Today's the last day of the 1 month long pure hols. Tomorrow it's back to 17 weeks of waking up with the alarm clock. I will try my best to stay in shape through regular gym, eat more healthy lunches (try to make some or choose better), cut on the calories (esp when eating out with the leaving collegue) and try to focus on guitar and my own learning. I have to try to read these series of books that teaches some tricks to do trading and investment. The only catch is they are in Chinese. I am 3/4 through one book, 2 more to go. But its more reader-friendly and less technical. Those will be the books I be reading when I have to go up to form class daily just to be there.
This hol, I must say I really did enjoy myself even though I didnt travel. Wanted to but due to assignment, guitar, and driving commitments, plus not really anybody to go with, not able to commit to longer trips. Even shorter trips also cant confirm. The most I did was to go to JB CitySquare once and it was a good trip. Just I missed the massage. Put more muscle-ache cream and paste more medicated plaster.
I did most of the stuff I set out to do except tidying up my table and tidying up the Dvd collection. Also didnt bake once, nor refine lychee martini and try to make red-wine poached pear. Those are easier cos they are once-off activities. I shall try to do them whenever free time pops up.
Today I got an sms from that colleague asking for lunch but my stomach is not up for eating a sumptious lunch. I declined partly cos I am trying to get into shape. So far I am back to slightly below 70kg... not yet back at my usual fat self, nor anywhere near my target of 62kg. So I dont want to eat something only to have to workout for several hours and days to try to burn off. I did make myself go to gym yesterday. So that's 1 out of targeted 2 times per week. Feeling the aches cos last week, I didnt go for an entire week due to driving lesson everyday. Since my Thur, Fri and Sat evenings are taken up, I am left with Sunday for the 2nd time. The good news is that the gym opens until 8pm at night. So even if I finally leave at 6pm, I can still have time for my usual routine.
Today I just ate a simple breakfast of meatball noodles. Lunch was a normal sized soup bowl of caramel popcorn cos I still have those leftover (still cripsy cos in ziplock bag). Didnt do much except let my computer finally start-up after hours and hours of system check, watched Naruto dvd while TT-ing and checking stock market now and then.
Time seems to pass fast and its evening already. I am going to go buy 4 small packs of non-fat yoghurt. 2 of them make up my breakfast everyday. So Thur and Fri = 4 packs. Also go out and walk a bit nearby. I am not making lunch yet, cos only 2 days left this week. Would rather just eat out or dabao during lunchtime.
Man I would miss this whole relaxed, unhurried pace of life. Without using alarm clock to wake up daily. Going out when I want to, not in a hurry to go places. Enjoying this too much to go back to work. Unfortunately my investments dont bring in enough to retire. I still need a main income. I am rethinking about having to do assignment to bring in a bit more secondary income. I could use that two evenings for more gym, or take up something else. Once this one is finished (by mid-Oct) I wont take up anything for a while. Looking forward to the free time.
Also thanks to the "crash" during the month of August, I have the opportunity to sell off a malaysian counter to realise profits, otherwise my investment was rather lacklustre performance of dividends purely. Also thanks to my holidays, I was able to monitor the share prices and make a quick sell and later several buys when certain counters are dropping like crazy. Think there was over-selling of certain so I bought 1 lot everytime the prices drop to about my target price. Then when it fell, I buy 1 lot again. Of course, overall I am sitting on losses still especially for my SG portfolio, also I had to transfer some funds from my Reserve to pay for some lots. Really dont think I wanna to buy anymore for now. With yesterday and today's mostly Green, maybe the worse might be over. Now is to wait-and-see and make better sell decisions for those counters that I want to trade. Some are longer term and hence I want higher gains. To help me better, I actually calculated the targeted returns of 25%-30% and type the prices into my stock tracking list. Then I know exactly if they are reaching my target sell price. Easier to make decisions when numbers are clearer. Also now I am practicisng the skill of "Refrain and Patience". Also monitoring the Gold prices now and then, waiting for it to fall. When stocks do well, gold price drops some. Still early, targeting until about Jan-Feb 2012 duration before buying.
On the whole, quite a fruitful holiday. I did many things like cooking lunch replacement, aglio-olio, went for driving, went JB, restarted my gym routine, ate sushi buffet, had good martinis, good beer, made Singapore sling, Cosmo, spent time at home with family, read many storybooks, started on this chinese one about trading, went to Comic convention, went for a Summer festival, cut lots of newspaper articles (for class use), tidied up my room and clothes, started monitoring my calorie intake (not instant weight loss - will take a while to see results), continued with assignment and guitar commitments, made baileys ice cream (still very popsicle), shopping (new shoes, green baggy pants, supply of collagen pills), managing to eat some delicious food and dessert and still kept my weight down a bit down compared to the start of the hols. Not a bad holiday, looking back.
Look forward to the next term holiday (only 2 weeks) from 22nd or 23rd Dec til 6th Jan.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Last 3 days of pure freedom
As mentioned, the hols are ending for me. I got up with the alarm clock about 8am (but still lazed in bed) and made myself the last aglio-olio linguine. This time I used the leftover Taiwanese sausages and minced them up to fry along with the garlic and linguine. The verdict is while it's okay, it's sweet-tasting. Think the minced luncheon meat combination is the best thus far.
I called to make an appointment for a haircut and colour. I decided to colour my hair (colour means one colour only) to cover my remaining highlights but cos those are lighter colours, so they will turn a diff shade compared to the normal hair. Quite glad for a haircut, the long hair makes the hot and sunny weather hard to bear at times. But my hair has 3 shades of colour now... Cos the new hair is darker (and looks black under normal light) but is actually brown. The older hair is obviously the cool shade of brown. And the remaining highlights turned ash brown. Didnt want to choose bright warm brown, so chose the cool shade. Think I am happy with it. Looking forward to go to gym without hair feeling like an extra towel around my neck.
