Started with good food and ended with good food

Disclaimer:
The author holds not responsibility of ruining any dieting efforts, making stomach growl, or set off an insatiable hunger pang. Read on at your own risk.

It's not that I like puting disclaimers here. But since readers started complaining that I've ruined so many dieting efforts, I just had to.

Today, no matter what dieting plan we were already on or was supposed to be starting had to be put on hold as the food were just tooooo good. Thanks a lot C, for bringing us around in your sports car.

Lunch at Harvester:

They had a early meal discount menu before 6.30pm which was really worth the value. There were so many choices to choose from and the salads were bottomless.

Happy people getting their salads and enjoying their meal.

All the mouth watering food! From roasted ribs, garlic bread, penne, to cajun chicken.

I can say that photos can really be deceiving as it looks so much more delicious in it as compared to the real thing. I guess because in photos, you can chose what parts to emphasise whereas in real life, you see the overall picture.

Harvester was located next to the beach as well. But it was too cold for a swim. Beautiful surrounding, ambient atmosphere, delicious and cheap food. What more can I ask. I can't believe that I've already had my lunch before coming to this place, and yet, I ended up having my 2nd round of a proper lunch.

Cheshire Oaks:

Sorry, no pictures as I was busy shopping! Bought a really nice handbag from Monsoon which is big enough to fit my laptop in. So, it's going to be my hospital bag from now on.

Dinner at Yo! Sushi:

Last day of the offer and my first time stepping into Yo! Sushi.

Surprisingly, the Japanese food was good. We had dishes from the conveying belt and ordered others as well.

My mouth is watering again! It is expensive to eat there without the 40% voucher as my bill came up to 11 pounds each. Imagine paying about 20 per person without any discounts. Too bad I won't be visiting anytime soon after the promotion period.

Simple test to know your character

This was an email forwarded by my dad. All copyrights go to the original author.




*Hello Good Morning all….. Keep smiling always….*

* *

*Check this out.... It Really Worked with me.... Will work with u too...

Here you have a great chance to know about yourself like your character
etc. without spending any money. This test was devised by IIMA. It tells
about your personality just by your choice. So know yourself & enjoy

Here it is......

Imagine you walked into a small hut by the river in the jungle. You pushed
open the door, in front of you were 7 small beds to the right of the hut,
and another 7 small chairs surrounding a small round table.. In the middle
of the table was a round food tray with 5 kinds of fruit in it.
There are:

a. **Apple **
b. **Banana **
c. **Strawberry **
d. **Peach **
e. **Orange **

Which **fruit ** will u choose? ** **
Your choice reveals about u! Pls be very Honest to yourself.... .
& Now scroll down for results: **

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........... ......... ......... ......... ......... ..
TEST RESULTS:
Here are the results.
------------ --------- ------ *

*
a. if you chosen **apple **: that means you are a person who loves to eat Apple * *
b. if you chosen **banana **: that means you are a person who loves to eat Banana * *
c. if you chosen ** strawberry : that means you are a person who loves to eat Strawberry * *
d. if you chosen **peach **: that means you are a person who loves to eat Peach
e. if you chosen **orange **: that means you are person who loves to eat Orange **

Note: If u r hunting to punch** **me ......Well... .I am busy hunting for the person who sent me !!!!!*

Can't believe my dad even forwarded this lame joke to me. I can't believe that you people are reading it as well. Hahahaha. Hope that made you laugh today.

Learning is fun when...

you are paid 25 quid to learn something useful!

There was this intubation study advertised among 4th year medical student at my hospital. Initially, I had already wanted to join that study even when there wasn't any monetary reward given.

Then, 1 week later, another email circulated around saying that each participant will receive 25 pounds for participating. Who wouldn't jump at that opportunity.

Intubation isn't as easy as it looks. Plus, I was made to intubate the model over 50 times. Not only the technique must be right, I had to take care not to break any teeth. My left arm and fingers were aching from holding the laryngoscope. But it was all worth it. I wonder who will be my first real guinea pig. You can say that I'm more competent than most new anaesthetists as I had more training and 'tries' as compared to them.

Learning practical skills are fun. Earning so much in 1.5 hours made it more fun. Plus, I'll get a certificate to add to my portfolio.

