JOanna’s Life

She was my teacher, just 10 weeks ago.

She taught us for merely 6 weeks, including the final week which was more on revision lecture or Q&A Session if you got Q’s.

She was the only TCM teacher who was absent for almost the entire week due to her visa problem.

She looked fierce without her smile. A lady with her own principle. Strict in her own way. Expressing her dismay through her expression.

A young, modern & sophisticated lady who likes red.

Sony Vaio, Handbag, Shoe, Ultra Thin Flip Handphone. All Red. Bright Red. Except for her black digital camera.

Loves shopping in Hong Kong.

Image is important to her.

A lady who loves to have fun. Pretty different from all the rest of my TCM lecturers. Maybe because she’s young.

Loves to travel. Loves to experience the culture of different countries and continents.

All in all, very hip.

Married to a capable husband who is a famous accupunturist in China, with presidents of various country seeking his treatment.

Has a 19 years-old son who she is very proud of from her conversation. A 3rd year student (young undergraduate) in  BeiJing University, the university which made it to The World’s Top 20 Universities, with a higher ranking than NUS.

I’m indeed very honoured to be under her teaching for 《金匱要略》， The Synopsis of the Golden Chamber (What kind of translation is this???). She imparted her knowledge to us by training our thinking skill and reasoning skill.

Looking back, i’m really thankful for Teacher like her and the rest of the teachers from BUCM who came all the way to Singapore alone, just to teach us for 7 weeks or so. All the BIG SHOTS of BUCM teaching faculty came. Probably this is the privilege of being the pioneer batch of our course? Probably so. But i bet the teachers were touched by the effort of us learning.

I’ll always remember the relationship built during their presence here.

Till we meet again… September 2008

I was back at home over the weekend.

I was told that Sis. Siew Ying is bringing my family out for dinner on Friday evening. She is a close family friend, attending the same church as my family, a caring teacher, someone you can share your thoughts and seek adcvice.

We went to a small tea-place restaurant. It is located way-off the town area of Kluang, hiding behind some shophouses. The entry to the restaurant gave a very nostalgia feeling and so did the interior.

T-time is a tea house that serves an extensive variety of Chinese Tea and Floral Tea. From Long Jin, Pu Er, Xiang Pian (Jasmine) to Chamomile, Rose and Lavender. Each can serve up to four persons and the tea leaves are packed individually into a zipper bag.

Yellow-lighting and wooden chairs & tables, with four individual cubicles separated by bamboo curtain (???). The frontdesk was surrounded with cupboards displaying various tea-pot sets and chinaware. It provides pretty good ambience for an afternoon catching-up yum-cha session where you can spend your whole afternoon comfortably in an air-con tea place.

Its specialty is Porridge. They serves a wide variety of Cantonese style porridge. Fish slice porridge, Century egg porridge, Minced meat porridfe, Chichken Porridge and the list goes on. I wasn’t really hungry so i opted Vegetable and Anchovies Porridge priced @ RM 4.90. Sis Siew Ying needed something light from her late afternoon tea, so she ordered the same porridge.

Each serving of Porridge comes in individual pot with an empty bowl and a plate of fried cracker. I supposed the thin cracker is served in replacement of the normal fried cruller or You Tiao that we usually eat with the porridge.

The Vegetable and Ikan Bilis Porridge was pretty good. It’s not exactly so smooth like authentic Cantonese Porridge. I can still taste individual grain in it. It had a generous amount of ikan bilis (anchovies) and veg. Both Sis Siew Ying and myself were wondering what veg they put in it. My guess was Sayur Kayu Manis and Sis Siew Ying guessed Long Bean Leaves. We didn’t have chance to ask the boss but i felt it was more like Long Bean Leaves than Sayur Kayu Manis because the Veg was rather tasteless, unlike Sayur Kayu Manis. Sayur Kayu Manis is the normal veg you can find in Pan Mian or Min Fun Gou/Mian Fen Gao.

Mum ordered Spicy Fried Rice, not an order my mum would normally make. Nothing fascinating and it was not spicy enough.

Dad ordered Lor Mee. The bowl was big and so is the spoon. Blended Cili Padi and vinegar were served alongside with the bowl of noodles. It’s tasty!

