lin's blog
medical student
having the time of my life!
Sunday, July 30, 2006
got into a car accident today. rather minor, but still gonna cost us a fair bit for repairs. not hurt, just v shaken up. scary. gahhh.
lin~*
12:45 am
Thursday, July 27, 2006
new project underway... wish me luck!! =)
lin~*
9:04 pm
my feeble attempt at making brioche for parents' breakfast din turn out too well. haha they look like scones.
aft that, went down to ecp with marcus, liyana, hwying and mirri to cycle! we went to this other secluded jetty and sat there and talk, absolutely divine.
had lunch in geylang aft that with marcus before going to law's place. fantabulous beef hor fun where the beef was SO TENDER that it didnt seem like beef. and tau jiang you tiao, where the tau hway was SO SOFT that it slid down my throat. so gorgeous.
ok im out. bye!
lin~*
11:01 am
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
hello =) i havent posted anything real proper in the past few days, here's a brief one.
on thurs, went to kbox with lawrence. hehe. aft a dota-ing session at his place, i went down to medicamp at aloha loyang tog with cel, bean, xuan, rachel and shawn.
all of us tog at the last night of medicamp! although i wasnt an ogl, a bunch of us went down on their last night for fun anw =)
we were there to celebrate (wrong) joel's birthday! which was the day before. aileen's plan was damn cute. everyone was to ignore him on his bday, no one wished him at all, and consequently i think he was rather miserable, esp since he was sitting in a swamp at pasir ris park in his army uni waiting to scare hapless m1s for fright night. however, they planned a surprise for him at the food auction in medicamp. so anw, aileen, hon and i dunno who else got him a GORGEOUS cheesecake browwnie cake. delish i tell u. next on my list to try and make =P and i hope he had a nice bday surprise afterall. happy birthday joel!
aft that, bean, xiaoxuan n i adjourned to celene's house for stayover! she made us nice cheese prata, and we watched indiana jones! fun =) slept over in her room, and left after macs brekkie home delivered the next morning.
the cheese prata cel made for us =)
sat night saw us having much anticipated council gathering! so wonderful to see all the familiar faces again, of my dearest 23rd council ppl. didnt see everyone though, we were just at RJ frm like 5-1045, and not everyone stayed for the whole thing. i only went at abt 830 because my parents wanted me to have dinner with them first. here's the pics =)
sunday was a HUGE baking day for me as i made lots of honeycomb cake for my mum's colleagues, my neighbour and my mum. timeconsuming effort there, and lawrence came down to accompany me, because i get cranky when i make caramel because im v tense then =P to reward him, we made biscotti for him to bring for his gathering the next day. these were choc mint biscotti, supposed to use white choc chips but since i didnt have them, we substituted it with dark choc chips. still think they wld have tasted better with white choc chips. and the mint flavour wasnt strong enough, but otherwise it was great =)
my darling and biscotti! yum =)
went cycling with marcus, hwying, liyana, mirri today, followed by DELICIOUS lunch in geylang with marcus. went to law's hse after that to play more dota and chat. will upload pics later.
lin~*
7:06 am
Friday, July 21, 2006
Coral Sea
It begins to become grey at a far away place on the ocean plane
How can sadness be tranquil and pure white?
On my face
Still holding
A bit of shallow helplessness
You use lip language to say you have to leave
(Your heart is not here)
That sadness slows down without a sound
The turbulent tide
You understand when hearing
It’s not the wave but the sea of tears
Turn around and leave
(You have words you cannot say)
Can’t say break up
The sea crow and fish love each other
It was only an accident
Our love
(The love given out)
Difference existing all along
(Cannot come back)
The dust in the wind
(Waiting)
Unexpectedly accumulates into hurt
Turn around and leave
(Can’t say break up)
Can’t say break up
The sky blue Coral Sea
Missing the momentary paleness
At that time you and I
(You and I both)
Were not mature and honest enough
(Shouldn’t)
The passion is not there anymore
(Your)
Smile cannot be forced
Love is deeply buried in the Coral Sea
How can the devastated sand carving be rebuilt?
How can love that has cracks be covered up?
It was only that everything
Ended too fast
You say you can’t set your mind to rest
What expectation is hidden in the shell?
