Adipos

Jayden's 2nd Month Swim

2010-08-09T22:56:00.004+08:00

Jayden turned 2 months 2 days ago. As a treat, we brought him for a swimming session at HarbourFront.

Now, this is a baby who enjoys his twice daily warm bath tremendously, so we figured that he would definitely love a swim.

Of course, we can't be too sure. Not with him giving us that "are you guys sure about this?" look.

But off we went to the swim centre and got him changed into disposable swim diapers. Every time we take off his clothes, it never fails to amaze me how much he's grown in 2 months.

Then comes the moment of truth, and it was just as we imagined it to be. In fact, it was even better.

Jayden simply loves the water. While all the other kids were crying and wailing their lungs out, the little one can't stop looking excited as he moved his arms and kicked his legs in the water. Very much a natural.

We're definitely bringing him back again some day

I'm a Dad!

2010-06-15T02:28:00.003+08:00

Monday, 7th of June 2010 was an extraordinary day, to say the least. I was preparing to go for my hand surgery (to remove some titanium inplants) in the afternoon, but before I did that, I had to accompany Daisy for her routine gynaecological check-up in the morning.

Daisy was already 36 weeks pregnant and by my estimation, we would expect a baby by the end of June. In fact, Daisy already had strong contractions when she was 33 weeks in (she was even admitted for one night), and has been taking medication to delay delivery till the baby is full term. The deal is, for as long as she's taking her meds, she won't deliver. That way, by the time the baby is delivered, my hand would have healed nicely.

But the good Lord had different plans for us. The routine tocographical measurements that morning showed that she's already having contractions at intervals of 10 minutes. The doctor ordered that I cancel my surgery and admit her to the delivery ward that afternoon. I was still in a daze; not entirely sure if the doctor was sure of what she's doing.

True enough, within half a hour, Daisy started feeling the pains of contraction. I called off the surgey while she called the office to say that she won't be coming in, and we just grabbed a few things from home and headed to the hospital.

We've already decided that morning that some epidural would be good. No point making it any more difficult for her, is my thought. Lucky for that thought, for that made the whole experience so much more bearable in terms of pain and anxiety.

We checked in at 12pm. By 2pm, we could hear the gynae going through the other delivery rooms, telling her other patients to "Push!" Just before 4pm, she came into our delivery room. After some checks, she decided, "okay, let's delivery this baby now!" A few "Now, push!" later, my life has changed forever.

Baby Jayden came into this world at 1607hrs and he just amazed both Daisy and myself. After a few cries as he came into this world, Jayden just lay there at the baby cot and started to curiously check out his surrounding.

Almost immediately, Daisy started trying to breastfeed him and within a few minutes, the little baby learned to latch on for sustenance.

Jayden was born exactly a month early, weighing 2.8kg. We stayed 2 nights in the hospital and went home to Daisy's parents place, where we would stay till he's a month old.

Since coming into our lives, he has filled our days (and nights) with anxiety, fatigue and exasperation. More than that, however, he has also filled our lives with joy, wonder, amazement and humility at the goodness of God. If I may say so, he's one heck of a cute baby!

We thank the Lord for this wonderful gift of love and will strive to be good parents.

We would also like to thank all our friends who came, called, SMSed, left messages and sent bouquets of love. We really appreciate your well wishes.

Today, Jayden is one week old. We just got his birth certificate done back at Parkway East Hospital this afternoon. My son is officially a Singapore citizen, haha!

Now that I'm a dad, I'm definitely looking forward to what this next chapter in my life holds!

Ultimate Parker In Asia

2010-05-16T22:07:00.006+08:00

I decided a couple of months back to do something a bit adventurous and signed up for the Ultimate Parker In Asia wine grand tasting event. I even got a ticket for my father in law.

So, on the 1st and 2nd of May, I spent the entire weekend sipping fine wine at the Fullerton Hotel Singapore. We did see Robert Parker, but he was too busy with his book signing event to socialise with anyone.

Besides tasting hundreds of fine wines at the Grand Tasting, participants to the event were allocated 3 master classes each, and I chose to attend the following wine master classes; Fine Wines of Austria, The Rise of Cool Climate Syrah/Shiraz Around The World and Landmark Australia.

For Fine Wines of Austria, we tasted the following wines.

2008 Huber Gruner Veltliner, Berg

2008 Jurtschitsch Gruner Veltliner, Kaferberg

2007 Salomon Undhof Kogl Reserve Reisling

2008 Leth Roter Veltliner, Scheiben

2007 Reinisch Rotgipfler Reserve

2007 Temend Sauvignon Blanc, Zeiregg

While Austria is primarily a white wine producing country, we were also fortunate to try some of their best reds.

2006 Juris Pinot Noir, Haide

2007 Markowitsch Rosenberg, Carnuntum

2006 Arachon T.FX.T. Arachon Evolution

2006 Weninger Blaufrankisch, Durrau

2005 Tschida TBA Samling

For The Rise of Cool Climate Syrah/Shiraz Around The World, we tasted a total of 9 wines.

2005 Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz, Grampians, Victoria, Australia

2006 Heathcote Estate Shiraz, Heathcote, Victoria, Australia

2005 Yering Station Reserve Shiraz Viognier, Yarra Valley, Australia

2007 Shaw & Smith Shiraz, Adelaide Hills, Australia

2008 Man O'War Dreadnought Syrah, Waiheke, New Zealand

2007 Trinity Hills Homage Syrah Viognier, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

2004 Paul Jaboulet Hermitage Petite Chapelle, Rhone Valley, France

2006 M. Chapoutier Cote Roti Les Becasses, Rhone Valley, France

plus a mystery wine, which I forgot to note down, haha!

The last wine master class we attended was Landmark Australia, simply because the bulk of wines we find in Singapore today is mostly from Australia.

Landmark Australia introduces 11 great wines:

2003 Tyrrell's Vat 1 Semillon, Hunter Valley

2002 Pewsey Vale The Countours Riesling, Eden Valley

2007 Shaw & Smith M3 Vineyard Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills

2008 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay, Margaret River

2008 De Bortoli Reserve Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley

2004 Wynns Coonawara Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra

2007 Cullen Wines Diana Madeline Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River

2007 Brokenwood Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz, Hunter Valley

2005 Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz, Eden Valley

2006 Glaetzer Anaperenna Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley

Seppeltsfield 1909 Para Tawny, Barossa Valley

Yup, that last wine was actually a 101 year old Tawny!

Tasting that century old port wine was a humbling experience. I don't think it's on sale in Singapore, but make a trip to the Seppeltsfield estate, and they will sell you a small 375ml bottle for A$650!

101 year old wine! Now, that's definitely an experience!

Marche

2010-05-13T22:30:00.002+08:00

Was at Marche @ 313 Somerset to celebrate one sister's birthday, and another's farewell

More Furniture In The House

2010-04-24T12:05:00.002+08:00

This morning, another piece of furniture was delivered to Chai Chee Avenue.

Truly, things will never be the same again... oh boy :-)

Back To Hall

2010-04-19T22:40:00.003+08:00

A number of us were back at Raffles Hall over the weekend for Prof Seah's farewell as hall master.

The place have definitely undergone some improvement in terms of structure but it still invokes plenty of memories.

This was the place we called home for 4 years; in fact, 4 of the best years of our lives.

Here's a picture of Block 5 where Daisy and I stayed in during our first year in NUS. We stayed in separate wings, of course. Taken with N97

Ah, the memories!

When There Aren't Enough Trees...

2010-04-09T22:29:00.000+08:00

Party At The Chens'

2010-03-28T22:39:00.005+08:00

Meals at the Chens' have always been special events. From whisky parties, to home-cooked feasts to rooftop BBQs, they have always been most enjoyable. That's why, when he called me on Friday to ask if I would like to drop by his place for dinner, there can be no other answer but YES!

Apart from the glorious food, there is always great company.

And premium booze.

Apart from whiskey, there were plenty of beer and wine. One wine in particular, an Australian shiraz by Flying Fish Cove was simply lovely. Will definitely be looking out for this baby in the future.

No dinner at the Chens' is complete without some premium cigar. Last night's cigar of choice was Trinidad, and my goodness, it left me feeling a little anti-gravity in the head.

The missus definitely seemed to have enjoyed herself.

And that's the most important thing :-)

Welcome To The Kop End...

2010-03-27T14:49:00.001+08:00

Seen at a local pub.

Funny as hell

The Weekends Have Been Different

2010-03-23T22:59:00.002+08:00

It hasn't been about movies or restaurant hopping for a while now..

We've been shopping for different things lately.. very different indeed...

So Good...

2010-03-22T00:04:00.001+08:00

Penfold's Private Release.. Exquisite

Rooney's Goal.. Glorious!

Park Ji Sung's Winner.. Song Boh!?

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

2010-03-21T00:15:00.005+08:00

My mum keeps a number of these birds in the backyard in Kuching.

But I definitely did not expect to see them at a public carpark in Singapore. The carpark in question is the one next to Bagus Yong Tau Fu (my favourite yong tau fu place in Singapore), at the junction of New Upper Changi Road and Still Road.

One group of the Japanese chicken were just relaxing at the entrance of the carpark.

Another group was wondering around the lots, while yet more birds were running around in the vicinity of the building behind the carpark. I believe that's where they're actually kept.

I've seen them at East Coast Park, but this is the first time I've sighted them so openly in an urban setting.

Got Food At Home?

2010-03-17T23:14:00.007+08:00

Suppose I felt hungry..

Heck, I am hungry!

What's there to eat at home?

On the living room table...

In the refridgerator...

In the freezer...

On the food counter...

and in the instant-noodles-drawer...

Feeling hungry all the time!!! Argh!!!

Cakes And Calories

2010-03-16T00:22:00.004+08:00

Put on 4kg since the start of February. Bad, real bad.

Skipped dinner today, hoping to get back on track...

End up snacking on chips, cookies and cakes.. Oh dear..

