Thursday, February 24, 2011

Please let the weekend come now.

I am so absolutely knackered that the weekend feels like its never ever coming.

That being said, Im glad that my idea to roll CPR out in schools in singapore as a station for napha tests during PE is slowly taking shape with some motivation and help from my best mate in London.

Its HC night this coming sat, and I have been junking so much these few days to keep myself at work and at home that Im positive I cant fit into any dress without looking like a freaking dumpling. Damn. I hate it that girls have weight woes all the time.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

I am truly proud to be a Singaporean.


This is my fave version of Home so far!

I think coming to London to study has really made me really appreciate home and love it all Singapore- both her good and bad. Yes indeed, we do have our flaws and Singaporeans aint the most perfect people in the world, but i still do love my country and my people so very much. I know we are kiasu, but we are also efficient. I know we speak Singlish, but sometimes there just isnt another better word to substitute "damn sian". And yes, we dont have any Michelin starred restaurants, but we have the Tiong Bahru Market, Katong Laksa and even Food Repulic serves awesome food. We dont have Eason Chan or Madonna, but I think JJ Lin, Stef Sun and Kit Chan amongst others does a pretty fine job too.

Yes, we dont have much political freedom, cannot hold strikes/ protests unless we apply for a licences and cant even buy chewing gum. But at least, we still have a working government -a damn good one as well-, a reliable MRT & bus service (muahaha, no tube strikes and no lost income cos you cant get to work) and I never have to feel pull a chair to sit on and feel a sticky disgusting piece of thing under it.

I am patriotic, I dont deny it. I know its not very cool, esp so amongst people of my generation.
I know Singapore aint perfect, but I love her all the same. Thats what love is about right? Appreciating whats good about someone and accepting the flaws as well.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!


Happy Valentine's Day!
May your day be filled with love, romance and kisses!


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Starting Afresh!

I've decided that I've enough of black and I need more colour in my life. Anyway to us Chinese, black isnt the luckiest of colours as well.

So here's a new background (template and sorts remains the same cos I know nuts about HTML) to welcome Spring! ((((:

Agatha Christie's Mousetrap!

Mousetrap's well worth watching!

I have never really liked watching plays in the past, because I used to find it so hard to catch what the actors are saying and 'cos I have a very short concentration span. Unlike musicals, you cant just zone out for a bit and come back again. Once you have fallen into the Whats-Going-On blackhole, you are pretty much stuck there forever. Plus, I always found them alot less entertaining than musicals (less prancing about and repeating the same sentence many times till i finally could sing it too).
But I had decided to go for Mousetrap partly because of all the good reviews it has gotten (but I have to admit I was still slightly skeptical then) and mainly 'cos I wanted to meet up with a mate of mine from Oxford who had come down to London for the show.

But Mousetrap was real good, I never got bored at any point of time and possibly because Im a terrible detective, it got me guessing till the end. Having watching 2 really good plays in London thus far (Woman in Black and Mousetrap), I am now ready to embrace the theatre more!

On a side note, doing my GP rotation now (despite not seeing very many white patients because the location Im in tend to see more immigrants), made me realise that the uptightness, properness and politeness we see of the Brits in films/plays are so very true (esp so in the older population)!

Ciao, off to wingchun practise now! Unfortunately it doesnt look anything sunny enough to take a walk in Hampstead Heath.

Friday, February 11, 2011

CNY 2011- London & Faro

I know I havent been updating for quite some time but thats because I have been so ridiculously busy with so many things--- a weekend trip to Faro, Portugal, a couple of CNY dinners, my dearest flatmate's bday (I baked a Victorian butter cake- My 1st ever baking experience other than the other time I made bread pudding which really doesnt count as baking.) and so many other small random stuff that seems to make my days pass in a daze. Its definitely been one of the best chinese new year away from home.

Faro '2011:
Pictures of Faro would be up once I order my all-in-one memory card reader and get the photos into my Mac.

It was a lovely trip- perfect for a weekend getaway cos there was nothing to do there except for beach activities. Moreover since it was off- season (winter), it wasnt crowded. Although we couldnt swim (wayyy too cold), there was still some winter sun and I was thankful enough that we were able to stroll about in our shorts and sleeveless tops. We were definitely inviting stares at our inappropriate attire (most people were in sweaters and long pants which to me was pretty absurd cos the temperature was possibly about 18degrees or so.).

