Rant 451 / USD Drops. HKD drops. SGD isn't dropping. Time To Visit HK Again!

Horror point-and-click games. Here's a trilogy that's pretty scary, if you turn off your lights, raise the volume, switch to full screen mode and play alone at night.

Exmortis

Exmortis 2

Exmortis 3

This series relies on somewhat bloody body parts, lots of blood and a very dark atmosphere to create fear in the player. The actual scary stuff isn't actually scary, most likely due to the poor Flash effects used. Well, at least for the first game. Personally I find the ambient sounds and darkness to be the most effective tool employed by the series creator.

Creepy, shocking. Probably the two words best for describing the first two games.

Unfortunately, the third is a demo, gotta pay for the rest of the game. =(













I wish they would make a MMO version of Fallout 3 soon. With the world being so large in the Fallout universe, the possibilities would be almost limitless. Even with 3 games and 4 expansions in this series, they've only covered less than 10 states of the US.

Right now they're still screwing around with lawsuits instead of working together to make a game before the public forgets about it. All this legal bs began only because the original creators of the game series went ahead to make the game without enough sponsorships, despite agreeing with Bethesda that they would do so, according to the contract in which they also sold most of their rights to the Fallout series to Bethesda.

I'll have to admit that making a MMO version of Fallout 3 would be incredibly ambitious, to say the least. But anything less (ie reverting to the old 2D style) would only cause disappointment among most of the fanbase, who began to love the Fallout world only because of Fallout 3.












I failed again with my jerky. I might have added too much salt and after the beef dried, salt crystals had formed on the surface. Crunchy jerky. =(

Next time, soy sauce instead of salt. And black pepper again. Hard to go wrong with red meat and black pepper.












I was surprised to see I have a single follower on Twitter. I only opened an account because I needed one to get a certain free gift on Runes of Magic. For that particular giveaway event, they were offering a set of special equipment (limited stocks too), one of which could only be received by followers of RoM on Twitter.

I wasn't even sure of my Twitter password. Kinda forgot since I've only logged on once. Good thing I was right after a few guesses.












One thing I've learnt about cooking, after some experimentation, is that just following the recipes' instructions to the word isn't going to make a perfect dish. The thing about cooking is that though cooking can be a science, cooking dishes that actually taste good is an art.

Hence, it is not necessary to do exactly as the recipes say, as long as you know what you're doing.

Experience is very important. The ability to slice meat thinly takes some skill with the knife that only comes with a long time of using this tool. Knowing what to use to marinate your food to create the preferred tastes is another example.

Anyway, I found some interesting simple recipes I can't use.

1 Chuck Roast
1 Large Onion
1/2 Bag of Potatoes
1 Bag of Baby Carrots
1 Can of Beef Broth
1 Can Mushrooms (or Golden mushrooms)

* Cut the carrots in half (or smaller, however you want them) and cut the potatoes in a chunks. Then dice the onion coarsely,
* Make a bed of carrots, potatoes, and onion in baking dish. Season with salt and pepper (other seasonings optional).
* Lay chuck roast on top and season as well.
* Pour mushrooms over roast, followed by 1/2 can to 1 can of beef broth (depending on personal preferences).
* Wrap with aluminum foil and bake for 3 hours at 300 degrees.



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MexiChicken

You will need:
couple pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken (I always use thighs as they are cheap and extremely difficult to dry out)
1/2 to 1 cup jarred, reconnaitred-from-mexican-place, or homemade salsa
taco seasoning (this recipe assumes with salt; if salt-free, apply salt as well)
black pepper
olive oil
Equipment: one ceramic or pyrex baking dish, large enough to hold chicken in a single layer, knife, cutting board

Preheat oven to 400deg F.

Trim chicken of excess fat and skin, leaving the skin on top intact (advanced users may want to score the skin here, too). Rub taco seasoning, pepper, and oil all over chicken and under skin. Grease dish lightly with a few drops of oil, then add salsa, spreading thinly along the bottom. Place chicken skin-side-up on salsa and get it in the oven.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, turn heat to 350, and then bake another 20-30 min until chicken is cooked through.