Tough la! The temptation is great. Is this how Jack Neo feels all the time?

Love Birds

2010-03-07T00:56:00.003+08:00

These two were happily romancing on the perch at my house

Enjoying the view of Chai Chee Avenue...

Right under my Renomas!

KNS!

EZ Pack

2010-02-26T13:31:00.002+08:00

I just got back from CGH and was yearning for some bah kwa. Now, I am also aware of my weight management issues and did not want to over-indulge. So, I thought, why not grab a pack of those vacuum-packed mini bah kwa that Bee Cheng Hiang produces? A mini pack a day, ain't gonna be too harmful. Brilliant right?

Problem is, they did not last beyond 12 hours. They were so good, I gobbled up all 300g of them! Sigh...

N97 - I'm Loving It!

2010-01-30T21:15:00.004+08:00

Daisy found her N97 too bulky so she gave it to me instead. The N97 being my dream phone then, I gladly accepted and bought her a Samsung Jet in return. A few of Nokia's machines are really pretty good and I'm proud to have owned some of them; 8250, 8310, 6300, 6500Slider and now the N97.

When I first got the N97, I immediately liked it. The transition from the 6500 (S) to the N97 provided large amounts of exploration and fun.

This week, another major landmark development happened. Nokia's new Ovi Maps 3.03 now comes with free navigation for a wide range of Nokia products. Woohoo!

Suddenly, the N97 thrumps the iphone on more fronts.

In-built FM transmitter... the songs I play on my phone can be played over a radio. Today we were listening to music from my phone in the car, when suddenly, the sound of snoring can be heard over the radio. Apparently, the wife used my phone to record my snoring to prove a point.

Default Message Reader... No need to read SMS while driving anymore. Let the phone read the message out loud for you. Only problem is, if kanasai is written as KNS, then the phone will read "kay-Ann-Ass".

Dual LED Flash... doubles up as a torch light.

5.0M camera with auto-focus and Carl Zeiss lenses... nuff said

Physical QWERTY keyboard... when we need precision typing. Although, I still use the alpha-numeric keypad most of the time.

I'm not too concerned about software comparisons as it's clearly only a matter of time before both phones have identical software support and applications range. It's the hardware that makes more things possible.

All hail the N97!

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2010-01-17T00:02:00.002+08:00

So who's looking more out of place now?

Miss Singapore World?

2010-01-14T00:09:00.003+08:00

Seriously can't imagine how she could have won the title. Was the quality of the competition that bad?

She said, and I quote, that she's "not afraid of embarassment, just want to be famous." At least she's achieving her declared objectives.

Where got swee?

Project68 [03/01/10]

2010-01-03T14:27:00.004+08:00

One year ago, I declared that I would 'work towards' bringing my weight down from 75kg to 68kg. After one single update, it became stagnant, and then went back up to 73.5kg! I got too paiseh and gave up updating.

It was only after coming back from Europe and seeing my glorious double-chin in all the photos that I decided, enough is enough! From then on, it was no drinks with meals, no snacks, minimal carbo and as far as possible, no dinners.

After a few months of lethargy and giddy nights, I'm glad to say that I've done it!!!

Now to maintain and do some exercise to up my fitness. Due to the lack of energy and exercise the past few months, my muscles have all become jelly. Gotta fix that.

The plan is to pick up badminton. Time to improve my game :-)

Happy New Year 2010!

2010-01-01T23:11:00.008+08:00

This year, Daisy and me spent New Year's Eve resting at home. She had to rest (and boy, so did I!) so we cancelled all prior plans and just watched a movie in the comfort of our living room. Sincere apologies to all whose parties we could not attend.

Ever since I started writing on a web log, I've managed to document the arrival of 2007, 2008 and 2009. Brings back tons of memories, as I look back at those fun times!

Nevertheles, it's no less meaningful spending alone time with Daisy at home and watching the fireworks from our window.

As our home also overlook the sea off East Coast Park, we could see fireworks going off in Indonesia as well as numerous flares being fired off the commercial vessels that line the waterline.

On another note, the four of us - me, Daisy, Minh and Andrew; finally opened our Christmas presents on 30th December 2009! Woohoo!

Happy New Year 2010 Everyone!

Christmas Eve 2009

2009-12-25T00:12:00.005+08:00

Here's wishing everyone a very merry Christmas. Unlike other years, this year I'm not attending the Christmas vigil at midnight but will go for Christmas Day mass tomorrow.

This evening, it was just a quiet dinner with Daisy and her parents, accompanied by a very rare bottle of red.

Loving my bottle of Cirillo Estate 1850 Old Vine Grenache 2004.

The wine is made from Granache grapes from vines planted way back in 1850. That's why it's so rare and hard to find. Again, I'm no expert, but as far as I'm concerned, it's nice to the last drop! haha!

BBQ at the Chen's

2009-12-21T00:27:00.002+08:00

Had a great evening BBQ over at CP and Helena's new place. Me and Daisy were the earliest to arrive so we had a chance to take a picture together. Daisy then went off for a friend's hen party.

The place is simply great. Nice cluster condo with a fantastic rooftop area. Perfect for BBQ and drinks!

Unfortunately, I was so engrossed in the BBQ (the portable BBQ grill is a must have for anyone with a space in their home for BBQ!) that I forgot to take any other pictures of the event.

Soon It Will Be Christmas..

2009-12-15T23:34:00.002+08:00

... and a Happy New Year!

Paranormal? My Ass!

2009-10-24T23:52:00.003+08:00

Almost exactly 2 years ago in Oct 2007, I wrote this post on my old Multiply blog. In that post, I recalled an incident in my childhood where I went to watch a qigong demonstration. The mental image of that demonstration stayed with me ever since and I've wondered for years, how did he do it?

One fine day, I just happened to figure it out. Confident that I have the correct answer, I wrote my conclusions in that blog post but to date, I have yet to have a chance to witness a similar event in order to prove my own hypothesis.

Recently, I chanced upon a video of an 'energy blast demonstration' (WTF, phrase also macam comic book) that is similar to the above qigong crap.

The mechanics is simple. The first 'lifting' is carried out in completely different circumstances from the second 'lifting'. Watch the video, use a bit of logic, and you'll what I mean.

Feels good; satisfying myself with debunking the bogus nonsense above. Today, I've also become more convinced that in the most part, 'practitioners' of Traditional Chinese Medicine are just full of bullcrap and we as Chinese (or even Asians in general) have for generations been misled and conned big time. I'll put in writing why a lot of the things the Chinese believe in are utter lies. Will do so when I have the energy and time.

1st Attempt - Singapore Chilli Crab

2009-10-04T23:25:00.003+08:00

Last week, I tried my hand at re-creating Singapore's unofficial national dish, the famous Chilli Crab.

So I bought a few Sri Lanka mud crabs, let them swim for a while in tap water then brought my chopper down on them.

Then, I cleaned them up a bit and prepared some spices to go along with the crabs.

An hour later, voila!

The verdict: Looks like authentic Singapore Chilli Crab; taste like crap! Haha!

Basically, a bit too watery, not sweet enough and too spicy.

Dinner At The Chen's

2009-09-22T22:07:00.005+08:00

I love getting invitations to dinner at Jamie Chen's place. Yesterday evening was another such impromptu culinary delight. This guy's cooking is really good, and getting better.

For starters, we had braised mushrooms, vinegared zucchini, long beans stir-fried with bacon slices and roast duck breast so good, you would think you're in France.

Our mains came in the form of Shanghainese braised duck. Reminded of the sweet Hakka braised duck from my mother's side of the family, only better!

We also had steamed prawns..

And mango clams!

Dinner ended with oven baked eggplant and sweetcorn.

I should also mention that to wash down all that food, we had a bottle Wolfblass moscato and some Sapporo beer.

As always, no visit to the Chen's is complete without cigar and Scotch whiskey, and this time we took our time savouring the grand-daddy of all whiskey; Laphroaig.

Thanks Chen Peng and Helena! Love you guys!

ManUtd 4 - 3 ManCity

2009-09-21T00:25:00.004+08:00

My goodness, that was simply the most exciting Manchester United match I've watched since the Champions League triumph a few years back.

This will go down in history as a classic United match and fans will remember Michael Owen scoring in the 96th minute to seal a memorable victory in this fiercely contested Manchester derby.

Watched the match with Minh, Daniel and Clare. Now, sore throat liao haha!

A New Red.. United We Stand!

2009-09-12T18:15:00.001+08:00

It's over at White Hart Lane for the match against an in form Totenham. Tough fixture here but if anyone can beat them, Manchester United can.

United Vs Spurs have traditionally been goal fests, so I'm hoping tonight will be no different. Totenham 0-3 ManUtd with Michael Owen on the score sheet!

UK & Europe Honeymoon - A Picture A Day

2009-09-06T23:00:00.009+08:00

This is a quick summary of our trip to the UK and Europe in August. A picture a day, plus a few words.

Day 0 - [13 Aug 09]

Singapore

With much eagerness, we said goodbye to Singapore and get our hectic work lives out of our systems for a good two weeks.

We took a midnight flight out of Changi. The timing was great as we were scheduled to arrive at Heathrow early the next morning, giving us one full day in London.

Day 1 - [14 Aug 09]

London & Manchester

We reached London early in the morning at met Fu Onn at his house. We then went for our first meal in Europe; Ponti's Full English Breakfast at Liverpool Street tube station.

When Fiona did get to knock off that evening, we hopped on the train to Manchester. Woohoo!

Day 2 - [15 Aug 09]

Manchester

We spent the morning walking around Manchester city centre. We could see a mix of Reds and SkyBlues in town.

After checking out of our apartment, Daisy and myself checked into a hotel room at Salford Quays, which was within the vicinity of Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium. We spent the afternoon immersing ourselves in the scenic Salford Quays area and checking out the MUFC Megastore. Fu Onn and Fiona left for York that evening.

