Differences #3

The kind of things that amuse and amaze me.

I find it interesting that...

• Ppl here think that 22 deg C is tropical, 24 deg C is a heatwave, but in general, 30 deg C is nice weather. It has been getting hotter (relatively), but i still have to suppress sniggers at comments like "it's getting so hot, we're all gonna die" *chuckle* xD
• Grass here doesn't seem as "juicy" as in sg - more fine and dry. Noticed late considering the amt of grass I've alr walked through
• Ppl here find hanging roast meat behind glass cases (think chicken rice stalls) interesting
• At work, Health, Safety and Environment hold v high importance. Recycle bins are used to their fullest and things like whether a cable could cause a trip hazard in the office are carefully considered. Such a deeply ingrained culture that we can learn from.

This last bit doesn't really fit in the sentence structure: we've met some interesting qns about sg. I've been asked if sg has any natural resources. Word for word that qn and I gave the answer we've been taught to give since years past. J was asked why we 3 speak to each other in English. [The context was that we were calling D on the phone while we were with J's sup and we spoke in English. We do chatter a lot in mandarin in the office though, it's convenient when we want to comment openly and dun want others to know what we're talking about ;)]

So basically, this proves how tiny an island sg is. We grow up knowing about the huge nations in the world and we are fascinated by them. Some of us dream of going to these countries to study/live. But flip it around, how many ppl elsewhere actually know that much of sg? To most of the world, sg might well be some random island off china. It's really nice not to be written off. It's really awesome when ppl are curious about my country. They ask because they don't know, but at least they bother to ask. And I'm always happy to answer.

Work-related Happenings

(7th - 18th July)

The previous fortnight's worth of work-related awesomeness.

1) Workload up (7th - 18th July)

My direct supervisor has been on holiday these past two weeks. This means that I had to cover for some of the things he usually does. It also happened to be the period for govt reviews, which means pulling together presentations from many different project teams. I have never had such a bad breakout of pimples in my LIFE. I think there were a total of 6 [to put things into perspective, I usually only get max 2 pimples during the exam periods]. Again, my body seems to know things (i.e. that I'm under stress) that I dun consciously feel.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it! The work is such that I have to contact many different ppl, and I get to sit into the reviews as well, which means FREE LUNCH. I also got to work more with the others in my team because my direct supervisor wasn't around. Usually, I get my tasks and help directly from him. It's almost like making friends with a new bunch of classmates who are really very nice. Not to mention that if he were around I wouldn't have had to do the things I was doing for the past 2 weeks. More work = busier = greater satisfaction due to accomplishment.

Just a little smth that made my day at one of the reviews. One of the project leads talked to me and said she understands the things that make being an intern tough (e.g. having to chase ppl and finding it hard to get responses) because she was once one herself. So yea, just a simple, nice encounter. :)

2) Fly By (Thurs, 17th July)

I rmb going to Changi Beach (always random family time) to stroll and watch the planes roar overhead otw to the airport. What I saw on this day was the Airbus A350 XWB flying just about slightly above that height, and what I heard was nth more than a purr. The Trent XWB engines were so silent!!! Not gonna go into technical detail here but it was Amazing.

It also looked like the pilot was having fun - the plane was like dipping and rising over us in the sky. Not so good for the passengers maybe xD And it seemed that the whole of RR emptied onto the street to watch the fly by. Worth it! And that was the nicest day (hot to the locals) we'd experienced at that time, which is great for the view.

 
3) A True Angmoh Dinner (Thurs, 17th July)

J's supervisor really kindly invited us to dinner for that night, or more like for tea. Tea and dinner in fact refer to the same thing (what we normally call dinner), but apparently, "dinner" is a posher term. Suits me fine yea hahaha~ Pre-dinner activities included exploring the house in awe - large kitchen, large dining room, 3 sitting rooms, garage, huge, beautiful garden - and ask about all the plants in the garden and pluck some runner beans for dinner.

