MUNUS Games '06

国大马大小型运动会
　　以比赛维持特殊友谊



● 黄薇珊（国大通讯员）（体育通讯员）

　　相信许多人都不知道，新加坡国立大学医学系在1962年以前是由马来亚大学管理的。为了维持这份特殊的友谊，新加坡国立大学（NUS）和马来亚大学（MU）医学系每年联办小型运动会（MUNUS Games）。这项常年活动由新加坡和马来西亚轮流当东道主。

　　本届赛会由国大负责筹办，在6月底举行，共有9个竞赛项目－排球、羽毛球、乒乓球、壁球、篮球、英式女篮、足球、手球和网球。马大派出49名学生参加，国大虽然只有20名学生助阵，但却成功地重夺阔别6年的冠军宝座。

　　首天上午的比赛项目包括排球、羽球和乒乓球，都是马大的强项。马大在排球赛中，以3比0击败国大。

　　马大在羽球赛中，进一步凸显他们的实力，以5比0轻松获胜。到场观赛的蔡颖贤说，马大羽球队实力超强，而其女队员的竞技水平也非常高，有能力击败国大男队员。

　　在乒乓球赛中，马大也交出不错的成绩单，以4比1擒住国大。从马大手中夺取一分的国大选手是队长符彭翔。他在赛后笑着说：“虽然我们最终输掉了这场比赛，但球员们的表现令我很满意，因为可以看出出他们已尽最大的努力与对手抗衡。相信大家已从中吸取宝贵的经验，明年肯定会有更好的表现。”

　　下午的项目有壁球和篮球。拥有多名杰出壁球员的国大以7比0胜出。之后是最精彩、竞争最激烈的篮球赛。双方的比分咬得非常紧，最后还需加时赛来分胜负。两队球员在加时战中力拼到底，场外的观众也咬紧牙根，气氛紧张得不得了！国大在关键时刻出手得分，最后以45比39挫败马大。

　　第二天赛项包括英式女篮、足球、手球和网球。马大队员配合无间，在英式女篮赛中，以15比7取得胜利。

　　足球是国大的强项。国大球员以娴熟的脚下功夫征服对手，以3比0取胜。手球是MUNUS Games新设的项目。由于马大对这项运动比较不熟悉，加上国大有超棒的守门员助阵，前者最终以1比11吃了败仗。虽然以悬殊的比分落败，但马大球员在比赛中充分展现团结精神。

　　至此，国大和马大在之前的8项比赛中以4比4打成平手，网球赛自然成了决定胜负的项目。国大最终以3比1打败马大，勇夺冠军。

　　这是新加坡国立大学6年来再次重温冠军梦。新加坡医学学会主席劳振棠在接过奖杯时，以开玩笑的口气说：“虽然我就快要毕业了，但真不敢相信这还是我第一次亲手捧着奖杯！”

Say Hello

To Lemon Cheesecake... I baked Lemon Cheese cake for the first time!



To Room B302... The above are photos i took last semester. (a) My famous food filled cubby hole which got my room renamed a canteen?? (b) Matthew's Xray that's supposed to remind me to study Anat -lol- Phew.. thank god i'm done with hard core anat.

Coming back to KE's about adjusting to a lot the good and bad things. School is good and bad. I miss people i used to see everyday and i'm also happy that a new world of knowleged awaits to be understood but the bad is the terrible terrible long days. I like the idea of having a routine and i certainly hope to start running soon, now that the track is within running distance. I like the feeling of being self-sufficient in my room. I should have most of the things i need to keep me alive.. :)
The worst thing is seeing ANTS that crawl around aimlessly. If they're around because i leave food lying around, at least there's hope that they'll be gone if i'm a bit more careful. BUT, these ants in my room loiter around my desk for no apparent reason! Argh..

