ici Radio Canada...

It's a force of habit... whenever I hear the word 'isi', I'll automatically say "Radio Canada"

Where ever... when ever... be it the filling station or the butcher's

Imagine saying this in front of a Quebecois...

And there are lots of Quebecois tourist here... Encountered more than 10 times... which I know of... They're sporting Quebec flag on their knapsack. American posing as Canadian would always only use the red maple leaf, but the blue white fleur de lis, it's exclusively Quebecois.

(p/s I saw a drape with maple leaves pattern... If only I could get one)

The Husband Dean Koontz

Reading halfway through the novel. A thriller novel. A psycho parents, a psycho elder brother, kidnapped wife, shoot, shoot, kill, kill, die, die...

Hey! It's a good read. Finished 10 chapters, 4 more to go.

Somebody should make a movie out of this novel.

As usual, Matt Bomer should play Mitch. Well that's what I imagined Mitch to look like. (Holly describe her husband as beautiful)... Anson Mount as Anson? Suave, strong, athletic... (Imagining Cullen Bohannon...) After I found out that Anson is a psychopath, not a good choice.

(p/s after doing some research, apparently Odd Thomas is authored by Dean Koontz too. Never watch it though.)

My first week studying Business

It's already 1 week and I've made some friend. Joshie, Jerry and Larry. Josh is also my course-mate. He's taking business too. Jerry and Larry are in Human Resource Management course but we'll meet for 3 sessions a week. For English class, Management class and Organizational Behaviour class. During this 3 sessions, we'll sit together.

For Josh and I, this is something new. Josh, also a former student in a public uni told me it's his first time having a class with somebody from other courses. He studied Accounting in his former public Uni. In his class all were from Accounting course.

In my former faculty, we seldom have classes with other courses. Only for the first 2 years for English classes, Music classes, Cognitive Science classes... with nursing students ( my friends).
Never in Clinical years.

Currently, our English class consists of Business. Human Resource and Accounting students. For ethics class, we share the class with Occupational Safety and Health students. Management and Organizational Behaviour classes are consist of Business and HR students. Only Accounting and Marketing classes are purely business students.

Our group is the smallest, 4 business students this batch. Until morning, we had another one coming in. I tried to initiate a conversation with this chap but he gave me a cold shoulder. Josh and Jerry witnessed how he replied me. So we ignored him. Giving him his space. He might be friendlier next time. Maybe he woke up in the wrong side of the bed this morning.

Jerry and Larry are funny. Larry would share some funny videos in his smartphone while Jerry would make funny jokes. And they are younger than us (Josh and I). Josh is a bit quiet but is a nice person to talk too. Yes both of us are more 'matured' than Larry and Jerry but that doesn't inhibit us from clicking together.

Larry made a funny comment this evening. When I told them about the OSH students, how noisy, hippy they are, he said "those OSH students are not in the right mind". And we laughed. Yes, one can just label a noisy person as OSH student. Other students are quite reserved. Not OSH students. Yesterday, I was ridiculed for wearing formal attire. Business, Accounting and HR students never comment on how I dress, but not OSH students. One of these days I should down-dress myself, something business casual?

Yeah, that about it for now.

p/s And I am always participating in the class. This morning our accounting lecturer patted me on my shoulder for being proactive. Honestly, most lecturers think that I am in Business field before... self-clap?

The President, The King and the Prime Minister...

The King is always the head of state, the Prime Minister is always the head of the government. A President (Yusuf Ishak) can be the head of state only or both head of state and government (Obama).

Apparently, a big-headed Prime Minister sees himself as the head of state.

Is insulting the Prime Minister an act of sedition? It is when someone insult the King, the head of state. Or the Queen, or The FIRST LADY.

So petty. I wonder how the world sees this. A small thing as conspiracy theory leads to man-hunt. I wouldn't blame that chap for thinking it's a conspiracy theory. Hiding the facts, denying, can you blame him/her?

Man, we really need freedom of speech to go forward. Freedom of speech = transparency. And more matured, civilized, fair politic.

Petty, petty, petty...

Can't help not to laugh

The funniest one would be the smart car with yellow top and red body... just like the kiddy car

Colic

My bestie, Marj is a new mother. She has a 3 months old baby.

She's worried. Her baby hates being bottle fed. The boy prefer breast-feeding. In medical point of view, that's good. Everyone in the government hospital advocates for breast-feeding.

Unfortunately, it's not very practical. My bestie is a teacher (in a government school). She is now working. Knowing the importance of breast milk, she pumps her breast milk. Bottle feed her baby with breast milk when she's away.

Her boss according her is 'menopausal'. Making them busy. Dog in the manger. No crib for a bed. (since I'm posting about babies)

Obviously, somebody doesn't walk the talk. You're spending money to educate mothers on breast feeding but you're not giving them a facilities/time to do so. Or at least let the new mothers have their own break.

Her concern is how would she nourish her baby if she's busy at work? The baby refuses to be bottle-fed. So, she asked me what to do.

I can't make any conclusion on why but my main suspect is colic. Common among bottle-fed babies.

The breast is full of milk, there's no air for the baby to suck. Bottles in the other hand would be filled with air as the air displaces the milk. If the baby sucks in air, she/he'll get colic. Bowel is distended with air making it uncomfortable.

Anti-colic bottle do help but not as superior as breast. (Well the breast would be God's no.1 invention, almost everybody loves them, unless if it's too large or too small. My sister keeps on complaining how bothersome her big breast are... heavy)

Another thing to consider is to hold the bottle vertical when feeding. By vertical I meant perpendicular to the baby. This reduces the chance of sucking air. And remove the bottle from the baby as soon as it's empty.

Colic is the main culprit, but there are other causes too. Congenital anomalies like Hirschprung's diseases (well that's the only differential diagnosis which comes to my mind... I sucked in surgery)

To release abdominal pressure, I think Buzzfeed have the best method

of Orthopaedic surgeon and twitter

Prior to twitter, one can find a lot of # in medical case notes. Especially in an orthopaedic ward or ER.

Example:
mid-shaft # of the rt femur... C4 #...

In orthopaedics, # is shorthand for fracture. That's why it's hard for a lay-person to decipher a doctor's writing. Jargon and short-hands... and terrible handwriting.