Eat with quinoa or some rice, and some vegetables or a salad. This recipe makes juicy, wonderful chicken because the moisture of the salsa steams the meat and prevents drying while the high heat renders the skin on top and making it nice and crispy.

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Crock-Pot Pulled Pork
1 large cut of pork. Shoulder or butt roasts are best, get one that will fit in your crock pot.
1/2-1 cup dry spice rub. Zillions of recipes, heat levels, etc. Scale amount to size of roast.
1 to 2 bottles of barbecue sauce. I like Cattleman's.
Flavoring Options (note that you can completely ignore these and make with just meat; also, make sure these play well with what you've got going on in the spice rub).
-Tex-Mex: lime juice, tequila, can of jalapenos, sliced garlic.
-Adobo: can of chilis in adobo sauce, sliced, a half cup of strong brewed coffee.
-Southern BBQ: couple shots of bourbon or whiskey, mustard...
Sky is the limit, but don't add vegetables or fresh herbs here, as they will get absolutely mushified in the cooking process.

Directions:
Cut away some fat on the roast; you'll want to leave a little, but most of these cheap cuts have a lot of nasty fat on them. Rub meat with your spice rub, and sear in a pan or under the broiler on all sides. It will smell rank; rendering pork fat is not nice.

Drop in crock pot and add sauces and liquids and whatever else. Cook on low setting for 6-8 hours. Depending on your meat, you may need to go in with salad tongs or something and pull off fat, but I've only rarely had to do this. Add fresh seasonings near the end (cilantro, more lime juice, more liquor, whatever).

Pull out roast, allow to cool slightly, shred with a fork or your fingers. You can add cooking goo (skimmed of fat) to the meat if desired to add flavor and moisture. Eat on storebought or homemade buns with a nice heap of vegetables and salad on the side. You can store the pulled pork in a tupperware or some such in the fridge for a couple days, or you can freeze it. Just scoop out a bit and nuke it as you need it.

You can also braise this in a covered pot in an oven at low heat (300 tops) for a couple hours, if you lack a crockpot. Same method, just put in pot instead.


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Mutton Shank

The key is slow cooking. Crockpot is your friend. Use mutton from an older animal, like 3-6 years.

Marinade for 10 minutes in Worchestershire sauce. Brown the meat in pan thoroughly, deglaze with red wine or wine vinegar, put everything in pot.

Add onions, potatoes, garlic cloves, carrots, whole peppers and some corn.

For sauce, add pinch of thyme, ground pepper, oregano, pinch of cumin, salt in beef stock. Reduce a bit.

Serve with rice.



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This is a Boston Butt (pork shoulder). It is rubbed with a mixture of smoked Spanish paprika, salt, pepper, and green chile sugar (spicy sugar, buy in bulk at Whole Foods).

My alternate rub is 3 tbsp each of paprika, brown sugar, pepper, 2 tbsp salt, 1 tsp cayenne.



Roast at 400 for 30 mins, then reduce oven to 225.

Cook to an interior temp of 190.


Cooking will take 6 hours or so, depending on size of your shoulder. Pull by hand, mix with Carolina BBQ sauce (essentially brown sugar, cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, and ketchup), and eat with slaw.

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So this is how you use a large oven, other than for baking cakes and bread. Baking meat looks so easy. Too bad I don't have such an oven.

Also, this shows a large difference in tastes between the Chinese and Westerners. As you can see, all the meat in the recipes are obviously cooked to the point where we would consider it overcooked because the meat is soft and probably tasteless on its own without gravy/sauce. Kinda like the meat we find in our soup, but slightly better.












Just finished Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. In short it's about the exploration of an alien spacecraft that flew into our Solar System. Oh right, can't forget this...

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SPOILER ALERT! SKIP THIS IF YOU INTEND TO READ THIS BOOK IN THE FUTURE!

