Taipei 2008

It is time to add some life (photos) to my blog. Pics from my Taipei trip, finally.

Date: 10 May to 16 May 2008

Hotel: Rainbow Hotel, Ximengtin, Taipei

Weather: Cooling, 19 to 25°C

I will not post on a day-by-day basis. I will hope that we can refer to this post as our guide when we visit Taipei again. :)

***********************

Flew off from Terminal 3, our first flight out from the new terminal. Nice clouds with shot taken on the plane.

The temperture was a cool 21°C when we touched down. We were expecting the weather to be much hotter. Anyway, had our first meal at Taipei at "Young", a theme resturant in Ximenting. The food is not bad and I would say that its cheap. The dinner set which includes a main course, salad, soup, a drink and a dessert only cost around S$12

A cute dog at one of the store in Ximenting. Very obedient too, he will just sit by the entrance of the door and will not step out of it. This bred of dog is now very popular in Taiwan.

Yam ice from 鲜芋仙，a dessert store you can find all over Taipei... but we prefer...

their 招牌 more. A mix of 青草，milk and yam and sweet potato balls.


Yang Ming Shan， 阳明山

There is nothing much on this 山. Maybe we went at a wrong season, not much flowers to look at. However, the place is very cooling and very relaxing as compared to the Taipei city. They got this "famous" flower clock.

Old auntie selling roasted purple color sweet potato on the 山. Very sweet. So our verdict of this 山 is that it is not worth visitng again. Come once and it is sufficient liao.

Danshui Old Street, 淡水老街

Minutes walk away from Danshui Metro Station. Very crowded on the day we went there because it was a Sunday and also a Mothers' Day. The atmostphere is totally different when we went there last year on a weekday. So recomended to visit on weekends. One of the must visit place. Lots of food and stuffs to buy. The famous 阿婆铁蛋 is also here. I think it is the place where we spent the most.

After all the food and shopping, can walk by the seaside to watch the sunset and enjoy the breeze. Many Taiwanese will walk their cute 狗狗 by the seaside too.

《我猜我猜我猜猜》

This recording is conducted on Monday, but not every week got recording. While we were there, I think at around 50% of the audiences are Singaporean.. ha. Most are students of NUS and NTU. Quite good experience, the hosts are very funny.

Raohe Night Market

After the show we went to the nearby Raohe night market for my favourite 芒果冰!

Also had some 锅贴... Raohe is famous for their 胡椒饼，always long Q. Did not try it this time because we did last year and actually nothing to shout for.

Modern Toilet

This is a theme resturant we went to which is located at Ximenting. This resturant is very popular with youngster and advance booking is advice. This resturant will serve their food in toilet bowls. Food is so-so and price is reasonable.

Their ice-cream is in the shape of poo.....

They also has this super big shaved-ice, can serve at least 4 pax. Of course, we cannot finished the bloody ice. I think name of the ice is something like "passing out blood".

Mirama Ferris Wheel

We also went to take Taipei ferris wheel. A free shuttle bus from Jantan Metro Stn took us there. We never took our own local Singapore Flyers, but we specially travelled to Mirama for their ride. Only cost S$7+ only.

We shopped at the nearby shopping centre and waited for...

night falls.

Us on the wheel, just the two of us... love love love....

Shilin Night Market

After Mirama, we are back at Shilin for more food and shopping... this is our last night at Taipei.

Look at the long Q, these hungry people are after the famous 豪大大鸡排。

And we saw cute little Bobby on sale. Snap a pic for WB... Not one, but....

two of them!


Taoyuan Airport

It was 16 May 2008 and we were ready to head home. But, before we board the plane, we had our cakes! Yum Yum Yum......



In conclusion to my first ever super long post with pics, Taipei is really a place worth visiting. The food, the shopping, the very friendly Taiwanese and of course the many cute 美眉, will definately make us return to Taipei again....

Wedding Day Gatecrash

While on leave the past few days, had been watching other couples wedding day gatecrashing video on youtube. Some gatecrashing seems to be pretty fun while most are playing the same silly game. Some of the 10 more common games the jie mei played are as follows:-

1) The groom and his brothers will have to wear fanciful lingerie/disposable undies/bra/baby napkins etc

2) After wearing the items in number 1), the brothers will be made to dance

3) Making the brothers drink from baby bottle, with "ni tu" included

4) Eating food which are sweet, sour, spicy and bitter

5) Using usabi as a jam on bread as breakfast

6) One very bad one is using toothpaste as fillings on cookies

7) Making the groom do push-ups; sing songs

8) Very very common one is asking the groom make his love confession to the bride

9) Making the groom and brothers take photographs at every level of the HDB flat; poor photographer, got sabo indirectly too

10) And of course, the ang bao must be enough

Actually, all the above are typical of what I can expect from my wedding. However, I will get my dear to ask her jie mei not to do number 1). Why? Because I will be so bored to do it. Out of the so many wedding highlights I have watched, at least 70-80% are playing this game. Can't the jie mei had better ideas?

Other than item number 1), I am sporting enough to carry any other tasks. Anyway, I will make sure my brothers suffered more... haha...

別了家駒十五載…海闊天空音樂會

演出日期：6月10日 (星期二)
演出地點：香港會議展覽中心Hall 3
演出時間：晚上8時15分
演出：黃家強
嘉賓：黃貫中、葉世榮、黃耀明、太極樂隊、鄧惠欣（小島樂隊）、林一峰、周國賢、at 17、Soler、Kolor

票價：港幣$480 / $300 / $200

購票方法：
5月5日 (星期一) 中銀信用咭優先訂票
5月16日 (星期五) 於快達票及各大通利琴行公開發售

訂購熱線：3128 8288
網上訂票：http://www.hkticketing.com/

Anyone going?? Hmmmm.......

Rot rot rot

Had been back in Singapore for 3 days already.

For these 3 days, we had simply been rotting away at home. My daily routine had been the same; eat, sleep, play games and then dinner at my dear's place.

Had wanted to go out on Vesek Day but did not have a place that we wanted to go too. Plus, the weather is sooooo darn hot. I almost felt that I would melt by just walking to the carpark. Just imagine, we had been enjoying cool weather for a week and now the weather is like at least 35 degree in the day?? Well, I will rather be in my room air-con then go out.

Still to upload our trip photos. The photos are still in my dear's laptop. Will want to post some photos here to act as a guide if we decided to visit Taipei again next time....

Home Sweet Home..

Back from Taipei!

Simply love the weather there. When we touched down on our first day, the temperature was 21 degrees siah. Had to buy a jacket straight from Ximenting, or I will go cold. For the rest of the days, the temperature will be around 19-21 degrees during the night. Daytime, the temperature will hover around 20-25 degrees, darn cooling lor..

Bought more clothings and stuffs than we really wanted too. We had only planned for a makan and walk-walk trip at Taipei, really. However, after all the walk-walk at Danshui, Ximenting, Shilin etc etc.. we managed to pack our bags till they almost burst..

Although, we just went Taipei a year, we had a pretty different experience this time. When to places we did went to last time. Even to places we had been to, it was totally a different experience...

May post some pics when I got the time.. :p

Out of office

In a few hours time, I be flying off for my trip to Taipei. Will reached Taipei around 1800hrs, est. Weather forcast for today (10 May) for Taipei is showers whole day from 0800 hrs to 2000 hrs. The rain will stop from 2000 hrs. Weather, from 10 May 2000 hrs will be clear and sunny till we comes back! Anyway, hope will not have too much rain during our visit there. Will be back on 16 May, midnight.

Anyway, thanks to the many well-wishers today. We should be expecting many buffet treats in the coming weeks!

Meanwhile, sayonara Singapore!

Holidays!

In another week this time, we should be somewhere in Xi Meng Ting or some 夜市 in Taipei, eating our hearts out! Ya, its about time we take our well deserved break.

This trip of ours can be considered as a very last minute thing. As I had said before, we had not planned for any holidays this year so as to save up more money. However, managed to have some spare few thousands of dollars that we can actually squeeze in a "short" trip away.

More or less we had decided some of the places that we will be visiting this time. It will be more of a food and shopping trip more than a scenic one. As for 花莲, we decided to skip it and go for some whale watching instead. Had also making booking to watch the Taiwanese variety 我猜我猜我猜猜猜. Hope got pretty mei mei to look at.. :p

Anyway, today went to source for my wedding suit. Managed to get a cheap tailor which charges only $250 for the cheapest material. My friend recommended this tailor which many of his friends had used. So, most likely will made my suit with this guy.

Next, we should be looking for materials in Arab Street to be used as my vest. We should do that in June, maybe during the school holidays.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer: Do not read on if you are under 18.

And yah... went Chinatown to change our NTD. Went toilet to relief myself at one of the shopping complex. I was using one of the urinal when an elderly man in his 40s came and occupied the urinal beside me. What happened next made me abit du lan. This man after unzipping, kept on looking at my direction. Darn him, he was like staring at my manhood lor. Ya, I know that mine is big and strong, but if you really wanna look, do it discreetly lah. You should know the feeling when someone stares at you when you are peeing. I almost wanted to ask him "kua si mi lan jiao?"

