The Straits Times English Masterclass (Executive Edition) course +《人生无限公司》+ “Forest Bathing: The Rejuvenating Practice of Shinrin Yoku” + Adventure Cove Waterpark with Farmily + pre-molar re-filling + 《有生之年》+ Long Service Award lunch @ Mikuni
17/3/24 Sun: Potato cooked salmon and Chinese spinach pasta in cream sauce for dinner~ very yummy!
What
surprised me was our buffet lunch in Orchard Hotel that lasted close to two
hours wow. Absolutely full by the end of it but it helped because the function
room was so cold. Furthermore, we had tea breaks in between with snacks too~
What I didn’t liked was the journey home after 6pm because it took 1.5hours
omg.
20/3/24
Weds: *Received my “learning contract” from Esther for the courses I hope to
attend before off-boarding… hopefully the organisers give me suitable dates
soon!*
Did
two minutes of neck stretch on the left and right, and also looking down in Yin
Yoga and Sound Bath class and my stiff neck was gone immediately that night! I
should do it more often!
22/3/24
Fri: Did Qigong in the morning and it was the first time I saw the instructor flare
up over some rude participants whoa. Also practised my headstand with the
wheel.
Finished
watched 五月天’s《人生无限公司》演唱会.
Rating: 4/5
It’s
the second book of theirs I’ve read and the topic of “Shinrin Yoku” is not new
to me anymore. Just thought to see if there’s new things to be discovered and I
guess it gave me a better understanding on how and why Shinrin Yoku came about
and the need to have it in our lives.
For
example, phytoncides are natural poisons and plants expel these to prevent rot
when they’re attacked by bacteria or fungus or insects. We’re exposed to them
when we eat vegetables (they are why onions make us cry too) but are fine
because the doses are small and are good for us at the right dosage to develop
immunity. So activities like forest bathing, physical exercise and drinking
alcohol, while at the right amount, would have hormetic effects.
Phytoncides
favoured hormonal changes that improve our health. The benefits of Shinrin Yoku
includes reducing stress hormones, specifically cortisols, promoting lower
heart rate, lower blood pressure, higher heart rate variability which is one of
the key indicators to measuring stress level and one way to improve that is to
dedicate time to relaxing activities like meditation or taking a walk in the
woods.
Also,
Shinrin Yoku improves the level of Natural Killer (NK) cells, a type of
lymphocyte in our immune system that detect virus-infected and tumour cells
then eliminate them. NK cells use three proteins to work and a study showed
that subjects being exposed to two-night, three-day trip to mountains had these
proteins increased, so their NK cells worked better and the effect lasted for a
week after the trip. So their conclusion was, having a forest walk once a week
provided valuable protection against cancer.
Other
benefits are increased in ability to concentrate, improved sleep, visual
health, mood and a sense of well-being and accelerated recovery after surgery.
Besides,
I realise I love the sound coming from birds and insects in the woods everytime
I had a chance to go hiking or trekking, turned out their voices have healing
properties too. Shinrin Yoku gives us the chance to regain haptic perception,
which meant all the sensations we experience in addition to sight and hearing…
so it meant taste, smell and touch too.
It
hasn’t been easy because I get greedy with life at times, so slowing down to
appreciate what I have is a slow, life-long lesson I have to do. To bathe in
greenery once a week is not a bad idea, to live mindfully, listen to birds
sing, walk with no direction in mind, stop and breathe, be inspired by “wabi-sabi”
(beauty of imperfections) to see my failings as opportunities for growth and
feel the Yugen（幽玄, explained
as an awareness of the universe that triggers an emotional response too deep
and mysterious for words）through
meditation.
Rating: 3.5/5
24/3/24
Sun: PotaTOHs met Fran at Gombak and we headed to Adventure Cove Waterpark
together because PY suggested this activity for her belated 35th birthday
celebration. Was stopped by the ticketing officers before the gates because
they saw our otah buns, so we finished some of them while waiting for Ian, PY
and Ning to arrive. *Had so much of the otah buns that I was a bit sick of
it. It’s not fantastic probably because it’s not warm anymore.*
Then,
they queued for the Dueling Racer where we used a mat to slide down water
slides. *I had to remove my glasses for almost all the rides so no to
glasses if we’re ever going to water parks in future.* Quite exciting for
me already omg. Reptide Rocket hydro-magnetic rollar coaster next was not what
I expected with three almost vertical drops and then quickly swept up again
every time. *I felt my neck every time we went up so I guess it wasn’t
really a ride for me… too thrilling haha.* Also did the Pipeline Lunge,
Tidal Twister and wave pool which were all quite fun.
Had
lunch at their “canteen” and Ian was complaining about their sweet and sour
chicken drumstick rice haha… “very cheap rice” lol. Potato and I shared the
fish and chips and otah bun.
After
that, Potato, Ning, Fran and PY played at the Splashworks where Potato did a
short dive into a 3.5m pool. We then continued with the Spiral Washout,
Whirlpool Washout before spending some time in the Adventure River aka Lazy River.
Quite shiok to sit in the big floats and just enjoy the scenery. Fran and I
played with the kids’ slide at the Big Bucket Treehouse and the water spray
there was just shiok.