Later I sms Tab if she heading out. Feeling a bit restless. But she and husband were cooking dinner so I asked if I could have some. Travelled down with popcorn and bought a frozen scallop. Then I sat in the living room to cool down while the masterchefs made dinner. It's seafood aglio-olio, tiger prawn, scallops, tuna steak and pasta. Pretty tasty though a bit too much chilli flakes. Then ate logan and popcorn. Very full. Luckily I only had a meal the whole day, so calories still okay.
We met FH at 'Little Part I' near Thomson Plaza for 'supper' around 8.30++ and ordered a curry powder fries, and a beer (a beverage each) and an apple crumble with vanilla ice cream. FH was dividing out the apple crumble and ice cream and in some conspiracy, he gave me a generous portion, then took a significantly lesser bit for himself. I was pointing out the obvious difference and that there's a conspiracy involved. He turned and say cos I am the 'lightest' in the group so I get to eat more. Huh? Sure boh. I turned to DF and told him I might be heavier than him though. But after he said out his weight, I lost... FH also said his weight. Fine... I 'lose' and eat my portion. LOL DF said that he felt so conscious saying his weight aloud then FH proudly declared his weight. Let's just say that I am used to being the heaviest in the group among colleagues or JC friends. I ate some fries but as I am always 'heaty' after some, I feel very heaty such that my tongue like a bit sore/swollen so I have to refrain. My body has been like this, in perpetual heaty so certain food like fries, chips, biscuits I can't really eat alot. Prefer something more moist in texture cos hat won't trigger.
We had a good time talking about the PE, travel, listen to FH's cold jokes, courses and pursuits and lastly shares. The place closed at 10 plus so we parted ways. I decide to take a bus home cos still early enough. Reached home to find my sisters playing I-phone game. I was telling Geoky how tough the BurgerQueen challenge mode was and how I had many tries before I finally reached level 2. She took my phone and whacked until level 6. I was like omg-ing at the side cos she say its a matter of memory but I told her I can't remember those damn burger combination. Later I created a profile for them and Yingel who tried, couldn't clear the 1st stage. Geoky started using my profile at level 2 and couldn't clear level 1 with her own profile too. Turns out the 1st stage is tough. Later Geoky cleared.
Then gotta charge my phone and watched Naruto DVD and slept.
I called to make an appointment for a haircut and colour. I decided to colour my hair (colour means one colour only) to cover my remaining highlights but cos those are lighter colours, so they will turn a diff shade compared to the normal hair. Quite glad for a haircut, the long hair makes the hot and sunny weather hard to bear at times. But my hair has 3 shades of colour now... Cos the new hair is darker (and looks black under normal light) but is actually brown. The older hair is obviously the cool shade of brown. And the remaining highlights turned ash brown. Didnt want to choose bright warm brown, so chose the cool shade. Think I am happy with it. Looking forward to go to gym without hair feeling like an extra towel around my neck.
Later I sms Tab if she heading out. Feeling a bit restless. But she and husband were cooking dinner so I asked if I could have some. Travelled down with popcorn and bought a frozen scallop. Then I sat in the living room to cool down while the masterchefs made dinner. It's seafood aglio-olio, tiger prawn, scallops, tuna steak and pasta. Pretty tasty though a bit too much chilli flakes. Then ate logan and popcorn. Very full. Luckily I only had a meal the whole day, so calories still okay.
We met FH at 'Little Part I' near Thomson Plaza for 'supper' around 8.30++ and ordered a curry powder fries, and a beer (a beverage each) and an apple crumble with vanilla ice cream. FH was dividing out the apple crumble and ice cream and in some conspiracy, he gave me a generous portion, then took a significantly lesser bit for himself. I was pointing out the obvious difference and that there's a conspiracy involved. He turned and say cos I am the 'lightest' in the group so I get to eat more. Huh? Sure boh. I turned to DF and told him I might be heavier than him though. But after he said out his weight, I lost... FH also said his weight. Fine... I 'lose' and eat my portion. LOL DF said that he felt so conscious saying his weight aloud then FH proudly declared his weight. Let's just say that I am used to being the heaviest in the group among colleagues or JC friends. I ate some fries but as I am always 'heaty' after some, I feel very heaty such that my tongue like a bit sore/swollen so I have to refrain. My body has been like this, in perpetual heaty so certain food like fries, chips, biscuits I can't really eat alot. Prefer something more moist in texture cos hat won't trigger.
We had a good time talking about the PE, travel, listen to FH's cold jokes, courses and pursuits and lastly shares. The place closed at 10 plus so we parted ways. I decide to take a bus home cos still early enough. Reached home to find my sisters playing I-phone game. I was telling Geoky how tough the BurgerQueen challenge mode was and how I had many tries before I finally reached level 2. She took my phone and whacked until level 6. I was like omg-ing at the side cos she say its a matter of memory but I told her I can't remember those damn burger combination. Later I created a profile for them and Yingel who tried, couldn't clear the 1st stage. Geoky started using my profile at level 2 and couldn't clear level 1 with her own profile too. Turns out the 1st stage is tough. Later Geoky cleared.
Then gotta charge my phone and watched Naruto DVD and slept.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Fail test, indulgence and almost the end
Been very focused on the intensive week of driving. A driving lesson everyday from Mon to Thur then the test on Fri. I have to work on my clutch cos car is jerky, not enough acceleration... I cleared the circuit then on a narrow right turn out from the directional change, back wheel hit the curb... A pity but even without that, I still failed with the points deducted. Sighs, got to do 2 more revision before I can take the test. I haven't scheduled anything cos it's taxing to do so in the week with my hours, twice a week assignment, planned exercise, guitar plus this thing call social life, recreation and down-time. A bit mentally tiring to slot more things, like a mentally-taxing driving session... Will think about it.