Imagine an ultra-modern hospital, where all the staffs utilize social media to send referral notes. That would be very efficient (but there would be confidential issue too). One wouldn't need to wait for the attendants to send the notes. Housemen Officers wouldn't complaint that they are underpaid.

Say, a radiologist were to report a fracture to the orthopaedic surgeon via twitter...

# mid-shaft # of the rt femur. If I were the one who invented hashtag, I would patent them and I'll get rich by charging the orthopaedic department for copyright infringement... Cool huh?

So an orthopaedic surgeon who has twitter addiction would see hashtags all the time. Twitter #, case notes #. If only they play tic tac toe... another big hashtag.

(And I was laughing alone when thinking of this, in Marketing class. We were discussing about hashtags and social media)

Well, my first day of marketing class, I present our group discussion on micro environment and macro environment. I'm not sure whether my presentation is good or the lecturer just not in the mood to comment on our presentation.

I would say, my 'oddness' pays itself. I read a book on marketing in college. I took Biology. Reading the marketing textbook for leisure.

Something that I could relate to (buzzfeed)

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr... That's why I hate going to the operation theatre.

And those surgeons are surely cold-blooded.

I wonder that doctors should *bleep* with penguins. Making half penguin half doctor.

What I can't really understand is why would somebody switch the A/C to the lowest setting (16 centigrade). Cant they just keep the temperature at room temperature? 25 centigrade is cool enough. Super sakai!

I'm a middle child. Enough said

Protegera nos foyers et nos droits...

:P

Not that exaggerated!

I was watching Buzzfeed channel on YouTube

This video

What's it like to date a medical student

First, there's no time for dating. Seriously... Among all medical students in my former school, 50% dates. Out of that 50%, 75% dates another medical student. The remaining 25% is in a distant relationship i.e. not so stable relationship.

Dating a medical student might sound great but seriously, they are just an ordinary person. Nothing great about them. 33% have God complex, which translates to Jerk, 33% are too busy to date and 33% is 'dateable'. (1% falls into the creepy category...) However the 'dateable' 33% are busy too. Nothing is better than a fellow medical school. They know your schedule, you can just practise your physical examination on them aka play doctor. And they're a good study buddy too.

I'm so unfortunate to be in the same group with the creepy one and the jerk. A creepy girl literally stalks me. The jerk would change their partner like changing their outfit. And one particular guy had 6 different girlfriends in just 1 year. He's kinda a jerk so not a big surprise. After each break-ups, he'll confide with me. Why did she leaves me and so on. Sometimes, he would say he's just not into the relationship and breaks up with his girlfriend. 

And I'll play my role. Becoming the psychiatrist. Refering to my DSM handbook. Grandiose? Personality disorder... Again there are 2 types of medical student. The denier and the worrier. The denier would deny what's apparent. The worrier would get worried, there's something called Medical student syndrome. They would self diagnose themselves. And their commonly used phrase is "I think I have ..........., see I have these signs and symptoms"

Yes, I'm the worrier. 

Looking at poo? Rule of thumb is as long as your poo is not bloody, not pale white or very black you're fine.

Grey's anatomy? Nope... we would prefer House M.D over that.

Cadaver? Unfortunately, my faculty is a cheapskate. Never dissect one. So no comment. However, cadaver isn't smelly, they just reeks of formaldehyde. Forensics lab yup, they do smell at times.

However, the few last points are true. Revision is best done with your significant other. That's why medical students always only date fellow medical students.

English class

This morning is my first English class. Our lecturer is Mdm. Q.

The class is fairly easy. It's on the usage of a, an, some, any and the. Easy?

Yes it's easy. However, as easy as it is, there are something new to learn. When to use some and any. It's quite easy to misuse those two words.

Our lecturer also makes the class more interactive. Unlike medical school where everyone is expected to behave. The class is quite unconventional. Everyone works at their own pace.

However, I had problem writing. I got used to typing that writing with a pen is tiring. And yes no spell-check. If only I could just type the assignment given. Editing would be easy. So you can expect my work is quite messy. Crosses and correction everywhere.

It's more than a decade after the millennium, why are we still writing?

Something to add into my general knowledge: One cannot wear blue and green in Ireland. Not sure which one, Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. Only the Queen (Irish Queen) have the right to wear blue and green in the same outfit. Probably it's in Northern Ireland. Blue and Green? St Patricks! (I need to read more on this.)

Vanity

Not talking about wash basins here.

I bought (on impulse of course) a jar of bronzer by Revlon. An impulse by the inner metrosexual me. So my make-up assemblage is made up of 2 concealers and a jar of bronzer. I seldom use them though. Only on special occasion. The last time I use them was last Thursday for photo. I need passport size photos. The one I had were taken 10 years ago.

Well, the trick of using make up is to apply lightly. You're not a kabuki actor, so don't overdo them. Yes you'll need kabuki brush to blend.

Remember make ups are meant to accentuate your best feature and to reduce the flaws. So do the one which looks most natural. So for me, bronzer and concealers completes my make up kit. Did I mention mascara and eyeliner?

Okay, those four. I haven't master mascara yet but I do need to use one if my eyelashes looks flat. I don't really use eyeliner though. I just play with them. Like crayons.

To make my face looks natural, I mist my face after applying make up.

Don't judge me. At least I don't wear them like K-pop boy band.

Making my own dry shampoo spray.

It's hard to find dry shampoo here. There one in powder form. But it's bothersome to apply. Spray dry shampoo, nein!

And this prompted me to find the DIY recipe online

You'll need

• warm water
• starch. Most recipe calls for cornstarch. I have none in the kitchen. But there's a bag of sago starch. So I substitute cornstarch with sago starch
• some Epsom salt (not in the original recipe, I just think of adding some for texture)
• baking soda (also not in the original recipe but I added some for the same reason)
• tea tree oil

Mix all and shake. Well, it works but not as effective as washing your hair with shampoo. I reduces the greasiness, the tea tree oil helps with the smell. 

How secession movement could help us?

My brother and I were passing through a group of protester. A secession movement to be exact. I couldn't not compare my state with Quebec. We have different demography, we have the biggest land mass and secession movement is quite hot here. Disgruntled with how the federal government treats us.

