Patisserie, Alcohol & Belief

i know the title seems like a weird combination but they do very much related to our life

As you know some Patisserie has alcohol as one of its ingredient.

~~some people are juz simply alcoholic that a little bit of alcohol is no big matter
~~some are no big fan of alcohol but still socially consume it, a little bit in the cake doesn't harm
~~some has strong anti-alcoholism personal belief but the patisserie is juz too good to resist
~~some has religious belief that forbids them from consuming alcohol in any way/such strong anti-alcoholism that they never give a second look at those product or purposely avoid them.

well too bad they are missing out a good part of life (not a very big part tho)

Belief or not: alcoholism will harm your body/life, that's a fact
belief are laid out in such a way that the people will not go into alcoholism-abstinence is the best.
I agree.
but sometimes belief are so outdated. be it 200 BC or 200 AC, no one will expect that you can add a little rum in that nice little delicate piece of patisserie to make it heavenly thus resulting in its earnest followers to still behave in a very much ancient way nowadays.

this behaviour towards one small piece of patisserie is also a reflection of many bigger issues nowadays.

PS: i like to add a little redwine into my tuna and mushroom , the taste is better. I know it's a weird combo again. but at least it's still edible.

chocloate rum torte

The Bookiest time of my Life

found out that my $30 book voucher expired few days ago. Panicked. it totally slipped my mind mayb becuz i was too busy in bankstown. regretted for procastination for the pass few mths (well i was waiting for the newest edition of lonely planet-western europe)
went down to unibook shop today. asked the shopkeeper if i still can use it. the shopkeeper was so nice that i almost fall in love with him on the spot. haha " of course he said i can still use them lah!"
yonxian said i am so cheapskate and thickskin to use an expired voucher , but i totally dont' feel like it in anyway.... it's such an foreign idea to me that using an expired voucher =cheapskate....hahaha mayb i m born cheapskate. haha....y shld i throw away the 30 dollars i earned with my sweat and skin

linger around the med books section, concluded that i shld not buy a med related bk becuz:
1. i have had enuf of medicine
2. they are juz not worth buyin in OZ when i can get so much cheaper in msia
3. i have tonnes of e-books and the INTERNET google and medline.
4. even if i bought one, i m nt sure whether i will utilise it fully.
at the mean time i regret my decision of buying some med books the past few years due to my ignorance

then i wandered to the scientific writing section
saw the FAMOUS richard dawkins section and the notorious God Delusion....wanted to own it....(wondering what's all the fuss about) tried to borrow it last year during hols but it was so sought after that i didn't manage to hold it for more than 3 days before someone reserved it.

Read more about him Here

but then after watching the richard dawkin's documentary on God's Delusion recently which sorta gives the summary of the book. i agree with him with most of the points but disagree with how he interviewed the religious people, he shld hold a more open poliate perspective instead of being so intrusive, disagreeing and confronting when he was interviewing people. obviously he is going to agitate and offend people and make people look bad on the tv. when you disagree with people so strongly why bother interviewing them in the first place -_- (at least be fakishly polite when you interview them lah)

so i decided that i shall not buy his book
no point buying a book that tells me things that i have already known juz thru my logical thinking , reasoning and various encounters through my short 23 years of life

then i wandered to the Travel section
and found that the Lonely planet western europe is still not updated.
call bro for opinion. call the lonely planet office to ask for the date of the release of new edition
only found out that it would be january/feb nex year. by that time i'll be in europe d.
so no point buying. at the mean time, bro suggested me buying the china or eastern europe version. but figure not worth buying. I figure could easily get around in china by getting the travel pamphlets. no big scale drama

Fiction is my last solution
and i chose the final 2 :D after figuring i shall not waste my time on crime/romance fiction tho they still have their attractions

1.INFIDEL by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
read bits of it in MPH bondi
Hirsi Ali writes about her youth in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, about her flight to the Netherlands where she applied for political asylum, her university experience in Leiden, her work for the Labour Party, her transfer to the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, her election to Parliament, and the murder of Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the film Submission. The book ends with the controversy regarding her citizenship, which helped bring down the Dutch government.

The launch of the book in the Netherlands was a great success, with the initial print run selling out in two days. ^[4] A review in de Volkskrant concluded that "anyone who discovers Hirsi Ali's tumultuous history can only sympathise with her". The German edition of the book, Mein Leben, meine Freiheit, debuted in the top 20 of the bestseller list of Der Spiegel.

