1,3,7-trimethylxanthine (C₈H₁₀N₄O₂), or more commonly known as Caffeine, is an alkaloid of the methylxanthine family.

Caffeine binds to the adenosine receptors in the brain but it does not slow down the cell’s activity as adenosine would. Thus it causes the blood brain’s blood vessels to constrict as it blocks adenosine’s ability to open them up. This is why caffeine provides relief of vascular headaches.

With caffeine blocking the adenosine, you have increased neuron firing in the brain which causes the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline. Caffeine also increases dopamine levels in the same way that amphetamines do, that, in certain parts of the brain, activates the pleasure centre.

The half-life of caffeine in your body is about six hours. That means a small cap-double at 3pm containing 400 mg of caffeine will leave about 100mg of caffeine in your system at 3 am. You may be able to fall asleep, but your body probably will miss out on the benefits of deep sleep. That deficit adds up fast. The next day you feel worse, so you need caffeine as soon as you get out of bed. The cycle continues day after day.

Failed to stay caffeine free today although there was no Spinelli readily avaiable. Found some Aik Cheong coffee bags at home which I brewed and disguised the bad taste with some honey that was given. Not that bad a mixture.

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Growing Region: Central America and Papua New Guinea
Aroma: Spicy
Body: Full
Acidity: Medium
Taste: Smooth, rich taste with subtle crispness and lively finish. Ideal as an all-day coffee

Not a bad blend. Smooth but with a tinge of crisp at the end. Goes well with oatmeal rasin cookies. hee

Slacked the whole day yesterday though I had things to do. According to Cheesecake this would be considered a “bad slack”. Slept through most of the day having headaches possibly due to caffeine withdrawal symptoms. Didn’t drink any coffee or tea for the past 36 hours so hopefully was able to get some of that “deep sleep” that I normally wouldn’t have. Ahh~ hopefully can get some work done today.

Undergraduate life is a weird phase. Unlike other students or working adults who rejoice over a long public holiday-weekend break, uni students are probably the only ones who go “Urgh. Not another public holiday!” Well it’s not without good reason we react this way.

1. Public Holiday != Holiday. Contary to the practises in sec school/JC, lectures and tutorials which fall on a public holiday would have to be resheduled, and usually to some bad timing like late at night or other “free” days.
2. Who needs an official public holiday when I have one anytime I like? Lectures and tutorials are not compulsory so you can choose not to attend any, of course at the expense of your grade.
3. I already have a holiday on that day! With good planning, free days, officially or not (refer to point 2) can be allocated in our weekly schedule so having a public holiday coincide would be like having a holiday on Sunday without a makeup on Monday.
4. Since this is already my free day, the public holiday only serves to crowd the streets and buses and raise moive prices on an otherwise nice quiet weekday.

What a drastic change from NS days when public holidays are so longed after. Bleah.

Half price on all menu items at Breko today cos it’s their 4th anniversary. Proposed plan was to have brunch at the Holland Village cafe before our noon lecture. Nobody seemed interested or was kinda disorganised so plan changed to having lunch with cheese and friends after the noon lecture. Plan changed again the night before to play tennis after noon lecture before going to Breko for early dinner before cell. Travelled a complete round around campus on A1 to get racquet from JJ and tennis got cancelled due to other friends. Cheese then needed time to prepare for cell so Breko plans postponed to after cell. Finally went to Breko after cell and it was 2 mins left till the end of the offer period. However main course was no longer being served so we just took away drinks at half price and went to the coffee shop for dinner.

Breko’s Earl Latte was great. Really great. So great that it beats Coffee Club’s Ice Earl Vanila hands down. I’m not really a milk tea person but the aroma, the taste and the texture of that drink is just prefect. w00t. Just wondering all those times we dinned at Breko why we have never ever tried this wonderful drink? New addition to the must buy list at Breko, along with the Broccolli Cheese Potato. Mmmm…

Almost completed TC3 with one credit (5 lives). Died at the last scene showdown with the boss, Stage 3 Area 3 Scene 9a (S3-A3-09a). First time I had spectators watching me play… haha, feel so l33t. I recall how I used to be one of those spectators watching some pro play and trying to mug the stages. Somehow in TC3 it’s not really possible to mug the final stage from someone’s game cos 1) very few people actually get there; 2) people who continue aren’t very pro so it’s hard to learn their tatics; 3) pros dun come by often and when they do, they play one game and never continue. So this time it’s a little trial-and-error but still managed to find some strategy for the final boss battle. Should be able to complete the game soon then can move on to the big screen machine next door.

PS: Emjie, when I’m done with P1, time to switch places with you and conquer P2 as well! heh

15 days. More than a week, just shy of half a month. Fifteen days have passed into the year 2005 and it doesn’t seem to get any better. Somehow there’s just nothing to look forward to in 2005. Yah yah it’s the new season and many exciting things will be happening and all that, but it just feels that everything is just going to pass by. It’s like a shophouse on a triving city. As the world progresses, your neighbours renovate, upgrade, and finally pulled down to make way for new buildings. Up in front the roads widened, then rerouted as subways lines are planted and pretty soon it becomes just an alley. In the end, the old shophouse, lost in its past, left alone hidden in the middle of a triving business district.

Growing Region: Horn of Africa/Arabia, Indonesian Archipelago
Aroma: Rich, wild, pungent, complex
Body: Heavy
Acidity: Pronounced Wine
Taste: Rich taste with a buttery wine finish.

Quite a unique taste. Can’t really identify the winey flavour but got a tangy after taste instead. Maybe taste could have been affected by my cheesecake. Not really my cup of tea, or rather coffee.