The Prime Minister stills deny that the federal government is being unfair with us. Our infrastructure doesn't reflect the richness of our natural resources. We pay more for cabotage plus the to be implement GST. Well, the tax and cabotage is probably to fund our PM's lavish lifestyle.

The protest is to tell the passerby to help our own people before helping the flood victims from other state. Well, there's truth in there. Doesn't the federal government already suck most of our resources? We've been 'donating' much all this while. We have flood victims too.

Secession movement. There's a lot of such movements around the world, mostly fail. But it changes how the central government treats them. I reckon the Quebecer are treated better than us. Thanks to PQ or BQ. The separatist voiced their dissatisfaction. Not wanting secession, the central government treats them better.

Lose the war but win the battle.

Here, it looks like the central government turn a blind eye. Not much improvement compared to other region. I'm not making stories. It's true. Mr PM stop denying. With the new even headed CM, hopefully things would be better.

For those protester, keep up annoying the government. Maybe it's the only way to make them realize how unfair they treat us.

Why can't I comment on my own blog?

The frustration of not able to reply my bestie's comment.

Anyway, I'll start my business studies this Monday. My first class is English. I hope it's easy. See, I'm not a native speaker. I am still learning English. Yes I get good result. It's even better than my national language result. Something I noticed while glancing through my school certificate.

Yes, I could say I have little problem with English classes, but who knows. In my Uni days, it's compulsory to attend English classes. Those with better University Entrance English Test skipped a class. But the class I attended is hell. It's on quoting, referencing and paraphrasing. It's not hard because of the language, it's hard because of the rigid formats.

So, Monday's class is English. Something that I think is easy, but also something that could be hard. And I'm concern about my spelling. Well, one can use spell-check while blogging, but not in English class.

Rebellious stage?

Is there such thing as late onset rebellious stage?

In my teenage years, I kow-tow a lot to my parents decision.

My exam results is above average which made me legible to enroll into an elite school*. Then comes the most 'cheapskate' response. Why would I need to go to such school when all schools are the same? So I spend my school years in ordinary schools.

It continues until I have to apply for Uni. Why do you have to apply for other Uni's when we have local Uni? So for my University application, my first 4 choices were in this local Uni.

Something I regret doing. Listening to my parents. Well, I blame it on local folklore. Folklore are meant to scare children. And Asian parents are better in intimidating their children. Self imposed rules. Limiting our mindset. Folklore are supplementing our parents action.

We have folklore where a sailor turned into a stone (just like Lot's wife) because he ignored his mother. Well not really a bad one. But most stories circled around not listening to parents advice. Another adage, old people eats salt longer (a literal translation of course). It means, the old folks are seasoned. (this one needs no literal translation. haha! pun intended and deliberately put) Eating too much salt, that explains the hypertension.

Do I regret quitting my medical studies? No. Although I do regret spending a lot of effort and time on it. But again, nobody knows God's exact plan.

Had I were given the liberty to think myself, maybe it won't be this fucked up.

Had they not questioned my intention to be an architect, this won't happen.

*elite school is a government funded school, not necessary a private school. It's just a bit more expensive, mainly due to the boarding fees, different uniforms but almost negligible. Not being a brat for asking to study in elite school here.

a force of habit, counting in Spanish

uno, dos tres, quarto. cinco, de, mayo

Yes, it's stupid.

Car hair dryer?

I watched a lot of infomercial lately, especially Vat19.com. Some of the products looks silly and funny but INGENIOUS. A cuff-link lighter, An all-in-1 measuring cup/spoon, DIY smartphone projector, rainbow maker. Yes to some it sounds silly, who need a lighter/cuff-link? Why would I need a rainbow maker? Yes it is quite silly, but hey it's fun. Same goes to HSN. Yesterday I watched an infomercial on Drop Stop car seat filler. A simple contraption but useful.

This afternoon, I went to my hair-dresser. I told him
"Yeah, I have wiry hair. It's best to use wax or clay to style. But I just don't have the time to let my hair dry."

Living in a hot tropical country, hair gets oily faster. No, I don't shampoo my hair everyday, but I rinsed them everyday. Using cold water of course.

The rule of thumb of hair styling,

1. Gel and mousse on damp hair, i.e towel dried hair
2. Wax, clay and putty on air dried hair. 

Air drying is either leaving them dry in ambient air, or using hair dryer.

Most men don't own hair dryers. Real man doesn't need one! (in a tough, macho tone)

Well, try putting clay or wax or putty on damp hair. They look lifeless. The hair is still damp, sticking together and you add more weight instead of volume. They look flat.

I left my hair dryer in the big city. I don't really use them anyway. Not because I am macho but I style my hair in my car before getting out of the car.

Raise your hand if you apply make-ups in your car. Yeah life is sometimes busy. One can't avoid this.

So imagine if you need a hair dryer but you are too busy, rushing. What if there's a in-car hair dryer.

Option one

• Buy an ac/dc converter with electrical socket. Plug in the cigarette lighter. Plug in your normal hair dryer to the ac/dc converter. Too bulky? Too technical?

Option two

• Just blow your hair with the a/c blower. But not really suitable for short-haired person. My other bestie, Jeanne and my late cousin Estelle use this technique. Well she had long hair. And my car a/c has only cooling mode, no heating mode unlike high end European car. (My car is locally made, who needs the heating mode in the hot tropical climate? And yes, we are cheap)
• However, one can only cool dry their hair. What if you need to set your hair using medium or high heat? Again, it's hard to direct the air flow to your hair.

What if

• there an adapter for hose from the blower for you to direct the air to your hair? Kinda like the hand dryer/hair dryer thingy hose? Those wall mounted hotel hair dryers?
• and one can just plug in the heating element in the hose to the cigarette holder to heat the air? (optional feature in case you drive a cheap car like mine, no heater)

Collapsible hose are compact. So it's easy to store. Unlike option one where one have to carry bulky ac/dc converter and hair dryer, and more practical than option two.

Hmmm, I should draw the diagram. If only I could patent my idea? Or is it patented already?

Stay tune for the diagram.