KE has changed a little here and there. There're better facilities in the pantry and they've laid concrete on some of the slopes over the holidays to prevent landslides.
I'm just hoping these are the mere few improvements KE has made and i certainly hope this academic year in hall will be another pleasant and unforgettable one :)

Apple Streusel Cake

Much can be improved for this cake tt i made for the first time.
It's a cross between a cake and an apple crumble!
As you can see.. the layer of apples is barely visible. The next time when i make it, i'll add in more layers of apples and a thicker crust as requested by kendrick :)
(though i'm worried the batter doesnt get cooked thru the crust and apples :S)

Scrubs*

This is one of the less gory picture i can find of the OT. I like this photo, cos it reminds me so much abt my day :)

Much has been happening lately and today's OT experience added on to what i call a dramatic end to my holidays. For the past wk, i found myself in many occasions sandwiched btwn time spent catching up with friends which i felt happy and time spent grieving for the lost of a loved one. It was sometimes confusing having to switch between the 2 modes!

Anyway, thanks to my mentor, my friends and i had the opportunities to gain some insights to the life of a general surgeon. I used to think surgery is not my cup of tea, cos i value patient interaction a lot, but i guess it doesnt harm to keep options open :)

Today is a special day cos i was given the opportunity to learn and do some stitching. No doubt i was stunned when the surgeon passed me the instruments but i'm glad that the senior doctors are so willing to teach.

I'm so grateful that time and time again, i have been assured that i have not made the wrong choice to study medicine. Hopefully Med school will equip me sufficiently to let me be on my way to become a good doctor:)

Orange and Chocolate Marble Cake

My family celebrated my mom's birthday before we left for Bangkok.
Here's some photos of her birthday cake i baked!

Bangkok 05, 06

It's such a coincidence to be in Thailand twice exactly 1 apart. It wasnt planned and i wouldnt have realised it if i hadnt flipped to see my previous stamp.
Bangkok hasnt changed much and it feels nice to be greeted by things that remains so familiar. Interestingly, we even saw the granny who refused to give dad his change when my family bought custard apples from her last year!

Let the pictures do the talking :) Since i havent not uploaded any photos from the previous trip. I shall do a compare and contrast!

Most trips start with the flight.
In 2005, we flew with Scandinavian Air
In 2006, Swiss air

As you can see, Scandinavian Air provided us only with a sandwich and Swiss Air provided us with sth quite sumptous which filled us better! The chocolate cake was yum :)


Scandinavian Air was good in its own way :)


Wat Arun - The Temple of Dawn- Looked as awesome. This year, we visited a compound of the temple which was previously not opened to the public. I remember this place for its coconuts. We bought coconuts to quench our thirst here on both trips! I also saw the same cat outside the temple :)

|Food|




|Things Unique to 2006|

1. Kendrick joined us on this trip!
2. Happy Buns - Paos with a smiley faces at chatuchak market :) Cute?
3. The celebration of the King! Yellow shirts are sold everywhere and are worn by the locals to celebrate the King's longest reign (60 years) in the world and his up coming birhtday. They love and respect their king so much that their King must be very happy! They even have a "Live strong" look-alike band that says "Long live the King". How cute!
4. Kendrick having lunch with my family at chatuchak :)

Profiterole Eclairs

These cute little things made me so happy today. Being able to make them gave me the affirmation that my passion for baking can take me quite far! Guess i was half lucky that the choux pastry turned out almost perfect on first try.
I filled some of them with banana cream and the rest with chocolate.
Obviously, my chocolate coating skill still has room for improvement!
It never fails to make me smile when i dream abt opening a bakery after i retire :)


|Good Places to Go|
Mustafa / little India is a good place to go when it's quite late but u still want to stay out for a few more hours. Being a supermarket person, their supermarket itself can kill a lot of time. There's nothing to worry when you're not interested in foodstuff, cos Mustafa is so huge and it sells everything that you're bound to find sth that interests u. Good Prices too :) After Mustafa, you can always go for supper ard the area. I like the naan at this roadside stall which offers a wide selection of curry for you to dip them into too!
Gelare is a place i should go on Tuesday. I want to try their waffle!! Their marble cheesecake is not bad. Try it if you're a fan of both chocolate and cheese :) You'll love it.
Cedele is a bread-lover's heaven! I used to freqent this place only for their cranberry scones cos i find that their soup + free flow of bread is only a fun and satisfying thing to do when you have the company of a soup/bread lover. When you're alone, it's hard to try all the bread they have to offer, cos bread itself is rather filling. Try their new almond and strawberry scone. It's not bad.
[Obiously, i'm quite a fan of scones ;)]

