Wednesday, September 29, 2004
A simple thought cross my mind as i took a break off my work...
Been scribbling a lot, doing those irritating integration sums, dunno why the hell
crazy people actually invented such a thing....
As i chew on the slice of papaya my mum prepared( darn, no fork), i was contemplating whether or not to use my hands cos i've been writing a lot and hadn't wash my hands yet...
HAve u guys ever wonder whether there's any change on your hands?
The constant dirt that used to be there,
the reason why your mum used to really make u wash ur hands before everymeal,
and the reason why u really dun like to wash your hands because u have already tested and proven that not washing your hands before your meal doesn't give you a high chance of a stomachache...
Eager to prove your stand, you've even told your mum that eating bacteria(aka not washing hands) is even beneficial to you because it can keep your immune system in constant check and strengthen it in the process(What kinda logic?).
As if i've found an old habit,
i flip my hands over and examine the underside of it(the region in contact with the paper when u write) seemingly looking for something, something thats not there anymore...
It seems to be...
carbon from the pencils that we used to write with during our younger years...
pencils that need to be sharpen, encased within a wooden body...
and it reminds me of the times where i tried to sharpen it as many times as i could so that i could find an excuse to to take time off work...
the times that i really need to wash my hands because carbon really looks too eeeky to eat...
the times where i got a bit of carbon got lodged in my palm(And its still there...ouch!)just because i fought with it...
No doubt, our trusty wooden pencils have been replaced by mechanical ones and pens have joined the efforts to relegate this medium, the cruel shifting of time...
but yes....
Those were the times which only those who have gone thru their childhood in the same era with me, knows...
and i'm glad that all of us are here, sharing the same experiences, the same joys and sorrows...
and i'm glad that all of you are a part of my life...
living today and living in my memories,
reminding me of my existence, your existence...
just like the carbon lodged in my palm,
and the carbon, that will always be on my hands, and in my heart...
alvinz blogged at 9:42 PM
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Sunday, September 26, 2004
Sheares bridge Sheares bridge...
This was virtually an unknown landmark to me until today when i had my virgin run on it...
As i dragged my broken body to my laptop to typ out this fateful account, the pain in my body sought to remind me of just how much i've lost touch with fitness, and along with it...friends...
I could still vaguely remember the thoughts i had on my mind as i left my house early in the morning , 6a.m.(Hmmm... When was the last time i woke up this early?) to go to the start point...
Mission : complete 12km fun run
Objectives : Survive, shed my love handle(girl girl need to use not?) and just dun stop running...
Obstacles : Out of league for 2 months, muscular degradation, Who's gonna run with me? Sianz...
That was biggest thing on my mind then...
Earlier on, had tried to ask NS guys, class guys, Girl girl along.... but all declined me...
Sianz, signed up liao leh, free one mah, so sign up first(mistake of being a kiasu singaporean)...
so die die must go and run(at least go get the goodie bag mah)...
I boarded a bus full of athletes-to-be who gave me the knowing glances as well...
As if they are telling me that Di Di can't survive the run later on, so better just go home...
Before i allow myself to turn castrophobic, i let sandman took over...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alrite, Raffles City shopping mall, Delifrance...
This is where it all starts...
Unfamiliar faces, NTU runners' club....
And why do we have to gather here?
Cos i need to be reimburse for my mission today...
Throngs of NS new birds , wearing their unit singlet proudly struts past us, eyeing us...
And this reminds me of uswhen we were still in NS...
they are doing what we used to do! So .... erm... proactive huh? Not desperate hor...!
this prompts me to take action too...
rite at this moment, i've to decide whether i will be a lone ranger, or join a group...
and... The lucky guy who was approached by me, Kang Ming, happens to be another lone ranger...
birds of the same feathers flock together huh?
He seems happy...
good,within a few minutes i've managed to brighten up his day...
Who cares for the sun?
For this comment, i will suffer the retribution later on...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Darn it! Where the hell am i suppose to put this freaking big bagpack(present from dearie) of mine?
Kang ming shrugged his shoulders...
As we approached the starting line, i felt as if we were second class citizens...
There was no one to flag off the run, wat? no bikini babes?
Sianz, it was basically own time own target...
still, this freedom does not constitute such second class treatment isn't it?
This is too ugly... Singapore... sigh...
As we picked up our pace, slowly going into warming up mode, i came up with a suggestion :
"Lets start slowly, then run faster and faster...?"
KM gave me a weird look but i could see that he was amused...