Wall mounted hair dryer. Commonly seen in hotels. Perhaps there are millions of kleptomaniac quest whose hobby is to steal hair dryers? Imagine attaching the hose to your car a/c vent. Just the hose. Without the bulky box thingy. If heater is needed, then just add the heater to the hose and plug it in the cigarette lighter socket. And one can just store the hose in the glove compartment or under the seat. (provided it's not occupied by make-ups and shoes... my mother used to keep 3 pairs of shoes under her seat)

Some funny, amusing videos from vat19.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/vat19com/featured
http://www.vat19.com

The Drop Stop which I mention earlier
http://www.buydropstop.com

Pineapple infused green tea... heaven

There's a pineapple lying on the dining table. I intended to use it as an 'air-freshener'. I just like pineapple scent. 

However, my mother insisted me to cut and eat the pineapple. 

I ate a quarter. And I have 3 quarter left. I was brewing my green tea when the 'eureka' moment happened. Why not infuse the pineapple in the green tea?

My green tea is brewing and I just plopped in the pineapple, steep it for half an hour. The smell. I could imagine myself on a tropical island (well I am indeed living on a tropical island). Like always, I keep the tea in the fridge and drink it after dinner.

Yum. I'm gonna make another batch tomorrow. 

My bestie is gonna laugh at this...

The last time I hung out with my bestie, We were speaking in New Zealand accent. Singing their national anthem, singing 'God difin New Zilin'. Writing with a pin instead of a pen.

The most dirty would be my deck/dick joke. After that, I realized that South African speaks in similar accent. Ixpict instead of expect.

Not a big surprise though. Both South Africa and New Zealand have somewhat similar culture. Particularly rugby. That's how I learn  to sing Aotearoa/God defend New Zealand and Nkosi sikelel iAfrika/Die stem van Suid-Afrika. Bokke vs All Blacks. I can sing both song quite well. Ask my bestie. She knows.

There are South African living in New Zealand and vice versa. The one I wouldn't forget is a South African Psychiatrist murdering his wife with insulin in New Zealand. An article on Reader's Digest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Bouwer

Another evidence on South African New Zealander. South Africa makes up the 5th largest source of immigrant and the 4th largest South African diaspora is in New Zealand.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_New_Zealander
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_diaspora

So both countries must have been good buddies, rugby rival, both with beautiful national anthem.

I've been blabbing a lot about SA and NZ, not to the main agenda.

I was answering a quiz, in which the quiz would predict you English dialect using their algorithm.

My result

A closer look

And there it is, from their algorithm, my English dialect is New Zealandish, South African and Singaporean. I can sing all 3 national anthem, the 2 aforementioned and Majulah Singapura.

And one of my crazy dream is to sing The NZ anthem and SA anthem in a rugby match. I meant both anthem in 1 match*. Since I'm neither South African nor New Zealander, I can sing both? I better ask the rugby union.

Well the best rendition of South African anthem is

More on South African national anthem in my previous entry 'Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika' on 14th November.

Jay du Plessis and Katlego Maboe, both South African. I reckon most South African, Australian and New Zealander are familiar with each other's national anthem. Katlego also sings Advance Australia Fair very well. (Katlego is also a TV host, espresso) Thanks to Tri Nations

It's just funny how the algorithm works. Almost accurate. What surprises me is NZ and SA surpass the Singaporean. Well, I used to have Singaporean English reference book. Back then, Singaporean English syllabus was a craze. Every tuition centre teach Singaporean English. Yes, every! So 'kiasu'.

*Yup, literally. I sleep talk. One night my mother heard me singing these national anthem. The next day she told me that I sleep-sang in a foreign language. When I told her it's probably, NZ or SA anthem, she said "Aren't their national anthem English? Your song doesn't sound English"   

True North STRONG And Free...

Proud of those Canadian Special Forces who are combating the ISIS.

Wishing them all the best and get home safely.

ISIS is indeed a world threat. And Canada is helping the world.


(p/s Canadian are WAY stronger. Only that they are not a 'show off' kind of people. And of course I proud of the Canadian troop. I am a Canadiophile and the world seldom give Canada credits)



http://www.ibtimes.com/canadian-special-forces-confront-isis-first-ground-battle-between-western-troops-1787836

Tortang talong

Okay, as promised, I would like to introduce you to an easy to make Filipino cuisine. Very easy.

Tortang is probably a creole word for Torta. Tortilla is a diminutive of torta. ie small torta. Tortilla is an omelette. (Mexican tortilla is a flat-bread). So tortang probably means omelette. I'm not an expert on Tagalog, so if any Filipina/o reads this blog, please enlighten me on tortang. This is just my assumption.

Talong is eggplant, aubergine, brinjal... whichever you prefer to call it.

The ingredients are eggplants and eggs. 1 large egg for 2 eggplants. And of course some salt, pepper and oil for frying.

Let's get cooking!

yep. Our eggplant is nowhere oval like an egg. So we prefer calling it brinjal. Even in our English textbook. The first time I heard of eggplant, I thought it was the agave. Here, we have a weird habit of adorning aloe or agave sharp tip with eggshells

'egg-plant' (not an agave plant though)

The common one adorned with eggshells is

http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokok_Kelumpang_Telur

Prick with a fork to let the steam out. Alternatively use a sharp knife.

oh my clinodactyl 5th finger. I assure you I'm not having Down syndrome. No hypertelorism, no simian crease. Obese... hmmmm... (yup)

Grilling. I'm not sure if one can use a panini press or George Foreman's. Before we had this grilling pan, we just use a large pan. Grill until the skin peels off easily.

Peel. Ideally, peel off the skin completely. That is why, one need to be patient. I didn't peel completely. The reason why one need to strip off the eggplant is to remove the waxy skin. The waxy skin hindered the eggs from absorbing completely into the brinjal. So grill until the skin peel off easily. Worth saying twice.

After the eggplants is completly 'naked', flatten it. Mash it with fork.

If it is thoroughly grilled, it's easy to mash/flatten the aubergine. Add in the egg. Beaten. Picture is just an illustration. (don't eat the egg-shell idiot).Soak the brinjal into the beaten eggs, add some salt and pepper.

Like this! (my mother ate some of the grilled brinjal, that's why the top one is shorter)

Frying!