No, I did not do that, as I am afterall, a refined man...

情人

Currently playing is S.H.E singing a Beyond song 情人 at one of their concert in Hong Kong, in 2006. The song was originally released in the year 1993, some 15 years back. The version by S.H.E is of course nothing compared to the original song. However, if you do not like S.H.E, simply listen to the end of the song.

It is amazing that this song is so well-known (after so many years) that S.H.E fans could sing it so well. If you have the time, listen to the original song and you will love it.

Cannot find the original sang by the late 黄家驹， instead found one performed by the 3-man Beyond.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
情人

作曲：黄家驹 作词：刘卓辉

盼望你没有为我又再渡暗中淌泪
我不想留底, 你的心空虚
盼望你别再让我象背负太深的罪
我的心如水, 你不必痴醉

**WOO…你可知谁甘心归去
你与我之间有谁?

是缘是情是童真, 还是意外
有泪有罪有付出, 还有忍耐
是人是墙是寒冬, 藏在眼内
有日有夜有幻想, 无法等待

盼望我别去后会共你在远方相聚
每一天望海, 每一天相对
盼望你现已没有让我别去的恐惧
我即使离开, 你的天空里

Labour Day

Today is 1st May, Labour Day.

To celebrate Labour Day, I decided (or rather I do not have a choice) to labour my day at work...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anway, I had already managed to complete my run round Woodlands. Managed to hit Causeway Point and all the way home, without getting lost.

The distance covered is abit more than 7km, taking me 48+ mins. Felt really short of breath after the run.

From now on, instance of simply running round and round and round, I will be doing strength training. Will also read up on tips on how to achieve my goal, to complete a marathon.....

Updated the route I took...

A-maze-ing Woodlands

Today went for a jog.

Decided last minute that I should go on a new route, a new challenging route that will take me through lengthy Woodlands Ave 12. This new route is un-ran, un-tested and un-planned. As the saying goes "failing to plan is planning to fail". Well, I did failed, as a matter of fact.

My run starts at about 9.45pm from my place at Woodlands Dr 14. Run towards Woodlands Ave 12 and up the long road towards "3M" factory. Then made a left, towards Admiralty MRT. By the time I passed the MRT, my stop-watch reads 35++ mins. Initially, I had hope to hit Causeway Point before I made another left to go home. However, I decided to take a cut after I passedby Admiralty MRT as I know I will not make it to Causeway Point.

After I made a left after Admiralty MRT, the unexpected happens. I got lost inside the housing estate. Darn it, I go 2 rounds around Woodlands Ring Road before I ended up at Admiralty MRT again! Darn, I decided to hit right back into the housing estate and found out again that I am going in circles!

Saw a NPC but too shy to ask for directions. Saw a cab but felt stupid to hail a cab home. Saw a passing police car, felt even more stupid to ask for a ride home.

After going another round, with all my strength down the drain, I saw a familiar landscape, the 888 Plaza! I was crying with joy! From there managed to navigate the location of my sweet home, which is another 15 mins walk-jog away!!

So, after going through this Amazing Jog round Woodlands, I will plan my running routes more carefully for my future training runs.. the feeling of getting lost (in your own neighbourhood somemore!!?!) is simply F**K-UP!!!

Recent work experiences

Recently, work is pretty routine. One thing that I am enjoying during my work is the different people that I encounter. From them, I have learnt different things, different ways of handling a problem and also the story of the soya bean milk.

One of the stuffs that I had pick up is so-called "investments", that is buying and keeping of shares and stocks. Although it is easy said then done to really earn from this method of investments, it actually does help people make their millions. The other thing about buying shares is that some companies pay out good dividends in a year. For example, we buy 200 shares of "SIA 200" at $15.34 which will cost $3068. According to my "guru", he said that the dividends that he got last year is around $300-$400, which is around 10% of what he had invested (he brought the share at around $10)! Provided that the share price do not drop too drastically, the dividents he earned per year is already so attractive...

Well, maybe I should park some of my spare cash in shares.... oh well, since when will I have any spare cash? :)

This is the night

Venue : Anfield

Date : 09 Apr 2008

Time : 0245 hrs

Event : Champions League

Game : Liverpool VS Arsenal

Significant : Maybe the last chance for either teams to have a go for some silverware

Score : Unknown

So, I will be up at 0245hrs later to catch this match...

Will be the last season I will be watching "live" Champions League on my TV.

Next season no more Champions League on Starhub, in another words, no more "live" EPL for me next season.

Why?

Because I have made the decision to cancel of my Sports Channel after this year Euros.

Tough decision but should be a sound one after all.

:)

Good Old Days...

Was looking at some of my old photos when nostalgic strikes me again. Decided to post some of my old photos here.. haha... These photos must be at least 6-7 years ago? Cannot remember too well, O darn, I am getting old!!



Some of my dive mates when we went diving at Perhantian, a great dive site. I was not in the photo as I was the one who took this shot. :(



Nice island with crystal clear water. During my first trip to Perhantian, I went "WOW", was really 山龟, never knew that there were places with such nice water.. :)



Couple seats?



Still remember that this jetty is not in use. The access to the island is via the shoreline. The speed boat would ferry us to near the shoreline and all of us, carrying big heavy dive bags, got to walk in the sea water to get to shore.. Nice experience.



Blue spotted ray! My good friend took this photo. Nice shot!



Last photo for today. Try to spot me??

Hmmm.. maybe I should go diving again... :)

Taipei, here we come!

Had already booked the hotel in XiMengDing, Taipei from 10 May to 15 May. However, yet to book the air tickets there. Therefore, I must say that our trip is about 80% confirmed. Although, my leave had not been approved, yet, I already got the verbal approval from my boss. Given the person that I know of him, do not think that he will change his mind later on.

Well, today, a friend asked me why Taipei again since I went there only last year? Well, I guess the reasons must be because my gf like the place very much. The food, the shopping and especially the 24-hour bookstores. Since she came back from Taipei last year, she must have got withdrawal symptoms for one month, two months?

I guess that Taipei already has a special place in our heart, especially Taipei 101. :)

This time round we will probably take an early train and visit 花莲, which we did not went to, the last time. Then probably we could go 泡 some 温泉 at 阳明山。And of course not forgetting our 豪大大鸡扒 and Ah Zhong Mian Xian!

Hope that this trip materialise, it should be.....

Work and work

It had been pretty hectic the passed weeks.

Life had been pretty routine;

Home to office, office to home, home to office...and the cycles continues...

So basically, its all work and no play.

Sigh... when can I be normal again?

Gotta plan a get-away in May; maybe to nearby Hong Kong or Taipei again. :)

Blockbuster of the Year

This must be one of my most anticipated movie of the year.

To go with this entry, a TWINS song for all to enjoy.

I Love this Game!

The Chinese New Year holidays come and goes. Before the holidays even began, I knew that with the blink of an eye, the holidays would flew pass. Guess I am right. Well, people learn from experience. It had been the same the past 30 years. Time passes super super fast when you most enjoying it. So let's enjoy our new Chinese Year and before we knew it, the next Chinese New Year will be round the corner!

Did not visit much this year, not that I had many places to vist my previous years. Just that this year is very much family orientated. Spend all the holidays visiting my grandmum, brother, sister and gf's place. Gamble a bit, lost a bit. Anyway, I always loses money during new year.. well...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, back to my topic "I Love this Game". One year ago, I would struggle to pass my IPPT because I simply cannot ran. I need to go for my test 3-4 times before I "passed". However, since one year ago, I have been jogging regularly, as in 2-3 times a week. Before I knew it, I am addicted to running. So, now, I have been training regularly, wanna attempt the marathons later this year. Hope I can make it, maybe for the half-marathon.

In the meanwhile, I will be training for my company's 4.5KM cross-country. Hope that I can complete it in maybe 25-26 mins. May not be easy because I am only clocking 27+ mins timing now. Anyway, will up my training sessions this and next months.... anyone wanna join me? :p

你是我心内的一首歌

王力宏 and Selina of S.H.E

王:你是我心内的一首歌
王:心间开启花一朵
s:你是我生命的一首歌
s:想念汇成一条河
王:点在我心内的一首歌
王:不要只是个过客
s:在我生命留下一首歌
s:不论结局会如何

合:好想问你
合:对我到底有没有动心
合:沉默太久
s:只会让我不小心犯错
王:不小心犯错

s:点在我心内的一首歌
s:不要只是个过客
王:在我生命留下一首歌
王:不论结局会如何


合:你是我心内的一首歌
合:心间开启花一朵
合:你是我生命的一首歌
s:想念汇成一条河
王:想念汇成一条河

s:好想问你王:好想问你
s:对我到底有没有动心
王:对我到底有没有动心
s:沉默太久王:沉默太久
s:只会让我不小心犯错
王:不小心犯错

合:点在我心内的一首歌
合:不要只是个过客
合:在我生命留下一首歌
合:不论结局会如何

10th day in confinement

Today marks the end of my 10th day of confinement. And no, I am not fully recovered yet. Some of the pokes on my body had already dried up. However, there are those still with full of water in them. I can even spot a few red bean size pokes. Darn, I am not out of my confinement yet!