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I find this book to be quite interesting, but ended in a somewhat disappointing manner. The astronauts barely mapped the entire interior of the ship when they had to leave. Though they found lifeforms, they seem to be automated organic robots that form part of the crew of the ship.

Never was any of the Ramans, the name the humans gave for the aliens who built the ship they now call Rama, ever seen. It was a lot less than what I expected. At the very least, they could have found some information on what the Ramans were, other than an image of an unnamed lifeform found in an archive.

So after the entire book, the mystery of Rama was still a mystery. What was the ship's purpose? Why? How does the ship work? Where is its destination and origin? When did it start its journey and when will it end? It was like having a very long session of foreplay that never ended in an orgasm or even actual sex. All the readers can learn from this book is that the ship contains a giant habitat for oxygen-using humanoids. That's it.

There are still three other books that follow it but they were written by a duo formed by the original author and an engineer working with space technologies of the 70s. According to most reviews, they were written in a different style, giving me the impression that they were basically written by Gentry Lee instead of Arthur C. Clarke, but in the same universe.

Since the Ramans did everything in threes, which can be deduced from their architectural style, I'm mildly surprised there are four books in the series.

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End of spoiler.

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It seems lots of people are being too paranoid and too naive at the same time. If you've gotten any security software that I didn't recommend (and I only recommend NOD32) and no one else seems to be using it, it may be a scam. That is, unless you're good at this sort of thing.

So be careful out there in the dangerous internet. Contrary to popular belief, much of the internet is really a lawless place.

Rant 450 / Foiled... AGAIN!

Alright, my books are here and my beef is sliced and marinating. Now waiting for 7pm for Lockerz. I'm surprised about the thickness of The Prince by Machiavelli. Its half a centimetre thick and costs about S$24. Damn, I expect some real quality from it.

First books I'm reading is the Rama series, which revolves around an empty alien spaceship spotted near Earth. As astronauts explore the gigantic spaceship, well, that's what the story is about. So I gather from the reviews I've read.

By the way these kiwi berries are delicious. They're mini-kiwi fruits that have recently appeared in a fruit store in my neighbourhood. Expensive though, S$10 for 3 boxes of 125g each.












Missed the 7pm Lockerz event because of other matters. Arrived almost 3 hours late. Now I've got to wait till 1am for the final announced restock. After that, there will still be more items but they haven't announced when they will put them up.












It's 1.27am and I've got nothing from Lockerz. I did everything right - log in at 12.50, go to the redeem page of the Black iPod Shuffle 4GB even though it was not restocked yet, closed all other programmes that may consume my bandwidth.

But I made a mistake I was not aware of - I should have used IE instead of Firefox. There is something wrong with Firefox and certain applications at Lockerz that causes some things to not appear. If I open the same page on IE, there was no problem.

I had thought it only happens with the PTZ-catching game for newcomers, but I was wrong because it also happens with the page where I think I'm supposed to enter my address. I got to that page TWICE, but got a blank page both times.By the time I used IE, it was 1.12am, 12 minutes past the start. Everything was still displayed as available, but when I tried to redeem all the iPod Shuffles of different colour, all the non-pink headphones and even the Wii (which was supposedly finished within a minute) in separate tabs, every single one was out of stock.

I COULD HAVE GOTTEN THAT IPOD!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! I was so close to getting it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since I'm most likely not going to get anything for the rest of the month, I'll have to go on accumulating PTZ and try again next month.

Yet another great example of how shit happens whether or not you expect it.

Rant 449 / Cranky

When they said that fats would cause decomposition in the jerky faster, I didn't think they meant within 24 hours. I'm not kidding! Tiny white patches appeared on the marbling of two of the pieces yesterday morning, even though they were made only in the evening on the day before. I thought a tiny bit of fat left in the beef would improve the taste, but it looks like I have to find the leanest cuts of beef with absolutely no marbling for my next batch.