The book was also well received upon the release of the English edition in 2007. Reviewing the book for The Sunday Times, Christopher Hitchens called it a "remarkable book."Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum, writing in The Washington Post, said "Infidel is a unique book, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a unique writer, and both deserve to go far."A review in The New York Times described the book as a "brave, inspiring and beautifully written memoir". In an interview, Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria described it as "an amazing book by an amazing person".

-adapted from wikipedia
Click to know more about this Book and the author

2. ZADIE SMITH on Beauty
by recommendation of the shop keeper. he picked this amidst all the shortlisted books
Winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction 2006
and has a orange sticker of "a Great Book for a Rainy Day" *winkz*
i would like to add on a cuppa hot choc with it :) or free flow of Black Label Orange Juice
. seems like a interesting girl kind of book . i like the fact that it involves daily lifes
On Beauty centres on the story of two families and their different, yet increasingly intertwined, lives. The Belsey family consists of university professor Howard, a white Englishman, his African-American wife Kiki, and their children Jerome, Zora and Levi, living in the fictional university town of Wellington, outside Boston. Howard's professional nemesis is Monty Kipps, a Trinidadian living in Britain with his wife Carlene and children Victoria and Michael.

The Belsey family has always defined itself as liberal and atheist, and Howard in particular is furious when son Jerome, a newly born-again Christian, goes to work as an intern with the ultra-conservative Christian Kipps family over his summer holidays. After a failed affair with Victoria Kipps, Jerome returns home. However, the families are brought into proximity again nine months later when the Kippses move to Wellington, and Monty begins work at the university.

Carlene and Kiki become friends despite the tensions between their families. Rivalry between Monty and Howard increases as Monty challenges the liberal attitudes of the university on issues such as affirmative action. His academic success also highlights Howard's inadequacies and failure to publish a long-awaited book. Meanwhile the Belsey family is facing problems of its own, as they deal with the fallout of Howard's affair with his colleague and family friend Claire.

Zora and Levi both become friends with Carl, an African-American man of a poorer background than their own middle-class lifestyle. Zora uses him as a posterchild for her campaign to allow talented non-students in university classes. For Levi, Carl is a source of identity, as a member of a more 'authentic' black culture than Levi considers his own background to be.

~adapted from Wikipedia

click to know more about this Book and the author

you can see some similarities in both. Basically i want something that is empowering and strengthen my self belief through pple's life experiences.


i am actually looking forward to read them tho I dont' have the time yet.
As you know i dont' usually read but if i read i want to read something good and worthwhile
will definitely review on them once i m done. which could be well after my elective trip.

Karma + Impermanence

Karma 业障

After hearing the Bodhi night talk, i don't really like the idea of Karma from how it is being presented, not that i don't believe in it but i juz dont' like the way it is being advocated.

Bad Karma: people take note of what they say/do so that they don't hurt people, (this is good) but all these are done with the belief that one day it may get back to them in some ways. Good Karma: people do good things thinking that one day they or their future generation will receive good in the future .

isn't there some kind of similarity in this with christianity as well...if you don't do this and that, you will go to hell....so people behave " good" with that fear/belief in mind.
i certainly understand and agree how religion give a good guide to people in life....

but It's all about SELF SELF and SELF where are the ALTRUISM ?!!!

Being normal people, we can never be as saint as the reverend/monks/nuns
this is becuz they have gotten rid of all burden and obligations so they can afford to be as saint as how the teachings depict the ideal. it is juz so impractical/impossible for normal people to do that.

can you imagine one day when Bill gates, Barrack Obama or alikes ( i know it's not a good eg) realise the buddhism within them and decided to be the ultimate saint.... how is the current world going to function...........
so in my opinion: not being saint is not the norm pple's fault, they have their circumstances


IMPERMANENCE
******************
came ax this seemingly "chim" term around 2 years ago when
these is the only word my good fren's buddhist boyfriend gave her when he broke up with her while she is still much in love with him.
* i'm talking from a 3rd person's perspective

i was puzzled and confused and then I was like " What the HELL?!!!"
can you imagine how she felt at that time?

it is certainly abusing of the term

well we all know that knowing this life idea makes giving away your possession much easier (As you dont' hang on to it too much) but at the same time beware:please don't overabuse this term to bluff yourself and hurt others.

