New map

I finally got myself a new TCL map. It's been ages since I told myself I should do that. The lines have changed quite a lot...there are two new tram lines and several new "modern" buses. (and some lines made longer or shorter, etc)

Here are the two maps, old and new.


On the left, the September 2004 edition that I received upon arriving in INSA in August 2005. You can see how worn it is...it's been very useful! (which is also why I wanted a new, up-to-date one) My mother would say that it's "chut ciap" already :P (literally "keluar jus" for the Malaysians who don't understand Hokkien...for the others I don't think any other translation can do it justice :P )

Now the new one is the April 2009 edition. I guess it was right after they started the 4th tram line.

You know why this map is better than a simple map of Lyon? Of course, one of the reasons is that it has the public transport lines on it. But another reason is that it has Villeurbanne on it too! On the map of Lyon that I got from the tourism office, the Villeurbanne area is blocked by something...the names of the streets if I'm not mistaken. (it's in a corner of the map) But for TCL, Villeurbanne is just as important as Lyon ;)

(Actually part of why the old map is so worn out is because I left it in my backpack almost all the time during my first year in INSA, so it got lugged about everywhere)

Of desperateness

When you haven't gone to use their application in a long time...


I got this as a notification. Haha.

So what should I call this?

The first time I posted this, I called it a macaroni bake. This time I made it with cheese sprinkled on top (like I suggested in that post). I also used penne instead of macaroni (it was the pasta I had at home...I only have one at any given time, except the transition period :P ) And this time it came out firmer and easier to cut into portions (without falling apart...)

This is no longer anywhere close to what Dayah made...so I probably shouldn't call it her dish! lol But I'm not sure what to call it otherwise...what is it, actually? As you might notice from the photo title, I was hesitating between calling it a pasta bake or a (pasta) pie...any suggestions? lol

Puppet musicians rule!

Here's another song of The Feeling that I love. I had already mentioned it before, and I just found one of the best videos ever.

Love it when you call


I absolutely love the dog and the rabbit!! ♥ Puppet musicians rule!! lol

Edit: And I just found the official video of Fill my little world.

Know your alphabet?

I saw these key-chain designs on this website.


A for apple
B for burger
C for cookie *
D for doughnut
E for elephant
F for flower
G for golf
H for house
I for igloo
J for jeans
K for kangaroo
L for leaves
M for monster
N for ninja
O for ouch
P for princess
Q for queen
R for run
S for strong (or strength?)
T for tools
U for underwear
V for valentine
W for watermelon
X for X-ray
Y for yummy **
Z for zebra

* I think
** Thanks to Christophe Cachat, a guy who was in my Spanish class two years ago, bf of a girl who was in my class two years ago, to both of whom I haven't spoken more than a few words, and probably less than ten words in the past two years (let's say definitely less than a hundred). So how on earth did it happen that he told me Y was for yummy? One of those Facebook paradoxes. (but at least this guy still acknowledges me when he sees me...unlike some others who completely ignore me like they don't even know me! Like his gf...or some people with whom I've exchanged more words, on a more "friendly" basis!) <-- I don't wanna rant here...

An unexpected news source

Duh. Two of my friends who blog have already blogged about Michael Jackson's death. So why not? I'll blog about it as well.

Actually I found out at work, when number 3 told number 2 so. (or was it the other way around? No, I don't think so...)

In the morning when I reach the metro station, I always get accosted by people giving out free newspapers. There are usually three of them...sometimes two. I never take the newspapers because I'm too lazy to read them at home, and I can't read in the metro, the only place where I'd have kinda wanted to read them.

So this morning was no different. I didn't take any newspaper, but when I passed the Lyon Plus (one of the papers) rack, I saw Michael Jackson's face full page on the cover. I did wonder why...but I was walking too quickly to see what the headline was.

I'm posting this just 'cos I found it kinda ironic. Overhearing the bosses at work? It was kinda the last place I'd expect to hear of Michael Jackson's death.

