Celebration of midwinter

It’s that time of the year again, no it’s not Christmas nor is it Chinese New year, it’s way before that! It’s Dong zhi (冬至)! Often this festival does not seem to be a big deal for me and my family back then, it’s just a time to eat tang yuan(汤圆) for us and as for the night before Dong Zhi, the time to make the tang yuan for the family by myself -.-

I didn’t really care much about this festival until I saw a recipe that served tang yuan stuffed with water chestnut cubes in red bean soup. I think I suggested this to my mother when I was 14 and from then on, eating this ‘upgraded version’ of tang yuan became a family tradition and something I look forward to every year! It’s really wonderful, you guys should try it! :)

I have always wondered what is the purpose of celebrating Dong Zhi? Apparently it is to mark the arrival of the Winter Solstice, the summit of winter/midwinter. I also always thought that ‘至’would mean the ‘end’ or ‘arrival’, hahaha, well it turns out that it actually means ‘extreme’, so that explains why it is the middle of winter season where the nights are longer than day. Other than the obvious reason to celebrate Dong Zhi, it is also the time for family reunion and that everyone is 1 year older now in the Lunar calendar! (On the contrary to popular belief, Chinese are not 1 year older during Chinese New Year, the celebration of the arrival of spring)

Now back to the more entertaining aspect of Dong Zhi, the tang yuan!! Traditionally, they are made in white and pink (glutinous flour mixed with water) and served in a sweetsoup (made from sugar, pandan leaf/ginger and water) They symbolize family union (made in a round shape) and prosperity (the pink ones). The more fanciful versions are multi-coloured ones, stuffed ones (fillings can range from black sesame to peanuts) and savoury ones(they often become more of dumplings). Even the broths can be in the form of mung bean soup, black sesame porridge or burbur cha cha. Everyone has their own creative version of this delightful dessert!

One thing I noticed is that uni students who are studying far away from home seem to appreciate this festival more. Thanks to the magic of supermarket manufacturing, students are often seen shopping around for ready-made tang yuan or for the more diligent ones, ingredients, during this time of the year. It’s funny to think that back then, they (or probably, just me) were kids who try to escape from the daunting DUTY to 搓(knead) the tang yuan, are now still carrying on the tradition in their own way. Instead of a family reunion, friends gather together to enjoy a bowl or 2. It seems that a new ‘family’ reunion has taken place here and that is the beauty of Dong Zhi. Family or not, it makes everyone come together to celebrate union and tradition.

Here is the tang yuan I had with my friends, we bought 3 packets of 10 ready made tang yuans. Unfortunately, they were pre-packed with 2 sesame fillings and 1 peanut filling. Luckily my first bite was a peanut filling i think! Sesame wasnt as weird as thought, taste like peanut but with different kind of 'fragrance'

Cryptic 'kawaii~' photos

we see all these weird pictures of girls posing with different angles of themselves in front of the camera. no, not in a modelly way but in a somewhat, they claim a ‘cute’ way. Often they like to pout(in a very distinct shape), or puff their cheeks, or look up to the camera wide eyed, and sometimes all of them at the same time! It just seems inhumanly possible to pull off those weird faces! now you all may think its just some harmless self indulgence of vanity along with a rubbery face, but it holds a scary truth!!!

the japanese who are known for their cunning knowledge on advanced technology, have invented a way of manipulating minds of the humans!!! by using simple hand signals and facial expression codes, they are able to communicate to one another and spread this mind manipulation method.

here are some hand signals and facial expression (FE) codes with their meanings:
(these are just hypothesized by scientists, we are yet to discover the true meanings yet. if we did, we wouldnt be facing this problem now would we?)

1. the ‘V" hand sign- now this may be the peace sign we normally pose. but when paired with a FE code, it functions as a hypnotising hand gesture to make you one of ‘them’. just by a glance of approximately 300 seconds, you have become one of ‘them’

2. the ‘fist’ hand sign- it means to attack, to punch, stuff your fist in the other’s mouth, nose, parts of the body with an opening etc.

3. the opened palm hand sign- to slap, whack, stuff in face to suffocate

4. the big, googly eyes- another way to hypnotize you into become one of ‘them’. this is more effective than the V sign. the moment you see it, you will lean closer, freeze and start having mind conflicts. this is also a method of diverging your attention.

5. the pout- when paired with a FE expression, it can alter your voice, making it high pitched and squeaky sounding, like a rat. on mild conditions, you’ll just sound like a baby.

