ReNe: so rice is not "normal" food

On our last trip to Whole Foods the other day to buy coffee, I picked up one of those free 'food & nutrition' type magazines lying past the checkout counter.

It's pretty crappy. Oh, it was prettily done (full color and all, on semi-glossy paper -- and I know how much all that costs after having worked as an editor before), but the content leaves much to be desired. For one, there wasn't anything new or informative. There's the usual 'how to lose weight' articles that can be boiled down to two main pieces of advice: (1) include certain types of supplementation because these nutrient are lacking from your 'normal' diet, and (2) eat organic. Fair enough... but this leads to the second complaint: there's something a little off about the advice. For example: one of the reasons why you can't lose weight could possibly be due to the lack of sufficient chromium in your diet, something that is normally found in the bran of grains and discarded during processing and hence lacking in 'our regular diet'. So, the solution recommended is to include chromium supplementation... Why not simply eat whole grains instead? Page after page, tucked in-between the lines are 'buy this supplementation' or 'eat organic'. Why shouldn't I be surprised? I did pick up this magazine at Whole Foods (an organic supermarket) after all. And I do know it is better to eat organic food. I also know buying supplements is (probably, though not always) more expensive than buying unprocessed foods. Hmm.

By the time I was half-way through the magazine, I hadn't learned anything new. Then I came across a few lines that were rather... insulting. It was from an article about gluten-free cooking. The writer's daughter had food allergies.

"......no what, barley, oats or rye products? No eggs? No dairy? ...... came to the stark conclusion: We would be eating rice three times a day for the rest of our lives...... How could we sit there eating "normal" food when she had to eat...rice?" (the last pause was the writer's, not a skipping over of sentences)

Hey. Rice is not "normal" food? More than half the world eat rice regularly, and many people do eat rice three meals day as part of their usual diet, thank you very much. Yes, I know the writer was not being deliberately insulting and that the implication was more careless than anything else. After all, I would be horrified if I knew my food choices would be severely curtailed as well, but well, it just struck me as rather... carelessly ignorant. Especially since she's supposed to be a nutritionist.

And yes, I do know that rice isn't part of the 'normal' American diet. Still, I'd read enough and I didn't bother with the rest of the article (or magazine).

The irony that this 'organic and environmental' magazine is printed on colored, semi-glossy paper (which makes it hard to recycle) does not escape me either.

MiKE: sg complaints choir cancelled, WTF?

Singapore stops foreigners from singing complaints

Sat Jan 26, 2008 6:20pm GMT

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A choir that planned to sing a list of complaints about life in Singapore cancelled its performances after the city-state banned its foreign members from singing, organizers said on Saturday.

The 60-member "complaints choir", a concept that originated from two Finnish artists, was scheduled to perform at a weekend festival but authorities granted a performance license on the condition that the foreigners would not participate.

"Our conductor is Malaysian, so how could the choir go ahead without him?" said Melissa Lim, the festival organizer.

Singapore's Media Development Authority said the license was conditional because the lyrics touched on "domestic affairs" and it preferred only Singaporeans take part.

Some of the complaints that would have been sung included, "when a pregnant lady gets on the train, everyone pretends to sleep" and "when I'm hungry at the food court, I see people (reserve) seats with tissue paper".

Singapore, which faces a low birth rate and a graying population, has turned increasingly to immigrants to boost its work force. It aims to add another 2 million people to the island's 4.7 million people over the next 40 to 50 years.

The city-state is frequently criticized by human rights groups for its restrictions on expression and the media.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Michael Winfrey)

MiKE: Effing dangerous.

For some strange reason, the both of us had similar thoughts come to our heads this past weekend.

Inexplicably, Serene mentioned this morning about long distance drives/rides in this part of the world. Specifically, she said that we should take the opportunity to go on a long road trip one of these days, to see the wide open spaces, especially in summer. But, she continued, we should not do it on bikes, even though when we were back in singapore, we would have thought that it would have been such a romantic thing to do: wide open roads, single lanes carving their way through sandstone sculptures, bridges over meandering
waterways carrying abundant life, salmon jumping out of the water and all.