By the way, just the other day I heard two DJs on the radio (Absolute Radio) discussing about how some people race to edit Wikipedia pages when someone dies. One of them said something like "when they go to edit it, they're like 'hey, I'm too late, someone's already edited it!' " And sure enough, I check MJ's Wikipedia page and his life span is already there.

Not that I haven't already noticed this phenomenon before...sometimes I hear that someone famous died and I want to find out why he was so famous, so I go to Wikipedia. And usually his death date is already there. Oh well, I guess there are lots of hardworking people in this world! lol

Making the most of Facebook

It's sometimes weird how some people don't think of using what conveniences Facebook has to offer. Sure, it's the best place to waste your time, people are always lamenting about how they're spending too much time on it. (I'm not talking about me ;P )

Let me see, I can think of several instances when Facebook turned out useful. Julie got my phone number from my profile, which inspired me to get Paul's phone number from his profile, when I was supposed to meet him for a permanence. I have also tried to get some other phone numbers (I can't remember whose) but they didn't have it on their profile. And last summer I messaged some of my (newly re-found) secondary school friends for their phone numbers so that we could contact each other to meet up.

Sometimes someone on Facebook will ask me whether I have messenger. Usually they ask whether I use MSN, but I use Yahoo, so I'll tell them I use Yahoo (and that MSN users can still add me)...but I don't give them my ID 'cos it's on my Facebook profile, and they're on Facebook, so what's the point right? Erm, NO. Usually the next message will be "So what's your ID?" -_-'

At this I will usually go to their profile to see whether they have a Yahoo ID or Hotmail address there, and add them to my Yahoo. I actually got Thierry's MSN address from Facebook, by the way...after hearing in class that he used the messenger. (hehe I still remember him asking me how I got his address, I said "from you", and he was like "but I don't remember giving it to you" lol) Duh you put something on Facebook, you're giving it to loads of people! Especially if you didn't check your privacy settings...

The same happens for my blog. Sometimes I will mention my blog...and someone will ask "What's the address?" But it is on my profile, darnit! (<-- it is not a typo, the words are run together)

*sniff* No one looks at my profile, that's why.
:P

By the way, I look at the profile of everyone I add. Just to be sure that I'm not adding a serial killer. (who knows, it might be a friend's occupation that you did not know about... (just kidding okay?)) Of course, if they change their profile later, I might not always notice it...

Of paranoia

I am really paranoid. In the lab where I work, no one ever cares what other people are doing unless if they're working together. Otherwise we are each in front of our own computer screen.

But each time I start writing an e-mail (to a friend, I mean...if it's for work I wouldn't hide it!), I'm constantly looking over my shoulder (not literally, since I don't dare turn my head without a reason…see à quel point (to which point, literally) I'm paranoid!), afraid that someone is looking over my shoulder.

And I wanted to tell people all about it...except that it is so hard to describe how our places are spread out in the office (office, lab...it's half-half actually, so sometimes I say office and sometimes I say lab)

So I drew a plan. Here you go:

(not drawn to scale!)

The two orange bars are the doors. The door on the top goes out into the "workshop" area, and the one on the right leads to a smaller office, which in turn leads out into the "workshop" as well. At the bottom there are windows all the way across (you can look out, but not in!). On the left there is a blank wall, and actually on the other two "walls" where there are the doors, there is transparent glass. (north should be somewhere on the right)

The green circles are our seats. I am the star (hehe, I just didn't want to give myself a number, but that actually sounds good! lol)

Now, numbers 1, 2 and 3 are the people who actually work there. The rest of us are students. Number 1 is the chief, and number two is my tutor who's in charge of my internship. You see where they are sitting?! If they look up they'd be able to see my computer screen! (don't blame me for being paranoid now, huh? :P ) Of course, number 2 is at a rather awkward angle to actually see what's on my screen...but then, you never know.

Number 4 is Rodrigo, and number 5 is Guillaume (the first one mentioned in my previous post) It's okay if they're there...I don't think they'd rat on me anyway.