Day 3 - [16 Aug 09]

Manchester & Edinburgh

When we woke up on Sunday morning, we could feel that the atmosphere to be distinctly different from the day before. There was more buzz and the you could see more people on the streets. Almost every other person in that part of town wore a red top!

As we made our way to the stadium, we soon became part of a massive procession of football fans heading to the Promised Land of Soccerdom. For the two of us; we finally fulfilled our own soccer pilgrimage by watching Manchester United play a Premiership match at Old Trafford. After the match, we took a flight out to Scotland.

Day 4 - [17 Aug 09]

Edinburgh & London

We had initially wanted to stay in the B&Bs of the Scottish Highlands; with a scenic loch in front of the guesthouse and a cloudy mountain at the back. But a rescheduling of Manchester United's season opening match meant we could only spend one night in Edinburgh. A single malt whiskey fueled night no less!

We even went off the beaten tourist track and ventured into the countryside to visit a whiskey distillery. In fact, that distillery turned out to be the one producing Glenkinchie, which we had just tasted the night before. The most memorable part of our trip to Edinburgh has to be our ascend to Arthur's Seat, a peak in Holyrood Park. That evening, we flew back to London.

Day 5 - [18 Aug 09]

London & Amsterdam

As Fiona had to work, Daisy, Fu Onn and myself flew off the next day to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is a beautiful city and the people were very friendly. I must also mention that our hotel in Amsterdam was the nicest one we've stayed in during the course of the two weeks. I was banned from trying to smoke weed but we did have watch a live 'adult' show in the famous red light district.

Day 6 - [19 Aug 09]

Amsterdam & Bruges

From the land of Grolsch, we took a train to the land of Duvel!

After a quick transit at Antwerp, we arrived at the medieval city of Bruges. Now this is a city lost in time! From the narrow stone paved roads to the architecture of all the buildings around the city, you will definitely feel transported back to a time of knights on horses and maidens walking by with their laundry buckets. OK, so maybe it's just me.

Day 7 - [20 Aug 09]

Bruges

Initially, we imagined this place to be less known and hence less touristy. That proved to be wrong and you could tell that the city survives entirely on tourist money; with its many romantic canals, windmills, churches, chocolatiers and restaurants.

For a tiny city, it has numerous Michelin starred restaurants. There are also downsides to this place. The hotels are of very inferior quality, shops close very early and food is very expensive. That said, we still had a lot of chocolate, beer and mussels!

Day 8 [21 Aug 09]

Bruges, Brussels & Barcelona

We left Bruges early to spend a few hours in Brussels, for more chocolate, beer and mussels! Haha!

In the evening, we took a flight to Spain where Fiona rejoined us, and what a (heat) shock Spain turned out to be. Barcelona was hot! The greatest shock came when we found out that our apartment did not have air conditioning!

Day 9 - [22 Aug 09]

Barcelona

As hot as it was, we still managed to pack our few days with activities. Walking down La Ramblas, touring the Nou Camp, visiting Segadra Familia, enjoying the vista atop Montjuic, etc..

It's a pity really that we stayed in a place without air conditioning. That taught us a very valuable lesson in booking for hotels in the future. Overall, it was still a good trip. We also had our best meal over the two weeks in a chic local restaurant called La Botiga. Highly recommended. It was a gem of a find for us, really. I'll probably blog about that story in another post.

Day 10 - [23 Aug 09]

Barcelona & Paris

Barcelona may be a beautiful city but the heat was really too much for us.

So, after saying goodbye to Fu Onn and Fiona, both going back to London to work, we continued on our way to Paris! Ah! The cool French weather was so welcoming. I can't understand why Cristiano Ronaldo would ever want a move to Spain so much!

Day 11 - [24 Aug 09]

Paris

Paris was amazing! All that talk about it being the most romantic city on Earth, well, it's probably mostly true.

The very simple act of strolling down Avenue des Champs-Élysées already feels so romantic. This is easily my favourite city during the course of the two weeks that we were in Europe.

Day 12 - [25 Aug 09]

Paris & London

With heavy heart, we said goodbye to Paris and took the Eurostar back to London.

That night, our hosts (Fu Onn and Fiona) brought us to a Szechuan restaurant near Liverpool Street. As a matter of fact, we had Chinese food every single night that we were in London!

Day 13 - [26 Aug 09]

London

While our hosts went to work, we took the time to do the usual touristy stuffs.

While we did not see the Queen in person, we did see her palace and a host of other London landmarks. We also watched a West End play (Les Misérables) and did some shopping over at Chinatown.

Day 14 - [27 Aug 09]

London

The whole Chinatown shopping trip was to help prepare for a steamboat dinner on our last night in London.

It will be an evening that all 4 of us will remember for a long time. We had a yin-yang steamboat of chicken soup and mala soup on the verandah of Fu Onn's apartment. The winds were strong and super cold. As dinner progressed, we started pulling on more clothes to counter the cold. After dinner, Fu Onn and myself went out to a nearby bar for drinks and got caught up in a karaoke mood. After 5 beers each, we went home to find Daisy and Fiona still awake and started setting up for a home karaoke session, projecting Youtube MTV on his TV. The video recording of that session will make for many a good laugh in the years to come.

Day 15 - [28 Aug 09]
London

After doing some last minute shopping and taking a final good look around London, it was finally time to head home to Singapore.

We had wanted to have a good dinner at Heathrow before the flight but a mess-up of tax rebate issues meant that there wasn't any time at all for dinner.

Day 16 - [29 Aug 09]
Singapore

After what seemed like a never ending flight, we finally touched down back in Singapore on a fine Saturday evening.

It was a most memorable 2 weeks of our lives together. What made it even more memorable was the fact that we also spent most of that time in the company of good friends.

We would definitely love to go back and spend more time in Scotland and France. Not to forget, we have yet to visit Italy, and the Vatical City in particular. Till then, there is the (very important) issue of working hard and saving up to take care of. Haha!

Thanks for reading! :-)

UK & Europe Honeymoon - I

2009-08-14T22:45:00.004+08:00

After being cramped in tiny seats in a plane full of ang mohs for 13 hours, the captain finally announced: "A very warm welcome to a great London summer day!".

I looked out the airplane window and thought; what a load of crap... where's the warmth, and, what summer?

Anyways, we took a train to the city and met Fu Onn. Long lost gay boyfriend on my honeymoon, like WTF huh? We went to Liverpool Street Tube station for breakfast.

Here's what Pinto's Full English Breakfast look like. And I'm not having anymore of that for the rest of the trip, thank you very much.

After late breakfast, we retreated to FuOnn's place to rest. His bachelor's pad is a real cool studio apartment.

The wife enjoying the view from the corridor.

The husband and his long lost boyfriend enjoying a gay moment.

Haha, what a honeymoon this is going to be! Now a bit too jet-lagged but the excitement will start tonight. Train to Manchester leaves in 2 hours!

Old Trafford Here We Come!

2009-08-12T00:14:00.001+08:00

Hong Kong Jan 09 - Part 2

2009-08-09T23:11:00.011+08:00

So Okay, I've been putting off completing the archiving of the X'mas/New Year trip to Macau and Hong Kong. I had tons of fun that time. Will just do a quick wrap up before me and Daisy go off for our long belated honeymoon. Yup! We're going on a honeymoon!

Anyways, Hong Kong was about food mostly. The food is good, and it doesn't help that food in HK is cheaper than in Singapore. But I wont be posting more shots of Dim Sum, don't worry. Hong Kong is also about maids congregating at Victoria Park.

It's also about great roadside munchies; Daisy's favourite being curry fish balls.

Also, if you've watched Hong Kong dramas/movies, you'll find vistas of terraced cemetaries. Kinda let you feel like Chan Ho Nam in one of those triad movies. Dunno what I'm talking about? Too bad for you then.

There are also plenty of "Missing" / "Lost" posters in town. From people who are really missing...

To "forget about it la" kinda missing pets.

But I tend to like the extra-ordinary, like going on a hike along the mountains of Hong Kong. The Dragon's Back Trail, anyone?

Starts off along wooded trails that can be kinda creepy if not for the occasional ang moh hikers you chance upon once in a while.

The trail eventually winds into the open hilltops that span the length of Hong Kong island.

I'm not sure if you could see it, but the trail seemed like it was never going to end! Up the side of one hill, down the other. Repeat for 9 peaks!

Yep, it's tiring all right! But the view from the trail, I assure you, is breath taking.

And the view gets better. With the cool sea breeze, it's a great feeling altogether.

Really glad we took the time to try something different.

From the Dragon's Back Trail, we ventured to Big Wave Bay and Shek O.

Sipping a beer at Big Wave Bay, I somewhat expected to see Grace Lam in some kinky action behind one of the big boulders on the beach. Also don't know who Grace Lam is? Then, really too bad lah.

Anyways, one trail I definitely do not look forward to hiking is the one tranversing Lantau Island to get to the giant statue of Buddha.

On the cable car looking down, we could see groups of hikers slowly making their way across the hills. The end of the cable car journey is the massively crowded Ngong Ping 360 themed villlage. (One tip on getting Cable Car tickets is to buy it a day earlier. Saved us 2 hours of queuing)

I've always met friends on trips overseas. This time is no different. Guess who we bumped into? Haha! Jensen and ShuZhen! Yeah, silly Liverpool fans, haha!

It's a good thing the Buddha is a Manchester United fan. Oh yeah, baby!

Lantau is also famous for silky smooth dou hua. Refreshing stuff.

Being a food lover, I find eating the roasted goose at Yue Kee a highlight of the trip.

It's located at some super ulu place. Somewhere in Sham Tseng actually. But boy is it good!

Salivating right now.. Another famous HK makan institution is Under Bridge Spicy Crab. We ordered the mildy spicy version that day as Daisy decided I was not to be allowed to eat spicy food. Will elaborate more later.

But I'll fefinitely go back to HK and order a properly spicy version of this dish; the spicy crab. Unlikely to be as good as the dishes at Mellben Ang Mo Kio but interesting nonetheless.