"Try lor..."
Taking our strides further, i was already wondering what this guy has to offer? What would i learn more about him? How long can i tahan the run with this FBO(Full battle order) on?
It seems certain that the day is gonna be tougher than expected...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1km, 2km, 3km....
Freaking sun, people, car exhaust.... ups and downs...
Manuvering my heavy body through the human roadblocks, the harsh environment is taking its toll on me...
"To think i could endure all these like nothing when i was in NS...Darn!"
All around me, NS guys were laughing and jogging like nothing while i suffer...
I felt old and useless...
My era is over...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------6km
As the sign looms into sight, i was rather relieved that the distance is getting shorter and shorter...
The scenery that we set out to admire was now thrown to oblivion...
there's lots of water in the sea...
BUT WHERE IS THE FREAKING WATER POINT!!!!?
*struggle*
I feel like a fish in the frying pan...
*wriggle*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------7km
Kallang stadium...
water point #1...
"water, water...."
the big tub of Gatorade dispenser greeted me...
*YES!*
Gimme Gimme Gimme!!!
Wah lao, kana cheated....
Its water leh...oh well, better than nothing...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------9km
Anh... bunch of Chio bu sighted, range 50m, ready, set...
Lets gogogo!
haha, simple motivation like this never fails to keep a guy going...
heh heh, guys, do remember to flex a bit when u are running alongside hor...
*Snickle* ;-) Hope girl girl misses this part...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------10km
Kang Ming:"Last 2 km liao... gonna end soon liao, need me to help u carry ur bag a while not?"
"Hehe, now then u ask me ah? Wah lao, no la, its good training for me."
haha, this is the proof that comaradarie still exists huh?
Bent on ending our ordeal earlier, we dashed all the way to the end...
------------------------------Finishing point----------------------------------
Covered in dust, sweaty, hungry, smelly...
wobbly legs and painful knees...
Much like my post hellweek feeling...
No milo and Gatorade,but i drank 600ml of milk for revenge...
No bikini babes, no medal...
And i got all these for FREEEEEE!!!
Thats the only consolation...
Not to mention, the number of stored instant noodles in me that were shed thruout the run...
Hehe, that gives me the excuse of eating more instant noodles to replenish all that is lost...
hehe, something to be happy about...
Right girl? :P
As i bid farewell to sheares bridge, i was happy to conclude that mission was accomplished successfully, no casualties...
Bye Benjamin...
Its definitely gonna be a 21 next year...
No more mister nice guy...
p/s:Wish you were here dear... wah lao, fly my aeroplane lor u...
I will make sure i get u.... Grrr...
alvinz blogged at 6:00 PM
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Romance mathematics
Smart man + smart woman = romance (like me and my dearie?)
Smart man + dumb woman = affair (Yeah baby! All guys would want this!)
Dumb man + smart woman = marriage (Guys, beware!)
Dumb man + dumb woman = pregnancy (Never be too dumb to use protection all the time hor)
OFFICE ARITHMETIC
Smart boss + smart employee = profit
Smart boss + dumb employee = production
Dumb boss + smart employee = promotion
Dumb boss + dumb employee = overtime
SHOPPING MATH
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need. (No wonder she always have things to buy... No credit card for ur wives man...)
GENERAL EQUATIONS & STATISTICS
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
HAPPINESS
To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little.
To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
Its funny the way that things happen can actually be put into maths equations,
and this also goes to show only one thing...
However, if we really applied these theories to our lives, the results will still be unpredictable, which explains the reason why some of us still have our girlfriends or wives...
And this is what makes them
special... cos they have
beaten the odds...
Haha...
alvinz blogged at 1:22 AM
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Friday, September 24, 2004
yanxin: Looks like can go on eating ur maggi mee liao..=p
Alvin: Heh heh... See... I've been right about MSG all
along!!! That means i can eat more noodles now!!!
HAAHAHAHAHA!!!!
WHAT is in MSG and how does it enhance the taste of food?
Does it harm the body?
MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is a well-known flavour enhancer.
MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. Sold as a fine white crystalline substance, it is made up of 78.1 per cent glutamate, 12.3 per cent sodium and 9.6 per cent water. Glutamate is one of the most abundant amino acids found naturally in the body (0.6 per cent in free form, 99.4 per cent bound to proteins).
In 1908, Professor Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University first identified its unique taste through his experiments with broth prepared using kombu seaweed. The taste of glutamate was referred to as umami, an independent basic taste alongside the quartet of sweet, sour, salty and bitter that are widely accepted.