Chinese New Year Weekend

Everything is more exciting as compared to preparing for exams. Even the things which were so boring before. Don't ask me why am I blogging now when I'm supposed to be preparing for tomorrow's OSCE.

Pizza Express on Friday evening:

I haven't seen T in such a long time!!!! It's nice to have most of us gathered that night for dinner.
All the food we ordered for 9 people. There were so many varieties to choose from that we spent 1 hour trying to decide what to order. Poor waitress kept on asking if we were ready to order and T asked her to come back after 2 minutes 3 times. Food was great.

9 of us turned up. Sorry if I couldn't catch up much with some of you as I was at one end of the table.

The two dedicated pizza cutters. All of us just sat there chatting away while they struggled cutting the pizzas. Thanks PG and T.

Random candid shots

When we finished our first round of food, surprisingly, the girls were still hungry but the guys were full. How can this happen? It's like through evolution, the appetite of guys has shrunk considerably. So, we ordered 2 more pizzas.

I had to raise my white flag in defeat when it came to the desserts, but 3 other people were still going strong.

Tiramisu which was misheard as Tina-misses-you and I can't remember the name of the other dessert. There was a small cup of expresso next to it which I don't know if you're supposed to pour it all over the cake or not.

That was a good night. Hopefully we can get together again in the near future. F, remember to arrange for a trip to Lake District!

Saturday:
Intensive OSCE revision session. If possible, I don't want to remember what hardship i went through that day. Was so tired. Thanks WW for turning up and helping us with practice.

Sunday:
Went down to Chinatown to watch the parade. It was similar to the previous years. There's still the Dragon and lion dances, and setting off the firecrackers within a metal safety net. This year, we explored 2 more buildings and the funfair instead.

It looks really sunny in the photos, but don't be fooled. It was chilly.

St.Luke Church
We had to sign a form saying that we would take full responsibility in case of any planks, rocks, or foundation come collapsing on us before we enter.

It was fun to see so many people gathered around a big circle and playing the plastic drums while following an instructor. It was very lively.

We were also given a red string to make a wish and tie it to something within the church.

It was so coincidental how F bumped into E when YM and I went missing halfway through the parade.

Next we went to a building next to Chinatown arch which I've never stepped in it before. There was a Tai Chi demonstration and we were hesitating if we should join in or not. Very difficult decision.

The 3 of us joined in the end. It was supposed to be relaxing but I was concentrating hard on following the footsteps which countered that affect.

There was a few exhibition in the lower ground floor which included Chinese caligraphy. Reminded me how long ago I did that. I still remember that I won a few prizes for caligraphy. Hehehe. Trophies are displayed at home.

Funfair
It's been such a long time since I went to a funfair. It sure brings back a lot of childhood memories where I loved the exciting and scary ride.
I think my reaction on those rides are abnormal. Usually I hear screams but if you sat next to me on any of the rides, you'll hear me laughing throughout.

Lunch at The Egg
I think it's becoming a tradition where we always will end up at The Egg restaurant for lunch after the parade.


Food was still as good as ever. The portions were huge as well. It is a rare occasion when I have to leave food behind.

Ended the nice meal with Carrot and Chocolate cake. So rich!

2 hours before dinner
We decided to go shopping and hang around in town instead of heading home. We did shop a bit but all the shops closed at 5pm. So, we killed time with McFlurry at McDonalds. It was my usual nap time then and I struggled to stay awake. I don't know why F was so hyper at the time and YM and I were just like zombies forced to stay awake.
Dinner at Mei Mei Restaurant
I didn't realise how much I missed Nian Gao until my friend ordered it fried with egg. So nostalgic and delicious!
How many years has it been that I haven't celebrated Chinese New Year at home? It's the 4th time. No Ang Pow to collect as well. My parents say 'Out of sight, out of mind'. At least we gathered with friends to celebrate.

When you come to a dead end, do not despair as you might see something interesting passing by.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone and best of luck in the Year of the Ox!

Dissatisfaction - that's what makes us human

Quick note:
Don't worry too much from what I've written in my previous post. It's just one of those days where I feel overwhelmed and 'emo'. It is dangerous to be not occupied, alone in my room cause that's the time when all the negative thinking starts. I think I'm quite a pessimistic person and I realised that I've lost my sense of humour lately.

