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Wednesday, February 2008 (02/27/08) at 05:25 PM GMT :
Earthquake! :D
mood: Excited
Exciting news! There was an earthquake yesterday night around 1am and we actually felt a tremor in Nottingham! My first official earthquake! (Since I never felt the tremors in Singapore last summer.)
At first I thought it might have been someone in my building playing a prank by slamming a door too hard or something (I've felt my room shake before and I think it was because of that reason), but this tremor was much stronger than usual. It lasted for only about 10 seconds or so though, I think. Apparently most of the UK felt it. What was really amazing, though, was that the BBC had already posted an online article about it about half an hour after it happened! I knew news agencies got news really fast but I never knew they were THAT efficient.
Anyway, it was a cool experience, but it definitely shocked me. I think if I ever experienced a real earthquake I would be reduced to a shivering pile of nerves. It makes me wonder whether I will be able to survive if I do manage to get a place on the JET programme in the future and go to Japan to work. :p
By the way, if anyone was curious, I was actually washing dishes when it happened. *laughs* Because I wanted to do the dishes before I forgot so that Dee Mok wouldn't do them since she's always doing the washing and I feel guilty about that. My Japanese teacher was highly amused about the dishes thing when I mentioned it in class today and commented that it was definitely an Asian thing to fight over doing the dishes as opposed to fighting to NOT do them. :p
Speaking of Japanese class, and amusing conversation that occurred today (Please excuse any possible Japanese grammar errors I may be making):
Sensei: Shianshian-san (name of female classmate), kinoo jishin ga atta toki, anata wa nani ka shimashitaka? (Shianshian-san, what were you doing at the time of the earthquake yesterday?)
SS: Watashi wa Pasocon wo tsukateimashita. (I was using my computer.)
Sensei: *joking* Sou desuka. Anata wa pasocon de porunogurafii wo mimasuka? (I see. Do you look at pornography on your computer?)
SS: Tokidoki. (Sometimes.)
*class bursts out laughing*
Japanese lessons are fun. :D [Karma: -1 (+/-)][link]
mood: Excited
Exciting news! There was an earthquake yesterday night around 1am and we actually felt a tremor in Nottingham! My first official earthquake! (Since I never felt the tremors in Singapore last summer.)
At first I thought it might have been someone in my building playing a prank by slamming a door too hard or something (I've felt my room shake before and I think it was because of that reason), but this tremor was much stronger than usual. It lasted for only about 10 seconds or so though, I think. Apparently most of the UK felt it. What was really amazing, though, was that the BBC had already posted an online article about it about half an hour after it happened! I knew news agencies got news really fast but I never knew they were THAT efficient.
Anyway, it was a cool experience, but it definitely shocked me. I think if I ever experienced a real earthquake I would be reduced to a shivering pile of nerves. It makes me wonder whether I will be able to survive if I do manage to get a place on the JET programme in the future and go to Japan to work. :p
By the way, if anyone was curious, I was actually washing dishes when it happened. *laughs* Because I wanted to do the dishes before I forgot so that Dee Mok wouldn't do them since she's always doing the washing and I feel guilty about that. My Japanese teacher was highly amused about the dishes thing when I mentioned it in class today and commented that it was definitely an Asian thing to fight over doing the dishes as opposed to fighting to NOT do them. :p
Speaking of Japanese class, and amusing conversation that occurred today (Please excuse any possible Japanese grammar errors I may be making):
Sensei: Shianshian-san (name of female classmate), kinoo jishin ga atta toki, anata wa nani ka shimashitaka? (Shianshian-san, what were you doing at the time of the earthquake yesterday?)
SS: Watashi wa Pasocon wo tsukateimashita. (I was using my computer.)
Sensei: *joking* Sou desuka. Anata wa pasocon de porunogurafii wo mimasuka? (I see. Do you look at pornography on your computer?)
SS: Tokidoki. (Sometimes.)