Having read of a toilet themed restaurant opening a few years ago, I sought it out and found it somewhere in Mongkok.

I would grade the experience as fun and interesting haha! Food is ma ma dei but it's the experience that matters.

Even our cups are in the shapes of urinals!

All that postings about food is making me real hungry right now. Already looking forward to going back to HK for makan. This time, I'll be more controlled. Back in January, I ate so much I suffered major indigestion. Feeling nauseous for one whole day, I finally had bouts of vomitting late one night. Daisy had to rush me to Ruttonjee Hospital and I had to have my butt jabbed by a lady doctor.

Luckily I was discharged a few hours after that but wasn't allowed to have a properly spiced Under Bridge Spicy Crab. But I recovered enough to celebrate the New Year at January the 1st 2009.

As well as my own birthday on January 2nd.

I love Hong Kong. Will definitely go back there again.

Yup, I believe I'll be seeing Hong Kong again pretty soon.

1st Year Anniversary

2009-08-08T08:52:00.005+08:00

One year ago today, I tied the knot with Daisy. Right about this hour, we were probably in church exchanging vows.

I take you, Daisy, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times
and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the
days of my life.

I love you, Daisy.

It's been a great one year. Never knew time could ever fly so fast. Seemed like only yesterday. I was watching the Video Montage I did for the wedding reception and it really brought back a lot of memories; happy ones.

Want to say a heartfelt thanks to all our friends who have part of our lives together all these years.

Rest In Peace, Yasmin

2009-07-27T23:29:00.001+08:00

And may perpetual light shine upon your soul

We will miss you!

Get Well Soon Yasmin

2009-07-23T23:31:00.004+08:00

It's in the news that Yasmin Ahmad had a stroke and is in ICU. I pray that she has a speedy recovery. You can do it, Yasmin!

Yasmin Ahmad, whom I've only met once, directed movies like Sepet and Muallaf. We met her last year while she was in Singapore promoting Muallaf, the movie Malaysia may never get to see. Not sure if it's been screened in Malaysia yet though.

If there was one word that I'll use to describe her, it'll be COURAGE. If you're a Malaysian, and have watched some of her movies, you'll fully understand what I mean.

Her are some of her 'mini' works. (you may have seen the funeral one)

Sexy Monroe

2009-07-02T23:59:00.004+08:00

My work requires me to stay back in office till late sometimes. And 'sometimes' can sometimes be 'most of the time'. To keep me entertained at night, I installed a nice wall mounted audio player by Philips.

Last week, my ang moh boss decided that I should have a better companion in the office. He sent Marilyn to keep me company.

For two days, I get a shock everytime I open the room door.

27

2009-06-30T17:46:00.001+08:00

Daisy's Birthday Weekend!

2009-06-28T22:57:00.005+08:00

Had nice drinks at Wala Wala with former university mates on Saturday night. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera along, so no pictures. On Sunday, we invited a couple of Daisy's colleagues for lunch. Both of them were from Kuching and the only reason we're having them over was to eat Kuching laksa, haha!

Somehow, 2 more of her colleagues appeared as a surprise birthday celebration. She was surprised cos' she did not expect them. I was surprised because I have already laid out 4 bowls of laksa. Luckily, I made extra gravy so it was just a matter of boiling more bee hoon. Phew!

After lunch, we they had a little 'recreation session' of Wii Tennis. If that wasn't enough, they even tried their hands at Boxing. Violent women, these civil engineers...

After a round of Raving rabbids, we adjourned to the mahjong table for a friendly gaming session.

I had rotten luck this afternoon. Don't wanna talk about it. Luckily, we did not play with real money. Still, sigh...

Dinner was with Daisy's parents at Imperial Herbal Restaurant and Tcafe. That means another birthday cake!

As usual, Daisy gets a hongbao and a present. Well, I can't remember if she gets hongbao every year, but definitely a present from her parents.

Now, wonder what it is?

A brand new Nokia N97! Actually, her parents bought it for me, but it's just too ridiculous to get a present on your wife's birthday, so there's no way I'm accepting it.

Important thing is, Daisy seem to like her new N97!

Happy Birthday Dear.

*Muahz*

Sporty Day

2009-06-27T23:55:00.005+08:00

We had a "Sporty Day" last Friday afternoon. The Alexandra Agency Sales Management Team went to Bedok Reservoir for some serious water sports action adventure.

If you could somehow believe it, we were kayaking! Cool, relaxing fun!

Next up, we tried something more physicaly taxing; dragon boating!

There is a reason why the professional racers have bulging muscles. Dragon boat racing is real hard work!

The weather was great, and the camaraderie was perfect. Some of us still had some energy left to smile (and jump) for the camera at the end of the day. Thanks everyone! It sure was a lot of fun. You guys were are the best :-)

The Modern Middle Kingdom

2009-06-15T21:24:00.004+08:00

I've lived in Singapore for 10 years. I never once saw it as The Modern Middle Kingdom as Mr M calls it. Makes for an interesting read, his blog post.

Having written a long commentary as part of this post, I decided not to publish it instead. Suffice to say that many others have had their say about the various issues faced by the two countries. Hence, I reserve all other comments.

Manchester United - 08/09

2009-06-13T16:37:00.005+08:00

Been a great season. Would have been greater had we also won both the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. But a haul of FIFA Club World Cup, Carling Cup and Premier League champions is amazing by any measure.

So we've finally sold Christiano Ronaldo. I remember being in NUS and wondering "why the heck did we pay £12.2 million for boy from Portugal who's barely 18 years old?". All that cross-overs that achieved nothing in his first season only served to compound fears of Manchester United going down the drain in those years. But the boy wonder grew into a monster of a football player and the rest is history. £80 million is good business deal for someone who wants out anyways. Looking forward to exciting new players.

I dislike the fact that next season's kit might be used for 2 years but the with the sponsor's logo changing after only one year. This authentic looking poster was supposedly leaked by Nike. Poster itself is nice, but difficult to make a judgement call on the stripe.

Especially with this photo also appearing online. Hmmm...

Casa Sarina

2009-06-01T22:56:00.003+08:00

Went for Tommy's housewarming last Saturday. Nice pad. Very nice, indeed. Good for living; good for entertaining guests.

Congrats bro!

Yummy Lobsters Again!

2009-05-31T23:10:00.003+08:00

Another trip to Penggerang, this time with some inter-department colleagues. The sun was out in full force, the taxis were either missing or cranky and I'm completely drained.

But boy, was the lunch good! Most importantly, the camaraderie was great! Thanks guys!

United Champions League Winners Again?

2009-05-27T22:43:00.002+08:00

I believe ManUtd have the more balanced team for this match up. Barca of course are superb but I believe we can triumph here. Would dearly love for Park Ji Sung to start and for Ronaldo and Rooney to score.

Oh and I suddenly remembered, I have a couple of "ManUtd-to-win-EPL" SingaporePools tickets! Woohoo.. double happiness!!!

Champions For Sure!

2009-05-16T20:05:00.004+08:00

It's tonight, for sure. One more point is all that's required for Manchester United to win the Premiership title. We'll get all 3 points is my bet.

Too bad for Liverpool though. Best chance they've had in a while. After tonight, I think FuOnn owes me at least 4 Kenny Rogers meal (ongoing bet, renewed every year, unpaid for a few years already).

Spent the evening whipping a laksa meal (Yes! Just got new stock today) and I'm so gonna enjoy the night! Watching at home right now with Daisy, Andrew and Tommy.

It's Just So Hot

2009-05-11T00:48:00.003+08:00

The past couple of weeks have been just hot and humid. Even the nights are hot.

Hosted a game of Texas Hold'em on Friday and we were wondering what the heck is wrong with the aircon. Little did I know that outside, it was a freakin' free sauna for the whole country!

Sunset view from my bedroom window. Now, if only I had an SLR. (the size of a compact, preferably, Haha!)

Relaxing Sunday

2009-05-05T23:12:00.005+08:00

Had afternoon tea (more like lattes and mochas actually) at Riders Cafe over the weekend.

Nice scones with butter, cream and jam.

And a killer of a cake called Death By Chocolate! It's a full sized yummilicious meal!

Food and beverage were good. So was the ambience of the cafe itself.

You basically sip your tea and eat your cake with horses trotting right outside your window.

Some just taking a walk in the carpark while others helping themselves to the grass.

Very relaxing...

A beautiful Sunday afternoon for all..

Yup, we're all having a good time, aren't we?

Mini Gathering

2009-05-02T23:20:00.003+08:00

Had a few friends over for dinner last week. Trying to minimize the clean up work, I decided to go for simple and easy to prepare food. There was enough food to go around, but sadly, I overbaked most of it. That's why I usually stay away from oven prepared food.

Amongst the items we had were:

Overbaked mini pizzas

Overbaked macaroni and cheese

And yummy fresh oysters, thanks to Chen Peng!

I also made my favourite Black Forest Cheesecake. I paid over SGD$60.00 for 200g of caster sugar for this. Dammit.

My thanks to the Chens, the Gohs and Ms HamSup for dropping by.

May Day!

2009-05-01T10:30:00.002+08:00

It's been a tough week. Drained and fatigued. Emotionally and mentally.

Will take this few days to recharge. A token of appreciation of my hard work? Haha. Thanks anyways..

Kuching Laksa.. Adipos Style!

2009-04-17T21:59:00.002+08:00

I've always wanted to cook a damned good Kuching Laksa. But my efforts all these years have failed miserably. I just couldn't figure out what Chong Choon (my favourite laksa place in Kuching) put into their bowl of laksa. My last effort while hosting a CNY party also ended up in utter disaster. Luckily my guests weren't familiar with the dish, else they would be scrambling for a drain to puke it all out.

But just last week, I've finally tasted success in perfecting my laksa. Now I'm constantly craving it; and as far as I'm concerned, if I'm craving my own cooking, then it has to be pretty damned good.

