Baking Experiment

Ok so I'm a sucker for cheesecakes. But the occasional indulgences are burning a hole in my pocket. Then I found out the great secret.. It's so much more economical to make one myself! Ok I guess that ain't much of a secret.

The ingredients

I decided to upload these pictures here, as opposed to facebook, because honestly, I think it's embarrassing. Really. The chauvinist inside me vehemently insists that the toiling over the stove is the domain of womenhood. The romantic inside me argues that men make awesome chefs too. So it was with the most conflicted of feelings that I embarked on this little adventure.

My experiment yielded mixed results. The cookie base was a little too hard, the cheese filing was a little too firm (opps over enthusiastic with the gelatin). 

Thankfully there was a saving grace.. The peaches were yummy-licious perfect! Tangerine sweet goodness packed within a chewy crunchy exterior.. It succeeded where all else failed! 

The final product!

Ehh wait Jansen. The peaches were through no effort of your own. All you did was to open the fruit can and slop the peaches down ._.

Next time will be better! In the meantime, I better prepare my stomach for this handiwork..

A Proud Moment in NUS (Academia)

There are many a happy moment when one feels an intense sense of self satisfaction. Sometimes it flows like a cascading waterfall, filling up every void in the soul. Other times, it ignites like a roaring inferno, lighting up every corner in the heart. Rockclimbing wise, my proudest moment would be sending Asian Shadow Play in Krabi, Thailand. I recall being so intimidated by the route initially and even gave up after only a few attempts because I couldn't bear the pain. And crimps were supposed to be my forte! When I clipped the chains, it wasn't wild exuberance or crazy celebrations, it was quiet relief. I could finally move on.

The purpose of this post however, is not to talk rockclimbing. As much as I love the sport, I want to explore other facets of life. It would be my greatest regret if 30 years down the road, I find myself living the sad existence of a one-dimensional man. Here, I want to talk about my proudest moments academia wise. Singaporean climbers mostly don't like to talk about studies. The general sentiment is that good climbing grades and good studying grades are mutually exclusive. The belief is not unwarranted, given how most of our strongest climbers aren't academically inclined. Win some, lose some.. I guess.

Out of the Boiling Pot and Into the Fire

Once again another semester has come to a close. The flurry of school activity is interspersed haphazardly with the rush leading up to projects submission deadlines, before finally culminating in the finals. And ohhh I've never liked examinations, for I believe they only test a myopic range of skill sets. These skill sets are often not even relevant in the working world. After having been chided on several occasions over my lack of applicable knowledge, I only know too well. I've always wondered if book smart has any direct correlation with street smart. Is it a case of either or, or can a person harness both powers?