Singlehood

Well, I'm back for good and everything is almost the same except that I'm single now.

HK Day 3(8th Jan 2007-Monday)

Went to the police station nearby(香港警務処-大埔分區警署) to lodge a report on my loss of wallet. Duty officer in charge of helping me with the report was PC20970. Managed to make him understand my situation using Cantonese though, haha since somebody always say that I have Malaysian accent when talking in Cantonese.

Edmund said that in the neighbourhood, there is a residence flat named after me. I couldn't believe it till I saw it(picture on the left)! Haha, and the English name was also spelt exactly the same as my name!~~The flat looked rather run down though. I would be meeting up with my friend Candice for lunch at somewhere in North Point(nearer to Fotress Hill MTR(炮台山) rather than the North Point MTR) so first I took a mini van to the Tai Po Market(大埔墟) KCR station, and then changed train at Kowloon Tong (九龍塘)KCR to the Tsuen Wan Line(荃灣綫) at Prince Edward MTR(太子) and then change again at Central (中環)MTR to Island(港島綫)Line in order to get to Fotress Hill! I wished I knew how to take a bus which could have been a more direct and convenient way to get there. Lunch was at Golden Pond Seafood Restaurant(金凱鮮庭) and what I ordered was the following.......(象拔蚌面 I think..=p) Quite deliciously cooked and it tasted smooth while placing the noodles into the mouth and the clams tasted fresh! Candice was my exchange friend's buddy's friend and also used to be my hall mate when I was staying in Wei Lun Hall. After the lunch, I'd requested to have dessert elsewhere so she brought me to a nearby dessert shop where we ordered banana pancakes(very fragrant!) and some glutinous rice pastries. She sounded quite mushy while talking on the phone with her bf~~Haha..her intonation was quite distinctly different. ^^ She's taking a teaching course in HKU and will be teaching Mathematics in secondary school. Based on statistics, close to 25% of the total number of my HK friends are teachers-to-be or is already teaching. And since there are prevalently university graduates everywhere in HK(there are a total of 8 unversities), it has been made a pre-requisite that to become a teacher, one has to have a degree and take the education course. The publicly announced starting salary for such teachers is HKD16,000(~SGD3,200). It's considered a lot in Singapore but the living cost and standard of living in HK is higher, yet that kind of pay is considered as moderately high over there for a starting pay of an inexperienced teacher.

After all that, she went back home and then I had to figure out where to go next and Edmund also won't be free the entire day. So at that moment, I thought for a while and I had an idea. Yeah, Cheung Chau(長州)! So from Fortress Hill MTR, I took the train to Central(中環) MTR and walked over to the Central Ferry Pier that goes to outlying islands. There are a total of about 6-8 piers in a row for which each pier will have ferry services that go to a specific island. I've forgotten which pier no was it to take to Cheung Chau, but I remember that I can use the Octopus Card to pay for the ferry ticket(First Ferry high speed ferries) and it was about HKD20+ something. The ferry trip took about half an hour to reach Cheung Chau. It is a small island 10 km southwest of Hong Kong Island. It is quite a tranquil resort area for people who want to take a break from the hustle and bustle of city life occasionally and I think in fact it seems to have served its purpose well. There's some fishing village along the coastlines, some stalls were selling seafood products which I managed to buy some to bring back home. Cheung Chau was the birthplace of Lee Lai Shan (born 1970), a windsurfer who won the first Olympic gold for Hong Kong in 1996. After 2000, a number of cases of suicide (most of them by "burning charcoal" or 燒炭) have taken place on the island. For some time holiday resorts were not rented to individuals. Stories concerning apparition have resulted from the news of suicides. Some photos I took randomly.....

~~~~~~~To be continued~~~~~~~~~~~

Nice Dinner last Friday and Saturday!

Deparment dinner was on last Friday at Mushroom Pot @ OG Orchard, also as a farewell dinner to Cathy and Kelly who will be going back to our Shanghai office after half a year's training over here. It's gonna be quite cold in Shanghai now when they fly back there this Wednesday so my manager reminded them to wear thicker clothes that day.