I was attached to the Breast clinic this afternoon and what I experienced there triggered this entry.

I saw so many women who either have had breast reduction surgery or are requesting for breast reduction surgery. It was a different experience to me as back home, especially around Asia, there is a high demand for breast enlargement and rarely breast reduction.

This led on to the issue of preference for tanned or fair skin. In the UK, most people would go to tanning salon and bake themselves under artificial UV light. Back home, most of us will be trying desperately to avoid the sun.

I don't know if you've heard of this theory which goes like this, long time ago in Asia, people who had tanned skin were from the lower social class as they were mainly farmers whereas the upper social classes had fairer skin as they worked indoors. Therefore, fair skin was associated with the elites.

In the UK, before all the tanning salons mushroomed, having a tanned skin showed that you had enough money to fly long distance to some tropical country with beaches and enough sunlight to have a well tanned skin. In conclusion, tanned skin equals rich.

So, why can't we exchange features we admire greatly of each other? Why do we yearn that field of grass on the other side which always look greener?

This has led to another thought. Why do a lot of Asians, especially Chinese, Koreans and Japanese go for plastic surgery to have a more Caucasian looking features? Why has the standard of beauty been decided that double eyelids, bigger eyes, bigger breasts, sharper and higher nose, smaller jaw, fuller lips are more beautiful? What made those features superior and much preferred?

Just a thought, what if fashion capitals and Hollywood were founded in Asia in the first place, where all the blockbuster movies had actors and catwalks had models with single eyelids, small eyes, flat nose, square jaws etc? Would people go for plastic surgery to erase that double eyelid, lower their nose bridge, reduce their breast size instead?

What people are willing to go through for the sake of having double eyelids:
Or

*Pictures are subjected to the original authors' copyright.

If you're interested in the story of Miss Universe 2007 which was won by Riyo Mori of Japan: (taken from Maria Claire)

"

When Ines Ligron was hired by Donald Trump 10 years ago to pull Japan out of its Miss Universe slump (the country hadn't spawned a winner in 48 years), she jumped at the chance.

A former IMG modeling-agency promoter, French-born Ligron trained the Japanese contestants to adopt typically Western practices like sitting up straight, making eye contact, and tanning. Part of her program is even spent emulating the body language and pronunciation of characters from shows like Sex and the City. "Japanese culture places an emphasis on blending in and thinking like a group," says Ligron. "I teach them to stand out, be different, and show their personality."

This year, the well-trained 20-year-old Riyo Mori snagged the title. But instead of praise, the media focused on her failure to represent Japanese culture, which advocates being cute, pale, and submissive. Ligron, however, doesn't care: "My market is young, cool, hip, fashionable people. You cannot please everyone." She adds, "I have a lot of women supporters — my enemies are men. They are afraid of powerful women."

2007 Miss Universe Riyo Mori is a statuesque five feet nine inches and speaks fluent English.
"

Vicious cycle

Can't blame anyone but myself for not doing any work when I had the time.
What did I use that time for again? Movies, anime, going out, shopping, catching up with friends, everything but doing my homework.
Each and every time I wanted to start doing some work, the thought that I wouldn't be able to enjoy once the night is over manages to convince me that I should cherish this small opportunity to relax.
Relaxation gets out of hand, and I'll end up staying up late doing everything besides the work which needs to be done.

Eventually, the workload starts increasing.
Increased workload = increased stress
Body's natural reaction was to try and seek some relieve from comfort eating,
Which went out of hand and I started binging on every food I could find.
To the extent that I was already full from a proper meal, but just had to down more toasts with chocolate spread, cereal bars, yogurt, milk with cereal to the extent that I couldn't eat anymore.

Then the depression becomes worse once I realised how much unhealthy food I've eaten.
To add salt to the wound, my weight has increased so much just from that few binges.
Blame that weighing scale for revealing the effects.

Can't concentrate the next day due to lack of sleep, not from doing work but wasting time trying to escape from reality.
So tired that I become demotivated from trying so hard to fulfill requirements in that stupid portfolio.
Frustrated that I am limited to finding cases as required in the portfolio and missing out on interesting cases and opportunities.
Disappointed that no one seemed to care about my existence and gave up on trying to ask for help.