So on Sat, being election day, no guitar (totally neglected guitar), by the time I reach home after the driving session (100mins) very stoned-dead. Just wanna sleep or just stone. I met up with 2 collegues for tea at Marmalade Pantry in Ion. Pretty good but the mains were pricey. Dessert and tea prices are okay. I was kinda stoned during the conversation. Even later meeting FH for dinner, also very stoned. He told me last time when he was learning, after lessons very mentally tired that he would just sleep. I totally agree.
Sat didn't do much just laze in bed. Friday itself in the earlier part of the day, I wasn't well, just lay in bed until I was better. Sat was just lazing cos failed test, kinda a bit down. Stay in bed and lazed.
Until I asked my sister if she got plans to go out. I told her I wanna get the Garrett's popcorn, she didn't mind but she wanted to eat her favorite at ManJi @ 313. I didnt mind also so we headed for dessert first. I ordered the pomelo mango sago, and I wanted to try the durian pancake but since got 30% discount for 2nd pancake, ordered the mango. My sis hadnt eat the pancakes before so since each is not that big, can finish. My sis ordered the black glutinous riceballs in vanilla sauce n Watermelon sago. It's like 5 items for 2 pax... We really win the rest of the tables. Most is one person 1 item, or like for 2 pax, 3 items. We are like 5 items for 2 pax. When we were taking pics, got a few neighboring tables patrons looked over at us. Well... (luckily we only ate 1 meal) and those were our "lunch". Yup eat until full, so unlike dessert huh.
Went to HMV then we went up to the foodcourt which has a big selection of food too. I was telling my sis how I never really went to the top before. Can consider eating there, alot of seats. We took the mrt to rafflescity. I was actually getting hungry... So unbelievable, I dabaoed a BFF large fries with the Gusto garlic. Then at the Jason supermarket, I bought 4 more bottles of Miller. Yep this time I have backpack. Luckily didn't buy more, 4 is still okay. Then we walked the circle linkway to go towards Garrett's. When we reached the escalator, near the linkway to the esplanade linkway, can already smell the popcorn (so I was right about them up-ping the aroma) I joined the queue to buy a Large bag of caramel popcorn. With that, we headed home.
I repacked the popcorn into 2 ziplock bags so can keep it crisp longer. I ate dinner with the BFF fries, ready-made pizza my sis bought and baked in the oven. Also had a bowl of popcorn. I chilled a Miller but didn't drink it. Just tuned in to the Presidential election. Watched until the recount and decided to sleep. Been sleeping around 1.30-2am, gonna have a tough time adjusting back.
Today also rather uneventful, slept late, watched news about the PE, being re-run again and again, then play I-phone games. Got hungry, decided to eat dinner and forgo gym. No gym this week.
I still have 3 more days, work resumes on 1st Sept thur. I am gonna cut and dye my hair before work resumes. Going to start adjusting my sleeping time and use alarm clock. Gonna try to squeeze in one-two more tasks like tidying my DVDs n table before work starts.
So on Sat, being election day, no guitar (totally neglected guitar), by the time I reach home after the driving session (100mins) very stoned-dead. Just wanna sleep or just stone. I met up with 2 collegues for tea at Marmalade Pantry in Ion. Pretty good but the mains were pricey. Dessert and tea prices are okay. I was kinda stoned during the conversation. Even later meeting FH for dinner, also very stoned. He told me last time when he was learning, after lessons very mentally tired that he would just sleep. I totally agree.
Sat didn't do much just laze in bed. Friday itself in the earlier part of the day, I wasn't well, just lay in bed until I was better. Sat was just lazing cos failed test, kinda a bit down. Stay in bed and lazed.
Until I asked my sister if she got plans to go out. I told her I wanna get the Garrett's popcorn, she didn't mind but she wanted to eat her favorite at ManJi @ 313. I didnt mind also so we headed for dessert first. I ordered the pomelo mango sago, and I wanted to try the durian pancake but since got 30% discount for 2nd pancake, ordered the mango. My sis hadnt eat the pancakes before so since each is not that big, can finish. My sis ordered the black glutinous riceballs in vanilla sauce n Watermelon sago. It's like 5 items for 2 pax... We really win the rest of the tables. Most is one person 1 item, or like for 2 pax, 3 items. We are like 5 items for 2 pax. When we were taking pics, got a few neighboring tables patrons looked over at us. Well... (luckily we only ate 1 meal) and those were our "lunch". Yup eat until full, so unlike dessert huh.
Went to HMV then we went up to the foodcourt which has a big selection of food too. I was telling my sis how I never really went to the top before. Can consider eating there, alot of seats. We took the mrt to rafflescity. I was actually getting hungry... So unbelievable, I dabaoed a BFF large fries with the Gusto garlic. Then at the Jason supermarket, I bought 4 more bottles of Miller. Yep this time I have backpack. Luckily didn't buy more, 4 is still okay. Then we walked the circle linkway to go towards Garrett's. When we reached the escalator, near the linkway to the esplanade linkway, can already smell the popcorn (so I was right about them up-ping the aroma) I joined the queue to buy a Large bag of caramel popcorn. With that, we headed home.
I repacked the popcorn into 2 ziplock bags so can keep it crisp longer. I ate dinner with the BFF fries, ready-made pizza my sis bought and baked in the oven. Also had a bowl of popcorn. I chilled a Miller but didn't drink it. Just tuned in to the Presidential election. Watched until the recount and decided to sleep. Been sleeping around 1.30-2am, gonna have a tough time adjusting back.