On Saturday, Mich and I went for Western buffet dinner at Melting Pot Cafe which is in Holiday Inn Atrium Hotel, we got one for one deal so it was quite a good deal since we were just paying for one person's price($28+++). There were mussels, prawns, lamb kurma, fried rice, satay, rojak, pan-fried fish and chicken, cakes, minestrone soup and pork rib in bitter gourd soup, roasted beef, beef patties, mini sausages, fruit salads and etc, nice buffet dinner, and then we spent about 2 and a half hours there eating and resting and eating and resting again~~haha..we left the place at about a quarter to 10 and by that time I was totally replete!~

Backlogging about my Day 3-8 in HK will be done soon, please be patient yeah!I hope I w0n't forget some of the details though~~=p

HK Trip Day 2(7th Jan 2007) Sunday

And so in the morning, Edmund helped me to call the bus company and taxi company to ask if anyone who happenned to find my wallet or not. My hopes for getting back my wallet were actually dashed(見財化水). But my friends consoled me and asked me to think of it as "破財擋災"..Haha..Anyway, luckily I had some spare cash in another wallet of mine, and I still had my passport and flight ticket back to Singapore~Haha..gotto really be thinking from a positive view, otherwise I could not enjoy my stay in HK since it was just the 2nd day. Since Edmund had church session, so he could not accompany me until late afternoon. I took KCR to Mongkok and had breakfast at one of the "tea restaurants"（茶餐廳).

Just a simple one, chicken sausage beehoon(雞肉腸米粉) that comes with a pineapple bun(菠蘿包) and a hot beverage(I ordered 奶茶) for HKD15. After breakfast, I just walked around at Nathan Road and then called some of my old friends to ask them when would they be free to have a Re-U gathering in any of the days in the coming week. Especially those that I had known through Social Service Group(蛇蛇豬 or SSG) where we got to know one another closer through O-camp at Wu Kai Sha(烏溪沙). Then after that I decided to go to the Chi Lin Nunnery(志連靜園） which is near the Diamond Hill MTR.

There was also another park opposite the nunnery by the name of "南連園池". Went over to walk around too. There were quite number of interesting rocks to look at over there. Since I was waiting for Edmund, so I took my time to take a look at every rock they had over there. There were also bonzai trees which looked quite amusingly old along the pathway and a distinctive gold-plated pavillion(圓滿閣) stood in the centre of the park. Took me about 3 hours plus to cover both parks and at the end of it, I went over to Hollywood Plaza to walk around and then had my lunch. Settled my lunch at Hachiban Restaurant and after I was done with lunch, I went to meet up with Edmund and we went to Causeway Bay to walk around to see if I had anything to buy or not. Went in to Sogo but the things being sold there were rather expensive even if there was a sales promotion going on. Anyway, I had nothing in mind that I wanted to buy at that moment also. Haha. We then had dessert at Hui Lau Shan(許留山).......

I had the one on the left while Edmund ordered the one on the right. Deliciously fragrant and yummy!~Haha..feeling so nice after the dessert. Cateline called me to ask if I was interested to go to her friend's(Aida) house for steamboat dinner with her family, which I said yes! So after we were done walking around in Causeway Bay, we took a bus to Aberdeen(香港仔) and then sat at a bench overseeing the river area of Aberdeen while waiting for the girls to come meet us up since they were doing their hair at saloon for the evening. Had a good time chatting with Edmund as we shared our little secrets and some recent happenings that we came across. Waited for an hour plus till the girls came and Cateline's friend's house was located at Ap Lei Chau so we could take mini van to reach there. Before going to her house, we went to the market to buy some more food for the steamboat.Upon entering Aida's house, there were already a lot of food on the table prepared by Aida's mom. The flat was not quite spacious but I could already sense that the house was filled with family warmth. Hehe. Didn't really eat much, probably due to my extreme state of fatigue. Didn't really talk much too, probably was feeling quite shy having dinner with so many people I didn't know. Haha. The food was quite nice and I　 found myself kept on cooking the 肥牛. Haha..it was quick to be cooked and tasty, so I liked it alot. Edmund was really a big-eater！No wonder he could grow so tall! Hmm..Good to ask him to buffet meals then. After dinner, we watched a new TVB gameshow and by then I was totally exhausted,due to the cold weather I suppposed. We thanked Aida and her mom for the nice dinner and then I also thanked Cateline for bring me to that dinner so that I could get the warm experience of having a steamboat dinner in a HK family. Reached Edmund's house 11 plus and then his mom had boiled shark bone soup for us!~Wah...I was feeling so warm again, soup was delicious and it was my first time trying the soup. Hit the sack at about 2am after catching up with some friends on msn to inform them about my mishap over here. Haha.