My last short holiday of the year

My Fight against Acne

this will be a half scientific and half autobiographical posting

Due to the nature of my inherited oily skin, I always have papules, comedones around my T zone

One pustule around that time of month. That’s about it, nothing more……………

1. Since adolescent

I tried various medication

Be it Dalacin-T (clindamycin) or Benzoyl peroxide (Oxy), they were pretty good temporary fix.

I used to buy cheaper Dalacin T and Retin-A (isotrenitoin) fr msia for my spore fren who has serious acne

That’s about it

2. Before I came to Australia, I tried facial in a beauty salon which is such a cheater. 90 bucks for some massage, steam and mask. And one free facial wash solution and the content was not even clearly indicated. She didn’t even squeeze my black heads. That was their promotion. Before that, the girls will shine a magnifying camera at my face, enlarging my multiple comedones and enlarged pores right back at me, giving me that oh it’s the end of the world and we are your savior but you have to join our long term programme to survive. And worst of all they compare it with the palmar surface of my forearm where the smoothest skin is. I was too helpless and ignorant at the time so I obliged. But it was juz one try cuz I have to leave for OZ soon.

I went to the local GP who prescribed me topical corticosteroid which totally dries up my skin and make it sensitive and vulnerable (N.B topical corticosteroid is a big no no for acne tx)

I bot the Facial wash with salicylic acid which apparently will help reduce oiliness and get rid of acne.but what it does is to sting my sensitive skin. I did my own mask almost every day which further aggravate the problem (do not scrub your face too!!!)

I heed my cousin advice that mayb I m overwashing my face. So I should be like her: juz rinse my face every morning with water w/o any detergent. (but I forgot that she has perfect complexion) so my skin got worse during that period.

What I didn’t realize is that The problem of my skin at the time was not the oiliness but the sensitiveness due to my over eagerness in treating it. When the skin was sensitive, whatever i put on it will juz aggravate it and the bact is more easily introduced.......

I bot some OTC benzoyl and retin-A over to Australia.

But since I came to OZ, the situation was becoming noticeable. Mayb it’s the air, the weather, the food, the water or the stress…..but whatever modifiable changes I made were all futile.

Pimples juz can’t stop popping out from areas that were so smooth before (the non-T zoneà cheeks)

And I don’t’ like the exacerbation brought on by retin-A (topical retinoids)

I was becoming desperate, I tried facial once which is too expensive to keep up to and my face was too sensitive to all the squeezing. I bumped into the dermatologist registrar in st vinnies, Hanna who gave me prescriptions for Retin-A and benzoyl. They were all non-PBS listed so I have paid outta my own pocket. Used them everyday, not significant changes…..so I gave it all up

For a significant period of time, I juz let it go………… w/o any treatment

Everyday I was contemplating should I pop that cystic zit or not. Everyday I look in the mirror and tell myself heck care that acne with considerable determination….i am going to face the world today w/o thinking about it but that pain of pus stretching the skin was lingering throughout the day. (yet that shows how conscious about it I still was) i can't help thinking how pple will get distracted by my acne who has its yellow pus still hanging in there.

I realize I can’t stop my activities juz becuz of it yet I have to bring myself to face the world. I was slowly emotionally drained…..

During my GP term, I got some OCP outta convenience. Found the oiliness of my skin significantly reduced but zits still come out all da time. Was actually doubting the effectiveness of various topicals when the drug reps were promoting it cuz I myself is a very good case study. I was exasperated…. I didn’t realized how depressed I was.I started blaming my parents for not taking me to dermatologist asap back in msia juz to save the money. Instead we stray to other path such as the GP, the facial, the less dietary meat theory blah blah blah. Seriously I think I’m the kind who got depressed but disguised it so well. People will be so shock to find me committing suicide one day. I was actually crying everyday w/o reason… this acne thing juz eats me silently. But somehow my mom who knows me so well can see thru my emoness juz thru the blurry msn camera – the more she probe into me, the more I can’t contain my emoness. She was so worried that I can feel that she regretted of sending me to OZ.(that’s what I think) Well i thot it mayb the OCP that cause me to have some emo moments but I will tell you later it’s so not it.

i was so obsessive to the point that i actually photoshop my pics during a period. tellin myself that acne is a temporary problem and i will get over it. so i shall not leave any marks on the photos. and in the future i can juz pretend that i have never had acne before. HL knows about it...

