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Monday, January 31, 2011 @ 9:41 PM
Exciting! While doing literature research for my TE design project, I chanced upon this incredible and ingenious protein detection method that is absolutely elegant in spite of the complexity! It's really just an aggregate of simple concepts - thiolated DNA-nAu, antigen-antibody binding, RCA, enzyme-mediated colorimetric signal. Yet everything's just linked together in such an elegant manner! Alrights I'm now inspired to work harder and think more creatively for my research project. Hopefully an idea as beautiful as this will strike me! Eureka moment! TE's really interesting! In spite of the overwhelming LSM lecture last week, I realised that many of the quantitative proteomics methods are really brilliant after doing more read-up and taking the time to digest the materials. There's nothing really revolutionary, but that small little tweak is all it takes for everything to fall in place! And somehow I feel that us engineers tend to be more reactionary rather than visionary in terms of shaping the scientific frontier. I just feel like running to the library to grab a molecular biotech or biochem tb and just indulge in all these exciting ideas! There's just so many things that I do not know but would like to know! :)) Say of the day: (by macro lecturer) You know R&D is more important. So this means more money pumped into education, which means more money for professors. We can only be happy about it! Anw been thinking about this sentence for many days. No matter how I ponder over it, I just can't comprehend the meaning behind it - 情到深处人孤独. It has appeared in songs such as 是否and 离人. I still don't understand. Sunday, January 30, 2011 @ 11:32 PM
Concert, Reflection and Life Went for Angklung concert on Friday night. When the first note was played, a sense of 感动 ran through me. I guess that's the charm of a live concert. 演出勾起了许多感触与感想 and I wonder at times if it's rude to be there physically but my mind is actually wandering in my own world alongside the music. Feel like attending more concerts, especially those with a cultural dimension to them - I guess these are things that I haven't really bothered with but am beginning to appreciate the beauty of.  And here's the first song of the performance. I never did noticed this song before, but now that I do, I think it's really a gem. A reminder that I've overlooked many little things in life which hold lots of beauty in them. Christina Aguilera - Reflection Who is that girl I see, staring straight right at me? Why is my reflection someone I don't know? When will my reflection show who I am inside? Went to bugis on Saturday and had MOF for dinner. It's my first time eating MOF and it's quite good :) Otayo Bento again! Can't resist jap egg. heh. Would be better if there were miso soup! Haha. Almost tried I <3 Taimei but unfortunately, the pearls were sold out already. Another time!  Was reading an article about how the division between work and leisure, day and night (as some ppl have to work in different time zone, connected via the computer), workplace and home, seemed to have blurred. Even the concept of time is slowly losing its meaning (not in the positive manner that I've hoped). Looking back at myself, I think I'm somewhat a slave of technology too - used to be really obsessed with looking at handphone reviews (~1-2hr/day), with online games (maple, bejewelled blitz on fb), and now with facebook. They all started with me having genuine interest but soon evolved into a form of habit, which eventually became a type of obsession which I find myself having the need to eg. check facebook, even though I didn't really want to. So, I've decided to distance myself from fb, checking it only when I really want to, not because I had to do so in spite of myself. There's many more things to life, apart from mere online presence. There's so many real things in the physical world that I could experience, and I gotta do so while the will is still there. Eg. I missed the Pompeii exhibition, which I hoped to go but had delayed the visit thinking that it will still be there when I finally get down to going for it. My saturday morning was really relaxing and enjoyable. Started the morning with a run, followed by sitting by myself in the living room, listening to radio and reading newspaper. When was the last time I actually read the English newspaper? At least 3 years ago? Such simple yet highly enjoyable activities. I wonder what I was doing throughout my holidays. Why was I not doing these when I had the luxury of time? I guess I spent the bulk of my time lamenting that I have nothing to do - which is really meaningless actually on hindsight. Gotta stop doing things that are meaningless and of no value, eg. complaining about how I messed up timetable, or having nothing/too many things to do - there's always much more to life than just letting such empty negative energies fill me from within. Life would be much more positive and happier if we learnt to see and accept the negativities rather than pretending that they are not present and that it's okay even if they are not. Thursday, January 27, 2011 @ 9:23 PM