(Waiting for the flower to blossom)
We both already have no mood to guess
Facing the sea wind
The salty love
I can’t taste what future there still is
Turn around and leave
(You have words you cannot say out)
Can’t say break up
The sea crow and fish love each other
It was only an accident
Our love
(The love given out)
Difference existing all along
(Cannot come back)
The dust in the wind
(Waiting)
Unexpectedly accumulates into hurt
Turn around and leave
(Can’t say break up)
Can’t say break up
The sky blue Coral Sea
Missing the momentary paleness
At that time you and I
(You and I both)
Were not mature and honest enough
(Shouldn’t)
The passion is not there anymore
(Your)
Smile cannot be forced
Love is deeply buried in the Coral Sea
gosh. i found this english translation of the lyrics to 'shan hu hai' (Coral Sea, by Jay Chou and Liang Jing Ru) online. And only did i realise what the song really means. My years of chinese education has only allowed me to read the mandarin lyrics; but percept the real meaning of the song i did not. i feel so Anglo. haha. but I think its amazingly poetic, and i love the harmonizating by the 2 singers in the song.
lin~*
8:54 pm
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
fantastic foccacia =) (and not so nice macarons)
when you bake, sometimes things turn out nice, and sometimes they dont. in this case, an incredibly simple recipe for foccacia bread turned out splendid (only contains yeast, water, flour! and then olive oil, herbs, sea salt, and olives as toppings!!!), but an attempt at my favourite chocolate macarons arent so nice =P
the focaccia was beautiful - crusty, fragrant straight out of the oven, fluffy inside.. - it was devoured in abt 30mins =P haha... whee!
lin~*
8:30 am
Monday, July 17, 2006
spent sunday at orchard parade hotel accompanying lawrence. he was there as a favour to our dear friend ruijie, to help man the hospitality desk at orchard parade hotel for the international physics olympiad. some delegates were staying there larhs. so lawrence did this insane 18hr marathon sitting at the desk, frm 7am to 1am. i came at abt 1030am, sat there w him till 2pm or so, went off shopping with mum (bought a gorgeous dress!), came back at 530pm, and sat w him till abt 1230am or so. stayed over, had this shopping trip in town w lawrence, where he bought 2 shirts, boardshorts, book and sandals, and i bought this AMAZING book, and then i went home and collasped on the bed.
and i'm running a temperature now. blah.
oh and we bumped into shin eik at kino too. when i was buying my book.
medicamp tmr. have fun ppl! sorely wld love to crash but deathly afraid of incurring the wrath of The faithful loyal Ogls who've been slogging their guts out this hols for this camp. haha. slackers like me dont deserve the fun when we havent worked for it. hope everyone has fun there! whee =) will be down for campfire night =)
shall cuddle in my bed now and hope the fever goes away soon. byebye.
lin~*
9:01 pm
Saturday, July 15, 2006
cable skiing in batam!
whee. spent thurs in batam with zhenjin, aileen, christine, raymond, yinghao, stephrene, jacob, kelven and gabriel! it was a stretch trying to get my parents to allow me to go, but zhenjin very nicely explained to my mum over msn how safe it was and stuff =) thankyoU! had a great time trying to cable ski, but ended up with VERY aching back, neck and arms. at dinner today i could barely reach out to grab food from the lazy susan. gah. and i cannot soap the part of my back between the 2 scapulas anymore bleah.
on the ferry! some of us caught some ZZZs, the rest chatted. i mainly listened to my ipod and tried to catch some sleep since the night before i slept late. didnt want to have no energy for the big day ahead!
zj and me on the ferry! =)
poor dude trying to row a boat in the sea. took this pic frm the ferry.
hot guys putting on sunblock =P
more hot guys
one of our guys cable skiing. some of the bunch - zj, kelven, and raymond had alr tried this before, so they were rather pro at it already. they spent their time trying out stunts and new boards and stuff. kelven even attempted a jump! haha but as far as i know he cldnt manage it. they looked damn pro doing it tho. the rest of us were newbies and spent our time trying to stand on the board haha. except gabriel who was DAMN PRO and managed to stand just aft lunch, and he progressed really really fast after that. the look of triumph on his face as he sat on the motorbike coming back after he fell in the water some distance away after FINALLY being able to stand on the board, unforgetable.
at lunch =) im absent cos i was taking the pic! aft this shot, all the guys started leaving because gabriel finally started standing, and the rest of the guys cldnt stand to be outbeaten. so off they went to try summore!
only the girls left at the lunch table when the guys all went off to try summore. steph feeding the dog, christine looking on. ai's gazing at the guys. hahaha
kelven in the water
yinghao - i was trying to catch a pic of him gliding, but unfortunately at the moment i pressed the trigger, he fell. so there. our day was filled mostly with loads of this kind of falling larh. i drank an insane amt of pond water.
stephrene n me!
