We all need a Wish Bone...

Visited MOF@myizakaya at bugis junction for desserts last friday with fred. We had some red-bean dessert with Japanese Gelato.. We tried the Green tea and the sesame flavour.

Not bad a place for desserts but could give the mains a try next time..

Had a lesson on skeletal structure last friday, interesting excerpt that Dr Teo put up:

• Wish Bone

- everyone needs hopes, dreams and goals

• Funny Bone

- everything in life has to be mixed with a dose of humour

• Back Bone

-give people strength to stand up for what they believe in.

Interesting one though as i second the fact that we really need a wish bone. Something to HOPE for.. Something to dream for.. so that when it happens.. we know exactly what to do..haha

DROWNING in assignments.. sometimes i feel that all these are staring at me waiting for me to choke and trip up.. NO ! I must fight back...Not on my own strength but his.

Psalm 121: 1-2

I lift my eyes to the hills ---Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

Amen.

ICG soccer and Nike Human Race

ICG fever has really caught up with all the classes and i went down to play soccer for the class. Our class had several skillful players and it was so nice of the class as we decided that everyone who came down will have a chance to play. That i say is the best sportsmanship that can be shown to a fellow classmate (or person for that matter). We won one game against PGDE and the lost the other to Dip 2A. Oh well, what matters most is we had fun and cheered for each other as a class..

That's me trying to take a kick in.. It was a seven-a-side game. And i played in defence. haha

Next item is the Nike Human Race which i clocked 50mins.. Not very good and the effects of not training showed.. haha. usual ten km standards could hit sub 50 easily. Time to hit the tarmac more often and not the suppers..haha..

Sprinting to the finishing line with a smile(that's a trademark) =)

We should all aspire to run till the end. Never give up because God never gives up on us/me. His grace is always sufficient for me. I have been feeling very burdened by all the work lately and cant see a way out because my efficiency doesnt rise the same way as my anxiety does.

So after much thought and deliberation, my only way out is to trust God who is my provider to provide me in my times of need. Situations and circumstances does not change God's character. He is still the same God that is faithful and watches over us. If he has allowed things and situations to happen to us. It means that we can go through it, yes it means pain; suffering and lots of emotional instability. Where does this lead to? (one may ask) I believe it builds you to be a stronger person. What cannot kill you will only serve to make you stronger.

As the mentor once said (in 2003 i think) : There are 3 things you need to remember and they are..

1. Prayer

2. Peace

3. Tenacity

Pray that God will help you through the situation.

Have peace that comes from the Lord as the peace he gives is something the world cannot.

Be tenacious to fight for what you want and think is right. Don't wallow in self-pity.

Impossible is Nothing. =)

Stewhaus @Cactus Road

As its name goes, one could roughly figure out that its specialty is in.. STEWS! Comfort food in every sense of the word as stews are wicked concoctions of root vegetables and red meat cooked slowly over low heat in a thick liquid to culminate in that soft and tender flesh coupled with the sweetness of the root vegetables..

After visiting a church today with nana and freddie, we decided to pop by a bak kut teh place at cactus road but it was closed and we stumbled into stewhaus by chance and thought.. why not?

And why not indeed.. This place is certainly one that has set the bar for how stews should be done..

The Menu features largely European fare like German pork knuckles..bratwurst.. Steak and so on..They do have a strong list of stews... and it comes with a free carbo- pairing.. like pasta, bread, and rice.Freddie & MeNana..Freddie ordered the braised lamb shank and it came in a pot! Boiling.. no less.. filled to the brim with chunks of shank meat and leeks, carrots and onions swimming around a sweet tomato-based sauce.. He chose garlic bread as his carb choice as he's afraid that rice would spoil his daily calorie count..=p

Nana's dish. Not a stew person, she plumped for the pacific dory fish fillet and this was no featherweight either.. This fish was firm and fresh, coupled with the salsa.. wow this marriage really worked well!

My dish!! Gosh I've been dreaming or fantasizing this for months! I finally got to lay my hands.. or rather.. sink my teeth into the OXTAIL ! Same script as the lamb shank, the supporting cast was largely the same as the one in the lamb shank.. they had carrots, onions but for oxtail, celery was used as well..

The flesh was so tender but was still attached to the bone.. And taking it off was easy-peasy.. I had it with a pasta.. which was plainly cooked with garlic,parsley and white wine.. but man it was so good i ate it on its own and forgot to take a picture of it!