Today also rather uneventful, slept late, watched news about the PE, being re-run again and again, then play I-phone games. Got hungry, decided to eat dinner and forgo gym. No gym this week.
I still have 3 more days, work resumes on 1st Sept thur. I am gonna cut and dye my hair before work resumes. Going to start adjusting my sleeping time and use alarm clock. Gonna try to squeeze in one-two more tasks like tidying my DVDs n table before work starts.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Intensive Driving, clutch... muscle ache
Sunday - lazed and lazed until I dragged myself out of the house literally to go to the gym. The good thing is that on Sunday, gym opens until 8pm, so I managed to pull myself out by 5.30pm. Hit only the 2nd time but okay, at least its twice not just once. Weight so not moving at all. Stopped rising but not falling. My jeans are tight... Luckily my knee okay but I dont like my jeans being tight.
Mon - Its the start of 4 days of driving revision and last day is actual test. Started using my alarm clock, but I set to 8.30am. Aim to start getting up around this timing. I woke up and decided to cook more aglio-olio pasta. It's my 3rd time making the garlic aglio-olio. Then I just ate it as brunch and it lasted until 4.30pm. After driving, I went home and ate some yoghurt as light lunch and later ate an early dinner. Contemplated going to gym but my left leg muscle was a bit tired from all the clutching during driving. Decided not to strain it.
Tue - Made aglio-olio again. This time I still had half a can of small luncheon meat left from the first attempt, so I decided to chop garlic and also chop up the luncheon meat into very small bits. Fry garlic first, then throw in luncheon meat mince and fry until the luncheon meat is brown and more crispy looking before I add the cooled linguine. It tasted very nice. A bit reminds me of the bacon version, plus the luncheon fry with the garlic, removed any porky smell from the luncheon meat. Its a tastier version. Will keep it in mind. Ate it and went driving again. After the lesson, my left thigh and butt really sore. Then I realized that its from all the clutch. But I didnt want it to affect my coming lesson and test so I spread lots of muscle rub all over. Had yoghurt for lunch. Then a light dinner before going for assignment. After assignment, I was feeling the effects of such a hectic week. All the travelling around and back and out again...
Wed - driving again but didnt cook my last aglio-olio cos mom bought food for me. I went for driving again, after which shared a cab down with collegue to have tea with another collegue at Ion orchard. Its pretty good but a bit pricey. Catch up cos one has quit, the other is quitting end of Sept. After one left, I walked with the other and her child around Ion until her husband came and then I left to meet FH for a quick dinner.
The Garrets popcorn at Wisma Atria is opened. And the walking through the narrow walk-way to Taka and later back to the mrt station really tested my will-power. The aroma of cookies and popcorn is really very strong. I think they purposely up the aroma to compete against each other. And since the walk-way is narrow, the aroma is very concentrated (Citylink, at least the walkway is very wide and can siam one side) I see many people succumbing and buying either one. Really tempting but I was feeling very heaty these few weeks so didnt want to get anything like cookies or popcorn, however tempting the aroma. So this week gym is still 0.
This Sat is election day so gym is closed. Gym is also closed from noon on Fri. So I am left with Thur and Sun to go... So difficult, so many things to do and yet energy is like a bit low. Think physically I have the energy but mentally I am tired.
Mon - Its the start of 4 days of driving revision and last day is actual test. Started using my alarm clock, but I set to 8.30am. Aim to start getting up around this timing. I woke up and decided to cook more aglio-olio pasta. It's my 3rd time making the garlic aglio-olio. Then I just ate it as brunch and it lasted until 4.30pm. After driving, I went home and ate some yoghurt as light lunch and later ate an early dinner. Contemplated going to gym but my left leg muscle was a bit tired from all the clutching during driving. Decided not to strain it.
Tue - Made aglio-olio again. This time I still had half a can of small luncheon meat left from the first attempt, so I decided to chop garlic and also chop up the luncheon meat into very small bits. Fry garlic first, then throw in luncheon meat mince and fry until the luncheon meat is brown and more crispy looking before I add the cooled linguine. It tasted very nice. A bit reminds me of the bacon version, plus the luncheon fry with the garlic, removed any porky smell from the luncheon meat. Its a tastier version. Will keep it in mind. Ate it and went driving again. After the lesson, my left thigh and butt really sore. Then I realized that its from all the clutch. But I didnt want it to affect my coming lesson and test so I spread lots of muscle rub all over. Had yoghurt for lunch. Then a light dinner before going for assignment. After assignment, I was feeling the effects of such a hectic week. All the travelling around and back and out again...
Wed - driving again but didnt cook my last aglio-olio cos mom bought food for me. I went for driving again, after which shared a cab down with collegue to have tea with another collegue at Ion orchard. Its pretty good but a bit pricey. Catch up cos one has quit, the other is quitting end of Sept. After one left, I walked with the other and her child around Ion until her husband came and then I left to meet FH for a quick dinner.
The Garrets popcorn at Wisma Atria is opened. And the walking through the narrow walk-way to Taka and later back to the mrt station really tested my will-power. The aroma of cookies and popcorn is really very strong. I think they purposely up the aroma to compete against each other. And since the walk-way is narrow, the aroma is very concentrated (Citylink, at least the walkway is very wide and can siam one side) I see many people succumbing and buying either one. Really tempting but I was feeling very heaty these few weeks so didnt want to get anything like cookies or popcorn, however tempting the aroma. So this week gym is still 0.
