Recent happenings : Reflection and Renewals

The wet spell in Singapore has finally come to an end, I think. it's now bright and sunny, and just perfectly nice timing for me to get to Batam for a short respite over the weekend and also to embrace year 2006 with a final touch and then welcome the springing of a brand new year of 2007. Not forgetting another new year kick-off trip to HK from 6th-13th Jan 07, 6 more days to go.....And while other people are already starting to make new resolutions since the beginning of this month, I have also made some too. Isn't it quite a common topic to come across when you read your other friends' blog as well? =p

My new year resolutions are as below:
1) To become more mature in thinking, to be able to understand better other people's idiosyncracies with open arms without any first impression prejudice and appreciate the art of diversity in life.
2) To be able to use VBA in Excel for macro purposes and enhance SPSS programming proficiency by end of April.
3) To clear off more of my outstanding tuition fee loan(thus think on how to earn more money and at the same time not neglecting family and friends!!).
4) To sustain equanimity when adversities of life happen and recur which makes life hard to survive.
5) To understand that challenges are inevitable and it's a state of unease over things that we are not familiar with, which ought to be perceived as a chance to get to know better our own limit of ability and stimulate our minds to try to think of the best way to navigate through the challenge, during which, new skills will be discovered, mistakes familiarised, and eventually, will hit a level higher than before. Need to be more resilient and have a long-term vision, patience is a virtue too, only then a sense of achievement and valiance will not be far-fetched.
6) To revise all foreign languages that I have learned so far, including Vietnamese, German, Japanese and coming up is Korean for which I should be taking classes two months later! Haha...

Anyway, it's just a short summary of the direction of my self-improvement plans in the coming 2007. Hope it would not fall short, so I ought to internalise a drive of positivism, stamina and resilience!

Had a department lunch last Thursday at Curry House(Clarke Quay) organised by Pei Chin. It's North Indian cuisine and this time round, everyone turned up. Food was splendid and we had a long 2-hour lunch(one hour longer than usual) since we had had a long busy work week. I did not take any photos of the dishes so no photos for you guys to see this time. Be patient, there are bound to have many other food photos coming up to make sure you don't miss out any nice makan outlets in town!

Yesterday was the last day of work for year 2006, so everyone left on time if not earlier to enjoy a long long weekend. It was the same for me, as I headed down to Marina Square and met up with Princess for dinner at Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe. We ordered Baked Pork Chop Spaghetti with Cheese(quite cheesy but I like it), Chicken Curry with Rice and side dishes such as BBQ Pork Pastries, Prawn Dumplings, Cheung Fun. There was an on-going queue of customers too, so actually I think the cafe has been quite popular in town. Quite full at the end of the course. The bill was close to $30 but I think it's still not expensive considering the food quality and portion. After that, she wanted to go to Suntec to shop for Guess bags so we walked over there and she ended up with a top instead. Haha. After that, there wasn't much to see, so we walked back to Marina Square and walked around and went window-shopping. Nothing much to see also, we were already on our way back to City Hall MRT and after she was done with buying buns at Bread Talk then we felt like going for a drink so we went over to Chijmes for a drink at Le Baroque at basement level where there was 50% off for house pours. Ordered champagne(Moet & Chandon), and two shots of house pours(Jim Beam & Smirnoff Vodka). I forgot what kind of wine the Jim Beam is. Haha..Ambience was cosy but not too well air-conditioned, still I think it was pretty nice for a place to chatter with your friends over the weekend to spin your mind out of the busy work schedule for the night. Pretty enjoyed ourselves that night. Chijmes is a cool pubbing place.


***Sudah berapa lama aku tak bertutur atau menulis dalam Bahasa Melayu?Sejak kudatang ke Singapura agaknya, lima tahun lebih. Walaupun, disini langsung tak ada peluang untuk bertutur dalam bahasa ini yang diagung-agungkan di Malaysia, kurasa ku juga mesti mengekalkan taraf percakapan bahasa Melayuku sebagai warganegara Malaysia. Bagaimanapun, ku tak rasa kesal datang sini untuk melanjutkan pelajaranku dan mendapati perkerjaan yang agak stabil buat masa ini. ***

I came across this local Malaysian Chinese singer but she sings a Malay song named "Cinta Hello Kitty" which I like it. Enjoy the song~~~

Artist : Karen
Song Title : Cinta Hello Kitty-Hello Kitty's Love(with my English translation)
Lagu: Whye Yang
Lirik: Asmin Mudin
Lirik Ihsan Prodigee Media

Mengapa kau membutakan telingaku (Why did you deafen my ears)
Mengapa engkau membutakan hatiku (Why did you blind my heart)
Sehinggaku tak peduli (Till I don't care)
Semua insan berbintiku (Hmm..how to translate this line?)