Point of saturation Run away to some quiet corner, sit down and stone into nothingness. Just a sudden overwhelming sense of saturation. Saw this whole list of new events at IVLE over just a day - so many interesting events, yet it's already beyond my means to join any of them. Regrets over not doing the things I could have done in my early uni year. Read this email from career center regarding openings at the career fair - so many options available that I no longer know what I want. Thinking about whether I know what I want. Had my first week of timetable complete with tutorials - feels as though I'm stretched thin even though nothing particularly tedious has been taught yet. Somewhere yet nowhere, just floating around. Been surfing IARU website and the same summer program attracted me - "Nanoscience" offered by University of Tokyo. To make my life easier (or miserable), I just can't go overseas, hence there's no real dilemma between going for this program, or VIP. But it's the same feeling one year ago - it's something I really really want to go for, and I get particularly excited just by reading the description. Over time, I contain the excitement and supress the desire and soon, I bid goodbye to the opportunity. It's hard to let go of something that you would have fought for, but chose to just see it pass by again and again. Was at career fair today, and even though I told myself I'm definitely going to the industry for VIP this summer (provided there's a company that wants me), I end up talking to research companies. In particular, biotech/pharmaceutical companies. I don't know if I'm trying to convince myself to go to research (again) by virtue of the fact that I thought I would like to enter the industry, or was the decision to try out the industry just a pseudo decision as I try to convince myself that I shouldn't just stick solely to research when actually research is my true passion. Too many options - keeping options open, or simply lost in the endless sea of possibilities? Actually once again, my problem in committing to a single choice/decision re-surfaces. It's something that I noticed during a meeting I had few days back. While in a current position, I try hard to fight for the alternative and tries to convince the other party to see the other side of the story. When support is given to the other side of the story, I find myself withdrawing back to where I started from (aka oppose the opposing view which I have proposed). Why do I always fight hard to oppose a certain position, when I don't have the intention to commit to the end that I'm pointing towards? Looking inwards, this problem doesn't exist when only when I'm with others - I often go through cycles of self-argument and I end up not knowing what is my real stand. Yups, it's just random rambles. Maybe I just lack sleep. It's time to sort out my numerous thoughts. There's seemingly too many things at hand now - not that they are anything major. But the small little issues are sapping my energy and my thoughts are pretty diffuse. One friend once commented that she just feels like packing up and leaving on the next flight. Somehow I share the same sentiments now. Just feel like leaving my current status or position now and say bye to whatever that's accumulating. Anyway, that's not very possible and I think things will get better once I settle down to do my studies. The same thing happened beginning last sem when I find myself busy-ing over things that I can't even pinpoint to. It became better when I'm tuned to lesson mode. Many students find studying stressful. I find that it's one of the most enjoyable process actually. And I think many have wrongly linked studying to stress. It is not the studying itself that's stressful - it's all the other factors that have been tied to education that's contributing to the woes, i.e. equating grades to employment and future, or equating studying to grades in the first place. That's something fundamentally problematic and disturbing in my opinion, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying the learning process. Which is why I often say that I don't mind being a student forever (assuming I don't need a job to earn money for survival -.-) I remember those words, till this very day. Recently, my econs lecturer commented that he finds that Singaporeans work far too hard. To that point, I have to agree. To get from one point to another, we sometimes end up banging our head against the wall at the other end. On a separate note, I find that the best econs lecturers whom I have seen/heard about thus far are all macroeconomists. Ironically, I think my most enjoyed econ module this sem is macroecons - a module which I have resisted and once dropped. To this note, I think lecturers are really important in shaping my attitude towards a module. A good educator not only teaches, but also influence and inspires through his/her passion. While writing this post, I'm replaying this remix song 是否 by 张祖诚. 是否？多少？ I was asked recently if I ended up with more questions than answers after talking with the person. I think so, but they are now the right questions leading me in the right direction. Now, after writing this post, have I found any answer? I don't think so, but at least now I know what kind of answer am I looking for. Been playing with this thought recently, maybe the trick in life is knowing how to ask the right question. Alrights! With a clearer mind, I better get back to work. Assignment submission tomorrow! And 2 more coming soon, which I ought to have started actually. Sunday, January 23, 2011 @ 6:35 PM
