Tim Tam Slam

Tim-tam is a very Australian thing. I am sure all of you had indulged in one before. If not, you are missing heaven.

While surfing the net yesterday, I came upon a very novel way to enjoy Tim-tam, In fact, it had acquired a name: Tim-tam Slam. I tried it today, and it really add a new dimension to the already delicious Tim-tam.

Here's how you do it:

Step 1:

Get your hands on some Tim-tams. Any variety will do. If you are in Malaysia, make sure it is refrigerated coz it need to be hard and firm.



Step 2:

Bite of two ends of the Tim-tam as illustrated below.



Step 3:

Use your tim-tams as an ersatz straw and suck up any beverages you like with it, usually tea, coffee, cholocate or in my case, milk.



Step: 4

When you feel that your tim tam straw is nearly crumbing, put the whole thing into your mouth and enjoy the sensation. Delicious!



Actually it takes practice to perfect the art of tim-tam this way, but who cares rite? I just gave you an excuse to enjoy more of this chocolaty delight!

Enjoy!

Trivia of the day: Tim-tam is named after a horse. Fancy that =)

Stitches in Time Entertainment Night

Charity should make the giver sing,
Happy in the undertow of sharing.
A gift should not be given out of duty,
Remiss in both its pleasure and its beauty,
Intent on rectitude, bereft of caring.
The burdens of the world may be worth bearing,
Yet gifts should still a certain lightness bring.

~By Michael Praetorius. ~

Parkville International Student’s Association (PISA), a club which I am involved in, will be holding this fantastic entertainment night called ‘Stitches in Time’ to help raise funds for Operation STITCHES. Operation STITCHES is a Christian based NGO whose vision is to help kids living in inner-city high-rise estate, changing their lives for the better.

‘Stitches in Time’ will be held on Friday, 24^th August 2007 at Cossar Hall, Victorian College of Pharmacy, Monash University. It will start at 6.30pm and end at approximately 9.15pm. Tickets cost $12 each and come with a number of complimentary vouchers. All profits will go to Operation STITCHES. We hope to raise at least $2000 for them via this event.

They will be a variety of performances from students of Victorian College of Pharmacy, Melbourne University and RMIT. We also have two well-known guest performers: Jessica Paige, a multi-award winning singer and songwriter and Steve Romig, who is awarded Melbourne Blues Association Song, Band and Male Artist of the Year awards 2007.

They will also be a variety of dances, a magician show, bands, a string quartet and solo singers: all performed by talented students. Light refreshment will be served prior to the start of the event.

Tickets are on sale now. If you are interested, please contact me at khoboonphiaw[at]hotmail[dot]com for the tickets. I do hope you all can support this event and tell your friends about it. It will be fun and indeed hugely rewarding.

Thank you in advance! =)

Heralds the new dawn

The English Permier League is on again!

After a three months hiatus, I can now look forward to wake up every Saturday and Sunday morning and go online with a surge of excitement and anticipation to find how my team did the previous night.

Sometimes its bad when the team you supported isn't one of the main team in the EPL. It just isn't fair coz the cable TV here always show Manchester United or Liverpool. Actually I hasn't seen my beloved team play at all in the past seson. Mainly because it was a bad season last year adn I couldn't bear to watch them play.

If you know me well enough, you should know that the team I supported is Newcastle United. Been supporting the club since the 95/96 season when they are a strong team, when they are able to trash Manchester United 5-0. Hopefully this year, Newcastle United can grow to be a team to be reckon with again, since they have a new manager and some excellent players.

Anyway, if you didn't know which team is Newcastle United, its the team Michael Owen is plaing with now. You mean you don't know who's Michael Owen?..well don't bother reading this then.

My favorite player in the current Newcastle United team is Shay Given, who is the goalkeeper. He is so brilliant and I just love to watch him play. His reflexes are astounding. My favorite player used to be Alan Shearer, who was once the world's most expensive striker when Newcastle brought him for 15 million pounds in 96/97, but alas he already retired.

