teh tarik satu

Moving on

2010-09-15T00:25:00.000+08:00

I have moved on to http://tehtariksatu.wordpress.com/

Daddy is up to something ... come back soon!

2010-08-21T01:09:00.000+08:00

March Birthdays Boys again

2010-03-22T23:47:00.001+08:00

The Birthday Boys

With the rest of us

I am king of the world no more

2010-03-08T23:08:00.002+08:00

At the end, the ex-missus took the cake. In fact, it was both the cake and the icing. With both main oscars in the bag, she has finally stepped out of James' larger-than-life shadows. Well, personally I had preferred 'Avatar' to win. For me it was a 3D epic adventure that was just more memorable and exciting than the rest of the lot. I had watched the Hurt Locker on DVD last weekend; it was gritty, engaging and 'real' but it would probably just stay on mind as long as let's say 'District 9', meaning just good enough for a night's reflection. Maybe the war-movie meant a whole lot more to the Americans who has loved ones in the thick of the action. Anyway, the blue army of Pandora gets my nod. Here are a few noatable (and laughable) quotes from the academy awards.

"I want to thank the Academy for not considering Na'vi a foreign language." — Argentine director Juan Jose Campanella, after winning the award for best foreign language film.

"Oscar and Penelope (Cruz), that's an uber-Bingo." — Christoph Waltz, accepting the best supporting actor Oscar. Cruz was the presenter.

"Never did I dream that making a flip book out of my third-grade math book would lead to this." — Pete Docter, accepting the best animated feature film award for "Up."

Hundred Days

2010-03-07T00:36:00.002+08:00

Is the 100th day suppose to be a milestone for a baby? Though not as significant as the full month (where she sleeps her way through the celebration), or first year (where she gets her first cake and solitary candle) or the 21st (where she gets the keys to freedom), I heard from someone that it is when the baby gets a litle easier to handle and to read. Well, maybe not exactly on that day, but Cheyenne has indeed changed in the past three months. Here are a few that I can point out ...

1) She is sleeping longer at night now. Although she still gets up for her pre-dawn drink, she sleeps about seven to eight hours straight through the night.

2) She has sort of fall into a routine where she keeps these 3-hour cycles throughout the day, made up of drink-activity-sleep.

3) She has learn to communicate with us in her own way. She will focus on you, maybe let out a spontaneous smile, and sometimes break into baby googly talk which looks like she is trying to tell us something.

I guess in a way, she has also trained us, parents, to read her moods, cries and actions better in the past hundred days. Here are to many more days with Cheyenne!

Post-CNY post

2010-02-23T22:45:00.003+08:00

Yep, the festivities are over, at least at my end. I had a week-long restful break back in Muar with plenty of family gatherings and feasting. There was little time for friends though as I now have a little girl in tow who subcribes to a 3 hour drinking schedule. You do not want to mess with this one when she is hungry. So no more late nights out catching up with friends or playing 'in-between' till the wee hours of the morning. Well I did get some game-time though at Vicky's place when her aunts and cousins converged on the fourth, fifth and sixth nights to gamble on black-jack. As parents, we had to tuck baby up to bed first before thinking of joining the lievly crowd at the gaming table. The baby monitor sure comes in handy in times like this.

Here are some photos of the first day gathering at my place.

Cheyenne looking cute in pink

Outpouring of emotions and welcomes as relatives start to arrive

At the main table, from left CW : Janet, Annie, Un.Gan, An.Gan, Un.George, Un. Kay (satnding), An.Mary, and Mom

What are kids up to these days? They definitely do not need TV cartoons to keep them entertained.

A family portrait

More shots ...

Rounding up the Ox

2010-02-12T01:11:00.003+08:00

It's been awhile since I updated this blog and now we are on the verge of another New Year. Since I had missed writing a round-up post for 2009, I figure I will do one for the Year of the Ox instead.