Tell you all, it is really suffering not to be able to leave your house for 10 days. I am almost bored to death. All I can do is surf the internet and play my Xbox. But I am already sick of doing the same thing everyday. Managed to do some early spring cleaning, but I am really super sian.

I miss my jogging sessions. Got a new G-shock but still no chance to put it into good use.

Darn my MC ends only at the end of this week. So, my confinement continues.. before I know it, I might have spidery webs all over my body....

Huh? Chicken pox?

Last Thursday, a small blister-like rush appeared near my armpit. Think nothing of this tiny red rush and I even poke it open. Check my other arm, a few red dots. Still think nothing of it because I attribute these rushes to maybe insects bites. Later that evening, went for a run. Completed 4.2Km and I felt more tired and fatigue as compared to my other runs.

Friday, still feeling very tired and fatigue. Went for a buffet and then to a wedding show at Bugis. Went my gf place and starts to ran a fever.

Saturday, rested at home the whole day. Fever on-off. At night noticed more red spots coming up. Darn, make me realised that I might already be down with chicken pox! Rush to see the doctor at 9 pm, clinics all closed.

Sunday, saw doctor first thing in the morning. Doctor said, "Yeah, this is chicken pox!" I was, what the..... chicken pox at age 30? Doctor says any age also can get chicken pox. He said he got it at age 20.

So, another two weeks of medical leave. The last time I went for two weeks medical leave is just last month lor. Darn suay lah.

So now at home, suffering from my itch and unsightly marks. Going to ban my mirror for the next few days....

Christmas cheers

Christmas comes and goes quickly this year...

Did not really celebrate much except for a simple steamboat dinner with my family on 23rd Dec. Not that our family celebrates Christmas, but I think we are just taking the opportunity for a little family dinner. Bought a Swenson durian ice-cream log cake. I must say this log cake is nice. Everyone of us at least had three rounds of this log cake.

Well, so Christmas is over already. Next, will be the New Year holidays. After that, Chinese New Year. Yipeee!! Our second last CNY where we will be receiving Ang Baos.

Darn, I dun feel like giving Ang Baos, yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Last Christmas", my all time favourite Christmas song. Enjoy!

Cut me up....

When someone is down on his luck, he can be really down.

I had just recovered from my surgery and went back to work. However, I am going for another medical appointment come Tuesday. This time for another problem.

Same hospital, same clinic, that spelt trouble for me.

This time round, they may (most possibly) cut me up again.

Darn, hope it will be nothing serious.

Nevertheless, will push any more further surgery till next year.

Going back to work

After spending more than 2 weeks on hospital leave, it is about time to go back to work. Went for my review today and doctor gave me another 2 days of MC, for today and tomorrow. Therefore, I will going back to office on Friday. The next review is 2 months from now on 6 Feb 2008. What the fish, 6 Feb is CNY's Eve right? Do not think I have the time to go hospital on a CNY's Eve.

~~~~~~

Last night watched a Beyond's interview conducted by a China TV station. This interview was conducted in the year 2005 when Beyond was having their last concert in China. In this interview, Beyond talk about their beginning, their previous jobs, how they lost Ka Kui and life after Ka Kui. A very touching interview in which the host, a Beyond's fan himself, cried. Me too, teared. I guess any Beyond's fans who had watched this interview will drop a few tears. Do not believe me? Watch the interview then. You have been warned.

Floating Head

This video is darn funny. Must on your speakers!

Wedding Preparation

Wedding preparation is really not easy. There seems to be 1001 things to be done. Especially now that we are not signing with any bridal studios, even more plannings are required. We need to make our own wedding gown, evening gown, maybe cheongsum, my suit, got a florist, look for make-up artist etc etc etc....

The above are for the actual day wedding dinner and also photo-shoot. Then there is the ROM to worry about. Then furthermore got other traditions to follow like Guo Da Li (纳 彩 吉 日 吉 时) or known as Betrothal Day. This is a formal meeting between the parents of the perspective bride and groom. The groom's family presents various proposal gifts that represents fertility and prosperity in Chinese Culture, which is also known as "Grand Gift". Thus, the two are considered officially engaged. So what gifts must we prepare? Look below..

Gifts prepared by Groom:

1) Wedding Dinner Invitation Cards
2) Cans of pig trotters
3) Red packet $xxxx (bride to return $?)
4) Wedding cakes
5) 2 bottles of Martell with Yuan coin in it
6) 1 pair of Dragon & Phoenix Double Candles (dragon for bride side) & (phoenix for groom side) with Yuan coin
7) Gold - Si Dian Jin
8) 12 Oranges (Bride to return ? of it)
9) 2 Big basket (for groom to carry gifts)
10) Ang pow for match maker (if any)
11) Longan and Lianzi

Gifts prepared by Bride:

1) Pants for groom
2) 2 bottles of oranges juice in exchange for the Martell
3) Return some cans pig trotters & Oranges
4) Towels wrapped up as presents for groom's grandparents, parents and sibling with Yuan coins in it
5) 2 Bedlamps with Xi (either battery operated or electrically operated)
6) 2 Tea set (for groom's side and bride's side)
7) Xi stickers (include 2 big red ones to paste on main wooden door & 1 gold on masterbed & small ones to paste everything)
8) Descendants Ruler (supposedly to measure ur life together)
9) Ribbons (3 different sizes, big one to tie pillows)
10) Fans (1 pair)
11) 1 sewing box - 12 color threads, measurement tape, scissors. NO NEEDLES INSIDE!! BUY UR OWN NEEDLES AFTER THE WEDDING (12 colors to represent colorful life "tuo zi tuo cai", black/white thread to represent "bai tuo tao lao")(scissors dun use for cutting so soon)
12) Yan Ji (include 10 big & 10 small)
13) Variety of gold jewellery in a box for bride (has to show to the in laws, then bride keep after actual day)
14) Longans, red dates,lotus seeds, rock sugar, yuan bing for groom
15) Red packet, pigleg & cake for matchmaker (if any)
16) Red packet (for bride)

The above serves as a guide but can be really scary to think that we must prepare all these. Lucky my future-in-laws not very particular. And yah, while doing research discovered something interesting. During Guo Da Li, roasted pig is given by the groom to the brides family to signify that the bride is still a virgin. Haha.. no wonder very few people are giving roasted pig now!

******************************

I must said that, luckily, our planning starts really early, we (or rather I) are super kiasu. Can take time to surf the net for information. Actually, it is fun too. Wonder where those brides got their information from during the pre-internet era.

Scary and shivering

Well, time passed really fast, it had been one week since my surgery. Well, not fully recovered, but should be doing fine. However, these two days seems bad, more blood then before. Hope there is no infection.

Anyway, had undergone general anesthesia for this surgery. The experience is scary. During my school days, I had pushed numerous patients into the operating theater, but it was my first been pushed into one. I must say it is quite scary as I will not know what will be happening to me next. Furthermore, the room is darn cold that I cannot stop shivering.

Nevertheless, while laying in the operating theater, I was wondering how are they going to anesthetized me? I was guessing it must be from the drip on my arm, maybe by some lethal injection? Ha.. but I was wrong. It was by some gas administered via a face mask. I must say this is really potent, because after the 2nd breath, I was feeling high liao. By the 4th or 5th breath, I was totally in dreamland. Medical is darn good now. Bby the time I woke up, the operation is over, no pain what-so-ever. But well, the pain comes after the anesthesia goes off.

The waking up feeling sucks big time. It is just like after I had drowned 20 cans of Tiger beer. Feeling high and nausea. The anesthetic had told me that after the operation, 10% of the patient will have vomitting. I guess I am those unlucky 10%. Puke after operation and even inside the cab. Lucky I was smart enough to have a vomit bag with me......

Well, I was lucky to have someone taking care of me. All from the way from the hospital to back home. She was really at my bark and call. Serving me water, buying me donuts.... Thanks dear....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Basically, I am still recovering. Going back for review on the 12th. Hopefully all should be fine. Wanna get back to work soon. Sometimes can really get boring doing nothing but eat and sleep at home..... and of course shit.

Lost Auction

Beyond Autographed "白板" CD. Not for sale. Only distributed to DJs.

Some of you may know that I am a collector of Beyond's CDs and LPs. To collect some of these CDs, the rarer ones, I will go online and bid for them. From Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Japan yahoo. However, in recent months, I had stopped placing any bids, in an attempt to save up money. However, on-off, I will still go online to check some of these auctions.

However, a week ago, a CD appears in Taiwan yahoo, something that I really like. The autographed CD of the 4-some. Something which is still lacking in my collection and wanted it as my Christmas gift. :) But too bad did not win the bid. The most I am willing to pay is S$300. However, I bid till NTD7900 which is about S$360. I might just win the bid at NTD8001. But decided to give it up after consideration. S$360 for a CD may seems crazy for some. But I have a friend who paid S$500 for a Beyond CD. Haha... CD collectors are so rich.

Anyway, I am glad that I did not win this CD. S$360 should be able to make me a nice and simple suit... :p

Must think of the big picture......

KPO Readers....

For anyone who is still interested in the poor gal's blog I mentioned in the previous post can read "her" entries here.

It now seems that the gal had sink into further depression since the day her blog generated publicity, in forums.

Sad Blog...

These past days, weeks, months, I had been surfing Singaporebride forum almost everyday without fail. Sometimes, I will read wonderful stories about other person's love stories, other times there will be failed marriages and many broken hearts.

There will be all sort of stories in the forum. There was a gal who wished that her hubby-to-be mother will die early. Some face problems with their hubby siblings while even many many other who face problems with their in-laws. Some back out from their marriages just two weeks before their weddings. There is even a gal who is thinking of cancelling her marriage because she just discovered that her hubby-to-be has Micropenis!! What the *#%#.... Anyway, the morale of this story here is, please test drive early before you agree to a marriage.

So what makes me blog what I am blogging now? No. I am not having cold feets about mine own wedding preparation. Decided to write down my thoughts after I read this blog, link from Sgbrides. This gal, pregnant and happily married till hubby go for overseas for THREE (3) bloody short weeks for work training. Came back with a change of heart and left her wife, and his own flesh and blood. And the new gal this guy is in love with, got a hubby of her own. Machim Hong Kong TVB drama hoh? But really felt sad for her... Read her entries here....

Oosh la la.....

Went to Oosh at Dempsey Rd with a group of friends for dinner and some drinks. Well, the place is nice with a small man-made waterfall beside our dinning area. The food is not fantastic but still can do. But I must say the price is about expensive. Me and my dear ordered a pizza and a pasta which cost us $49. Normally, for this price at a normal restaurant in town, we should be able to get two drinks with desert as well. But no complains here as the ambiance is good, can have dinner under the night sky. Should be a good place for couples or friends to just enjoy themselves there.

Anyway, while having dinner, saw this girl with thick make-up. She is quite pretty but the make-up really puts ones off. She looks familiar and one of our friends said that she is Dawn Yang (or click here). Just then, I just remembered seeing her in the Maxim magazine earlier in the day (yah, I was reading magazine during my office hours, haha). She also model for FHM and a blogger. Some said that every part of her body had undergone the knife. Wonder if its true......

After dinner adjourned to the 'live' band area. Nice place with a gal singing jazzy songs. She is pretty good at it too. Over here opened a bottle of $180 wine! Darn it, each glass comes out to $30. So we spent quite abit for this dinner and drinks.

This type of semi high-class wine-and-dine doesn't seems suitable for me, at least for now, when I am trying to save up. At the end of the day, I will tell myself that it is always good to pamper ourselves a little. I dun mind spending this sort of money again, with the company that we had......

Can hear my wedding bells?

I know.

My wedding is about 1.5 years later. Still long way to go.

However, preparation had already started.

Started to read sgbrides everyday.

Listening to recommendation to songs that can be used on my day.

So, after listening to few songs, I can imagine myself doing the march-in.

Hmmm.... not only my dear fantasize alot, I also do fantasize now.

Maybe we can push our wedding to next March instead? :p

First Contract Signed

Today, we signed our very first contract, in preparation for our BIG day.

We decided to sign this contract first because we really like their work. So, signed now because they will be up-ing their fees soon. This contract we signed is from the "one eye click". This is a professional photography studio set up by a young couple. They are darn friendly and not pushy unlike most bridal studios we visited. Most of all, we really like their work even though we knew that we will spend much more using their services.

Anyway, we took both their bridal package (both indoor and outdoor shots) and photography on the actual day wedding. Total after discount is at a price of $3000++*. Had already put down a deposit of $1600. I had offered to pay more first so as to reduce my burden later on. To add, this price does not include all those wedding gowns, suit, flowers and make-up as this studio only offers photography. So we need to source around for all those wedding gowns. I estimated that will cost at least $2500 to $3500/-.

Money money money..... hope my money will be well-spent.

* Do not want to state the exact price here...

Back to Work

Today marks the end of my 12-day course, so tomorrow going back to work already. I must say that this course is truly insightful, a grade A course all must attend. Not only we got the chance to interact with other agencies but also find out what their job is all over. It is always nice to know our counterparts from other agencies. There were even plans to bring the course participants for overseas trip next year. Too bad, I will not have the chance anymore...

