Run

and a little more..

Well, just started to run again, but quite an unsuitable time to start: winter. The cold air, 3.42°C, dried up my airways and when I started to rest after that 0.86km round, phlegm built up =P Nevertheless, it was actually quite refreshing. Maybe I'll try to do it again in the afternoons or later than 11am. And have to increase the distance to 1.53km before I return home.

Before the run, I forced myself to start working out again, and did the least one can do: 20 push ups, 20 table pull ups, 20 squats and 20 cores. Haha.. nothing compared to a year ago.. but oh well.. have to start somewhere..

The 0.86km route.

Next time's 1.53km route.

Brie

Creeeeeeeeamy~

My homemade burger again, but this time, instead of cheddar, it's brie!!!! It's so creamy it's just addictive beyond words :) Throw in huge chunks of it in the sandwich and taste the difference.

Look at the brie chunks in the sandwich, on the omelet. mmm~

Harvey Dent

Two Face

I had never imagined that I would ever come face to face with a Hollywood star! And tonight's experience was considered free as it was an activity by the Literature and History Society of UCD. Aaron Eckhart! Harvey Dent @ Two Face in The Dark Night! Great performances in Thank You For Smoking and No Reservations. He was down to earth, funny and witty during the meet and was really comfortable with us students. Was also willing to take pictures and give autographs to everyone in the hall. Aaron really looked better in real life, but in the photos, he looked like a wax model in Madame Tussauds! Nevertheless, he looked great for someone in his 40s. Worth the time :)

Aaron's autograph on my ticket.

Aaron in the lecture theater M of the Newman Building, UCD.

Shaking hands with Two Face!

Aaron~

A pose.

Brunch

Homemade

Ah, this will be my brunch for a few days. Homemade burger with Tesco minced beef and a handful of veggie. Yes, that's an omelet sandwiched in the burger haha.. Hope this will last me through at least half the day before I have to eat again. This is going to be part of my diet program haha.. hope it works and that I can control my eating.

My hebat burger =) mmm~

Salmon

Nutritious

Try this: Spaghetti tossed with dried basil, some garlic powder (or fried garlic), salt, black pepper, and some sesame oil. Add in boiled prawns (unsalted), some smoked salmon and brie. Healthy and minimal oil ;) enjoy ~

Coffee

Wonder Drug

Took my first cup at 2130 I think.. didn't really help. Took my second cup at 2300.. took a while for the caffeine to kick in. After nearly falling asleep a couple of times at my desk, finally my HR rose and managed to stay alive until 0300. Contemplated a third cup, but resolved that it may be an OD. So yea, wonder drug. Prozac? bah.. (different class anyway)

The second cup.

Dying..

Dead. Before the caffeine kicked in. See the half cup of coffee.

Flame

Peaty~

Ah, for the first time in my life, I get to use a fireplace. We got peat blocks, from Bord na Mona, as fuel. But the heat isn't radiating throughout the room as we wanted it. So after we finish using up this pile of soil, we'll try charcoal. However, about 1 meter from the fire, it is hot. Mmmmm.. heat... ~

The fireplace, its glowing ambers and a flame.

Closer look. Mmmmm~

Walkers

Huge~

Look at that baby; 32 mini-sized packets of potato chips. And that's mine. In this house there are 3 boxes. So, 3x32 = 96!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mmmmmmmmmm~~~~~~~~~~~~

Feel the envy? =P

Walkers

Jungle

Hutan

The back road to UCD. It's not shorter in length I think, but it's a peaceful place to walk through haha.. I wonder if it's a good place for a romantic walk.. jungle..

London

Ah, here are the pics from London =P

~Click here for the album~

Biker

Cycle, cycle~

Amazing! It takes about 30 minutes to cycle from Dundrum to Dun Laoghaire! What's cool: it's downhill, cool in the morning, not much traffic, and greeted by the sea and saltish air as we approach the coast. What's not so cool: it's uphill back home. But nevertheless, it's satisfying =)

Jong Chern on his bike in front of me.

The drunk guy.

A drunk man came up and talked to me and Jong Chern before going into church. He started off funny and ended with racist remarks. Poor guy though. He ended up dozing off right in the middle of the Kingston's front garden.

Lunch Pack

Chirozo~

Try this for a filling for a sandwich or throw in some couscous or rice, or eat it on its own. Fried mushrooms with lamb mince with slices of Chorizo sausages. They are fried with butter, some olive oil, very little salt, pepper, tarragon, and deglazed with sake. You could put in some cheese gratings at the end if you want =)

With the sake reducing.

Ready to be served!

Packed!

Liver

Meatily Iron-y~


This is a rich meal. Spaghetti with liver, Chorizo sausages, mushrooms, and tomatoes sauteed with a little butter, olive oil, dried tarragon, pepper and salt. Sauce for the spaghetti was ketchup heated with butter. Finally, a generous topping of Parmesan gratings.

Cured Loin

Saltish!!!

That slab of meat is a chunk of ham. Baked with a honey, cinnamon and syrup sauce with smashed cloves sprinkled on the meat. Well, the sauce wasn't thick enough..unless it's left to cool to room temperature. It was interesting, but I think I'll stick to ready sliced thin hams.