Hinggaku sanggup melarikan diri (Till I was willing to run away)
Tinggalkan ibu ayah dan Hello Kitty (Leaving mom,dad and Hello Kitty)
Bersamamu ku temui (Together with you I've met)
Yang kukenal sehari (The one I've known for a day)

Korus:(Chorus)
Ku tahu ibu ayah terguris hati(I know mom and dad have been hurt)
Siang dan malam gelisahkan aku (Day and night worrying me)
Hello Kitty tolong aku (Hello Kitty,help me)
Katakan aku ok... (Saying that I'm okay)

Esok aku meraih hari jadiku (Tomorrow I celebrate my birthday)
Air mata berlinang dipipiku (Tears flowing on my cheeks)
Hello Kitty tolong aku (Hello Kitty,help me)
Tiupkan lilin yang buta ini (Blow off this blind candle)

Setelah kepalsuan mencelikkanku(After falsity opening my eyes)
Setelah penyesalan menginsafkanku (After regretfulness making me realise)
Hello Kitty tolong aku(Hello Kitty,help me)
Aku mahu pulang...(I wanna go home....)

Countdown to HK: 11 more days.....

Looks like I am really getting excited over my trip back to HK which will be very soon,just 11 days from now....and still figuring out whether I should go to Guangzhou for a one-day trip or not on 7th JAn....

Snooping around

The Internet is overwhelming. You can know a person's blog without him/her knowing about it. Scary,isn't it?

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Here I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope all of you get the presents you want!!

My brother dropped by in Singapore to meet me up after attending his friend's wedding banquet in Muar. His buddy,BH also came along, and I suggested to have dinner at Vivo City. And we dined at the Asian Kitchen.

I ordered the Suan La Mian(Sour Spicy Noodles-top picture ) and then we collectively ordered the xiao long bao, pork and prawn dumplings, traditional tofu with peanuts(picture at the bottom) and braised mushroom with brocolli and then iced longan red dates drink.Not bad for a dinner, but not too outstanding for a Xmas eve dinner. Yet it's still acceptable because dinner was on my brother! Haha. I would rate 6.5 out of 10 for the overall satisfaction.

After the dinner, I brought them to the rooftop to catch the night view of Sentosa and the harbour front, since it was still drizzling, we didn't linger for long so we decided to make our way to Orchard and throng along Orchard Road to feel the Xmas experience before the crowd condition got too bad. For some time, we were simply stucked in the huge crowd and couldn't even inch our way back to the MRT station. I could see that it was almost unbearable for BH and my brother since they had had a long day walking around before that.

Xmas dinner @ Moonfish Restaurant

This is not a Chinese seafood restaurant, PQ =p(though it might sound like one,hehehe..). It's a western-style pasta & seafood restaurant located at Marina Square #02-04. There was a one-for-one mocktail promotion going on. Went there to have an early Christmas dinner with Mich so as to avoid the expected huge crowd on Eve and Christmas Day itself. Mich had been thinking of dining at Indulgz Bistro @ Tan Quee Lan Street but it was fully booked before she could place a reservation. Anyway, there we were, having seated near the window, and then started to make orders to satisty our gastronomic pursuit. Hehe..we looked through the menu, there were several signature dishes, but we didn't order that......for appetizers, we ordered the clam chowder soup, then for me I thought that the Rottiserie Chicken would taste nice so I ordered that, then the Tropical sunset mocktail and then the classic New York cheesecake(nice!). Oh..we exchanged Xmas gift too. Very happy indeed. Got a Adidas watch from her.
It looks good on my wrist, now I have watch to wear already!!Haha, well actually I have a Casio watch that I bought from a shop at Bencoolen Street but I am lazy to buy the battery. Haha. Too busy to do that too. Went to walk around in Marina Square and then found my Tai Yang Bing!!!!It's the famous Sun biscuits my colleague brought back from Taiwan. It really felt heavenly when I first tasted that...so I went into that shop(Lao Zhao Pai) and then asked for the sun biscuits and they actually had that and was at the front counter display! Waaa..I bought Traditional and Honey sun biscuits one pack each and then after tasting it..it tasted quite nice also but not as nice as the one my colleague bought in Taiwan! Hmmm.. And I forgot what that brand was..