I remember shuddering and felt super paiseh serving a pathetic laksa during CNY this year. Now, I look forward to cooking and sharing with my friends. Only problem is, I'm completely out of laksa paste again!

Must You Leave Your Child At Home With A Maid?

2009-04-04T01:03:00.002+08:00

I don't care if this video is real (Looks very real). The thing is, the possibility is very real.

Personally, I feel a child care centre is safer. To all my friends with children at home with the maid, please be more careful. For those of you who treats the maid like dirt, you'll never know when she'll be serving you dirt in your dinner. Or poison.

Ever Wondered Why..?

2009-04-03T23:54:00.003+08:00

..Pease can't exist

Project68 [29/02/09]

2009-03-29T18:21:00.002+08:00

I woke up 2 days ago weighing a happy 71.5kg. That's 3kg off the 74.5kg at the start of the year and half way to 68kg. That means Project68 by June is right on track!

This calls for a celebration!

Yesterday, I had laksa for lunch and prepared baked macaroni and cheese for dinner. Lunch today was a Japanese ala carte buffet I'm still suffering from and dinner later will be crabs at Eng Seng Coffeeshop over at Joo Chiat Place.

But the main celebration was finally opening my prized Godiva's Platinum Collection that I've torturously avoided since last December. It was a X'mas gift from Fu Onn and I've abstained from it ever since.

Ahhh.. Glorious!!

Earth Hour

2009-03-28T22:21:00.002+08:00

In the spirit of fighting global warming (or is it climate change?), we turned off all the light in the house from 8:30pm to 9:30pm..

.. plugged in my laptop to the 50" plasma TV and watched Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle

Laksa At Raffles Place

2009-03-25T21:39:00.002+08:00

Was at AIA Tower and Prudential Tower yesterday. So I crossed over to Golden Shoe for lunch. Was pleasantly surprised to find a stall selling Kuching Laksa there. It's a branch of the one at Jurong East.

Unfortunately, the laksa I had that day was way below par. Worse than my last attempt to cook it myself. It was just bland and watery. And like the one at Jurong, it doesn't come with belacan.

However, the few times I tried the Jurong one, the broth was actually quite good. Better in some ways than the Kuching laksa at Bedok.

Sigh, disappointed with lunch.. To think they even displayed a culinary achievement certificate. Double sigh.

Anti Sharks' Fins Soup

2009-03-15T21:38:00.003+08:00

Saw this on Ashley. Made me feel proud that Daisy and myself made a conscious effort not to serve sharks' fins soup at our wedding dinner.

Luckily, we did not invite that woman to our wedding!

p/s: The video is a spoof, trying to ride on the infamy of the incident where a woman went berserk at the airport in Hong Kong after she was late for her flight.

Hong Kong Dec 08 - Part I

2009-03-01T16:17:00.005+08:00

We arrived at Hong Kong from Macau on the afternoon of Christmas eve, and it was straight to checking in at Metropark Hotel. Now this is one hotel I would really recommend. Nothing glamourous about it, but super convenient and very practical. Check out the picture I ripped from the internet:

We've stayed here before back in 2005 and still loved it.

Rooms are spacious.. even after we messed it up.

Did I mention that the view was great?

Especially at night?

The view you see is actually Victoria Park and Victoria Harbour in the foreground; and Tsim Sha Tsui in the background. One probably cannot get a better view unless it's from the top of Victoria Peak.

From the room, if I were to point the camera downwards, we'll see Causeway Bay Sports Ground. That was where I jogged every other morning for about 4km.

Every alternate morning, I'll hit the threadmill in the gym as well as the sauna. If I did not, I really can't imagine the weight I'ld have put on in Hong Kong. After all, half the time is spent eating!

See the fatso with the double chin? Yup, that's me!

The only advantage 'feeling fat' is you probably won't be too intimidated by Bruce Lee. Honestly, I did not expect him to be so.. small. I'm sure he's quick and strong, but Hey, I'm well insulated.

Anyways, Victoria Park plays host to the annual Hong Kong Brands And Products Expo around the end of the year. We had some time between dinner and midnight mass so we went for a stroll through the fair.

It sure was one big crowded affair. Strangely, I don't only see Hong Kong products being displayed.

Amongst others, there were also instant Singapore Chilli and Black Pepper Crab paste.

And guess what? Klang Bak Kut Teh! *faint*

From Victoria Park it was a short walk to Christ The King Chapel for midnight mass. Somehow the priest that night reminded me of a Causeway Bay gu huo zhai. Priest by day; gangster by night. How cool! We were late but one kind old lady offered to share the front pew with us so we actually got a seat in front of the scene of the nativity. While we were saying our personal prayers during Communion, little children would come up to the figurines of the Holy Family and say their own little prayers.

The purity and innocence of little children in a huge metropolitan city. Very touching!

Love In The Mail

2009-02-23T00:12:00.002+08:00

This came in the mail a few days ago. Thanks guys!

Miss you all!

Project68 [18/02/09]

2009-02-19T00:05:00.004+08:00

I was 68kg for a number of years. Even then, I felt and looked chubby.

However, I suddenly put on another 7kg from July to August of 2008.

And guess what? 68kg did not seem too bad at all. Better than 75kg!

So it was my 2009 New Year's resolution to lose weight; all 7kg of it.

I started the year at 75kg. I was 72.5kg this morning. Happy? You betcha!

Macau Dec 08

2009-02-14T23:44:00.008+08:00

I had 2 weeks of free time in December last year as I was in the midst of a career switch. Daisy took a couple of days off too and we headed for a short trip to Macau and Hong Kong. Always wanted to see what Macau had to offer; and I dare say, it does offer a fair bit in terms of tourism appeal. We stayed in the Venetian and that in itself is a unique experience.

We had a big room. It comes with a decent view.

And trust me, you'll love the bathroom!

You may also have heard of the nicely done false sky and canals.

Makes you think it's bright and sunny and perfect for shopping no matter what the weather is like outside. In the 4 days that we were there, we covered less than 20% of the shops at the Venetian. In fact, the only shop that we really dropped by at is the 16,000 sqft Manchester United Megastore. After Old Trafford and the Carrington training facility, this is ManUtd central for the Asia Pacific region.

Until the Cotai Strip is completed (if it ever will be), I'ld definitely wanna stay at the Venetian again. That or one of the many nice boutique hotels.

This is the first trip that we went on without any planning in terms of itenary. So we're essentially blur tourist. And like any other tourists, we did the usual touristy stuffs. Like heading straight for the Ruins of St Paul's.

It's crowded even on a weekday. Somehow I doubt it'll be so popular if was never burnt down and the original cathedral still stood on that hill. Next to the Ruins, on an higher hill stood Monte Forte; or more specifically, Fortress of Our Lady of the Mount of St. Paul. Like the cathedral, it is built and run by Catholic Jesuit monks. Here you'll find big guns the Jesuits used to protect Macau.

Trust me, if the Jesuits still had a say in running the fort, they would have blown the monstrosity that is the Grand Lisboa out of the sky.

I can't believe that I've not heard of the building before arriving at Macau. It doesn't look like a hotel cum casino at all. In fact it looked to me like a gigantic shrine to the devil where Stanley Ho and gang conduct satanic virgin sacrifices every night.

Maybe it's just me but I found the building disturbing. This is one of 3 things in Macau that disturbed me. I'll elaborate later.

Anyways, Forte Monte was a nice place to take pictures.

In face, the whole of Macau is rather picturesque.

We visited quite a number of churches and temples.

We also took long romantic walks. *shy*

We also ate a lot of 'instant noodles' and Portuguese baked rice/pasta but to prevent this blog from becoming a food blog, I shall not be posting pictures of food. That, and the fact that I'm still trying to get myself into diet mode! Haha! Oh, if you guys do visit Macau, do make your way to Lord Stow's Bakery for their version of the egg tart. Yummy! They are so good (sweet), the egg tarts brought out the dragon in me!

But my supposed bravado did not prepare me to face the statue of A-Ma. To get to the statue, you have to scale a rather steep and tall hill in the country-side island of Coloane. As you reach the peak, you emerge from a boulevard of trees and come face to face with a very imposing statue. I felt like I was caught in a scene from Jason And The Argonauts.

It strikes a certain fear in me as I looked up at it. It's a weird feeling, standing on the top of a hill only to have a gigantic statue towering over you. Standing there at the foot of the statue, I could see the entire island of Coloane as well as the island of Taipa and Macau. I just can't stop imagining Godzilla emerging out of the sea around us and start battling A-Ma.

To think that the average height of people in Macau/Hong Kong isn't all that tall. And I thought that the Japanese were supposed to be the short ones.

Yao Ming ma man, I feel ya dawg!

The 3rd thing that disturbed me was Macau Tower. It took me at least one minute before I could psyche myself up to step onto the see-through glass floor. One day, I'll go back there to do the bungee.

Oh and I met some of my regional colleeagues at giving out free almond cookies at Senado Square. I did not tell them I worked for the same company though haha! At the center of Senado Square was St Dominic's Church. On our last night in Macau, we actually queued for more than an hour to get tickets to a concert at St Dominic's by the Macau Orchestra. For a small population, they really did have a decent orchestra. So good that I fell asleep halfway through the first piece.

But hey, being a tourist can be tiring OK? Especially with having to contend with Monster Lisboa, Monster A-Ma and the floorless Macau Tower. Luckily we had a great hotel to return to and rest our weary bodies and souls.

Ahh... the bliss. Makes you never wanna leave the bath. Alas, after 4 days and 3 nights, we had to leave Macau. And guess what? The Venetian has their own fleet of high speed ferries that leave for Hong Kong every hour!

I'll write a bit about Hong Kong; when I have the time haha!

