Thursday, March 30, 2006

Spring is coming

Yes it is indeed. Days are getting longer and earlier, nights are getting shorter (but still very cold) and there is an overall cheeriness about the environment (because the sun is getting brighter!) In Singapore, you will never understand why a bright sun means you can cheer up. Wait till you have cloudy days for weeks in a stretch, then you finally understand why all ang mohs* love the sun so much.

But here in Oulu, the snow refuses to melt, even in the face of the sun's heat. Well, I want to see a place without snow soon, er, like now. Tired of snow already. And who said snow was romantic? If you stayed 1 week, yeah maybe, but now it's kinda boring. White all over the place, like some artist with no creativity who just poured some white paint over his canvas, and called it art. DUH!

Several people are going home tomorrow, and it's kinda sad cos it's also the end of my exams! Too bad our "fate" has come to an end. Despite all the sayings to "let's see each other again" and "come to my home country! I will find lodging for you!", I know that I must be pretty darned lucky to spot them in the midst of other Europeans in Europe (unless of course we arrange to meet). Then again, Europe is not as big as Asia cos there are very few water bodies separating all the countries.

I will be going to Russia in less than 2 weeks time. W00t! Damn happy.

But now, it's time for exam revision. One more day. =)


*ang mohs = refers to Westerners as a whole.

Monday, March 27, 2006

I have a new friend...

...and he stays in my room. He has a funny name.

He is called.... Mr. Garlic. Hahaha! What a unique and funny name. He's staying in my room now and he likes the sun very much. Apparently he can withstand the cold too, cos he didn't freeze in -1 or -2 degC temperature for 2 weeks continuously. He can tolerate cold temperatures very well, not like me.

Well, he just came into my room like yesterday, and I am letting him stay in indefinitely, maybe he will even stay with the next tenant of this room.

Well, you may be curious where he is from, or what he looks like. Not to worry the picture is at the end of this post. He is very quiet, never making a sound while I study, so I can let him stay in my room. He adds colour to my room too!

Hmmm, I guess I kept you in suspense long enough. Time to reveal his look!

Me and Mr Garlic.



Mr Garlic up close.

Yeah, my new friend =P

LOL, what did you think he was? This guy was in the fridge for 2 weeks already and it started growing, so instead of throwing him away, I decided to keep him as company! WAHAHAHA!

UPDATE (28/3/06 1715 hrs): Mr Garlic is growing hair on his head. Very fast! See the picture! (only 3 days after!)

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Daylight savings time

UPDATE (7.30pm): The days are getting longer and longer and longer. 2 days back, the sun rose at 5.30am. Then there is the daylight savings shift of time, but everyday the sun is rising 10 minutes earlier. Now it is 7.35pm, but the sun is still shining! I think after my exams, I can have sun all day. But I want to laze in bed after exams!

Today at 2am we had to add one hour to our clock. 2am JUMPS to 3am.

One hour gone like that. One hour of sleep gone like that. What a great use of time.

Daylight savings indeed. POOF!


So now be warned that Finland is behind Singapore by just 5 hours, not 6 anymore. Which in a way is great.



P.S.: I just found the Winter Swimming Championships 2006 official homepage (click here) and the unofficial one here. There's one picture of me in the official site. But I won't tell you exactly where. If you want, go find it yourself. It's very funny! HAHAHAHA!

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Long term planning

The day after the storm (my exam), another storm is in the brewing. I must start revision for the next exam coming next Friday. I don't want to be stuck in that unenviable position of doing LAST LAST LAST minute revision again. So there.


And of course, as always, I like to start thinking long term into the future.

After the exams(OK maybe that wasn't really long-term thinking), I want to:

1. Clean my whole room again, thoroughly.
2. Watch all the movies I downloaded (good for 2 weeks I think.)
3. Go to any and every crazy party.
4. Go to Onnela to dance the night away (Wednesdays!)
5. Plan for upcoming trips (Russia, Poland are already more or less confirmed.)
6. Pack my backpack so that I can leave at short notice for any short trip.
7. Visit CJ and JX in Linköping. (lim kopi* with them.) Tour Stockholm.