Flower press

My brother needs a press to preserve some plant specimens. He asked me on how to preserve the specimens. I actually made a flower press albeit a primitive one.

Some of my specimen. It's been in the press for almost 9 years. I couldn't recall when did it press these specimens. But form the newspaper that I use in the press, it's in 2006. Probably, while waiting for university offer letter. Orchid, fern and clover. Irish-New Zealand. Just kidding.

My primitive press, long screws with winged nut and 2 plywood. If I were to make another press, I'll use chopping board. They won't warp. And bigger screws to exert more pressure.

Well, if only I could turn back time. Back to at least at the time I made this primitive contraption I would.

Wait for the Indian Medical school offer letter. It's late by a few days. Not that our local Uni is not good enough, it's just cheapskate.

And to doctors wannabes my advice is to

1. find a medical school with teaching hospital. More hands on experience. My former school use the government hospital which is a different entity. The doctors working there have little interest in teaching you. Some doctors even consider us 'space occupying lesion' for making the hospital more crowded. So find a Medical school with proper facilities.
2. find a medical school where students are provided with cadavers. It's a shame for a medical school to not teach anatomy hands on. Ours is so cheap that we learn anatomy using plastic models and the only 'live' specimens are in jars like gherkins. I'm serious. Not all medical school teach anatomy using cadaver. Cheapskate.
3. find a school where the staffs are matured enough. This is hard. But watching your lecturers quarreling in social media, that's a great shock to me. Calling yourself a professional but argue on petty issues via social media? Not matured.
4. find a school where racism is not prevalent. In my former school, non-(insert a majority race that you know of) have to wait longer to get a room in the student's residence. While other Uni treat their medical student like their favourite child, our neglects us. What more to say if your of a minority ethnicity. 
5. find a school in higher ground. I don't understand why our Uni build our faculty in a flood prone area. Which wrecks my car. They won't be responsible, saying that I parked my car outside the school compound. Oh, in the first place, why is it built in a small cramped space. 
6. find a school which doesn't cut corners, by enrolling 50% more students than the usual. More students, less accommodation, less parking space. 
7. find a school where the dean/former dean doesn't coerced you to vote for the government. 
8. find a school where the staffs walk the talk. Like our dear former dean. He taught us on medical ethic but not ethical enough to keep his mouth shut about my PTSD. I got ostracized for a few days because my colleague are afraid of me. Afraid of me getting berserk I reckon. And he is practicing nepotism by letting his son enrolled into the same school. 
9. find a school where the staffs are helpful and sincere to help.

Now deep in my dark heart/mind, I wish that the dean's car is submerged in the flood. And he'll have to pay a lot of money for his broken ECU.

Hahahaha... evil laugh. Well, I do regret enrolling myself into that cheapskate goddamn godforsaken medical school. 

Pineapple Wine day 4

I'am a bit worried. The yeast is still working as evidence by the bubbling must. However, when I tasted some of the liquid seeping out of the jar, it's sour. Has my wine turned into vinegar. I wouldn't mind if it's going to be vinegar as I like vinegar too. But considering the cost I invested in this project, I would really hope it's going to be fine i.e becoming wine.

Maybe it's normal as the main ingredient itself is sourish. And the sourness is not as intense as vinegar. And rice wine have a slight sourish note too. However, it's a learning process.

This song is by Alanis. The lyrics are meaningful. Unlike current song.

So here's some photo of my Pineapple must. 

In the top picture, there are bubbles on the must surface. 

Bottom picture, pineapple chunks floating. I shake the bottle to mix the must. 

Now, I'm quite obsessed with pineapple. Looking for pineapple essential oil for aromatherapy. 

Speaking of wine, I enjoy drinking wine when my bestie is around. From a bottle of Pinot Noir at the beach, several glasses over dinner. An old and probably the best Cabernet Souvignon which rendered us into drunken innkeeper. A cute rose with a picture of cute pink elephant on it's label. 

My bestie who turned me form a wine virgin to a wine lover. 

Asian stereotype

Yes, for those reading my blog regularly, I always make some Asian stereotype jokes. It's not racist because I'm Asian. 100%. It's not racist if you're making fun of yourself.

Asian stereotype is funny because it is true. We're making a joke out of it because living in a typical stereotypical Asian family is hard. So to dull the pain, we make fun of ourself.

Here's one of the TV programme I watch when I was younger

Competitive parents. Our trademark.

And we satirize it

 

Even foreigners are amused by our Asian culture.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MikeyBustosVideos

http://www.youtube.com/user/sasaseno

EtOH, C2H5OH, Moon shine (Day 1)

I can't help it. I'm impulsive. Curios. Well, consider it a chemistry/biology experiment which I could reap.

Yes, I'm brewing a batch of Pineapple Wine.

This afternoon, I bought a big pineapple, 2 kg. It's $5 per kg and I paid $10. Either it's 2 kg or the fruiterer cheated me. He weigh it away from me. Anyway, I'm not surprised. It's enormous.

It's so big that a spider, a centipede and an earthworm dwell in it. Wait! that another story. James and the giant peach. If James is in the giant peach, his son would be in the pineapple.

My 2 kg baby. hairless and red, like newborn babies.

Lunar New Year is coming soon. So this pineapple is for decoration. Ong lai. Just kidding. This is my reserve pineapple. 

These are puffballs, hand-picked by pixies from our backyard. I'm just pulling your legs. For those reading this from abroad, this is ladies and gentlemen, a packet of yeast. Yes, our yeast are like balls or discs. This yeast is potent, according to the vendor. There are other flatter, disc shape yeast. (kinda remind me of red blood cells, biconcave).This is more potent than the flatter yeast. The flatter yeast are used in making fermented rice, a delicacy. This yeast is for rice-wine making.

No carboy, no problem. The traditional way to ferment a rice wine is by using an earthenware jar. A big one. My humble glass jar can't compete with them. Instead of using air-lock, I'll just release the pressure periodically. I'm storing my wine under my bed. Bogeyman would get drunk. Too drunk to disturb my beauty sleep.