The narrator of Fallout 3, the man who says the most memorable quote of the series in all 3 games, "War. War never changes." is the very same guy who plays Hellboy in the Hellboy movies.

I didn't notice that.












My NOD32 told me my Internet Explorer, which I rarely use, had been infiltrated by a trojan. This happened just 5 minutes before Windows Update informed me of an update that fixes certain security issues in IE. So I am updating it while letting the antivirus programme make an in-depth scan on my entire hard disk.

I'm worried.

Okay after update, it's fine. But I'll scan one more time, just in case. It's not disruptive, so I'm fine with it.








The latest estimate puts the time required for the Arctic ice caps to melt completely is 20 years. Within 2 decades, Russia and Northern Europe will have a new sea route to North America in summer. There are 2 major implications:

1) Earth will no longer have a white top when photographed from space.

2) The world's climate system is going to be FUBAR. The world's weather is closely related to currents in our waters. These currents are affected mainly by salinity and temperature. Formation of ice increases salinity and the ice regulates the temperature to what we are used to.

We will definitely adapt to it of course, but not before it costs our economy fortunes to do so.












I am having a difficult time deciding whether to spend my 250 PTZ on Lockerz. I was thinking of saving the PTZ, but I just remembered I can make more after this, especially if I receive a 4GB iPod shuffle which is going at S$118 at the online iPod store (Singapore branch). Just looking at it will give me more motivation to register email accounts during the holidays.

Maybe I should spend all I have.












Saturday is another birthday. It's difficult to decide what to cook. Let's face it, I'm not a good cook. I'll probably make some buttered toast, the sort that's barely browned. And continue to experiment with jerky just because it's easy.












It's 9.21am (9.21pm EDT) and I have not redeemed anything from Lockerz. The 4GB iPod Shuffle was not released, only the 1GB version. I considered getting the Flip Video Ultra HD camcorder, but a quick Googling told me that it recorded Youtube-quality videos.

I checked their FB page and they were saying that some items will not be posted in these 4 time slots, but probably in the unannounced postings later between now and the next restocking event in November.

The flash drives aren't there either, so there's nothing I can do now but wait till the next update at 7pm tonight (7am EDT, 16 Oct).

Anyway, this is the first time I've attended this event and I can tell you that some items like the iPods went out of stock FAST. I clicked on the redemption menu at 9.01am and after a minute of "waiting for Lockerz.com", I got in only to find all iPods gone. It feels as if they have only 1 of each colour in stock, but seeing that their FB page has over 35k fans, there must be like 80k or even 100k people all trying to log in to grab them.

It's basically like a DDOS attack, in which tons of packets of data requesting access are sent to the server simultaneously. Many probably opened several tabs of Lockerz like I did (one to change my address to my real one, another for redemption, another for reading their latest announcements), so it intensifies the traffic problem.

Rant 448 / Tetris!

Alright, I have decided. I will not redeem anything from Lockerz on Friday, but the rest of my family will redeem two flash drives, aka USB Ports.












Mind-control is here. Not the sort that controls your mind, but the other type that allows your mind to control stuff. Mattel's latest toy called Mindflex allows you to fake telekinesis by processing your brainwaves and moving the toy accordingly.

Another such toy is the Star Wars Force Trainer. It's simpler but comes with a big name.

Already, Toyota has created a working version of a thought-control wheelchair suitable for people who have lost control of their body from the neck down. A company called Emotiv has been selling since last year the SDK headset which translates your thoughts into computer input. Didn't I mention this before? Playing games with your mind? Well, this is much less than what I had in mind, but it's a start.

Handphones are going to be a thing of the past soon. Combine this thought-control input with a holographic interface and what do you get? I think very soon, instead of taking out a mobile phone we'll be thinking "On!" and a 3D hologram will appear on your glasses that displays a simple menu which includes stuff like emails, text messages and phone numbers (if they still call it that). Then a user would think of a number which would activate a certain option set to that number, and think "Up!" or "Down!" to scroll through the sub-menu.