We ordered a bowl of specialty salad to share. Salad - It should come before the main but it was exactly opposite in this restaurant. It was only served when we were almost done with our food, hahaha! My mum’s fav, the dressing was mayonnaise but it tasted a little different. I wonder why…

清新小品

Restaurant T-Time Cafe

Located behind The Cathay Restaurant

Taman Muhibah,

86000 Kluang, Johor.

Mum fried Nian-gao especially for me! Lots and lots of Nian Gao, probably enough to feed 6 was served 4. I forgo the Chee Cheong Fun which eventually became my lunch for the sake of Fried Nian Gao. Yum~ Nian Gao was covered with thick batter made with eggs, flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. Extra batter was used to fried "Bok Chang" shown in pic. What’s that, you may ask. I don’t have an answer for you. But it’s made with egg, sugar and flour. It can be made into savoury version by replacing sugar with salt and add in condiments like ikan billis (anchovies), spring onion, onions etc as you wish.

Three of us (mum, dad and I) attended Johore Kah Yin Association Fall(season) Celebration at Cin Cin Restaurant on Sunday. Cin Cin Restaurant is a well knowned restaurant for over 20 years which serves their famous Pi Pa Duck with sour plum sauce. Absolutely yummy! It is a dish that i eat from young. A dish that will make its appearance in every function held in the restaurant, wedding/birthday/association dinner.

The practice of starting all events on time is observed by Kah Yin Association and this is commentable. Mum & her association kakis presented 3 songs on stage, including one hakka Mountain Song.

Visited Uncle Chong and Aunty Siew Siew, our old neighbour. Uncle Chong injured his back and the inflammation was all the way from the back to his left hand. Sometimes he can feel the numbness and the pull. Currently Aunty Siew Siew is taking care of Siew Siew Jie Jie’s two kids. The younger one is still a 2 or 3 months old infant. Really cute and adorable! Look exactly like Uncle Chong.

With two three more homecooked meals, Tuesday lunch at home marked the end of my trip back home. Ate a lot of Foodie every time i’m back at home, for my motto when i’m back at home is…

    " 吃了再算!"

"Eat first Think later"

Received an email from my BS103 Organic Chemistry lecturer titled "Leaving SBS" on 5th Nov 2007, informing us that he would be leaving for UK London at the end of that week.

Paid a short visit to him in the lab with a few more friends on 7th Nov 2007.

"I’ll be leaving to UK this Friday"

Orh… He would be leaving SBS, with such short notice!

" Acetone eats plastic like Big Breakfast."

Woah, didn’t know Dr Rupert has such sense of humour

" Nowadays guys are into cute stuff."

He was referring to himself eversince he got a daughter now.

"Blue eyes have no pigments."

His first child had blue eyes which turned darker gradually.

"I’m sorry."

He apologised at his first lecture for both BS 103 Organic Chemistry and BS 209 Advance Biochemistry because he was teaching the most difficult and most hated subjects in the Bio Science.

"Buy generic, like paracetamol. It’s cheaper than panadol."

I’m always amazed by his ability to remember all the pathways to synthesize the various organic molecules.

"Do you know the culture in UK/Europe is so different from Asia?"

He was referring that unwrapping the present given in front of the giver is showing disrespect, in Asia. In UK? If you don’t open it, you are showing that you don’t like the present.

"There’s no point to have lesson on a Saturday morning."

Dr Rupert shared with us the Drinking Lifestyle on a Friday & Saturday night in UK making it impossible to have lessons on a Saturday morning. The students won’t come. Even if they did come, it’s a hang-over.

I think what i miss him most would be the sight of him cycling up and down on the Canteen A slope. Mind you, it’s a steep slope!

He left us on the 9th of Nov 2007 leaving his beloveds in Singapore. His wife and 2 years-old boy and 7 months-old baby girl will be joining him in March 2008.

Adios, Dr Rupert. We’ll miss you!

"Bon Voyage, Dr Rupert Charles Wilmouth…"

Recently, I mean this semester, i’ve got more chances to step in decent restaurants.

In year 1, I hardly stepped into a restaurant or a cinema.

To recall, i think i only went to eat in a restaurant once with QQ, YT, Kerry in the entire academic year! Serious!

Time passed and i’m already in my third year in NTU, life has changed. Not much, but surely for the better.

Now i wonder, is it me? Or my friends? Or just me being well taken care of?

This reminded me of a print on a Tee i saw today. "I’m not Spoilt, I’m just being well taken care of!" Hmm… A phrase well said? Or just an excuse?

But for my "improved" life, i guess probably is the latter two.