One source said that one must feed the yeast with sugar. This is my extra brown sugar. Mulatto sugar. The literal translation for this sugar is 'Red Sugar'... My wine is auspicious huh! Red pineapple, red sugar, Well, a pan-tong-la's gonna have to act like both 'tong' and 'la'. Being superstitious and get drunk. (oh my racist remark!, well, I'm not racist because I'm a pan-tong-la)

Cut the pineapples and boil. Cover the pineapple in water. This picture is just for illustration. I actually use a bigger pot. But that pot is so pity looking. It's a shame to show to you readers. So basically, get a large pot, submerge the pineapple chunks and boil. Add sugar.

After that, transfer the water and the chunks of pineapple into the glass jar. Make sure to sterilize the jar with hot water. Yeasts are fussy.

Wait until the pineapple mixture cools down to your body temperature. If you're a vampire or zombie, you might use a thermometer. For mere mortals, just use your hands to feel (dorsum not plantar)

This thermometer is cheap, colourful and fun and amusing. I would stick it on my forehead just to watch the colours changing. 

Once it reaches the desired temperature, mix in the yeast. I pound my balls (ouch!) of yeast. Freeze-dried yeast? No thanks, our yeast is tougher.

And this is the evidence that the yeast are alive. It bubbles as soon as I mix the yeast into the jar. Now it's under my bed. You might have monster under your bed, but I have a micro-brewery under my bed. 

That's for the first day. And yes, I wish I used regular white sugar instead of red sugar. My wine looks like stout. I envision my wine to be champagne colour, but now, I'll probably get a burgundy or any hue of red. Hopefully it's not black like rum or stout.

Well, if it turn out to be rum-like, I'll just add coconut cream and voila! moonshine pina colada. 

God of prosperity

Lunar New Year is coming soon and my favourite song is Chai Shen Dao
 There are 2 versions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIMO2zWI_vg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnuURRDXNXw

(those are not my videos, just to let you know the 2 versions of Cai Shen Dao that I know of)

Back in college, the term God of Prosperity refers to an ATM machine (redundant ATM machine = auto teller machine machine).

Withdrawing money from an ATM is coined as "worshipping the God of Prosperity"

ATM card is our joss-stick.

So the phrase "I am out of cash, I need to worship the God of Prosperity" is our way of saying "I am out of cash, I need to withdraw some cash from the ATM machine"

Again, why can't we simply say ATM instead of ATM machine?

So when ever I listen to these songs, I would smile, reminiscing those days.

Another habit acquired from my medical studies. Nosocomial habit?

If a hospital-acquired infection is nosocomial infection, can I call my somewhat annoying habit nosocomial habit? In the past, one can easily spot a habit in the hospital, on nuns. Got it? Hospital run by nuns, nuns wear habits...

This particular habit is borderline annoying. Asking a pregnant lady the due date... no it's guessing the gestational week (or month) and the due date, like it's a trivia question.

Imagine a game-show where the contestant guess the due date? That's what I did.

My mother is opening a new bank account. The teller who helped us is (I guess) 7 months pregnant. I couldn't withhold my curiosity, so I blurted out my 1 million dollar question.

"When is your due date? Is it this March?"

"Yes" was her reply.

We end up talking about pregnancy. After all is done, I told her to eat more fibre. No she's pregnant, not bloated with $#!7. But with baby (actually foetus) growing inside the uterus, the uterus is compressing her bowel, making her constipated. Constipation=straining and straining in the toilet with big belly is uncomfortable. Mark my word. Or ask your mother.

I can't ask mine because my mother told me a stork in a postman uniform delivers me.

Why I spend longer time to read Wikipedia (notingh to do wiht dyxlesia(

The sentence in the bracket is actually how I type without using spell check!

Well, it's really nothing to do with dyslexia.

2 hours ago, I was reading on Leonhard Euler, then I read about the 7 bridges, Prussia and From Prussia, I opened up a new tab, looking for an article on blue. Blue. Prussian Blue as I know it is composed of iron oxide. In the same article, I clicked on Indigo, looking for how the plant looks like.

I've been wondering, how Royal Blue got it's name. Is it royal? How does it look? Anything to do with the phrase 'blue blood'. Then I searched for why royal families/aristocrats are associated with blue blood? Even deoxygenated blood aren't that blue. It's purple. Don't believe it? Let me venepuncture you. Joking.

Apparently, they are so fair that their blood vein appeared blue. Well, our looks greenish due to our yellowish skin tone. Hence the surname Huang, Wang and Wong. A slit-eyed like me can't escape the yellowish tinge. (Yes I am part Chink Chonk, Wing Wong)

From my previous reading/general knowledge, those European Royalties, especially the virgin Queen Bessie used mercury to make herself fair. Too bad, Fair and Lovely wasn't in the market then. Another example for mercury poisoning? Johnny Depp. Well, his character the Mad Hatter. As mad as a hatter. Tanning hides with mercury. Getting mad in the process. Those heavy metal. Heavy metals are associated with anaemia. THAT'S NOT WHITE, THAT'S PALE!

From Prussian Blue, I wonder if Prussia is Russia or Germany?

From Prussian Blue, to caesium poisoning, to Goiania Incident.

And I cried, considering how many died young.

Watching several people die and dying slowly, that's the hardest part. It's emotional.

So from Euler's to Seven Bridges to Prussia to Blue to Blue Blood to Caesium to Goiania. There's another tab with article on Funerary Arts.

That's 2 hours.

Well, most of my knowledge are from reading Wikipedia. Whenever my cheeky nephew argue the validity of my information, I would ask him to check it in Wikipedia.


 

To brew or not to brew

The idea of brewing some fruit wine has been brewing in my mind. Literally, I brewed fruit wines in my brain. I wish! Having telekinesis. If only I can turn water into wine like the good Lord.

I'm wondering how does a pineapple wine taste like? I like pina colada. I like pineapple juice. But I'm partial about pineapple itself. They might sting. Fermenting might denature some of the stinging enzyme, bromelain.

I'm thinking of brewing the pineapples with rice wine yeast, as an experiment. Our rice wine yeast could tolerate high percentage of alcohol. So, in my mental list, I would need a plastic translucent jerrycan, cork, plastic tubing, rice wine yeast, brown sugar and of course pineapple.