Pancake Yum

|Apple Chocolate Chip Pancake|I never knew i will like pancake as much. I always thought MacDonald's Hotcakes were a tad too plain boring with just maple syrup and butter. So i tried making pancake for the first time today, and... with a fruity twist! I love how the apples give the pancake the added crunch. Yum.
Cooking makes me so happy :) More updates later.

Walnut Day

I made my second Walnut cake and first Bailey's walnut ice cream today. While the ice cream is still setting in the freezer, i still cant bear to cut into my walnut cake. This is why!


I spent quite some time cutting out a stencil for the "walnut" and then dusted the cake with cocoa powder :) I'm not hungry anyway, so let's hope it doesnt let me down when i try it tmr :)
If this cake turns out delicious, I would have found a pretty healthy cake to eat. The recipe asked for 25g of butter which i forgot to add. It smellt good nevertheless when i took it out of the oven, so i shall keep my fingers crossed :)
On an interesting note, i wasnt too upset after forgetting abt the butter. I felt that the butter didnt have any other role to play in the batter other than for the taste. And i thought since the icing has butter, the butter in the cake would be insignificant. Also, if the butterless cake turns out beautiful and yummy, my family will get to enjoy walnut cakes (w/o the icing of cos!) non-sinfully. YAY!
Anyway, now that i'm all psyched up abt cooking and baking, the following is just a list i've compiled of commonly unknown terms :) Hope some of u'll be enlightened :)

Torte: Rich cake usually covered with cream and fruit or nuts; originated in Austria

Anchovy
Apparently ikan bilis do belong to the anchovies family :)

Praline: Originally refer to a sweet food made from a mixture of nuts and boiled sugar, eaten as a confection
In Germany and Belgium, praline may refer to filled chocolate of any sort

Gianduja: Name of a sweet chocolate containing about 50% hazelnut and almond paste
Interestingly, Nutella was originally known as pasta gianduja :)

Stracciatella flavour: Vanilla icecream with chocolate shavings

How is gelato different from ice cream
Unlike ice cream, little or no air is whipped into gelato resulting in a dense and extremely flavourful product.

Some of my friends asked why when making ice cream, some recipes requires the mixture to be [semi-frozen and then beaten up] x several times.

Repeating the step breaks up the large ice crystals, which prevents the formation of 1 solid block of ice, like in making ice pops.

As a general rule, the richer or sweeter the recipe, the less stirring or whisking is needed cos sugar and large fat molecules inhibit formation of large crystals. :)

Food on TV

Can't believe that it is almost 2 weeks since i got back. Frankly, if not for consecutive late nights and early mornings for MUNUS games in school, there's a high chance that i may still be stuck in a sleeping cycle 6 hrs behind Singapore time :)
Seriously, dont you agree that with all the soccer going on and the fact that it's the holiday, sleeping late and waking up late doesnt seem like a crime.
Anyway, I'm really glad that there are so many things that are easing my europe withdrawal symptoms away. On one hand, people have been bringing all sorts of local food , which i miss on the trip, to me, and on the other, cook shows on channel 5 seem to be giving me more opportunities to see Italy and learn more abt their cuisine.
On one of the weekday morning, 2 cook shows coincidentally featured Italy. Rocco's Dolce Vita featured Florence and even started with the chef jogging near the famous florence bridge shown below. The subsequent Jamie Oliver feature Naples and it's Amalfi coast which my friends and i missed!