Coming back to reality, we realized that it would be quite costly to do that - the price of a good bike here is about that of a decent used car (Yamaha FZ1000, ~$10k; Toyota Yaris ~$18k new); then we have to count in the price of the protective gear - easily $2-3k each, which we would have to find storage space to keep in our already crammed-to-the-max hostel-room-on-steroids. And we still would not be able to drive it in winter; having gone through half of winter, we now understand that -15ºC is no joke. A car, in comparison, would be so simple: open the door, get in.

And then we started to reminisce on the biking experiences we had. Like our deciding that, since it was raining so hard on the North South Highway, we should slow down from 150 to about 130km/h. And then, since the cars were stopped, we better go no faster than 90 as we filtered through the cars in the pouring rain. Rain, that was pouring so hard, we later found out, that it shut down Changi airport for a whole day.

Or what about the time we were going crazy, trying (and managing) to set our speed record from Cameron (Tanah Rata exit on the NSH) to Sungei Buloh (I cannot remember the names now; so this could be wrong) at an average speed of 133 km/h. That included the slowing down to a stop at the exit.

Or the interminable ride from Krabi to Singapore, where we had decided, at 1pm when we crossed the Thai border into Malaysia, that since we only needed 10 more hours, we'd ride on. And ended up riding through yet another tropical storm, a jam of Pakciks and Makciks in their Kancils, stretching from Ipoh to KL after Hari Raya, and into a shiny long nail in my front tyre outside Seremban, which took us until 3am to fix. We pushed on, into the dead of the night, the highway spookily emptied of any other vehicles, and we had to do leapfrog manoeuvres to make sure our visual field changed sufficiently to stop us from sleeping. Still, it was terrifying to look back and see Serene's headlight in my rearview mirror make sudden side-to-side movements. She had fallen asleep, and in the jolt that she'd awake with she had caused the headlights to swing.

Or what about the silly things I'd do on the Pan Island and Ayer Rajah Expressways, on the way home after work past 5pm; there were at least a couple of occasions where I had raced (separately) a Ducati Monster and one Multistrada as we were lane splitting; I'd be just riding along, minding my business, when the distinctive v-twin burbling note would catch my attention, I'd look into the rearview mirror or to the side, and then I'd have to ride faster to keep up with that work of art on two wheels.

***

Somehow, through it all, we were safe. Well, except for that incident with the van. We were looking back at this last 6 months or so that we have not ridden our bikes; and realized that perhaps it has been a really good thing. Because it allowed us to take a step back and reflect. We'd realized that if we were still back in Singapore, we'd probably would still be riding, and I'd probably have 'upgraded' to a bigger and badder class 2 machine, perhaps a Ducati, or a BMW, or maybe even just a Honda. And we might have ended up in a bigger accident. But we were 'forced' to stop riding. And I think it must be the time off riding, that for the both of us, at almost exactly the same time, had the same thought: what we did was effing dangerous.

Just so I/we have an exit though: No, I doubt that this has anything to do with age, though being December babies, we just 'celebrated' another successful circumnavigation of the sun. And even though I think it is scary now, I am still pretty sure that motorcycling is still, within limits, safe. I guess we just have to make sure we do not do silly things now...

ReNe: snowy scenes of st louis, belated

Some shots I took the week before I left St Louis. Happily, it snowed heavily in that last week. It feels pretty special to experience the first snowfall of that season, and when I was in Toronto for Thanksgiving at the end of Nov, I got to see the first snowfall in Toronto. There were a couple of miserable flurries in St Louis after the Thanksgiving weekend, where the snow practically melted as soon as it hit the ground. Then two weeks later, before I left, it snowed and heavily. Right up till I left, the skies in St Louis were still mostly blue and sunny.

This was taken from the basement of a friend's (Treeza) apartment, where the laundry and dryer machines are. Somehow, the photo turned out quite bluish, and I thought it was a rather nice effect.