~~~~~~~~~~~

This past week had been pretty hectic for me. Had been going to wedding shows and bridal studios. Now we had confirmed our dinner venue and also the photography studio that we will be going to. We had also short-listed 2 bridal studios for their wedding package. Things had been going along smoothly....

Wedding Show

Attended the Wedding Show today at Marina Square. There was also a bridal fashion show. Some of the female bridal gown are nice. Also observed that male black suit is a bit boring. Prefered the grey suit and white suit on show. If got a chance to tailor-made my suit, I may go for my favourite colour, pink. Should be pretty unique. But is it that there is a saying that man wears pink on their second marriage? I also don't know.

Anyway, some of sales person of the bridal shops there is really like a pest. They will come after you and irritate you to let them present their packages. They will stick to you like leeches and not let go of you even when you totally ignore them. Some really turns me off. Why can't they just let the couples quietly take a look at their portfolios and if their photos are really good, the couple will surely wanna find out more. No need to keep on pestering the couples.

To keep the story short, we saw something we like. This shop, "oneeyeclick" offers professional photographers who specialises in taking photos. Their styles are really unique and personalised. Each couple's album are customised according to them. The photos taken are very lively, colourful and very nice. In short, we (I like it more, hee) love their style.

However, the problem is that this shop does not have wedding gown and suits in their package as they are photography shop. So, if we signed our bridal shots with them, we need to source for our own wedding gown, and pay more... Sigh.... hope can work something up.

阿雅回来了!

She is back! 阿雅 of 我猜我猜我猜猜猜！Enjoy!

Happy Children's Day!!

And before I forget,

Happy Children's Day to all the kids out there!!

A day delicated to all children of Singapore.

Anyway, different countries, celebrates Children's Day on different dates.

Out of office

I will be away from work for the next 12 days. Nice time to get away from work. Sometimes, it is good to go for courses. You not only learn new knowledge but also make new friends, which is important.

Today, when I turned out for my course, someone called my name. I was greatly surprised when I saw a familiar face. He is Kenneth, brother of my very good friend, Sandra, who is currently staying in Aussie. Really nice to see familiar faces on my first day, even though, I already knew those people from my office.

Anyway, had a fairly good start to the course. My course mates seems sporting as well. So, looking forward to the rest of the course.

In addition, going to start my jog again. Had stopped for about 2 weeks after I last ran for my IPPT. My left knee is painful. Actually, before my IPPT, I already knew my left knee is slightly injured. But, I had put on a knee-cap and ran thru' the 2.4Km. As a result, my knee was sore for a few days. Now, more or less ok, will start the jog again. Will probably get the widely recognised drug which is good for the knees, glucosamine (is this how the drug is spelt?).

Back to normal

Finally, after 4 days taking public transport, I got my car back. As predicted, after sending car to workshop, the interior sure dirty and dusty. So, had to clean up on Sat, I hope. Anyway, the workmanship is not too bad, is quite satisfy with the repair job. Seriously speaking, not much repair was been done as all parts damaged are changed to new ones. Furthermore, all the small dents had been mended. My car looks new now! Even sent for polish, wow haha..

I am just glad that I need not take the MRT tomorrow. The morning rush hour is really terrible. I rather stuck in a jam where I can be all alone to enjoy my radio programme. No need to face kiasu aunties who would kill for a place to sit...

Anyway, during these few days. We only took cab twice. One cab trip was pretty funny. This driver was commenting how lousy and poor driver ladies are. I TOTALLY agree with that majority of ladies aren't good driver. So, this cab driver was saying, female drivers would always do a sudden stop while on the road. This do happens but I am laughing inside my heart lor. Why? Because the cab driver is the pot calling the kettle black. Drivers will know what I mean. Cab drivers are the most dangerous on the road. Yap, even more dangerous than female drivers... :p

Dilemma.. dilemma... dilemma...

So, some of you should know that we (me and Yeok) had been looking around for a place to host our wedding dinner. Our two shortlisted hotels are Furama Riverfront (Old Apollo) and Orchard Parade Hotel. On Sat, we visited both hotels again, to view the actual setup of the wedding. Here how it goes.

Furama Riverfront

Nice nice nice.... it has it own reception area, a swimming pool by its side and a forest on the other side. The wedding theme is super nice, with nice PINK table-top. The wedding favour is very special and cute (I will not disclose the wedding favours here as we might chose this place). Both of us like this place. However, the minus point is that this ballroom got 3 pillars. Therefore, about 6-8 tables view of the stage will be block. However, there are two big projector screens to compensate the blocking. Food wise, we are allow to have more choices here. Able to pick and choose from a fairly wide list.