This is a picture of the one I bought at Lao Zhao Pai before it was slowly savoured and devoured in my stomach. Haha..anyone going to Taiwan please by all means buy one box for me as souvenir okay? I shall treat you very well from then onwards...Haha..=p

<-------Clam chowder soup

<------Tropical Sunset Mocktail

<------Curry Beef Brisket in Capsicum(Crystal Jade Macau Cafe)

<------With Noodles(Crystal Jade Macau Cafe)

<-----Watercress Honey Drink(Crystal Jade Macau Cafe)

This seems to be looking like a blog on food lately...as I always talk about food and photos of them are being uploaded here..haha.. well who doesn't love eating and want to know about the latest information on the happening pigging-out places in town...come to my blog often and I'll promise you an adventure of my gastronomical pursuits.

Brother's coming to Singapore tomorrow, so gonna expect another round of pleasant dinner tomorrow night. Haha. Maybe I will bring him to Macpherson Barbeque Seafood Restaurant at South Bridge Road to try the BBQ Stingray! Good idea!

Am I becoming a workaholic?

A sense of achievement. Is it really worth you spending your time slogging in the office from 7.30am until 4am the next morning?This was actually what I did last Wednesday when the FTMS project had to be completed quickly to meet the tight schedule ahead. I did not see the sun the entire day! Perhaps I am really hoping for a good yearly annual increment and bonus coming this April which will be based on my senior department manager's assessment on my performance at work. I always remind myself that since I am in this line by on-the-job training and not training by education, I gotto do triple amount of homework compared to others. Especially at the incipient phase of my job, I think there's a need to see the job as a career, see it under the positive light.

Dinner on Thursday was at Crystal Jade Macau Cafe Restaurant(@Seiyu Bugis)-it was Curry Beef Brisket in Capsicum with Noodles and watercress honey drink. Nice dinner~~~, and then yesterday I had to order a takeaway at Yoshinoya(yes,again) and brought back to office to eat with my colleague SM who's also rushing for project before going on a long year-end holiday with her family. Tomorrow she's flying from Senai airport and since she's going to bring back a lot of luggage, she'll be taking a cab from Singapore(Toa Payoh) directly to Senai and it's about SGD50. Does anyone of you reading this know any other cheaper taxi rates for the same destination? Let me know.

Heard from my senior department manager(Felicia) that she was hit by a car whose driver was drunk long time ago so she has lost 50% of her arm strength. She has to undergo minor surgeries from time to time as complications keep on coming up. So friends,be more careful at night when standing at the pavement waiting to cross the road. Otherwise, there may be unprecedented consequences that is beyond imagination.

Just a light note

Singapore's been cursed with a wet season lately,or shall I say blessed also?Haha. When it comes to raining then, I can't help but feel sentimental over matters around me. Something to ponder over before going to bed, as we grow older, automatically we will sort of know what kind of people that we like to befriend and be close to them, likewise, when some people utter even the first sentence, they will be people whom we want them to stay out of our sight. Perhaps it's because we know roughly how exactly we are, then seeing the trend of our friendship over the years as we age, we will tend to have that kind of first impression which might be prejudicial and unfair to those group of people. Oh well, life is sometimes like that. By saying that, are we really surrendering ourselves to fate?

Hectic work schedule

Just managed to settled down now at my desk with a drizzle still going on, subsiding from a downpour half an hour ago. It's been quite a hectic work day for me as the agency in China screwed up as expected and delayed in reverting on time. Had to stay until 9 something but waited for nothing eventually. Well, at least I had a sumptuous dinner at Yoshinoya, it was Hoki Fish Set with Spudster(Fried Mashed Potato Balls). Upsized for another dollar and was feeling replete by the time I finished dinner. Lunch was okay, went to Cineleisure food court with my colleague DS and we were meeting our mutual friend Princess over there. Princess said that she intends to go for the SIA air-stewardess again, and this time, it was actually encouraged by her boyfriend. Perhaps he loves her so much that he has to let her do what she dreams of doing. But for a long distance relationship, it certainly will be quite a feat to maintain and improve the relationship. If she succeeds, she'll be flying around the world going places, meeting different kind of people and it's quite possible that her perception towards the relationship might change and might turn out to be sour eventually. Especially when you can meet pilots who are equally good-looking and well-off, I'm sure it's rather tempting. As for my case, as some of you who are quite close to me might know, deep inside my heart, it is still a puzzle. What do I want? My gf doesn't read my blog, it might matter if she gets to know about this blog, yet if that's is so, this blog is gonna be moved to somewhere else where it is safe. Why am I thinking like that? I certainly feel that some of my inner feelings are so vulnerable that I am not ready for her to delve into it and conquer them. My tendency of being reticent about my true feelings sometimes are beyond my control.