BBQ in school! Went for ChESS BBQ on Friday :) Turnout was quite low, but nonetheless, it was a good gathering session for the 5 of us!  Food included chicken wing, beehoon, fishball, chicken satay, mashmellow, stingray. Actually it's kinda fun to be doing such things in school. Just sitting under the stars, chatting with each other and laughing. We should have more of such activities. Hmm, my neck/shoulder was aching though. Perhaps it's due to me bending my head down too often for lab? Otherwise I suspect it's due to lack of sleep. I last experienced such ache during the summer break, when I had serious lack of sleep. It was so terrible that when I finally laid my head on the pillow, it felt as though my neck was going to break off anytime. Fortunately, it was cured with lots of sleep (slept beyond mid-day) lol. But it's okay, I'm active and functional again! Week 3 coming up soon! Which means the start of tutorials. :S Surprisingly, I'm looking forward to my soci tutorial. hahaha. Come to think of it, CNY is coming soon and recess week is coming soon! Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 12:32 AM
Haywire timetable Haix, my timetable is getting hay-wire. All because of me forgetting to ballot for my philo tutorial slot. And currently I have no soci tutorial slots cos they're over-subscribed - a long complicated story. Alrights, just let me complain a bit over here and I'll grow to live with my new timetable over time. After all, it doesn't really matter actually, as long as I'm officially registered for everything at the end of the day. I miss those days when it doesn't matter which tutorial slot you are in. Just sign up for something, and appear at any timing that you want. Tat was the flexibility that chem eng gave me and being pampered, I just feel so restricted now. Crashed chem kinetics today and yups, those were the good old days (though just 1 year ago). Your main aim is to size the reactor. Yup, things like conversion, delta, variable volume, stoic table, residence time, space time, space velocity give me that familiar feeling. A challenging module, but it was really satisfying! I'd be glad to do advanced chem kinetics now actually. Yeah comparison is of no good, especially since I'm comparing apple with orange in this case. But still, bring me back to where I belong to, or at least where I have a sense of belonging to. Even though me and my friends often do crazy and random things, those actually forms the bits and pieces of the good old memories. Wells wells.. Monday, quickly come! Tuesday, January 18, 2011 @ 10:56 PM
Looking back and forward Here's a reminder to myself that I should go for VIP no matter what happens (unless no companies want me). I shouldn't stay in school over the holidays no matter what happens, or apply for research-based programmes too. Reason being, I really want to see what working in the industry feels like! At this current moment, if I could choose everything over again, I think I would have dropped my econs degree and went for IA. It's really embarrassing when people ask me why am I taking econs, and I can only reply, I dunno somehow I am in it and have yet to dropped out of it. I can honestly say that I'm not very happy doing what I'm doing now. But yups, since I'm in it and have pressed on thus far, I will just move on and give my best shot. Hopefully, I'm able to find that sense of joy I had when doing the 2 econs modules in sem 3 - the 2 lecturers were the best I've seen in econs thus far and that makes alot of difference. Soon, I hope that I'd be able to find a concrete reason why I'm taking econs, to answer to both others and myself. Spoke to a senior (who has graduated but is in my lab now) and he felt that I ought to have taken up IA rather than rushing to graduate - which is something that I agree with right from the start actually. That half-a-year experience would have been really valuable vs the situation whereby I just rush through my degree and not know where I should go thereafter. Actually one reason why I decided to accelerate is that I considered doing graduate studies back then. Whether I should or should not is something that I don't have an answer to yet. I guess I'm sorta at a crossroad again haha. But I'd figure it out somehow someday. Anw thinking ahead, there are several paths that I can choose to take following graduation: (a) Just go and work straight. (b) Work and do a part-time masters in bioeng. (c) Join BIP/STRAT so that I can be trained for the industry proper. BIP is rather appealing actually, cos it allows me to be trained for the industry while being in a rather research-based environment - best of both worlds. And it sort of means that I'm still going for "IA" after all in "sem 9", which