I liked the look of the icicles. Snow in St Louis tend to melt quickly because days are often sunny. Even as I was watching, I could hear the sound of meltwater dripping.

Yup, all those footsteps in the otherwise pristine snow were mine. I was trampling up and down to do laundry.

This was taken at Delmar Ave after a night out with the girls. It was already snowing and by the time we finished dinner, it started to snow heavily.

Walking back to Delmar station after dinner. Treeza's on the right, in the black jacket, and Jung Hee's on the left.

Treeza again. Look at the snow coming down... we were all freezing. Definitely under-dressed.

And even though we were all complaining of cold, we still encouraged Cynthia to make a snow angel....

ReNe: walking to work

I walk to and back from work everyday, a trip that takes about 25-30 minutes each way. In the past two weeks, it has actually been surprisingly enjoyable; temperatures hovered around zero Celcius and I found the cold air bracing. I've also taken to under-dressing a little so that I don't end up sweating when I reach my destination. When I first thought about walking to work in winter, I was a little daunted and even contemplated buying a monthly subway pass; on hindsight, the cost of such a pass could have bought me a nice pair of boots every month!

But that was *last* week. Temperatures dropped suddenly over the weekend, and was -12 Celcius (according to my Mac dashboard) when I walked out this morning. I dressed as I normally did in two layers: a long-sleeve T-shirt and my trench. The only concession I made was to pick up my mittens instead of gloves, and a scarf. It wasn't so bad, I thought, until the winds started to blow. Toronto, I'm starting to discover, can be freaking windy.

Half-way to Dundas Street, where I work, my face was starting to feel decidedly numb, so I pulled up my scarf.  It's a nifty thing I got when I was still motobiking; a tubular piece of cloth with no seams, so I can pull it up to cover my nose. Interestingly, even though it's just a thin piece of cotton (I had bought it for motorbiking in tropical climates after all), it worked very well at keeping the lower half of my face warm because the scarf is loose and most of the warm, moist air I exhale gets circulated back within the little tent-space. I did get many odd looks though. What I really would like to get would be a jacket with a stiff, tall collar that is able to button all the way around -- I saw a woman wearing such a trench and I think it looks very stylish, yet functional.

"There is no bad weather, only bad clothing."
(I saw that in MEC but if I'm not mistaken, it's actually a Swedish saying.) Anyway, I think that's pretty good advice. Now I am hoping the temperatures would drop even further so I could try out a pair of leather pants I got for $6 at Goodwill. 

ReNe: rainbow triangles

A quick comment. Because I am not as wont to rant and ramble as MiKE. Because this is one subject I can rant on if I don't restrain myself.

I've been noticing something recently. It's probably not a big deal in Canada anymore (?) but it is for me for its noticeable absence in Singapore.

Acceptance. And I refer specifically to acceptance of sexualities other than heterosexuality, though Canada is generally more liberal than Singapore in so many ways.

Here, I often see the little (sometimes not so little) upside down rainbow triangles that are the flag for University of Toronto's positive space movement what the pink ribbon is for breast cancer. LGBT, or GLBT, stands for Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered/Transsexual. The rainbow flag is a pretty well-known international symbol of gay and lesbian Pride, while the inverted triangle was used to mark homosexuals in the concentration camps of Hitler's Third Reich; pink for gays and black for lesbians (and female dissidents and prostitutes). It is fairly ironical that both the pink and black triangles have now been adopted by many in the gay community as symbols for their cause.

I see more openly homosexual couples, I see positive articles in the news and I see ads in the subways for *both* hetero- and homosexual singles. And I find it all extremely heartening in contrast to Singapore, when this openness would be frowned upon or swept under the carpet. Let me not even go on about the Staid Times. Singapore claims to be progressive and cosmopolitan.... Ha.

I also see a lot more sex shops and I love that too. What's wrong with an open attitude towards sex? We all wouldn't be here if not for sex. Just yesterday, Mike and I walked past an adult shop with live models in lingerie in the front windows. Awesome.