So it was typical ang moh jiak for dinner that night! Starters was tomato and herb oil (? really dunno what the dish is called but it was awesome) with mozzarella and bread, where you have to slice the bread yourself. Fish pie for mains - fish baked under mashed potato. I actually asked if that was what they usually ate or if it was just for entertaining guests, and it turns out that what we ate was normal everyday fare. Oo. The food was good, a nice change to 1 veg 1 meat with rice/pasta. And I admire the amount of thought and thoroughness put into their cooking as compared to our normal meals. You know, veg and meat just boil or 炒 with some taste. Just different cooking styles and even though it's a normal dinner, there are courses! But it's not smth I'd eat on a normal basis. I suppose it's like a once in while family dinner at a nice (affordable) restaurant, which I wouldn't need/want all the time. Dessert was home made ice-cream and then, it was off to the next exciting thing of the day!

4) Sword Dance (Thurs, 17th July)

Ya this day v happening, coz this was part of J's sup's after-work package - dinner, then dance. Her sup is part of a dance troupe specialising in the rapper dance, which in layman is a kind of sword dance. Some background here: http://www.rapper.org.uk/intro/rapper.php They got silver for an international competition for this form of dance which I'd liken to a mash of folk dance and rhythmic foot-tapping with "swords". The "swords" aren't real obviously, more like wushu performance weapons - not sharp but can hurt if flicked at someone.

We were put into a group of 5 and we actually practiced some sequences, starting from easy to really complicated. There was a lot of scuffling and stretching around because the key is not to let go of the "swords" throughout the moves which usually involve weaving around the other group members. No mean feat due to the height difference throughout the group. Among the 3 of us we also shared a pint each of beer and cider, courtesy of J's sup. The troupe practices at a pub for free IIRC, and part of the deal is for each person to order at least 1 drink each time they are there.

So we had drinks and reached home at 11pm that night and it was only a Thurs! We'd actually left earlier coz I had to be at work by 7.30 on Fri. Maybe things here are more hapz than I've always thought hahaha.

5) Getting "lost" (Fri, 18th July)

 The last thing to do on Fri was to get back home. I'd been attending a review at a research centre in the city of Coventry, about an hour south of Derby in good traffic. As usual, the end of work on a Fri means a hellish time on the road. [The previous time I was there, my sup and I were on the road for 3 hours coz of an accident on the motorway which caused 2 out of 3 lanes to be closed off and which happened at the far END of the motorway] And so, the colleague I was hitching a ride with decided to go another untried way.

We ended up meandering the roads for some time before we were sure of where we were again. But the atmosphere in the car was really ticklish and the 3 of us inside spent a lot of time giggling over the fact that no one (esp clueless me) really knew where we were going. In the end, instead of "boring old M1", I got treated to the scenery of winding country roads. We passed fields ready for harvest and crossed a stone bridge over marshy/flooded land. I must've seen thousands of cows and endless hills and wheat fields since I got here, but I think it takes a v jaded person to get bored of such beauty.

And I dun think I'll ever stop appreciating the view :)

Story of the Lost Sheep #2

Lost Sheep need to eat as well. The mission is to eat the greenest affordable grass :D [eating habits is a tale for another day, when/if I decide to spill on living with friends] Story #1 is on the old LJ page btw!

On Food/Groceries

1) Go to the large supermarket branches - think Giant in tampines, that kind. The variety is much greater there than in smaller branches and hence, the higher the chance of finding better deals. They open late as well (10pm). This facilitates both buying in bulk and buying after work. The only drawback is that these may be inconvenient to get to without a car. If a car is a given, there're petrol pumps there too.

2) Cabbage is the NUMBER 1 MAGICAL SUPERSAVER VEGGIE. For 3 ppl, a single cabbage can well last 4 meals (3 if small) and costs all of 69 pence. Note however, that cabbage is a white veggie which means that iron needs to come from somewhere else. What we usually do is buy one cabbage along with a variety of other leafy greens - the cabbage can last half the meals. It's good stir-fried or boiled into soup. Soup is my absolute favourite - I'm not sure I appreciated clear soup enough back home (always taken as a given). Take heed, cutting a cabbage pays homage to opening a durian - use a strong knife.