*class bursts out laughing*
Japanese lessons are fun. :D [Karma: -1 (+/-)][link]
Tuesday, February 2008 (02/26/08) at 05:25 PM GMT :
It's times like this when I remember how much I love my insane mom. XD
music: Action! - Sakamoto Maaya
mood: Muchly Amused
Just got a small parcel and a letter in the mail from my mom today which made me crack up today because it's... so very characteristic of my crazy mom. XD
She sent me a belated Valentine's Day present, which is this beautiful red whistle necklace which she got from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's souvenir store while in NYC this winter hols. It amused me how she added "I love shopping in NYC!" in her letter, since it reflects my sentiments exactly. I would say it's the same for my entire family, actually. (Except my brother who still wears his teenager shirts every time he comes back to Singapore because he can't be bothered to buy any new ones. ^_^;;) We go absolutely crazy shopping every time we visit my brother; even my dad who normally is the typical male who doesn't like to shop bought tons of shoes during the winter hols prior to this one. Ah, America, land of consumerism. *sighs blissfully*
Anyway, the really funny bit is the following bit of her letter:
"I thought you may find it handy if you ever need to have a whistle to make some noise with. Enjoy it."
Followed by the following handwritten note: "Like calling a meeting/dinner party to attention. Try it out at one of your outing with friends."
I LOL'ed when I read that letter since it reminds me of how my mom is totally obsessed with coming up with new ways of calling my family to dinner, and how that always used to exasperate my brother and sister. Like the time when my sister brought back some metal hand bells as souvenirs from Cambodia and my mom used them to ring us to "din-dins", to which my exasperated brother commented that it seemed like she was treating us like dogs. Or the time when she used the collective intercom system in my house to broadcast an EXTREMELY loud "Dinner's ready!" message which came blasting out in EVERY room in the house, jolting my poor napping sister unpleasantly awake and earning my mother an instant ban on that mode of communication henceforth. XD
If you ever wondered where my insanity comes from, I think it should be pretty clear that it runs in the family. *laughs* [Karma: 0 (+/-)][link]
music: Action! - Sakamoto Maaya
mood: Muchly Amused
Just got a small parcel and a letter in the mail from my mom today which made me crack up today because it's... so very characteristic of my crazy mom. XD
She sent me a belated Valentine's Day present, which is this beautiful red whistle necklace which she got from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's souvenir store while in NYC this winter hols. It amused me how she added "I love shopping in NYC!" in her letter, since it reflects my sentiments exactly. I would say it's the same for my entire family, actually. (Except my brother who still wears his teenager shirts every time he comes back to Singapore because he can't be bothered to buy any new ones. ^_^;;) We go absolutely crazy shopping every time we visit my brother; even my dad who normally is the typical male who doesn't like to shop bought tons of shoes during the winter hols prior to this one. Ah, America, land of consumerism. *sighs blissfully*
Anyway, the really funny bit is the following bit of her letter:
"I thought you may find it handy if you ever need to have a whistle to make some noise with. Enjoy it."
Followed by the following handwritten note: "Like calling a meeting/dinner party to attention. Try it out at one of your outing with friends."
I LOL'ed when I read that letter since it reminds me of how my mom is totally obsessed with coming up with new ways of calling my family to dinner, and how that always used to exasperate my brother and sister. Like the time when my sister brought back some metal hand bells as souvenirs from Cambodia and my mom used them to ring us to "din-dins", to which my exasperated brother commented that it seemed like she was treating us like dogs. Or the time when she used the collective intercom system in my house to broadcast an EXTREMELY loud "Dinner's ready!" message which came blasting out in EVERY room in the house, jolting my poor napping sister unpleasantly awake and earning my mother an instant ban on that mode of communication henceforth. XD
If you ever wondered where my insanity comes from, I think it should be pretty clear that it runs in the family. *laughs* [Karma: 0 (+/-)][link]
Thursday, February 2008 (02/14/08) at 05:25 PM GMT :
Ma Bo Tofu happiness
mood: Pleased
Made Ma Bo Tofu for dinner tonight and it turned out surprisingly well! I don't normally consider myself a good cook since I take huge liberties with the recipes I follow, if "follow" can even be the right word to use when I do radical stuff like completely substitute ingredients and never measure things accurately (It's can be a pain to not have measuring cups and spoons in our flat). As a result I'm often dissatisfied with the stuff I cook since of course it never turns out the way it should. (K and S probably remember the time I made claypot rice for our fireworks "picnic" and I kept lamenting the sorry state of my dish to the point that they [very nicely] told me to stop. :p)
But this time the Ma Bo Tofu actually tastes pretty good! :D Though I was quite surprised at the recipe; most of the Ma Bo Tofu I've eaten has been of the really spicy variety, so I'd always thought it was originally an extremely spicy dish in and of itself. This recipe turned out to be pretty tame, though - the only amount of chilli that was in it was a teaspoon of chilli flakes!