The famous view of Florence


The following is another sight typical of Florence


The Chef At Work

I truly appreciates this half and hour dose of Italy when i dont miss it in the mornings, especially when places my friends and i have been to are featured. I know it may sound silly, but i was so excited when the piazza that the chef and his friends played soccer was the one my friends and i visited after we ate kebab for our first dinner at Florence.

Chasing the Pigeons in a Piazza

Piazzas are so Italian. They're truly great places to hang out with ur friends when the sun is not too scorching. Love Italy for its unique atmosphere :)

On Russian Note, THANK YOU Colin for the Russian dolls. They're so adorable for the fact that they're 5 in 1.

On baking..

This is why i'm so greatly intrigued by the art of baking :)



Baking a cake is culinary magic. Nowhere else in cooking is the transformation of few simple ingredients so profound and so appreciated.
Baking has the reputation of being more difficult than cooking – the specter of chemistry frightens some people.

Baking is different from cooking.

A great cook may create dishes intuitively, almost casually, working with what’s in the larder or refrigerator, tasting and correcting the work in progress.

A great baker is attentive to technique, details and timing. Unable to taste, correct and create along the way, the baker is a stickler for measurements, insistent on proper pan sizes, and fussy about the temperature of everything from the oven to the butter. Because the same ingredients combined in different order, mixed differently, or even used at different temperatures results in quite different cakes (or failures), good bakers are dedicated to small things that produce beautiful cakes that taste heavenly.

Peering through the shop windows to look at the confectionary did more than making me hungry. I'm so eager to learn the basics of baking than to follow recipes blindly. Hope the remaining break is sufficentt to let me make some progress :)

Best Holiday, Ever

Europe was AMAZING! There's so much i've learnt and much more i want to learn now :)

RyanTourAgency
Poster courtesy of Weixiang

With Ryan, Quanyao, Xizhen, Weixiang, Ningqi, Wenyang, Xiaoxuan, Yijin, Yifan, Bean and Tongkai, Singapore>Dubai>Frankfurt>Berlin>Potsdam>Prague>Bratislava>
Vienna>Salzburg>Venice>Florence>Pisa>Assisi>Naples>Rome/Vatican City>Dubai>Columbo>Singapore couldnt have been better!

In trying to organising my photos, i realised that there's a limit to how much i can show on pictures of the places i have been to and pictures chosen here dont do justice to the moment i tried to capture. Nevertheless, i'm glad that each shot has its unique memories and i hope they will never be forgotten :)

|Arriving in Dubai|


|Frankfurt, Berlin & Potsdam|


I like berlin. This city made the first perfect city to stay in cos the hostel we stayed in was wonderful. Not only was it simply- and ikea-furnished, it also had a fully equipped kichen [with dishwasher, oven and all] that allowed us to nourish ourselves well. We probably had the most fancy self-cooked meals here. Loved it :)



Also, one of the things very unique to berlin is their traffic lights.

The trafficlight man of East Germany wears a hat! How cute is that? I spent a few days thinking that the traffic lights can be used to identify if i was on the East or West Germany. But apparently, they have been mixed up presently to blurr the divide :) Interesting.

Prague

Though i didnt like Prague as much as i thought i would, i must admit that it is a beautiful city. Prague was too touristy for me and i felt a little unsafe, prob from all the bad reviews we've read and the language barrier.

|Prague to Bratislava|
We took a night train to Bratislava and i must say it was quite an experience being in a sleeper car. We had to be woken up for passport check in the middle of the night when we crossed the borders and of cos, i will not forget the 3-tiered couchette which barely had space to let us sit up straight :)

Xiaoxuan, Xizzy and i shared a room on the night train.

|Bratislava|
The guys were so eager to set foot on Bratislava after watching Eurotrip. This city is apparently very cheap in european standards and true enough, we ate to our fill! It was hilarious how our treasurer Ronnie joked that we had enough money to go 3 more rounds of desserts at the cafe.

Group photo taken on top of the castle.