Before I went out to shop, I did my last check by looking into the supplies list in the internet. While waiting, I read some news online, curious about the progress on PK-AXC. There, on CNN, people died in India and Mozambique due to alcohol poisoning. 69 in Mozambique, 14 in India.

Is it a sign for me to not trying to brew? It's a common practice here make home-brewed rice wine. I never heard of people dying of drinking poisoned rice wine here. Rice wine making is a serious business here. Everything must be sterile. There's a list of do's and don'ts.

Hmmm... should I?

My mopping tips...

I've heard about mopping the floor with hot water but I never tried it. On a tropical island, a water heater is not a necessity. Being cheapskate (my, I overuse this word) we don't have any water heater, be it gas (which is among the cheapest option) solar (the free energy, we're near the equator) of electric.

So heating water is done with a kettle and a cooktop. Waiting for the water to boil. I'm not good in waiting. I don't know, I was never a waiter.

I have to mop the floor. Instead of mopping the usual way, with cool water and floor detergent, I decided to try a new approach. Hot water and essential oil. Essential oil is to experiment it's effect on those pesky mozzies.

Here's what I did.

A pail of hot water with

• a splash of eucalyptus oil
• a few drops of tea tree oil
• a few drop of lemongrass oil

And another pail of cool water to rinse my mop after each wipe.

Mop as usual.

Et voila! A clean, green, mozzie repelling floor. Yes, I can brag that my floor has an additional feature, a mosquito repellent. Does you floor repel mosquitoes?

No ant trails too. It's rainy here, so ants would swarm our house to escape from the wet ground.

I wouldn't recommend using essential oil if you have crawling toddlers in your household. They might lick the floor. One need to be careful. It's not much but it's still depends on you if you opt to use or omit those essential oil.

Using hot water makes cleaning easier. And it dries faster too! If only mop this way earlier.

My sister 1 hour phone call

We can't help it, it's in our genes. An hour phone call is nothing strange to us, especially my sister.

Earlier today, I tried out my mother's smartphone. Her utmost reason for owning a smartphone is to WhatsApp her colleague. I never had a smartphone and I haven't use Whatsapp before. But my mother still insist me to teach her how to do it. So I tried Whatsapp my sister who owns a smartphone and is within a Wi-fi area.

I sent her a text, a picture and a video. Just to practice.

A few hours later, she called me. We were talking about blessing in disguise, a phrase first heard from our Filipina aunt.

A few years back, my aunt won a lottery. She bought a car. To her, winning that particular lottery is an answered prayer because they really need a second car. A blessing in disguise. My mother was and still is amused by my aunt. Growing up in a strict Christian family, she said God wouldn't like it if His children gambled.

A blessing in disguise. I said the thing happened to me could be a blessing in disguise. She had her own blessing in disguise story. Apparently, my brother in law application to move to a nearer city in the neighbouring state was denied. He was quite disappointed. Then the oil price drops, and Oil and Gas company starts to retrench their staffs. What is my brother in law starts in the new place and got retrenched later?

Again, my mother is happy that she can Whatsapp her colleague and my sister. She got too exited that she asked for my sister's selfie. Yes, technology. I am still using my old trusty 'not so smart' phone.

If I had one, it would be a video conference between my bestie, who's working in a resort and me. Yes, I miss you. I know you're my loyal reader.

My mother watching her former student acting...

My mother is a typical Asian lady. She likes watching drama.

On the telly, her former student is the main actress. The heroine.

Yes, she is also my former classmate in standard 4 and standard 5 before she moves to another town by the sea. Actually, she's in my Facebook friends list.

I still remember that time when her friend request appear on my Facebook page. I have a strict policy of approving friends request. Only somebody whom I met face to face are approved.

Her profile picture at that time was a picture of a pair of boot. Knee length. The name in her profile is her commercial name, Faye. Those makes me suspicious. I never had a friend named Faye, not is a boot my friend. She is persistent. After ignoring her request several time, I scolded her. My words if I recall it right was

"I don't think I know you. I don't befriend a pair of boot and I never had a friend named Faye"

A persistent girl as I known her, she replied "I can put my full name on my profile because it's too long and I am Dayangku your former classmate. Your mother taught me before too."

I ask for an apology because I questioned her. A bit harsh. Sorry, Dayang, I didn't know it was you.

She accepted my apology, recognizing it's partially her fault, not introducing herself in the first place. Who would expect somebody whom you lose contact with for a decade would look for you and befriend you on Facebook. The beauty of social media. Reconnecting old friendship.

As a young girl, she's always fascinated with showbiz business. She is the one, telling me what P in P. Ramlee stands for. It's Puteh.

Apparently, another ex-classmate of mine, also Dayangku's ex-classmate, also my mother's former student is a director. I watched some of his video in Vimeo. It's quite an eye-opener. One can love or hate him. If you see him through, he is actually quite funny. That's Uzair.

Wondering if Dayang would act in Uzair's video?

Both of you, Good luck on your future endeavors!

99% vs 1% (Not talking about skimmed milk)

K-pop is a Christian agenda?

Again, another stupid accusation made by a stupid organization masking as a defendant of the majority religion. Again, we are the scapegoat for all the immoral activities in this nation. I'm not surprised if they also blame us Christian on the misfortunes happening to the nation. Just like some dim-witted scumbags who blamed the Christian for the Boxing Day Tsunami, 10 years ago.

A hypocrite. Defending the religion of peace while making statements which potentially could disrupt peace.

As much as I hate those stupid NGO's, I also hate some of us who blame their ignorance, and associate it with their religion. A bit of narrow minded I would say. Blaming their religion wouldn't solve this silly and annoying problem.

1% ignorant religion fanatics vs 99% honest, God abiding people. The media pays attention to the stupid, pesky 1% because it would help them sell their news.

Blaming their religion doesn't represent the majority of the follower. In the end, both are paranoid, prejudice towards each other. Not a good environment for a multi-religious nation. Everybody feels threatened. Adding anxiety to my anxiety. So, it's not a surprise why we have a lot of undiagnosed mental illness. Everybody seems to have it. Just kidding. I hope everyone is healthy mentally, as mental illness is not a joking matter. Really! (us excepted, we are allowed to make fun of ourself)

Don't retaliate. Retaliate makes you less a Christian. "Love thy neighbour", "Love thy enemy", never heard of them? Then stop calling yourself Christian.