Anyway, here are some pics of the Ma Bo Tofu. I know it doesn't look particularly nice, what with the mashed up tofu and the brown colour and all, but at least it tastes fine. :D
The original recipe didn't call for veg, but since Ga Mok always complains when we make dinner that has no veg (she's been a good influence on my eating habits. ^_^), I threw in a few handfuls of long beans to make up for the lack. I ended up cooking them for a bit too long, though, so they turned slightly yellow... hopefuly I didn't boil the nutrients out of them since that would have totally defeated the purpose of adding them in in the first place. ^_^;; Also, the original recipe called for pork but since we had minced beef in the freezer I thought I'd use that instead. The substitution did no harm and in fact it actually tasted really yummy to me since I'm a huge beef fan. :D
Overall, a dish I'm finally satisfied with! Thank you for the lovely recipe, Yan Can Cook. *kisses her recipe book and runs away before T can yell at her for not using his real name*. [Karma: 0 (+/-)][link] [2 Comments]
mood: Pleased
Made Ma Bo Tofu for dinner tonight and it turned out surprisingly well! I don't normally consider myself a good cook since I take huge liberties with the recipes I follow, if "follow" can even be the right word to use when I do radical stuff like completely substitute ingredients and never measure things accurately (It's can be a pain to not have measuring cups and spoons in our flat). As a result I'm often dissatisfied with the stuff I cook since of course it never turns out the way it should. (K and S probably remember the time I made claypot rice for our fireworks "picnic" and I kept lamenting the sorry state of my dish to the point that they [very nicely] told me to stop. :p)
But this time the Ma Bo Tofu actually tastes pretty good! :D Though I was quite surprised at the recipe; most of the Ma Bo Tofu I've eaten has been of the really spicy variety, so I'd always thought it was originally an extremely spicy dish in and of itself. This recipe turned out to be pretty tame, though - the only amount of chilli that was in it was a teaspoon of chilli flakes!
Anyway, here are some pics of the Ma Bo Tofu. I know it doesn't look particularly nice, what with the mashed up tofu and the brown colour and all, but at least it tastes fine. :D
The original recipe didn't call for veg, but since Ga Mok always complains when we make dinner that has no veg (she's been a good influence on my eating habits. ^_^), I threw in a few handfuls of long beans to make up for the lack. I ended up cooking them for a bit too long, though, so they turned slightly yellow... hopefuly I didn't boil the nutrients out of them since that would have totally defeated the purpose of adding them in in the first place. ^_^;; Also, the original recipe called for pork but since we had minced beef in the freezer I thought I'd use that instead. The substitution did no harm and in fact it actually tasted really yummy to me since I'm a huge beef fan. :D
Overall, a dish I'm finally satisfied with! Thank you for the lovely recipe, Yan Can Cook. *kisses her recipe book and runs away before T can yell at her for not using his real name*. [Karma: 0 (+/-)][link] [2 Comments]
Wednesday, February 2008 (02/06/08) at 05:25 PM GMT :
Yusheng
mood: Hungry
Man, if there's one thing I really miss from home now that I'm studying overseas, it's the annual Chinese New Year celebrations. Just thinking of all the amazing Chinese New Year goodies is enough to make me drool (Peanut puffs! Pineapple tarts! Bak Kwa! *saliva dribbles*), not to mention how my materialistic side misses all the ang pows to be collected. :p
[More...] [Karma: 0 (+/-)][link] [334 Comments]
mood: Hungry
Man, if there's one thing I really miss from home now that I'm studying overseas, it's the annual Chinese New Year celebrations. Just thinking of all the amazing Chinese New Year goodies is enough to make me drool (Peanut puffs! Pineapple tarts! Bak Kwa! *saliva dribbles*), not to mention how my materialistic side misses all the ang pows to be collected. :p
[More...] [Karma: 0 (+/-)][link] [334 Comments]