All that would be in your spectacles, earrings or bracelet. Speaking of bracelet, maybe the menu could be projected on the forearm, especially for people who don't wear glasses.

Sci-fi is looking less sci-fi as time passes. My ideas are looking less outlandish at the same rate too. Someone should look into making a thought-controlled mobile phone. Maybe someone is already doing that right now!












http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/10/13/did-god-stop-cern-from-discovering-the-god-particle/

They say God is stopping the LHC. Fuck you! Why must it always be God? Why can't it be Allah, the Jade Emperor or Ra? For all we know, maybe it's Zeus who's stopping this machine!












An excellent Flash animation. I really like the part where he dodges all the Tetris blocks. Who says stick figures are crap? The video below is of extremely bad quality (out of sync and not smooth). For original quality, watch it on Newgrounds on this page. For the soundtrack, you can listen to it on Youtube or download it here.

Rant 447 / If You Force Sex Upon A Whore, Is It Rape Or Shoplifting?

The Nobel Prize has to be helping Obama just when he needs it. The war in the Middle East isn't doing so well, the economy of his country is still barely recovering (if at all) and he is trying to make a radical change to his country's very old and established healthcare system. With his popularity dipping continuously, the Prize came at a an excellent time.

This would make much sense if the reason behind the prize isn't about his present achievements, but his future ones. Somehow it just looks more like it was awarded for a political reason.












MJ's latest single is in fact not the latest. It was really recorded 18 years ago, probably a rejected song.

This is sad, very sad. MJ's reputation was not good to start with before he passed away, and those guys making money off him just won't let that slide end. They had to dig up some old crap and sell it as a new product. To make matters worse, this ugly fact just went public.

He's dead, let him rest in peace.












I am excited about the restocking of the Lockerz goodies. It will be happening on the 15th this month, restocking several times from 6pm that day to 1pm on the next, in EDT. EDT is 12 hours behind my timezone at GMT+8, so 6pm EDT on the 15th is 6am on the 16th for me.

That means I can begin to redeem at 6am on Friday.

I'm pretty convinced it isn't a scam, since their FB page has over 35,000 fans and there are many people on the web who claim to have received something. Also, SG is one of the countries they have confirmed that they can mail to. =D

Anyway, they have new stuff for the event this month in addition to what they offered last month.

Vespa 7,500
GCH Lockerz VIP Package 5,000
Flat Screen TV 3,000
MacBook Air, 13-inch, Aluminum 2,500
MacBook Pro 13" 1,500
MacBook 13-inch 1,000
Burton Snowboards 850
New iPod Touch 64GB 800
HP Mini 110-1025DX 800
Dell Inspiron Mini 10 inch Computer 750
New iPod Touch 32GB 700
PSP Go 675
Game Systems (Xbox 360 Elite) 675
Game Systems (PS3 Game System Slim 120GB) 625
iPod Touch 32GB 600
Cameras 500
Apple TV 500
Time Capsule 500
Marc Jacobs Handbags 500
“Surprise Cool Gift” 500
Write A "Daily" Question 500 500
Beatles Rockband LTD 450
Apple Active Pack 450
New ipod Nano 16GB 425
Ripsticks 375
Beatles Rockband Value 375
DSI Game System 375
T3 Bespoke Labs Hair Dryer 350
Smart Parts Guns 325 - 450
Sunglasses 335
iHome Docking Station 325
iPod Touch 8GB 325
Portable DVD 300
Farouk Chi Ceramic Flat Flat Irons 300
ipod Nano 8GB 300
Ruffian Scarves 300
iTunes Gift Card- Silhouette 250
X Box Microsoft Gift Cards 250
Wii Fitness with Board 250
Wii Fit 250
Wii - Sports Game Included 250
Razer eXactMat- Duo Precision Gaming Surface 150
Mobile Me 225
PSP Rock Band Bundle 200
Ratchet & Clank Bundle 200
Flip Video 200
iPod 4BG Shuffle 200
iPod Dock + Karaoke System 200
G Shock Watches 200
Amazon Gift Cards 125-500
SkullCandy Headphones 125-175
iPod 1 GB Shuffle 150
Hi-Lo Combination Converter/Transformer Kit 150
Orange Amps 125
Fredrick Fekkai Hair Products 85
Bare Minerals Make Up 85
House of Harlow Jewelry 85
Ruffian Books 85
Nail Polish Sets 75
Alex and Ani Jewelry 75
Gym Class Heroes Lockerz Tickets 75
Baggu Bags 50
Dylan's Candy Assorted Items 50
USB Ports 40
iPhone Skins 35
Lockerz Wall Paper 15