This Sat is election day so gym is closed. Gym is also closed from noon on Fri. So I am left with Thur and Sun to go... So difficult, so many things to do and yet energy is like a bit low. Think physically I have the energy but mentally I am tired.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Buffet, Headgears, Convention & Summer Festival
Thur - monitored stock market, until last min assignment cancelled and just stayed at home. Think mainly TT and anime. Though I got hungry by 10.30pm and made another Garlic Aglio-olio, this time lesser oil. My sis thought I was trying to make tomorrow's lunch. Which I can't cos supposed to eat buffet. 2nd time more pro, lesser extra steps but I couldn't mince and chop the garlic fast with chopper cos mom was sleeping. Cos you bang the garlic to split it and then just remove the peel.
Fri - My lunch with collegues was changed last min so I asked Tab if she minded changing dinner plans to lunch. We met up but Suki sushi is no more. It's under 日本村 but they still have the buffet. Really we ordered alot and I still took like 4-5 plates from the conveyor belt... Only to be almost done in by my double order of mentai salmon sushi.
But cos Tab threatened that IF I were to say these 2 lines "Hey, Tab you still want some?" and "It's too much, how to finish?" She would start singing about the "I-was-right-and-you-were-wrong" song to my face. Hence I ate them up with a few breaks in-between, playing TT. Man really so very full. Only wanted to drink tea after. Note to self- next time 1 portion of everything is fine.... No need double.
Walked around and we ended up drinking unsweetened tea n eating a small little bar of caramel called 'Carambar'. I wasn't sure if I was up for dinner. We walked slowly to PS, and in Daiso saw a whole bunch of Halloween head gears. We tried a few. I ended up buying one and a Halloween empty pouch. I went back after n didn't feel up to eating anything else. Just lots of tea.
Sat - I woke up about 9am and around 10.30am, I went next door to dabao breakfast for whole family. I was queuing for fried carrot cake foe dad, when I turned, saw a crowd and saw Tony Tan. He was walking around to meet and greet the people (Singaporeans) he was surrounded by his entourage, video n lighting, flashing camera, curious onlookers, people who wanna shake his hands. I wanted to take a pic but the crowd blocked and closed up n moved, cos it's the first time I see an important Singapore official up close. Went home and told parents.
After guitar, went to Po Mo n ate a subway wrap. Met up with Tab to go to comic convention. Paid $10 admission and there were more stuff, more booths selling a variety of comic anime-related merchandise n various schools promoting their courses. What caught Tab's eye was the various hats, headgears. We walked past Otaku House and went to try out. I wasn't going to try those until I saw Monoko Headgear!!! They have the Black one and later saw the White one. Though I like the White Monoko personally, the black one went nicer with my hair n dark colour clothing. FYI, the Black Monoko is actually a different character from the White one. I ended up being the one buying a headgear... Which I wore for the rest of the time in the convention.
We walked to take the mrt and stopped at raffles shopping mall to grab drinks and a quick bite. I finally found bottles of Miller genuine draft and bought 4 after Tab gave me a lecture about all my 'unfortunate incidences' where I see but don't buy cos wasnt prepared to lug them around, only to come back another prepared but it's not available then. This repeated itself numerous times. Actually I wasn't sure if I wanna buy cos still heading to Expo after that, but I relented and bought 4. Due to my current very heavy weight, I will just keep them in my beer section first, with the rest of the cans of Tiger Gold Classic.
But it's really heavy lugging them around even by swinging the bag over the chest. We made our way to Expo. Succumbed to a Tiramisu doughnut. We walked 3/4 of the convention hall to finally reach this elusive coach bay. It took a lot of walking, with restrooms as a 'refill' stop. We squeezed up and reached safely.
Didn't know it's rather big-scale with tonnes of people, Jap, locals but Jap-wannabes, locals. We queued for dons and hotdogs and drink and ate at the poolside. A student called me to say hi. That's nice. The campus is big. I've seen pics of it but it's my first time at the campus. It's a much younger campus compared to the one in Clementi. Many stalls. I resisted until I saw this selection of Meji ice cream which had some I've never seen. Though I know I already bit the calorie limit but just can't not eat one. Bought the mint choc which I misread as milk with choc. It's really a big bar but saw many eating. I saw a few Jap collegues and went over to say hi. One told me to go to the games corner cos can play for free for staff but seeing the queue, I rather not. Later I said hi to a few more. I wanted to ask where the game stall is so I can go say hi but some misunderstood my English. The teacher called me cos he heard that I was looking for him. Later I have to explain it's just to say hi. Typical Jap-eng misunderstanding. Used to it.
We walked around a bit more. Tab and Quetzal went to dance with the crowd near the stage where a lot of people were following the kimono-clad ladies doing a traditional dance in synchronization with the drums. Nice to watch and impressive. Happy to stand their to take a video. Later I saw a few students, they didnt see me, and called them to wave and say hi. After that covered mostly all. Got ready to leave around 9pm
Later we walked around the exhibit in Expo area, before I went to take the train home. I thought I wouldnt get a seat but I did for both trains. It was late enough and the crowd cleared mostly. Super glad for a sea with the heavy bag. Left shoulder aching still but qt least no more "Miller ... No!!!!!" lines for a while until next time.
Another day gone, another day of calorie exceed. Okay tom I going gym, better be diligent and more hardworking.
Fri - My lunch with collegues was changed last min so I asked Tab if she minded changing dinner plans to lunch. We met up but Suki sushi is no more. It's under 日本村 but they still have the buffet. Really we ordered alot and I still took like 4-5 plates from the conveyor belt... Only to be almost done in by my double order of mentai salmon sushi.
But cos Tab threatened that IF I were to say these 2 lines "Hey, Tab you still want some?" and "It's too much, how to finish?" She would start singing about the "I-was-right-and-you-were-wrong" song to my face. Hence I ate them up with a few breaks in-between, playing TT. Man really so very full. Only wanted to drink tea after. Note to self- next time 1 portion of everything is fine.... No need double.
