a taste of summer

i had a craving the other week for something savoury that would taste refreshing and celebrate the season. i had remembered seeing a recipe for mango salsa in one of my food magazines but since i had lent it out to a decent-food-deprived (a.k.a normal student) friend, i found a recipe on epicurious.com and decided to tweak it.

this goes great with pork (i served it with roasted pork loin steaks that i had marinaded with salt, pepper and rosemary overnight) and i would imagine, be really nice with some grilled chicken as well.

Mango Salsa

1 mango, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
bunch of coriander leaves, torn
4 pickled piquante peppers, chopped (alternative: 1/2 capsicum, chopped)
juice of 1/2 lime
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

(it is advisable to make the salsa at least 1hr ahead so that the flavours really come through)

i also made a middle-eastern-inspired aubergine (brinjal/eggplant) dish to accompany the pork and mango salsa simply by frying some chopped onion and chillies (with the seeds removed) in lots of olive oil, then adding the chopped aubergine and briefly frying it before adding salt, pepper, ground cumin and tumeric powder. it is really important to add lots of oil (i used olive oil because it IS very middle-eastern and lots of it is not unhealthy) because the aubergine will absorb quite a lot of the oil and needs it to fry through well. fry for about 10mins or so until you get most of the aubergine nicely browned/charred.

a regression of sorts?

last week i had a bit of a 'i-need-to-go-shopping' thing going on which started when Phoebe told me that Topshop was having a mid-season Sale and that she had been doing some online shopping to de-stress. i was in the midst of tackling my intense essay and decided to look online to see what they had. as soon as i saw that they had this (below) on sale, i knew i definitely needed to go shopping. i've been wanting to buy a pair of denim overalls or a pinafore for ages (i mentioned it several times when i was in Poland with Ivy and she and Paul teamed up against me to make fun of the fact that i will look even more childish wearing one - Ivy even forbade me to window-shop for one!)
the best thing about shopping at Topshop is that, as i recently discovered, you can still get a 10% student discount even on sale items! so this pinafore was knocked down from £20 to £10 (marked sale price) to £9 (special price for ME! hahaha!)

then i walked past Diechmann (shoe shop) and at the entrance of the store, they had £3.99 shoes! you know those kind of plastic-ky sort that every girl who grew up in Singapore probably wore when they were little girls (in sparkly pink!). i had, after my quick purchase in Topshop, gone shopping in Primark (innocently for tights but was persuaded by £2.50 tops - couldnt decide if i liked the yellow or green more so bought both), so i was thinking that buying those shoes on impulse would not be the wisest decision (impulsive buys = what-were-you-thinking moments later in the year) and walked away. however, i kept thinking about the shoes the entire evening and the next day so i went back and bought them.now i am just wondering how much more childish i will look if i wore both together...

in appreciation of my dad

my parents are renovating the house which i can imagine is a nightmare because they are actually doing a whole load of stuff (ripping out built-in wardrobes, completely gutting out toilets, re-positioning the sink and the cooker in the kitchen...) and they have been trying to sort out my room with me online. so when it comes to the question of "what colour do you want your room" (and "what about the wardrobe"/"do you want your toilet walls the same colour as well"), it is quite a headache on both sides since we are both not looking at the same colour palette (or even ANY colour palette at all) and trying to decide.

my dad has been working from home these days and i've been getting several emails from him that just make me smile. he probably is rather bored at home so he scanned in several pages of colour charts for the wardrobe (solid colours and woodgrain), zipped it into a folder and gave instructions for me to choose by telling him which page, row and column i decided on. then he did a powerpoint of photos that my mom took of the bathroom stuff when they went wholesale shopping and added arrows and text boxes with information about what is going into whose bathroom.

so much love... :)

if i was renovating my house and my children were away, i'd not bother and just decorate it to my own taste. HAHAHA...

Swamped

this is rather annoying but for the last week, Mozilla has refused to let me use Blogger. everytime i type in www.blogger.com, an error message will appear and Mozilla will just shut down. URGH. so now i'm using Internet Explorer just for a quick post.

have been mega-ly swamped with work that it is absolutely insane. not to mention that i am down with the flu (yes, it is official... as much as i was dreading it) so for the past two nights, i've been waking up at least 5 times to blow my nose. lynn is sick too (with a bad cough) so together we form a symphony on the first floor.

my room looks terrible! i've just got piles of papers and books all over the floor, table and on my bed. i even took a picture of how my table looks because this has got to be the most hard-core essay i am writing! and i have been so focussed on work that i havent even been that bugged by how progressively dirty my kitchen is becoming.

i'm really hoping the tutors will like my essay - after all the hard work i've put in. my parents should also be really proud that i am constantly referring to the Bible and typing out Scripture passages in my essay (GREAT, isnt it! haha...). this is one of those times when i am really glad i brought my super heavy Amplified Bible to uni...

[oh and perhaps you are wondering why i am using Scripture in my essay - that's because i am writing an essay on the importance of religion and religious identity with respect to experiences of historical and political violence in the works of two Jewish writers/artists.]

i cant wait for these essays to be done and out of the way! then it will be revision all the way till 30 May when i am officially done with my academic life! i know i'm really looking forward to it now but i have a funny suspicion that once i'm done, life is going to feel strangely empty for a while...

SPAM

I received an email entitled RE:Application for Summer Internship Programme and was wondering what Internship did I possibly apply for this year...

Many thanks for your application and interest in the 2007 Intern Scheme XX!

As you know, we received over 600 applications for the 2007 intern scheme and you did extremely well to be shortlisted for the final applications. However, we found it hard to whittle that down to the final 10 successful candidates as the calibre of candidates was so high this year.