[Aside, I find it hard to compare St Louis. I have not been in St Louis long enough to form a concrete opinion; at times it seems more conservative than Singapore, at times less, so I would assume it is about the same? However, though the time I have spent in Canada is even shorter, the contrast (to Singapore) is far more obvious.]

MiKE: The Story of Stuff.

I got the link to this site from my course instructor. Good video. More people should see it. And act on it.
To watch the whole video online, go click on this link. Here are some teaser clips:

ReNe: getting used to the cold

In the above photo, I was only wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt and skirt under my jacket, and the temperature was between 0-5 degree Celcius. In fact, I was even feeling a little warm -- note the open collar.

Mike and I were joking that we are getting quite casual about the cold -- 10C is now 'warmish' for us, and we routinely head out in just our down jackets and a T-shirt under when the temperature hovers around zero.

Which led me to wonder: are we getting acclimatized to the cold, or is this what happens when we get the 'proper' gear?

When we bought the Canada Goose jackets, we were joking they were overkill, especially Mike's. Like buying a ST1300 in Singapore and then using only the first and second gear for city commuting. So yes, the right gear does play a role. In addition to my goosedown jacket, I was wearing a fur cap (unlike the fur ruff on my jacket, the fur on my cap is fake, but it does a good job of protecting my ears nonetheless) and insulated boots; smallish details that make a huge difference as well.

But I also think that we're getting used to cold. On days where we go back to using our older jackets, we find that we don't need as many layers as we did a month ago. So we *are* getting used to cold. This is something I thought about before -- having lived in a warm country all our lives, the only times we get to experience the cold is on vacation, and the transition from balmy tropical to chilly wintry conditions thus takes place in a matter of hours. And the experience (of winter) in our minds thus becomes exaggerated. However, if we make the transition from summer to winter over a few months, then we should be as used to the cold as the locals, shouldn't we?

I've heard 'horror' stories from Singaporeans about their first winter overseas, but interestingly enough, I find myself to be actually *enjoying* my first winter.

(I hope that last statement does not come back to jinx me later, as it is still only January and winter is hardly over.)

ReNe: a xmas carol, belated

A belated post, and some nice photos. The girls and I went to see 'A Christmas Carol', the Dickens one, on the 3rd of December. Cynthia got us free tickets. Normally, they would easily cost at least $20, I should think. One of the nice things about being a Wash U grad student -- many freebies.

From left: me, Tope, Treeza and Cynthia.
The musical was held in Fox Theater and I was pleasantly surprised by the opulence of the refurbished theater. Even the restrooms had chandeliers.



Me and Cynthia.

The inside of the theater was just as grand as the outside, and I spent some time before the show started fiddling around with my camera settings so as to attempt to capture the grandeur. Since I dislike using the flash, I figured setting it on ISO400 and an overexposed setting should do it.




The show itself was all right. Of course I knew the story, and while I'm normally not a big fan of productions or plays, I quite enjoyed myself. The actor playing Scrooge was really, really good. Some of the characters, particularly the minor ones, tend to be overdone (I mean, was there a real need for the 2 maids to screech on and on and *on* bout what a miser he was?) but the lead actor played his role perfectly.

MiKE: Brief Respite.

So, we are in the midst of a January thaw, which, according to Environment Canada climatologists, is almost a sure thing for the many many years that Toronto weather has been recorded. Warm air from the south came up across the lakes, picking up water and conveniently dumping it upon us.

Which means that the temperatures right now is about 18ºC, and expected to climb to as high as 21ºC (according to my MacOS dashboard widget).

Which means it feels right now that winter is over- we don't need the heavy jackets; the snow (the *ugh* dirty dirty snow) has melted away; it's been drizzling, humidity is in the 60s and above; and since the radiator in the room has been, ominously, not shut down, we have to keep the windows fully open or else the apartment would be too warm and stuffy.

And yet, all that I read and hear from people is that, don't be fooled, winter is not over yet, Environment Canada says that Toronto experiences about 65% of its snow in Jan and Feb, and that more is expected.