26/3/24
Tues: Went to see Dr Chris Tan at Koh Dental to assess my upper pre-molar. Good
thing he said it could do with a tooth-coloured resin filling because the hole
was not big. He also explained that while amalgam are more lasting usually,
they do not bind with the teeth whereas a composite resin one does, so he
assured me it won’t fall out within the next few years lol. *Hey it’s $109
just for that small filling leh.* The young dentist was patient in
explaining what he did throughout the whole re-filling procedure and would
pre-empt me if there’s slight pressure I’d feel.
I
was relieved I did not had to do a root canal for this tooth because he said
there’s no decay and I’m young, so he advised against root canal because a
“dead tooth” is more brittle. However, he did show me my x-ray done seven and three
years ago that on my left upper pre-molar, there was already an infection/decay
high up near the root of that tooth and it did get bigger, hence I do feel sensitive
at times when they cleaned my teeth. Dr Tan also patiently explained the four
visits that would be required for the root canal treatment and for a new crown
to be made. It would take two months for everything to be done and with the
pricing information from the nurse, it’d set me back about $1.5k… not CPF-payable.
*It’s the only way for them to get rid of that infection, so instead of
waiting till the day the tooth acts up and I suffer from pain, I probably do it
after I return from Iceland.*
27/3/24
Weds: Signed up for basic health screening package provided by Minmed for STC
staff this morning. The results came out very fast in the late afternoon and by
the looks of it, everything looked good.
Finished
watching《有生之年》.
高家的大儿子高嘉岳（吴慷仁 饰）感情事业皆失意，在和世界说再见之前回家想和家人告别，但我觉得最后高嘉扬（郑元畅 饰）的意外去世或多或少也改变了他的想法。
很喜欢吴慷仁的演绎，不知道为什么他的角色一直让我想到我舅舅们说话的样子……很生活化咯。看他开早餐店的爸爸妈妈争吵闹离婚、他小弟高嘉凯（林哲熹 饰）为了早餐店的生意还有妈妈最初不太能接手曾是大哥初恋女友的女朋友许雅欣（张榕容 饰）而陷入挣扎等。最让人心疼的是领养来的，但也很顾家的二儿子高嘉扬最后的不幸去世…… 他儿子高丞佑（谢展荣 饰）一直在意大伯的样子也让人觉得他挺懂事的。
不知不觉看完了整部剧。好多情节都让人感同身受。感谢高嘉岳最后“回归正轨”，决定好好珍惜生命了。
Rating: 4/5
Ian,
Potato and I went to JEM for dinner at Tsui Wah because Ian had a $50 voucher
from Jumbo Group. The soup and wonton for the Kagoshima–style braised pork cartilage
and wontons in fish soup with Mixian ($11.80) I had was nice, they liked the
pork cartilage too but the mixian was a bit nua la. I liked Potato’s king prawns
in XO sauce with tossed noodles too. The prawns were plump. I had a mouthful of
Ian’s baked fried rice with pork chop in tomato puree and the cheese was very
mild according to him, so not bad. *He paid like less than $4 for the dinner
so all good hehe.*
Had
QQ tofu bento set and herbal soup set from Greendot for dinner (via GrabFood)
and they never fail to impress us with the taste! *Luckily their outlets are
not anywhere too near my place, otherwise I figured I’d go “broke” for eating
it too often lol.*
2/4/24
Tues: Heard that Diana’s going on leave for about two months, so Yip will take
over her Aerial Yoga classes on Tuesday nights. Did one with him tonight and
the poses were not difficult to achieve, but they do require some bit of
balance here and there…
4/4/24
Thurs: Had my Long Service Award lunch at Fairmont Mikuni with Chris and
Esther. I went for their April bento set ($108). Chris had their tempura set
($80) and Esther ordered their tempura wakame soba ($38). *Heard the budget
was $120 for LSA recipients and the same for Division Heads… so whack la lol.* I
didn’t eat in order but…
Sashimi:
Bonito… okay.
Grilled:
grilled cherrystone clam. Lol when it came, there were just salt on top of the
shell. It’s until we opened it then saw the clam in sake wine haha.
Tempura:
Sakura ebi, onion, kuruma ebi, shishito pepper, baked bamboo salt… Sakura ebi
was fried so well and delicious.
Wagyu:
Mikuni Miyazaki wagyu beef stew… three pieces. We had one each and the beef was
very soft but not exactly wow for me.
Rice:
steamed Sakura glutinous rice with sea bream in it. The sauce was sweet and the
pairing was not bad.
Soup:
Shijimi soup… too salty for me.
Dessert:
hojicha milk purin, hojicha coulis, caramel mikan tangerine. Sweet and sour…
nice.
Quite
packed during lunch for an expensive restaurant and Chris said it had been
around for more than 20 years. Not a place I’d go for though…. even if I have
the money to lol. *Oh the Koshihikari steamed rice I goped from Chris was
very nice too.*
PotaTOHs
had hokkien mee ($5 for small plate) at The Neighbourwok for dinner. We waited
for about half an hour. It had a lot of sauce and the chilli was nice but a bit
spicy for me. The hokkien mee was nice but not the best I’ve eaten from memory.
Potato was hungry so he ordered another bowl of shrimp wanton and veggie soup
($5) to go with our mains.
6/4/24
Sat: Oyako don for tonight~
Comments