Touched Me

2009-02-10T20:21:00.000+08:00

Woman

2009-02-10T20:06:00.004+08:00

Excited

2009-02-01T16:12:00.003+08:00

I've not been following tennis for a while now. Not played since secondary school actually. The only match I watched in 2008 was the Tsonga-Djokovic battle exactly one year ago. But the match starting in 15 minutes is just too mouth watering. Ever since Sampras-Agassi, there hasn't been any rivalry in tennis worth mentioning.

Roger Federer is the sublime maestro.

Rafael Nadal is arguably the most muscle bound athlete in the sport with undeniably the most awkward killer strokes. And he scratches his ass so compulsively every single point!

Whoever wins this, I'm hoping for a wonderful display of tennis.

Welcoming the Year of the Ox!

2009-01-28T20:51:00.006+08:00

Gong Xi! Gong Xi! Was back in Kuching over the CNY period with Daisy. There's the reunion dinner, visiting and gatherings with friends and family to make the festivities all the more meaningful.

My dad prepared the dishes for the reunion dinner and this year, I ate without any complains. None of the usual "not enough gravy" etc. After all, I'm officially on a diet. Hmm..

But I did munch on some CNY goodies. Did I ever mentioned that Kuching has the absolute best Malay kuihs ever? Hands down.. :-)

But there's one other thing that we look forward to each year. And no, it's not the hong baos. I'm talking about ~~firecrackers and fireworks~~ something else. Redsponge's husband was supposed to help me buy the stuffs but he told me his supplier ran out of stock the morning of CNY eve. Luckily I managed to source from other places!

So we had a small little bundle of various ammunition for the night. After dinner, we watched Ip Man and Warlords as we waited for midnight to come. Come 11:30pm on 25th Jan 2009, we started preparations liao.

We gotta tie the long ~~firecrackers~~ and noisy ones to poles and them secure the poles high enough off the ground. Unfortunately, we did not have poles long enough so I had to drape it around the gate.

Once that is done, we played with the more 'simple' stuffs while we wait for the hour; 'spinners', 'flashers' as well as 'grenades'. Here's Daisy demonstrating a grenade. It's called "Big Boss" and it causes a deafening explosion.

It's very simple. Hold it in one hand. Hold the lighter in another. Light the fuse and throw! If you don't throw, you'll lose a few fingers. I have friends who lost fingers because they held on for too long. Seriously. I also knew people who used it to blow up public phones so that they can steal the coins. Idiots!

At midnight, the whole neighbourhood light their stuffs and the whole city is suddenly transformed into Gaza (without the suffering). The picture above shows me lighting the second firecracker and by then, my ears are ringing and I can't hear people talking to me. You can see the front porch completely engulfed in smoke.

After fireworks, it's the turn of firecrackers. This year, we used the boxed versions so easier to play with. First you light the fuse.

Then you run!

As you stand and go "Woah" at the ensuing magic, you gotta also dodge all the fiery remnants that come flying back down to earth. It was great fun. When we used up most of our own ammo, we drove out to the elevated-road (we call it the fly-over) to have a wider view of the neighbourhood. Visibility was down to 20m but you could still see fireworks exploding all around you. From the picture, you can't even see the hotel in the background.

In the morning, the city is covered by a nice looking 'red carpet' that smells of gun-powder haha!

Everyone had a lot of fun during CNY eve. Everyone except the family Pekingese, that is. Tili here was badly traumatised by the whole experience. Here you see him looking tired from lack of sleep.

Well, hope you had a great start to the year too! Once again,
Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

2009-01-24T16:45:00.006+08:00

Yeah it's that time of the year again. Daisy and I will be flying home in a few hours. Will meet up with family and hopefully, can catch up with people like Redsponge, VampireM and the rest over the next few days. I asked my buddy to buy some fireworks and he got me the following:

25 Shots Sky Waterfall
25 Shots Gong Xi Fa Cai
25 Shots Rainbow Knight

I really don't know what they are but can't wait to find out haha!

May this Year of the Ox bring all of us happiness and prosperity.

One of the company hongbaos this year. At least 3 designs this year; all very nice.

Xin Nian Lai Le

2009-01-19T23:29:00.002+08:00

We're barely done wishing each other Merry Christmas and Happy New Year when the well wishing starts all over again. It's Chinese New Year again folks!

In fact, I've not even had the chance to take down the Christmas tree at home. So how lei?

Turn it into a CNY Tree! Swee boh?

Can Manchester United...

2009-01-17T22:44:00.004+08:00

... Top the table?

Those of us who followed Manchester United love the club for so many reasons. From near relegation when Sir Alex arrived in 1986 to undoubtedly the best club in the short history of the Premier League.

I started following United in 1995 and have never looked back. This season, we started the season horribly but nary a ManUtd fan was worried. The reason being, ManUtd usually play their best game only after Christmas. We proved it against Chelsea and are now poised to overtake an undeserving Liverpool team despite losing almost the whole of our defensive line up.

So, will we really top the table tonight? We'll find out soon enough, wont we?

Birthday Dos

2009-01-15T23:02:00.004+08:00

Feels like I've totally neglected this blog. But let's restart with the mini gatherings I've had in Singapore for my birthday. Hooray I'm 28. Dunno why but feels great to be 28. The most recent one was with Daisy and my housemates (as well as their respective significant other). We had a nice dinner with a smooth bottle of white at Modesto's Orchard branch. Good food for not too high a price. Really enjoyable.

After dinner we hopped over to White Rabbit for drinks. Nice ambience, not so nice F&B. We were joined with a whole bunch of other friends but unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me.

Earlier, we had another mini gathering when Fu ~~the gay boy~~ Onn was around. Nice dinner at Dian Xiao Er followed by a bottle of Macallan 18 Years and some beers at his new house. Next, we did what we should never be allowed to do; sing Karaoke at Party World Tanjong Pagar.

Two towers of Heineken later..

well.. let's just say we really enjoyed ourselves.

Here's a parting wink from the drunkard.

See, I told you he's gay!

No time to blog..

2009-01-07T22:36:00.002+08:00

So much to say. So many photos to share. Lots of updates. But gosh, how come no time?

2009 Is Here!

2009-01-01T11:29:00.003+08:00

And suddenly, 2008 is gone. So much happened in 2008, that it seemed like a very short year. Thanks to everyone who shared that journey with me.

Still in Hong Kong when time as we know it crossed into 2009. Before that on the 30th, I've suffered indigestion from over-eating (was vomitting and had to be rushed to hospital and had my butt jabbed for the first time since kindergarten!) and lost my phone. But I got better and as the night of the 31st arrived, we snucked up to the rooftop of the hotel where we're staying to watch the fireworks display and countdown on Hong Kong island.

Ok I know I should get a new camera but I can't bear to let go of the one I'm using now. It has been a faithful companion all these years.

My resolution for 2009 will be to lose weight. I WILL bring my weight down from 75kg to 68kg! Gambatei Adipos!

Greetings from the SARs!

2008-12-27T23:22:00.005+08:00

Yo everyone. Here's saying Hi! from the Far East. We had a great time exploring the very charming Macau.

Now, we're at Hong Kong to usher in 2009. Missing the parties going on back in Singapore. Save some for us k! We're coming back soon!

As they say it here;

Sing Dan Fai Lok!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2008-12-21T09:04:00.004+08:00

Here's wishing everyone in advanced Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I gotta be at the airport in 2 hours. Will be spending our Christmas and New Year in Macau and Hong Kong. Woohoo!

Yesterday we had a nice dinner plus Texas Hold'em at my place. We also had fun going down memory lane watching a very old video of ourselves as freshmen of Raffles Hall. Thanks everyone who turned up, hope you guys had fun.

Before I leave the house, gotta open up the presents under the Christmas Tree. Yup, the Chai Chee people actually bought presents for each other. Exciting! I wonder what I'll get!

See you guys next year!

Bellini Grande

2008-12-20T12:57:00.004+08:00

Fu Onn ~~the gay boy~~ being back in Singapore usually means there will be a lot of clubbing. At the suggestion of Chen Peng, we checked out the not-that-new anymore Bellini Grande at Clarke Quay. It occupies the premise vacated by Crazy Horse.

Definitely feels more atas than the usual drinking joint. It's like someone (Dennis Foo) took the old Bellini Room at St. James, up the sitting capacity, up the decor and give the whole thing a touch of class.

The band is now a symphony and boy the song and dance routines are good!

We've also got quite a cool crowd there.

More cool people!

Being an old building, we even found ourselves some ghosts!

Old Buddy Back In Town

2008-12-19T00:29:00.005+08:00

The gay boy is back! Yup, Fu Onn is in town for the Christmas season. We wasted no time ~~rekindling our romance~~ catching up; having supper at MissUCafe and Bedok 85 hawker center.
We also had beers at Paulaner Brauhaus with Chen Peng and Helena. Well, actually, we had beers but Chen Peng had soda (baned from alcohol) while Helena had white wine.

Simple Farewell

2008-12-16T23:51:00.004+08:00

A group of my colleagues dropped by this evening for dinner. Dawn even came early to help me prepare dinner for everyone. Thanks so much Dawn!

They even brought some gifts. This here is a multi-function scanner-printer-copier-etc. Obviously the brainchild of Jason.

Andrea also brought a long a fine bottle. Not that I'm any connosiour but you'll know a good bottle when you see one.

Thanks guys. I'm gonna miss you all!

JB Road Trip

2008-12-14T00:30:00.000+08:00

Had a relaxing yet tiring day catching up with some friends whom I've not seen much of lately. We somehow decided to drive up to Johor Bahru to makan. Since I've been to JB a couple of times, I played tour guide for this road trip.

We agreed to gather at Catholic Junior College at 10am before starting off the convoy of 3 cars to JB. Beautiful morning, but only 2 cars appeared on time. This is a nice picture of those who are punctual. I quite like this picture actually.

While waiting for those who are late, we ate breakfast and played frisbee at CJC's carpark. Now, guess who's late. Who else but Sam?!? Never fails to be late this boy. As punishment, we'll use Sam as a model for one of the activities we did. Massage!