Aubergine

Egg-Plant

Ah, try this, people~ 1 whole aubergine cut into pieces fried with 2 pieces of bacon, an egg, onions, sesame oil, pepper, coriander powder and salt. It's a meal on it's own and healthy enough =) Use olive oil and a non-stick pan to reduce the need for oil hehe.. it's quite filling~

Tiny Bird

Small~

Thanks to F.X. Buckley, I got my quail :) Not bad for €2.50 a bird, a little expensive, but leaner, cleaner, and a little tastier. Baked this one with pepper, soy sauce, onions, mint leaves, stuffed the inside with bay leaves and a dash of Japanese sake. Wrapped it in aluminum foil to keep the moisture. Mmmmm ~ and love the 3/4 cooked egg too :) Boil for 5 minutes. In Malaysia, 3+ minutes.

Liu Lian

mmmmmm~

Oriental Emporium: Durians! In the freezer =) Well, I guess it's for keeping it fresh and keeping the subjective smell from intruding into the entire shop. Hmmm... I wonder how frozen durian is like.

Durians =P

Close up of the durians.

Change Of Venue

Cornerstone


Yesterday, service was held in the basement of the Kingston Hotel due to a mix up in the bookings for the ballroom. So, it was quite an experience being in a cramped up place under the hotel, in a bar area. Ergo: an underground church experience, literally =P

Italy, Summer 2008~

Photos, finally! Haha.. using photobucket. Will add more on food and missed out pics.

~CLICK HERE FOR THE ALBUM =) ~

Crop Production

Farming

Ah, here's how my little veggie patch looks like :P

Digging the drains and made 2 beds =P

Side view.

Drain close-up.

Almost done.

Top view, after sowing.

Hope my babies will grow! =P

Offline

Dear people, I'll be offline from today until the 16th of June. Moving house and internet is cut off until Thurs, but will be in Italy. So, see you! Byes!

Mess

Pack!

What a slow process of packing. So much garbage around the house, it's just amazing what one can collect over a year. And I've thrown out a garbage bag load of things earlier this year. Sigh.. well, can't wait to move to our new house! And get everything reorganised, since it's almost like starting fresh again, without the garbage. Hopefully this time, there won't be another phase of garbage collection. Hmm.. so many "garbage" words used in this paragraph too.. argh..

Value Meal

Just enough

What can you do with €4.85? Have a good filling meal at McD, eurosaver menu =) 2 Hamburgers, 1, Curly Fries, and a medium chocolate milkshake. Mmmmmm~~ it's more filling than having a value meal proper and all you get is a gas drink and some scrawny yellow fries. Combined, my meal here is more bulky. More for less.

In The Gazebo

The Gardener brought me to a gazebo,
He sat me down and smiled,
All around me was glistening stardust,
I stared in awe and wonder,
What's that?
The fragrance I had smelled before,
It was like floating in a galaxy,
in a dream,
The Gardener held out His hand,
And the stardust began to swirl,
in the center of the gazebo,
They concentrated in mid air,
A bright ball of light,
emitting the fragrance,
The Gardener smiled and blew softly at the light,
I gasped,
It was the flower which He burnt,
when we were walking in the garden,
He took it and held it to me,
"It is yours. You let me take it, and that, my child, is faith and honour.
Keep it, cherish it, for I can see that you will love it,
forever."
He closed His eyes, and the bloom flew into my heart,
I looked at my chest and saw it living and glowing.
He said,
"Follow me, and I will show you how to tend to your blossom."
He smiled,
He took my hand and we started walking again,
this time, with the flower in my heart.

jien

Numbers

Count-count?

Yikes..it's been a long time since I saw a finance-type document. I'm supposed to be learning how to drain a hill, build drains, digging for drains, and irrigation. But behold, my class assignment for my crop production class is counting Gross Margine/ha, Breakeven Grain Prices, and a write up of profitability of the wheat production for the year. HAHAHA... interesting =) Medical student in an agriculture class learning about irrigation and having accounting thrown at him~

Screenshot of Excel assignment sheet.

Knives

Trusty and Hardy

Here, my two kitchen companions. Trusty worn Tesco knife and Henckels =) I love that Tesco knife because the angle of the handle suits my hand very well, and the blade is tough. However, the handle has deteriorated and it has nicks now, needs to be sharpened now and then. Nevertheless, good for cutting up chicken, through small bones. Ah, Henckels is like a razor. How thin do you want your onions? =) hahaha.. enough said. Hope it lasts 10 years without blunting.

Top: Tesco knife, Bottom: Henckels

Dog

It's Bobby =) and Bear =)

Thank You~~

10th April 2008

Thank you guys for making my day! =) really appreciate all of you =) surprised me in G109, Newman Building ~

Evangeline, Cindy and Chong Ling made this cake :) Hebat!

Bean bag! Thanks guys! From Sam, Charles, Ryan, Alwyn, Terh Ren, Cindy, Chong Ling, Hui Yee, Sophie.