Other players I like in the Newcastle team is Steven Taylor, who is a young and promising defender. I always like new exciting players. In the midfield department, my favorite is James Milner, because he too is young and promising. Striker of course is Michael Owen. Although he is old and slow now, he still can score goals.. I used to like Michael Chopra after Alan Shearer retired, but he got transferred. Still felt its a wrong sale. And he just scored the first goal of the new season.

Haha.. feels like I had just wrote a primary school essay on my favorite football team. To cut a long story short, long live Newcastle United!

Medicinal Truth

Truth is stranger than fiction.

It really is, especially in the world of health and drugs and medicines.

Just yesterday, I read that brushing your teeth twice daily can reduce your risk of acquiring heart disease. Fancy that. How can this be? ....




Well, it turns out that by brushing your 'pearly whites', there will be less bacteria in your gums (makes sense), which in turn will lead to less bacteria inflammation throughout the body, including in your arterial blood vessel (a little far fetched for me), hence reducing your chance of a stroke or heart attack. And yeah, to make it more convincing, it can also reduce your chance of miscarriage and premature birth. So there.

Should you believe it? Well personally, I don't see the harm of believing it, coz its good to have good oral hygiene. Besides, the article is in the New England Journal of Medicine, which is like the 'Vogue' of Medicines. In simple terms, it is in one of the most prestigious Medical magazine.

After studying so much on drugs and medicines, I am now a firm believer that it is best to keep off drug when you're sick (See Hua will be glad to hear that), coz there's just too many side effects and you body defense system is the best medicine anyway. Okay this is so bad for my future business but you didn't hear me wrong.. the body work wonders. But yes, there's a catch: you must believe in it.

That may be the best explaination why someone who is not taking medication for being HIV positive outlive someone who had (I read it on yet another article). She believed in her body. Oh yes, you also need to have a healthy lifestyle, especially eating a balance diet and exercise regularly. Coz that's how the body maintain its defense system.

So yeah, believe in yourself. There's not magic bullet in medicines.

Now I see the ingenuity of Homeopathy.

At last I wrote something related to my future profession. =)

Fun Chemistry Test...

Think you are good in chemistry? Try name these chemical compounds:

1.

2.


3.

I look forward to your answers!

Some real chemical compounds have funny names too:

For example:


This is a moronic acid


and this is a traumatic acid

There are some more funnily named chemical compounds that unfortunately are classified 18+. So if you are above the age limit, please feel free to browse this website.

Never knew chemistry can be so fun...

P/s: very busy at the moment. Too many assignments. There will be a lack of post.

Revenge of the Fats

This will be my last post before I return to Malaysia for a holiday.

For the slightly pudgy or heavy set guys or gals out there, had you ever felt jealous for those who seems to be able to eat a lot without gaining fat? Well, I did. It was like, damn, I eat lotz of veggies, less fatty foods, exercise everyday and is still slightly over, especially once I slacked off I little bit, and these uber-thin guys can eat all the junk food they can consume and still be thin.

But now I can be grateful: at least my body is able to send me warning signs so that I think twice before hitting the chips, not like those once-I-felt-jealous-for guys. Scientists found out that many people slim on the outside are actually storing up dangerous layer of internal fats, and their health are more at risk compared to those who looked fat. Whats more, those slim people carry the large fat deposits around their vital organ, meaning higher risks of stroke and aneurysm etc - a potential double whammy.

So slim people, before you laugh and scoff at those salad eating, threadmill puffing guys, think again. You might regret it. They may will be laughing beside your sickbed in a few years time.

Happy Vesak Day

A Moment of Contemplation

To all Buddhist out there, Happy Vesak Day. I know this is a religious festival and not a festive occasion, but let us rejoice and contemplate on the deeds and teaching of Gautama Buddha.

For the benefit of those who are in the dark, Vesak Day is celebrated once a year to commemorate the Birth, Enlightenment and the Passing Away of Gautama Buddha. Usually on this day, Buddhists will partake vegetarian food, release birds and animals, as well as going to the temple to pray and meditate.