*lim kopi = drink coffee in Hokkien. It's a natural pun on the place Linköping (if you read it like you would in English, not in Swedish.)

OK list of countries I want to go: (added a map of Europe for the geographically challenged)
1. Czech Republic (Prague in particular)
2. Denmark (Copenhagen)
3. Lithuania
4. UK (London in particular)
5. France (Paris in particular)
6. Norway (Oslo and Bergen? is that right?)
7. Italy (Florence and Venice)
8. Germany (if I can squeeze it in)
9. Latvia (Riga)
10. Sweden (Stockholm and Linköping)
11. Netherlands (Amsterdam)
12. Russia (St Pete's and Moscow) --> 11-17th April

13. Poland (Krakow and some other parts, depends on where the 10-day Sailing Festival will take me. Will go Tallinn – Wegorzwo – Kraków – Tallinn, a 3200km route by bus.) --> 11-21st May

Been to:
1. Estonia (Tallinn)


GAWD.. I am so laggy, my friends have all been to two or more places! I need to catch up! Must beat Kaizhao since I got so much more time than him. HAHAHAHA!

Friday, March 24, 2006

Good luck to me

UPDATE: Went to the exam hall, sat down, looked at the paper.. hmmm... looked familiar. But then i scrutinized the paper, and it was a different configuration which I didn't study! And the past year papers didn't have any of that! WAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Professor came up with some stunts for the paper. I can only pray to pass.


It's snowing as I speak..

Exam today at 2pm (FI time).

Hopefully everything goes well. =)

Thursday, March 23, 2006

A Message from John Cleese (of Monty Python fame)

To the citizens of the United States of America:


In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (excepting Kansas, which she does not fancy). Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency,the following rules are introduced with immediate effect: You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up aluminum, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix ize will be replaced by the suffix ise. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up vocabulary). Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize. You will relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen". July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect.

At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) - roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad. An internal revenue agent (i.e . tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your co-operation.


Acknowledgments: Thanks Kathy for the email. Let's hope Bush won't take offence and start bombing UK.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Exams are here!

First, let's start off by saying I saw auroras yesterday night! When I was at sauna and came out to the balcony to air my naked self! LOL! No camera at that time so no pictures again =(
It was a tad more greenish than the first one I saw. But then the ones in the later night were almost whitish. SO SUCKY!


I have one exam this Friday and also another next Friday.

Pray for me please. I don't relish the prospect of having to retake ANY of them.

Your reward? More pics from all over Europe.

=)

P.S.: Made my decision not to follow ZM, WL and JF to Rovaniemi. For me, a rather painful one since it would have been one/two days of snowmobiling, reindeer riding, aurora viewing and visiting Santa "Hohoho" Claus at his Post Office (I heard he can speak other languages besides Finnish). All for these exams. I better pass them. God, please be fair to me, k?

UPDATE: Saw my professor and asked if the exam tested chaps 2, 6-12 like he said before (just to double confirm). He corrected me by saying it's chap 2, 6-8, 12-14. Well done. Now I have more to study. ARGGGGGHHHH! Anyway, he said he will do a private exam for me in the event that I don't pass. He's really a nice guy I suppose. If it's in NUS, you can dream on. Still, I want to pass first time round!

Sunday, March 19, 2006

I wanted to test my luck and...

50/50 luck
And your luck rating is.... 1

In all the questions, there's a 50-50 chance to not choose a lucky or an unlucky answer. And you have done just that... you picked a neutral-luck answer, every time. What does this say about your luck? Well, you're not unlucky, that's for sure, but you aren't all that lucky either. So, each time you flip a coin, your luck will pretty much give you a 50-50 chance to win, every time.


The "Test your luck!" Test written by shry7 on Ok Cupid
and also my intelligence:
Gifted
You scored 122 Intelligence!
Aww...you're basically a genius. 132 is the IQ where Mensa accepts you. How about giving it a try? You were the probably the kid who got all A's in high school..or you could be like me, a brilliant slacker...too smart for your own good. It goes both ways. You are very gifted.
LOL, this is crap. I need more luck for my exams though.

Friday, March 17, 2006

When you need help...