The difference between the blue and purple tables is that the blue ones are like the ones we find in labs; there is a high shelf and the back of the table+shelf is blocked. (argh I don't know how to explain it) Suffice to say that even though Bakary (number 6) is sitting opposite me, I can't see him at all...except his legs if I bend down :P Or the top of his head if we're both standing up. I think the "shelf" is about as tall as I am.

Whereas those at the purple tables can see each other all the time...as some of them have mentioned, it's harder to go to sleep 'cos there is nothing to hide behind :P

And the question mark? It's an empty place...where sometimes someone from another lab comes by to do some work.

Actually I think my tutor doesn't even mind if I send personal e-mails when I'm at work. He had already seen my inbox once (we use Microsoft Outlook for our Bosch e-mail address), with an e-mail from my friend right on top of the page - just arrived, in bold. (and I believe that at that moment the e-mails in my inbox were practically all from this person :P ) But he didn't say anything...whereas I hastily opened a new message (he was telling me to send an e-mail to someone). I wonder whether he actually noticed it :P

In the end, I guess I shall continue being paranoid.

Edit:
Oh yeah, my first week there, Rodrigo hadn't yet arrived, Guillaume and my tutor weren't there, and number 1 was out of the office most of the time. So I was basically lost in a deserted corner of the room. Luckily contact with the outside world was still possible :P

I even took some photos with my phone at a moment when no one was there (even number 3, which meant that I could see no one at all)

behind me

part of my desk, with my mouse (the one they lent me, of course...not my beloved minesweeping buddy :P )

desks number 2 and number 3

Oh, and now let's hope that no one finds my blog who shouldn't. Paranoia kicking in again. lol

Oh, what a discovery!

I started my internship on the 18th of February. And today it's the 23rd of June. After more than 4 months, I just found out that someone there still has no idea that I am Malaysian. Here's what happened at lunch today.

Guillaume was laughing at me for having gotten 58% on a quiz on Malaysian food. (Hey, watzis? I passed what! :P) Then (I didn't hear it but that must have been it) Etienne must have asked why he was saying that, or what was the connection, 'cos Guillaume told him (I only heard the ending):
- ... parce qu'elle est malaisienne! (because she's Malaysian!)

His reaction?
- Sérieux?! (Serious?!)

HA HA HA HA...

What's more, after that he called Fernando Rodrigo (these are the names of the two Brazilian interns who are there with us) At this, Guillaume went "You don't know that she's Malaysian, you don't know that he's Rodrigo (or Fernando, I can't remember which he said), are you really working in the same place with us?" LOL
("Tu es sûr que tu travailles dans le même bureau?", if I'm not mistaken)

But other people have already mixed up their names too…for example the other Guillaume (there are two Guillaumes in the lab); I can't be sure about everyone else. As for me, I just didn't want to insist too much that I was Malaysian…I simply dropped in "in Malaysia" into the conversation once in a while when there was a context. But since I don't talk much anyway, I guessed that slipped through the cracks!

The icing on the cake? (cerise sur le gâteau in French, it made me almost write down "cherry on the cake", but then I thought, hey, that isn't right!) When we were leaving at the end of the day he did it again. I've forgotten how...but he mixed up the Brazilians' names again. So we had another round of laughs :P

For a little more info:
That quiz was on Facebook, on traditional Malaysian food. I hadn't even seen some of them before, and I knew the names of only a few...I mean, I don't learn those names! I point and say how much I want! lol

And the discovery? It was for both of us. ;P

Paris-lovers beware!

Warning: Anti-Paris, pro-Santorini "rant". Paris-lovers be warned. I shall take no responsibility for your reactions. :P

You know what? I am tired of hearing people say that Paris is romantic. Or that "no wonder everyone says it's the most romantic city bla bla bla". (which, besides a number of bloggers, some people I know also do)

I just don't think so. What is so romantic about it? What is so romantic about a bustling city, packed metros, cars zooming past?