6. puffed, blowed up cheeks- a signal to inform for an explosion or to give command for an explosive attack. explosives could possibly include nuclear weapons or weapons of a higher degree.

7. highly-blushed puffed, blowed cheeks- an urgent command for explosive attack. explosives could possibly include nuclear weapons or weapons of higher degree.

it is believed that when the FE codes are enhanced with make up, it means for immediate attack or more stronger forces.

the scientists believe that this knowledge was learned and altered from alien war signals and codes. they believe that the japs have invented a device capable of communicating with the extra terrestrials from outer space. we can see weird physical proportions of the faces of the photos, mostly found are massive, outrageous eyes; a very sharp triangular face; very big, dilated pupils etc. these parts of the faces are in exaggerated proportions which are not human but more like aliens!! these photos are commonly seen on the internet, but now have seem to spread to mobile phones. a very smart move indeed by the japs.

scientists have come up with a way to prevent yourself from becoming one of ‘them’ that is simply when you see a photo of ‘them’ quickly diverge your view within 3 seconds and eat lots of broccoli afterwards. this ay not be 100% the safest way, but scientists are working on a solution.

therefore, we must be careful of these deadly photos, if you know a friend who does it, better be careful of your back!

Note: This was written back in the days when Friendster was the most popular social networking site and that lots of girls liked to post pictures of them posing with bizzare looking faces. I was one of those 'haters' who disliked seeing those pictures. Hahahahaha, i'm still not fond of those kinds of pictures but i feel very much indifferent about it already now as i have 'mah-tuer' eh hem..... Anyway, more to come from Donut!

The truth behind your test papers!

ah yes, its been a while, for me its ‘a while’ because i have been time travelling to uncover more donut theories as you people who have been waiting for ‘not awhile’ maybe its been like 4 months or so.

now, enough of that. i am very sure almost every student here are going to have their mid-year examinations…do you all know what is the real purpose of having exams in the first place?? this is a shocking revelation!

first, what is the most noticable thing about your examination? the papers yes, ever notice how much paper has been printed, photostated, stacked, clipped just to ask students a few questions designed to either make or break you then is of no more relevance after 1-2 and a half hours?? do you? do you?? why all the fuss you say?

it is believed that this is a plot from the ‘higher authority’ so that more trees can be cut down to make more paper. the more trees cut down, the more land there is for spceship parking lots. yes, SPACESHIP PARKING LOTS!!!! our ‘higher authority’ is planning on galactic-tourism. the ‘higher authorities’ have notice a lot of alien residents here (they even have freindster for cream’s sake! just look at those weird photos!) that it is reasonable to prepare an environment full of hostility and attractions and building a parking lot is the very first step for this tourism business.

of course, this is just the beginning of the project and immediately dishing out the idea of galactic-tourism would cause many riots plus they need an excuse to cut down trees so the ‘higher authority’ is subtlely and has been quietly initiating this project for many many many years through examinations for students…..

seems like there’s gonna be extra income for parking tickets!

Note: Yes, it's been awhile since i last wrote in and I decided to post this from Donut because i liked the excuse I gave for not updating the blog for so long, time travelling is a task that makes you forget about the proper flow of time ;)

How math and science came about

Have you all ever wondered how math and science came about?? it certainly didnt come from some retarded looking kid who grew up inventing something useful to us and changed everyone’s perception on retarded looking kids!!! nor did it came from an apple, thats gravity! it all started at year-not-invented-yet A.D.

The great Atlantis flood happened. and obviously the smart ones found a way to rescue themselves with a boat. The dumb ones were left to drown of course. they row and row and found their way to shore and discovered us, normal humans! and they taught only to those who look weird and unique or reminded them of their drowned Atlantians, their powerful and advanced Atlantian knowledge! And from there, developed the science and maths of today.

So when you have too much homework to do or wonder who invented this certain subject fro examinations, blame the Atlantians, not the school or government.

From Facts, theories and a donut

Note: I guess i wrote this when i had too much math and science homework to do! I would like to credit Terry Pratchett since i think i found out about the supposed origins of math and science to this world from this book. I forgot which book it was, probably Night Watch, but his books really hold many untold truths about this world! O.O

Theories, facts and a donut

I stumbled upon my very, very, very ancient blog in Friendster. Yes, Friendster, i used to have an account a long, long, long time ago. I read some my posts from that blog and found that I was a really imaginative kid back then! I wonder what happened to all that nonsensical creativity I once had, growing up does make your mind drier, i guess. My old blog was called "Theories, facts and a donut" How random is that? hahahaha, unless this blog, I had to put some thought into the title whereas i think, i thought of theories, facts and a donut in just an instance!

