THE TREBLE

BARCA HAS DONE IT!!!

THE FIRST TREBLE TO BE WON BY A SPANISH TEAM!!!

VIVA LA BARCA




and I MUST take a dig at the man utd fans

do you know how many of your fellow loser "fans" logged off and pretended to go to bed when they saw barca leading with 20 minutes to go? SHAME ON YOU FOR DESERTING YOUR TEAM. for those who stayed on and rallied for your team, good on ya!

i thought man utd coulda done more, but i guess that first goal really shook them (and shook us up too). 57% predicted a man utd victory on soccernet? HA. that's football ;)

wheee time to prepare for project meetings in sch~~

today's gonna be sucha a great day~

SF continues

QL in his newly acquired Japan National Football Team Jersey

What is SF? u might be asking, and it's definitely not Science Fiction or Street Fighter, for you old school gamer friends of mine out there :D

Yes, it's the H1N1 Swine Flu. News updates reveal that Singapore has its first case of swine flu (from SMU apparently). Hate to hear that, and I must admit I am pretty darn worried for the people over there. So, it's the usual thingy, take care of your personal hygiene, eat healthy food, drink lotsa water, take lotsa vitamin C, refrain from mouth contact...etc (refer to my previous post for a longer list hahaha)

Speaking of which, I think my methods worked in nursing myself back to health. My sore throat's almost gone (save for that little bit of uneasiness that prevents me from singing...the falsetto part just won't come out now...gRRR). That's 2 weeks (and still counting) of abstinence from karaoke. YES, praise me! Sigh. Might I add, I didn't get to meet Miho as planned cos I thought it'll be better to stay home and nurse myself back to good health, just in case I did catch swine flu (which thankfully wasn't the case).

I still managed to squeeze some time out to bring my juniors from JSS and a Hong Kong friend around Shibuya and Harajuku though. Al beit, in a mask (LOL). It was really tempting though, since Ikimonogakari was having a concert at the CC Lemon Hall and I wanted to go (again). They're a Japanese pop/rock band, and while their songs ain't that epic, the guys and girls ain't super-hot-outta-this-world material, they have a special charm. Should we say...they feel close? It was like partying and just making merry at their concert, which was a great feeling :D We sang along and danced along with Kiyoe-chan leading (including the dancing part). DAMN. That Pugi-Ugi song is stuck in my head now!!! ARGHHHHHH

It's Champs League tonight (VIVA LA BARCA) BUT I DON'T HAVE IT AVAILABLE IN MY DORM!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
And I have school tomorrow so I won't be going to a pub to catch it. GROWL. Someone gimme access now pleasssse T_T

Oh well, while waiting for the match to start (are you nuts!?), I will be doing up my presentation slides and reports and research for erm...4-5 classes. Amazingly, I am actually pretty studious since coming to Japan. My profs (but more likely my classmates) will probably be the most surprised people besides my mum (chuckles). BUT (a big one this time)!! I've been having a good rest to recover from my flu-like symptoms and as a result, I'm behind my own schedule so I gotta buck up from now on. Sigh. No procrastination though, cos some how or other, I've ended up as leader for 4 project groups, with 3 other personal essay projects to complete. BAH.

At least mapping's settled. Thankfully enough, I managed to negotiate with my prof back in NUS and he's also willing to settle for a double compromise so that things become fair(er) to both of us. Guess this is part and parcel of the world, and win-win situations are really possible after all :) Good luck to all my other SEP friends who're battling with it though. Juniors, DO YOUR MAPPING WELL BEFORE YOU EMBARK

Ok, back to some serious work. Engine zenkai!

Voiceless days

As some of you may already know, I am having a *GASP* sore throat. Ok, still no swine flu (thankfully). I've missed...let me see...4 karaokes as a result of this (and 2 classes). Kinda amazing considering it's ME at issue, eh? Well, u gotta be a considerate citizen and do some precautionary measures cos after all, it ain't the first wave that we're afraid of, but rather the mutated second wave. I repeat, MUTATED second wave. Imagine a flu bug that's resistant to all current medicines and has an insanely high fatality rate (while retaining the easy-transmittance). Now, THAT's gonna hurt. And way more than the Spanish flu that many years ago.

BRRR, scary topics aside, it's time for QL's meal of the day! (hmmm when did this ever become a staple in my blog entries...). Ok, so we're gonna talk about dinner today! Today's menu consists of...