Finally, I made up my mind and got myself a referral to a dermatologist and strongly requested for Ro-accutane (after much research on textbk, internet forum and wiki) although he suggested oral Ab doxycline initially. I juz don’t care. I don’t wanna waste my time and money juz in case it doesn’t work. My conclusion is what is oral Ab goin to do about the acne. It’s not goin to help in reducing the pathophysio anyway. When I try, I want to go for the Best for my money. Thus, despite the possible depression as one of its side effect, I took the chance w/o looking back

Days gone by….my complexion significantly improve that I found myself looking into mirror LESS

I found one less thing to worry everynight before sleep and every morning. My Mood significantly improved, I was able to participate in more stuff without much distraction. So I concluded that those cases of suicidal depression after ro-accutane are not actually due to ro-accutane itself but the residual effect of the acne. It was too late for those poor kids to take ro-accutane.

The time and money was all worth it for both my physical and emotional well being…the key is never delay treatment. Clean n clear blue color oil bloater is still my BEST friend tho.

I’m now 3 mths into the tx and I stopped OCP as it has SE on my body. I m able to tolerate ro-accutane at the moment. Have to take it for 6 mths. Hopefully I can recover fully and it will never recur. as for the scarring hope it will fade away ...................

These are the things that people who are blessed with good skin will never understand.

Advice is

Topicals such as Salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, clindamycin, retin-A does help

But when situation cannot be contained anymore or it affects you so much, pls go to a specialist and seek advice. Don’t go to facial salon or Chinese med shop. You will realize that GP tend to be reserved and the most they can prescribe is Antibiotics. So please use ur logical reasoning and decide for yourself.

facial will help if you do it regularly to clean your pores and get rid of the black heads which are the precursor of acne. but bear in mind that some of the comedones (esp the close one) can't be remove that easily

I shared my experience with one of my friends who suffered from the same problem. I could totally understand how she feels and I don’t’want her to fall into the same maze as me. she was amazed to see how much I improved over 2 months when she was still struggling with that Chinese medicine regime

But I was shocked to find out that she got her supply of roaccutane from her China friends w/o seeking any specialist advice or undergoing any baseline bld test. Seems like I’m her specialist *_* I strongly discouraged her to do so but I can’t really overright her so Juz have to wish her all da best then…….

this is a wikipedia link on some quite useful info on acne vulgaris

Netball

the UNSW winter Comp finally came to an end sometime in August.
really enjoy my time playing netball with a bunch of strangers. it seems like i have quite a different agenda as compared to my last year.....a better change :D
even more fruitful as i see how we grow as a team netball is sucha team sport
no regrets for joining it at all .............
hopefully i wil b back in time for another game next year when i'm back fr the trip.
*you can see more of the pics in my netball album in facebook

Bodhi Night - as a choir member

participated in the Bodhi Nite on 30 Aug 2008
Last year i was the receptionist, this year i was the choir member. it was kinda last minute tho.
*i m never an active member of unibuds* _*
didn't manage to go for weekly practices so i sorta memorised the songs before hand on my own.
and juz went for the rehearsal on the performance day itself. sang 3 songs in total..
i surprise myself by memorising the Sutra song " Jaya Manggala "
which consists of strings of malay sounding words which i don't comprehend till i read the explanation in English. it's hard to memorise songs when you don't understand it and the tune was repetitve with many small variations
funny thing was that when i was memorising it in Bankstown i can slowly turn horizontal with the song still looping in my earphone.

the day was action packed.
early in the morning i was still like a zombie from the late night last minute memorising
i continued memorising with my choir friends in the morning

in between rehearsals we goofed around

the programme master

after 2 rehearsals and 2 nice meals

Lunch
dinner

The vegetarian meals were superb

the moment finally arrived
check it out it's FULL HOUSE

First Song- Jaya Manggala(hi level of difficulty)

i never experienced stage fright till that night when we sang our first song-Jaya Manggala.
i seriously SHIVERed - you can fill the chill down my spine. In my mind i was like " oh shit, are the audiences goin to see that >_< check out the outta the world lyrics on the screen!!!! and it's a 8 min song

in btw the 1st song, the reverend came up to bath the buddha statue

2nd song-Karma

our Last song is the Unibud songof course they have the sketch and many other musical performances

Emcees of the night ( Bilingual presentation)
the quartet

the fortune teller

the retarded brother

kungfu master


check out the apple tree man....i can't imagine this is still being done nowadays. so primitive:D
the finale - unibuds birthday cake

in the process i made many new friends as well as hang out with old friends

the badminton people

and then the bodhi night was concluded. Kudos to the committee and all those who contributed

the food people

the receptionists

the backstage
the archivists

the committee