In the past Christians do terrorize the world with Auto-da-fe and the Spanish inquisition. The 3Gs... I'm not referring to mobile services. (And 3G is getting out-dated anyway, it's 4G now) The 3G, Gold, Gospel and Glory. Well, if Gold and Glory is with Gospel, it's wrong. Spreading the gospel shouldn't be associated with wealth and fame.

How about the Ku Klax Klan? Those white supremacist. Masking themselves with (of course an ugly mask) Christian morality.

Yes, majority of Christian are ashamed of those atrocities. Some choose to deny... Does it represent the whole followers of Christ? Nope. Would you like it when your religion is associated with terrorism? Nope.

It's the same with our brethren. Instead of retaliating, why not pray for them. Asking God's help to enlighten them, showing them the right way (notice I don't use the phrase "true way" everybody claimed theirs are true) That is more 'Christian' than mocking the other religion. Something that human race lack. Empathy.

Writing this doesn't mean that I like being the scapegoat, being oppressed, being somebody to blame on. being the black sheep. I write this because it's sensible.

By the way, I considered myself 'lapsed' and on the verge of agnostic. Maybe the world would be a better place with out religion. Or without monkeys in the religion. No offense monkeys. Just a figure of speech. If you monkeys can read my blog, then you are civilized enough. Yes, you're civilized than human being.

Apparently, Sacha Stevenson is hosting a talk show...

40 minutes talk show, yay! Mystery solved

Jus Alpukat | Minuman #044

This is our favourite. Avocado milk shake. Only ours calls for avocado and sweetened creamer.



Watch and like my favourite YouTube channel masak.tv

My attempt to Tempe Mendoan

Actually, I wanted to post some Filipino cuisine, a simple one, actually 2. But I was busy cooking 4 dishes at one time, alone. Well, next time I'll show how I cook Tortang Talong and Daing na bangus. Tortang Talong is a Filipino a humble cousin of Spanish tortilla, a very distant cousin to Mexican tortilla which is more famous. Thanks to the American. Daing na bangus is actually complicated. But I leave the hard part to my aunt and my job is to fry it. Yeah, too bad I was busy. Hopefully, my aunt would prepare (debone and marinate) the bangus next time. Maybe a video of how she remove the bones?

Still frustrated of the unavailability of tempeh mendoan the other day, I look for the recipe online.

This recipe (as usual the link to the recipe below) calls for

Bahan yang diperlukan :

•    1 batang tempe , bisa kamu iris – iris menjadi 10 – 15 potong.
•    Tepung terigu dengan kualitas bagus , kira – kira 200 gram saja.
•    Seperempat liter air putih yang sudah masak.
•    Daun bawang sebanyak 2 batang.
•    Minyak goreng .

Bahan Bumbu yang diperlukan ( bumbu ini dihaluskan) :

•    Bawang merah sebanyak 4 siung.
•    Bawang putih sebanyak 4 siung  juga.
•    Ketumbar satu sendok makan .
•    Kemiri 5 butir.
•    Sedikit kencur , kira – kira 1 cm saja.
•    Sedikit kunyit , 1 cm juga . bakar kunyitnya.

Bahan untuk sambal ( sebagai cocolan) :

•    9 cabe jenis rawit , yang segar lebih bagus.
•    5 sendok makan kecap kualitas bagus. Tapi bisa juga pake merek apa saja. Terserah anda saja.

Cara membuat tempe mendoan asli enak :

•    Pertama -  tepung  terigu , bumbu yang dihaluskan tadi , daun bawang campur menjadi satu. Masukan sedikit garam. Dan aduk – aduk sampai rata.
•    Masukan tempe kedalam adonan tepung . pastikan  tempe benar – benar terlumuri adonan tepung.
•    Kemudian goreng tempe yang sudah terbalut adonan tepung . 
•    Setelah matang ( warna terlihat agak kuning kecoklatan) . angkat dan tiriskan.


In English, the recipe calls for;

• a piece of tempeh. sliced. Not sure how big it is in Indonesia
• 200 grams of wheat flour
• 1/4 litre of water (the recipe specifically ask for cool boiled water)
• Chives
• and cooking oil for frying

and for the seasoning

• 4 shallots
• 4 garlics
• a tablespoon of coriander seed
• 5 candle-nuts
• 1 cm of ginger 
• and 1 cm of turmeric

The dipping (optional) calls for chillies and soy sauce.

Basically, to make one, mix the seasoning and with sliced tempeh, chives and batter and fry. Easy peasy

But I don't have all the ingredients so I tweaked a little bit.

I use a piece of tempeh, some wheat flour, some cornstarch, shallots and garlic, cold water (a la tempura) and salt. I omitted the other ingredients because I don't have them lying around the kitchen. My mother planted some chives but it's raining outside. Excuses excuses.

This is how a packet/piece of tempeh looks like. A cheap protein source. A cheapskate bodybuilder's best friend. LOL

A kitchen fairy helped me slice the tempeh.

Batter and seasoning. 2 pips garlic and 2 shallots pounded together. Yes, we Asian pound our food. No food processors. That's why our kitchen are noisy. To be honest, our kitchens sounds like somebody committing domestic violence. With all the shouting and pounding. My batter is made by mixing ice cold water, cornstarch and wheat flour. Don't bother asking for the measurement. Just follow your heart. Just kidding. My cute whisk. Very cheap. It's cheaper than a dozen of eggs. Well, that's what we Asians do. finding cheap stuffs. Again just kidding.

Mixing in the sliced tempeh. 

The first batch. Well, if you hate oil very much, blot the oil with kitchen paper towel.

The end product. Notice it's less than what it is supposed to be. Well half of it is already in my stomach.

Well plagiarism is not my thing. Although I don't follow APA format for quotation. I still quote. Here's the original recipe, in Bahasa Indonesia.

http://resepkulinerkreatif.blogspot.com/2014/10/resep-tempe-mendoan.html

Thank you for reading my humble blog and thank you resep kuliner kreatif for the inspiration. Well my bestie also deserve the credit for her verbal explanation on how to make tempeh fritter.