HK trip(6th-13th Jan 2007)

Day 1(6th Jan 07)

The number lock of my big luggage was suddenly spoilt! Had to use plier to wrench the zippers off the lock and then just simply using the manual padlock. Haha. Shouldn't have bought a rather cheap luggage. Anyway, rather than taking MRT to Changi Airport(which will take an hour an a half), I took airport bus no 858 from Woodlands Regional Interchange and it took about an hour and I arrived at the airport at about 2pm. My flight was Jetstar Asia 3K695 at 3:45pm,flying from Changi Airport Terminal 1,Gate C33.Bought a pack of chocolates to be given to Edmund's parents as souvenir. Checked in one piece of luggage and it was about 13kg of weight(20 kg was the maximum).This was my first time trying budget airlines, I think for short journeys, it's still acceptable though I found that leg space was not really ample(certainly not for tall people with long legs~). And when the food/drinks trolley are pushed in by the cabin crews, you can get quite a hard time to get to the toilet which is situated at the back of the plane. I had a nice window seat which I always like, except that going to the toilet means making your neighbours stand up and go out to the alley to allow you to leave your seat. I got myself an iced Milo(for SGD2) since I didn't feel hungry. Smooth journey except a minor turbulence for shortwhile during the flight. Touched down Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok International Airport at about 7:35pm(10 minutes later than the scheduled time!).Transferred to a airport shuttle bus from the plane to the airport. Went to get my luggage and then trolley, pushing it to the arrival hall, and then Hong Kong Custom. Welcome to Hong Kong~~~Cold~~~~~Temperature was about 13 degree Celsius!! Received Edmund's phonecall that he was already waiting for me outside at the arrival hall~Soon, finally saw him and waved at him. Haha. He had bought me the Octopus Card I'd asked him to buy beforehand. Thanks! Haha, and then we went to 7-11 at the airport because I wanted to get a prepaid card. Got myself a New World SIM card(HKD60). Bought ham and egg sandwich too since I was feeling quite hungry that time. Then he helped me pull my big luggage and we headed to the airport city bus stop and waited for the bus to his house at Tai Po. We took Long Win Bus no E41 to Tai Po(HKD13.50) and it took about an hour to reach Kwong Fuk Road. We had Indian food there, where I ordered Curry Beef Brisket with Rice. It was suprisingly quite tasty! Yummy! After we were done with the dinner, from there, we took the green cab(HKD12.50) to go back to his house since we had luggage with us. His house is a condominium in Tai Po, by the name "Classical Gardens Phase II", accessible by green mini van and also the condominium's shuttle bus itself. Arrived at his house about 11 something and then greeted his parents. They are both retirees by the way. Settled down and unpack some of my stuffs and I'd be sleeping in the study room on a foldable airchair-bed! Quite comfy actually.And then it came as a great shock to me after my shower, as I suddenly couldn't find my wallet that contained my Malaysia ID, the Octopus Card and my HKD2000 cash~~~~Could not sleep well that night and had to hope that somebody kind enough to pick up the wallet and return to me.

It's just 3 days from now!

Hmmmm..Soooooooo excited to be going to HK again, many memories suddenly keep on flashing in my mind!!!!

Got a lunch treat by one of the Research Director(RD) in my company for my entire department at Ling Zhi Vegetarian Restaurant(Tung Lok Group) @ Far East Square.

Lunch (Daily 11:00am - 3:00pm)
Dim Sum & Mushrooms Hot Pot
Adult @ S$20.80++

That was the first time of me having a try on vegetarian steamboat, gastronomically speaking, the eating experience was rather distasteful to me. The soup could not be blander considering that the ingredients for the base did not include any meat nor prawn to supposedly enhance the taste of the soup. Vegetarian Dim Sum was not nice at all. Oh gosh, I will never want to spend so much money on such kind of meal! Rating for the restaurant is 3/10.