... and the professor isn't there.

So I sat at the lounge the whole day, waiting for him to appear. He never did. And then slowly, you start to realize how NUS got its top 18th (no, 22nd, it dropped this year! *snigger*) place in the world. By the way, Oulun Yliopisto (University of Oulu) is also in the list of top 500 universities in the world.

It's placing? Top 400++. *tries to snigger, but launches into a guffaw*


*stops guffawing*
Now I have to wait for Monday. Talk about the race against time. Think: Mission Impossible.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Sometimes the best things in life are for free

UPDATE: I am not a cheater, and I have asked the guy in charge 4 times now, the same question. "Are you sure I paid? I don't remember paying." He says YES, so both of us are happy. Now, if everyone is happy, why spoil it right?
I think I'll just be his good friend la, in exchange for him being so kind =)

Mood: HAPPY!

Just received confirmation that I can do my visa for the Russia trip with another company. Problem is, it's more expensive there (71 euros as compared to 56 for the previous company).
The good news however, is that I have paid for the trip.
What's the big fuss about that? And why the hell is that good news? Doesn't that mean that I have less money now? It's a frigging 340 euros for the week long tour.
The really GOOD news is this.

I have paid for the trip without paying for it.

HUH WHAT???? I can hear you say, is this dude crazy or something?
No, my dear friends and family. I am perfectly sane. I know what I am talking about.

The whole thing arose cos of the visa problem. I had to have 6 months of valid residence permit to do the visa in the first company. I was like, WTF!
But that turned into a blessing. I had paid only the deposit of E50, as was required to book a place for the trip to Russia. Now the person in charge says that,
"Dude, I'll have to return you the visa price of E56, cos you have to do your own visa now."

Errr... ok, if you stuff money into my hands, I won't say no. But of course my conscience pricked me, so I asked 2 times to say "ARE YOU SURE I PAID ALREADY?"

He said, yeah, the company said that I paid. So well! Russia, here I come.
I am paid 6 euros to go to Russia on April 11-17.

W00T!!!! SO HAPPY!!!! SIBEI SONG* AH!!!


* means I feel so good!


P.S.: Then again, nothing's really confirmed till the last minute. Hope there's more good news. Like I got 5 for both my EE modules, which I have exams for on next Friday and the Friday after next.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Blogging is dangerous

This is going to be a wordy post, because I just got some inspiration from a friend of mine, who keeps a blog and writes lots of corny/sarcastic stuff in it. (Even the password to his blog is so corny!)

Blogging is a dangerous hobby, as my friends on the tag board would have you believe. You could get maimed/assassinated by a government. Or in Singapore, just get jailed for it (for racist remarks/any other remarks that the government deems unfit for publication on the Net; there's always the sweet under-utilized Internal Security Act). No worries, there's no whipping involved. Phew.

Blogging for me, is as dangerous as ice hole swimming without a sauna. I have survived it four times, no less. Maybe not all my blood cells survived, but so what. Well for me, I think, blogging will be a lifelong hobby. And I will continue to spout "nonsense" as and when I feel like it. As beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so is nonsense in the brain of the... (for lack of a better word) thinker.

Blogging is dangerous in more ways than one. Especially when you are cooking something. You get so engrossed in blogging and reading other friends' blogs (to me the whole activity just sums up to blogging) that you forget about your meal cooking merrily away on a electric stove. Like me just now, I was boiling some macaroni in a pot with the stove switched on at 6 (the highest temperature), cos I don't like to wait for my food to cook. I try to make my food wait for me to blog instead. But the macaroni didn't wait for me to read my friend's blog till the end, and my unhelpful (it's small so hopefully he doesn't notice it if he reads my blog) flatmate only informed me the macaroni was burning when it was actually burnt.

In the end, I had to contend with eating burnt macaroni (not entirely an enjoyable experience) with my veggie soup, which I thought was quite nice without the burnt macaroni, but after it was added, the "nice-ness" vanished completely.