Orchard Parade Hotel

Not too bad, but not as nice as Furama. A topical ballroom with 2 thin pillars. So, little blockage if any. Wedding favours, not much choice. It is either the boring chocolate or a more unique postage stamps with the couple's wedding picture. The resturant is under Tung Lok, so food should be not bad. However, the food menu is more at least fixed. Depending on which price you pay, you will have to follow their menu.

Overall

We know that Furama offers a better deal. Nice and special place. However, the pillars put us off. Sought the advice of my big brother and big sister in office, I may just go for Furama. Got to make a decision by tonight. Orchard Parade Hotel wanted an answer by tommorow. They said that someone else has asked about the same date as us and willing to put down a deposit.

So, who is willing to sit at the tables behind the pillars?? :p

Phenomenon came true

Today, before I started driving, I offered flowers to my Buddha which is placed inside my car. When I was doing that, I had a bad phenomenon. I had a feeling that I would get into an accident....

This is the second time I had such a feeling. The last time I had this feeling was a few months back. During that time, I was closed to an accident. A motorcycle skipped just beside my car. Did not hit my car, such, avoided the accident.

For today, it was different...

I was about 200 metres away from office, when I was kissed on my rear by a lorry. Really kanna accident liao. It was just infront of the coffeeshop below our office. The damage is not too bad but still cost over $1.5K for repairs. The lorry decided to settle in private with me. Hope can get the full amount by tml.

Feeling darn suay and sian. Because I need my car, for work and for the weekend. Had some programmes planned. Anyway, it is always good to take the public transport once in a while....

My car should be ready by Monday. So, still need to take MRT to work on Monday. Sian Sian Sian... I hate the morning hour rush......

Great sense of achievement.

Today, I took my IPPT, for the second time for FY2007. Managed to get a "Silver" Award. To me this is a truly great achievement. Why would I consider this an achievement? The very reason is that for the pass few years, at least 5 years. I had always struggle to even pass my IPPT. For the last 4 years, I would only passed my IPPT on my 4th or 5th attempts. I couldn't blamed anyone else because I would never trained for my IPPT. Nevertheless, I made it a point to pass my IPPT every year. I took it as one of my responsibilities to do so.

This year, I told myself that I would train hard for my IPPT. So since Feb this year, I had started to jog regularly. Make it a point to ran at least 2-3 times a week. I have already come to the point that I will feel uneasy if I do not jog at least 2 times a week. So, a fairly healthy lifestyle I am leading now.

Back to the IPPT. Had actually attempted a test in July. My timing then was 13.26 mins, something like that. Was fairly disappointed as I had took pains in training for it. Anyway, told myself that maybe my training is not enough. So, had put in more training. The extra training did bear fruits. Today, my timing was a cool 11.56 mins. I even punched my hand into the air as I crossed the finishing line telling myself that "I had did it!"

My target was to achieve 12 mins. So anything less than 12 mins is good timing.

After this IPPT, I will still carry on my jogging. May try to train for the half marathon next Dec.

After personal target, for the year 2008 :)

Spiderman...

After more than 10 years of not touching the wall, finally managed to do so today. The last time I did rock climbing was in my poly days. Yap, poly days again. So, was pretty excited when my friend jio me for rock climbing at West Coast. Decided to take the beginners' course as I do not know how to belay. Anyway, it is good to learn the foundation all over again. Well, for the record, a belayer is the one at the bottom of the wall holding the rope to prevent the climber from falling.

Had a good time climbing up some walls. Rock climbing is both challenging and strenuous physically. A pretty good sport to take up IMO. Anyway, made two new friends today. They are friends of my friend. Both gals and still believed to be singles. Any takers?

Was really tired after the climb and came home early to watch Arsenal derby match against all time rivals Tottenham Hotspurs. A good match, Arsenal came from behind to win 3-1 to go top of the table. Hope their form continues....

Francesc Fabregas, scorer of 1 of the 3 goals. He got 5 goals already this season, all from midfield.

Sense of nostalgic, again

My sense of nostalgic kicks in again, today. Watch few games of 3-on-3 basketball games at office. I could almost felt myself playing on the court, back to my good old days.

The basketball court used to be my playground, eat, shit and sleep there. Let me think, that was at least about 10 years ago, during my poly days. During those happy moments, I have at least 3 basketballs, 2 hidden in lockers inside campus and the other at home. Well, the basketballs need to be hidden in lockers because we do not have any "official" lockers. We take which ever locker is empty and keep our ball inside. Haha..

Well, during that time, we will play basketball games every Fridays. Unspoken rules that the court belongs to us on that day. Almost everyday, we will play between classes. And being in a female dominated course, most of my playmates are, of course, females. Mind you, my female friends can play really well! Dribbling, chest-pass, overhead pass, ale-hoop and even dunk the ball! Well, the last one, I made it out.

Anyway, had some really good times taking part in games during my poly years. Can say that I was pretty much a sportsman then. Any ball games, I will be there. Street soccer lah, 3-on-3 basketball lah, 5-on-5 basketball lah, captain's ball lah and even Mixed netball! If you wanna play netball, please do not play in centre position. It is the most tiring position to play in. So was a pretty much recognise figure in campus.. hahaha... Always stands out among the gals because I will always be the only thorn among the roses.

Those were the days..... :)

I am 19!!

Had a simply birthday lunch yesterday at NYNY in Citylink. Had always like their food. However, was rather disappointed with their service yesterday. Was rather pathetic, given my high expectation of good service. Still, the food is good and enjoy our lunch-dinner there. Well, we did wasted some food, the mushroom soup. We ordered th BIG bowl and it was really darn big bowl. In the end, we only managed to take 1/4 of it. The soup was supposedly nice. However, it was so darn big bowl that we felt so disgusted by it. We swear to keep away from any mushroom soup till at least I turn 30!!!?!

After food at NYNY, went shopping for my MP3 player, my birthday present. Ended up at Creative in Marina Sq and wanted a simple player to accompany me during my jogging session. Decided to get the 2GB Zen V2 at $149. Sad to say the store at Marina Sq only had one color left, PINK! Yah, I always seems to have pink color in my life. The pink MP3 player does look girly and yah, gay. Actually, I dun mind the color as I am going to get a armband to hold the player during my jog. I would had gotten it if not for the armband which cost $45. So no pink MP3 player for me, just yet.

Anyway, got the color I wanted, black with green button at a cheaper price of $139 at Gain City near Creative. So, thanks dear for my present!!!

Count down begins...

The big count down had began, living the last few days of my 20s.

In a few days time, I will hit the big 30. No longer can tell people that I am in my 20s already. That is so sad. I know that once guys hit 30, 40 will come at a fast and furious rate. And before you know it, you are already in your 50s. Times really flies like nobody business.

But, however, got to add that, getting old is not a big deal. Like wine, getting older could mean getting better. At least, experience and maturity does come with age.

Ok, I am done with my self-console.

I wanna be forever 18.

I wanna be forever young.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Forever Young

Let's dance in style, lets dance for a while
Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?
Let us die young or let us live forever
We don't have the power but we never say never
Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip
The music's for the sad men
Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun
Praising our leaders we're getting in tune
The music's played by the mad men
Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever and ever
Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever young

Some are like water, some are like the heat
Some are a melody and some are the beat
Sooner or later they all will be gone
Why don't they stay young
It's so hard to get old without a cause
I don't want to perish like a fading horse
Youth's like diamonds in the sun
And diamonds are forever
So many adventures couldn't happen today
So many songs we forgot to play
So many dreams swinging out of the blue
We'll let them come true
We'll let them come true
Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever and ever
Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever and ever
Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?

Its my life......

These two days could be considered well-spent. Had company's Dinner on 31 Aug and went to visit 3 hotel venues on 1 Sep. Must say that I am pretty satisfied at what I had seen today.

31 Aug

My company's D & D. Decided not to wear the normal boring office wear and opted for something different. I must say pretty gay-look huh. At least got comments saying I look gay.. Ha.. Anyway, we were sitted at one corner of the ball-room. Did not expect the emcee to come all the way to our table and picked me to go on stage. Was really darn malu. Lucky, the emcee had picked three other persons that I knew too. Well, decided to turn my embarrassment into fun instead. So, had a pretty wild time "playing" the PINK guitar on stage. We played to the tunes of Bon Jovi, Its my life. Overall, the dinner is fun, although I prefer the one last year.

1 Sep

Today, went to three hotels. Pretty like the one at Orchard Parade Hotel. M Hotel looks good too. So now, we had pretty cut down our choices to Orchard Parade, Furama Riverfront and maybe M Hotel. Will do some viewings of each hotels' wedding setup before making our final decision.

Also watched "Ratatouille". Nice show about a rat becoming a chief in Paris. Recommended to those who like animation like Finding Emo, Monster Inc etc.

Happy Teachers' Day!!

Let me keep it short here.

For those who had left school for a long time, Teachers' Day falls on 1st Sep.

So Happy Teachers' Day to all teachers!!!

Happy Teachers' Day, my dear.