Don't mind me. I'm just being cranky. I'm this way lately, for some reason or another. (for several, actually, when one subsides another comes to take its place)

And I'm taking it out on Paris. Just thought of it because Ben's telling me he's coming this August. Not that it's your fault, Ben. I just don't know why people like Paris so much. Sorry. Not my cup of tea. I prefer someplace like, Santorini. Really, that's the most breathtaking place I've ever been to, the only place I can honestly say I really loved. The other places were more like great experiences.

And the Greek people I met in the restaurant agree. When I told them that I had been to Santorini, the mother was like "oh yes, really beautiful!" And even when she was telling Hung Jen about all the interesting places in Greece to visit, she mentioned several other islands, amongst which Mykonos (where we almost went instead of Santorini) and she said "Mykonos, not so good. Santorini, better."

Back to Paris. Okay, maybe there's the Seine, which is kinda "romantic" (I don't really think so) But then it's like everywhere you turn, there are tourists. There are souvenir shops. How on earth do the locals live? It's like invasion, all year round. Then at the Eiffel tower. No, it's not pretty. I only went to see it because it's famous. And you have those people shoving souvenirs under your nose. Oh, bargains! Duh, stay home, that's money-saving for you.

I'm not saying Paris isn't worth visiting. But once would be enough. Just for the experience of seeing it. Unless if you like museums or architecture. But hey, most people wouldn't agree with me on this one.

Lyon is so much better. I tell you, it has everything Paris has (even the Eiffel tower...lol) You want metros? There are metros in Lyon, much roomier and cleaner than the Paris ones. You want a river? Lyon has the Rhône, which even has a strip of greenery next to it for your strolling pleasure. There are even trams, roomier than the Paris metros (though less than the Lyon ones), allowing you to look at the scenery you are passing by as you get to your destination.

Goodness, this has turned into a Lyon-advertising post.

So what does Lyon lack compared to Paris? Throngs of tourists. Narrow sidewalks. (Lyon sidewalks are larger, I believe...or is it just because there are less people using them? :P )
Souvenir shops.

There are even secret passageways to discover in the old town. I still haven't found them all, and I've gotten tired of trying. I found the longest one, which was easy, and also one or two others that I've now forgotten. The only one I take visitors to is the longest one.

Then there are the painted walls. I've made myself a vow that I will go looking for them all one weekend before leaving for Malaysia. I hope it will work out, seeing as I always end up too lazy. And they're all over Lyon...not just in its centre. Maybe I'll cover a small area each day.

I've babbled on long enough, haven't I? See you if you come to Lyon.

PS: For the Eiffel tower in Lyon, check out Fourvière ;)

Je peux passer derrière vous?

I just came back from lunch with Charlène and a friend of hers (whom I should probably call an acquaintance of mine, by now). They left for a friend's place afterwards, so I took the metro back alone. As I was taking out my card to pass through the gate, a guy who was there came over and asked (with an "excuse me" first), "Est-ce que je peux passer derrière vous?" (or something like that) I didn't catch it the first time, and he repeated it...I just shrugged, not quite knowing what to say. Something like, "you do what you want". Um, do you say yes or no in this case? It's not like he even had to ask anyway. And he did go in behind me.

(in the metro here, when the gates open for someone who has a ticket, if you're quick you can sneak in behind that person)

Somehow since a black guy asked me, "Vous avez déjà ... un noir?" right after he asked me the time and I told him politely, even with a "sorry", that I didn't know it, I've been rather reticent about being polite to strangers. Duh. Darn that guy, he's blown my belief in the innocence of people.

Oh, and by the way, here are some photos I took today (I just want to stash them here so that I don't have to keep them on my computer)

okonomi-yaki

dora-yaki

(Doraemon told me to order it :P )

And then we went to a small cafe/tea salon where we had hot chocolate. I went upstairs to use the toilet, and snapped a photo of the cosy armchairs (no one was there).

A Chacun sa Tasse, à l'étage

Edit (13th July 2009): Oh yeah, the "Je peux passer derrière vous?" thing happened again a little more recently...about one or two weeks ago I think. It was a lady this time...