Walked around and we ended up drinking unsweetened tea n eating a small little bar of caramel called 'Carambar'. I wasn't sure if I was up for dinner. We walked slowly to PS, and in Daiso saw a whole bunch of Halloween head gears. We tried a few. I ended up buying one and a Halloween empty pouch. I went back after n didn't feel up to eating anything else. Just lots of tea.
Sat - I woke up about 9am and around 10.30am, I went next door to dabao breakfast for whole family. I was queuing for fried carrot cake foe dad, when I turned, saw a crowd and saw Tony Tan. He was walking around to meet and greet the people (Singaporeans) he was surrounded by his entourage, video n lighting, flashing camera, curious onlookers, people who wanna shake his hands. I wanted to take a pic but the crowd blocked and closed up n moved, cos it's the first time I see an important Singapore official up close. Went home and told parents.
After guitar, went to Po Mo n ate a subway wrap. Met up with Tab to go to comic convention. Paid $10 admission and there were more stuff, more booths selling a variety of comic anime-related merchandise n various schools promoting their courses. What caught Tab's eye was the various hats, headgears. We walked past Otaku House and went to try out. I wasn't going to try those until I saw Monoko Headgear!!! They have the Black one and later saw the White one. Though I like the White Monoko personally, the black one went nicer with my hair n dark colour clothing. FYI, the Black Monoko is actually a different character from the White one. I ended up being the one buying a headgear... Which I wore for the rest of the time in the convention.
We walked to take the mrt and stopped at raffles shopping mall to grab drinks and a quick bite. I finally found bottles of Miller genuine draft and bought 4 after Tab gave me a lecture about all my 'unfortunate incidences' where I see but don't buy cos wasnt prepared to lug them around, only to come back another prepared but it's not available then. This repeated itself numerous times. Actually I wasn't sure if I wanna buy cos still heading to Expo after that, but I relented and bought 4. Due to my current very heavy weight, I will just keep them in my beer section first, with the rest of the cans of Tiger Gold Classic.
But it's really heavy lugging them around even by swinging the bag over the chest. We made our way to Expo. Succumbed to a Tiramisu doughnut. We walked 3/4 of the convention hall to finally reach this elusive coach bay. It took a lot of walking, with restrooms as a 'refill' stop. We squeezed up and reached safely.
Didn't know it's rather big-scale with tonnes of people, Jap, locals but Jap-wannabes, locals. We queued for dons and hotdogs and drink and ate at the poolside. A student called me to say hi. That's nice. The campus is big. I've seen pics of it but it's my first time at the campus. It's a much younger campus compared to the one in Clementi. Many stalls. I resisted until I saw this selection of Meji ice cream which had some I've never seen. Though I know I already bit the calorie limit but just can't not eat one. Bought the mint choc which I misread as milk with choc. It's really a big bar but saw many eating. I saw a few Jap collegues and went over to say hi. One told me to go to the games corner cos can play for free for staff but seeing the queue, I rather not. Later I said hi to a few more. I wanted to ask where the game stall is so I can go say hi but some misunderstood my English. The teacher called me cos he heard that I was looking for him. Later I have to explain it's just to say hi. Typical Jap-eng misunderstanding. Used to it.
We walked around a bit more. Tab and Quetzal went to dance with the crowd near the stage where a lot of people were following the kimono-clad ladies doing a traditional dance in synchronization with the drums. Nice to watch and impressive. Happy to stand their to take a video. Later I saw a few students, they didnt see me, and called them to wave and say hi. After that covered mostly all. Got ready to leave around 9pm
Later we walked around the exhibit in Expo area, before I went to take the train home. I thought I wouldnt get a seat but I did for both trains. It was late enough and the crowd cleared mostly. Super glad for a sea with the heavy bag. Left shoulder aching still but qt least no more "Miller ... No!!!!!" lines for a while until next time.
Another day gone, another day of calorie exceed. Okay tom I going gym, better be diligent and more hardworking.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Sell-decision and 1st Try Aglio-aglio
Tuesday - the market showed all-green in the early part of the morning. So there was one counter, I couldnt buy back. Then on the Malaysia side, one of my counters went up. I had some shares (cheaper price) and during the fire-sale earlier last week, I managed to buy some more (not as cheap) so I decided to sell the cheaper lots to realize the profits. Cos it was near the highest price it has been. I actually keyed in an order for even higher price. But after looking at it around 4pm, prices were hovering slightly below my target. I decided to lower my own selling price
Remembering the earlier lessons about being greedy and then didnt sell off before prices turn etc etc. Then the other lesson about being too attached to the stocks I have on hand. I did made some bad decisions not to sell cos I want even higher gains, only for prices to go south after. So gathering all these lessons, I sold off my malaysian shares for a hefty gain of 48% over 3 years excluding dividends. I still have the ones I bought earlier last week left. If prices do fall, I will buy it back up again. Thanks to this trade, I am almost at my 1st target. Its been a slow year but there's still 4+ months to go. If prices goes up, I can do some trading.
Some sg prices have reached quite low but my sg funds are running low cos I have not sold off much from my sg portfolio. Then have been buying some when prices fell. Hope for some needed green for me to do some trading to free up capital.
Met up with the leaving collegue downstairs to eat the Zhi Char. During lunch, the place is full of people eating zhi char. I ate 虾酱鸡，XO鱼片汤 and sambal kangkong. Very big portion and very satisifying meal. I did notice many people ordering the 3 dishes featured on the TV show on Channel 8. Wow that's effective. Next time I shall try those too. After lunch we went home.
After resting, decided to go to the gym to offset the good food, went to library too and borrowed more storybooks. Thanks to playing too much of Tiny Tower, I am not reading the storybooks as much. Even now, still somewhat playing too much of TT but as it's getting tougher to build more storeys, I am not glued to it as much as initially.