I found my old posts and the way I think very amusing, not to boast one's trumpet, eh hem... I guess I was a very brave writer with a 'fuck you if you dont like it' attitude. I probably got that encouragement from listening to Eminem and in the phase of saying a lot of swear words in every 5 sentences i say. (Yes, i was quite a potty mouth :P) And I probably had Terry Pratchett t thank for the colourful imagination and words I used. But really, I wish I could think or come up with interesting posts like how I used to. Oh well, people have to grow up in someway, just shows that my mind has 'mer-tour' from the funny nonsense I used to think of. Anyway, let me share me old contents in this new blog!

Here is the introduction, my first ever blog post, ever.

hm, lets see. blogs, what a simple name for a complex thing. nope, this is not your typical ‘oh my boyfriend said i was fat’ blog, or ‘ i feel like slashing myself’ blog too. its a blog full of nonsense, thoughts, humour, but no donuts really. this ‘blog’ is full of possible theories on how the world should/could have/already turned out.

Conclusion: How the world should/could have/already turned out....beware! I'll re-post my old blogs in the future! So look out for those donut theories!!!

Bitter sweet pasta

It's me! yupp, i've been away for a while but i am back with a long story to share. Today, i decided to cook myself some Alfredo fettuccine with salmon and broccoli for dinner. i was kinda nervous because it's my first time cooking a New Zealand salmon steak, Alfredo sauce from a can and it's been a long time since i cooked fettuccine (i always just cook short pasta like elbow, penne or farfalle)

So, after an early shower at 6.30pm, i was ready to start cooking. Now, being a student who lives in a place with no kitchen, i have a handy induction stove. However handy it is, it's a real energy sucker, we'll get to that later. So, i started off by boiling the pasta al dente. While i was cooking, i smelled burning rubber and i was worried with the extension wire connecting my room's socket and stove. Like i said, i have no kitchen but there was a table next to a small sink. To prevent my room from smelling like oil and the floor being an oily mess, i cook there.

Anyway, i proceeded to adding my broccoli into the boiling water. Just when the broccoli were thrown in for 2 minutes, my whole place's electricity was cut off. Shit... I have had that experince before but it was only my room's electricity that got cut off; this time it was the whole freakin place! Luckily no one was at home so nobody freaked out except for me. Well, i only was freaked out a little bit for a tiny while. I checked, ok, it really was just my place with a blackout; checked the fuse box, everything is on, ok strange....

While i tried to salvage my pasta and broccoli with a torch light placed behind me, the electricity came back! Hallelujah! :D Ok, the show continues. Next, it was time to pan fry the salmon steak. I have diligently asked for advice on how to cook a salmon. The pan must be oiled and hot enough to prevent the salmon from sticking disastrously on the pan. So, i poured in enough oil to cover the base (probably 2 tbsp) and put the mode in 'Frying' mode. After hearing some 'pop' noises from the oil, i laid the fish on. Again, another mayhem has occur. The salmon unsuccessfully stuck to the pan. -____- We all know that salmon itself is a fatty fish and i think i may have put too much oil, so with the fishes fat coming out and the existing oil in the pan, everything was just a disaster. Well, again, i went on anyway, i fucked up the pan but i aint gonna destroy the expensive fish too!

I somehow managed to salvage the fish and the next stage with a much smoother flow, i managed to cook the Alfredo sauce. Well, it was from a can and i dare say shame on me for not knowing how to use a can opener. Hehehehe, it's been awhile and i had those no brainer types of can openers at home. I never used the traditional one with a handle. Of course, it was no daunting task for me to open it, and i was greeted with a heavy smell of mushrooms. Well, i did buy 'Alfredo with mushroom', ok, heavy white sauce + oily fish, i'm starting to wonder if this was a good idea..... O_O"

So after about 1 hour of kitchen labour, i managed to cook my Alfredo fettuccine with salmon and broccoli!

Tada! my Alfredo fettuccine with salmon and broccoli

Salmon saved! Phew!