The number on the right is the number of points (PTZ) required. Didn't copy the games.

I can probably scrape up about 250 PTZ by then, so the best thing I can get is... a Wii console. The Wii Fit is a game, while Wii Fitness with Board is the set of equipment you use with Wii Fit. Not sure if I want a Wii though.

I can also get an iPod 4GB Shuffle instead, which is just about as useless to me. Maybe I'll ask my bro and see if he wants anything.

...
...
...

I'll continue to accumulate the points. Too bad they don't offer interest rates for saving PTZ.












I think I've added too much Worcestershire sauce in the jerky marinate. Now the whole flat is filled with its smell while I'm baking it at about 60-70 degrees Celsius. Not that it's unpleasant, but the jerky's future isn't looking too bright.

I'm now considering marinating my next batch in just Tabasco and salt and some soy sauce. It's probably possible if I just use salt, but adding something else would help with the flavour. For now, I'll just wait for the current batch to finish drying in the oven.












Prudential is offering a rather interesting plan, a 5-year single premium as they call it. The name is PRUinvestor Guaranteed Plus, which is thus named because it guarantees a 100% capital return and a compound interest of 2.5% per annum after 5 years.

The minimum is a 5k SGD investment (premium) and, to simplify the interest rates for the less mathematically-inclined (not sure if I'm phrasing this right), for every S$10,000 I invest I get S$11,314 after 5 years.

Not too bad really. In fact it is really good, compared to the fixed deposits at Hong Leong Finance which are currently at 0.8% p.a. (for 3 years only, less time = lower %) for up for S$50,000.

I'm hooked. Got to sign up before the offer ends in 2 weeks' time.












The courier came to deliver my books from OpenTrolley a few hours ago, but my door was closed so I couldn't hear him screaming "POSTMAN!!!" at the gate. My doorbell is broken and my family has never fixed it so that we can ignore salesmen, fake monks and evangelists more conveniently and politely. Anyone who visits us whom we don't mind seeing are usually provided with our phone numbers.

Well, not that I answer my calls, since I leave my handphone in silent mode 24/7 and I can't sense the vibration most of the time, for one reason or another. You wouldn't believe how many missed calls I have in my phone's list, all of which I ignore. I know my action (or the lack of it, rather) is going to harm me someday, but for now I don't care. If it's actually urgent, they would call me repeatedly anyway.

The postman left the Delivery Advice (that's what it says at the top of the card) at my door saying he was here at 4pm. Unfortunately this means I have to rearrange a redelivery after one whole working day. At least this means I will get my books by Saturday, if I contact them tomorrow.











Another potential meme, called the Bachelor Frog. Basically you type above and below the frog's head what a bachelor does. This first pic, I can relate to.


This second pic, I can't relate to but it's too funny not to upload it here.













After 6 hours of drying in the oven, the jerky is finally ready. I was right, I added too much Worcestershire sauce. Partial success is the best I can call it. Next time, I'll just use salt and pepper.

The thinner strips are already brittle but the thicker ones are perfectly dried except for those small bits of fats that are still a little wet. =(

It's actually quite easy, except for the grill that I had to make out of aluminium foil and satay sticks so that I don't have to dirty the metal grill.

Rant 446 / 2013

So is this considered landed property? Or would a person living in one consider himself a traveller, since he can just roll his home to wherever he wants?

