Counting down the days

A friend and I predicted the number of years remaining in our lives, and what we are going to do with it. What we are going to do after graduation, what the plans that are thought, where we will settle down with our lives, which career path we are going to take, etc etc.

And I realized one thing.

Life is SHORT

true
true
true
true

20 years are indeed, short. And I only have a very, very, very few multiples of them to add to my life. Summing them up, they are still SHORT.

Well, the good thing is, it's never too late to start planning your life, and enjoy every sweet bit and bitter piece of it. As cherries are fun, and dark chocolates are awesome. And coffee, be it latte, mocha, espresso, macchiato, cappuccino or coffee liqueur are ALL superb and come in many different tastes and varieties. Just like... What else, life.

Actually afraid of forgetting why I turned to the East Asian music back then.

Accidentaly bumped to this video in youtube. As much as I remember the good ol' memories of early 2000s where music was fairly done well (slapping the almighty machine called AUTOTUNE),

I know there was a nice memory hidden at the back of my packed brain about this particular song. A school production of ours. TBH, it was one of the latest good memory about being in a community of people who learnt and had fun and did not take it merely to fulfil the CCA requirement, during my school days in that particular country.

"Cause I've got friends who love me, blue skies are above me, my blonde hair is everywhere" - Hilary Duff, "Sweet Sixteen"

imaginary.

Found at roomie's desk, and the first thing I could think of was:

NaCl plate?

#fail

...of course it isn't. She's not even a chemistry student! If yes, why should she has it in her desk nway?


NaCl plate = the thing to submit your samples for IR spectroscopy

Gosh!!

Just couldn't finish today's test straight,

and I am devastated through the day.

I just hope there's still a light for me at the end of this.... semester.

It's the day again!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone~

...and thankies gals for the chocs!

Halal flavors

A friend posted a shoutout about Ben & Jerry's halal certificate for several flavors. It was highlighted in this blog: http://www.worldhalalquest.com/2010/05/ben-and-jerrys-ice-cream.html.

The certification does not affect me, since I don't need that certificate to consume something. However, I feel glad that now Moslems can finally consume their ice creams (because Ben & Jerry's is delicious yet expensive). Anyway, why the flavors like vanilla, chocolate, brownies and strawberry shortcakes are not halal? I think they are good on themselves even without alcohol, or is it because the animals where the dairies and animal-derivations come from are not halal-certified? Despite all of those thoughts, seeing this from business point of view, this is more to touch the psychological aspect of assurance of the quality of the products and of course may widen the market. =P *no offence*

There are some flavors that do need alcohols or liquors to enhance the flavor and you just can't take the alcohol away from them, otherwise it is just not right. Of course they will not be halal until eternity. An example:

I am 100% sure that this is NOT halal. Dublin = Ireland = Irish = liqueur. No liqueur = not Irish, isn't it? YES. I just want to know if this flavor have restriction for underages? =P

Drawing from the example above, is the flavor of Rum and Raisin halal? It is not specific to Ben & Jerry's, but all brands. As far as I know.. Rum is alcoholic. And anything alcoholic is not halal. I stayed in Indonesia, where most Moslems are populated, for 18 years in my early life, and am still going back there in vacation periods for sure, and I know that most ice cream brands (local or international, home-made or factory-packed, street vendors or amusingly-expensive-only-can-be-sold-in-big-malls) sell that flavor while almost all foods sold there need halal certificate.

I asked that friend, who is a Muslim, about this flavor. And she admitted that rum is indeed, alcoholic. Then why is it still halal? She just replied that most Indonesians (implied meaning: Moslems) don't care about this as they assume that most foods are halal (I hope they don't assume the same thing to Tony Roma's pork ribs.. it is very OBVIOUS) and hence, "safe" for consumption. So, it depends really on yourselves, whether you want to put that specific flavor in your tongues and swallow it down to your stomach (even though personally I don't fancy the flavor, but I know that it tastes nice) or stay away from it and choose other flavors that are equally delicious (mint chocolate chip, anyone?).