- 2 Cups of rice
- 1 large slab of chicken thigh
- teriyaki sauce
- cabbage
- egg
- japanese tea

and mixing em all...u get

- teriyaki chicken thigh don (XL) with cabbage
- egg soup with cabbage

Perhaps u might be thinking...QL you forgot to include the oil, silly u!!
BUT
I (proudly) say: "Besides the oil from the slab of chicken itself, I didn't use a single drop!"
hehe, pretty much been a health freak recently, in part also due to my bad throat T_T

I also got myself a football jersey (it IS football, stop calling it SOCCER) in preparation for the World Cup Asian Qualifiers match next month. MMM can't wait. AND a haircut cos the back was getting too thick AND I finally decided to shave off the goatie. GREAT. I now look like a kid. (hence the lack of narcissistic self-portraits in this entry).

Alright, time to turn in and recover my voice. GROWL. I happen to be the leader for erm...4 project groups this semester (some things don't really change...zzz) and without my voice now, I'm finding difficulty communicating with others (duh).

So there, GOODNIGHT!

Rainy Tokyo (AH CHOOOO)

Coughing in the other direction. PUBLIC COURTESY!!
Bacon-Cheese-Potato Balls. They dont look pretty, but they taste good :D
Coughing is the "in" thing in Tokyo now. With masks getting sold out at an alarming rate (super proportionate to the infection rate of the swine flu in Japan), I'm starting to get the stares from the people around me because...

1) QL wears a mask
2) QL has a sore throat (and accordingly, a sexy deep voice -.-)
3) QL chokes on his phelgm and as a result, coughs from time to time

Hmmm, but considering the following...

- QL does NOT have a fever
- QL does NOT have a running nose
- QL received a vaccination jab before his departure to Japan, and it's supposed to work against flu (incl. swine flu!)
- the people around QL are coughing much more rigorously than he is...(that stupid jijii, a rude term to refer to uncles, who sneezed into the poor girl's face and then continued coughing. how inconsiderate is that??)

SO WHY DO PPL ACT AS THOUGH THEY THINK I HAVE SWINE FLU :@

But well, as a nice law-abiding member of the society, QL has decided to self-quarantine cos sore throat is, after all, one of the symptoms and some of his professors have been kind enough to give their consent. Some have decided to penalize me and take some marks off his record but I don't really care. Fact's simple. Tokyo has many contacts with Osaka and other parts of Japan (and the world). With increased exposure comes increased risk, so why is it even a surprise that swine flu has probably been around in Tokyo for some time? I personally think it might just be a case of unreported infections so I will still take my own measures to try to safeguard myself from it :) Oh, which I will summarize below...

a) Drink lots of fluids, including: 2L of water, 500ml of tea, 500ml of orange juice PER DAY
b) Bathe earlier and dry my hair before I sleep
c) Wrap a muffler around my neck when I go out
d) Prepare a cap when I go out
e) Wear a mask at all times (except bathing)
f) Walk and attempt some form of exercise (however light) to keep the body alert
g) Refrain from mouth contact with others
h) Bring a handkerchief along
i) Eat healthy food (steamed chicken with noodles in chicken broth, egg and vege)

Am I being paranoid? Maybe. But in spite of all these measures, why is it that I still have a sore throat?

Maybe. JUST maybe. I've been lacking just that teeny weeny bit of sleep :D

Ok, time to make some supper. I'm hungry again...so well folks, wherever u are, TAKE CARE!

rainy days~

I got up really late today!!! Had a great sleep (7 hours) and by the time I got up, I realized...

I'VE RUN OUT OF BREAD. AND EGGS.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Thank goodness I had my potatoes, bacon and cheese so woooooooooooooooooooo! There you go (ref. to picture). I dunno what to call it, but let's just name it "QL's Bacon-Cheese-Potato-Pie" (QL BCPP). The abbreviation is just to emphasize my Singaporean streak, a knack for having short-forms for all things possible! :p Like imagine, TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More. Trust the people to think that up.

So anyway, I had wanted to go out today, since Shing Lam's Fukuoka friend, Ikuno, is in Tokyo for a visit. A study conference, he said. BUT. Today's weather turned me off immensely cos it's been raining and my legs hurt like #@@#%#@!$. Oops, I better watch my language or this blog will become an Adult-Content website. Censorship laws clamping down on us all...