For anyone living in a hostel/dorm/hall, this really isn't too far from what they're living in. I mean, all they have in their room is nothing but a desk and a bed anyway.

Living in one of these would be pretty exciting on April Fools' Day.

Too bad you can't stack these.












So the world is going to end in 2012 because the ancient Mayans couldn't count beyond the 4-digit number. Apparently Mayan brains just couldn't accept any number from 2013 and larger. "There is no number after 2012, hence all existence will end in the year 2012."

Nah, just kidding.












Brie. Bought a piece of it to try last Friday. I've probably tried it before when it was served in certain buffets I visited, but I never actually experienced it in the right way. I don't know about anyone else, but to me there is eating and there is eating. It's just like the way there are two ways to eat chocolate:

1) Bite, chew. Usually for M&M, Ferrero Rocher and Kit Kat.
2) Bite, leave on tongue, close eyes, gently rub it between your tongue and the top of your mouth, feel it melt. Usually for good chocolate that you like.

Seriously, if you have spent over $10 on a small box of chocolate and you used the first method on the entire box, I'd say you've wasted your money. Skipping all other parts of option 2 is fine, but spreading the melting chocolate all over your tongue is a necessity to fully appreciate chocolate. Eating it that way amplifies all the sensations that the chocolate offers. That is why I dislike chocolate that is very sweet, especially those as sweet as Kit Kat.

Personally I find that in order to really taste something, you also have to be alone in a quiet and comfortable environment. The "alone" part is optional, but it really helps.

Back to the cheese. Expensive stuff, cost me over S$10 and wasn't very big. It's a section of a wheel, as they call the uncut circular piece of cheese, about 7cm radius and at an estimated 30-40 degrees.

But it was worth the money. The cheese, without the rind, taste like something between butter and cheese, or a slightly stronger-tasting butter that doesn't liquefy. It feels like Kraft cheese on my finger when it was cold, but it kind of melts when warmed to room temperature. I learnt that the hard way when I placed the cheese on a paper plate next a ham sandwich.

I had cut out a small portion of the original piece and separated it into 4 pieces, 2 with the mouldy rind and 2 pure brie. The 2 triangles with the white mould, I placed them rind-side down, while the 2 clean pieces also on the plate. The latter were stuck on the plate when they melted and I had to gently scrape them up.

The mouldy parts taste much stronger, which really isn't saying anything since the pure brie was extremely mild. The mould also feels smooth like talcum powder, except it doesn't rub off the cheese.

In short, brie without the rind tastes like paradise, if you like butter and cheese. And next time, I'm going to put them straight into my mouth.

Even though brie is made with a few types of fungus in the Penicillum genus, it doesn't raise your resistance against illness because its not the same species they make Penicillin from.












Do you sit in front of your computer, with your study materials in front of you while you play/do other stuff? I do. I also call that "lying to myself". Fuck me, I'm screwed.

Rant 445 / To Be Ahead, You Have To Look Ahead

The Phantom of the Opera finally has a sequel, but judging by the current trend of quality of sequels these days, I'm not exactly bursting with excitement over this news.











So it's confirmed that they are going to sell the famous Hummer brand to an obscure Chinese company. I think this illustrates the situation of the world economy at present - that the US isn't doing well but the Chinese are.

I just wonder how Tengzhong can maintain and make use of this brand, which is known for its off-road terrain vehicles like the Hum-Vee aka Hummer, especially in the Chinese market where this US-military-related name is probably unheard of.

This is made even harder by the fact that Hummers aren't green at all, and now with this solar power fad going on, well, it's weird that they would want it.












This year's PSLE Maths paper is so hard!

"Jim bought some chocolates and gave half of it to Ken. Ken bought some sweets and gave half of it to Jim. Jim ate 12 sweets and Ken ate 18 chocolates. The ratio of Jim’s sweets to chocolates became 1:7 and the ratio of Ken’s sweets to chocolates became 1:4. How many sweets did Ken buy?"