In Singapore, I would never have eaten that crap, but in Finland, everything is just too expensive to throw away just like that. Just when you see something for 1 euro, you have to remind yourself, it is not S$1. In fact it's double because the euro is worth about S$2. So even for meat or veggies or other food which have expired, I will still eat it, provided of course it has not gone smelly. At the most, the next day I will get a stomachache. It's not a big deal anyway cos I don't have lessons to attend. Well, actually there are lessons, but they're in Finnish so...

Then again, if I don't eat crap for meals, what else would I eat? My cooking's crap, I think. I just swallow it, try not to think too much about the taste and after that, smile to myself and think that I cooked something. It's entirely edible, of course. But I have serious doubts about the taste though. (Some of my friends want to taste my cooking LOL! You have been warned thoroughly.)

Hmmm.. burnt macaroni, burnt pot as well. Bleah.

Blogging IS dangerous.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Al Qaeda might be at work again

I received the latest top-secret classified intelligence on the Al Qaeda movement, even beating the CIA and MI5 geeks.

I heard that they will be using the latest technology in terrorist attacks. Like their style of blowing up places, they will be using the most unconventional techniques in planning sneak attacks on other people.

There is cause to be alarmed due to the huge devastation that these unconventional "weapons" might bring. The date of attacks have not yet been discovered, but most importantly the modes of attack which Al Qaeda is going to use have been dug up by my people. Hiak hiak.

Here are what my spies have uncovered.

Terrorist tortoise. Always waiting for a chance to use its cannon.

Suicide bomber chick. All that dynamite gonna blow you to bits. I wonder how it's gonna use its rifle though.

They even teach the squirrels to launch rockets. Without the launchers, just using their strength. Which brings us to ...

Muscled squirrels.

Sniper squirrels. These are the most elite silent killers. They can get up on any tree and start to kill you, one by one. And you thought squirrels were cute.

Smoking Aussie kangaroos. They pack a punch even without the weapons of mass destruction. Blasting commando hamsters with GPMGs! Holy Moly! Protected against tear gas as well. Who dares to stop them?

And meet the chick who's the gangleader of 'em all. He sure looks like he means business.

Give it up, Bush. You ain't gonna win against these enemies. They're small, they're strong and they've got better brains than you do.

P.S.: I just had to add this for people with no sense of humour. Maybe you think it's dark humour or something. OK look, this is meant to be taken tongue-in-cheek, and if you don't know what that means, just go take an English course or something. COME ON MAN! LAUGH!

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Quotable quotes

For the people who are so stressed about exams (including me as well) or other stuff, here's a little something to cheer you up.


Funny quotes


The more you learn, the more you know.
The more you know, the more you forget.
The more you forget, the less you know.
So.... why learn?



If your father is a poor man, it is your fate.
BUT,
if your father-in-law is a poor man, it's your stupidity.



I was born intelligent - education ruined me.


A bus station is where a bus stops.
A train station is where train stops.
On my desk, I have a work station
what more can I say...?



If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?


Since light travels faster than sound, people appear bright until you hear them speak.


How come "abbreviated" is such a long word ?


Money is not everything.
There's MasterCard & Visa.



One should love animals.
They are so tasty.



Save water. Shower with your girlfriend / boyfriend.


Love thy neighbour. But don't get caught.


Behind every successful man, there is a woman.
And behind every unsuccessful man, there are two.



Every man should marry.
After all, happiness is not the only thing in life.


The wise never marry, and when they marry they become otherwise.


Success is a relative term. It brings so many relatives.


Love is photogenic.
It needs darkness to develop.


Children in backseats cause accidents.
Accidents in backseats cause children.


"Your future depends on your dreams".
So go to sleep.



There should be a better way to start a day than waking up every morning.


"Hard work never killed anybody."
But why take the risk!



"Work fascinates me."
I can look at it for hours !



When two's company,
three's the result!



Love doesn't have to have a happy ending,
coz love doesn't have to end at all.

Bus strike =S

The continuing bus strike has made me very frustrated to say the least. I wanted to go swimming tomorrow and to Lidl (the super cheap supermart) on Saturday, so I checked the bus timetable that was issued for the strike period.

Result:
1. Super irregular bus timings (which is definitely better than no bus I guess; after all it's a strike.)