We ushered the Ox with gusto but it could not stem the sub-prime tsunami that battered the financial markets and caused many companies, including mine, to shed their workforce and tighten their belts. I was fortunate to be spared and learnt a valuable financial lesson along the way. So career wise, I am still where I am at the beginning of the year.

We found time to travel too. After our exertions in Europe the previous year, we decided to hop on a guided tour to a not-to-distant and less expensive destination. So Taiwan was it. This was our only holiday getaway for the year.

We finally became parents this year. To prepare for our baby, we attended ante-natal classes, borrowed books on pregnancy and baby-care, and did loads of shopping.

Upgraded from public transport to a set of wheels and from a basic DSLR to a full frame.

All in all, it was a pretty good year. I'm hoping the Tiger will be a even better year.

'Twas the night before Christmas' for Moms

2009-12-24T00:31:00.001+08:00

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the abode
Only one creature was stirring, and she was cleaning the commode.
The children were finally sleeping all snug in their beds,
while visions of Nintendo and Barbie flipped through their heads.

The dad was snoring in front of the TV,
With a half-constructed bicycle propped on his knee.
So only Mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter,
Which made her sigh, "Now what is the matter?"

With the toilet bowl brush still clutched in her hand,
She descended the stairs and saw the old man.
He was covered with ashes and soot, which fell with a shrug,
"Oh, great," muttered Mom, "now I have to clean the rug."

"Ho Ho Ho!" cried Santa, "I'm glad you're awake,
your gift was especially difficult to make."
"Thanks, Santa, but all I want is time alone."
"Exactly!" he chuckled, "So, I've made you a clone."

"A clone?" she muttered, "What good is that?"
"Run along, Santa, I've no time for chit chat."
Then out walked the clone - The Mother's twin;
Same hair, same eyes, same double chin.

"She'll cook, she'll dust, she'll mop every mess.
You'll relax, take it easy, watch The Young and The Restless."
"Fantastic!" the Mom cheered. "My dream has come true!"
"I'll shop, I'll read, I'll sleep a night through!"

From the room above, the youngest did fret.
"Mommy? Come quickly, I'm scared and I'm wet."
The clone replied, "I'm coming, sweetheart."
"Hey," the Mom smiled, "she sure knows her part."

The clone changed the small one and hummed her a tune,
as she bundled the child in a blanket cocoon.
"You're the best mommy ever. I really love you."
The clone smiled and sighed, "And I love you, too."

The Mom frowned and said, "Sorry, Santa, no deal.
That's my child's love she is trying to steal."
Smiling wisely, Santa said, "To me it is clear,
Only one loving Mother is needed here."

The Mom kissed her child and tucked her in bed.
"Thank you, Santa, for clearing my head.
I sometimes forget, it won't be very long,
when they'll be too old for my cradle and song."

The clock on the mantle began to chime.
Santa whispered to the clone, "It works every time."
With the clone by his side, Santa said, "Good night.
Merry Christmas, dear Mom, you will be all right."

~ Author Unknown ~

Baby Steps

2009-12-16T23:08:00.005+08:00

What I've learnt so far ...

1) When she wants her milk ... she means she wants it NOW!

Before and After

2) If she sleeps for 3 hours in a stretch, she is giving you a breather. Don't be surprise if she's up in half that time.

3) Babies do break wind, sometimes more often than I do. And don't be surprise at the amount of 'fecal matter' can come out of that tiny frame.

4) Angel, Textbook, Miss Sensitive or Grouchy ? ... well, that depends on whether her needs are met.

Homecoming

2009-12-06T21:39:00.002+08:00

The past week and a half has been a blur of happenings and changes. The important thing is that both baby and mummy are healthy and well.

As for the house, it has become kind of unrecognisable, turning into a war-room like place for project BABY-01. My mum and the confinement nanny has cleaned and dusted every nook and cranny, revamped the kitchen and all its contents, stocked up the fridge to the brim and hung nappies on every space that catches a glimpse of the elusive sun beam. Our time has also been tuned to the sleeping pattern of our little girl, the one who eat-sleeps-and-poo.