I think you need partial differential equations and complex numbers to solve this. =P

Reading the news and their complaints made me realise I've lost touch with what used to be considered difficult before. I cannot see what is hard about it. Confusing, perhaps, but nothing difficult. Unless confusing is difficult.












Bought a little beef to make jerky. Looks easy enough, just marinate it in Worcestershire sauce for 24 hours, then bake it in an oven at the lowest setting for another half a day with the oven door slightly ajar and I get jerky.

But it was only after I bought about 300g of beef and returned home that I realized it takes 3 pounds (about 1.5kg) of beef to make 16-18 ounces (less than 500g) of jerky.

Oh well, I'm only trying it for the first time.

Also, going to try to bake bread soon. Eating that white crap they call bread kind of ruins the experience. Don't get me wrong, I like bread. It's just that the economy isn't doing well so my family now buys the First Choice brand. To put it simply, it's as tasteless as it is cheap. So bad, it must not be eaten by itself unless you're starving and lost your sense of taste. Hell, even plain flour has a stronger flavour. I'm sure I can make plain bread that taste better than their bread-like product.

That is, as long as my oven doesn't stop working like it did yesterday.

The oven stops heating when it reaches the pre-set temperature, but my oven didn't heat up again after it cooled down. I was trying to bake fish fillets, but it merely browned a few crumbs on the edges after 20 minutes. In the end I had to fry it. =(

I was reluctant to fry it not because it made my food oily, but because I hate washing stuff. With the oven, all I needed to do after baking was to remove the aluminium foil, but after frying I had to wash the pan, the chopsticks and the plate.

And the microwave oven (another option among the instructions on the back of the box) sucks balls when it comes to cooking this sort of food.

Also, before I forget, HEINZ TARTAR SAUCE IS FREAKIN BLAND!












The difference between the successful and not so successful is usually left unsaid. Here, I'm going to describe it. Let me illustrate it with a real example.

I was planning to make beef jerky, so I bought some sliced beef. It came in a small plastic container covered with foil wrap, place neatly in a horizontal manner like they do at steamboats. You know, the usual. I was going to remove the fats, and all recipes advice that I freeze it to make that process easier, so I placed it in the freezer when I got home.

There, I've described the problem. Like some of you I couldn't see it, at least not until I took it out to cut out the fats.

The slices were stuck together because they were frozen, hence I could not cut the fats from the beef. As a result I had to thaw the chunk of meaty ice before processing the meat.

This is the sort of problem that differentiates between the smart and the rest. If I were smart I would have seen it when I bought the beef. Same goes for successful people - they can see the problems before they get to the point where they would encounter them. They don't wait for trouble to come to them, making them appear to have an easier time.

Moral of the story - to be ahead, you have to look ahead.

I bet someone famous has already said this some time in the past.

Anyway I didn't follow any recipe exactly. I just poured quite a bit of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce into the zip-lock bag, followed by a generous dose of Tabasco sauce and then the beef, about 10 slices of them at the usual size suitable for stir-fry. I expect the jerky to be very salty, a little sour and a little spicy.

Just hope my oven doesn't give up on me now, not when the economy is as bad as it is.












My jerky-to-be reminded my mum of a very different beef jerky made by an old friend. Apparently she cooked the beef in 卤汁 (lu3 zhi1), a type of Chinese gravy. I still don't know what it's called in English, though one dictionary translated 卤 as brine, which isn't anywhere close to what 卤汁 is.

Anyway, she cooked the beef in it before cutting it into slices about a centimetre thick. She then stirred the beef in a hot work to dry it. I can tell that's a very tough job since it must stick to the wok very quickly. After that the beef didn't require much baking since it was mostly dry by then. But before baking, she added Five-Spice powder to the beef, probably to make it less sticky. That must have added more flavour to the jerky too.

I guess that's another type of Chinese beef jerky.














This guy taught the world to make bombs from fertilizer. He's a f*cking terrorist. Also, he's my latest mealtime entertainment.