With more friends around me, more birthdays to celebrate, more reasons to eat out.

With friends who care whether you have taken your meal.

With friendship built up over-time, hanging out and spending time with each other is vital. Be it during term time (which is seldom for us due to extremely packed schedule) or after exam. For a bunch of girls not into retail therapy, what else besides food ???

Maybe is because i work a little here and there, thus i can afford a little pleasure in life. Sometimes. Just occassionally.

                                                                                         This is the 2nd Official Outing for The Six Girl Gang. Woahaha, a new name i thought of while typing this. 1st Outing was on 1st Oct, after our 《伤寒》exam. This time, was after our 《金匮要略》exam. Exam officially ended for us yesterday but all were too tired to go out. Both 1st & 2nd outing, we ate Japanese food.

Whoo~ I want to classify Japanese Food under my Fav Food Category and since my study here in Singapore, it slowly becomes one of my comfort food besides cakes and choc.

But when is a all girls outing, be ready to wait or be late! *grin* But all of us didn’t mean to be late. Only YuChun turned up early cos she forgot about the meet up time agreed on yesterday. Everyone turned up late, yet almost at the same time.

We had a lot of food. Because it was a buffet so i won’t go into details. These are some of the items we had.

1st row L to R : Salmon & Maguro Sashimi, Tai & dunno what Sashimi, Hana Maki (Salmon Wrapped sushi topped with mayo and ebikko)

2nd row: Ikura Sushi, Chuka Wakame (seaweed), shisamo

3rd row: Fried Ika (squid), Ajitsuke Idako (squid), and forgot-the-name some kind of pea, quite nice

Some other items we had were Chuka Kurage (Jellyfish) , Chuka Hotate (Clamshell meat), Fried Salmon Skin, Baked scallop with tomato and cheese, Chawamushi, Tuna Mayo Inari Sushi, Ebi Sushi, Unagi Sushi, Salmon Sushi, California Hand Roll, Fried Tofu, Cold Tofu and one more tofu dish which i couldn’t remember, Kushiage (fried potato), Ebikko Sushi, Soft Shell Crab, Mini Cream Puff and Fruits.

It may sound a lot, but there were 6 of us. We only request one serving for most of the items listed except those tofu dishes and sashimi.

Oh, did i mentioned we get free-flow drinks too? Beverages ranging from fruit juices to hot green tea, but all of us opted the hot green tea.

We were having a good time eating and chit-chating. Talking nonsense, laughing at each other. Eat and eat and eat until peng, tummy bloated, almost couldn’t straighten my back!

The conveyor belt behaved strangely, it was slow-fast-slow-fast. One can notice the change of speed through the movement of the sushi place. One has to be alert and act fast to "catch" the sushi plate you want when it’s moving really fast. We came to the conclusion that the speed is controlled by the management to control the flow of sushi in and out of the kitchen.

One interesting event to highlight is, we saw FLYING MINI CREAM PUFF!!! The conveyor belt was moving in such a high speed and our dear Yu Chii couldn’t decide whether she wanted another plate of creampuff. By the time she decided, the creampuff was already moving away from her. In order to catch it, she stretched our her mighty hand towards the plate, caught hold of the plate, lifted it up and "Kong", the plate knock on the cover of the next sushi plate, her hand trembled a little and the mini creampuffs FLEW! 4 creampuffs on a plate, left with only 1. Yu Chun with her "alien" superpower, swiftly caught hold of the other two mini creampuffs with her bare hand before it went disappeared along the conveyor belt. We were laughing our heads off while holding to our bloated tummies!

Service? Photo tells it all…

Too few waiters and waitresses to serve so many tables.

Orders tend to be a very slow or they might even forgot all about it. Hand roll was done terribly, the seaweed almost came off! Nothing worth commenting but i must say they serve quite good tofu dishes. Environment? A very noisy background but we were equally noisy as well.

Overall, not too bad for low-budget student like us. At least i get to eat my sashimi, free-flow. Paying around $21 after tax, with students that made up of most of the patrons, i’m not surprise with the service we get. Will we still come back? I think we probably going somewhere else to try oher food since we seldom dine out.

Suki Sushi

Cineleisure
8 Grange Road Cathay Cineleisure Orchard #04-02 Singapore 239695
Tel: 6737 9608
Fax: 6737 2605

Did we enjoy ourselves for the rest of the day? 