Bear has a new friend =) haven't named him yet =P From Cindy and Charles.

Some of the guys =) from left: Ken, Alwyn, me, Terh Ren, Cindy, Mag, Vikki~

Hail

Ice rain

Ice falling in April? Weirdness.

In The Garden

In the garden, I walked
holding hands with the Garderner,
He showed me flowers which had amazing hues,
blooming everywhere we passed,
I saw an interesting flower,
shades of intriguing colours,
I plucked it and turned to the Garderner,
He smiled,
then I heard cawing,
A crow swooped down swiftly,
and snatched the flower from my hand,
Teary-eyed, I looked at the Garderner,
He smiled,
He took my hand and we started walking again,
the warmth of His hand comforted me,
Then I saw another bloom,
with patterns beyond intricate,
I plucked it and turned to the Garderner,
He smiled,
then I heard cawing,
A crow swooped down swiftly,
and snatched the flower from my hand,
Teary-eyed, I looked at the Garderner,
He smiled,
He took my hand and we started walking again,
the warmth of His hand comforted me,
After a while, we came to a bush,
I looked at the Garderner and asked,
"Where are the flowers?"
He replied,
"Smell. Follow the fragrance and you will find it."
I closed my eyes and stayed still.
I began to smell the fragrance.
I followed it, falling in love with it every slow step I took,
I still couldn't see it,
When the fragrance was strong, I looked,
There it was, the flower,
I stood amazed,
It wasn't like any other flower I have seen so far,
in the walk through the garden.
It was beyond comprehension,
I plucked it and turned to the Garderner,
He smiled,
This time, there was no cawing,
I held the bloom close to me,
enjoying every moment with it,
its fragrance and its beauty,
The Gardener came up after a while,
He said,
"Would you burn this for me? It has greater fragrance that way."
I looked at him with tears streaming down my face,
I said,
"Why are all the flowers taken away from me?
Why can't I keep one, especially this one that I love so much?"
He replied,
"Do you trust me? Are you ready to let it go for my sake,
that I have tended this garden from the beginning?"
I wept,
and held the flower to Him,
He took it and in his hands,
the flower was consumed by a blueish green flame,
He was right,
A greater fragrance filled the atmosphere,
The ashes rose to the sky,
It glistened like star dust,
The Gardener hugged me, and said,
"You have been obedient to Me, and you have respected my decisions.
Walk with me, I have much more to show you.
For all you know, that flower might bloom again,
or there will be many more of its kind out there,
in this garden of Mine.
I will show you which will be yours to keep,
Trust me. I'm the Gardener."
I wiped my tears, looked up and smiled weakly,
He smiled,
He took my hand and we started walking again,
the warmth of His hand comforted me.

jien

*******

Chickens

Stuffed

Have a look at our freezer. Those are the meats for a weeks dinners. =D Cool ya? haha... 1.8kg birds stuffing the freezer.

Poultry~

Dear Brother

For my brother. Make this your prayer.

"Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my groaning.
Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God,
For to you I pray.
In the morning, O Lord,
You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch."
Psalm 5

"Hear my cry, O God;
Give heed to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For You have been a refuge for me,
A tower of strength against the enemy.
Let me swell in Your tent forever;
Let me take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
Selah.
For You have heard my vows, O God;
You have given me the inheritance of those who dear Your name.
So I will sing to Your name forever,
That I may pay my vows day by day."
Psalm 61

"Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things."

Ecclesiastes 11:5

God bless you. Be strong and trust Him. Remember Philippians 4:6-7:

"Be anxious for nothing, but everything in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

*******

I'm Like A Bird

Fly, fly, fly~

Dangerouscat's depiction of me:

=P

Sweet Prayer

Little Lark's Song

This is her prayer when I felt dry:

Guard my heart O’ Lord
As so that I do not lose sight of You
That my senses may not be blinded by the world
Empty rituals that bind my praise.

Allow my spiritual act of worship rise to You, my King
A pleasing aroma that wafts sweetly
A powerful weapon that pierces all darkness
A gentle song that lights up Your face.

As I pick up my lyre and lift my voice
Let it be from my soul that cries out
Blind my eyes but unveil my heart O’ Lord
That I will see naught but You.

Let my deeds be of You, for You and from You
My service pure and true
Let not pride and arrogance be near me
As I joyfully sing to You.

For my Lord, You see the hearts of men
As they lay bare before Your throne
You delight in the praise of the righteous
But abhors the lies of the hypocrites.

So draw me into Your inner courts my Lord
Part Thy veils for me, I plead
That I may enjoy Your lovely presence
And forget all that is of me.

(For Jien, in times of worship)
Posted by dangerous cat at 4:12 PM

Thank you, little lark =)

Fish!

Pomfret

Recently, we found that buying white pomfrets aren't that expensive after all. It's about €2+ for a frozen fish. It looks small, but it's a pomfret! What could get better than this~ well, fresh fish would, but that's too far fetched. And yea, that's our steamer from Tefal =) Boils the steaming water faster than any kettle.

White pomfrets

Tefal steamer =)