So far I am not re-starting the Chicken breast meat meal replacement. I wanted to try to make aglio-aglio first (a bit inspired from the previous cooking at Tab's place) and pasta. I already bought the ingredients and still had a pack of parmesam cheese in the chiller.
_________________________________
Wed - I actually woke up at 8.30am without an alarm clock. I did sleep very late last night. But I felt rested enough. Mom wasnt at home. Dad in living room. I decided to try to cook the aglio-aglio.
So chop up an entire clove of garlic, my onion rotted so threw away. Boiled a fistful of linguine until it turned soft. Then my practice is to drain the hot water and just pour in normal water to cool the pasta. Drain and put on a plate. In the meantime, I cut half a small can of luncheon meat into super thin slices. Then fry it with just some oil. Trying to make sure that they turn out crispy. When it was almost done, threw in some garlic to fry with the luncheon meat. Serve on a small dish.
Washed the pan and cook the aglio-aglio. I added a generous amount of olive oil, cos I dont really know how much is needed for aglio. Fry most of the garlic (leave a little bit for final garnish), then put drained cooled pasta in, add a pinch of salt. Then mix with a pair of metal chopsticks, until can smell the garlic, nicely mixed. Then serve on the plate. I took out this bottle of herbs I bought. Its from Masters - Pizza mix. Basically it has the whole mix of marjoram, basil, capsicum, orego, parsley, tumeric, herbs m spice all mixed inside.
When I was deciding which of this flakes to buy from the numerous assortment. I didnt want chilli flakes cos I dont really like it. But those flaskes like pure parsley, basil are all too much for me. I dont want to risk getting one of this which has that particular few herbs I dont like. Then I saw this Pizza Mix, which is to sprinkle over pizza. Since pizza is okay, use on pasta also should be can. And I was going to sprinkle a little bit of parmesam cheese. So decided on that. It turned out to be a good decision.
I sprinkled lightly over the top, then a light sprinkle of parmesam cheese and lastly the remaining raw minced garlic. My mom came back then and she dabaoed some food. Which I will eat as lunch. So she said it looked good and tried some. She agreed its nice. I find it light and tasty except for the last few bites where it became rather oily cos the oil drained at the bottom layer. So note to self to use much lesser oil. Seems aglio-aglio, contrary to popular belief, does not require too much oil. Just moderate. The best part, its enough for one person portion. So now I know how much linguine is for one person instead of cooking the whole pack.
Remembering the earlier lessons about being greedy and then didnt sell off before prices turn etc etc. Then the other lesson about being too attached to the stocks I have on hand. I did made some bad decisions not to sell cos I want even higher gains, only for prices to go south after. So gathering all these lessons, I sold off my malaysian shares for a hefty gain of 48% over 3 years excluding dividends. I still have the ones I bought earlier last week left. If prices do fall, I will buy it back up again. Thanks to this trade, I am almost at my 1st target. Its been a slow year but there's still 4+ months to go. If prices goes up, I can do some trading.
Some sg prices have reached quite low but my sg funds are running low cos I have not sold off much from my sg portfolio. Then have been buying some when prices fell. Hope for some needed green for me to do some trading to free up capital.
Met up with the leaving collegue downstairs to eat the Zhi Char. During lunch, the place is full of people eating zhi char. I ate 虾酱鸡，XO鱼片汤 and sambal kangkong. Very big portion and very satisifying meal. I did notice many people ordering the 3 dishes featured on the TV show on Channel 8. Wow that's effective. Next time I shall try those too. After lunch we went home.
After resting, decided to go to the gym to offset the good food, went to library too and borrowed more storybooks. Thanks to playing too much of Tiny Tower, I am not reading the storybooks as much. Even now, still somewhat playing too much of TT but as it's getting tougher to build more storeys, I am not glued to it as much as initially.
So far I am not re-starting the Chicken breast meat meal replacement. I wanted to try to make aglio-aglio first (a bit inspired from the previous cooking at Tab's place) and pasta. I already bought the ingredients and still had a pack of parmesam cheese in the chiller.
_________________________________
Wed - I actually woke up at 8.30am without an alarm clock. I did sleep very late last night. But I felt rested enough. Mom wasnt at home. Dad in living room. I decided to try to cook the aglio-aglio.
So chop up an entire clove of garlic, my onion rotted so threw away. Boiled a fistful of linguine until it turned soft. Then my practice is to drain the hot water and just pour in normal water to cool the pasta. Drain and put on a plate. In the meantime, I cut half a small can of luncheon meat into super thin slices. Then fry it with just some oil. Trying to make sure that they turn out crispy. When it was almost done, threw in some garlic to fry with the luncheon meat. Serve on a small dish.
Washed the pan and cook the aglio-aglio. I added a generous amount of olive oil, cos I dont really know how much is needed for aglio. Fry most of the garlic (leave a little bit for final garnish), then put drained cooled pasta in, add a pinch of salt. Then mix with a pair of metal chopsticks, until can smell the garlic, nicely mixed. Then serve on the plate. I took out this bottle of herbs I bought. Its from Masters - Pizza mix. Basically it has the whole mix of marjoram, basil, capsicum, orego, parsley, tumeric, herbs m spice all mixed inside.
When I was deciding which of this flakes to buy from the numerous assortment. I didnt want chilli flakes cos I dont really like it. But those flaskes like pure parsley, basil are all too much for me. I dont want to risk getting one of this which has that particular few herbs I dont like. Then I saw this Pizza Mix, which is to sprinkle over pizza. Since pizza is okay, use on pasta also should be can. And I was going to sprinkle a little bit of parmesam cheese. So decided on that. It turned out to be a good decision.