I bet we did, at least for me. We were having fun with all the little things in store. It’s so fun to just hang out with the friends you love, spending time together, laugh and giggle non-stop while creating memories that can last forever.                               

That’s why i came back hall a happy girl.

A recent visit to Sakae indicating my crave for Jap Food is getting more severe. Be it during plant bio lecture early in the morning or TCM lectures late in the afternoon. My mind is flashing with the picture of yummy-licious sushi, sashimi, bento….

I especially missed the Deluxe Bento by Sakae Sushi. I only time i tried it was in March, my first or second visit to Sakae. It was a treat from my cousin sister who started working in Singapore. I immediately fell in love with the particular bento set. It came with unagi that melts in your mouth and 3 other dishes including, Ajitsuke Idako (Baby Octopus), Inoki Niku Maki (golden mushroom wrapped in thin beef slice) and a soup with egg and some other ingredients which i couldn’t remember. Served together with miso soup and watermelon, it was the best i’ve tasted then.

The crave for the bento set was too strong and i was drawn to the nearest Sakae Sushi, located right beside Jurong Community Library. Coincidentally, Sakae changed their menu on the day of my visit. Greeted by the newly printed menu, with pictures of varieties of sushi captured in vibrant colours.

To my horror, i couldn’t find my Deluxe Bento!!!~ *scream* How could it be??? I found a Deluxe Bento featured in the menu but it didn’t look like the one i had. One can tell the difference from the picture. Dream shattered in an instant.

Suddenly i’m lost.

I didn’t know what to call for.

I just wanted my Deluxe Bento…

The computerised ordering system showed the Deluxe Bento that i wanted, but i doubted. Yet that was my order. I didn’t want to give up.

My heart longed for thee…

I was disappointed…

                                               Deluxe Bento $ 16.99

It turned out to be what i expected. It was the NEW deluxe bento. No Unagi. No Inoku Niku Maki. No watermelon. Only Chicken Karage. Fried Cod Fish. A few slices of sashimi. Yasai Tempura and a serving of Daikon Salad (eaten all by me, blue empty plate as shown). Diluter miso soup was served.

I want my Original Deluxe Bento.

Craving not satisfied.

To comfort the disappointed me, my friend ordered a number of other dished including my fav salmon sashimi and Inoki Niku Maki. Appreciated.

                                                 Enoki Niku Maki $ 6.99

                                                   Ikura Sushi $ 6.99

I was thinking of Ikura due to recent blog reading on Ikura Salmon Pasta in early November in boo_licious’s blog. Been wondering what’s Ikura which i later found out that’s Salmon Roe and how it tastes like.

My friend told me that Ikura Sushi should be eaten in one mouth??! So that one can feel the salmon roe burst in your mouth and it will wash your mouth like a refreshing feel of seawater. Both of us didn’t experience it. We deduce that the Ikura is not fresh.

If you really want to taste the freshest Ikura, go Hokkaido. *wink*

                                                                          Due to my disappointment over the bento, i filled the emptiness with dessert~ Who can resist pretty looking dessert? I can’t, especially when it’s ice-cream *grin*

                                                                Apple Sensation $ 6.90

Ordered Apple Sensation. Pretty apple-looking Ice-cream, covered with white chocolate painted using edible red colouring. The stalk was made with mint flavour dark chocolate and the core was chocolate truffle. You might mistaken the core of the "apple" as rotten.

Apple flavoured ice-cream was truly refreshing and it led us to order another two more ice-cream. A chocolate flavoured ice-cream with vanilla ice-cream core and Pear XX something something. It was a pear-flavoured ice-cream with chocolate truffle core, similar to the Apple Sensation.      

                                                                                                                                The Front Community Club
60 Jurong West Central 3
#01-05
Tel: 6792 2806

Opening Hours:
11.30am - 10.00pm daily

Me working with NTU’s Corporate Communication Office is such a privillege.

I’m indeed So So So Honoured to be the emcee for the LKY Distinguished Visitor Pogramme, a public lecture by Professor Richard C. J Somerville. It was held on 16 November 2007 at Lecture Theathre 2, Nanyang Technological Univarsity. The public lecture was on the topic SCIENCE INFORMING POLICY: THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE.  It started at 6.00pm sharp and ended on a high note with the Q&A session, with topic-related interesting questions asked by the floor of audience.

