B105 Reunion goes MAUI!

I wanted to write on a reunion gathering the class of B105 had two weeks ago but always found myself caught up with the endless stream of work and activities for the Lunar New Year. Now that the weekend is stretched with the celebration of Thaipusam and Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, allow me to share the beauty of the reunion dinner we had in this short piece.

We decided to go Japanese at MAUI Japanese Restaurant on Friday, the 20^th of January for their trés affordable, all-you-can-eat offering to usher in the year of the water dragon. And being pharmacists, a Japanese restaurant was a natural selection because it is the healthiest cuisine of all! Although the evening was accompanied by a bad downpour and heavy traffic around the streets of Sri Petaling, it did nothing to dampen our spirits in attending this much awaited gathering between old chums.

The dinner saw the reunion of 18 B105 graduates from IMU attending to a feast of Japanese delicacies and endless flow of green tea. We had a scrumptious spread of fresh salmon, tempura, sushi rolls, baby octopuses, udon and unagi the works! It was definitely a memorable evening made beautiful by the light hearted ambience, the joyous faces of the friends we miss accompanied by interludes of food that are both delicious and tantalising in between our ceaseless chatter.

There was loads of catching up to do. As you can see, there’s a new baby in the crowd! She sits in her mother’s arm while looking at sushi. Some brought their partners along and it was great fun getting to know them too.

After graduation, we find ourselves dispersed across the country, working for various sectors in both government and private institutions as pharmacists or academicians. Wherever our career paths lead us, reunion gatherings like these are important in effort to reunite with your university mates, reminisce on the good old days when work was the least of your worries and keep abreast with changes and new beginnings in your friends’ lives like a marriage, a newborn child or a new job opportunity. And if there are cases of the lost or forgotten, a reunion is a good way to rekindle old friendship and reconnect. I believe they should be made on an annual basis or as frequent as possible whenever time and place is of convenience.

Andy listens attentively while Mai shares tales of his work experiences as an academician.

I would like to say syabas to the organisers for a job well done and may the moments we share stay fresh in our hearts till the next reunion gathering to come.  

We would like wish you all a Happy 2012 and to all graduating cohorts, do preserve reunion gatherings as a long standing tradition to keep the spirit of friendship and comradery alive in time to come.

With love, 
Angel

Chinese tea obsession

The Lunar New Year is almost coming to an end and after attending countless numbers of open houses and dinner parties, I am now left with a body filled with heat and a persisting sore throat. 

To top it off, one extra kilogram on the weighing scale OMG! I hope the extra fat went to the chest *winks*

I have been off coffee-based drinks for 2 weeks now. I have had some very strong cravings for coffee but managed to overcome them with my new liking for Chinese tea! My usual comfort tea is green tea (of course) because not only it tastes great, green tea is known to be a fat burner. That's why the Japanese are always looking slim and slender, see? Now you know.

Recently, I have been found carrying around my Starbucks thermos religiously everywhere I go. While people think that I'm getting my fix of Starbucks at a 10% discount, I actually am drinking Pu-Erh tea instead.

Pu-Erh tea is often served in Chinese restaurants during and after heavy meals. The tea has fat-breaking abilities and is considered the perfect drink to complement an oil and fat-laden feat like most 8-course Chinese dinners(help!) It also possesses many antioxidant qualities found in green tea and polyphenols that attack free radicals in the body. So, not only does it help lower blood cholesterol levels, it prevents cancer and remove toxins from the body. Doesn't that make you wanna reach out for a cup of Pu-Erh tea now?

You can try Oolong tea as well for the same effect and the best kinds of tea are bought in tea discs like above. Like a good wine, the older the tea, the more valuable it gets. Pu-Erh tea ought to be slowly drunk while the leaves settle in the cup.

To remove excessive heat from the body, I have been taking Tian Qi/ Pseudo Ginseng/ Panax Ginseng or Noto Ginseng. It has a bitter taste at first but a sense of sweetness lingers at the back of your tongue after each sip. In summary, its taste is a milder and sweeter version of the American ginseng. It is popular amongst martial artists because it simultaneously stops bleeding and blood stagnation. As I am pretty prone to bruises and injuries after taekwondo training, this tea reduces any swelling and pain.

***

This is how it looks like when the flowers are dry.

After soaking in hot water for 7 mins, it looks like a mini broccoli! To make tea, place 10 flowers into your favourite tea cup, pour hot water and let it sit for say, 5 mins before consuming=)

***

Asian soldiers used to carry a small bottle of powdered Tian Qi root to pour into an open wound or for taking internally if necessary. This is because it has an amazing ability to redirect blood from an open wound and even push embedded metal objects to the surface. When taken internally, it speeds up the healing of wounds, broken bones and most tissue damages.

If you like to eat or find yourself attending one chinese dinner after another, substitute your drinks with Pu-Erh tea to aid digestion and cut down the fat from being absorbed into your intestines. If you are suffering from sore throat and heat or recently had an injury, try Tian Qi and see results when taken 3-4 times a day internally.

Another Chinese dinner invitation? You know what to do=)

Stay chic,
Angel

Valentines Schmalentines

Hello, hello!