Went to an event called "Youth Advolution for Health(YAH) 1st anniversary at DXO Club, next to Esplanade last Saturday by the way, free flow of mocktails was the one that drew me to that place and I asked my gf along too. And there were cool performances like the samba masala band, radical group breakdance show,a DJ performance, a pseudo-DJ mouth performance(I don't know the proper term for that!), songs by past Idol finalist Daphne Khoo and I think the host was quite good too. And unexpectedly, there was a free buffet dinner too, there was rice, fried beehoon, fried fish fillet, braised chilli chicken, brocolli/cauliflower mixed veggy dish, cakes and fruits. Best of all, we had a free flow of mocktails said early, and I tried a few glasses of Shirley Temple(Raspberry punch), Virgin Margharita(Lime punch) and Pussyfoot(Pineapple punch).I am still not so sure of the peculiar names given to cocktails/mocktails/alcoholic beverages generally since I am not a night owl. This event was a no-smoke,no alcohol event(I think also no-junk-food, no-casual-sex!) by the way, but I still think it's splendid.

Left the club after 3 hours plus and then wanted to just take a stride along the Esplanade leading to the Clarke Quay area and then when it was about 8:30pm, we saw a congregation at the al-fresco performance area where free performances are usually held. So we went to check it out and then it was a half an hour gig from the NUS Jazz Band! Haha..cool, so we found our way to the front row of seats apparently unoccupied and sat through the entire performance. And then......suddenly the conductor seemed to be facing me and asked me..."Do you know cowboy?Wanna try playing it?". Then I was like "No thanks......" coz I didn't understand what was referring to and didn't want to take any chance to self-embarass myself. Haha..then on the second attempt, he went to get the "Cowboy" and then brought it down to me and asked me to play that. Hahaha..I thought what was it, it was a woodblock instrument! Initially, I tried hitting that, and awkward thudding continous sound was made by me hitting the woodblock with the conductor stick. Then I got comfortable and played along with the jazz band with my "percussion". Very fun and interactive indeed.

After that, we were planning to go back already and on our way we saw circle of chairs and there were some volunteers and then some basic musical instruments being laid on most of the chairs. The leader of the volunteers called on anybody to join in the Community Drums Circle and have fun! Haha..we stood and observed a while, before being tempted to join in the circle to "hit" some fun out. Haha. Quite tired at the end of it already,but it was a fun event too!

So, that night out was quite a significantly happening one after for such a long time, and I feel youthful and refreshed again! And on a final touch, it sort of rekindled some love sparks again in my relationship with Mich.

Observance = Oversensitive?

If you find yourself paying too high attention over trivial details, you might be wasting time and energy resources and might be affecting the environmental disequilibrium of the society. The tendency to become too observant is very easy nowadays considering the fact that perfectionism is so much ingrained in each individual , thus causing them sometimes to be extremely nervous, trying to ensure no mistakes being made in every minute detail of their work. It might be a good characteristics to have, but along the way try to ensure that it won't be derailed into obsessive compulsive disorder that may go catastrophic in terms of one's emotions and rationale.

Anyway,I had a great night out yesterday,haven't been having fun for such a long time due to my busy working schedule. Will blog about it soon as I got to go out now.

Double Whopper with Cheese Burger @ BK

Extremely tired today because I OT-ed again! Haha...but left after 8pm and went to get my dinner at BK, yeah, fast food again...I couldn't finish a burger for the first time..coz it was too huge for me..haha..there were double beef patties in it..but I don't think it's tasty so I think I just will stick to burgers with turkey bacons when it comes to BK! Didn't finish the upsized fries too, so dapao-ed back home.

Fumbled clumsily at my presentation today, maybe because I didn't really prepare for that. But it was a good lesson to learn since it's considered a learning process too. Hmmm..

Morale-boosting

Great! I could make use of it to pay off my loan partially although it's not much. Thanks JD Power. I will look forward to April '07 for brighter news. Hehehe..

Meanwhile, yesterday's dinner was at Vivocity's newly open Hong Kong Kim Gary with Racer. Supposed to be the first outlet in Singapore while there are plenty alraedy in HK and Malaysia. I would rate a 7.5 out of 10 for the food quality there as I slowly took bites on the chicken steak baked rice with swiss cheese and white sauce. And I've been wondering what sauce the white sauce was. Haha. The red sauce picked by Racer was tomato sauce. Service wise was just fairly acceptable as I need to make several calls of request for the things ought to be present on the table. Hmmm..Cards were not acceptable yet, so we paid in cash. The Christmas tree at the main entrance spotted a groovy design, but overall it's quite presentable and special, not like the hideous xmas decorated trees you could see right outside Plaza Singapura.