A little intro to what LKY Distinguished Visitor Programme for those who doesn’t know about it (adapted from NTU website):

Lee Kuan Yew Distinguished Visitors Programme

The programme aims to invite internationally eminent and outstanding academics and scholars to Singapore as Lee Kuan Yew Distinguished Visitors to make high level contributions to Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore and to Singapore in general. The Programme got off with an excellent start in January 1985 with the appointment of Dr. Sydney Brenner, Director of the Medical Research Council Centre, Cambridge, as the first Lee Kuan Yew Distinguished Visitor.

To date, a total of 58 Distinguished Visitors has come to Singapore under the Programme.

The programme is supported by the Lee Kuan Yew Endowment Fund. The endowment fund was established in 1983 by friends and well-wishers of the former Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

Curriculum Vitae of Prof Richard C. J. Somerville

Richard C. J. Somerville is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, USA.  He is a theoretical meteorologist and an expert on computer simulations of the atmosphere.

He received his Ph. D. in meteorology from New York University in 1966 and has been a professor at Scripps since 1979.  His research is on the role of clouds, cloud-radiation interactions and cloud feedbacks in climate.  His interests include all aspects of climate, including climate science outreach and the interface between science and public policy.  He also comments frequently on climate and environmental issues for the media.

Somerville has received awards from the American Meteorological Society for both his research and his popular book, The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change, a new edition of which will be published in late 2007.  Among many other honours, he is a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Meteorological Society.

He is a Coordinating Lead Author for the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

I was told to be there at 3.30pm for sound test. Rehearsed for a few rounds and the feedback i got was, "it’ll be better if you don’t look at the script". It was because i was standing at the stand-a-lone mic stand without any pupit. So i ended up using the remaining time after the sound test cum rehearsal to memorise my script.

Professor Richard Somerville arrived at LT 2 fifteen minutes before 6pm while most of the audience was still taking their own sweet time, making their way into LT 2. What a disgrace! Nontheless, he was accompaniee by quite a number of VIPs, Chairperson of the public lecture, Professor Kerry Sieh (an ang-moh,mind you) inclusive. Mrs Somervielle joined him soon after and the lecture started at 6.00pm sharp. (In case you still can’t tell, Professor Richard Somervielle is really a puncture person and he keeps to his time!)

Some new terms (at least to me) such as IPCC was introduced. Certain issues were addressed during the lecture. Questions like "Is it true that the most observed global warming in the recent decades is caused by human activities" are answered (confirmed by Third Assessment Report of IPCC 2001) and giving us evidence that sea level rise is one of the surest consequences of a warmer climate. Clearing our doubts on the cause of the recent years Hurricane and Katrina. Is global warming to be blamed? Answer to that is it is not caused by global warming but global warming may change various probabilities and its intensity. Questions concerning climate change funding and issues on encouraging students to take up the responsibility to "fight" global warming were asked during the Q&A session chaired by Professor Kerry Sieh.

The public lecture ended at 7.20pm with NTU’s Associate Provost, Professor Er Meng Hwa presenting the tokens of appreciation to Professor Somerville and Professor Sieh which marked the end of my journey of being the emcee for LKY Distinguished Visitor Programme.

Got a little treat from a friend from being a good emcee last Friday. Initial deal was a slice of Cheese Cake (Ummph…Drool…) but decided to have an early dinner (staple food) after Sunday service, to attend to my books which were calling out to me in hall.

Me being home-grown child, i’m taught about healthy diet and "brain food" which is important for ME! especially during exam…

"Brain food:

Some regular food items are rich sources of substances with alleged nootropic benefits:

• Nuts, in particular walnuts, are rich sources of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a type of omega-3 fatty acid. A mixture of walnuts served with dried fruit pieces is known in some regions as student food (orig. German: Studentenfutter) and is there popularily recommended as a snack for students and other mental workers.
• Oily fish, such as salmon or fresh tuna (not tuna canned in oil) are also good sources of omega-3 fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, whose lack in diet has been associated with increased risk of mental illnesses such as depression, aggressive behavior, schizophrenia, or hyper-activity in children. "

Fish & Co. there we came.

A very different ambience from the usual Fish & Co. outlet I visited 2 or 3 times (can’t remember) at Jurong Point. Decorated in Black & White theme with a modern touch. Menu is in a completely different layout from JP outlet. Some dishes such as New York Fish & Chips - Cheese-stuffed Fish & Chips  and a variety of pasta that are only available at selected outlet are included.

