Looking Forward to the Year of the Cat.

Another 2 more days to go before the lunar Chinese New Year, which also falls on the same date as Valentines Day for this year (14th Feb). I am very excited because it is the year of the TIGER!!! which is my favorite among the 12 zodiac animals in the Chinese Lunar calendar. I was born in this year too & is proud to be one.

From what i know, the following famous people are the ones who were born in Tiger year:
(1) Qin Shi Wang (Emporer who built the Great Wall of China)
(2) Li Shi Zhen (the author of the great medical book for traditional Chinese medicine - Ben Chao Gang Mu)
(3) Sun Zhong Shan (the founder of Kuomingdang in China)
(4) Ma Yingjiu (present president of Taiwan)

There is a misconception in Chinese culture, which is to avoid having children born in tiger year. It is said the child will carry killing forces which are likely to be harmful to the family & society. If the child is a girl, she will be condemned to a life of spinsterhood bcos no men will wanna marry a tigress.

But looking at all those tiger people around me who are leading good, fulfilling lives & also contribute to the good of society, i think this kinda thinking is nonsensical.

For all those out there who are planning to have children, do give a shot to have a child this year bcos a tiger cub is a nice addition in a family.

By the way, my home is always a haven for tiger stuff toys all along. So this year i can save money on deco stuffs.

Tennis Injury

Such rotten luck. Yesterday, i sprained my ankle during my tennis session with my mates. I stepped onto a tennis ball near the net when i did a volley & i swear i did not hear my bones crack. It was lucky cos if there are cracking sounds, i'll be in big trouble.

Anyway, it was not painful initially & Marcus asked me if i am OK, i said "Yeah! No problem, let's continue". But really, i should have end the game instead. I continue to play competitively for another half an hour before going home. After my bath, i can feel the pain getting stronger. Shit!

Today when i woke up, i could not walk properly. Even simple task like going to the toilet has become so difficult for me. In fact, i need to go to the lab today, but i think i can't make it. So i stayed at home till CK is back & i asked him to fetch me to see a Chinese acupuncturist who lives in Woodlands. I gave him a call before going to see him.

When i reached his place, he just asked me how i injured my ankle & where is the pain. After that, he applied some antiseptic stuff on my ankle & started to use a needle to poke at 4 points around there. While poking at each point, he will ask me if i feel any soreness. If i do feel it, i means good news. So after around 5 minutes, he asked me to walk around. WOW!!!!! It was shocking, the pain is gone by 80% & i can even jog a bit. The shifu told me not to bath for 24 hours after the session & ask me to take a rest & not over-exert my ankle for a few days. After about 2 to 3 days, all the pain should be gone.

I paid a very 'modest' fee for his service & is really amazed by his skills. CK told me that if i had chosen to see a western doctor, the doc would have given me painkillers that only remove the symptoms, but not the source of the pain. By poking my ankle, he must have sort of 'stimulated the meridian system, thereby bringing about relief by rebalancing of yin, yang & qi' as quoted by CK. Still, i dun understand the theory behind it, but it really works wonders.

If u wanna know the contact of this master, this there u are:

Master Kheng
Address: Block 424, Woodlands St. 41, #02-334, Singapore 730424
Tel: 6368-3088
Mobile: 9478-2643.

Please note that he does not speak English la.

Spam Call from Malaysia

Recently, i kept getting this call from Malaysia +6034563456. My friend told me that this number is from Malaysia, +6 belongs to Malaysia, 03 belongs to Selangor.

I first received a call from this number 2 weeks ago. The guy on the other line introduced himself & told me he was from DUNNO WHAT company & asked me to attend a promotion event over DUNNO WHICH shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur.

I was asking myself "what a heck, can't he understand that the number which he was calling is a Singapore number". What made him thought that i was so interested to attend some stupid event that took place in Kuala Lumpur so far away. What is more surprising to me was that he could even address me by my name too. When pressed for an answer as to where did he get my contact, he said i took part in a dunno what lucky draw in KL one month ago. But shit, i did not leave Singapore for the last 2 months, not to mention that i went to KL. So i told him that i was not interested & cut short the conversion.

After 2 days from that, he called again to say that during the promotion event, i was being selected from the lucky draw & requested that i collect my wins over there. I was really pissed off & told him straight that i was NOT INTERESTED AT ALL. I even told him to stop giving me all these calls as they are international & i may need to pay for it. The guy sensing my displeasure SHOUTED BACK AT ME & hung up. Idiot!

One week later after that, a call from this number came in again. I just hung it up without even answering it. Today, it came in again...... i just hang up.