Details of Batam Trip

As promised, here is a travel log for my trip to Batam.

Dec 29 06(Friday):

Decided to go to Batam(one of the Riau islands in Indonesia) so I went over to HarbourFront Centre during lunch time to check on the package prices. Recommended by Princess on Indo Falcon, so on 2nd Floor where there were several travel agency and ferry counters, I asked around to make enquiries. At the Indo Falcon counter, I asked for the package price, then was directed to the office on 11th Floor. Hurried up to the office and then talked to the travel agent(Muslim Indian) and after knowing the package details, gave a call to Mich to confirm with her. Booked a two day one night package at $85 per person(including surcharge of $6 for public holiday). This package includes a one night stay at Harmoni Hotel(4 star hotel) in Nagoya Town, return ferry tickets, pier-hotel-pier van transport, and a buffet breakfast at the hotel. Did not remember my passport number and expiry date and had to ask for Mich's as well so told the agent that I'll let her know the next day. Was given some kind of invoice and two round stickers with the word "Batam Indah".

Dec 30 06(Saturday):

Emailed the travel agent our particulars. Packing up and went to the library to do some quick research on Batam through travel books. Bought some titbits and cup noodles to be brought there. Learned some last minute Indonesian phrases from Sherly. There is a slight difference of Indonesian language from Malay language, despite that, some of my Malaysian friends still think that it's almost the same). Went to Causeway Point to change some money to Rupiah but eventually knew that the rate was rather lousy. The rate was SGD1:IDR5500 only. Called my gf and she changed at the rate SGD1: IDR6000 at Mustafa Centre! Grrrr..I changed SGD50 and already lost about $4 for that rate disparity!

Dec 31 06(Sunday):

Woke up at 6:30am, washed up and left house at 7:15am to make sure that I reach HarbourFront Centre by 8:30am. Met up with Mich at HarbourFront MRT and walked over to HarbourFront Centre and then showed our invoices to the counter staffs, was in turn given the ferry tickets(including the return tickets which are open) and the arrival/departure card for the Indonesia Immigration(they helped us to type our details on it,so that's good). Since it's the eve of public holiday, there were already many people crowding the place, all mostly leaving for a weekend getaway to Batam like us. =) Hopped on the Jet Raider Ferry(Batam Fast) at 9:35am we just stayed in the lower deck(air-conditioned) and didn't go up to the upper deck as it was a smoking section. We arrived at Batam Centre Ferry Terminal 40 minutes later.

By the way, Indonesia is one hour behind Singapore. Upon clearing the custom, we were greeted by a Chinese speaking Indonesian Chinese who could recognise the stickers that we were wearing, and then being led to the van which will transfer us to the hotel. Along the way, we looked at how Batam was and found most of the places were rather slum, roads having frequent occurences of potholes and not properly paved, and then most of the shops along the way seemed to be close for New Year. To our dismay, the traffic seemed not to be in order, not many pedestrian crossings seen, there was no overhead bridge also. It took about 20 minutes to reach our hotel, Harmoni Hotel, looking good exterior and interior too. We were given welcome drinks as the agent helped us with the checking-in and then I was made to pay $50 as a refundable deposit for room service(beers in the mini fridge for eg) if it's used. We sat at the lobby since it was only 10 something the room was still being cleaned and we just took several quick photo snaps at the lobby area, where there was a giant bronze statue of three galloping horses facing in different directions. Kept on asking the counter staffs on places to visit in Batam and then was informed that there's a kelong-style seafood restaurant by the name "Golden Prawn 555", they were saying that best seafood in Batam could be found there. Sounded good, so it should be one we would be going to later for dinner. After being told that the room was ready, we went up and rested for a while, with the TV blaring with news and then killed our time by watching the remaining part of the movie "Wimbledon" on the HBO Channel. After we were done with our resting, we decided to walk around to see if there's anything interesting to see or not, just to end discovering not much. Ha! Then we decided to walk to Nagoya Plaza(shopping mall nearby) and did some shopping there, the slice of cake and brownie we bought at the