and altogether now - AWWWWWW =P steph and yinghao =)
all in all, a really fun day =) the funnest part for me had got to be the part when zj and i tried to tandem kneeboard. on our first try, he went first, and went 1 round. i was supposed to join in at the 2nd round. unfortunately, he fell just ard the 5th bend before i got to join in, so off i went by myself. on our 2nd try, he made it! and i joined him. some near misses as weak me cldnt swerve right enuff and we nearly crashed into each other. we made abt 1 and 3/4 circuits as on the 2nd round (3rd for him), my arms were so tired they gave way alr. haha. really fun =)
HOWEVER, the highlight of the day for me has got to be the time when i managed to stand on the board for abit! made it just to abt the point between the 2 ramps before i misplaced my weight and fell. it was a long way to swim back, but the sense of achievement was great! i didnt manage to repeat that though =P haha... but at least i stood! =)
left on the earlier ferry to meet lawrence to catch pirates. the rest left later. and yes, i baked cookies for them which i hope they enjoyed =) went for lawrence's granddad's 90th birthday today too. fun =)
lin~*
12:13 am
Friday, July 14, 2006
Don't leave me in all this pain
Don't leave me out in the rain
Come back and bring back my smile
Come and take these tears away
I need your arms to hold me now
The nights are so unkind
Bring back those nights when I held you beside me
1-Un-break my heart
Say you'll love me again
Un-do this hurt you caused
When you walked out the door
And walked outta my life
Un-cry these tears
I cried so many nights
Un-break my heart, my heart
Take back that sad word good-bye
Bring back the joy to my life
Don't leave me here with these tears
Come and kiss this pain away
I can't forget the day you left
Time is so unkind
And life is so cruel without you here beside me
(repeat 1)
Ohh, oh
Don't leave me in all this pain
Don't leave me out in the rain
Bring back the nights when I held you beside me
(rpt 1)
Un-break my
Un-break my heart, oh baby
Come back and say you love me
Un-break my heart
Sweet darlin'
Without you I just can't go on
Can't go on
unbreak my heart - toni braxton
lin~*
9:58 am
Thursday, July 13, 2006
fun day =) made more korovas for the cable skiiing ppl on thurs in the morning, yun came over to make pancakes at abt noon, and then met up with some old dear friends in the evening!
yun and i at the stove! =) she learnt v fast how to cook and flip a pancake! for her bf's bday surprise =) lucky thing.
ooh looks nice =) the finished product.
met up with shu, sel, alina, serjin, wenkien, john and matthew. we were supposed to go to the morton's bar to try their martinis and get a taste of their delectable sandwiches. because the rest were late, shu and i went in to get a table first. however, the waitress asked me for my ic =( whereupon she told me that the bar was for over-21s only. bleah. unlucky. (however, we did see a few under21s whom we knew there =P lucky ppl who got thru) so shu, sel and i headed off to max brenner's at the esplanade, where the rest slowly trickled in after. had a wonderful time gossiping, and catching up with each others' (love) lives. =P the guys (namely serjin) all look more chiselled and tanned now! improvement frm jc days! whee! =)
gossip session going on =)
the first grp photo taken after alina and serjin came along. we took SO MANY grp photos because we'd take one as someone else came in. hilarious =) the poor waiter at max brenner's who had to keep taking for us.
look! a more yandao serjin! =)
wenkien, who rushed over upon knowing that shu was leaving for aussieland the next day, with shu! they look so nice!
co-ogl photo! kl'vaeus are u seeing this??
ooh gay guys =P hahaha
ah and our final grp shot =) there were quite a few in between but i lazy to upload larh =P
cable skiiing photos coming up soon!
lin~*
7:47 am
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
korova cookie recipe - by popular demand
quite a few ppl have asked me for the recipe to this wonderful cookie =) i think im going to make a batch tmr. just to happify me. god knows i need ALOT of happifying lately =(
Korova cookies
Reprinted from "Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the City's Best Pastry Shops," published by Broadway Books.
Makes about 36 cookies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons butter at room temperature
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine seas salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, dropped into small bits
Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together and keep close at hand. Put the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until the butter is soft and creamy. (Alternatively, you can do this and all subsequent steps by hand, working with a sturdy spatula.) Add the brown and granulated sugars, the salt and the vanilla extract and beat for another minute or two. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the sifted dry ingredients. Mix only until the dry ingredients are incorporated — the dough will look crumbly and that's just right. For the best texture, you want to work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.
Turn the dough out onto a smooth work surface, divide in half and, working with one half at a time, shape the dough into a log that is 1 1/2 inches in diameter. (Cookie-dough logs have a way of ending up with hollow centers, so as you're shaping a log, flatten it once or twice and roll it up from one long side to the other, just to make certain you haven't got an air channel.) Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill them for at least 1 hour. (Wrapped airtight, the logs can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and keep them close at hand.