Time to show your appreciation to your teachers.

~~~~~~~~

Hmmmm... "it's my life, its now or never... you aren't gonna live forever......" Hmmm.. hmmm... hmmm....

The Bear

Waterbear is really sensitive to one's feelings. This morning, just after talking 5 mins with him, he can sense that I am down. Initially told him that I am alright as I do not really like to bring problems outside work to office. But guess that I can't hide my feelings from him. And yah, I DID had some problems. As you can see, DID is in past tense... so now I have no more problems.. Well, thanks Waterbear..

Anyway, today finally got my Royce chocolate. Had wanted to get a box on Tuesday lunch time. But did not reach our location at Suntec City. The rain kept us at Shaw Tower and we did not have any brolly with us. Today, I drove to Suntec City again. Darn it, Suntec car park is closed?!? Yah, I know that today is the start of Comex, but did not expect so many people on the first day. Gave up finding a lot at Marina area and once again returned empty handed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometimes, when you cannot achieve a goal by yourself, you need friends to help you. As Waterbear think I must be pretty desperate to get those chocolates, he volunteered to help me get it. He is doing some work around the area and he said it is easier to get a lot. And darn, thanks to him, I got the chocolates. Felt bad when I saw him coming back to office with a tired face. Anyway, big thanks to you. This entry is for you...

Anyway, for the record, the chocolates are meant as a Teacher's Day gift, for my dear.

ZZzzzZZzzzzz....

These few days, do not know why also, I have been really sleepy at work. I had skip my coffee on Monday. So I blamed my sleepiness on the lack of coffee. Yesterday, had a coffee right in the morning and even had a super duper early 2nd coffee break at 1030 am. Still, I can't last through the whole day. Darn sleepy at 3pm. Today is the same thing, by 4pm, I am half alive. Really bad these few days. I think must blame the weather. Today, rain rain rain the whole morning.... Then, after my lunch the sun is super BIG loh. What kinda of weird weather is that.

Now, I am getting sleepy. Think will turn in early tonight. But then hor, Arsenal is playing tonight at 3am. 2nd leg of t he Cha mp io n s L e a .......zzzZZZZzzzzZzzzzzz......

Call from the other side

Today while busy answering some enquiries at 1805 hours, my phone rings. It was a gal's voice, she is Irene. Well, WTF is this Irene? Ok, she said she is from the recruitment side and asking about my application for GPO. She said I missed out on my diploma transcript. She asked to fax her a copy tmr. To be honest, I was kinda of shock. Firstly, I always thought that our (I mean mine) application would just be sort of be collected and maybe burnt for the seventh month. And secondly, why would recruitment side worked OT for my stupid application?? ha..

Anyway, my chances remained low...

Finally, managed to meet my dear after more than a week. A happy reunion, at least. :) We missed each others so much...

Dun be mistaken, we are just too busy to meet up during the last week....

Fruity Friday

Had a rather fruity yesterday. Work was great. Completed my task before dateline and needless to say lunch was great too. Had BUFFET lunch again. Since I changed office, the amount of buffet lunches I had increased tremendously... haha.. However, I had not put on any weight, as yet. It must be due to the weekly runs and gym sessions I had each week.

So yesterday been Friday, was on relax mood after lunch when new assignment came in. I must say that we did a fairly good job, an eye-opener for both of us. In my line of work, I am always learning something new everyday. I really love what I am doing now. It is always good to love your job, isn't it?

After completing our tasks, the durians store lining along the street really makes me tempted to grab some. My parents love durians too. So in the end, bought 3. Wanted grade D101 but the season already over. So settled for the common D24 for the price of $20. Also grab 1kg of "lan sak", darn sweet. Waterbear also bought a pack of durians. Are we expecting some durian puffs next?

Enjoy your weekends, folks.

《旅行的意义》

歌手名稱： 陳綺貞
歌曲名稱： 旅行的意義

你看過了許多美景
你看過了許多美女
你迷失在地圖上每一道短暫的光陰

你品嚐了夜的巴黎
你踏過下雪的北京
你熟悉書本裡每一句你最愛的真理

卻說不出你愛我的原因
卻說不出你欣賞我哪一種表情
卻說不出在什麼場合我曾讓你動心
說不出離開的原因

你累計了許多飛行
你用心挑選紀念品
你蒐集了地圖上每一次的風和日麗

你擁抱熱情的島嶼
你埋葬記憶的土耳其
你流連電影裡美麗的不真實的場景

卻說不出你愛我的原因
卻說不出你欣賞我哪一種表情
卻說不出在什麼場合我曾讓你分心
說不出旅行的意義

你勉強說出你愛我的原因
卻說不出你欣賞我哪一種表情
卻說不出在什麼場合我曾讓你分心
說不出離開的原因

勉強說出你為我寄出的每一封信
都是你離開的原因
你離開我
就是旅行的意義

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The current song that is playing is 《旅行的意义》 by 陈绮贞 or Cheer Chen. She is a talented Taiwanese songwriter / singer. I super like her crystal clear voice and her lyrics are always meaningful. She is super popular in Taiwan but she seems to be an unknown in Singapore. Probably because she seldom do 宣传 here.

She will be coming for a concert next month, I think. If she had came two years ago, most probably I would had bought the most expensive tickets to her concert. But I guess she comes at a wrong time. This is the time when I am saving my money. So, sorry Cheer, can't support you at your concert. It is your lost, not mine. Wow haha..

Her latest "Live" CD 《花的姿態》is good too. Anyone looking for a nice album can consider this CD. Available at all major music stores, while stocks last!

Rot away

Today is a Sunday.

Sunday should be a family day.

But look at the weather, rain whole day.

Nice weather to sleep the entire day.

So let me rot, the whole Sunday.

First Viewing

Today went for our first viewing of venues to host our wedding dinner. Went to Furama Riverfront, a hotel in Havelock Road.

Saw one of the rooms, Mercury Room at level five. This is a new ballroom which can cater to about 30-33 tables. The bad points of this room is that it got low celling and there are 3 pillars inside the room. But they got projector screens to show 'live' the events that will take place on the stage. The plus point of this room is that it is beside a swimming pool. Can host the cocktail reception by the pool side. Seems to be not bad.

Furthermore, also viewed the bigger ballroom, Venus. I quite like this room as it had high ceilings, no pillars blockage and the space is so much bigger. However, the minus points are that we must booked a min of 28 tables and the price is higher for this room. Well, do not want to take the risk to book 28 tables although we may even need more than that.

Overall, is pretty satified with this place. The hotel also have some pretty nice and cute wedding favours. Still in the consideration list.

Ratings: 7.5/10 for Venus
7/10 for Mercury

In the upcoming weekends, we will be viewings more venues...

Donations to Charity

Come to think of it, Singaporeans are really a caring group of people. Every week, without fail, you will see queues of people lining up to make donations. On every Wed, Sat and Sun, the queues gets longer. In some hot donations spots like the 7-11 store in Yishun, the queue gets really long comes Mondays and Thursdays. Well, Singaporeans are a really kind lot!

I used to make weekly donations too. However, I believed I am getting more than what I donated. My luck is good? Nah, never had much luck so far in my life. Its just that I stopped at the right time.

At the last World Cup, I got more than what I donated. Yeah, I did won some. Stop after sensing my luck is getting bad, so still win. Well, I am a die hard fans of the underdogs, so my donations normally goes towards them. Higher risk, higher returns. Always my style of donations.

Come the new EPL season, not going to make much donations. But still on-off monitor the screen infront of the donation outlets or online. Hand abit itchy when I saw the odds for yesterday match, Spurs VS Everton. Wanna support the underdog Everton at an odds of $4.00, but did not. Dun think I should make donations since I am saving up for my big day.

The result? Spurs 1 Everton 3

Arsenal playing later tonight, Champions League qualifier. Will not be watching it, need my sleep for a long day at work tmr.... Sweet dreams....

The Wedding Plan

Here are the list of stuffs that we need to do prepare for a wedding next Dec.

1) Look for a fortune teller to have our ROM and wedding dates fixed

2) Source for restaurants or hotels to host our dinner. Got to book early. Got people already complaining that they can't get hotels for next Dec. This is freaking me out.

3) Book dinner venue ASAP.

4) Source for wedding packages.

5) Look for wedding bands.

6) Decide whether to go for honeymoon stright after wedding dinner.

7) Name list of friends and relatives to invite for wedding dinner.

8) Starts saving money!!

I think there should be more to be done. But at the moment can't really think properly. Planning a wedding can be stressful. Anyone willing to become my free wedding planner?

Kanna tagged? What the...

Got this from Miss Watson, kinda of fun, I think. However, rules are meant to be broken, so I will not tag anyone else.

Rules of the game:
Each player of this game starts off with ten weird things or habits or little known facts about yourself. People who get tagged must write in a blog of their own ten weird things or habits or little known facts as well as state this rule clearly. At the end you must choose six people to be tagged and list their names. No tagbacks!

1) An open secret. I love pink color. I got pink T-shirt, pink polo tees, pink short sleeves shirts (i think about 3 I got) and lastly pink color long sleeves shirt. But please, I am no gay.

2) During Chinese New Year, I must wear new red color underwear. My socks must also be new. But, I dun insist on other new clothing.

3) This, my parents told me about this. When I was young, like a few months old, I once hold onto the feelers of a cockroach and swing it about.

4) My set of teeth is the best feature of my body. Also the part I like best. Can become colgate model. But please, cover my face, just show ny teeth.

5) I like the Hong Kong Band Beyond since I was like 13 years old. Went to their concert alone in 1995 when I was still in poly. I still collects their CDs, some of which cost over few hundreds.

6) Sometimes, I called my dear, brother. In return, she calls me sister. One weird couple we are, I must say.

7) My birthmark is on my right ribcage, just below my armpit.