3) Berries and stone fruit are way cheaper here than you're ever gonna find in sg so eat more while you're here. Forget the tropical fruit, not worth the price.

Short funny story: Not relating to stone fruit but a more familiar seeded fruit. We spent some time laughing at a bunch of 5 sad-looking rambutans that cost £2.50 at the supermarket. That works out to about S$1 per rambutan.

4) Read the not just the labels but the ingredient content whenever unsure. Applies esp to asian food since the brands that you're used to may be rarely available, and the search for alternatives can lead to wrong outcomes.

Short irritating story: Dark soy sauce here has the same watery consistency of light soy sauce (or at least we haven't found thick ones). We mistook a LARGE bottle of sweet sauce (the kind that goes with sun kueh) for thick dark soy sauce. The label read smth like stir-fry sauce but we failed to see that it contained molasses.

5) Watch the expiry/best before dates. Esp when buying in bulk, ensure that the dates are far enough so that there won't be a mad rush to cook before the thing expires. Fruits and veggies are not too bad, maybe they grow a little mushy/have soft spots when not at their best and are USUALLY still ok, but meat is a different story. Even with freezing, don't risk keeping meat past the bbd, once bad there's no salvaging it.

Case-in-point: We've had to throw away minced meat on the day it was supposed to expire - there were faint black patches and going closer, a bad smell. Also, although we tried parsnips (all 3 of us for the first time) we still can't be sure if it was supposed to taste that way coz we cooked ours 3 days past the bbd.

6) Thaw frozen meat early. Not compulsory but helps to reduce the agony of delayed cooking due to the solid frozen meat while you're about to faint due to hunger. Snacking before dinner is not a v good solution btw. In the morning before setting off, just rmb to bring the night's dinner out of the freezer into the fridge.

7) Know your portions. Ahh tis smth we've always struggled with and seems to sync better with another Story. So all I'll say here is, to avoid keeping cooked food for too long in the fridge, portion wisely. Cooked rice kept for a week? Edible, but not the best.

Climbing in Derby

(Sun, 6th July)

Visited the local climbing gym (http://alter-rock.co.uk/) alone on a fine Sunday afternoon. I willingly took a 30 min walk from home to get there, which my parents disapproved of. [yes, there was a faint air of lingering unsafeness, esp in the residential areas. It's not sg and it's not a pleasant feeling, which was why on the way back I took a different route]

On to the gym itself: architecture-wise, it smth different - the building is actually an old church. It still looks like an old church from the outside, but the inside's been converted. Most of it consists of highwalls, with a relatively small boulder area (about SRC-sized). Have harness no partner, so boulder it was. There are taped routes but honestly nth to rave about. 

My experience was mehh because of a few things: (1) the last time I'd climbed was 6 weeks previously and uh, I didn't feel v much like a climber at all (2) I paid an equivalent of S$27.50 for my first climb there (£5 lifetime membership and £8 entry fee) (3) climbing alone made me miss UMC a lot...

Nevertheless, it was a remedy for fingers that had been itching for so long. At any one time I also pretty much had half the place to myself. As per every first-climb-in-a-long-while, I went away with raw fingers and a sore back, but against all odds, I found myself still able to do 3 pull-ups (truly extremely surprised). I'll go back, not just coz I need to make the lifetime membership worth, but coz there is no choice other than to not climb at all.

Relocation

Hello and welcome to my new space in a different address!

I was getting quite pekchek with LJ, [the only reason I chose to use LJ was coz of a certain friend who locks her posts but whom doesn't post v actively anymore anyway tsk ;)] so I decided to jump ship. LJ was quite boring and user-unfriendly - I couldn't even customize the font. I believe anyone can comment on blogspot as well, so I won't need to double post to FB. Good thing there's no other 'chalknchowder' anywhere else!

I'm not gonna do anything to the LJ side, just leave it alone so that I (or anyone else who wishes) may revisit the stories. But for future memoirs [if I'm still awake after dinner I might write a Lost Sheep post], do keep an eye on this space instead :D