BAH. Ends up I'm stuck at home doing reports. Not exactly what you wanna do on a Sunday but yeah, a man's gonna do what he's gotta do! Though it still sucks when ur entertainment comes in the form of reading the news >_< Speaking of which...

VIVA LA BARCA

19th La Liga Crown, and let's go for the unprecedented treble!! Football honestly rocks, and it can so make your day (even on rainy days) :)

On a more serious note though, KOBE has reported cases of the swine flu...sigh I wonder how they are. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I hope my friends are alright T_T

Alright, it's time for Qian Can Cook, so can you (Plagiarized idea courtesy of Fulin some time back since I told her I've started cooking in Japan). Today's dinner menu consists of...

NEW Teriyaki Chicken Chop (trying to do without the readily available sauce but instead be more adventurous and go with my own formula)
Boiled Lettuce (Cutting down on the oil...)
Loads of rice (Prepared without a rice cooker. hmmmm and a Japanese guy asked me if that's even possible. DUH. How did u think ppl used to prepare rice before the rice cooker was invented? LOL)
Orange Juice (1liter for 148 yen)

and after that, it's time to prepare kakuni for my bentou tomorrow. it's also to share with my neighbors and perhaps friends in my lab too.

wheeeeeeeeeeeee

Japan updates...

ok so i've been here for erm...2months and still going strong.
in fact, i've put on 4 kg!! perhaps i should take this time to consolidate the stuff i've been cooking lately...oh but before that, lemme recap today

Met Yingxiang who came over to Tokyo after exams. GRRRR. Does this hint of a kickoff to the influx of visitors from NUS? Haha, but I gotta make a legal disclaimer before anything happens...

DISCLAIMER: Please arrange to meet me at least 7 days in advance. This is because I might not be in Tokyo, and even if I am, I might be busy (drinking, singing, traveling, cooking, drinking, singing...hey it's repeating)

Ok back to topic~ :D

Met her at Shibuya in front of the...*drumroll* Hachi-ko Statue. Well, there was this rally thingy and things didn't look quite friendly *sweats* Fortunately, I was able to locate her (after some effort) and just I did so, there was some strange oyaji who was talking to her. She didn't feel too easy with that (chuckles)

GROWLLL. That was our tummies. We all know that whatever you do, NEVER go against your tummy, or the hammer of retribution shalt striketh at thee. Today's menu was RAMEN and at 500 yen, with free KAEDAMA for the first 2 servings, I thought it was a pretty good deal. BUT erm, I found the taste to be quite normal. In fact, my tongue was kinda numb after that so u guys understand what that means..

I dunno how many of you've been trying to save $$ like us...but consider it justified since transport in Tokyo can be insanely expensive. Like, 3 SGD for neighboring stops. Ok fine, 2.5SGD. And so, we walked from Shibuya to Meiji Shrine to Harajuku. I think Yingxiang musta died from all the walking LOL. But I decided to be nice and helped her with her bag since she treated me to a nice mango ice cream :D Oh, and she totally fell for the souvenirs, which were nice ^^ We also managed to catch some matsuri thingy and a few wedding services @ Meiji Shrine today!! Erm, but I left my camera with my tutor for project work and I couldn't take many pics. Thanks to Shing Lam for lending me his camera (without SD card) though :D

Next up, TAKESHITA-DORI! Arguably the shopping haven located in Harajuku for youngsters, they have nice stuff and while it is expensive in Singapore terms...ARGH. Just try resisting it. TRY doing so. U'll probably fail terribly. But if u somehow did, u will probably end up like us -in Hanjiro, a second hand shop that suspisciously spells "Good Buy". That's cos we both got something that we like :) at rather affordable prices too!

Now we understand yet again why shopping is so addictive. Yingxiang was late for her appointment and I was too, in a way. But hey, it's not our fault! Who asked them to situate so many nice shops in the same area :D Bah, *sends yingxiang to station*

And so I returned home...only to fall prey to the Sleep Demon's clutches ZZZ. By the time I got up, it was too late for me to join the farewell party for a YSEP student (SORRY!) Sleepy QL got up hurriedly and made KAKUNI for dinner :)

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ok i jus decided i wanna catch more sleep. the pics are on facebook so i dun wanna upload em again. yawnz. and im too lazy to link emtoo (notice how my typing has been degraded to chat language...lol)

cya ard and take care folks!