8) I MUST drink orange juice while on a flight. Not other juice, just orange.

9) I was hit by a moving van while I was on duty, in full uniform, on a Christmas Eve 1999. Went for my Christmas dinner in a arm sling.

10) I got a two year old son.

All of the above are facts, except for number 10. Wow hahahaha... I crap alot.

Happy Birthday Singapore!!

Happy 42nd Birthday Singapore!

My office is always very cute, today we got a mini National Day party. Got nice durian puffs, 凉茶 and jelly. All sponsored by my colleagues, I did not buy anything. Haha... abit pai seh. Let's see what I can buy back for them next week. Well, anyway, as always, had fun.

Remember 5 years ago (people are always more nostalgic when they gets old), I was invloved in the NDP as a Guest of Honour. Training was tough, darn tough, but still we sort of enjoyed it. Also great feeling during the marching in when screams of cheers could be heard. And yeah, managed to be caught by the camera. I was on TV! Trained for about 5 months and appeared on TV for maybe about a second! Great! Anyway, during that period, made quite a few friends. Too bad everyone seems to be busy, but at least I am still in contact with one. Hope our friendship will last...

End of the first blog of the day......

Rhain Davis

This is a cool video.

Rhain Davis, if you did not already know him, is a 9 year old kid who had just recently signed for Manchester United. His grandfather sent in this video and Man U signed the kid by just watching this video.

The kid is darn cool, doing all the cross-overs and dummies. Wonder if he will grow up to be a great footballer.

Monday Blues

For the record, I had never ever experienced Monday blues since the day I started office hours some 9 months back. However, today, I experienced one of the most darn Monday. Even thinking that this will be a short week did not help. After thinking about why I got these blues, I realised it is caused by my worries.

Ya, I am really worried about someone, my dear. Why? Because she is sick. Although it is a minor illness, I am still worried sick. I think I am more worried about her than she, about herself. So, can't really concentrate today. Was thinking how is she going to last thru' her whole day of school.

So the first thing when I reached home is to give her a call. She sounds cheerful and she is feeling better. Only then are my blues gone, just like that. No more worries. This must be the power of love. Its magical......

Saturday Night Fever..

Had dinner at Holland Village's NYDC. Was really hungry and had wanted to order some chops, chicken or pork. However, to my horror, NYDC does not serve chops, darn. Instead settled for some Italian noodle. Of course, not filling enough and ordered "That boney cake", my favourite. Darn nice.... makes me droops.

After dinner, went on to meet the others at the next meeting place, Essential Brew, also at Holland V. This place is pretty cool, their speciality is tea. On the second level, you need to take off your shoes and the sitting style is like the Japanese. Ya, sitting on the floor. A good place to relax and chill out with friends. After staying there for like an hour or so, someone suggested to change location. Wanted to go the Dempsey Road.

So ended up at The Wine Company in Dempsey Road. This is the first time that I went to Dempsey Road. This place was formerly used by the army, but had since been converted to be some wine and dine place. Another great place to chill out. You can also look at the stars from here. The wine is not ex too. We ordered a bottle of white at about $40 after service charge and GST. So, a pretty good place to be at. Although, it can be pretty inaccessible to those with no transport.

Anyway, had a good time chatting under the stars.... Hope we can do this more often.....

Stage of dilemma

Arsenal released two new jersey designs for the new season of 2007/08. Here are the two designs. The one above is the new away jersey. Cost about S$94. My friend already got it. Darn him, always the fastest in getting new jerseys... hahaha...

Above is the so called third jersey. Seldom Arsenal released third jersey. Just launched recently, should be in Singapore in another one or two months.

Both looks good to me. Should I get the white color one first or wait for the strips one? Or should I get both? Or rather should I wait for the jerseys to be given as my birthday gifts? Hee.....

Broke back!

Had plan for a jog early this morning at 7 am. However, did not materalise as I am more interested in my sleep. So, will go for a early morning jog tommorrow. Hope I can get up, that is.

Today, I am really broke.

Sent my blacky for 60Km servicing at the agent. I last serviced blacky at the agent at 5km. Did not send in my car to agent because it cost more. But as my blacky is about to turn 3 years old, I decided to go the agent. Why? Because the warranty will expire at year 3. Will make use of the warranty to have some parts of blacky fixed. So, total got 6 complains. Managed to fix most of the problems without a single cent. But still need to go back again because one of the spare part need to be ordered.

The servicing cost me $349 + $80 for my car alarm to be fixed. They said that car alarm is not covered under warranty.

Furthermore, renewed blacky insurance for $1300. Another $475 goes into LTA for the road tax. So in total I spent $2200+.

So I am broke. Really an expensive day to go on leave.

Happy Nurses' Day

1st Aug is Nurses' Day

So, hereby wishing all nurses and nurses wannabe Happy Nurses Day.

Recalling my poly life, there would be many activities during this day. Cannot remember the details but I think we even got stuff like singing contest. Everyone would seems to be in joyous mood too. Sigh... that was already so many years ago. I miss my poly life, my friends, my basketball games, my carefree life, skipping of lectures, falling in and out of love........

I wonders how many of my classmates are still in nursing, wondering.........

My Blog turns GaY

Pink color.

I like pink.

So my blog got to be gay for a few days.

Haha.

Decent Proposal Returns

Ok, just back from work, had lunch with dear (yah, she came all the way to meet me for lunch) and my colleagues. Funny people. Someone (you know who u r) suggested a makan place and in the end, ended up at the wrong building because of someone else (ya, its you!). So, nice lunch with 2 very funny people... wow hahaha...

Anyway, had chicken rice. So now, waiting for my dinner. My dad suggested chicken rice. Mine oh mine, no more chicken for the day please. I had enough. Ha..

So do let me continues my previous post as I waits for my dinner....

....................................................................

When I returns to that HongKee, he was with a female friend. She had her camera in her hands. Think that guy told her what I wanted to do. However, as my gf had MIA, I sadly took back my camera and that Hongkee went off. Just as that guy went off, my gf appears from nowhere!! Ha, so hurriedly I go after that HK guy and he gladly agreed to help me video the process.

I had to choose a good spot to make sure that there is enough lighting. As the area on top of Taipei 101 is pretty dark, I had chosen a place where there is some shelf display with spot-lights. Yah man, I am getting nervous. As that HK guy prepared to video for me, his whole group of friends joined him... We are getting a crowd man....

So, my silly gf was still thinking that I wanted that guy to just take a pic for us. However, to her surprise, I went down on my knees. Out comes the ring and cheers all around. By passers were cheering me on! "Marry him lah", "Say yes lah", so I am not alone afterall. People around me are so supportive.. haha..

Well, of course, we both are very touched, she teared. Me, almost. After, saying, "Will you marry me?", for three times, she nod her head. Please hor, she is not hesitant, more shock to react than hestitant. Ha. So, put on the ring for her (glad it fitted nicely) and gave dear a kiss. More cheers around. Haha.. After which, both of us are pretty pai seh and quickly 'escape' from the crowd..... hee..

Anyone interested to view my proposal video? Nah, wait till my wedding dinner.

Decent Proposal

This is long overdue, but guess I got to drop few lines in my dairy......

It's more than a month since I returned from Taipei. Back is back to normal but preparation had started. What preparation you may ask. Well, it's our BIG day. I must admit it is still early days but it is always never too late to plan for something once in a life time. Okie, back to my decent proposal. Actually, had wanted to proposed to my long-time gf of six years about two years back. However, did not materialise. So I made use of our Taipei holidays to make the proposal. Here how's the proposal goes.....

May 2007 :

The search for the ring starts. With many comments from my dear colleagues. Finally settled for a 0.46 carat ring from Citigems. Simple ring which costs me about a month's pay. But well, money well-spent.

17th June 2007 :

Before our trip to Taipei, I had already made plans. The proposal plan. Wanted to make this moment truely unforgetable, so I decided to propose in the world's tallest building, Taipei 101.

On 17th June 2007, was getting nervious. Scared that last minute my balls dropped and I forgo my plans. It almost happened, almost. Let me fast forward....... Up there in Taipei 101, after going round the observatory for about 30 mins, I activated my plan. I left behind my gf who is engross in her own world. I approached a Hongkee guy. Had already targeted him when we just step foot into the building. Targeted him because he was with his gf, part of my plan. Well, actually I wanted to video the proposal process and wanted this Hongkee to help me. Of course, he is willing to help me. However, to my horror, my gf is missing in action. I can't find her where I had left her!! Darn, I panicked. Fantically searched around for her, but she is no where in sight. After few minutes, almost giving up, I went back to the HongKee who is holding on to my camera and told him that my gf had disappear. Dun need his help anymore. He appeared as disappointed as I am.....

Hmmm... think will continue later on....

Jerk Thai