should have existed for me. (d) Go for PhD in chem eng. Here's the catch, suppose that I intend to become an educator following this, I can't teach in Singapore. If I don't teach, my qualifications would be far too high for most employment position in Singapore. It was rather encouraging to see a new incoming prof who is a "pure breed" nus graduate (from ugrad to pg); yet it's also discouraging to hear seniors saying that it's a straight no for uni to accept their own graduates. At this point in time, I think (c) is my best choice. (d) could be something that I'd love to do (assuming i'm accepted into the programme) but it comes with lots of uncertainties. Alrights, what a way to start a week off thinking about such solemn issues. I won't suffer from Monday blues this sem though, cos my one and only chem eng module is on Monday (and Tues actually) and I'm really really glad and happy to have this one and only reason to be hanging around the familiar E5! :) A bonus is that I really like the module too! ATCG hahaha. On a side note, I crashed 1^4 today. Even though it's 1^4, I'm still very happy to be hearing those familiar terms and seeing old friends such as Reynolds and Nusselt. Those were those days of core modules. We might grumble about how tough the going gets, but we all made it through. And for me, it has been a real satisfying experience. Hmm seems like amidst the numerous wrong/uncertain decisions I've made, there lies an absolutely correct choice - taking up chem eng in the first place :) The sense of positivity here definitely outweighs whatever-not negative sentiments. Sunday, January 16, 2011 @ 5:15 PM
Relaxing weekend Pretty slack weekend :) In fact, even more relaxing than holidays actually for some unknown reasons. Oh yes, it feels good that I need not churn out tutorials during Week 1! It was just a year ago that I found it hard to get my engine started right from Week 1 (since chem eng tutorials start from Week 2). Or rather, I do have a tutorial tomorrow, but there's nothing much to prepare. Haha. Been sleeping alot, perhaps to make up for the lack of sleep during the weekdays. Hmm, reason being, I'd be stuck on facebook till around 1pm every night =X Time for me to stay away from facebook actually, since it has become a habitual kinda thing - doing cos I feel like I just had to, rather than I want to. Haven't been jogging for a week plus =X Wanted to do so yesterday evening but the rain ruined my plan. Now, I hope that the weather will remain good for me - cloudy but not rainy. :) Need to sweat it out! Went shopping for CNY goodies with my parents just now. :) This is finally a year in which we did not over-buy. Used to be quite torturous trying to finish up all the food after CNY is over. As usual, pampered myself with prawn rolls and crispy cuttlefish. They're my fav and must-have! Standard food such as love letters and pineapple tarts is on the list too.  Oh, and I bought this extremely huge pack of breakfast cereal (750g - doesn't sound alot, but it's certainly the largest box of cereal I've ever seen). From Germany, and packed in a no-frill fashion - nice! I intend to pack a portion to school everyday, so that I can munch during lectures, or on the bus (especially if I'm gonna be caught in another massive jam lol).   Yups, had lunch at Wasabi-san, which is budget Jap restaurant at Bedok. (Somewhat like Sumo House) Had the same dish as last visit - Yaki Udon. The food's alright - nothing to rave about, but reasonable enough for the price range. I think the Sukiya set, which my dad had, looks good! Too bad, I'm not a rice lover, so set/don don't usually appeal to me, if I'm able to find udon/soba set that interests me. According to my mum, the black pepper chicken set is not bad too! Was very tempted to try the sashimi Don, however was skeptical about the quality of raw food that is served.  Yups, back at home nua-ing away and enjoying life just sitting around! :) Anyway, here's a song that's always aired recently (in fact 933 is playing it now!) 空位 by Derrick. 一个人孤单像住在壳里 一个人安静并不平静 不愿意忘记并不是任性 已投入生命 还剩什么能抽离 Here's another 空位 by Jeff. 我已习惯每个城市都独来独往。 Here's another song that caught my attention on air. 林子曦 - 對不起 对不起 On a random note, my mum just passed me half a century egg. Lol, okay I quite like. Weather looks fine, so m going to gear up for a long-awaited run! :) Saturday, January 15, 2011 @ 1:07 AM
A week in school A look at the Week 1 that has passed. Here's the accumulation of my first thoughts towards the respective modules. Monday was Macro II. I looked at my post a year ago - "Goodbye Williamson, Hello Mankiw" Well, a year later, I have to say, "Hello Williamson" once again. Mid-term's changed to MCQ this sem tho - yay or nay? But anw, I do anticipate that this lecturer is gonna be good, as many students who have taken mods under him commented (anw he joined the uni just a year ago). He's the first lecturer to discuss about grades with us explicitly in class, breaking down the bell curve for another mod he taught last sem for us to see. "Don't think about grades this this point onwards. It is determined by 2 factors - your IQ and the amt of hardwork you put in. You can't