Vienna

Beautiful place which i like a lot. Too bad i was quite ill and i had to spend money on medication that cost me 18+ euros!

Salzburg

Taking the cable car to the top of the Alps in salzburg was one of the highlights of this trip,'cos it was the first time for many of us to see snow! Check out the snowman we made :) Some of us even attempted to make a snow angel.




This child i saw at the Marketplace made me smile :)

Venice

Despite being very touristy, i like Venice a lot. I didnt take long to fall in love with the atmosphere and the unique sights of this place. I'm also very thankful to have visited the offshore islands Murano, Burano and Lido. Murano is known for its art of glass-making, Burano is known for its colourful houses and art of lace-making and many pictures you see above are taken on the beach of Lido.


Window shopping was a perfect therapy to a museum fatigued me. Not that i had the intention of buying anything, but the activity of peering into what's on display of those shops thrilled me greatly. I think my peers will not forget my description of the SLABS of chocolates on display. Yum!

Oh, btw, Venice has the cheapest gelato [commonly 1 euro per scoop, 2 euros for 3 scoops away for city centre] of all the italian cities we visited. Here's Weixiang looking absolutely happy with his gelato. Oh, and our guidebooks taught us that the way to judge if the shop sells gd quality gelatos, one that makes use of real fresh fruits, is to look at the banana flavoured gelato. It should look grey. Cool :)


Florence & Pisa

From the John's description, i expected Florence to be a quiet, charming and peaceful city. On the contrary, the traffic drove me crazy! There were just too many cars and i felt that there were too many angry drivers, too much honking and bad air. I was glad to have seen David though.

Pisa was most memorable for us not for its leaning tower but a new Albanian friend we got to know. He accompanied us to eat at the university canteen and even offered to show us the university's faculty of Medicine. It's at Pisa that i learnt a useful phrase: dove supermercato [where is the supermarket], u'll find out why it's useful below :)

Assisi

I had no expectations of this place, but it turned out to be exceptionally pleasant. Glad that we decided to go there in the end. This place was best rmbred for the lock incident. The keys to the locks of Xiaoxuan and my bag were missing and i had to saw through my lock. Weixiang successfully broke my lock after i was half way thru. This incident earned him the title, the MAN. -LOL- I kept my lock!

Naples

Did you know Naples was the place of origin of Pizzas?
Traffic in Naples was crazy. Most traffic lights werent working (or werent even turned on) and even if the traffic lights were working fine, the drivers and pedestrians didnt even follow.

Pictures above were mainly taken on our last day, on the pretty attractive volcanic island Procida. It was nice relaxing on the warm sand and let the cold water wash up to your feet :)

Rome

Dove Supermarcato? This very useful phrase allowed me to conquer almost ALL the supermarkets in Rome. The lady at the tourist info centre marked out all the supermarkets of Rome for me and i made it my check points as i walked across Rome. It was quite a good idea cos it was scorching hot and Supermarkets made perfect stopovers to cool down. I bought some things from some supermarkets too :)
I like Rome a lot. I threw one coin over my shoulders into the Trevi fountain, which is supposed to bring me back to Rome again :)

Food in Europe

Food in Europe needless to say wasnt cheap. But what kind of trip would it be if we survived plainly on bread only? There were times we slurged a little and had several 1 x good one in several destinations.

Sunset in Europe

We saw several breathtaking sunsets. If you think the photos look nice, the real ones are better ;)

Oranges & Peaches

The dinner on Emirates flight was super UP! I especially love their Orange mousse cake drizzled with chocolate dessert. I loved it soo much that i attempted to make one with the help of kendrick. It tasted not bad but the base needs to be improved. Orange appeals to me because it adds a refreshing and citrus-y twist to any dessert. That's why i like orange chocolate.
Peach coloured roses look lovely dont they? :)

My Past 2 Weeks

Let the photos do the talking first..
Will type caption in words when i have time :)
Can't believe i've already officially finished first year of Medicine and i Can't wait for Europe!!