I am still wondering how they managed to get my contact no. & my name too. My friend told me this possiblility: sometimes when we go shopping, there are lucky draws which we fill in our personal particulars in order to participate. Lets say if we did not strike a win, the filled coupons will be collected by some organization & the info will be sold around the place within Singapore & then later to other countries. That's why when they called, they know whom are they talking to.' I find this is really scary. Let's say if someone who is gullible enough is being targeted, isn't that terrible? If she's a female, not only will she be cheated of her money, but also her body too.

F_ _k these idiots!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Time really flies. When i was still in college, i yearned to grow up fast...... so that i can start earning big money, enjoy my freedom, get my own car & house, etc.

I still remembered the time when i turned 21st on my birthday, my friend told me that once we hit 21, time really rolls fast...... similar to boulders rolling down a mountain. I thought this is sheer nonsense, time sure runs fast, but not so fast as she has exaggerated. But today, as i flipped through my past year's photos, i think that really made sense.

The past one year has been a busy one for me - clearing my 1st year exams, doing my experiments, reading through loads of journal papers & books, writing my reports, etc. To add to my horror, i even got a strip of white hair growing slightly to the right of my front hair. OMG...... need to spend money to cover it up.

My dearest wish for this year will be good health & good results for my QE report. Also not forgetting to wish my friends & relatives all the best in whatever they do. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! to everyone.

MY 'SPARE TYRE'

When we talked about 'spare tyre', what is the first thing in your mind?

The proper definition: a spare tyre is to provide a replacement if one of the tyres on your vehicle is flat or damaged.

Many will say it is that extra tyre stored in the car boot behind that will come in useful when any one of your tyres got punctured. Simple as that. So we can see that this 'spare tyre' is all the while, hiding inside the car boot silently...... which no one will bother to pay attention to until they are in trouble.

To me, another anology of 'spare tyre' can be as follows: your ex-boyfriend, ex-lover, secret admirer or maybe good friend who is from the opposite sex. Let's say that when your relationship with your partner fails, u still have that 'spare tyre' to fall back to...... sort of like a buffer to catch u & prevent u from getting hurt. They can become very useful at these very trying times of our lives. But in reality, these 'spare tyres' also want to find their own happiness & hence, eventually they will not become YOUR 'spare tyre' anymore.

I got a friend who is already married, but one day she told me she is very sad cos her ex-boyfriend is getting married. I told her she should be happy for him, but instead, i can see that she is very sad. She said somehow she has LOSS something precious to her. I asked her is it that her 'spare tyre' is lost & in future, if her relationship with her hubby turns sour, she will have no one to talk to & a shoulder to cry on? She opened her eyes & nodded her head in total agreement & said "Yes! That's it. Now u have pointed it out".

Every one loves to have 'spare tyres' in their lives, the more the merrier. But at the end of the day, these tyres also wanna find their own happiness. So as reasonable human beings, we have to understand & learn to let go.

Life Plant

The scientific name of Life Plant is called Kalanchoe pinnata. Notice that there are many baby plants sprouting at the sides of the leaves. Each baby is completed with leaves & roots. When the babies are a little more matured, they will drop onto the soil below & grow into another Life Plant.

It is just a roadside plant. But if u take good care of it, u can get results like this one. Therefore, my neighbour is very proud of it.This particular plant is my neighbour's baby. Pluck it, & she will kill u.

ABCD Guide to Hawker Food in Singapore

I don't cook at all, not to mention that my kitchen at home could be the cleanest among all in Singapore. But that doesn't mean i m proud of it. What i m trying to say is that all my meals are taken outside, it's pretty unhealthy u might think. So the next healthy thing i can do for myself is to patronize stalls that are hygenic, serve nutritious food, etc.

Everytime i bypass hawker centres here, i noticed that every stall will have a licence cum grading card, displayed prominently in front of each of them. I m sure everyone will wonder what the A-B-C-D means.

I later found out that the National Environment Agency (NEA), is the authority that licences all food retail businesses in Singapore. Retail food establishments are given a grade by NEA based on overall hygience, cleanliness & housekeeping standards of the premises. This grading system for eating establishments is a structured system for appraisal for food outlets that is meant to motivate licensees to improve & maintain good personal & food hygience, & also housekeeping of their premises. All of them are required to display the grading card, enabling the public to make a more informed choice when patronizing all food outlets.

Eating establishments and food stalls are assessed by NEA and given the following grades:
A – a score of 85% or higher
B – a score of 70% to 84%
C – a score of 50% to 69%
D – a score of less than 50%

But a few days ago, my friend gave me an email that gives a different interpretation. But i find it quite true too. I let u foodies decided if u agree with me......

As the saying goes:
"Healthy food, taste no good. If u love the food, do not visit the kitchen".
Information source: http://app2.nea.gov.sg/topics_food_hygiene.aspx