I hate myself.

Let me drown myself in self-pity before I pull myself back together and break free from this vicious cycle.

Liverpool Transition Ceremony

I went for the closing ceremony of Liverpool Capital of Culture 2008. The next two European Capital of Cultures are Linz in Austria and Vilnius in Lithuania.

The event took part at Pier Head, where the Mersey Ferries are. They lighted up the Liver Building in different colours making the night scene so lively.

A short clip of the event

What celebration without fireworks?

It never stops to amaze me how beautiful fireworks can be

M told me that the Chinese invented the fireworks. One of the story was that a Chinese cook accidentally mixed a few ingredients around the kitchen and found that it exploded when lighted up. Maybe from that point in time, firecrackers and fireworks could be heard at big celebrations. It was interesting to know that the 4 major inventions by ancient China are paper, gunpowder, compass, and printing. How very significant are they!

I saw some really interesting shapes that night. Too bad I only managed to capture the heart shaped ones. There was another with a red star surrounded by a yellow circle, but blame my camera with the slow shutter speed for not capturing it.

It was truly a big event. Saw this Arriva open-top bus used by BBC reporters to report the event throughout the night. There were people being interviewed as well after the event.

The 45-minute event was seriously too short, it seemed like I was just starting to enjoy myself when it ended. Who knows they did cut down on the fireworks display due to the credit crunch.

I was taken by surprised when I saw these 3 cyclist cycling through the crowd after the ceremony ended:

A clown covered in lights

A lost leprechaun searching the rainbow and his pot of gold

And some extras only covered in blue lights which might have been bought wrongly but still appeared so that it didn't go to waste.

It was cold and windy, but the fireworks, songs, projected movie, and beautifully lighted buildings were all worth it. Does that mean that Liverpool will just be a boring place after this?

Homemade Pizza

After watching my first amputation surgery today which ended at 5.40pm, I was so tired that I almost fell asleep on the bus ride home. My initial instinct was to go straight to my bed and hibernate, but when I reached home, my flatmates were busy making pizza!

I only helped out with grating the cheese as they've started earlier and have done most of the work.

Conjuring up different combination of topping and then sprinkling loads of cheese on top

It was fun eating while waiting for the next pizza to be baked in the oven. I was impatient after the first few slices as I was still hungry and it takes a ll0000o...nnngg 15 minutes to bake each pizza.

Don't ask me how many slices I took in the end. They were just too delicious.

A very annoying species named Teenager

The link below links to a clip of a radio show on a Hong Kong radio channel was sent to me by a friend. It is in Cantonese if you can understand.

Hong Kong DJ scolding a 16 year old

How very true that when we were teenagers, everybody else was wrong, I am the smartest, I am always right, I can make my own decisions, you people don't understand me, I am invincible, Who Cares???!!! I'm old enough to be responsible for myself!....not thinking of the consequences, only seeking immediate enjoyment, not caring about the future.

'Har, you're still a virgin??? That's such a loser. I've already done it when I was 14.'
(But never used any contraception, never worried if it will result in a pregnancy, 'What? What's STD?')

'I can look after myself. I don't need anyone to worry about me. My parents don't understand me. Even without qualification, I can make money and survive on my own. It's going to be easy.'
(Not knowing that society isn't that easy, it's a dog eat dog world out there, economy is getting worse, everywhere is retrenching workers, pay is extremely low for unskilled jobs)

At sweet 16, have you ever thought about what will happen in 10 years time, which will make you 26?

A lucky girl married to a rich and handsome husband, who plays Mahjong every single day, worried about what to show off in front of others, shop without constrains with husband's unlimited credit cards?

Some handsome hotshot, in the Top 10 riches people in the world, owning properties, shares, big houses, big cars, being every girl's dream boyfriend and of course, being the most popular playboy around with no strings attached?

How very naive

Budapest Day 2+3

Heroes' Square

We went to Heroes Square the next day. With A and B's expertise, we had a fun time trying to come up with photos with optical illusions.