I made dim sum

Nah, not really.

Or...you can judge for yourself :P


Sorry about the ugliness. I just rolled minced meat in the seaweed, then steamed it. And I had a strip of seaweed too much, so I tore that one up and put pieces of it on some of the already-rolled pieces. (clumsily, as you can see...though what I had in mind was like the one on the topmost part of the photo) Of course, the seasoning is "special" one, cannot tell. lol But I assure you it was delicious ;P

And I did this because I had leftover seaweed from making sushi, and I didn't want to keep it for almost a year, like I did last time (I threw that away) And the seaweed wrapped dim sum is one of my favourites anyway.

So here's a photo of the sushi. I didn't have any carrots, so I made do with what I had. Still, they look pretty nice. (the colours, I mean)


By the way, I'm leaving Lyon of the last Monday of July. (the first working day after my internship ends ;) ) But my flight goes to Singapore...so I might not reach Kuantan the next day. It'll most probably be the day after... So, any suggestions for me while I'm in Singapore?

Just because I wanna scream

Warning: Bla-bla rant coming up.

Yeah, right. When I say I'm not good with people you tell me that I'm wrong. But hey, do you really mean that? I doubt it. Still, you sound sincere. Hah. Sincere because you're sincere about wanting to make me feel better. Really, you don't have to.

Why on earth am I trying to organise meet-ups with people anyway? It's not like they want to come, they're coming as a "courtesy". Just not to say no.

Of French cuisine bringing people together

I had a visitor last Friday. Hung Jen came to visit Lyon. It was a really short trip, but let's not talk about that or other depressing stuff (let's just say the god(dess?) of transport wasn't on her side...or more like definitely against her)

What I want to blog about is our adventure in a restaurant in Vieux Lyon (Lyon's old town). This is the one we went to (the photo was taken after the meal)


You see, Hung Jen had heard of a French dish before coming. So she wanted to try it. She told me that it was raw beef...and I immediately knew what it was. I had heard of it before (and Teik Siang told me that it was good) but never tried it before, and I probably wouldn't ever have tried it on my own.

So as we were walking around Vieux Lyon, we looked at the menus. Since there are many restaurants in Vieux Lyon, and most of them specialise in Lyonnais dishes, I was looking for one that had steak tartare (that's the name of the dish Hung Jen wanted to try) on its menu. (steak tartare is French, but not specially Lyonnais...goodness, see how many explanations I need to make?)

Anyway, on to the food. Entrées first:

florentine de saumon fumé au fromage frais et à l'aneth

Salmon wrapped around some kind of filling made of cream cheese and a herb (look for the translation yourself, I don't know this herb anyway) The presentation is really beautiful, but basically I found this entrée disappointing...I like salmon but there you have such thin strips. And the cheese filling...I felt that there was too much... (felt rather muak (can't translate this)) So I scraped away part of it, that was better. And salad...I'm no rabbit. :P

The names of the dishes are all straight from the menu...I can do that because Hung Jen took photos of the menu :P We shared all the dishes, by the way.

Okay, the other entrée, which was absolutely yummy :D

cassolette d'escargots, crème d'échalotte et de champignons frais

In short, snails in a heavenly sauce. Now I understand why some people can eat snails without knowing what they were. But I still don't understand how they can throw up later, upon learning what it was. Aw, come on, if you eat something that looks so appetising and tastes so good...um, if it was human flesh I'd probably eat it again too! lol (okay, on second thoughts, maybe not)

Main dishes now:

quenelle de brochet à la cuillère sauce homardine

tartare de boeuf "spécial Comptoir"

The quenelle is a Lyonnais speciality. It's the thing in the bowl. (you can find more info on Google, I'm really lazy about explaining today) I had only tried quenelle covered in sauce before, which I usually find a bit bland. This is the first time I tried oven-baked quenelle, and it was really good :D

By the way, the side dish ("veggies") for both dishes is gratin dauphinois, which is some potato-based thing (again, too lazy to explain... -> Google!)

