Wisdom Tooth, Warm Coffee and World Domination

Wisdom Tooth

Wisdom teeth are so named because they appear in the late teen years or early twenties, when one becomes an adult, hence wiser. I had my wisdom tooth extracted last week.

My first wisdom tooth surfaced when I was 27. I have a two theories on why it came out so late:

1. The lack of calcium in my diet has impeded its growth.
2. I wasn’t wise enough in my late teens nor early twenties to rightly acquire Teeth of Wisdom.:p

Does wisdom come with age?

My nephew announced that he wasn’t keen on finding a girlfriend because that would mean he’d have to get a job “to keep her happy”. He doesn’t want to start working now because he needs to play while he’s still young and “that’s why you have these big ambitions for later“. Wise words, from a boy barely 6.

Me? Despite the dentist’s advice, I kept rinsing my mouth regularly the first few hours after extraction, causing the protective blood clot that formed at the former site of my Tooth of Wisdom to be partially unplugged.
Not very wise. :\

Warm Coffee

I had my first cup of coffee today after days of having only water and yoghurt. I had to drink it lukewarm so as to not aggravate the newly-formed plug in my mouth. Though I had to be content with tepid beverage, the service was sunny.

While waiting for my coffee to cool, I observed the catering staff busying themselves in tasks with clockwork efficiency. Everyone had a part to play. The cheerful old lady has been serving me coffee for the past 5 years. It wouldn’t be wise to assume that she is without lofty ambitions. Probably one of her goals is to provide excellence in customer service.

If that is the case, she has succeeded.

Do all ambitions need to be of grand scale?

World Domination

I believe there is room in the world for all kinds of ambitions, all types of people. Our world needs all types of people to keep it running smoothly — the ones to do the job and the ones to lead, and the ones who’ll rise above and beyond the rest in terms of influence and reach because they can and because what they do may have the potential to make the world just a little (or a lot) better.

Which type are you? Which would you rather be?

If you’re interested in being the latter, Chris Guillebeau of the Art of Non-conformity has recently launched A Brief Guide World Domination.

Reboiling Points
Boiling Water Multiple Times Not As Harmful to Health As Thought

There was an elderly tea lady (let’s call her Mrs D) at the place I used to work. She wasn’t a tea lady in the traditional sense who’d wheel her trolley of goodies at teatime — she prepared refreshments for our weekly meetings — but she loved observing me while I brew a cuppa in the office pantry, which made me slightly nervous at times.

I was about to make myself a cup of instant coffee one day when I found the electric kettle filled with enough water to make a warm cup of coffee. Because of the ridiculous subarctic temperature of the office, I preferred my coffee tongue-scalding hot so I did what I thought was the obvious thing to do — I turned the kettle back on.

Already anxious by her mere presence, I was startled silly when Mrs D boomed, “What on earth are you doing?! Why are you boiling the water again? You’re not supposed to do that!”

I told her about my coffee temperature preference but she continued disapprovingly, “but you’re not supposed to reheat water that’s already been boiled!!!” When I tried asking her the reason why she kept saying that I wasn’t supposed to. I asked another colleague who happened to be there and she said the same thing, “you’re not supposed to boil water multiple times because it’s not good for you!!!”

Outnumbered with no desire to argue, I left the scene with a less-than-hot cup of coffee.

Being the naturally curious person that I am, I decided to ask the rest of my colleagues about this. The consensus was nearly unanimous(a few had never heard of it) — you shouldn’t boil water more than once — the reasons were similar – reboiled water is not good. Why exactly? They didn’t have an answer.

I wasn’t convinced and brushed it all aside as old wives’ tales. However, despite my numerous make-coffee-while-no-one-is-around attempts later, I kept forgetting to research the reasons and origins for this theory.

5 years later

I was at a coffee house while waiting for my camera to be serviced the other day when out of boredom, I decided to read all their coffee and tea leaflets. There was a section devoted to the importance of using fresh water for brewing coffee and tea. I didn’t think much about it until much later when I was making meyself a cup of coffee at home.

Remembering the Water Mystery from half a decade ago, I consulted my friend Google: Reboiled water causes cancer? - not true unless your water is already toxic to begin with. Reboiling causes water to harden? - not true either. Then I found this:

10 Tips for A Better Cup of Tea

The more oxygen that is dissolved in water, the better it tastes. So, to make sure you use water with the maximum amount of oxygen, don’t re-boil any leftover water in your kettle. Water that is boiled too much becomes poorly aerated because oxygen atoms escape in the form of steam. By always filling your kettle up afresh, you are ensured fully aerated and tasty water.”

Ten Tips for a Betta Cuppa-Fresh Water, Best water MSN Encarta

Mystery solved.

Healthy Ambitions
Small Steps to A Healthier Me

A friend of mine, Will, told me he has quit smoking cold turkey for a few months now. Though I was happy he did that, I was also shocked with this sudden change. He then revealed that three months ago, he was diagnosed with a thyroid problem, high-blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and gout. He needs to be on regular medication from now on and he’s not even 30!

Weirdly, he told me that when he asked his doctor what measures he should take to reduce his cholesterol levels, he was told to consider smoking! A doctor telling his patient to smoke? Sounds like someone needs a new doctor fast!

I am not taking my health for granted. I am not gonna wait for my teeth to fall out or hip bones to crumble before doing something about it so I’m making small changes to my diet and lifestyle in a bid to improve my health. [Read more….]

Food Trip

I have a habit of imagining eating different food when I’m working. It leaves me hungry and irritable for many hours. But I do it anyway. I sometimes describe my cravings in detail to B, causing one or both of us to eventually cave in to mindless snacking. I’ll share it with you guys here today:

Good, hot coffee in a paper cup.
First the cup (I have a thing for paper cups)– a thick uncoated stock, slightly rough to the touch. Then the coffee — dark with an unmistakable intoxicating aroma. I add a little milk, stir it gently and take a long, slow sip.

Oreo cheesecake
Slightly salty, a hint of bitterness, all rich and sweet. No, thanks, I can’t, wait, yes please, just a small slice. For now.

Fresh salmon sushi
Succulent, sweet salmon and a touch of wasabi on top of vinegared rice. I dip it ever so slightly in soya sauce and think to myself, “Lyn (a friend who doesn’t eat raw fish) doesn’t know what she is missing”

Shiny glazed donut
Sinking my teeth into a warm pillow of deliciousness, the glaze crack and crumble onto my lap. My pants are dirty but my mouth is happy. :o

Chocolate almond bar
This is it — the perfect chocolate bar - in between milk and dark. A dark milk? Or a milky dark? It doesn’t matter, really. There are almonds, toasted to brown perfection with every satisfying bite.

Pancakes
See formula for simple happiness number 2.

What are you craving today?

Happiness is…

Today, happiness is:

Seeing my little cat falling asleep in the middle of playing with a measuring tape
Warm coffee that tastes like golden sunshine, sweet cinnamon and roasted chestnuts
Squeezing the tummy of my fat cat, who was asleep on its back
My room resplendent in the rich glow of a warm morning

Disposable

Do you know how much I love paper cups?
Sometimes I wonder if my love for coffee has more to do with the cups they come in rather than the coffee itself. I have a habit of collecting paper cups(properly washed, of course) only to have them thrown away by someone else.

In my previous job, located in the middle of a busy shopping belt, I frequently buy coffee for breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner from one of the many cafes dotting the area. Of all the coffee houses, I frequented Starbucks the most, not because they had the best coffee, but because it was located nearest to my office. Every Christmas season, my cubicle will see the addition of another red Starbucks Holiday Cup. I kept one every year since I first started working there. I’d even find a good use for them - potpourri holders.

I loved looking at them. It’s amazing how many times I’d been inspired to do something creative just by looking at the paper cups lined up on top of my monitor. Once I wrote a story about a sad coffee bean. Another time I designed a book cover based on the color scheme of the cups, just for fun. The cleaning lady at the office would make sure she put the cups back in their exact location when she was done wiping the top of my monitor, something I greatly appreciate. The people I worked with were aware of my love for paper cups, some even offering their cups for me to keep. But paper cup-collecting is a very personal thing for me. I like to get to know the cup myself before welcoming it into my life.

One day, out of the blue, I find my cups missing from their usual location. I tried to locate the missing cups in the pantry but was met by a stranger from the cleaning company. He said the old cleaning lady was sick, so he’s taking over for the day. I asked him if he’d seen my potpourri-filled paper cups. He said he’d thrown them away because he thought they were filled with “mouldy things”. The next day, the regular cleaning lady resumed work and the first thing she did when she saw me was to apologize for the loss of my cups.

…

My most prized possession was a set of slender, unusually-sized cups(too big for an espresso, more like a generous demitasse). I bought them for a few bucks from a shop selling odds and ends near my house. They came in a pack of about 10 pieces and each one of them was beautiful. The base color was off-white. I’m not sure whether this was on purpose or because the paper had slightly yellowed with age, but it made a nice canvas for the main element - an exquisitely-rendered watercolor painting of different flowers. It stayed in my kitchen drawer for probably 7 years before I decided to use one for a special occasion (I got a pack of fancy tea as a birthday present), then another, and yet another, until only three cups were left. After that I decided I don’t want to be using them anymore as they were too precious to me. A few months ago, I find them gone. My mother had thrown them away, without my knowledge. She said that the cups looked too old to be useful.

Each time my cherished collection was thrown away I’d feel a little sad, but only for a minute. No matter how sentimental I feel about something, I accept that most material things in life are disposable.

I love paper cups a lot, but I treasure relationships with people more.

PS: Sticking a “Do Not Throw” message helps. :)

I’m Grateful for My 5 Senses

I’m enjoying my soft creamy donut flecked with Oreo bits(yum!) with a hot cup of deliciously bittersweet coffee(just the way I like it). What a delightful sensation.

(Well effectively I’m using only 4, but I’m still thankful for all of them)

Happiness is Eating Donuts with Instant Coffee

This is my first post under “Happiness”. Here I will write down things(no matter how small) currently making me happy.

Isn’t it amazing how something as simple as eating a donut could make you so happy? I’m so savouring this moment. Yum!