Photos can be so deceiving. If I had taken off my coat, which of course I wouldn't due to the freezing temperatures, people would have thought that I went there in summer

The millennium memorial. This was the place which looked like Bradenburg Gate in Berlin.

Vajdahunyad Castle:

The castle does look unique, as if two parts of it were built by different architects but decided to put them together anyway.

Doesn't it look a bit odd?

There were stalls selling warm wine, pretzels and hotdog by the roadside. A decided to buy one of the Pretzels to share. We bit into it, thinking that it was going to taste like normal pretzels but how wrong we were. It was extremely salty! I seriously couldn't believe that they even added so much salt to pretzels that it was torturous to eat.

Schezenyi Spa and Hourglass:

Apparently Hungary is really famous for its spas and outdoor swimming pool. I'm not that keen on soaking in water in this type of weather, so we just took photo from the outside. Nearby there was the world's largest hourglass. At midnight of 31st of December of every year, it will be manually turned upsidedown using human stength. Too bad we weren't there on the 31st.

You can even see ice forming on the ground. That's how cold it was.

Finally, lunch time!

We went to a restaurant near the Opera house. This time, I ordered ternderloin on a spith with bacon, gree salad with roqefort and steak potatoes (can tell you this because I took a photo of the menu). A had chicken breast in honey and mustard sauce with croquette potatoes which tasted like chicken stir-fried with sweet soya sauce. I won't bore you with what B ordered as it looked too similar to a western meal with chips.

From this point, it wouldn't be a chronological order as we went there on the evening of Day 2 and I went there on Day 3 on my own after throwing A and B to the train station for them to make their way to Vienna. They did tell me that Vienna and Slovakia were more interesting as compared to Budapest. Therefore, both places have been added to my K.I.V. list.

Opera house:

This is the famous Hungarian Opera house. They only have tours at 3pm and 4pm everyday and plays in the evening. I went for the tour on my own.

Oh yes. This is just a photo to demonstrate how wide the streets are. It's supposed to be a main street and the number of people on the road and the cars seems so little as compared to the size of the place.

The Opera house was really beautiful inside. It was frustrating that my camera doesn't really capture nice photos in poor lighting and dark areas. It was also frustrating that no one was there to help me take photo, therefore, the mirrors and skills earned from vanity of taking photos of myself come into handy.

My favourite picture. This was taken in one of the boxes on the 1st level. I wonder if the person sitting there will concentrate on the play or spend most of the time admiring one's beauty in the mirror.

St. Stephen's Basilica

I went there twice as well. There was this huge Christmas tree in front of it which was lighted up at night.

The interior was really beautiful. However, I still feel that St. Paul's cathedral in London is more appealing. There was the display of St. Steven's mummified hand in one of the small chapels. It was weird that you had to pay 200 HUF to switch on the light to illuminate it for 2 minutes. Even churches do this to rip tourists off. In a more positive way of saying this, to raise funds to maintain the church.

It does look impressive from the outside.

Dohany Street Synagogue:

This was the second largest synagogue after the one in New York. They offered tours but I chose to just enter due to financial constrains. Already very poor after posting 5 postcards. First time in my life I had to go through a security check and metal detector before stepping into a place of worship.

As you can see, the design is very different. I felt that it was very unique.

If you want to know, I took this photo using the 10s timer on my camera. Hehehe. Liked the chandelier.

Christmas Market:

I really liked the Christmas market. So many things to see, buy and eat! The only drawback was, I was already pokai at that time, so, no money!!!! It was also the first time seeing so many people. Usually the streets are empty. I liked the tall table placed near the food stalls and people standing around to eat.

Bodies exhibition:

I can say that this is a truly 'lawatan sambil belajar'. Previously, the exhibition was in Manchester, but we chosed to go all the way to Budapest to attend it. How I wished anatomy was presented as interesting as this. Then I would have learnt more.

Finally, it was time for me to make my way to the airport. I had to take a tram, and then change to the bus service.

It was so crowded but the bus stop was just a small stand. The condition of the buses was really old as well. That's how all the transportation look like in Budapest.

The only thing I can say after exploring on my own was, travelling as a girl alone is dangerous. Therefore, I'm never going to travel alone again, even if it's just for half a day.