Then, the "adventurous" dish: the restaurant's "special" tartare de boeuf (boeuf = beef). I didn't like it much. I found it only just edible (and slightly more so with the sauce, which was basically tartar sauce, I guess) By the way, the dish is served cold, probably direct from the fridge.

So, my advice to those who are thinking of trying it: if you like raw steaks, you'd probably like it. Otherwise...do not try it on your own! Make sure you have a "backup" to help you eat it (you won't be able to finish it)

Oh yeah, and remember the Mr. Bean episode where he went into a restaurant, ordered something, couldn't bring himself to eat it and tried to get rid of it by hiding bits of it all over the place? That was steak tartare ;P (I think I realised that when I saw the episode in last year's English class...before coming to France I didn't even know the dish)

So in the end this is what was left on our plates:

You can see what was the most delicious! :P

The gratin dauphinois wasn't bad...but we were kinda full, and there was dessert later!

Haha, when we ordered the steak tartare, the waiter said "you do know that it is raw?" ("il est cru, on est bien d'accord!" LOL) With his tone of voice, even Hung Jen could guess what he was saying :P

Now dessert! (these weren't on the permanent menu...they put a small blackboard on our table with the dessert list on it)

charlottine à la poire et au chocolat (or something like that)

inside (pear and chocolate)

roasted figs with vanilla ice-cream

Every dessert came with a slice of orange and a slice of kiwi. (for decoration...but we can eat them as well!) I guess those were their "fruits of the day". Those sitting at the table next to us had the same fruits, I noticed.

And that is actually the second "adventure"...we chatted with them. And it was all thanks to the weird French food. lol

They were Greek, and the daughter had just finished a year of studies (an exchange) in France. Two of them (the parents) had ordered something that they ended up not liking. At least one of them (I don't know whether they ordered the same thing) was tête de veau (calf's head), I believe I heard. I've tried it before, it wasn't bad (a whole lot better than steak tartare lol), but it's not something I actually like.

They spoke English (I don't mean amongst themselves, though), so I suppose they had caught snatches of our conversation. Before our main dishes arrived, Hung Jen was saying that she was starting to feel scared about trying the raw beef. And when the dishes arrived, the mother pointed to the steak tartare and smiled at us, then she lifted up the cover of her bowl (yes, it came with a cover, don't ask me more) and showed us that she hadn't finished...and neither had her husband.

And bla bla bla...I don't know how (ask Hung Jen, she was the one who managed it), we talked a bit and ended up exchanging contact info. And we asked one of the restaurant workers to take a photo of us:


And now let me show you why Hung Jen should be a model for advertisements. Here are some of her poses with the steak tartare (I have photos of her actual expressions as well, but they aren't as good as these):

Pose no. 1: "Yummy, don't you want some?" ;)


Pose no. 2: "Nooo! Don't force me to eat this!"


That's all folks!
(all photos courtesy of Hung Jen...we used her camera, I didn't bring mine)

Of a wonderful story

Remember the series Mind Your Language? Here's a part of an episode where the students make up a story. :D



And since I'm posting something in this category (tagged "stuff to share", I mean), here's a quote that made me chuckle:
"I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally." by W. C. Fields

Why you should sometimes comment on my posts

Just a little "info".

I really don't know who reads my blog. Some people post comments sometimes, so I know that they come by from time to time. Some have told me before that they read my blog. Some used to read and post comments, but now that they no longer post comments, I have no idea whether they are still reading. And some...well, some come and go quietly, and then one day when we're talking, they say "oh, I saw this-and-this on your blog". And I'm like "oh, so you read my blog".

Of course, this is not to say that you should post comments. No pressure. This is just to give you some reasons to post them, if ever you are saying to yourself that it's pointless. (and by the way, I read all comments, even if I sometimes don't reply...I can't find something to say every time!)