MSG was ideal as a food seasoning as it did not have a smell or specific texture of its own. Thereafter, it was used in many dishes to enhance the original flavour of food, making good food taste better.
Today, MSG is produced through fermentation from molasses, sugar cane or sugar beets and food starch from tapioca or cereals, and used in great quantities in the food-processing industry.
As amino acids are building blocks of proteins, glutamate occurs naturally in many living things and protein-rich foods such as meat, milk, cheese, poultry and vegetables. There is 'bound' glutamate, linked to proteins, and 'free' glutamate, which is not linked to proteins.
Only the 'free' glutamate improves the flavour of food. When added to food, it provides the same flavour as the glutamate that occurs naturally in food.
'Free' glutamate is most commonly found in vegetables. So, an intensified savoury umami flavour is obtained when cooked meat and vegetables are consumed together.
It is amazing how Mother Nature has designed our taste buds to make a balanced diet more palatable. This also explains the simple gastronomic delight of sprinkling Parmesan cheese on pizza and pasta, and drizzling tomato ketchup on french fries and hamburgers.
One can also understand now why fermented fish sauces and extracts of meat and vegetables have been so valued for many years - shottsuru of Japan, ngan-pya-ye of Myanmar, patis of the Philippines, garum of ancient Rome, nam pla of Thailand, nuoc mam tom chat of Vietnam, Bovril, Vegemite, Marmite and Worcestershire sauce.
These, together with soya sauce, young peas, ripe tomatoes, oysters, mushrooms and human milk, contain huge amounts of free glutamate.
Glutamate is the major source of energy for the intestinal mucosa, with 95 per cent of it completely metabolised in the intestinal wall during absorption.
The amount of glutamate taken in food is about 17g a day. It has been estimated that daily glutamate intake from added MSG is 0.35g to 3g a day. About 14g is excreted via faeces, urine and skin in a day.
Health experts recommend consuming no more than 2,000mg a day of sodium in the diet, equivalent to one teaspoon of salt (5g).
A teaspoon of MSG (3.8g) contains 467mg of sodium, about a quarter the amount in a teaspoon of salt.
Some reports suggest that when MSG is used instead of salt, the amount of sodium in the recipe can be reduced by 30 to 40 per cent.
Adding excessive amounts of MSG does not improve the taste of a dish.
For better management of sodium intake, do cut back on using salt and salty seasonings when preparing food. Use natural seasonings such as lemon juice, herbs and spices instead. When eating out, ask for less sauce and gravy, and always taste the food first.
The United States Food and Drug Administration considers MSG a Gras, or Generally Recognised As Safe, substance. A 1995 report by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology concluded that there was no difference between naturally-occurring free glutamate in foods and the manufactured type found in MSG.
The American Dietetic Association says that people who need to control their sodium intake, and those with decreased taste sensation, such as the elderly, could use MSG.
Scientific evidence has shown no association of MSG with the concerns of hair loss, headache and allergic reactions. MSG is a permitted flavour enhancer under Singapore's Sale of Food Act.
Ms Janice Tan
Lecturer
Natural Sciences and Science Education National Institute of Education
IP Address: 202.156.2.50
alvinz blogged at 11:40 PM
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Thursday, September 23, 2004
Dear friends,
Welcome to my blog... Do enjoy your stay here and i will be happy to receive any feedbacks from you guys...
haha, sounds a bit extra rite?
To those who knows me, this is definitely not my style man...
Alrite, i'm not actually someone who writes a diary, and in fact, i hate writing one!!!
eh...
so...
what i am gonna share with u all are some thoughts in my mind as my life unfolds in front of me, perhaps some lessons in life which i think is important for everyone...
Haha, and i'm sure my batch boys know that i keep a very personal blue book dubbed "My little book of thoughts.", which i write all my ... thoughts of course, inside...
I will divulge the info bit by bit over here,and with it, i hope that i can offer another perspective for u all at viewing certain crucial situations, and not fall into the same predicament as i was...
No doubt, i've learnt a lot of things that hard way, but it is only through this way that people learn isn't it? ha ha, what irony... the ironies of life...
Enough crap liao...
In NTU studying now, gonna make the most out of it...
So friends, stay tune for more updates...
And i make sure my viewership rate rival that of ur blogs out there...
Watch out, Machi DiDi is back!haha...
Catch u all man...Take care!
alvinz blogged at 3:31 PM
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