NTBI #10

Just before I left Japan in June last year, the ladies of the E-moms group threw a farewell party for Steve and I. It was really nice, good food, a homemade cake, and laughs all around.

They also gave us a cup each. Like so:

The cup they gave.

Now I was rather pleased with it, since being a history buff, I instantly recognized the crest as belonging to the Tokugawa clan. Plus, there's this famous Japanese drama called Mito Komon (水戸黄門) that like everyone's heard of, and which I sometimes use to tell people what my kanji surname is (黄), and the main character in the show has this Tokugawa seal that his adjutant displays near the end of each episode to kind of establish his authority and judge the bad guys.

The old guy in the yellow and red suit is the Tokugawa fellow, who's like the hero of the show.

But I digress. So anyway, this cup has proved most useful to me as it has allowed me to contain liquids of personal sustenance that I desire while I am at work. Most of the time, it is plain water from the cooler out at the back, especially when I have cycled to work. But since one of its properties is heat retention, there are a couple of times I desired hot drinks.

So one day, it was cold. And I was exceedingly sleepy, for some strange reason. It got so bad that I finally decided, ok, I can't take this anymore, it's time to use one of my coffee sachets and make instant coffee.

So I emptied my coffee stick into my cup, and still feeling kinda sleepy, I toddled off to the pantry to fill it with hot water. As the hot water went in, I realized, rather unhappily, that not all the powder was getting mixed; instead, quite a bit of it was stuck under the top layer that was mixing with the water, and was not getting dissolved. You can sort of realize this when bubbles start appearing, which means there are lots of air pockets which in turn implies lots of powder not getting wet.

I was stuck, as I did not have a stirrer or spoon with me, and as the water was rather hot, I was not inclined to use my finger. In my sleep-addled state, of course, I had forgotten that there were probably stirrers at the nearest coffee-maker, but of course, I did not realize this at that point of time.

I was somewhat bummed out, then I had this absolutely brilliant idea. I decided to simply cap my cup (since it was fairly watertight), and swirl it around.

Brilliant! I thought to myself as I started swirling it. This should do it. And then, another even more brilliant idea popped into my head (though later events would prove that it was not as brilliant as I thought it was). I decided then to shake my cup, to make sure everything was well-mixed.

Unfortunately for me, after about two shakes, the coffee exploded out through the side of the cap, due to some effect involving heat, water and air in a confined space that some physics major can explain to you. Not a lot of coffee mind you, but it squirted out in a fairly violent manner, essentially painting the partition and part of the CPU with coffee (you can see the area that got hit. It's just behind the cup in the picture above).

It was after this, while scurrying about to clean up the mess I had made, that I remembered about the nearby coffee-makers and the stirrers that were in all probability there. Fortunately, not a lot of coffee came out, so I didn't really scald myself, though the area smelt of coffee for the rest of the night.

I did wake up fully after that though. Nothing like a major shock to your mind to get you out of your stupor.

NTBI #9

Number 9: Tap

I moved into the Laus' place on Sunday (10th) afternoon.

On Thursday (14th), I tried to help Louis put a water filter onto the tap.

(Re-enactment)
L: You know how to attach this filter?
Me: Hmm. I think you have to see what type of tap you have and screw on the filter using the correct piece.
L: Ok. Oh, you must take out this other thing from the tap first. *unscrews thing from tap*
Me: Then we must put this part on.
L: Ok. *Tightens water filter onto tap.* *Turns on tap, and water starts coming out from above the ffilter*
Me: Oh, I know I know, you need to add this washer. *Tries removing filter, but it's been screwed on too tight*
L: Can't take out ah?
Me: Yeah.. maybe need pliers.
*Both of us try to unscrew the filter with pliers, but not much success*
*Finally, Louis gets the filter to come off*
Me: Ah ok good. Now we just need to add the washer inside... *adds washer to filter*
L: Ok.
Me: And then screw it on... *attempts to fix it to tap, but it does not screw on easily*
Me: Hmm, not working. Let me try.. *tries again. Still no success*
Me: Ah I think I know why, must really put it in so that the washer is compressed enough so that the screw threads can catch... *pushes the filter harder onto the tap*
Me: A littler harder perhaps... *uses more strength*
*CRASH*
Me: Ack, I dropped the filter. *Looks up* And. Er. Oh.

Oops.

Me: Oh dear.

* * * UPDATE * * *

Louis got the tap fixed, and he didn't have to pay for it! (The landlord paid for it as it was getting old).

It looks brand new...er it *is* brand new!

NTBI #8

Number 8: Curry

Now usually, when I make curry here in Japan, it's the Japanese style curry. It's pretty simple to make, and you can't really go wrong with it. Water, ingredients, blocks of curry thingy, and after you boil it for a bit, it's done.

However, my Dutch room-mate, Paul, saw that I had some packets of curry from Singapore. They weren't expired (at least, I think they weren't expired), and so he suggested trying to have some. And I thought I really ought to use them up before they expire (or quickly use them up so that it's not too far past the expiry date).

So I tried to make some curry. Now, the instructions at the back said to fry the paste first, but I must have over-heated the pot, because the stuff started to burn a bit and stick to the bottom, even though I had put in the oil. As it is, my clothes still smell of curry spice.