Sometimes it's so quiet I wonder whether I am talking to myself, or whether some people are listening. I would post most of this anyway, even if no one were reading it. But it would be a little different. Like...I wouldn't have to bother translating anything. If I write one sentence half in English, half in French, with a Malay word thrown in, I wouldn't bother writing the translations/explanations in brackets or as footnotes if no one were reading. I wouldn't bother either with the short notes at the beginning of "useless" or ranting posts. And so on and so on.

Also, comments would let me know what kind of things more people find interesting...things that I should "tell you" more about.

So, see ya ;) Don't be a peeping Tom, show yourself! :P

The groundnut trigger

I just bought a pack of groundnuts from an Asian shop in Guillotière. You know, the type you crack open and eat (the manibong / menglembu kind (I never understood how manibong (what my mother calls it) got transcribed into menglembu)) <-- Haha, that's grand use of brackets for you :P In this packet of groundnuts, there were several (and there might be more) groundnuts with more than two sections (three or even four...this is the first time I've found a four-sectioned groundnut in France, I believe :P ) That suddenly got me thinking about an essay I wrote when I was small (how small? I have no idea) It was about a house, groundnut-shaped with one room in each section. I even remember writing that there should be a transportation system to get from one end to the other...a kind of horizontal lift or a bicycle-like thing. But I can't remember the title that was given to us, that led to this "architecturing stint". lol. Was it rumah idaman (dream house)? I can't even remember whether it was in primary or secondary school, whether it was in Malay or English. (I said rumah idaman but I really am not sure...) If someone can enlighten me, please do...

The groundnuts also made me think of a diary entry I wrote (also when I was small, smaller than when I wrote the essay, I would say) about a wonderful way of eating groundnuts. I still keep what I wrote (just a small stack of papers, I was never big on diary-writing), and I remember reading that entry rather recently (okay, maybe 2 or 3 years ago...but that's why I remember it) I wrote it as a "great discovery" (pardon my childishness) and the method was to put the groundnuts (shelled, of course :P ) into a fizzy drink and scooping them up to eat with the drink.

I happen to have a bottle of ginger ale in my fridge...which is what triggered this memory. I'm not dropping the groundnuts in this time, though...I'm just eating them accompanied with the drink. I have bought the groundnuts loads of times...but I seldom buy fizzy drinks, which is why I haven't thought of this "groundnut-eating method" in a long time!

Hehe, have you tried this method before? :P

Edit: My mother explained the "menglembu" mystery to me. Now that I hear it, I believe she's already explained that to me before :P

Menglembu is the name of a town which is famous for its groundnuts, so we call the groundnuts menglembu groundnuts. The town's name translated to hokkien is manibong. It is so famous that not just menglembu groundnuts, but all of the same type are also called manibong, just like all containers are called tupperware. The other types of groundnuts are shantong.

Tigrinoceros - a new Pokemon!

Remember our INSA friend the rhino?

It has been subjected to more colourful treatment.

I went to INSA for my PPH presentation today (search in earlier posts for an explanation), and while walking back I passed the rhino. It looked brighter, at the very least.



This is really recent, because just two weeks ago (Thursday or Friday, I believe) when I was walking back from the library it was still normal (well, as normal as you can call a white rhino with black patches).

The poor thing...notice that if you look at its behind from behind, you read K-O.

(By the way I just noticed that the rhino is practically Pikachu-coloured. But that wasn't what made me think of writing Pokemon in the title...it was just looking for a name for it, and then I thought that tigrinoceros sounded like one of those Pokemon names)

And for those who are interested, yes, my PPH went well. There was only Mady, my tutor...and the other jury member was Noterman who was in the office (yes, the presentation was in their office) at the beginning but was busy with his own work. (he left a little later) The other "possible jury member", Viverge, came in towards the end (and also in the middle, if I'm not mistaken) and asked us if we had played Minesweeper. lol. Schiaparelli came in twice in the middle of it all to filch something from Noterman's desk, and then put it back (at least I think it was the same thing...looked like a magazine from where I sat - yes, I was sitting, next to Mady, both of us in front of my computer) I don't think he (Schiaparelli, I mean) recognised me as his...uh, whatever - he's my tutor - for the internship.