As for today, OT-ed and ate at Macs again. Were served by a Malay service attendant, exchanged some small talks,friendly person, not like the Chinese in his mid-40s who took my order at the same outlet two weeks ago, he didn't bother to give a smile at all. After finishing my dinner, I made effort to throw my rubbish myself and not leaving it on the table. Haha, maybe after reading the news article on Today recently so I felt like upholding my long-lost civic-mindedness again..Haha..Oh well, that's a good and proud feeling to have after all.

Took train home as I pondered how to structure my presentation on how to do the mTab final materials tomorrow. It's within my grasp almost completely, and it just needs a finishing touch where I could make use of an hour's time or less tomorrow morning. Voices in my head are telling me to be ambitious and stay positive to embrace new challenges with open arms for the betterment of my personal market value.

Submitted application form to NUS Extension for Basic Conversational Korean I. Going to take that course with Molly on every Tuesday 7-9:30pm from 27th Feb 07 onwards, which is right after my CNY holiday at home, but for beginning of the year, there won't not be a deluge of projects so I reckon I should be able to manage the course well. Sooner or later, you will see me typing Korean in MSN nick or even keying in my thoughts here. Haha. Still putting my Japanese language learning to shelf, not knowing when to continue that. Molly is doing hers at JCS, but I think for a year, she has not learned the Kanji words yet, which I think should be learned from the beginning as well, together with the Hiragana and Katakana writing system. Oh..having inflammation is rather torturous, maybe it is a sign of ageing. Tsk tsk tsk.

Tourism industry in Singapore

Booming should be a descriptive word to be used for the tourism industry in Singapore considering the SGD15 billion revenue(windfall in trade) to be generated by the year of 2015 for the two Integrated Resorts(IR) projects which will going under construction very soon. The government has been quick enough to implement these projects to remain competitive in the industry on regional, if not global basis. Therefore, we will have more places to spend our time and life would become much more happening.

I'm so absolutely looking forward to the IRs, hoping that it'd be completed ahead of time!

Universal Studios with a huge theme park bigger than the one in Los Angeles, Las Vegas Sands Casino at the Marina Bay IR,The Quest Marine Life Park, The Equarius Water Park, The Maritime Xperiential Museum, and other entertainment offerings located along FestiveWalk.

(.....more on the IR,courtesy of Yahoo! Asia News...)

"..........Universal Studios will have its largest theme park in Asia at Resorts World at Sentosa offering 22 attractions within seven themed worlds, of which 16 will be specially designed for Singapore. There will be seven themed worlds within Universal Studios Singapore namely: Waterworld, Lost World, Egypt, Super Hero City, Back Lot-The Big Apple, Hollywood Boulevard and Cartoon Studios. Key highlights include the all-new “Journey to Madagascar” attraction and the Dreamworks Digital Animation Studios which will showcase the cutting edge of movie-making and real-time animation. Resorts World at Sentosa will also offer other family entertainment experiences such as Quest Marine Life Park an oceanarium spanning 8 hectares with the largest single marine tank in the world, a 6.5 million gallon Whale Shark Lagoon, and interactive dolphin habitat, operated by the world-renowned Dolphin Quest. Other attractions include the 1.3 hectares Equarius Water Park which is a water theme park custom-designed to integrate with the hillside terrain of Sentosa and a Maritime Xperiential Museum set at the waterfront. This is expected to be the world’s first maritime silk route museum, dedicated to the subject of the maritime silk route between East Asia and the Middle East and will house the world’s first historical research centre dedicated to the subject. There will also be exhibits such as a full-scale glass replica of an ancient trading ship, a 360-degrees multimedia motion shipwreck theatre as well as live performances by acrobats on-board the ‘Bao Chuan” (Zheng He boat). There will also be entertainment along the retail, dining and entertainment precinct of FestiveWalk, three public amphitheatres: The ShowPlace, an open-air 2,150 seat public amphitheatre; The Bull Ring, a 6,300 seating capacity amphitheatre; and Imagineering, a 1,714 seating capacity theatre which provides a magical dreamlike show with water, light and visual effects.Visitors will also be able to catch the Crane Ballet, a showcase of multi-media moving art with choreographed animatronic crane dances nightly at the Festivewalk, with colourful streams of light, water and fire, all in sync with music and enhanced with video images on giant LCD screens. Resorts World at Sentosa will also feature a resident show – ‘Le Vie’ (Life)which is put together by members from the same creative team behind the Cirque du Soleil blockbusters such as ‘KA’ and ‘O’ in Las Vegas.There will be a total of six hotels offering 1,830 rooms including a first-in-the-world hotel - Hotel Michael - designed by award-winning architect, Michael Graves. In addition, there is the ESPA Spa centre, offering programmes for wellness and self-improvement as well as 42 private ESPA Villas. Visitors will also be able to be entertained at signature gourmet restaurants with Masterchefs such as Alain Fabregues, Alan Wong, Scott Webster, Marlon Abele-MARC Group, Gary Kunz, Harlan Goldstein, Susur Lee, Luke Mangan and Don Pintabona..........."