There was alot of oil though.. and i had to request for an empty bowl to remove the oil.. (Dont roll your eyes) for whoever that's reading. =pFor desserts, we had Stewed apples in white wine with rum and raisin ice cream.. Nothing to much to shout about though.. just some sweet stuff to end off the whole course.
Nana, Freddie and myself concluded that this place is worth the visit and the stew was priced at about 20bucks. for stew and meat lovers, it really is worth it in terms of the portion and quality.
Though location-wise, its not the best of places for a date due to its inaccessibility. The ambience was rather laidback and good for chilling. Besides, they do have happy hour for erdinger beers!

Alrights, enough with food for this weekend! Its back to work at NTU/NIE.. Oh did i mention that in NTU halls, its always 2 hours behind Singapore time.. Go figure...

Ramen Santouka

A review of this place has been long overdue as this was my 5th visit there. First read about it and then decided to try it out myself with the coach.. and boy it was good.. The restaurant is relatively small, has a seating of only about 20 odd and faces the Singapore river. So aesthetics-wise, its quite "there".. This time round went with Jam and by the time we got there, it was around 8pm coz irritating GESL ended at 7plus.. and boon lay is not exactly a stone's throw from central mall..

First up, we ordered the tamago: A soya sauced boiled egg that has a runny yolk.. Quite interesting i must say.. Its slightly sweet and the yolk is tasty. I like the texture of the runny yolk..This is one prized dish that even mrdonteatpork succumbed to.. PORK cheeks! This part of the hog is really precious because of the small surface area that the cheek has right.. Its braised and sliced to the right thickness.. Wrap it around some spring-onion like veg( or its leek) im not sure, but its so fragrant and the cheek meat just melts in your mouth.. Mmmm....
And the star of the show! We both ordered the kara-miso ramen; thick collagenous pork broth mixed with spicy miso.. garnished with char-siew, bamboo shoots and sea kelp..

The soup was really rich and it wasnt too spicy. It was really to my liking and i slurped up every drop of it.. but after that i gotta down many glasses of water.. coz its rather salty.. Noodles were springy and not the floury kind. Bamboo shoots added crunch to the dish and char siew was well-braised..

Conclusion: me and Jam enjoyed it very much and he said that it was good to have a foodie friend! haha.. Santouka is the best ramen place in my books because its always so consistent with the quality of the food each time I patronise the place. Even Jam said that ajisen cant hold a candle to this.. and i was like.. ajisen is the mcdonald's of ramen.. mass-produced.. this is the REAL stuff! haha

Snap back to reality

Frustrated. Took a picture with kelvin at bio lab but can't be posted up.
Well this is week 6 of uni life and im starting to feel it. What's it? well.. IT is stretched...
Yup, im feeling stretched.. must choose positive words to say.. stressed often comes with a negative connotation.

Yah i know im not the only one, everybody's feeling like this right now. But somehow, i find myself being emotionally unstable this days. I dont know why and i cant pin-point one single factor or factors that is causing me to feel this way. Emokid? haha.. perhaps. I have heard that time over radio the other day and maybe that suits alot of people in this time.

Emo-ness, for the uninitiated, is to feel moody and put on a face as though the whole word owes you money or a face where you feel like you want to die..
Well maybe here are some factors..
1. New people
2. New surroundings
3. TONS of work
4. Coping with existing friends
5. Family

Yup, getting to form project groups is not exactly my favourite activity lest i become an object of outcasting. Well, generally natural selection has been kind to me and ive not been rejected in my face.. YET.. haha It is kinda tough but hey no one is denying it.

A friend said " you've got to say no to friends and activities before your results say NO to you"

Haha.. that was in reference to all the activities in school and hall.. good one. I'll bear that in mind.

Just a random thought,

1. Some people in this world live as though people owe them a living.

They are always unhappy,complain and always compare

2. Some people in this world live as though they owe other people a living.

They are always giving, volunteering their time and service to others.

3. Some people just don't live.

They go through life routinely doing things over and over again.

4. Some people live life like they have never done before!

Like those in Hall and uni, crazy buggers who are engaged in every single thing..

Which category are you?

For me, I live life part instinctively, part logically. Well I live for the Lord. =)