The Chinese New Year is not even over and people are already doing the big hu ha about Valentine's Day. I've always thought V Day is over rated, a day of unnecessary traffic jams and overcrowded restaurants. A day where cosying up at home is uncool and having singles cocktails is just a sad sight. 

So what if you don't have a date or had just broken up with your boyfriend (this post is of course intended for girls). Valentine's is just like any other day, fret no more lah! You're just as fabulous or may even be more awesome than those attached couples out on dates that night. No biggie dearie but if you do feel a little down that you're boy-friendless, here's my 6 special things to do to beat the Valentine's blues. 

GIRLS DAY OUT

V day ain't just for couples, it celebrates love of all kinds. And what better way to celebrate such a significant day than with the girls who stuck out with you through all odds and ends. Go out to lunch, have a cup of coffee and bitch about the boys or do dinner with your single gal pals. 

Cookies galore this CNY

Hey guys, how are y'all doing! 

This week most of us Asians will be busy celebrating the lunar new year which is the most auspicious event in the Chinese calender. Besides ushering in blessings of prosperity, abundance and happiness into our homes, the Chinese New Year means being able to wear RED RED RED and not be looked at silly, meeting up with your long-time-no-see relatives and thicker wallets padded with red RM10 notes (for unmarried ladies and gents). 

Let us not forget all the scrumptious cookies that we get to indulge in only once a year. Well for me, it's ONLY going to be this once because as you know i'm a calorie-conscious-fitness-freak kind of person and cookies are high caloric demons in bite-sized goodness! How do you resist the temptation of dipping your hand into the abyss of the container to pull out a delightful cookie or two, place them in your mouth and let the sweetness spread to the corners of your soul. Blissful^^

Watchful waiting. The contours of my chin will be well rounded after the CNY. I have been gulping in pots of green tea (and the occasional concoction of senna leaves) to get rid of excesses from all the fantastic food I've indulged in the first day of the new year. Non-stop breakfast, lunch and dinner! - bak gua, nasi lemak, curry chicken, sambal prawns, tom yum, tong shui, fried fish, fried chicken, fried prawns, stir fried noodles, fried omelette, fried nian gao, fried this, fried that..my cholesterol level is prolly skyrocketing as I speak. 

So my question for you is what are your favourite cookies that are on your must-have-list when celebrating the CNY? Let me share my top 3 favs since my childhood days and every year we have them because they are so freaking delicious!

Simple but tasty. How can you go wrong with cornflakes cookies? At the Ng Residence, these cookies are the first to go! It's a number one favorite among guests too.

Custard cookies are crumbly in nature and oh-so sweet. Plus points goes to the smiley faces made of glazed cherries and raisins. So whether you are feeling happy, sad, gloomy, frisky or horny (?) just kidding, there's a cookie that suits anyone and everyone! I always find my cookies smirking at me. Like they're saying, "Say bye to your diet b**** hehehe" Cookies talk to me, I don't know why=(

And lastly, mini cupcakes. Least they are healthier alternatives to the super-sweet-frosting-coated-cupcakes you purchase from Bijou or Cupcake Chic. And for the calorie count of one cupcake from Bijou, you can consume 25 of these! The satisfaction you get from eating 25 pieces compared to ONE chocolate frosted cupcake. 

But somehow, there's the issue of unfair comparison between the above cupcakes and the ones from Bijou. Different class altogether if you know what I mean=) Cookies are whispering my name, I have to answer the call! In a second my dear cookies, coming down in a minute. 

I'll see you next time! Prolly with chubbier cheeks and 2 inches to my waist. Toodles!

Happy Chinese New Year, 

Angel

Angeline's Guide to the Easy Life

Good afternoon friends. 

Just a shout out. Anyone going to the library next week? Need to finish my assignments before the new year!

I had a problem. And just found a solution to it as well. Let me share this new found piece of information with you. 

If you use Microsoft Word 2010 inbuilt citation and reference manager, you find that it may not fulfill your needs. Most university students may have to use the Vancouver referencing style in their assignments. In the case of the University of Sunderland MBA programme, we are restricted to using the Harvard referencing system. But lo behold, both referencing styles are not inbuilt into Microsoft Word 2010. 

Solution: Download them and install into Word. Here's how. 

1. Go to BibWord and download styles.zip. This zip file contains more than 20 referencing styles which includes the Vancouver and Harvard referencing source codes. The link below:

http://bibword.codeplex.com/releases/view/15852

2. Now, click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > Run. Copy and paste the text below in the open field and then press Enter. You will find a directory of referencing styles that is currently inbuilt into your Word.

For Microsoft Office 2010

 %programfiles%\Microsoft Office\Office14\Bibliography\Style

For Microsoft Office 2007

 %programfiles%\Microsoft Office\Office12\Bibliography\Style

3. Open the zip file, select the source codes you need, copy them and paste them in the directory above. Once they are copied, they will appear under Bibilography style in Word.

Note: In styles.zip, you will find source codes for 4 types of Harvard referencing styles namely Harvard AGPS, Harvard Anglia, Harvard Exeter and Harvard Leeds. For students enrolled in the MBA UOS programme, I find the Harvard Anglia style closest to the necessary requirements for citations and referencing.

Try it. Good luck in your assignments guys. Let the Harvard referencing hum dum be the least of your worries.

Stay chic, 

Angel