2. No bus runs after 5pm.

3. No bus on weekends.


When will it all end? Kill me.

P.S.: My month pass runs out this Saturday. That's a damn shietty waste of my money.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

I love Finnish people

This is a special article to all the people of Finland. I love you all!

The Finns are the most honest people around, maybe even more so than Singaporeans. It is very evident when you come to Finland, and there is a general atmosphere of trust, even towards foreigners. I hope that this atmosphere will never be spoilt by cheaters who want to make use of the system.

2 examples of things that have happened to me so far:

1. Left my handphone in the toilet of the gym in Linanmaa Sports Hall.
Result: found it back in EXACTLY the same spot which I left it. No one was interested in my Nokia phone.

2. Left a library book near the photostating machine outside the school bookshop.
Result: Book was returned to the library.

I am just so happy that I don't need to pay 45 euros to the library for losing their book.
Thank you Finns!

I'm so happy!

NORTHERN LIGHTS!

I saw it! The long-awaited phenomenon, that set the hearts of many fluttering when it happened.

And I must say this, thank you CJ. =)

Went to the lake opposite our apartment, and there we first saw Aurora Borealis (the scientific name for Northern Lights).

It appeared as a streak of light in the dark sky, first very pale, and then coming on more strongly. There was no dancing of lights, so I guess it was a rather weak display. Still, I saw it once. Now I can go back to Singapore with peace of mind. =P

We then rushed over to the lake at the end of the road, cos it was darker there. Unfortunately, the scene there wasn't that good either. Just lights appearing in the sky, alternately getting brighter and darker.

A SIGN FROM GOD.

I need more of this.

My hair, a cause for much concern

Styling the look.
This hairstyle looks bad?

Mikko looks on, puzzled that this dude made a new hairstyle for himself.
Great look! =)
Aiya this is my new look la. Worry so much for what! Like I will go around being a clown. HAHAHAHA! To all my friends and family back home who asked why I cut that hairstyle above, I guess you don't know me that well.

It's just a wig. LOL.

Love,
Chinky chong from China.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Winter Swimming World Championships!

Happy birthday to Ah Ma! Sorry I couldn't make it for your birthday this year. No money to fly back to Singapore =S
And another happy birthday to Joan Aunt for her birthday on 7th March!
Love you both!

Well, I've been doing some studies as well as "extra curricular" activities in the weekend. Most notable was the Winter Swimming World Championships which was held in Raatin Uimahalli, Oulu.

Some pictures!

Ice water awaits the brave souls. Bless them all.

The eager crowd. Always waiting for a dumb ass to dip him/herself into the pool. And then they will really cheer you on. No matter where you're from.


My team! And can you spot me? In my underwear cos I forgot my swimming trunks. I think I will appear on Oulu news tonight. And maybe even on Finland news. ARGH. I don't want to put the other photos on. I'm afraid I might get sued for distributing porn. HAHA!

Our team was the crowd pleaser, or so I thought, and what my friends said. A pity we didn't win, or else we would have 1000 euros.


Team from the London Swimming Club. They look professional with all their costumes. So well prepared.

Team from Russia with their tutus and the music from Swan Lake. Old wrinkled men, with large tummies and a total of 400 kgs shared between them. They won, and I don't think it's fair cos most of their performance was OUTSIDE the water... GRRRR. Then again, they need money for the petrol back to St Petersburg.


Swimmers from Russia and Great Britain going to do 500 metres in the pool. Incredible. Try doing 5 metres in ice water. For maybe just splash some ice water onto your body and see how it feels. These people are just... not human.

Man made of steel. This guy is supposedly the world champion in ice swimming. He holds the current record of swimming 1kilometre++ in ice water (Arctic Ocean? Not sure.) Someone told me he can control his body temperature such that all the cold water's temperature gets transferred to his lungs, and he would be still breathing out very cold air 2 hours AFTER he finishes swimming. He can even raise his body temperature to 39degC at his will! A medical miracle, or maybe a mutant. Reminds me of X-men. LOL.

Got lots more pics and videos, but lazy to upload. This will be my last ice swimming session (no worries mum!).