Hypermart did not really taste good(the things being sold there was totally dirt cheap!). Also bought two long sleeve shirts and some daily necessities. Went on look around to see how cheap the things are in comparison to the things in Singapore. Bought a can of Heineken beer for IDR7000(SGD1.15), where can you get such a cheap beer in Singapore?!Haha. After all that, we decided to go to the seafood restaurant from Nagoya Plaza instead of going back to hotel first, so we hired a cab to Bengkong where the restaurant was located in, negotiated with the driver for a return trip and one hour waiting time for IDR70,000(about SGD12). I spoke Malay plus a little bit of Indonesian phrases that I've learned so far, and we managed to understand each other because he also knew a bit of Malay.Haha.The trip to Bengkong was not really a breathtaking one as we saw more slum parts of Batam along the way. At the restaurant, it was about 4 something when we reached there, there was only a few patrons since it was still early, but we kinda like the tranquility of the ambience. We were shown the menu and it seemed to be so cheap that we ordered five dishes which might be too much for two people to stomach!Haha..but I am not called Buffet King for nothing!Haha. So we ordered Red Snapper fish(caught alive from their pond-we can even choose which fish to catch), Fried Sotong, Die Pan Doufu, Sambal Belacan Kangkung and Mee Goreng. Can assure you that all the dishes were delicious and fresh! Worth the money, only IDR255,000(~SGD42) for two people.Actually I kinda ate two-three person's portions!Glutton me! Had fresh coconut drink too! Dinner was heavenly and really tantalised our tastebuds! There were kepitings(hermit crabs) and lobsters too, also looks cheap and surely I will go there to try these and others too!

After that very sumptuous meal, we went back to Nagoya Hill on the same cab to do the remaining shopping. Paid the driver tips(IDR10,000-about SGD2) for telling us stories about Batam. But thinking about it, we should have gone to DC Mall or BCS Mall to shop since they might offer different shopping experience!

Countdown for New Year was Noname cafe and Ktv pub at the hotel I stayed at, paid admission fee of IDR90,000(SGD15) which was inclusive of a bottle of Mix Max Vodka Cranberry Grapefruit 4.8%. There was a belly dance performance for which the performers flew all the way from Jakarta. Quite cool actually. Received some happy new year sms from friends in Singapore and it was actually still 11pm (Batam Time). After the countdown, I went to McD to buy fries and a big ice cream cone for supper. And then killed my Heineken beer. Haha.


Jan 1 2007(Monday):

Woke up at 9am, was actually planning to wake up earlier to have more time for the buffet breakfast(6-10am) but couldn't get up. Haha. Dressed up and went down to the Borobodur Cafe where we had the buffet breakfast. The food was not that nice so didn't really enjoy the breakfast. After breakfast, we went back to hotel to rest while watching the classic "Star Trek:First Contact" on HBO. Forgot that the official check out was 12pm and we only realised
at quarter past 12, so we hurriedly packed up our luggage and then went down to do our check-out, no surcharge was imposed, fortunately. Haha, got back my $50 deposit too. A travel agent from the same company came to pick us up with the bus, and then we made our way to Batam Centre to catch the ferry at 2pm. The agent seemed not to be quite organised in assigning the ferry tickets, rather inefficient. After paying him the ferry tax of $3, we headed to the custom counters and boarded the Ocean Raider Ferry. It was also free seating style, so initially we tried looking for seats in the lower and middle deck but it was futile until when we were at the middle deck, one of the sailors opened up the business class deck and then offered us entry. Waaa..The seats were in couch style and looked high class enough. Pretty lucky ha! The ferry started moving and we bid farewell to Batam, thinking that we will go there again just for the seafood! And maybe shopping at DC Mall and BCS Mall. Other that those, it remains not much a reason to be visited. A good rugged travel experience, making sure we don't take for granted the things we have back in our hometown, despite having to pay more for tax for the extra-added convenience which makes our life more comfortable to live.

Happy New Year 2007 to Everyone who reads my blog~~~!!

Random pictures above taken during my trip to Batam with Mich from Dec 31 2006-Jan 1 2007. Stay tuned for details of the trip~~~=)

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**