* As you all know, i was too tired and lazy to pull out the DSLR to take photos, so i resorted to just my handphone

Final verdict: I was delighted that the salmon was quite good, i didnt overcook it :D (my sister would be so proud of me -v-) Despite being cooked ever so briefly, the broccoli were alright, i like them crunchy anyway. The pasta however was kinda umm, 'inflexible' and too al dente and some strands stuck together, i probably should have boiled it in more water and a longer time... The Alfredo mushroom sauce was well, very 'mushroomy' and heavy. It tasted decent until my worst thoughts came true when i was almost finishing my plate- it was getting greasy. You know, the feeling like you want to throw up from eating something too greasy and heavy? In BM, it's called muak! And i definitely felt it when i was at the last leg of my plate. Well, i forced it down and gulped a lot of apple juice afterwards.

My conquest to cook myself a fancy dinner turned into a bitter sweet experience. I had an alright meal but i had to go through a lot of mayhem to cook it. Well, at least i experienced it, 1st step to learning is to make mistakes anyway ;) now i know how to cook salmon and to leave cooking white sauced pastas to the chefs. Oh, and to never ever use an extension plug with an induction stove! (You might read some labels that tell you to pull out all the wire if handling high voltage appliances, well, dont bother using them, it's VERY dangerous, unless you have an insulated wire)

Back in time

I am a person who enjoys remembering the good old days, well who doesn’t? Remembering back the past, no matter how good, bad or ugly things were, it would always make you laugh your heart out. Tonight I got to relive my childhood a little.

I finally found the movie Aladdin from Disney (1992). It was my most favourite Disney cartoon I guess! Remember back then when we used to watch shows on big, heavy and boxy TV sets? In that time, there was no Astro yet and not even CDs have come along, let alone DVDs. The luxury us kids had were the cable channels and VCRs! Can you recall the black rectangular boxes that have film inside? Those were tapes! Anyway, I had an Aladdin tape and as a kid, I would always play it to watch the cartoon when I was bored. Cartoons back them weren’t adorned with those fancy terms like 3D or HD. They were drawn movement by movement by the Disney animators with good old pencil and paper. The colours were all done with watercolour! Being much older now, I can truly appreciate the works and effort the dedicated animators put into the film.

I was really, really impressed at the detailed facial expressions the animators have drawn out for each characters. Every twitch, wink and blink was not left out. Well, Disney wouldn’t be Disney without their eye for details eh? And of course there are the fun and catchy songs in the movie that goes “Prince Ali, fabulous he, Ali Ababwa!”. Who can also forget the most classic love song, ‘A whole new world’? Yes the story is for kids and life isn’t as easy as it seems in cartoons, but they still portray important and valuable moral lessons like always be true to yourself and others, love and kindness is more important than status and wealth and that brain is always better brawn!

If you people out there are ever free, do find some time to look for your old classic Disney cartoon!!

After that, I finally found the name to an old song that I always hum to! It’s ‘Seiring dan sejalan’ by Shahrifah Aini and Broery Marantika! My goodness, finally I know the name of the song, thanks to my friends who searched for it!!! I think it was the first malay song I heard! I remember that I used to be the first to wake up in the morning to watch the morning cartoons. Of course I usually wake up too early and ntv7 would just put some music videos before actually broadcasting shows of the day. They usually start with this song first and being catchy and happy as it is, I really liked it and I still remember the tune till this day!

Ahh, those were really the good old days of my life! Well, the best is yet to come! Enjoy the song! Lalalalalala~~ :D

My coffee theory

Coffee or tea? I am a coffee lover but I think I am slowly accepting tea as well. I think I had my first actual cup of coffee when the first Starbucks ever in my home state opened nearby where I live. Actual cup meaning I actually finished the cup of coffee. Past cups that didn’t counted for me was because I was young and I just took a sachet of those instant coffees and mixed with too much water. The after 1 sip of the awfully bitter taste, I never drank the thing ever again. Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t start drinking coffee because of the fame franchise being a stone’s throw away from my home. I always thought that coffee can keep one awake when they need to. For my case, it was exam week, I was on some last minute revising and I had to sacrifise my afternoon nap for studying.

I attended morning schools back in secondary school, so it meant having to wake it early in the morning and by noon, I would have felt god damn tired already. Furthermore, thanks to the “exciting” task of sitting at the desk and staring at a thick block of paper with black and white printing on it, which contents don’t make any sense at all, it was extremely hard to keep awake. Anyway, back to the coffee! I thought that drinking coffee could keep me awake. But it didn’t, I fell asleep at the desk anyway….hehehe….-v- years later I figure it must have been the full lunch I had before my revising session that made me ‘inevitably’ sleepy. (it was rice and carbs do make you sleepy!)