Other than massage, we also shopped quite a fair bit. In fact, we covered TheStore, Carrefour as well as Tesco! Of course, the main purpose of the trip is to makan but I was enjoying the food so much, I forgot to take any pictures.

Before we set off for Singapore again, we managed to take a group photo. Another nice one too!

Sporty In Appearance

2008-12-11T22:58:00.000+08:00

Who am I kidding? I'm freaking unfit.

Did I turn up for StanChart Singapore Marathon 2008? Yes, barely.
Will I sign up for the marathon next year? Most definitely, not.

By the way, this year's race route took us through the F1 race track and as we passed by the Pit Building, there were a whole line of Ferraris on display. From antique models to the latest Modena. The Enzo was nowhere to be seen though.

We also dropped by the Mediacorp Celebrity Car Boot Flea Market at the PlayGround @ BigSplash. It was to support Janice at her People's Association booth. And to grab some freebies from the PA obviously.

Sporty water bottles to keep up the sporty appearance you know :-)

8 Women And A Man

2008-12-07T01:25:00.000+08:00

Attended the wedding of one of Daisy's colleagues last night.

It's good to be the only thorn amongst the roses. Oh yeah baby!

p/s: This shows that while there is still food, this is not a food blog haha!

Chut Chut Yum Yum

2008-12-04T21:13:00.000+08:00

There's this place near my block that sells a decent mee rebus (kinda like mee jawa for those in Kuching). It's actually a stall in a HDB-ground-level-kopitiam run by a Malay lady. Recently, I took a look at their selection of Singapore style Nasi Padang dishes. The one dish that caught my eyes was Chut-Chut! The Malay community here calls it Siput Sedut (or Siput Sedut Sedut sometimes)

The one near my block is really quite good. I ordered a rice-bowl portion for $1.50 to go with my nasi lemak.

The first time I had the chut-chut, it was served as masak lemak. I was there again today, and this time the Malay lady prepared it as Masak Lada Merah. This time, I had a bowl to go with my kaya-butter-toast. Hmmm, a bit weird but.. whatever! Either way she cooks it; very spicy. Shiok ah!

The photos were taken using my Nokia 6500 Slider. Low tech, low rest, no macro-shot but at least can see something. Oh and don't bother to google the little fellas. They are known as cerithidea obtusa and they look like aliens!

Dog's Day Afternoon

2008-12-01T21:50:00.000+08:00

Daisy's parents were in Hong Kong so being the good son-in-law that I am, I agreed to bring the family shih tzu go kai kai. Yup, that shih tzu is none other than Bambam. Remember her?

We decided to bring Bambam see a good 'friend' of mine. Bambam was super happy lah; got car ride and jalan jalan.

My friend stays at Pasir Ris Farmway 1 and suddenly Bambam was getting panicky seeing all the other dogs having their fun in the sun. It is after all, a pet farm.

Suddenly, my 'friend' appeared out of nowhere and started to sniff-sniff at Bambam and, oh well.. poor Bambam was simply terrified to say the least.

In the end, we had to place her in her 'safe place' aka 'limo' and send her safely home.

I doubt Bambam will look forward to a Sunday afternoon out with me again anytime soon.

The Film Malaysia May Never Get To See

2008-11-29T21:52:00.000+08:00

What a day! Early in the morning, we (me, Daisy and Sanball) went for a session of badminton with some friends. We ended early, showered and set off to the Picturehouse to catch the 1.15pm screening of Muallaf.

By the time we got there, it was already 12.50pm and we were hungry; not to mention thirsty. So we chop chop grabbed something to makan at the basement. I've checked with the lady at the ticketing counter and the actual screening would begin at 1.20pm but by the time we entered the theater, it was already 1.25pm. The tiny theater was already full and as with all late comers, we had to almost climb over those sitting at the aisles to get to our seats. I remember saying sorry to a bunch of Malay girls in the darkness.

I've never done a movie review on my blog before and I won't start. But sufice to say, we enjoyed the show. It had a good story, was well paced, had slapstick scenes so crappy they you can't help laughing out loud and then there were scenes that were impactful, powerful and compelling. Being a Yasmin Ahmad movie, it obviously deals with relationships in a multi-racial, multi-religious, differing-socio-economical-political, mumbojumbo kinda setting. In a nutshell, a movie you'ld wanna watch, but Malaysia won't let you see.

Have I mentioned that I like Yeo Yann Yann? Well, she had what seemed like 5 to 6 minutes worth of screen time in a cameo appearance. Sigh. Oh and she did not appear for the screening as I had hoped.

Cos' by the time the credits rolled and the downlights came on, I looked around but did not see Yann Yann anywhere in the 'crowd' of 30 or so people in the theater. But when I looked to my right, I saw that the bunch of Malay girls we almost trampled over to get to our seats, were the stars of the show! Me, Daisy and Sanball just gasped and shared that startled look. As we looked around the room, there was Brian the lead guy at one corner at the back, and that was Brother Anthony over there.. and isn't that Yasmin Ahmad? We were really like.. Wow! The last time I went for a festival film screening, only the director showed up and nobody really bothered with him cos' the movie sucked big time. Heck, I can't even remember the title of that Japanese film.

So we adjourned to a lounge room and had a proper Q&A session with the people who made the movie.

People had so many questions for Yasmin, and she patiently answered all of the questions with eager excitedness. She even answered a few of my own questions but kinda siamed when I asked her about the prevailing theme of the inconvenient MalayMuslimGirl-NonMuslimChineseBoy love affair in her movies. Anyways, based on this one encounter with her, my impression of her is that she's this super widely read, watched and listened-to siao zharbo who has a great passion of telling stories and opinions that are close to her heart and in her mind. An amazing person.

Yasmin Ahmad

We even had the chance to take pictures with Brian Yap and Sharifah Aleysha. If I had stepped on her feet at the aisles, then she must have forgiven me cos' she was flashing her shy angelic smile the whole time.

Brian Yap and Sharifah Aleysha

Yup, even Sharifah Amani aka Rohani aka Orked was there. She looked like a little kid! It's been years since Sepet and she looked even younger than she did back then. Honestly, she's 25 but doesn't look a year older than her sister Sharifah Aleysha who is 15.

When I asked Orked, "Where's Jason?" She said "Oh, Jason* dah lama hilang la, dah kahwin dah. Now I'm with Brian. Oops!"

Sharifah Amani

Now that we've met Orked in real life, it's time to pop that Sepet DVD in the player and watched it again.

*Jason is the love interest of Orked in Sepet and I think the 'Jason' guy designed that poster for Muallaf

Muallaf

2008-11-27T11:31:00.000+08:00

Most of us would have been familiar with the Malaysian movie Sepet by now.

If you're living in this part of the world and haven't seen it, please do yourself a favour and get acquainted with the moving story and memorable characters that define the movie.

Sepet, as well as its sequels Gubra and Mukshin, is written and directed by Yasmin Ahmad. Both sequels are movies I've yet to get the chance to watch.

But the good news is, the latest Yasmin Ahmad movie opens today at the PictureHouse. And guess what? It stars Yeo Yann Yann, one of my fav actress. Too bad she's gay. Sigh.. at least that's what I read somewhere..

Here's a trailer on Youtube. Now, see you at the movies!

Our First Christmas Tree!

2008-11-26T00:07:00.001+08:00

It's exactly one month to Christmas! Can you feel the X'massy Atmosphere in the air yet? Not really? Well, neither can I haha! But it ain't stopping us making this Christmas a memorable one!

So I did not chop down any of the trees lining the block. The last guy who anyhow chopped one of NParks' trees got fined $70,000 lor!

But we did go shopping for one.. Heehee!

Ok.. The 'materials'..

This is the corner where the tree will go..

Now, how many engineers does it take to set up a Xmas Tree? Ans: 5, including me! Gosh..

And finally, we got ourselves a nice Xmas Tree!

Woohoo.. it's my very first Xmas Tree and I'm trilled!

Christmas Is Coming

2008-11-24T22:30:00.000+08:00

... and obviously, I need to get a X'mas tree. So off I went to Tekka Centre to shop for a tree. And boy, there were so many many many beautifully decorated tree. But guess what? They cost about $700 bucks a tree (with ornaments and lights)

Sigh. But then again, there is a whole row of fir-looking-trees lining up the carpark below the block. And I do have a saw...

Hmmm... Should I?

I'm Going On A Diet!

2008-11-24T00:32:00.000+08:00

Yup... I've decided to do something about my uncomfortable looking/feeling belly. Save for milk (to go with breakfast cereals) and coffee, i'll only drink Plain Water from now till Christmas! Yup, no more sugared drinks for me.

I'm counting on you, Novita!

What Was Cooking..

2008-11-21T17:53:00.000+08:00

Ok Ok.. The answer is:

Hot Plate Beef and Fried Kai Lan In Oyster Sauce!

Now let's see;

Rohana - mana ada prawns? Aduh...

Puisan - wrong my dear.. no invites for you la la la..

Peter - Peter says you all should update your links to my blogspot (and I'm guessing he means Mr Wong Fu Onn)

-J - Of course familliar lah.. beef, kailan, ginger, shallots... everything you've seen before mah. Unless you have a cheemer meaning.. hmm...

So What's Cooking?

2008-11-20T20:25:00.000+08:00

Guess what's for dinner! Go ahead.. Guess! Guess! Guess!

Get it right and I'll prepare for you a sumptious meal :-)

*Non halal certified tho.. oh, and I still owe Audrey a cuppa.. darn!

Naughty Naughty (Not Me)

2008-11-18T18:34:00.000+08:00

I'm sure by now, it's no secret that countless photos/sex videos of Malaysian and Singaporean girls have been appearing all over cyberspace. In the case of the Malaysians, it appears that most are personal photos/videos 'leaked out' and posted online. In the case of some Singaporeans, it's just blatant bare-it-all for everyone to... see?

