Love In The Mail

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

Miss you all!

Project68 [18/02/09]

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

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

Woman

Excited

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!

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

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

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...

... 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

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!