....Despite the fact that I won't be going to the theme parks again and again, I still strongly welcome the idea of the project, and much more key and novel projects will be welcome too.

As for office affairs today, it ended on a positive note and I have finally found my niche at work, not 100% yet, but confidence level has been highly boosted due to greater familiarity and days of hard work and countless OT hours to scramble from scratch.

***removed the photos coz the links don't seem to be working..hmm**

Xmas gift shopping

Christmas is just around the corner, I shall be going for gifts hunting for my gf. What should I get for her this year? I need to go to the town and see what is nice and trendy stuff lately. I suppose she's now cruising towards Penang, enjoying her time with family. Kinda miss her now actually as I used to talk to her on the phone every night before turning in. Hmmm..

Called home just now and my family just came back from a trip to Ipoh. Hmmm..the last time I went there was last year's August when my NUS classmate, Angela was holding her wedding banquet there. Mich also went along and we stayed at the Casuarina Hotel, where the banquet was held too. The hotel seemed to be quite cosy and nice and we enjoyed the stay there despite the fact that we didn't go to the touristy spots like the temple caves. She was not feeling well then. Hmmm.

Anyway, I intend to take the Basic Conversational Korean I in late February at the NUS Extension, the class timing should be alright as it's a Tuesday night from 7-9.30pm starting from 27 February. Molly(my colleague) has been also wanting to do that so I would probably with taking the lesson with her. Hehe, she's also an ardent language learner and perhaps some day I can pick up a few Thai phrases from her. Yeah, she's a Thai and working fully on Thai projects in my company.

Here's some backdated photos for your viewing pleasure....

Mattcha Zen @ Azabu Sabo Hokkaido Ice Cream,Marina Square

It's green tea ice cream with glutinous rice balls & red bean toppings. Absolutely delicious.

Love fades,life still goes on

My ex-high school mate,SS just broke up with her bf again. Yes again, and this time it seemed to be so serious that she's always breaking down. That ex-bf of hers totally shut her out of his life, didn't seem to be wanting to be even a friend to her. Yesterday she was confiding in me that he seemed to have blocked her or even deleted her msn based on what she had observed since that guy always used to go online every night. So that was why she suspected so and asking me whether I knew the logic behind his action. She told me that he has been ignoring her calls even if she had tried calling him from noon to dusk. The way she unfolded the story, made me feeling sad for her predicament too, shedding tears after every sentence she uttered out about her sorrows. She was particularly confused why would he wanna block her in msn. I guess he should be feeling embarassed about what to talk about as friends, and perhaps he just wanted to stay out of her life and moved on to a new relationship which he is now having. Love fades, life still goes on, SS. I do hope that she will quickly move on to her life since there are other aspects that we should cherish such as family and close friends who are always by our side. SS, there are other better trees in the forest, do not give up just because of one rotten tree,get me? I think he was also not a good bf, always playing computer games, refusing to have meals with her family occasions sometimes(birthday dinners etc), seemed to be neglecting her at times.

On hindsight, thinking of my own predicament, I still feel like a fish out of water, feeling like a wooden log, being drifted away to a non-specific direction on the sea by strong currents.Feeling like I'm in Pacific Ocean, with no land within my sight. Or perhaps I'm picturing myself in the Sahara Desert, being dehydrated, looking for an oasis. Every day, I'm rumbling about having unsolved problems with her, but on the whole, no concrete decision has been made to rectify the current situation. I am just fearful of marriage, I just don't want to get married early, but why am I so fearful of getting married?Is it because of the marriage itself, or perhaps I just want to remain in the status quo? Why is it that change is something that I fear of now? Is it because that she is really not somebody that I wanna get married to? This question is hitting my mind every now and then, it's something that I am seriously thinking for a solution. Why am I looking for a solution now?I just don't want to waste my gf's time if I am really not into her. A girl's youth is limited especially when one plans to set up a family with a few kids to raise.