Working with a sharp thin-bladed knife, slice rounds that are 1/2-in thick. (Don't be upset when the cookies break, just squeeze the broken-off bit back onto the cookie.) Place the cookies on the parchment-lined sheets, leaving about 1 inch of spread space between each cookie. Bake only one sheet of cookies at a time and bake each sheet for 12 minutes. The cookies will not look done, nor will they be firm, but that's just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest, on the baking sheet, until they are only just warm or until they reach room temperature — it's your call. Repeat with the second sheet of cookies.
Keeping: The dough can be made ahead and either chilled or frozen. In fact, if you've frozen the dough, you needn't defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake 1 minute longer.
okay there. now u can make delicious cookies like me =) muahahaha. haha, just remember, the better the ingredients, the better ur result. i used nice swiss choc and premium dutch cocoa powder as well as sea salt frm france. happened to have all these handy. and mine turned out fabulous. dad ate like 10 of them, when he doesnt usu touch the cookies i bake. which says ALOT. and lawrence even asked if he cld take the entire tupperware of cookies i happened to bring out to let him and a few others try home. hehe. i really want to make them tmr now. *drools*
lin~*
3:08 am
nutella update
yay my mum found me nutella from the ntuc at parkway=) ive been eating toast slathered with nutella for breakfast. nice =)
lin~*
3:05 am
well the past few days were rather exciting. stuff happened. yeps. watched the last 2 world cup matches at darryl's place, went blading the morning after, and today i had choir, followed by slacking in school and blading with mirriam after that. im just being really thankful and grateful for the friends ard me, who're supporting me and providing me with company, and distractions when im down. its just the nights like these, when sleep refuses to come, and my mind wanders. then the tears come, uncontrollably. till my lids grow heavy, the sobs quieten and i doze off into a fitful sleep. a brief lull into a false security that is shattered upon consciousness.
shall post photos then.
wenkien, my nice nice driver for the first night. =) somehow i managed to convince my parents to let me go darryl's place for world cup because he offered to pick me up and drop me home. and he drove all the way to my place to pick me, before driving back to his hse there to meet darryl and cel for supper at the nice mee sua stall near his place before the match. how sweet =) thankyou!
frankee jr, celene's new pet rabbit. its tremendously cute. esp the way it munches on the veggies darryl feeds it. poor thing had a sore on its paw though. infected and red and protruding. had to be brought to the vet by its doting parents. poor frankee jr.
darryl's cruel tee and frankee jr. who looks terrified at the prospect of being eaten. =S
with lawrence, selene, and sel's pri 5 cousin natalie. we were in her room because my dad bought durians for her family and i had to deliver it. went w lawrence. and we were just sitting there chatting.
gosh i miss him so. =(
this was the finals night alr. most of the photos are on wk's blog as i din take many. enming was my friendly driver for the night =) this is evelyn photowhoring with wenkien's camera, caught in the act! heehee. hwying n i were supporting france! screamed at zidane's folly, and willed the goalkeeper to save a penalty. alas it was not meant to be =(
met zj, ian, ai, and raymond the next morning. had brunch/lunch at macs before we set off. =) tv screen there was still showing soccer highlights.
we took turns teaching raymond how to blade, including the auntie frm the shop, who took pity and coached raymond thru his first steps and over his virgin hump. i love the shop auntie =)
aileen, raymond, zhenjin n me! ian took the pic =)
aileen, raymond n me =)
yay everyone in =)
me making a face at ian. ian the photo whore was taking pics of all of us because he was the only one confident of blading enough to take pics whilst on it. haha. zj and ai started chasing him ard to stop him frm taking pics after awhile. raymond n i just werent fast enough. =P
sweet sweet marcus who brought me out for famous duck rice for lunch today aft choir to cheer me up. it was really really yummy =)
went to sch aft lunch because was supposed to wait for li and mirri to go blading tog. din want to go home where i will simply hu si luan xiang and just spend the time moping ard and crying or sth. this is hwying in her fright night costume! the hat isnt hers but we put it on for dramatic effect =)
and with mirriam here. marcus, li, mirri n i were supposed to go blading at ecp this afternoon. which was an impromptu decision anw. but it was called off due to the rain and cos mirri reached sch only at like 4plus. but when i dropped mirri off, i decided to join her anw. we had a wonderful time blading to bedok jetty and back, feeling the nice sea breeze, talking abt everything, as the sun went down slowly. tremendously therapeutic. i felt much better aft that. thanks dear!
beautiful sky, as seen inland frm bedok jetty.
im tired of everything. im tired of crying. my lacrimal glands are dried up alr. i dont know what to think anymore. i cant sleep. i dont want to. why is everything so torturous?
lin~*
1:21 am