I sprinkled lightly over the top, then a light sprinkle of parmesam cheese and lastly the remaining raw minced garlic. My mom came back then and she dabaoed some food. Which I will eat as lunch. So she said it looked good and tried some. She agreed its nice. I find it light and tasty except for the last few bites where it became rather oily cos the oil drained at the bottom layer. So note to self to use much lesser oil. Seems aglio-aglio, contrary to popular belief, does not require too much oil. Just moderate. The best part, its enough for one person portion. So now I know how much linguine is for one person instead of cooking the whole pack.
Temple praying, qiu qian, craving & omelette
Sat - after guitar lesson, I decided since nobody jio me, I better use the time to go pray at the temple. Munched on some sushi and walked about 15minutes slowly to the Guan Yin Temple. I bought 2 packs of sweets to give as offering. Give thanks for blessing thus far and asked for continued blessings. I also qiu qian about my job, whether I should stay or leave. Basically the answer is to stay, may have some trouble n have to work hard but stay. It helps put the heart at peace because the reality of the job market (looked through recruit) is that really nothing much suitable. If I anyhow jump into another lower-paying job, thinking I can start entry-level and work upwards but if it turned out to be dead-end, double whammy. My own preference and the reality is to stay on a bit longer until I am ready to jump out. At this point I am not ready. The only push factor is the pay, there are still a number of pull factors for me, that's why.
After that I walked over to Bugis Junction. I had a craving for this durian moouse dessert at 717 trading but to my dismay, the one at BJ closed!!! Argh... I could almost taste it in my mouth while I was walking there. So sad. I looked online and there's only 4-5 outlets left. The nearest is Jurong Point. Okay... I went home without eating anything else.
I made my own dinner using the last pack of chicken breast meat n salad. It's been tough chewing both the breast meat n the salad. An idea struck me, mince the meat, cut the veg into fine bits. Stir-fry together. Sounds good, as I was dicing them, another idea struck. Why not mix in an egg to make an omelette. Mmm..okay did that but fridge only left one other egg, so put in 2 eggs. Enough eggs to covered the minced meat. So I actually made a mistake by mixing the egg with the meat. I could have stir-fry meat n veg, then cover with egg to fry... So bo bian, I fried the harder veg like carrot first then all the veg, then pour the minced meat egg over it to let it cook first. Slowly then turn over the other side to cook the egg n meat side. It came out really good. Easier to chew cos all are smaller bits, filling and delicious with ketchup.
Sunday I proscrinated the whole day n didn't go for gym. My mom set up the altar to pray to ancestors so I lit inscence, later have roasted duck n chicken to eat. I tried to control my food. Luckily didn't have breakfast so calories okay.
Monday, asked my dad if he ok to drive to CitySquare. Cos my dad usually don't mind buying newspapers on mon from such trips, something about very good stock analysis n charts from the Msia Chinese newspapers. So we headed in about 10.45am. Didn't spend too much, just RM$100 on anime n discs and RM$30 on Portuguese chicken n egg tarts n a few bars of chewing gum. Ate Fish & Chip at Vivo (a cafe) and later we reached back home about 3.30pm.
Fell asleep, ate the delicious Portuguese chicken. Egg tart for family n next day breakfast. Headed for assignment. Nothing much else. Except I stayed up pretty late these days. Sleep late and wake up naturally, the timing can range from 8-11am depending on disturbances. Despite feeling a bit zhuo bo at times, I do enjoy this time of not using the alarm clock. Just sleep when I feel like, wake naturally, not in a hurry. That's really nice and I don't want it to end...
After that I walked over to Bugis Junction. I had a craving for this durian moouse dessert at 717 trading but to my dismay, the one at BJ closed!!! Argh... I could almost taste it in my mouth while I was walking there. So sad. I looked online and there's only 4-5 outlets left. The nearest is Jurong Point. Okay... I went home without eating anything else.
I made my own dinner using the last pack of chicken breast meat n salad. It's been tough chewing both the breast meat n the salad. An idea struck me, mince the meat, cut the veg into fine bits. Stir-fry together. Sounds good, as I was dicing them, another idea struck. Why not mix in an egg to make an omelette. Mmm..okay did that but fridge only left one other egg, so put in 2 eggs. Enough eggs to covered the minced meat. So I actually made a mistake by mixing the egg with the meat. I could have stir-fry meat n veg, then cover with egg to fry... So bo bian, I fried the harder veg like carrot first then all the veg, then pour the minced meat egg over it to let it cook first. Slowly then turn over the other side to cook the egg n meat side. It came out really good. Easier to chew cos all are smaller bits, filling and delicious with ketchup.
Sunday I proscrinated the whole day n didn't go for gym. My mom set up the altar to pray to ancestors so I lit inscence, later have roasted duck n chicken to eat. I tried to control my food. Luckily didn't have breakfast so calories okay.
Monday, asked my dad if he ok to drive to CitySquare. Cos my dad usually don't mind buying newspapers on mon from such trips, something about very good stock analysis n charts from the Msia Chinese newspapers. So we headed in about 10.45am. Didn't spend too much, just RM$100 on anime n discs and RM$30 on Portuguese chicken n egg tarts n a few bars of chewing gum. Ate Fish & Chip at Vivo (a cafe) and later we reached back home about 3.30pm.
Fell asleep, ate the delicious Portuguese chicken. Egg tart for family n next day breakfast. Headed for assignment. Nothing much else. Except I stayed up pretty late these days. Sleep late and wake up naturally, the timing can range from 8-11am depending on disturbances. Despite feeling a bit zhuo bo at times, I do enjoy this time of not using the alarm clock. Just sleep when I feel like, wake naturally, not in a hurry. That's really nice and I don't want it to end...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)