Things to spend money on for HK trip

1) Octopus card HKD150(refundable deposit of HKD50)

2) A prepaid card from 7-11 HKD100

3) Museum pass(for the primary museums) HKD50

4) Cheung Chau trip(2 way ferry fare from Central Pier)/Poi To Islands-Need to do research on the fare

5) Disneyland-Regular Day HKD295, but I have a friend whose mum's colleague knowing a staff working there, so it's gonna be in the range of HKD100-150.

6) Pigging out in HK-this time I'm gonna be serious in looking for great food...as a starter, I will go to the Golden Seafood Restaurant(somewhere near Tin Hau) and eat the lobster and crab which has been recommended by my friend as delicious and affordable! And at least one famous Dim Sum restaurant.

7) Lan Kwai Fong-Hei hei Club, Edge, Sugar or Club No 9

8) 1-2 day trip to Guangzhou/Shenzhen, but that would be a single entry visa application of SGD80 plus a two-way bus trip costing HKD200. But I think it might be cheaper to catch a bus from Shenzhen bus terminal if there's one as I will be staying in Tai Po which is quite near the PRC border. I think perhaps I can go to Shenzhen to visit the touristy sports like "Windows of the World" , "Splendid China" and "China Folk Culture Village" if time and money allow.

9) Concert in Coliseum? Hmm, I haven't checked whether there is any particular singer whom I like will be staging concerts in Coliseum when I am in HK...gotto follow up on that soon.

10) Sai Kung Country Park-some outdoor activities-cycling

11) Steamboat with Edmund and his family at home, yeah HK people like to have steamboat during winter season, perhaps I can spend around HKD 200-HKD300 to buy all the ingredients or bring them out to a restaurant to have lunch/dinner.

12) Shopping at Tsim Sha Tsui/Nathan Road/HarbourCity/Mongkok/Causeway Bay/Yau Ma Tei....I wanna buy some nice working shirts there which has special/groovy designs. But it can't be so groovy that it will look gayish. Haha. Some souvenirs and titbits for friends and family.

13) A new digital Camera? Panasonic Lumix FX50. Canon Ixus is not bad, but I think the image stabilisation mode for Panasonic has an unbeaten track record. And I prefer the wide angle 28 mm and the 3 inches LCD screen so that everyone can be captured in the photo without much difficulties. 3.6x optical zoom should be better too. About SGD400-500.

14) Hong Kong Island
a)The University of Hong Kong @ Pok Fulam. Back to my alma mater where I studied for one semester(4 months). Gonna make a tour to see how it has developed.
b) Causeway Bay-carefree shopping and sing K at Green Box(since in Malaysia we have Red Box and Neway already =>)
c) Central-meet up with a friend for lunch who's working there.
d) Wan Chai-Golden Bauhinia that area.

15) Sheung Wan/Kennedy Town- to hunt for nice dried goods for my mom and granny.

15) Lantau Island
a) Ngong Ping 360-should be a breathtaking revolving cable car trip from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping-new touristy spot this year.

16) Lei Yue Mun-to take photographs of the tranquil fishing village

Places that I have been to and won't be going most probably:
a) Victoria Peak
b) Stanley Beach
c) Shek O-I think I had a BBQ orientation party there under German Association.
d) Po Lin Monastery & Mui Wo(had seafood there b4)-Lantau Island
e) Tsuen Wan(Yunnan Ma La super spicy noodles shop)
f) Lamma Island
g) Wong Tai Sing Temple
h) Shatin Race Course

沉默

我觉得我的生活实在太沉闷了。刚刚和FF在MSN聊天，现在觉得舒服一点了。真的要感谢她肯为我担忧。其实，我总是觉得最了解我的人并不是我的女朋友，这件事我知道不是一件好事，可是我无可奈何。即使和他拍拖有五年的时间，我还是三番四次在想她到底是否一个我想要娶的人。五年以现在的标准来说，是相当之长的一段时间。难道我真的要这样拖下去吗？真的想不通。这个困扰一直在这几个星期缠着我，让我有时候坐立不安。どうしようかな。。。。

Costochondritis

The title seems a little hard to digest. So what is costochondritis and what is it got to do with me? Yes, I have been diagnosed of having that and it was the same thing that I had back in late January this year that caused me to quit my 1st job for health reasons. Now I am having it again and I am quite worried that it might be taking a toll on my life again. I had been told by two doctors that there was no instant cure and the causes were unknown too.