I am not saying that Rum and Raisin should be banned in Indo since Indonesians are not 100% Muslim the same as I doubt Ben & Jerry's will go all halal and discontinue the production of Dublin Mudslide, but with the "anti-alcohol" sort-of-policy in the religion, the integrity is on test. It is like indirect consumption of alcohol, if the rum there is "real" rum. But if it isn't, they still taste just like alcohol! So you still can taste alcohol while you are not supposed to! Comparing with vegetarians buying meats-look-a-like (texture-wise and taste-wise) in a vegetarian stall, which IMHO quite strange since they only eat veggies and dairies and not "meat" in any forms (literal or non-literal)?

But for now, let's just enjoy the fact that Ben & Jerry's has 10 halal flavors with a cherry cola toast!


Eh... This is not halal yet. Sorry. Hopefully soon (I think there aren't any non-halal ingredients?), and more people can taste this cough-syrup-like flavor!~ <3


all pictures are from http://www.benjerry.com.sg

Shocked as well.

I was chilling in my room with my IR spectra when a friend called me and told me that he just posted a breaking, shocking news in Google Buzz that...

my paper has been highlighted on the division's website.

Aaarghhhh. Even though only the people in our circle of friends who are going to see that post/buzz, I'm still shy. Not really onto publicity, though. Or maybe I'm just not ready for it. Well....

About quotes

"It's funny how no matter how different our stories or situations are, we all can relate to quotes and each other."

- twitter

Decision

Following the previous post,

I've bid goodbye to the life I don't want.

It was regretful, not because of the goodbye, but because of the earlier events.

"The worst regret we can have is not for the wrong things we did, but for the right things we did for the wrong one." - twitter

Then no use to regret them =)

Happy Chinese New Year! *time to find adaptor for my new camera's charger*

To follow or not to follow

I am contemplating now whether 2 semesters of "overloading" (the "real" overload, not literal) really worth the effort and time. Sometimes I feel like I wasted my brain, time, and energy. I was overwhelmed, pressurized, having continous headaches and pains, living a stressful life and tired to do everything else. As the result, I slacked off, then wasted the result that I should have gotten.

"Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional." - Roger Crawford"

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure." - Colin L. Powell

A friend once suggested that I should not really rely on whatever seniors told us about modules and semester burden. They were simply suggestions based on how they saw the modules from their perception and their situation at that time. Just believed in myself, and what did I think of the modules. Yes, it is indeed true. When I put some trust in myself and had myself decide, I got better result.

"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing" - Dale Carnegie

I don't say that seniors' and friends' opinions are bad and worthless. They are really helpful to get some insights on modules and things, the pros, the cons, their ups and downs, since they have encountered the same-but-different thing once. Knowing how to succeed and learning from their mistakes. Their opinions may come in quite a high level of accuracy. But some things to note are that they did it in different situation (such as, they were not in a batch full of hardworking and overly smart people), they have different traits, preferences, strengths, weaknesses and abilities. In the end, it is you who are going to "walk this journey", and it is up to you who decide and live up the path you have chosen. So.. Think, think, think and think before you do something. Gain opinions, and decide your own path of happiness.

Perfectionism

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/How-Perfectionism-Hurts-Your-usnews-1180775693.html?x=0

I must agree on the idea that nothing is perfect and sometimes being perfectionist may limit whatever things you are willing to try, and even give you unproductive and unnecessary pressure..

"Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly." - Dr. Robert Schuller

Because nothing, even though they are done flawlessly, do not exist.

But is it OK to simply say that things are "good enough" when you can work it out to give better output? Chasing after whichever potential opened up is indeed, perfecting what you are doing, right? I don't think it's a bad attitude as long as the perfectionist can put his/her attitude in the right place, situation and condition.. Am I justifying myself? Perfectionists do come in different ways.

"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra." – Jimmie Johnson

"Don't settle for less than you really want now simply because it's easier to achieve or even because it's a sure thing. You don't need to limit yourself. You don't need to take less than you deserve. Dream big, and you will achieve big things as long as you pursue them with your heart and soul." -tumblr