So as with my usual ambivalent posts, here is the ambivalence: it'd be really pleasant (tolerable?) if the weather were to be like this, the coldest -15ºC or so temperatures over and done with in a fortnight or so; on the other hand, I'd be quite disappointed: is this all Toronto has got? What happened to the famous recorded -30ºC winters? What am I going to do with the jacket I bought now?

Intellectually I know that the cold weather will be back, and my jacket will see more action yet, but right now, I feel a bit, let down. You know what I mean? Here's the article stolen from the Toronto Star:

Temperature record set - Jan 07, 2008 10:56 AM

Toronto set a new daily temperature record today, but will likely fall short of the monthly high for January set three years ago.

The thermometer reached 11 C by mid-morning, beating the previous Jan. 7 record of 6.5 C set in 1998 and well above the average daily high of -1.8 C.

"It should be freezing out there. It should not be melting like it is," said Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips.

He noted that a high of 12 C is typical around April 20, not in January.

"These are clearly temperatures that are 10 or 11 degrees above where they should be," Phillips said.

A January thaw – when temperatures reach 0.1 C or higher – is a virtual guarantee in Toronto. Since records began in 1840, Environment Canada has logged a thaw in downtown Toronto every January except for 1977, when the mercury only rose to 0 C.

"It’s a sure thing. There’s death and taxes and a January thaw," Phillips said.

But "major thaws," when temperatures rise above 10 C, have happened about once every two years since 1980, Phillips said.

The record daily high for the month of January in downtown Toronto is 17.6 degrees, set on January 13, 2005.

Temperatures should remain high tomorrow, with a forecast high of 11 C, but will dip below the freezing mark by the end of the week.

The warm weather is melting ice in the GTA, prompting police to warn people to stay off rivers and lakes.

ReNe: moving to toronto

As Mike mentioned in his previous couple of posts, I've moved to Toronto. It wasn't something we had planned when we left Singapore, but over the months, it was something I realized I would much rather do.

Schoolwork at Wash U had been really heavy, and once I made up my mind to do something about joining Mike at Toronto, well, I've been extremely busy. There were emails to make, applications to send, people to meet --both on Toronto and Wash U's sides-- and it was exhausting. On top of it all, I still had to keep up with the schoolwork. I wanted to finish the semester at Wash U regardless of whether my decision to withdraw, though the temptation to just throw my hands up and 'fuck it', was really strong. In fact, though I first thought about joining Mike in Toronto in late September, all the way till early Nov, I was still a little undecided as to whether I would *really* withdraw from Wash U.

The program I am in is really good (ranked 4th among the US universities, according to one well-known survey) and Wash U is also pretty amazing. (I have only been in NUS and Wash U, and I will only say Wash U is on an entirely different level from NUS.) Moreover, there was a bit of a pride thing, and some other factors as well. There was, to put it succinctly, a fair amount of angst and stress.

That was one main reason for my silence on the blog -- I simply had no time or energy as I was already scrambling to keep up with my schoolwork. The other was that I didn't want to say anything until I was sure and things were confirmed. I've only told some people in St Louis I was leaving --those that needed to know and my closest friends-- and about 5 people back in Singapore. Guess it would be quite a surprise.

I was very fortunate to get a job offer in Toronto, and will be going down to sign the forms next week, and should be starting work the week after. Right now though, I am just lazing around. Thinking back on the past year and half, I haven't really had a chance to catch my breath.

So it's the start of a new year. A typical time for introspection. Funnily enough, I've done my share of introspection a couple of months earlier.

Did I regret the past half year? No, not really. Cliche and all, but going to Wash U, to St Louis, allowed me to push my own boundaries, to learn what I was really capable of and what I really wanted for my life. I've learned to live on my own, I've discovered a bit of what living in the mid-West could be like, and I've made many wonderful new friends.

2007 was a whirlwind for me, full of changes and happenings. I've moved from Singapore to the US, and now to Canada. The highs have been exhilarating, the lows among the worst in my life. It had been fun, stressful, depressing.

Here's to 2008.

Happy new year.