Unfortunately on this occasion you have been un-successful in our intern process as the calibre of candidates was exceptional.

However, I would like to thank you for taking an interest in XX and taking the time out to apply to us.

Kind regards,
XX

-----Original Message-----
From: Adeline Li
Sent: 15 March 2006 02:16
To: Interns
Subject: Application for Summer Internship Programme

Thanks for the nice email but if I dont need an internship, I need a job! Which you already turned me down before. Talk about double blow!

The Unsaid

I stood at the gate
You asked if I wanted a picture
I had wished not to come
You were aggrevating my uneasiness

He has resisted coming
I knew exactly why
But was not facing it a way of
Burying his head in the sand?
I had wondered also why
He did not want to enter the synagogue
Or the cemetary of broken tombstones
Where bodies mingled be
Was he afraid
Of the emotions that would flood?
Or was it simply him uncomfortable
With thinking about the dead?

You saw my face and knew the answer
And walked behind me in silence
We had come and we were prepared
An awkward chill went through me
I looked at the faces on the walls
And thought of the mothers' pain
Of losing their seventeen-year-old sons
Then it hit me, they were killed too
Who is left to grieve now?

My stomach churned and anger rose within me
When I saw tourists taking photographs
Posing with instruments of death,
With artifacts of torture
To them this was just another tick
On the checklist of their visit to the country
A photograph of proof
That they have stepped into this historic place
Could they not respect the dead?
Have they no understanding of
What happened there?
Are they the embodiment of
What went wrong
When people ceased to be humans
And instead became serial numbers?
If silence is an admission of defeat
How is telling any better
When the audience does not feel?

Either way we have failed.

oh glorious ice cream

i was on epicurious.com searching for a good ragout recipe since i had the craving for a thick chunky meaty ragout to have over pasta tomorrow night (as you can tell, i usually like to plan what i eat for the next few days so that there is a> something to look forward to and b> it facilitates grocery shopping) and on the sidebar there was an advert for a Haagen-Dazs competition where people vote for their favourite idea for a new flavour. so going to the Haagen-Dazs website, i discovered the wide variety of ice cream flavours they actually have. like chocolate sorbet, anyone?

so now i have a craving for a scoop of creamy Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Strawberry shortcake... Coffee... Lychee... on the other hand, i'm also trying to figure out how to get my hand on some of these amazing flavours. who cares about diets! give me Haagen-Dazs!

www.DanSing.org.sg

i just received an email about this new website dedicated to dance in Singapore and i must say that it does actually look pretty good. the resources section looks well-thought-through (and is very clear and helpful) and Kuik Swee Boon is going to be the expert on the 'Ask An Expert' section. i didnt even know he is dancing (principal!) with Compania Nacional de Danza now!

www.dansing.org.sg

i finished it!

950 words in 4 hrs! which works out to be 237 words per hour...ish...

so i sat in the library for another 4-ish hrs doing research for my next essay. was reading a chapter in a book on Paul Celan's poetry and it was discussing his Jerusalem poems and i actually got all the references upon first reading the poems! like WOW! and it is SUCH A GOOD FEELING! especially since i usually dont get the poems i read in my post-1945 poetry class. since i've been to Jerusalem twice and am actually know a decent amount of the Bible and Jewish culture/history, i could visualise all the places he wrote of and the symbols he used.

and i find that his poetry really really speaks to me - even more than Plath does. perhaps it is because i can sense his anguish and understand the conflicts he has about his identity. i got all teary-eyed in the library and it was a good thing i was in a secluded corner so that i could feel sad without being embarrassed!

he is officially my new favourite poet.

10 hrs, 225 words per hour

improvement? measely...

i can't believe this but i am too early to get into the library!

see i was supposed to get the 8.24am bus to uni but since josh decided to drive to work instead, he offered me a lift to a bus stop nearer to uni. at 7.55am. free car ride? of course! because it meant less walking (yes i am THAT lazy). so now here i am, on campus at 8.20am, sitting in the computer lab because that is open 24hrs and really craving a coffee and starving. 10 more agonizing minutes till the cafe opens... fooooood...

i've decided i've grown old because my level of productivity when it comes to writing essays has dipped. i spent 6hrs in the library yesterday and only added 1,000 words to my wordcount. granted that i deleted a whole pile of rubbish that i had previously written, that probably takes my typing/thinking/formulating speed to 200 words per hour. what happened to the me that could write 3,000 word essays in 10 hrs? the night before it is due! 1 yr = 33% dip... scary...

but then perhaps it is because i can't type while listening to music, especially songs that i can understand the lyrics/sing along to. i put Corrinne May on and did negligable work for an hour because i was listening to the lyrics and feeling rather comforted.

Everything In Its Time
Sometimes I wonder what lies ahead
How long till my hunger is fed
They say it's hard to make it in this part of town
So many people on this merry-go-round
Some folks try astrology
Some turn to crystal balls
To find an answer,
To get through it all
I just fall on my knees and I try to pray
In the silence I can hear Him say

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time

I often feel like I'm two steps behind
Somebody must have moved that finish line
There are a thousand reasons
Why I should give up
But I'm stubborn in the things I believe

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign

'cause maybe there's another plan
One I still can't see
A little surprise, like your love in my life
Funny how time changes how we see

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time
Everything in its time

so i've decided, no music today! or at least no English songs today...

oh and a word of advice to everyone, always remember to mute your laptop before taking it into the library. especially because when Windows starts up, there is that loud bbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmm-thingy... :S

Thank You for the Cross, the Mighty Cross

Romans 8:31-39

God's Everlasting Love

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written:
"For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."*
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.