone today. Seems that he's really stressed over the upcoming exam preparations. Look forward to sitting the Singapore Flyer with him when I come back, and of course go and visit yummy food haunts together. Speaking of which, I just only have 49 more days left in Newcastle, in other words, 7 weeks. I foresee that I would have a lot of catching ups to do with my good old Singaporean friends. Being overseas has endowed me with the confidence to cook a simple meal for myself. Back in Singapore, I rarely ever cooked on my own accord. Suddenly, I find myself recalling the food that we prepared during Home Economics lessons in Secondary 1 and 2. And I vividly remember that potato salad was one of my favourites.
Rachel will be coming tomorrow morning, her presence signifies another fun weekend ahead. Look forward to having tons of fun at the beach and I keep my fingers crossed that we will be able to watch Iron Man together this time around. Speaking of the movies, it will be the 3rd movie that I watch this week! But I ain't complaining about it at all.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
21
Today's IRHR 1001 tutorial was quite interactive; we were asked to work as a team to rank a list of 12 items in order of importance based on this scenario: Our plane crashed and we managed to survive the accident. However, we landed up in a dense jungle with thick bushes and seemingly endless rivers. The temperatures will go below freezing,regardless of day or night time. However, we managed to find some things that may be useful for survival in the wrecked up plane. So, as a team, we must come to a consensus on the relative importance of each individual item. The purpose of this exercise was to determine whether a single person or a group of people will come to a better consensus, in comparison with the rankings of that of a survial expert. As usual, the Caucasians were very outspoken and could participate actively in the discussion centre. Isabel, a Korean tutorial mate and I kept silent most of the time, because our group mates have echoed our sentiments already, before we could speak out.
Bought a chicken sushi roll for an early lunch, before another futile session of literature research in the library. It really dampens my morale. Was a bit late for CHEM 3210 lab, and luckily, the session went on rather smoothly. Renee and I have decided to do a couple of reports individually each. This will minimize the hassle of sending numerous attachments for counterchecking purposes. Bob showed me how to operate a really intriguing machine, which could compress powdered KBr into a small transparent disc which was to be used for IR. The KBr disc is analogous to the NaCl salt plates we use in NTU. One of the parts of the machine resemble a gear level of a bus. And the pressure required to "manufacture'' the plate is an astounding 10 tons!
I had a slight headache when I reached home. Tried to take a nap after putting my clothes in the washing machine, but did not fall asleep because of the tightness in my entire face. I hope that I do not come down with a full fledged flu! I need the energy to enjoy the weekend with Rachel. Dinner was udon again, but I added sugar to the coconut curry paste, in the hope that it will mask the sour taste of the noodles. And voila, it was a success.
Went to watch another movie, just after a mere span of a couple of days. It is called "21''. The storyline is very original and it showcases a MIT maths genius, Ben who was lured by his corrupted professor,Micky into the world of gambling. Who would have expected that his well-respected Maths professor was actually the leader of an illegal Blackjack team? Apparently, Ben had made a big mistake by choosing to follow in Micky's footsteps, for ultimately, he had to surrender all his winnings to a casino security guard, Coles. Coles had been suspicious of the Blackjack team for a long time and spared no effort on keeping a close eye on their movements at the gambling table. The team had used unscrupulous ways to win excessive money in the casino, depleting its funds rapidly. This movie requires the audience to pay attention, for it takes some time to understand exactly what is the plot about.
Bought a chicken sushi roll for an early lunch, before another futile session of literature research in the library. It really dampens my morale. Was a bit late for CHEM 3210 lab, and luckily, the session went on rather smoothly. Renee and I have decided to do a couple of reports individually each. This will minimize the hassle of sending numerous attachments for counterchecking purposes. Bob showed me how to operate a really intriguing machine, which could compress powdered KBr into a small transparent disc which was to be used for IR. The KBr disc is analogous to the NaCl salt plates we use in NTU. One of the parts of the machine resemble a gear level of a bus. And the pressure required to "manufacture'' the plate is an astounding 10 tons!
I had a slight headache when I reached home. Tried to take a nap after putting my clothes in the washing machine, but did not fall asleep because of the tightness in my entire face. I hope that I do not come down with a full fledged flu! I need the energy to enjoy the weekend with Rachel. Dinner was udon again, but I added sugar to the coconut curry paste, in the hope that it will mask the sour taste of the noodles. And voila, it was a success.
Went to watch another movie, just after a mere span of a couple of days. It is called "21''. The storyline is very original and it showcases a MIT maths genius, Ben who was lured by his corrupted professor,Micky into the world of gambling. Who would have expected that his well-respected Maths professor was actually the leader of an illegal Blackjack team? Apparently, Ben had made a big mistake by choosing to follow in Micky's footsteps, for ultimately, he had to surrender all his winnings to a casino security guard, Coles. Coles had been suspicious of the Blackjack team for a long time and spared no effort on keeping a close eye on their movements at the gambling table. The team had used unscrupulous ways to win excessive money in the casino, depleting its funds rapidly. This movie requires the audience to pay attention, for it takes some time to understand exactly what is the plot about.
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