Then, came college and again, the old habit of doing work at the eleventh hour kicked in. I was seriously tired from classes and not having enough sleep, so I thought I drink some coffee. Well, I fell asleep next to the desk again. Is coffee that useless to keep us awake? Or am I strongly resistant to coffee? To disprove the latter, I actually felt more awake when I drank coffee after waking up in the morning or when i couldnt keep my eyes open anymore from stodgy classes.

After much trial and error, I have discovered that coffee only works when you are sleepy. For example, when you had a good night’s rest but when you wake up, you still feel like half asleep. Coffee will give you the jolt you need to be fully awake for the day! Whereas if you are tired, coffee will not work on you, in fact, it makes you even more sleepy, I think! When your body is already at the point of almost shutting down, no amount of coffee will restore back your energy. In Chinese belief, there are certain foods that are ‘hot’(brings heat to the body, ex: spices, lamb, red beans) and ‘cold’(cools the body, ex: mint, mung beans), coffee is ‘hot’ which tires your body even more, thus it makes you even more sleepy.

So, that is my theory! Don’t bother drinking coffee when you are too tired to work. Maybe get a short rest or if you have to, drink energy drinks (I never drink energy drinks before, I don’t know if it’ll be as useless as coffee). If you are just sleepy coz you still don’t feel like waking up, or your class is too boring for you to bear, then have a cup of brew!

Barcelonian charm

I have just watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona for the 4^th time. Yes, I am that free to watch the film again but actually the film itself is quite good and the more I watch it, the more I understand the ‘dark humour’ genre that director, Woody Allen is famous for. The 2008 film stars Scarlet Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. Quite a star studded cast and as expected, performed well in the film.

I particularly liked Rebecca Hall who plays Vicky in the film. She is an English actress but takes on the role of an American girl who is sure about her life till her trip to Barcelona. She prefers to be with someone in a stable relationship and strong commitment. In the film, she is engaged to a businessman, Doug. She can pull off the American accent and delivers a performance that is good in the film. Since she is portraying a normal girl in everyday, I guess you don’t need much other than being natural. I have seen her in Dorian Gray, and in comparison, I do see a difference in the characters she portrays so, kudos to her.

Cristina on the other hand, played by Scarlet Johansson, is more of an artsy soul who seeks more adventurous romance. Quoted from the movie, she has reluctantly accepted that pain is a part of passion and that she is willing to accept it for love. She doesn’t know what she wants in love, only what she doesn’t want. I think that the roles that Scarlet chooses are normally in the same line, I saw her in Match Point, another Woody Allen film, so I couldn’t make a comparison. I had a friend said that she always looks moody and pretentious, with an artsy soul in her characters. I don’t see much diversity in her, so maybe she is.

One night, they met Juan Antonio, an artist played by Javier Bardem who invites them to Oviedo for the weekend. It is from that fateful weekend that Vicky and Cristina’s lives take a turn. Javier Bardem was exceptional in this one; he portrays a romantic who tries to live life to the fullest. He always says that life is short and that we must enjoy it. He is contend with life but has a troubled divorce with Penelope Cruz’s character Marie Elena. She is a gifted artist who is also eccentric. As he said, they were meant for each other and not meant for each other. They often had arguments and fights which eventually lead to a violent divorce. Penelope Cruz was also very good in this film. In fact, I think she won an Academy and BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress and nominated in the same category in the Golden Globe.

Obviously, the setting of the film is in Barcelona, Aviles and Oviedo. I was so captivated by the charming places shown in the film. And like Cristina, I really liked the Spanish guitars and the places the little performances were held. In one scene, after dinner, Vicky and Antonio went to watch a man perform under a gazebo. He was sitting in the centre and was surrounded by his audience. Vines were hanging off the pillars and it was just so nice and romantic with the music playing softly in the air. The film also showed a lot of art and paintings which gave me idea that Spain is a beautiful place full of art and culture which I would love to immerse myself in. The weather shown is always sunny or windy where I can ride a bike beside vineyards or drink some coffee in a Spanish garden and capture my surroundings in paper. Then with the warm balmy nights, (I love how they describe their nights, ‘warm and balmy’)I can enjoy some wine and calming Spanish music. It’s very alluring and charming, the way Woody Allen showed a summer in Barcelona to us, and I really wanna travel there someday, thanks to this film!

Needless to say the actors are brilliant, the story about love and human relationships is ambiguous and interesting and the setting is captivating. The film has garnered a lot of excellent reviews so there is simply no reason to not watch the film!! Enjoy!

Check out the trailer here! Dont be mislead by the promiscuity of the trailer, i dont know why they wanna show it that way which just ruins a great film.