change your IQ and you know your style of learning, so your grades are already fixed." Oh, and there was this buzzing sound from the mike which he decided to take 3 mins to fixed. After failing to resolve the problem, he said, "Here am I a professor, trying to teach a class something. This is just a simple problem and I can't solve it. How embarrassing.. *pauses* Really embarrassing (said pretty firmly)." Tuesday's molecular biotech! :) I'm very glad to have taken this one and only chem eng module this sem. Such a nice feeling to find myself walking in Engin, towards E5 block and sitting in one of the level 3 tutorial classrooms. I anticipate lots of fun in this module, especially since there's so much flexibility involved and I think it's been specially crafted to encourage discussion and learning. The small class of 15 students used to bother me, especially when I thought I knew nobody. But now I'd say the size makes me feel comfortable. 13 weeks of close interaction amongst 16 ppl (15 students + 3 lecturers - 1 each wk tho) - let's see what will come out of this! It would definitely have been a terrible mistake to drop this module (which was something that I once contemplated...) Wednesday = soci + philo. Hey surprisingly, I'm kinda interested in whatever that went on in soci class just now! I like to challenge assumptions, especially about life and am skeptical to the point of being cynical actually. Just the right cup of tea for me. I shall try to see this mod as a hobby instead of just a module per se. Forget about the essays to be written, or the final exam. Just enjoy the thinking process! Can't really tell much from my philo class though, cos it's really just an introduction. Thurs = environmental economics. Alrights, it's kinda like microeconomics just that "quality of environment" replaces one of the goods in our typical 2-goods economy. And it's really kinda mathematical, as promised by the lecturer. I see "i" and "j" appearing again.. Hopefully something interesting comes out of it.. Fri = financial econs + game theory. Financial din turn out as bad as what I thought it might be. Essentially still grounded in micoeconomics, with indifference curves, consumer preferences coming into the picture. Actually, I see overlaps with environmental econs in terms of the micro perspective. And I like microecons, so that's a good thing. Game theory is fun but I expect it to get mind-boggling after a while. I enjoyed the introduction to game theory history by the lecturer. Kinda inspired me to know about who came up with what theory, for both econs and chem eng. It feels as though something is lacking if I have the technical know-hows, but am unable to appreciate how the knowledge came about in the first place. The process leading to the discovery of knowledge is beautiful actually and worth appreciating. Yups, and my always ongoing commitment to lab! :) Good to see things going. Actually I doubt I'd be able to generate much results over the next few weeks. But I definitely enjoyed the process, whether it's the design of expt, brainstorming for ideas, interpretation of results etc. I've learnt much. Really alot alot actually. Definitely an enriching experience. I guess that's what matters most, but of course, it'd be best if there could be concrete results to account for the effort I put in. Well, even if nothing comes out of it, at least I've had my fair share of fun and joy. Even if I don't go into research in the future, at least I've had a year-long worth of lab work for my own self-satisfaction. The time and effort invested returns me fond memories. :) I ended off this week by taking 3.5hr to come home. lol =X Left sch at about 5.15. Reached bus stop at 5.30. waited for bus till 6.15. Apparently there was a massive jam and I was on the road till 9. haha. Oh and I decided to give NUH volunteering a miss. Things can't really fit in I guess. =X Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 12:35 AM
TJ Open House 2nd day of school today! And back at TJ for Open House! :) It seems as though it's an annual event to be back for open house. Really nice to see all our teachers again! It's comforting to know that they still remember and miss our class after all these years (which isn't too long ago - eh even though a junior pointed out that I'm JC7 this yr =X). Oh and the chem teachers were complaining that a A-level chem qn is really tough - very chemical processes, and hence they actually hope to get our chemical engineering resources! Was attempting to find the question online (to no avail), but I think it's regarding distillation!  On a side note, I don't really feel that great a sense of belonging to JC actually. As I walk through the school, everything just seems like structures to me. My greatest takeaway would be the people I meet - my classmates and teachers. :) Maybe the cohort's too big for me to "know" everyone, or maybe 2 years' just too short. In fact, I think I know my chem eng cohort in uni better than my graduating JC class of 2007. Nonetheless, there were happy moments and I'm glad that people who matters are still in my life - whether it's regular class gathering, or annual meet-ups with our teachers. :) Saturday, January 08, 2011 @ 11:35 PM