Like last year, this year I will celebrate Vesak Day in Melbourne. It is definately a low-key event as surprisingly there is a lack of acknowledgement concerning Vesak Day here. Nevertheless, I will try my best to radiate loving kindness today in honor of Gautama Buddha. By the way, it is not that I seldom radiate loving kindness, its just that I'll radiate more today. =)

Contemplating on Vesak Day, I couldn't help but feeling how great Buddhism is as a religion. Buddhism is one of the most misunderstood religion nowadays, with some people associating it with the pagan acts of worshipping a myriad of Gods and leaving food for the departed ones. In fact, there is no God in Buddhism. The Buddha is just a normal being like you and me but who had attained enlightenment. The Buddha's teachings are relevant to the current world; as the basic of Buddhism is a philosophy of morality and ethics. The whole teaching can be simplified in three sentences: Avoid all evil. Do good. Purify One's Mind.

One things I like about Buddhism is that Gautama Buddha teaches his diciples not to take his word as the truth; but rather let them discover the truth themselves. This encapsulate what I believe about religion; it is there to guide us on our lives, but not there for us to accept it as the truth. Buddha encourages us to question about everything, and not just accepting and believing things blindly. Besides, he did not force others to convert into the religion; in fact he usually invites those who are interested to understand the religion first before converting.

For someone who would like to learn more about buddhism, I recommend this book The Naked Buddha by Adrienne Howley, or you can just drop in to visit my friend See Hua's blog. Happy Vesak Day! May you be well and happy always.

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

Rejuvenation

After a 3 month hiatus where i had been spending my time revising for my finals and then enjoying a blissful three months holiday back home in Kuching, I think its high time to give this blog a new breath of life again...

Well, since my 2nd year as a Bachelor of Pharmacy undergraduate is starting soon, i would think it is appropriate to start off with a post linking to my future profession. I would like to touch on a potentially fatal but still relatively low-profile medical issue: Penicillin allergy.

Recently it was brought to my attention that even though it was a standard procedure to ask a patient in Australia whether he/she is allergic to penicillin, a lot of people in M'sia is still in the dark concerning this matter. Penicillin and its derivative, including amoxicillin, is a commonly prescribed antibiotics to trear a myriad on bacteria caused maladies such as sore throat and common cold. A penicillin allergy occurs when one's body immune system overreacts to this group of antibiotics.

According to several reliable medical websites, common allergic reactions to penicillin include rashes, hives, itchy eyes, and swollen lips, tongue, or face. But on certain rare cases, an allergy to penicillin can cause an anaphylactic reaction, which can be deadly. This type of reaction usually develops within an hour after you take penicillin. Symptoms include difficulty breathing, hives, wheezing, dizziness, loss of consciousness, rapid or weak pulse, skin turning blue, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.

It is estimated that around 500,000 Malaysians suffered various degrees of this allergy. Indications that one are allergic:
(1) if you have a positive skin test for penicillin allergy.
(2) hives that appeared quickly after you took the penicillin.
(3) a previous anaphylactic reaction to penicillin.

Plesae consult a medical doctor if any you encounter any indications stated above after taking a course of penicillin or have a skin test for penicillin allergy. Your life may be at stake here.

Glossary:

Hives (urticaria) are an allergic reaction of the skin that may last a few minutes or can persist for a few days. They appear as raised, red, itchy bumps (wheals) of different shapes and sizes, with defined red margins and pale centers.

Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that affects the entire body (systemic). It can occur within a few seconds or minutes after a person is exposed to a substance (allergen or antigen).
Symptoms and signs of a severe allergic reaction may include itching; raised, red bumps on the skin (hives or wheals); wheezing or difficulty breathing; swelling, either in one area or over the entire body. Swelling is most serious when it involves the lips, tongue, mouth, or throat and interferes with breathing; abdominal cramps; low blood pressure, shock, and unconsciousness.

Sources:
Palo Alto Medical Foundation www.pamf.org
About http://allergies.about.com
Dr. Paul http://www.drpaul.com
Wrong Diagnosis http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com