But the big thing was what the instructions did not say I should add, namely, one-and-a-half cups of water. They just said put in the milk and it'll be ok. But in a moment of impulse, I poured in a cup of water to stop the spices from sizzling and sticking to my pot. It stopped sizzling, of course, and I thought to add some more, just for good measure...

...which of course left my curry looking less like curry and more like soup.

It was still edible of course, and you know what they say, "waste not, want not". So I got dinner, though I am waiting somewhat apprehensively for the stomach ache to hit.

#notthebrightestidea

NTBI #7

Krispy Kreme: May cause gastric if you eat only this for dinner.

Was down at Shinjuku today, and I was thinking maybe I shouldn't eat such a heavy meal for dinner, since I might need to move around a bit.. I know! I should eat Krispy Kreme!

So off I went to Krispy Kreme, and my goodness, were those donuts nice to eat!

Then I hung around there for a bit reading books, then decided to go back home. On the way back to the station, I met a couple of Australian tourists who got lost, so I helped them out.

And then, on the way back to the station, I realized that my light meal had been too light, and I got gastric.

So, Krispy Kreme: Good for snack, not so good for dinner.

#notthebrightestidea

NTBI #6

Certainly didn't take too long for me to do something odd again.

#6: Cutting my hair

Now, quite obviously, my father would be extremely pleased to see this. He was never fond of me having long hair, and the only reason he tolerated it at all when I had a ponytail was 1) he had pretty much given up on convincing me to cut it off, and 2) I was in Japan, so he didn't have to see the ponytail everyday.

While my hair hadn't grown to quite that same length since I cut my hair way back in June before church retreat (yes, Jebra, that's why you didn't know I had a ponytail), it was getting to be at a length that would be frowned upon in most schools in Singapore. Most of the time, my hair doesn't bother me too much, even when playing basketball. But there was one event that made me really desire to have a high slope cut just like when I was in the army: my hair kept blocking my view when I was cleaning my house.

Stop laughing, please. I *do* clean my house every now and then. Whenever the piles of paper start to make me upset, or when the dust balls start becoming sentient, whichever comes first.

So I decided to go cut my hair. However, I did not quite realize how much my hair protected my ears from the cold. I was thinking, 'seriously, how much warmth does my hair give my ears?'

Well, I found out that it actually does provide quite a lot of warmth, because the moment I stepped out of the barber shop, my ears felt like little icicles of cold were doing their best to make my ears get frostbite. And this is in Tokyo, where the temperature tends to hover between 5 and 10 degrees.

So now children, remember that if it's winter, and your hair is long, wait a little longer till when it's warmer to get a haircut.

NTBI #5

With the number of posts I'm churning out, it's almost like I'm trying to meet a monthly quota or something (just kidding, I don't have a monthly quota, just a weekly one).

#5: Archery.

So I finally found enough free time to go down to the archery range to try to practice my archery again. The last time I had picked up a bow was almost 2 months ago, so I thought I had better start up again before I really forget everything.

So I went down, and my instructor from the beginners' course was there as well. And he asked me what bow I wanted to use.

Now see, at the beginners' course, I was using a bow with a pull of 12 kilos. And after the first couple of times, I was able to pull it with relative ease. So I thought I would go for something heavier instead, and asked for one that was 14 kilos.

At the end of the session, I learnt one very important lesson: Generally, it isn't a good idea to ask for a bow with a pull of 14 kilos, when you've only practiced with one that was 12 kilos, and the last time you practiced was a couple months ago.

In the process, I also learnt that while there is relatively little sporting action in archery, it would still be advisable to do some form of warm-ups before shooting.

And when it is winter, it is also advisable to wear long-sleeved shirts.

My arrows.

NTBI #1, #2, #3, #4

New sub-section, detailing silly things I have done, in other words, Not The Brightest Ideas. Have lots of backlogging, but I will only start from about a month ago, and will carry on from here. Hopefully, I won't do any of these things again.

#1: Cleaning my scissors with my thumb.

Basically, I had been cutting sticky tape with my scissors, and some of the sticky tape sticky must have gotten onto my scissors' blades. Which made opening and closing the scissors difficult. In a moment of irritation, I put my scissors under running water, and started to furiously rub the blade with my thumb in a futile effort to get rid of the sticky, forgetting that they're called blades for a reason. No blood, but some lacerations.

#2: Adding raw egg to fried rice.

So my dad always told me that if I ever wanted to cook fried rice, I should fry the egg first, take it out, and fry everything else, before adding the egg back in. But it was always so bothersome to have to take out the semi-cooked eggs, and there would always be some egg that was stuck to the pan. So I fried everything, and then added the raw egg.

My fried rice ended up being squishy, and I still ended up with egg stuck to my frying pan.

#3 and #4: The vegetable and the cup ramen.

I was too lazy to cook dinner, so I decided to eat cup ramen. Then I remembered that I had half a bokchoy in my fridge, that I ought to use before it went bad. So I thought, stuff this into this. The two problems:

1. Too much bokchoy, not enough cup.
2. Too much bokchoy, not enough heat in the water.