A new dish by Fish & Co. Mushroom salad - assorted green with olive oil and vinegar dressing topped with Sautéed mushroom with bits of garlic and generous black pepper. $ 8.90

Another new dish - Baked Ginza Salmon $ 16.90. It’s actually a common baked salmon dish with a twist of Japanese. Being a newbie in food blogging, i’m not there yet to descirbe the taste, go try it yourself. But my palate is not used to this taste yet. Maybe you’ll like it.

Baked salmon with Citrus herb crust served with creamy mushroom sauce $ 16.90

JOjo and her favourite baked salmon, 80% cooked. The first serving was returned due to overcook (Jojo’s sense - salmon being flaky=overcook) and too salty! The floor manager explained that the Citrus crust contributed to the heavy taste and the Salmon is done perfect. She later on exchanged another one for me without the crust and at 80% cooked which i simply love it! The feeling of salmon melting in my mouth, umphh…

As usual, Fish & Co. main comes with Sautéed Vegetables and is served with chips or rice. For me, it’s always 2 serving of Sautéed Vegetables instead of having the chips/rice.

Suntec City Mall
3 Temasek Boulevard #B1-048/049
Suntec City Mall Singapore 038983
Telephone: 6835 0180 Fax: 6835 0183
Opened since 28 November 1999
Opening hours: Sun - Thurs / PH: 11:30am to 9:30pm
Fri - Sat / Eve of PH: 11:30am to 10pm

What about the cake? You may asked. Although i was filled by the Salmon, my stomach always have a soft spot for cakes.

                                                                We had a "Not-Too-Warm" Warm Chocolate Cake and a "Less Guilt" Low Fat Mango Cheesecake shared between my friend and I at Starbucks, Raffles City Mall on our way heading to city hall MRT station.

The warm choc cake was rich and nice but i wish it could be a little warmer. It was cold and hard at the center when i was expecting it to be moist and soft.

I started to wonder did i request for the Warm Choc Cake because i want to eat the cake or is an excuse for me to eat the chocolate? (i still haven’t recover from the heatiness). I wonder…

                                                              Starbucks - Raffles City

252 North Bridge Road
#01-46/47/48
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Tel: 6333 3083

PS: For your information, Chocolate especially RICH CHOCOLATE is really heaty and is bad for your throat. Experienced a change of voice in a masculine voice at later part of the night. My hall friends got a shock of their lifetime as they couldn’t recognised me by my voice as i was talking outside their room. So Do Not try eating Rich Choc Cake when you know you shouldn’t be eating it.

Wouldn’t it be romantic to dine in a dim-light fine dining restaurant?

Or staying at home with your loved ones on a Saturday night with a few tea candle lighted?

Or just having a sip of Latte, chatting the night away with friends on Bintang Street with glittering light deco?

But is staying back at hall to study for exam yet your table desk light tube got burnt thus causing you to study in dim, yellow light romantic???

Yup, that’s what happen to me after coming back from Praise Kid II Camp Teacher Briefing cum Meeting at Kallang. Coming back with some groceries, headed straight to pantry to cook my dinner. Only to realise that my table light is OUT when i wanted to consume my self-cooked Yong Tau Fu with carrot and Ti Wan Meow.

Lost Keppel number. Growling stomach couldn’t wait. Ate in dim dim lighting alone in my room~ Got Keppel number from a friend on my way down the pantry to do my dishes. Keppel’s man came in 20+ mins and Ta Dah…

LET THERE BE LIGHT! And there was light…

Amen and Halleluyah! Thank God for Keppel and their efficiency. I wouldn’t want to study in darkness. So lights on now, it’s time to study. Go Go Go~

I was in school last night after having a paper in the afternoon. Normally i’ll head back to nap ( a long one for the exhausted mind after each paper) before i continue my revision. Yesterday was a little different. I really wanted to make use of all my time to revise my next paper. TCM, a lot of memory work. This actually reminded me that actually all Bio-related modules involve lots of memory work. Despite my effort of heading back to school to continue my revision, tired mind just refuse to take in anymore info. Being restless, tired with fluffy eyes, Joleen and I decided to head back to rest for the day. On the way back with Marc, three of us was talking about Frozen Veg, 7 eggs, Cheese and Sausage. Then the idea of making a sumptuous breakfast the next morning for a healthy start!

"Early in the morning, i put breakfast at your table…."

Indeed an early morning for Joleen. She has been missing her morning for a long time due to poor sleep cycle. Good sleep, Fresh start!