On our first morning there, we took a long 2h stroll from our hotel (Hotel Monaco- Highly recommended. Clean, friendly staff, Awesome room at Hostel Prices!) to Faro's only beach. Because Im a traveller who values the experience more than visiting 1000 churches or tourist attraction, the walk there was one of the highlights of my weekend trip. The weather was beautiful (sunny and warm but not too hot), and there was hardly any traffic so we could easily walk along the expressways and sometimes in the middle of smaller roads. We walked past the airport (our hotel was about 5mins drive away from the airport), across the Faro's massive nature reserve at low tide (Which was alot of marshland, but it was still a pretty sight in its special way.), stopped by a fruit stall set up along the roads, chatted to the very friendly fruitseller & had the best and biggest oranges I have ever tasted (8 for 1euro!), took many many photos along the way and finally made it to the beach. The waters were too cold to swim in, but since it wasnt peak season, there were only a couple of locals sitting about and enjoying family time, we had a really nice walk down, picking up seashells and enjoying the waves.

Of course, a trip is never perfect without good food (and desserts). We found a lovely bakery near our hotel which served awesome sponge cakes and coffee, plus at a cheap price (we paid about 8euros for 8 plates of cakes and 3 cups of coffee). The custard portuguese tarts were kinda disappointing though- Im not sure if its cos we overdosed on custard (they somehow had to add custard to everything, and a generous serving of it) or that Im expecting something like Magdeleine's egg tarts in Singapore or Macau's take on portuguese egg tarts.

Another thing which I thought the Faro-ians (or maybe its a Portuguese thing, Im not too sure) did beautifully was homemade potato crisps. The chefs at the local restaurants would hand sliced potatoes and then fry it before serving it immediately (literally piping hot!). I love those which are crispy at the sides and yet soft in the middle- Its like getting the best of both kinds of Mac's fries. If you like your fries/ chips/ crisps crispy, the smaller slices were also fantastic.

Finally, the highlight of my trip was the discovery of WHITE SANGRIA (served by a very cute Portuguese bespectacled bartender). I had a bit too much that night (at least a pitcher), so much so I was asking for more (very unlike my usual behaviour I must clarify), asking D & K ridiculous questions (I dont remember what exactly though) and doing alot of pointing & big actions according to K. Whoops. But definitely worth it. I cant rem what exactly is the name of the bar but its one of the 2 bars that people like to go for pre-drinks. Will definitely share if any of my travel buddies can recall.

All in all, the people there were also really lovely, all very friendly and helpful. Friendly locals definitely rank as one of the most important factors when Im judging a place and Faro would get loads of stars for that. The food there was good and cheap and so were the drinks. So thats adds more stars to it. Plus, we paid 20euros per night for a very lovely hotel!
But that being said, 1 weekend is definitely all that is needed for Faro (:

Thursday, February 03, 2011

新年终于来了!

Since I am now too stuffed to shower and sleep, I thought I might just do a quick entry here to wish everyone 新年快乐,学业进步,兔年行大运!

Hoping that everyone out there has had a wonderful reunion dinner with your family, friends and loved ones!

I have had a extremely lovely steamboat dinner complete with LOADS of food (chicken, squid, abalone, yong tau foo, fish, 烧肉, chin chow, 年糕, home made banana cake ... BURP), loads of laughter (always the case when you have a hyperactive mark around) and loads of good company! I count my blessings here everyday that I have such lovely friends like them around when Im here in London.
I think when Im back in Singapore, Im definitely going to look back at these times and wish that I could be back here for something like this again.

All in all, Im thankful for the very beautiful CNY reunion dinner which I just had, even if it was cold outside and we didnt have as much pineapple tarts and bak kwa as we would like.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

张敬轩- 我的新欢。

Recently I discovered a singer who has pretty good songs.
Even though he has been around for quite some time, I have never heard of him. But i have definitely heard some of his songs on Yes 933 in the past. I youtubed his name and it came up with quite a few old songs which I used to liked, but I suppose never enough to want to google his name.

张敬轩- 吻得太逼真 (click here if video doesnt load)


This was the song which Yes 933 played that caught my ... ears.
I have since been listening to it on loop.

-

And 新年快乐 to everyone, its 除夕 tomorrow!
To me, its possibly the most important day of chinese new year and Im glad Im spending it with my pseudo- family here in London.
I do hope that all of you friends would be spending it with friends and family and loved ones wherever in the world you are at now (: