Floss Teeth lah!

Sis had been bugging me to floss my teeth since I came to Cork. Her dentistry friends checked her teeth and taught her how to floss her teeth correctly. Since then, she's been promoting it to me.

I'm embarrassed to say that I've never really flossed my teeth properly before. I remember trying it a few times when I was a teenager but because I didn't know how to do it correctly, my gums bled and it deterred me from flossing.

I remember when I was in primary school, the school dentist gave a class on how to brush our teeth properly. She had a huge plastic fake teeth and a big toothbrush and told us to brush with circular motion. Years later, I realised I still got it wrong. I'm pretty sure that's how the school dentist taught me to brush my teeth but apparently, that's not the correct way. And why in the world did they not teach me how to floss my teeth? They didn't even mention anything about the existence of floss! The only other thing I know about cleaning my teeth is the toothpick (does it even count?).

Anyway, last Thursday, sis signed me up to volunteer as a patient to one of her dentist friends. I didn't like the idea of seeing a dentist but then again, it's free so why not... Went ahead and did the most thorough, 2 hours long scaling I ever had in my life-to-date. No regrets though the counter was a bloody mess when I was done. Got me freaked out when she told me I still have two more wisdom teeth yet to come because my teeth are very crowded without them already.

She also taught me to floss my teeth. I tried to floss that very night but it took so long and I gave up halfway. Sis said I'm still doing it wrong and gave me a few pointers. I also went online (all hail the World Wide Web!) and googled on some flossing tips. I managed to floss all my teeth on the second day. :D

Now, I do it every night. Takes about 20 minutes to do the entire procedure. I'm still using a lot of floss, twice the normal length I think. At least I have clean teeth and gums now!

I'm in Cork

Yes, enjoying my happy family time with my sis. She's busy with classes now while I venture into town poking my nose into every shoe shop (looking for a pair of comfy cheap court shoes). We made some really yummy korean tofu pork stew. I didn't take pictures because I'm too hungry to bother. :p We're planning to go out for some famous fish and chips tonight!

This is the view I see everytime I go out.

I heard rumours that this shop sells weed. Not sure how true it is and I'm not keen to find out. I rubbed off the name of the shop, just in case.

Glow in the Dark Minerals

I love things that glow in the dark. They discharge a kind of creepy, mysterious aura when they glow. I have some glow-in-the-dark plastic stars stuck on the ceiling of my bedroom (my aim was to make a galaxy but I got lazy and I broke the spring of my bed). The latest glow in the dark stint I saw was in the music video of Black Eyed Peas' song: I Gotta Feelin, where the party crowd dipped their hands and painted their faces with glow-in-the-dark paint.

Have you seen real natural minerals that actually glows in the dark? Some of these are found in a dark "room" (barely even a room, more like a tiny stall) in OUMNH. Check it out!

I waited quite sometime for the kids to finish hogging the stall just to get this picture. Cool eh?

Alice in the Wonderland

"Alice in the Wonderland" is one of my all time favourite bedtime stories. The marvelous adventures of Alice kept me fascinated long after I passed the age for children stories. Do you know that "Alice" is a real character?

Charles Dodgson's "Alice in the Wonderland" was inspired by Alice Liddell, who lived in Oxford. The tale, highlighting several spots in Oxford itself, was told to the little girls (Alice and her siblings) while they were rowing a boat along River Thames. Who knew the story soon became a tale that lived forever?

The real Alice - picture displayed in OUMNH

Dinosaur Skeleton

I've always wanted to see a real dinosaur skeleton but sadly, there's no trace of dinosaur remains in Malaysia yet. Hey, who knew I could see some here in Oxford! I wasn't expecting to see these towering skeletons greeting me as I entered the OUMNH and boy, I was excited! It's a pity I couldn't get a picture of myself with those dinosaur skeletons :(

Iguanodon skeleton standing majestically in front of the Tyrannosaurus Rex (T. Rex)

Please Touch the Specimens

You know how your hands itch so badly to touch the specimens in the museums but they are always kept behind those hard cold glass cupboards or there's always a big sign stating "Do Not Touch"?

Here in Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH), you get to satisfy your deepest desire to touch and feel the soft fur or sharp edged skins of specimens.

Please touch gently with one finger only

A Walk with the Skeletons

Have you visited a museum so interesting that you could spend the entire day just examining the displayed items? I must say this one particular museum is a must-see. I mean, where else can you get a picture with rows of skeletons in varying sizes? It felt like the time when Moses ordered a pair of each animal species into the ark, except that these animals here are mere skeletons.

Museum of Natural History @ Oxford

Having Tea

One of the things I will miss about England is having tea. An English friend kept reminding me that "having tea" means eating dinner. It doesn't quite make sense, for me, but I shall leave it at that. The "tea" I'm referring to, here, is the tea time during 3pm-5pm, where I would sit down in the corner of a cosy cafe enjoying a cup of hot chocolate with some scones/muffins and indulge in a really good book.

Self shot @ Grand Cafe, High Street, Oxford