Marc didn’t manage to wake up though he set his alarm. Multiple phonecalls were made till he woke up. Yippee~ This marked the start of breakfast making!

With all the "Kah Chang" a.k.a cooking utensils Marc has in hall : A Pot, a Pan, one small plate, one bigger plate (Marc called it a bowl -_-") , another bowl which Marc eventually found, a Tablespoon, a Teaspoon and a fork, the Cooking Adventure Start.

Menu for Breakfast: Scramble egg with Cheese, Sunny-Side-Up, Sausages and Mashed Potato.

Mixture of eggs, milk, pepper and soysauce made its way into the buttered pan. Kraft Cheese Wedges (absolutely yummy to be eaten on its own) was added just before scramble egg shouted : "I’m drying up, get me out of the pan!" Successful Scramble Egg with cheese marked the good start of our session.

Next up, each of us took turn to cook our own Sunny Side Up.

This was how my egg turned out.

I know the picture looked quite blur, it was the only picture i manage to take before my hp battery died. The first attempt for the three of us was quite a little below satisfaction but the 2nd attempt by Joleen was good. Yolk was runny and sitted right in the center.

Sausages was thrown into the frying pan while a pot of water with 3 potatoes soaked in the "bathtub" with increased temperature all along on another stove while all these events took place.

While Joleen and I savoured the pan-fried sausages at the dining table, Marc was busy attending to the freshly cooked potatoes. Chunks of butter was added to the potato before it was mashed to creamy texture. A little pepper added to its flavour. A few tablespoons of milk gave the potatoes its extra creamy texture. So yummy yet….

Butter (fat) + Potato (carbo) + Milk (protein) = Healthy breakfast = Running 10 rounds ?!??!!

Carbo-load in the morning is no harm. Afterall, breakfast is the MOST important meal of the day, the first meal of the day after a whole night of fasting! Breakfast = Break FAST! Yeah~

I’m a happy girl, so is Joleen and I bet Marc is a happy guy after a hearty breakfast. We had fun and I enjoyed the laughter we shared in Hall 16 open concept pantry. Hoping for more of this in days to come.

Two days to exam. Scared? Nope. A little perhaps and this is what makes me scared.

I was having sorethroat over the weekend with yellow coloured phlegm and blood stain in it. Too heaty in TCM term due to many late nights last week before i head home to attend my cousin’s wedding. Liver heat or "Gon Fou" - heatiness in body.  My phlegm was orange looking on Monday morning. Rationale behind it, yellow (phlegm) + red (blood) = Orange! Brilliant explaination! Looking at my condition, my dearest mum prepared "yong sam sou" (is it Root hairs of Ginseng???) soup/drink for me to bring back as I return back to NTU, Singapore *Sob* I want to stay at home!!! The drink has cooling property. I think it helps. Or perhaps the love of a mother promotes speedy recovery. Even it didn’t help, it surely did warmth my heart as i embarked on the journey back to NTU.

Before i leave home on Monday, Dad & Mum kept reminding me to take supplements to boost up my immunity, increase alertness and memory power(GinkgoPlex, EPA) , build strength, handle stress better (B-complex) etc. Obviously i’m not someone who’ll diligently eat my supplement on normal schooldays unless being served ( old-primary and secondary school days when i was at home). i oftern wonder does taking supplements really help? The research and result publish in medical journal, magazines and newspaper bought my parents over and me being an obedient child *wink* decided to heed my parents advice.

So this is what i’ve taken this morning after breakfast.

Salmon Oil 1000mg, Somma Klamath Lake Algae 250mg (supposingly it boost your immunity), Bilberry 350mg,  GinkgoPlex 60mg, Folic Acid and Multivitamins. Taken one tablet of 500mg Bee Pollen before breakfast (not shown).

Glad that i’m not the one who bought the supplements. if not i’ll go broke, seriously. Parents and close friend who know the need of a student are my loyal supplement provider. Meaning, with all the effort they put in, I must do my best in exam!!!

Oops…Which reminded me to go back to studies. Adios! Hasta luego…

PS: Bought Dunkin Donuts from Larkin station back to Singapore for my hall friends and school friends. Hope the doughnuts did spurred them to study while taking a break to savour the doughnuts made with sweet potato starch (if i’m not wrong). Choco Pudding flavour is the best! Too bad that it was all sold out when i got there.