Had my dinner at Jerk Thai today. Do not really know the correct spelling of the restaurant. Anyway, the name doesn't matters. Because I have decided to ban this restaurant. Why? Not because the food is that bad. Neither is it because of the service. Well, if you do not know me, I value good service. Bad service, and you will never see me in that restaurant again. Ok, back to Jerk Thai. The thing or rather drink is the one that I am disappointed in. I ordered Lemon Grass drink at S$3 a glass. I think, well, the price is still ok before I got my order. However, was totally disappointed that the drink is actually made from syrup. Sucks man. Go Thai restaurant drink my favourite Lemon Grass drink and it is mix from syrup. No standard. I would have expected something more from my S$3. My S$3 is not very big, but would expect something more. So, will not visit Jerk Thai again...... or maybe I will..... Ya, I am that fickle minded.

And ya, wanna eat that new cheese fondue pizza from pizza hut. Anyone knows any pizza hut with reasonable service? I am just asking for reasonable service from pizza hut, because you will never get good service from them.

Back in Action Part II

Mine mine mine.... I had been neglecting my blog for ages. Some 5 months I did not log in , almost forgotten my password.. ha.

Well, today gave someone my blog address. In fact was abit pah seh because did not update my blog for ages.. ha.. so just drop a few lines here..

Hmmm... thinking back, the past few months had been pretty eventful. Life at new work place is great. Many to learn with nice people in the office. Get to know new friends and can suan people without getting the returns. That's the fun part of life.... ha.

Anyway, been to Taipei in June. Nice trip but spend quite a bit. But well, it is worth the money :p
Will post some pics soon, and some interesting things I done over there.. hee...

Ok, hope I will MIA for too long again...

Back in Action

Wow... time flies, I had not been blogging for close to 3 months? Decided just to add a simple entry since the Chinese New Year is approaching. Well, what CNY got to do with my blog? Nothing actually. Maybe just suddenly got the mood to do some typing...

Today, had a CNY lunch at my office. Plenty of food. Got Golden Pillows, Roast Pork, Roast Duck, Flied mee hoon, Agar agar and even wine! The wine is sponsored by my boss.. haha nice of him. Which other boss in my line of work would actually bring wine to the office? Not many, I think.

So, today being the eve of eve of CNY, nobody seems to be in the mood to work. So all of us were waiting for the cue from our boss.. Not billiard cue, but the cue to go back early! All of us were hoping for some unofficial half day off. Well, being the nice boss he is, he instructed us to go back after the lunch. The lunch ended at around 2.30pm. After packing up, I was ready to go when two of my colleagues gave me Ang Paos!! So nice of them........

Anyway, Happy CNY to all!!!

My Batam Trip

It had been a long time since I last blog. For the past month, I had been to occupied with work in my new work place. Things had been pretty good for me. I have good colleagues and a good boss. Had been enjoying my work since.

Ok back to the topic, My Batam Trip.

From this Batam trip, I realised that staying in Singapore is really luxury. Cannot really imagine that the comdition in Batam, just a 45 mins ferry from Singapore, can be so different. People in Batam does not have proper housing and needless to say, no clean water or electricity (those staying in Kampung). Therefore, life in Singapore is really great as compared to Batam.

Day 1 (07 Dec)

Day 1 starts with us gathering at MacDonald in HarbourFront for breakfast. By 0750 hours, we were on the first ferry to Batam. After changing and leaving our bags at Harris Resort, we were off to the work site. Soon after we got a briefing from the locals there, we began our hard day at work. For our 3 days there, we are supposed to do the foundation of the house. This is really no easy task. We got to dig a small hill for soil to fill about 30cm above the ground level. This hill is about some 50 metres away from the house and is on a slope. So transporting the sand to the house is really hard work. After transporting of the sand to the house, we got to flaten and spread out the sand. Things is not made easy by the hot sun. But well, all the 12 of us there did enjoyed ourselves. There were so much laughters throughout the day. We got to create laughter to make our tough work more enjoyable. Work stop at 5pm and dinner is provided by the resort. The food is not too bad. During the night, I can't really get to sleep as my hands are aching away. Had not done such manual work in a long time you see.

Day 2 (08 Dec)

Another long time awaits us. After breakfast at the resort, off we go to the work site again. We continued the task that we did on day 1. This time round, we go abit slower than day 1. We are already tired from the day 1 work you see. But well, we did managed to go ahead of schedule. We were given 2.5 days to complete the foundation of the house but by 3-4pm on day 2, we had already compeleted it. So our team-work is really great. Everyone of us really work hard to complete our work. So, after completing the foundation, we went on to construct the wall of the house. This is considered a much easier task as compare to laying the foundation. Constructing of the wall is fun actually. But in order that the wall will not collaspe, we got to be careful on the placement of every single brick. Hmm.. very good experience.

Day 3 (09 Dec)

This is the last day on the Island. Just a half day work and we will be going back to Singapore. The day starts with a slight rain. We all thought that the rain will do us some good, but we are so wrong. Things started to go wrong while our van was making the way to the work site. As the rain make the road slippery, the van was not able to go up a gentle slope. Thus, we had to take a big detour and ending up 30 mins late. More bad news awaits us. Today, we were supposed to help in the construction of another house. We were supposed to lay cement on the roof of this house. However, because of the rain, the cement truck was not able to reach our worksite. So, a change of plan and our group got to dig drainage system for the small village. This drainage would be able to drain all the rain water and thus would make the cement truck a easier route. Digging this drainage is another tough job. Every dig would have water splasing all over you.. haha.. although it was tough, it was pretty enjoyable to see everyone gets dirty......

Overall, this trip to me is enjoyable. We had a great team with great people. Tough trip but is fun. Looking forward to meeting my team mates again.......

Operation Cross Road

Mark this date, 14 Nov 2006.

14 Nov 2006 must be one of the most important day of my life. In this day alone, three major events are about to take place. These three events will change my life, for the worst or very hopely and very likey, change for the better. No joke, 14 Nov 2006 is that important to me. So let me tell you briefly what these three events are.

Event 1: We are expectating our number one boss at my work place. This is a rare opportunity that our workplace have a chance to receive him. I had been tasked the important responsibities to show him what we had achieve at our workplace. Not easy for me since I have not gave a public speech for ages. But, well, what is giving public speeches to me? CHICKEN!! Well, I am just consoling myself. But I must not cock up here, as most likely my future promotions could count on this visit.

Event 2: This is yet another step forward. This day will be my last day at my current office. Spent more than 3.5 years at this office. It is always difficult to leave a place so familiar to you, to go to a totally strange place with strange people. It is always tough to leave your comfort zone, a place where your boss trusted you, a place where you are been respected, a place where ones listen to your orders.... But in life, we just have to move on, we can't always stay at one place for too long. Move to seek greener pasture as they says.... yah right!!

Event 3: To end the day, together with my dear, we will make our giant step forward to our future. No. Not yet ROM, but an HDB appointment. This must be our happy moment. At last got something to look forward to, a place to call our own. We are selected to make a slection of our HDB Flat. Seeing people around us getting married and applying for flats makes us want a flat of our own too. So finally, its time to put down our $2000 disposit for our new flat... so happy....

So, wish me luck on that day. I need plenty of that.......

Back to normal

Yipeeee!!!

One week has passed since the day I started to perform office hours duties. I had been doing shift duty for about some 10 years now, so it is a great change for me. When I was doing shift work, I only work for about 15 days a month. Also I can always wake up late and have many off days. So, at first, I thought that I need some months before I can adjust back to life in office hours. However, I was glad that I am able to adjust pretty well to my current hours. I think I will grow to like my office hours duties as then I will have more time with my dear. Also, I will not have to work Sat, Sun and holidays which I need to during my shift work. Well.... its a good change

Anway, watched "The Guardian" at Causeway Point with dear. Before watching this show I had no idea that this show exist. However, we are glad that we chose this show. This is really a great show and I will give it a 9.5 ratings out of 10. Currently, this is the best I had watched for this year. Lots of actions, touching scenes and also many humours. For those who have no plans for the weekend, I will strongly recommend this show. This will be worth your money and time.

The Guardian

"After losing his crew in a fatal crash, legendary Rescue Swimmer, Ben Randall, is sent to teach at "A" School, an elite training program for Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers. Wrestling with the loss of his crew members, he throws himself into teaching, turning the program upside down with his unorthodox training methods. While there, he encounters a young, cocky swim champ, Jake Fischer, who is driven to be the best."

After sending my dear back, while driving back home, my car audio was playing "Goong" OST. Hmmm.... so I was thinking maybe during our wedding night we can have a Korean Theme. Play cool Korean love songs and wear Traditional Korean clothing. Also must wear the prince and princess outfit. Maybe serve Korean food too!? Oh no, when have i turn into a Piscean?