《破天网》Finale This is so weird. Apparently, my msn seems to have been hacked, with the hacker attempting to inform me to change my password. Later, I found out that it was via hacking a 2nd hand tb website. He once again alerts me to use different password when signing up for different services. LOL! Anyway, caught the last 2 episode of Breakout on xin.sg. It's one of the rare local shows that got me hooked. The ending's beautiful in its own way. Rather bittersweet and overall, I'd say that it's a happy or at least complete ending in spite of all the tragedies that occured. At last it's all over. And the person who ended it all was the one whom people thought was mad. Yet she was the one who dared to face up to reality and see that whatever they were all fight for or against was just meaningless revenge. Nobody truly did break out of the web. 以为得到一切却不知在网里绕，失去和拥有谁能分辨得好。Let's just say that the world itself has an in-built homeostasis mechanism. As I think thru Zou Jieming's words about the flower blooming and dying, sun rising and setting, sky turning blue and turning white, new perspectives are derived. These are the fundamental processes in life that we ought to be have been able to appreciate, but often, we get distracted by many other events that are of transient value. Anw, I've always thought that Zou Jie Ming is the most interesting character in the show. He might be autistic and live in a tiny world of his own, but his world is bigger than many of us. Much bigger...  My impression of Christopher Lee is tipped because of this show. During his younger years, ppl have gushed over his looks or his acting skills whereas I havent really even noticed him in the first place. In fact, I kinda disliked him for his apparently AA behaviour. But now I'd say that he can act in such a way that the role becomes a natural. The love story between Situ DongCheng and Yang NianQing is the best one, in my opinion. It doesn't involve huge emotions or affections for one another; just subtle development of feelings as they experience the small and simple things in life together, eg. sweeping leaves, cooking fried rice, watching sunset. Simple, yet very real and unambiguous. I'm quite sad that they died.. Actually they could have chose to live on, but it's gonna be tough emotionally for NianQing who killed her father with her own hands. Situ DongCheng need not be dragged down with NianQing, but he did once said, “要是你想跳的话，把我也拉下去。”Was their deaths necessary or unnecessary? I can't decide... There's no right or wrong, just different positions... @ 5:27 PM
YRP Gathering Had an outing with my YRP friends yesterday! :) "Population" was effectively halved and 6 of us turned up. Haha good catch-up session. Went to Fish 'N' Co @ The Glass House. The live band was pretty cool!  Since i had manhattan yesterday, decided to opt for Seafood Baked Rice, which wasn't too nice. I think it's the cheese. =X  And how can I forget the dessert?  Refreshingly good!  So-so. Think it's caramel cheesecake. Our next destination was Cold Storage! haha yes so auntie. We loitered outside PS after that. And apparently since one of us had a DSLR, she was approached by another group to help them take photo. And in return, the guy with DSLR offered to take photo for us too. After taking the shot, he commented, "Let me help you guys take another shot again. The ISO was too low just now. it should have been 1000. So the exposure..." LOL! It's quite cool to be able to speak in such professional fashion though, and to be able to decide on the best settings just like that! Oh an interesting thing is that.. Almost all of us were working labs during the holidays. o.o LOL! Friday, January 07, 2011 @ 12:44 AM
The Manhattan Long Story (That's left untold) We finally cleared our 10 bucks Manhattan voucher on the date of expiry! :) It's been quite some time since we last met. Our topic of conversation has changed somewhat. Now, it's centered around jobs and it's pretty interesting to hear what they're doing for IA. Hopefully, I'd be able to find a meaningful and eventful VIP, if I can secure a position in the first place. Sounds quite fun to be in the industry, but I have some residual doubts as to whether that's the path for me.  Anyway, here's wad we spent our vouchers on - desserts! Mudpie and brownie + ice cream. :) Actually the standard is so-so only, but the key thing is, we enjoyed ourselves chatting over the food!   How the "almost free" dessert came about is a long story, and how we managed to secure this 1-for-1 Dory Fish and Chip deal is part of this long story too! But anyway, here's one of the main lead for today!  Good meal, good day, good company - exactly the way I thought holidays should be. Out with friends, enjoying ourselves and chatting carefree-ly. :) There's no right nor wrong - nobody can tell for sure, and nobody really knows. Just follow where your instinct leads you to, and remember to be truthful to yourself.  Wednesday, January 05, 2011 @ 1:13 AM