Saturday, March 04, 2006

My new hair

Before my haircut, I looked like this.
After a trip to the FAMOUS hairdresser in Oulu, this is how I look like. NEW HAIRSTYLE! Ala retro look! I like! =) Me and Robert.

Swee bo!*

By the way, there's a bus strike in Finland on Sunday, 1800hrs. I haven't seen a strike before and also never experienced one. Wow great. Luckily I don't have to go anywhere on Sunday night. Hope it ends soon. Don't strike too long, Koskilinjat Oy!


* means "nice or not" in Hokkien (a Chinese dialect)

Friday, March 03, 2006

FOOD FOOD FOOD!
______________

Steamed egg (beaten eggs over steam bath -> pot over pan with water)
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Marinated beef with flour and pan-fry.
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Porridge
Cook rice till soft and boil in the water for abt 1 hour then it becomes porridge.
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Fried egg and onions + potatoes
Boil potatoes for 15 mins at least. When soft, fry the onions first for 3 mins (high heat), then pour the egg down with potatoes-> low heat!


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ANNIE's recipes
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CHICKEN RICE

If it is too troublesome to buy a fresh chicken, just buy a roast chicken and make the rice. European rice should be fine.
Wash the rice and drain dry. Heat some oil and fry about 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, slightly smashed but whole. When it is browning, put rice in and and fry til rice is coated with oil and a little dry. Remove from heat and add chicken stock to it like you would with water. (can chicken stock is good if not powdered chicken stock comes in very handy when you cook)
Sorry, must add a little salt to your rice when you are frying it. If you are using powdered chicken stock, add into the rice when you are frying and taste it. It has to be more on the salty side because after you add water, if will be too bland. This is not the actual way of making chicken rice but I am just giving you the simplest way and assuming ingredients are
scarce.

Summary:
- Fresh/roasted chicken
- Wash rice, drain dry.
- Fry 3/4 cloves of garlic, slightly smashed but whole.
- When is is browning, put rice in and and fry til rice is coated with oil and a little dry.
- Remove from heat and add chicken stock (canned/powdered) to it, add salt too.
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CLAYPOT RICE
Just use any pot for cooking rice will do. I don't think you have lup qiong (chinese sausage). Use ang moh sausage. Note sausage, not hot dogs. Fry the sausage till it is cook but does not have to be thoroughly cooked so you can slice it. Heat oil and fry some chopped garlic, green onion stem and some ginger slices till fragrant, add some raw chicken meat, add the sausage, fry till they are well mixed, add some sliced mushrooms, fry till mushrooms are soft, add soya sauce and your favourite oyster sauce and pepper. Mix well and mixture should be moist. Add washed uncooked rice and fry them together till well mixed. Put everything in a pot and add water to cook it. A little less water then usual because there are lots of other ingredients in there. Taste the liquid before you start the heat. It has to be flavourful and on the salty side. Cook on low heat with a lid on till rice is done.


Summary:
- Fry sausages till they're cooked and slice them.
- Fry some chopped garlic, green onion stem and ginger slices till fragrant.
- Add raw chicken meat, sausage. Fry till well mixed.
- Add sliced mushrooms, fry till soft, add soya sauce and oyster sauce and pepper. Mix well and it shld be moist.
- Add washed UNCOOKED rice. Mix well.
- Put everything into a pot and add some water, not too much. Taste the liquid first, needs to be a little salty.
- Cook on low heat until rice is done.