By the way, I'm not crazy and I don't spend my days googling "Malaysia+Singapore+nude" k! All of these cases have been published on news sites like AsiaOne.

Initially, when I come across the first few cases, I would think to myself "woah.. happening man!"

Today, I was checking up on the performance of a certain gaming company in Malaysia (the one building an intergrated-resort aka casino in Singapore). Neh, Uncle Lim's company lah, the one on top of the hill, surrounded by the clouds. If still dunno, I also cannot help you liao.

And I really almost went "FWAH SIAO LIAO!". Apparently, numerous nude photos supposedly of Uncle Lim's granddaughter can be found online. The pictures show a pretty Chinese looking girl posing nude at a casino.

Real or fake, I wouldn't know. I do know that while the photos may send some temperatures rising, G3ntng nt3rnational's share prices continue to drop. Also siao liao..

Quantum of Solace

2008-11-16T02:09:00.000+08:00

My advice is to reacquaint yourself with Casino Royale before going to the theaters for Quantum. If you can watch Casino again, cool. Else, do wiki it and read the plot.

I watch Casino in the cinema back in 2006 and I'll admit I did not fully understand the story. Casino had enough twists and if you miss some of the dialougue, you'll miss the plot. Fast forward two years and all I could remember was a spiderman-like chase involving a black guy, poker playing at a resort island, Daniel Craig appearing out of the sea with his ab muscles 'protuding' and a painful ball whacking torture scene.

That is why I could not fully appreciate the 'story' of Quantum. So, do your homework before watching and you'll enjoy it better :-)

Huang Li Chao Fan

2008-11-14T01:01:00.000+08:00

Q: What's the good thing about cooking your own Pinapple Fried Rice?

A: You get to decide how much Pork Floss* you wanna toss on top of it!

Juz whack arr!!!

*Chicken Floss in Rohana's case

Fantasy Fergie?

2008-11-13T10:28:00.000+08:00

Haven't been blogging for a while. Couldn't really be bothered when ManUtd drew Everton. But they got wallopped by Arsenal, boy was that sianz! Gary Neville really should take a break and Fergie should really let Wes Brown take over. At least let Rafael handle that right back position. A solid right back might even stabilise Rio who has been fumbling lately.

So what if Liverpool got trashed in the League Cup? So what if Chelsea also lost. It's the Premier League we want.

United used to have a solid first team, plus very reliable reserves. Now, we rotate the team kinda like how Rafa rotates Liverpool. If that's the case, and since Liverpool has Fantasy Rafa, someone please come up with Fantasy Fergie. Please... I'll play, I promise.

Yummy Lobsters!

2008-11-04T16:45:00.000+08:00

To celebrate Totenham beating Liverpool -Woohoo! (Yeah right)- over the weekend, we headed to Penggerang for a Sunday seafood lunch.

Reached Changi Point Ferry Terminal at about 11am and set off in a bumboat soon after.

After getting off at Tanjung Pengelih Jetty, it was a short taxi ride to Jade Garden Seafood Corner. No, it's nothing like the Crystal Jade restaurants in Singapore; more like a seafood eating place in JB actually.

If Jade Garden is famous for any one thing, it has to be this:

I mean these...

Lobsters!

We had bamboo clams..

Baby squids..

Ostridge tendons..

Vege..

and obviously, lobsters!

and more lobsters!

The first lobster dish is their signature 'shang tang' lobster. The second one is 'jin sha' lobster.

As though we did not have enough of lobsters for one day, we even bought lobster keropok. Cheap, not oily and as good as keropok comes.

All in all, a very enjoyable mini-excursion cum lunch. At an affordable price I must add. By the time we set foot again on Singaporean soil, it was time to rush off to officially welcome Poh Min's baby Wan Ru into the world!

Finally Feeling The EPL

2008-11-01T21:37:00.000+08:00

The English Premier League is now into it's 8th or 9th match but I'm just finally feeling the excitement of the new season. I guess it has something to do with Liverpool topping the table. Sure makes things more interesting to have such a pretentious team on top of the league.

Oops.. definitely offending a few close friends here. But I'm stating the 'obvious' here haha! My housemate Minh insists that the team 'has to talent, cannot dribble, only run and fall down, anyhow kick, can only win because of deflections'. Anyways, I'm feeling that luck will soon run out on Liverpool and they will soon sink.

ManUtd meeting Hull City tonight. I hope we have a close fight for about 10 minutes, then ManUtd slaughter them 4 goals! But kudos to them; really been over achieving so far haha!

Let's see yeah?

Best Friend's Wedding III

2008-10-22T15:30:00.000+08:00

Bye Bye Senai

Daisy and I took what should be our very last flight out of Senai airport last weekend. Co-incidentally, it's undergoing renovations so the next time (if there's a next time) we’re there, it won't even be the same airport liao. This will be the last time we see the familiar surroundings of this particular boarding hall in Johor. Bye Senai, we won’t be missing you much.

3 Weddings

I promised myself I’ll try my best to attend the weddings of 3 of my very best friends in Kuching; Amy, ChongWee and Patsda. Not to say that I don’t consider other people good friends or whatevernothaveyou, it’s just the flight and the time involved. But I’m glad to say, I’ve accomplished this mission and attended all their weddings. In fact, since they married mutual friends, it’s even more efficient haha. Sadly, only Patsda managed to attend my own wedding as the other two were busy bringing newborns into the world. But it’s OK. Important thing is that I accomplished what I set out to do. Better yet, Daisy was with me each time.

Patsda Marries

So the trip back last week was especially to attend Patsda’s wedding. Strangely, the bunch of friends decided to drop by her place the night before the wedding, at 10-blardy-pm. Don’t the bride deserve to sleep and be ready for her big day? But being the wonderful friends that we (I was there with Daisy too mah)were, we left within half an hour after making sure she’s fine and all ready for the biggest day of her life. Talk about sincere friends (in Chinese we say got heart).

The reason why I used the phrase ‘got heart’ is because, after everyone went home to sleep at 10:30pm, they all arrived at her place again at 4:00am the next day to start the proceedings. Apparently, the make-up artist was scheduled to arrive at her place at 2:30-freakin-am as there wasn’t any other time-slot available. (The make-up artist was booked for 5 clients that day) If you ask me, she should have just engaged another make-up artist. After all, how different can it be? Honestly!

Oh well. Oh I mentioned that the bunch of friends were at her place at 4:00am. Wonderful people. Me? I slept till 7:00am and met everyone at the church service instead haha. Wonderful sleep.

The service was held at the Anglican St Thomas’ Cathedral. Simple ceremony but nicely done. After that, we adjourned to Banquet for the... err... lunch banquet? Ok so that was a bit lame.

Anyways, she flew off for her honeymoon that evening. Enjoy Da!

Coca

I was actually looking for a nice restaurant to have dinner with the rest of them but seems like all the restaurants in town were booked for weddings. In the end, I started walking into hotels to enquire about their in-house restaurants. I was actually thinking syabu-syabu would be good since we just had an 8 course Chinese sit-down lunch in the afternoon. Turned out there was a Coca restaurant nestled somewhere within Crown Plaza Hotel. People staying in Kuching would probably know it but I’ve been away for so long now. Plus, hotels are hardly the place I frequent for dinners when I’m back in town.

So how does Coca Kuching compare to Coca in Singapore? Surprisingly identical I would say. Yumz!!!

Sports Is Sexy

2008-10-20T20:48:00.000+08:00

I thought this was a story worth sharing.

We're all familliar with American Football and the NFL.

Giants of men running around in helmet, padding and spandex trying to score touch-downs.

Well, guess what? There's another league playing American Football out there.

It's called the Lingerie Football League.

I kid you not, but it features women playing the game in lingeire!

How the heck is it even possible? It's a full fledged league of 10 teams, mind you!

Why, even the referees are scantily clad..

*faint*

Recycled Rubber.. And More

2008-10-16T12:16:00.000+08:00

Was hoping this to turn out to be another hoax..

But it's since been reported to be true by AFP.

A bag of 10 hairbands like these sells for only 5 Singapore cents.

But wait a minute.. snip a bit..

Pull it inside out..

You have urself some used condoms!

Careful what you tie your hair with... Really

Last Flight Through Senai

2008-10-15T20:22:00.000+08:00

When I was in JC, my dad worked for Malaysia Airlines and flight tickets were 90% off. It was cheaper for me to fly from Changi to Kuching then, than take a cab from Tuas to Pasir Ris today.

Heck, when the flights were full, I even got to jump-sit in the cockpits!

But dads retire and when I was in university, I started paying regular fare. Dammit the cost of tickets to Kuching are even more expensive than flights on budget airlines to Melbourne, Australia. Blardy sh*t closed skies monopoly!

I soon learned to pay SGD$50 to get to Senai, Johor and fly from there. Saves a lot. At the same time, we prayed for the skies to open up and for budget airlines to operate the lucrative Singapore-EastMalaysia route.

Now, our prayers are answered. Thank God. This Friday, Daisy and I will be flying Senai-Kuching for the last time. Our flights for Chinese New Year are already booked to fly through Changi! Yeah!

Amen..

Coke Nukes Sperm

2008-10-07T09:00:00.000+08:00

Seems like coke causes sperm to explode. That's the research that won this year's Ig Nobel award. Apparently, some women have been using coke as contraceptive, so a researcher set about to determine the truth in the matter. Lo and behold, the greedy sperm actually soaks up the sugar in the coke and simply.. explode!

Mai siao siao..

New Toy, New Joy

2008-10-05T21:54:00.000+08:00

After almost breaking my arms beating/whipping/folding all the tiramisu the past two weeks, I decided it's time to invest in my very own... err... what do you call this thing? Mixer?

Anyways, my first project is...

Ok I'll let you guess first.

This is the almost done picture..

This is the can be eaten liao picture...

This is the blardy the hell that Andrew ate my cake! picture...

The answer is.. it's a Black Forrest Cheesecake!

Yumz :-)