Outing to Sakae Sushi Buffet Okays back from Sakae Sushi Buffet! Good laughing session with sj and hc. :) Overall I'd say that the buffet is of reasonable standard given the affordable price. Quality is okay - not as bad as many reviews claimed, so that's good enough for me. *photos tomorrow. heh charging phone!* Oh it was my first close-to-fail buffet attemp though. Lesson learnt, don't order sushi next time - I'm really not a rice person. Doesn't help that I was silly enough to gulp down a bowl of miso soup (which I always cannot resist for jap meal) after eating lots of rice (relative to me, who has rather low capacity for rice) - mega bloated after that. :( It gets worse when I try to rush through my 2 final pieces of sushi, as the clock ticks close to 6pm. Turned out that we weren't chased away (which is nice of the outlet actually), but that final rush proved to be "fatal". Felt really uncomfortable after that, so much so that I can't finish the mango sherbet nor talk actually. =X It's quite fortunate that it din escalate into the "ultimate outcome" of buffet overkill. LOL! Anyway back to the food itself. Had chawanmushi (opt for Sakae version - YUM!, not the Kana version.), Cha soba (actually not bad, i think i shld soak the noodle for some time), salmon sushi(s), salmon mango handroll (mango was good!), spicy salmon (really quite spicy), unagi sushi, takoyaki(s), okonomiyaki, lobster salad (red plate), some scallop sushi in beancurd (pink plate - oh that was my 2 final sushi =X), fried tofu(s), miso soup, fried hotate (isnt this the same as the one bought as NTUC? lol but it was listed as a must-have).       Regretted not having.. Potato Karaage, my seaweed Udon!!, my un-finished mango sherbet, Salmon Karaage. Alrights, perhaps I will go there again before I turn 22 (and hence adult price! LOL!) cos I have an "ideal" menu in mind, despite the unglam session today haha. I will have.. Miso Soup (as starter, but maybe not..), Sakae Chawanmushi, Salmon mango handroll, Cha Soba (mayb yes, mayb no), Takoyaki(s), fried tofu, hotate -or- salmon sashimi (red plate), potato karaage, salmon karaage, lobster salad sushi (pink plate), my seaweed udon, proper finishing of mango sherbet. - Less rice stuff, more sides! :) Anyway, we sat outside along the seats at basement after that. Soon, sj was glued to Angry Bird and hc was watching the escalator. Chatted a bit, laughed alot and we sat for 3 hours just like that! But it's a nice relaxing thing to do actually. I even proposed that we should find one day after retirement to do this again (if PP still exist). Speaking of which, I keep talking about retirement nowadays. Must be getting old before my time, and fantasizing even before working! The thought that PP won't exist years from now scares me though - I wonder what the world would be then.. Actually I do feel quite lethargic with respect to many issues nowadays. Ah wells, maybe it's just the holiday chill atmosphere that's getting onto me. Tuesday, January 04, 2011 @ 12:29 AM
Jap Food Craving Been thinking about Jap food alot recently. Ever since last Monday actually.. =X Will spend every night googling about jap buffet or food from 10pm onwards till before I sleep. hahahaha. Yum!! It's a good (and bad) thing that im gg to Sakae Sushi buffet with my frens tomorrow! (Bad because it means the buffet will come and go =X) It's my first time trying out this buffet and note, their Youth price applies only for students under 21 years old. (New rule). And actually I have soba noodle and miso soup with me now (uncooked version). Looking up recipes online. Should I cook the traditional style? Actually I'm thinking of cooking soba noodle w miso soup. Hmmm.. Okay KIV that thought. I have a pack of Kino jelly with me too! Made agar-agar for Christmas. Must be inspired from making agarose gel for electrophoresis in lab. FOOD FOOD FOOD!~ Hopefully the buffet tomorrow is sufficient to quench this craving for food! :) Sunday, January 02, 2011 @ 2:19 PM
Hello 2011 Countdown to 2011! Spent it with the oh-one peeps. :) It's already the tradition I think. Haha. Attendance wasn't that great since many are overseas, but I think it's good enough. And actually for me, I prefer a smaller group gathering. So it's good for me. Lol. Dinner @ Ootoya at Suntec. Just a small little shop, but it gives me a good jap feeling. :) Ordered this grilled chicken lunchbox thingy (obviously not the name of the dish, but I cant recall offhand). Nice!   Oh and there was this ambigious seasoning consisting of salt + sesame, which I claimed was for the green tea. Haha. I really remember watching this show whereby they grinded the green tea with sesame and salt to enhance its taste! but on second thought, it might really be for the rice. (But it's weird to add salt to rice isn't it?) And I drank Each-a-Cup Green Milk Tea! The branch at Suntec was supposedly the best, but I found it too sweet. The milk tea by itself though had a fragnant taste which I liked. :) Countdown at Marina Square! :) We played Monopoly Deal to kill time. Yay! One new game learnt. It's funny how we tried to speed things up as 12 drew near. On a side note, I think Monopoly is quite smart to have a series of games that can hook ppl's interest. lol. Fireworks! Goodbye 2010 and whatever-not that it holds! Welcome 2011~ |