Time of the Year

It's the time of the year where resolutions are made so that we are much better off year after year. Nevertheless, I have yet to think of any yet, but I will kick off year 2007 by a 8 days 7 night trip to Hong Kong. Yes, the HKSAR. I absolutely love the country to the max!! No kidding, I have ever thought of maybe going there once a year, provided my best HK friend welcomes me all the time! So I should always think of a high value investment in birthday present that I mail to him yearly since 2004. *evil laughs* . Edmund, as I call him, is a really friendly and caring friend. He has come to Singapore for a few times and actually thinks that it's a much cleaner place than HK so that's why he prefers Singapore. He seems to like spicy food here and me too! Haha. we can get along very well, so I'm seriously looking forward to staying at his house and meeting his family. His house is at Tai Po, a town located in New Territories, which is not near to the Hong Kong Island. But then again, staying with a HK foster family is my first time and then I suppose not much people can get to experience that so I indeed feel so privileged. Planning to go to Disneyland to see what is it like since I don't have the budget to go to the real Disneyland in the Florida or even Tokyo Disneyland.

Now I am thinking whether I should drop by at Guangzhou/Shenzhen or not since Malaysians have to apply for visa to get into China. About SGD80 for a single entry visa and then about HKD200(SGD40) for a return bus ticket fare. And a one-day trip would suffice according to one of my friend who's a new immigrant from China in HK. New immigrant as in her parents emigrated from China to HK while she was still a toddler. This community is termed like that in HK for those people. Well, I need to go to those places that I have never been to yet in HK, such as Cheung Chau Island, Sai Kung, some good restaurants in Tsim Sha Tsui along Nathan Road,
and some other interesting places that I will find out by borrowing travelling books from Woodlands Regional Library. Will meet some of my friends whom I have met there and happen to be able to click with me, as compared to others. Edmund, as I mentioned earlier, Nelson, Winnie, Carmen,Connie, Michelle, Fiona, Jerry,Candice. And then maybe I will go visit City University of Hong Kong and other universities if there's time. Not forgetting The University of Hong Kong which is such a nostalgia to me.

Photos from Big Boyz Toys

I just came back from Expo, visiting the Big Boyz Toys and SITEX, and a bit of John Little. Anyway, the title is photos from Big Boyz Toyz, but where are the photos??Aiya, this blogspot is having a problem with the server now, wish4ver said that it's due to the change to beta google version that has made it rather unstable. Beta version is also touted to be unstable. Sheesh! Okay, be patient, my audience. I will upload them in my friendster first, so maybe you can go there and take a look.

Snacked a lot at the Expo, ate the Chilli Crab Chicken Jazzi Bun, and then Korean Sausage(which costs SGD2.50...), then a packet of char mee, with soya bean as the finishing touch. Hehe..feeling replete in the end.

And today, at the Expo, I have bumped into my long lost friend who is currently a pilot trainee at Seletar Camp. Wow, it's been I think 8 years since I last saw him. He was with a pretty good looking lass, whom I thought was his gf. Anyway, it made me think of the days with him during my A Level course back in KL.

Department dinner was great...

The dinner that I organised was a success! Though some of my managers like Felicia and Gokul were too busy to leave the office with us and were late despite having me scurrying them for a few times. Oops..so we walked to Suntec City and then there we were, Marche Movenpick, but we were told that they could only seat us until all of us were present. Oh my..more waiting then....finally F and G arrived and we hurriedly made a beeline to make our orders since it was 8 something and by then we were made so famished..I ordered a plate of sambal stingray while Andrew chose the dory fillet. And then we shared a plate of Swiss Rosti + Jumbo Garlic Sausage..very sinfully delicious! Right after that, based on my suggestion two days ago, we took a walk to Marina Square to proceed to our next activity. Dessert at Azabu Sabo at which I ordered a bowl of Mattcha Zen.It is a scoop of Hokkaido style home-made green tea ice-cream surrounded by red bean and plain glutinous rice ball which tasted awesome!Worth my time for recommending that to my friends.

Department Dinner Dec '06

Having fun tonight again, I'll be organising a dinner for my department of 9 people, so must do that well.

Well

Yes,I got back with my gf, almost broke up with her last week, but patched things up with her soon...but today I am talking to her about the issue of marriage again as she may not want to wait until after 30 years old for that. It may also be unfair to her if we break up a few years later due to the same reason again..So what should I do now...

Login-ed to my xanga again and then found out that the features there have improved...Maybe I should be updating both blogs again....Hehe..

Had dinner with Mich at Dian Xiao Er which is located at Marina Square. It's a Chinese restaurant and the Mongolian Pork Ribs was delicious! And for the first time I drank the Nu Er Hong(Daughter Red/Rose). Nice experience because I have always heard about that in period dramas but never had the chance to get a taste of it.