Darrenkane

I was thinking of what to name this post and wanted to focus on the mission each one of us have in life. This question once again 'poped' into my head not because I was at a retreat or doing a reflection but because I spent 3 days living with the Marist Brothers in Pailin, Cambodia. Wonderful host, (from left) Marist Brothers, Bro. Bryan and Bro. Francis. Although it was a very short time in terms of a lifetime of a religious, it was a nice and pleasant break from the fast-paced Singapore, even if leaving the country to do work counts. The Brothers were so welcoming that it feel as if I knew them for months or even years. This is not my first time living with religious and some sort of a familiar feeling for me. However, it was different this time as the Brothers were quite new in Pailin and were still in their infancy stage of setting up a school, so everything even the infrastructure was very simple. Their main focus is to provide education for the rural poor, the poorest of ...

With a blink of a eye, I'm back to old Hall 5. Coming back was a chore as usual, taking the long train ride from end to end, eating away 1 and a half hours of my life. But with that said I should be thankful I have a place in Hall, if not I'll be doing it everyday. Coming back yesterday on Sunday, was a little wired after enjoying the comforts of home. Hall 5 was especially dark as they only switched on alternate corridor lights, in an attempt to save energy and $$ I guess. Hall doesn't have to save money, but the people living in it has to. Lights and especially fans are left on when no one is in the room, laptops and other electronic devices are turned on almost 24/7. But the weird factor was that Hall was dead, Hall was is usually quiet but the fact that NIE starts 2 weeks earlier than NTU, makes it worst. Almost 2/3 of the rooms were vacant and the feeling of living in Pulau NTU became real. It had even more greater effect, when my NIE roomies were not in, so leaving me...

Place: Verandah Cafe, ACM Went there with my CJC Legion friends, who come find the time to make it. Decided on the place after reading a few good reviews, but they were very limited. I guess what boils down to it was my call to enquire if the place was open and price for a main course. So 7 of us went into the cafe, and found it to be baren, paling in comparsion with Timbre just opposite. We were the only customers in the entire cafe, that can sit about 20 indoors and 10 more outdoors. When I find a place empty, questions pop into my head, such as is the food bad or are we going to get ripped off? But to mu surprise it was not bad. Although we were the only customers, the kicthen was ill equiped to handle too many orders at once. I would suit perfectly in Hoi An, Vietnam, where you find many cafes and people just sit for hours reading a book while enjoying a cup of coffee or chai. The last main course to arrive was a pizza, about 25 minutes from the time of ordering. I ordered the burg...

It's the season of Christmas and that gives me more time to indulge in food. But besides eating, there is much fun and joy in making it too. So i decided to make a Marble Cheese Cake. It turned out to be easier than I expected. Mine was a little too watery and so I reduced the about of eggs into the recipe below. So here's how I did it. 1. In a plastic bag, crush 140g of diguestive biscuits until fine and add about 1 tbs coco powder, not too much or it'll taste bitter. Add soften butter (50g) into the crushed bicsuits till it sticks to each other. 2. Beat the cream (1 tube of Philadephia cream cheese) until soft, but not too much. Add 2/3 cups of fine sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tbs vanilla extract and 2/3 cup of heavy cream and mix well. 3. Remove 1/3 of the mixture into another bowl and add melted chocolate into it. 4. Line a baking tin with the crushed biscuits so that it forms a crush and pour the plain mixture into the tin. 5. Add spoonfuls of chocolate mixture into the plain mix...

Once again I'm back to blogging, still foreign with it though and at the wrong time; Exams peeking from behind the bushes with a sly smile. So what are we, poor and frustrated, students to do? Well beside praying, we can draw strength from caffeine and one of my best way, in my opinion, is to drink coffee. Stay in NTU hall, there's no personal pantry to make my own coffee. Grind the beans, and let water pass through the grains and out comes thick black gold. So I have resorted to 3-in-1. Being a person who can drink coffee and fall asleep the next moment, coffee is not longer for staying up but as a way of life and appreciating the wonders of the Earth. I was introduced to Nescafe's new 'Cafe Menu: Cappuccino & Mocha' by a very good friend. I think aesthetics is very important when selling a product and here Nescafe has does it once again. The packing is appealing to the eye and slim so it fits in your hand perfectly. I see a trend with the packaging becoming...

I found it quite silly to travel up from Ho Chi Minh (HCM) to Hanoi and back down again, after hearing about the bumpy and long journey. Thus the trips will now be from HCM to Hanoi and a flight direct from Hanoi to S'pore. Day 1 (10 Aug) Singapore → Ho Chi Minh City (HCM) (Secure trip to Angkor Wat, for early next morning) (Secure day trip to Mekong Delta on Day 5) (Buy open tour bus pass from HCM to Hanoi 47 USD) Day 2 (11 Aug) Ho Chi Minh City → Siem Reap, Cambodia • 6.45am - Catch bus to Siem Reap • 7pm - Arrive in Siem Reap Day 3 (12 Aug) Siem Reap Day 4 (13 Aug) Siem Reap, Cambodia → HCM Day 5 (14 Aug) HCM → Mekong Detla (Can Tho) → HCM Day 6 (15 Aug) HCM Day 7 (16 Aug) HCM → Nha Trang (Bus Dep: 7.30am or 8.30pm) • 15.30 pm - Arrive in Nha Trang • 7.30 am - Catch bus to Nha Trang Day 8 (17 Aug) Nha Trang → Hoi An • 7.30 am - Catch bus to Hoi An ZL will be heading back to HCM to catch 5.30 pm flight back to S'pore by Tiger • 15.30 pm - Arrive at Hoi An Day 9 (18 Aug) Hoi ...

The idea came about when I, sadly, decided to cancel my Mount Kinabalu trip due to lack of interested and serious people need to cut the cost of the climb. Serious issue when it comes to climbing 4,000 meters up and with only 70% of oxygen as compared to sea level. I have always liked the idea of backpacking. Mainly because it is cheap, especially important when you have to save up for so many things installed for us (to pay) in the future. I have been on somewhat a backpacking trip to Penang, Malaysia. Booking only the air ticket there and nothing else. Malaysia is a relatively easy country to backpack, especially for a Singaporean who know a little Malay. It was a nice adventure, with 2 other good friends of mine, dodging in and out of hotel and lodges to find for the cheapest yet with acceptable living conditions (to us - meaning simple bed & toilet). We spent about 5 days in Penang, and booked a bus to Kuala Lumpur (KL), after getting enough of Penang, don't get my wrong, i...