Talk about décontracté! (relaxed)

So why was it Noterman rather than Viverge who was the 2nd jury member, since neither of them were there? Simply because Mady put his name on the PPH form. Haha.

Oh yeah, so stupid of me. I was going to mention something else about the rhino. When I was at Charlène's place the other day, I saw that she had a photo of the rhino in its original grey, but outside on the lawn instead of in the Humas building. She's two years my junior (in INSA, not in age), and she said that the rhino was already there when she arrived in INSA, so that means that it was brought outside sometime between my 1st and 3rd years, but not painted till sometime during my 3rd year. So now all I have left to find out is when it turned pink. (did it fall in love? :P )

Banana mania

Last Sunday, I bought a whole lot of bananas at the market. I was there with Yi Zhou, so we split 3kg (I think it was 3) between us...but they were still too much! After a week, they were starting to get really soft and were no longer good to eat, so I came up with a brilliant idea (hehe not so brilliant actually) : I would make a banana cake!

I already had a recipe at hand, one which my mother had given me back when I was still in Angoulême (I didn't have an oven but some of the others did), though I had never gotten round to trying it. I still do not have an oven, but my neighbour (and fellow ping pong player) did, so I arranged to make the cake with her.

Since I had more bananas than needed for the cake, I made some kuih kodok as well (using one of the many recipes I found on the internet) They are supposed to be round, but mine came out flat... I'm guessing that it was because I "deep"-fried them in rather shallow oil...so the part of the batter that wasn't immediately in the oil had time to spread out. Oh well, whatever...it tasted the same :)

kuih kodok leper
(leper = flat)

I can't remember whether I had ever eaten kuih kodok that had been left to cool down (really really cool down, I mean). I couldn't finish this plate in one go, so I left the rest aside...but later it was a lot less good. So I guess I can't make it in advance to take anywhere...it'll have to be fried on the spot.

And here's the cake I made with Charlène :D

banana cake

As she said, it doesn't only look good, it tastes good too! ;)

Doggy bag

I saw a very cute doggy in the bus today. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo because the bus was way too crowded for me to take out my phone and take a shot.

But...it wasn't a live doggy. It was a bag, in the form of a plush toy dog. Or at least I think it's a bag...what plush toy would have a strap to sling over your shoulder?

In fact, when I first caught sight of the dog, I thought it was real...I saw its head at the woman's waist level so I thought it was being carried in a bag or a basket of some kind. Who knew it would turn out that the dog was the bag...

I want one!! *wails*

:P

Now I miss my koala bear. The one that hugged me when I was small...
(It's actually a waist pouch)

No wonder I always have a bruise somewhere

Just smashed my knee to smithereens. (okay, that's hyperbole) But I am so darn good at this kind of thing, I wouldn't be surprised if that came true some day.

Still remember my 1st year mishap with the washbasin? I doubt this will be worse than that though...that time I had a humongous purple bruise that lasted for weeks. (I had to rub it to get the swelling down, which spread the bruise)

So how did I do it this time? I was adjusting my curtain, because the afternoon sun first shines towards the right side of my window, then towards the left as the day progresses (don't try to imagine it, okay? If you're really curious I'll explain it to you with a drawing when I meet you. Or if you're lucky, you might be able to see a demonstration in my room. lol) So halfway through the afternoon I will adjust my curtain to continue blocking the sunlight. To do that, I have to climb onto my bed. Between my bed and the wall where the window is, there is a space of a little more than a foot wide. And below the window there is THE culprit...the heater. So while getting down from the bed...bang!

Everything's a weapon in my hands (or knees :P) Remember my badminton racquet? So you'd better watch out. lol

At the end of my previous post about banging my knee, I said "Nice way to start the month of May."

I guess this time, it's to end the month of May... (may I remind you that this blog's timestamp is on Malaysian time, while I am in France at the moment? ;) )