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TT's recipes
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1) Cook watery porridge (rice grains with lots and lots of water), do a grindmeat+veggie omelette, one pan fried salmon fillet.
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2) Cook up a big pot of pasta (a week's worth), store them in plastic containers in portions, then just get campbell mushroom/chicken/corn etc canned soup, simmer and there you have instant pasta.
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3) Chicken fillets seasoned with black pepper, salt, sesame seed oil, potatoes (cut up, skin on, pepper and salt), cauliflower (cut up, lightly salted) and all into a hot oven. 15mins fast food.
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4) Layer broiling tray with potatoes (skin on and lightly olive-oiled), place a big pork roast on the potatoes, roast till pork's cooked and add on canned mushroom soup as gravy. Peas. Corns+butter.
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Spaghetti
Boiled, add pepper, oregano leaves, salt, and butter. Mix well and serve.
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Sausages
Fried, add chilli powder(grilli), pepper.
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Gong Bao Ji
Ingredients: Chicken slices, chilli (padi), onions, garlic, oyster sauce, soya sauce, (mushrooms, sesame oil)
Fry onions, garlic for abt 1-2 minutes, then add chilli (padi) and fry for abt another 2 mins (till you start tearing or sneezing =P)
Add chicken slices and cook till well done =)
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Fried rice
Ingredients: white rice, lup qiong (chinese sausage), ham/luncheon meat, egg, shrimp, carrots, peas, corn (all ingredients diced to similar size)
Cook rice (in rice cooker; best if left overnight)

Fry lup qiong (no need too much oil cos the sausage will have oil itself) -> put onto a plate when cooked.

Stir fry carrots, broccoli, peas, corn. -> put onto a plate when cooked (can use the same plate)

Fry scrambled egg ("cut" in small bite sized pieces). -> put onto a plate when cooked.(can use the same plate)

Cook mushrooms for about 2-3mins. -> put onto a plate when cooked.(can use the same plate)Put oil on pan and fry the rice for 2-3 mins.

Add black sauce (can make ALL the rice brown or some brown and white, depending on liking) and oyster sauce. Stir till well mixed.Throw in all the other ingredients on the plate into the pan with the rice.Cook and add sauce to your liking. Taste regularly and take off the heat once the taste is OK.
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Steak
Get a thick piece of beef.Lay it on a flat pan, high heat.

Do not turn until you start smelling great smell

Then flip ONCE and just before plating, add salt or spices to taste

Then it'll be cooked outside, and a little bloody inside...

best if you have a grill pan, then got the stripes

Side dishes easy ones lor... open a can of corns and add in a little melted butter.

Steam some baby carrots, and perhaps cauliflowers

And bake a couple of potatoes...
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Pizza
Get an instant pizza (about 2 or 3 slices, depending on how hungry you are)
You can add: (Not too much ingredients on the pizza of course!)

1. sausages,
2. ham,
3. thin meat slices (cooked/uncooked),
4. tomatoes,
5. pineapples(blasphemy in Italy)
6. or any other topping which you always liked on your pizza but never found in restaurants. (don't let an Italian catch you doing that though =P)

AND top it off with CHEESE bits spread all over so that it will look more like pizza.
Put in oven at 200-250degC for about 15-20 mins depending on how thick the pizza is. Judge for yourself, if the cheese has
melted, it's time to eat!
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Vegetable soup
You need:

1. Ikan Bilis
2. Vegetables (preferably green leafy ones, like cabbage/lettuce etc.)
3. Chicken stock or fresh/frozen UNMARINATED chicken
4. Egg (optional)

Fry ikan bilis with oil until there is a fragrant smell.
Add water after about 2 mins.
Wash veggies while allowing the water to boil.
Throw in the veggies, and add chicken stock. Low heat to allow the soup to simmer.

(optional) Beat 2 eggs and pour in slowly around the pot to make the "egg flower" (dan hua) effect. Voila!
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P.S.: This is compiled with the efforts of Annie and TT (my dear cousins), and me (experimenting) of course. With some original ideas stolen from Zhengmin when I went over to Helsinki and also when he came over to Oulu.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Studying is the most important thing

I will study hard till the end of March, when all my exams are over and done with. Hope to pass them first time round and then there will be no more studying till July/August. Just touring and enjoying my time in Europe.

Everything please go according to plan, and I promise lotsa wonderful pictures from all over Europe when I go tour. =)

To all my family back home, I hope that everything and everyone is fine.
To my friends in NUS EE, good luck for the upcoming tests and projects. I can only empathize with you, cos I know how stressful it can get.
To the rest of my friends, hope your lives are smooth sailing. =)

I'm not really enjoying this period of time self studying, cos it can get very very boring and also extremely frustrating when I don't understand something and I can't pick up the phone to call for help.

Well there's always the professors to ask... If their English were better... hmmm...