Let's Do the Singapore Sling!

From the pages of epicurian.com, the recipe for making yummy Singapore Sling...

Apparently the original recipe was lost and forgotten sometime in the 1930's, so the drink that they serve at the Long Bar is based on memories of former bartenders and some written notes that they were able to discover.
Colour varies with each concoction, but it is essential that the end result is either pink or red to reflect the original belief that it was a woman's drink. Fruit is also vital to the recipe, echoing the 1920's faux-Polynesian craze. A generalised version of the cocktail can be produced from the following recipe:

Use 10ml (0.35 fl oz) grenadine, 30ml (1 fl oz) gin, 15ml (0.5 fl oz) cherry brandy and sweet and sour mix. Pour the grenadine into the bottom of a Collins glass, and fill with ice. Add the gin, and almost fill with equal parts of the sweet and sour mix and chilled soda. Top with cherry brandy, and serve unstirred, garnished with a cherry.

But one of the key, and often overlooked, ingredients in this drink is Benedictine. While the resultant flavour is not overly predominate, it does add a certain 'je ne sais que' that would be totally missing without this secret ingredient. So for a more 'authentic' experience, use:

30ml (1 fl oz) Gin, 15 ml (0.5 fl oz) Cherry Brandy, 120 ml (4.25 fl oz) Pineapple Juice, 15 ml (0.5 fl oz) Lime Juice, 7.5 ml (0.25 fl oz) Cointreau, 7.5 ml (0.25 fl oz) Dom Benedictine, 10 ml (0.35 fl oz) Grenadine, a dash of Angostura Bitters, and garnish with a slice of Pineapple and Cherry.

Of course, you could always indulge yourself and fly to Singapore and have it made for you!

Worst Poetry from a Bored-Depressed Person's Gray Matter

So as I said to a friend earlier, I made up this verse which just about sums up how I feel today. I know it's crappy and maybe you'll go "Wtf?!" when you read it. But I still like it anyway and I even made up an equally crappy title to go with it..lol..

FREE VERSE IN MY LAZY UNIVERSE

you know that feeling of hanging upside down restless...
your joints complaining of the insistent pressure, pulled by a gravity
selfish in its intent to take everything unto itself.
your eyes feel embedded in burning sockets... the heat reminding you of just evaporated tears
your fingers grapple with your tired muscles, trying to squeeze out globs and masses of aches and pains
it does no good... nothing does...
and you stay motionless, every gesture a slow blur in the kaleidoscope or your vision
you let your head spin into nothingness, enfolded in incoherent layers of time... and you stare... and you wait...

Scraping Time

Owing to my recent addiction to Seattle's Best tea, a friend has suggested we up and look for a store selling said tea bags and get a box before my trip. Hmmm... a box of camomile or mint tea bags certainly wouldn't go amiss, especially in the cold winter of Japan ^^ But I wonder if they have it here in local supermarkets.

I'm still here in the office btw, slugging it alone with only music from my PC speakers keeping me company. It's about time I finished my logic narrative, and I hope when I leave the office tonight I'd have accomplished that.

Getting through this weekend is really a relief for me. Saturday was...er...interesting. And Friday I was really out of sorts... all fidgety thinking of the stuff that still needed doing. But I've calmed down and am feeling real optimistic I'll somehow scrape time enough for the things I have to take care of. I hope this mood lasts me through these two weeks before I finally have to leave for Japan.

Which reminds me I still have medical reexaminations to have tomorrow. Another reason why I should put my mind to finishing this narrative tonight. I'd better get back to it now...

del.icio.us and Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking... Fairly new concept I got to try out today. It's like networking using URLs... Friendster using links...

Try it at del.icio.us. Very useful and powerful tool ^^

On another note... our PC is going to freeze my nerves over and take hell with it!! Aaarrrgh!!!

Panicky Kitty

I think I'm gonna explode soon with a panic breakdown... There's simply too much to doooooooo!!!

Two weeks before I leave for Japan, and things at work and outside of work are all coming to an explosive head... BOOM!! There goes the being formerly known as Kitty... hehehe... @_@

And there's also the matter about my physical exam for the Japan assignment.. Still some problems to take care of there.. leaving my impending departure in precarious unpredictability. Sana matuloy, even though I'm not exactly happy about spending the holidays away from home.

And my logic narrative's still not done. And I still have a cause and effect narrative to start on and finish. And my KP is returning soon from his business trip and I know what he'll be bringing home especially for me--two hands gripped tight around my throat if I don't cough up any of my outputs soon....~_~

And there are a thousand other things that need doing but I won't enumerate them anymore because my mind is already reeling from trying to figure out how I'll take care of all of them within the next weeks...

Anybody know where I can get a prescription for Valium or Prozac?...@_@

Sometimes I think my life is never meant to be stable...

Mint and Camomile at Seattle's

My new addiction is 60-peso cups of tea at Seattle's Best. Yes, ever since I took a sip of their mint tea, I've become a frequent customer...lol...

I even went out and bought mint tea for my officemates, just so I could share the lovin'... hehehe... But alas, I don't think I was able to infect them with my addiction. Oh well... ^^;

I've tried their camomile and jasmine flavors as well, and camomile ended up being another one of my favorites. Really relaxing... the vapors were really soothing to the nerves. Jasmine, though, made me twist my mouth a little. It wasn't too bad. I guess I just didn't expect its flavor to be like that...so that one's crossed out.

Lol... listen to me! I sound like some sort of tea expert. My taste buds aren't refined enough for that. But who cares? Basta, I like mint and camomile and I think I've just found my current official pastime...lol...

Knife of Dreams - Prologue

An ex-officemate sent me an excerpt of the prologue for "Knife of Dreams", the next installment in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

Gah! I haven't been able to read the last two books yet, I think (Sheesh! I'm not even sure how many books I haven't read... I'm really losing track ^^;). And now the next book's come out. This is really bad. Book backlog's getting out of hand. And I think it's even come to the point that I've forgotten the details and events from the previous books so I might have to READ THEM ALL ALL OVER AGAIN!! That's around 10 thick volumes to pore through, and I don't think I'll have the time.

Hooh... I wish we had 36-hr days...

Subnetting

Subnetting proved to be a wee bit difficult nut to crack. But after working on several examples, I'm finally getting the hang of it. Although I'm still having problems with identifying host address ranges, especially at the broadcast address range of the spectrum.

I wonder where I'll be using this skill though...lol... Oh well, someday maybe it'll come in handy ^^

Flash Update

A lot of things have been keeping me busy lately so I haven't really had time to blog. Thankfully, I was able to survive last week... which was one of the most hectic weeks ever! And it was all because one of my deadlines got moved... hurrah!

Last Sunday I joined some friends in watching "Footloose" at the Meralco theater. Really nice play, with several songs finding themselves etched into memory =) It would be cool to have the chance to watch another play some time, although my schedule right now won't permit any plans in the near future.

This week is still catch-up time for me... Lots of work backlog and additional activities I have to put my back into. And I'm afraid it might be like this for several more weeks to come...

Anyway, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be able to post more detailed accounts of my daily "slave-chores" some time soon.