Welcome home Cheyenne!

Awaiting the stork

2009-11-01T23:15:00.004+08:00

My friend once told me that planning for a wedding was a 'stroll in the park' compared to the sweat and tears that accompanies the coming of the baby. The emotion runs much deeper, the preparation never stops even after the stork arrives, and the dent it leaves on your pockets might need a 'rescue package' to tide over. Okay, I exaggerate, he did not quite put it in the same exact terms but he was quite serious when he asked me to enjoy the 'honeymoon' while it last.

Well our preparation journey is almost coming to an end now. We have listened to advice from many a mothers, enrolled in 'Baby-101' class, and bought up a room full of baby stuff. The anxiety and excitement has not really set in yet, but it will crank up in the next few weeks as the day approaches.

Two more months to go

2009-10-27T00:45:00.000+08:00

Fool's Gold

2009-09-03T00:36:00.003+08:00

"Two percent per month leh ... what could beat that?
How is it possible ... precious metal price don't shoot up so fast ...
What they do with all our deposits? Ah Long interest also not so high ...
Don't think so much lah ... as long as we get the money each month ...
What's the worst case scenario? You can still sell off the gold bar at 20% down, one year already earns you 24% ... "

Fortunately we escaped unscathed. Lesson Learnt.
1) Worst-case scenarios do happen. And it could be worse than you think.
2) Do not put your money in schemes that you do not understand.
3) It could happen to you.

Joyous moments

2009-08-24T00:24:00.003+08:00

These were from a wedding I attended two weekends back. Sometimes I wonder how wonderful the life of a wedding photographer must be. Capturing people during one of their happiest moments ... you can't help but feel happy and proud of what you are doing. Not something you would usually associate with your job. Well Mr.Photographer may not think so but the grass always looks greener on the other side.

Life behind wheels

2009-08-16T22:54:00.003+08:00

Life has not been the same after we decided to put our foot down (on the pedal) and swap public transport with a set of wheels. Here is the down side to life behind wheels.

1) Walking 1Km less daily. Sigh ... I did not sign up for the extra spare tire around my waist.
2) Bye bye reading time. Train rides were a good time to catch up on reading.
3) Instead of the frustrating wait for the bus, I have to bear with congested roads and lots of traffic lights.
4) The roads have eyes. Take a misstep and you get fined for the smallest of offences, and "tolonglah encik ..." does not work here.
5) This 1.2 tonne machine puts a hole in your pocket and sucks up all extra dough. Well we sign up for this so were ready for this... well sort of ...

The moment when two lines meet

2009-07-28T00:24:00.003+08:00

How often does a single moment changes the shape of your future, or elevates you to an unfamiliar position that expects no less than total devotion and effort? The cross on the Clearblue kit that greeted us 3 1/2 months back was one of those moments. It confirmed what we had earlier suspected. A bunch of feelings almost jumped out at once. Excitement, relief, trepidation. They were all knotted up somewhere within me. We needed a second opinion, make that third if we counted the pregnancy strip. Should we keep it under wraps until the 2nd trimester? A useful Chinese belief that lets the bulging stomach reveals itself, and keeps colleagues guessing about your weight gain and snacking binges. At least our family should know.

We are half way through this journey of preparation, yet there is still so much more that we do not know. But we are ready, or we think that we are ready, to take on this journey and whatever that awaits.

Discovering Formosa : Day 7 & 8 - Yilan and Taipei

2009-07-05T17:17:00.003+08:00

We were leaving the countryside today and heading back to the bustling capital city of Taipei. The bus had to travel through winding coastal roads so we were bundled onto the train instead. We arrived first at the train station in Yilan and waited patiently for about an hour for the bus to arrive. Then we proceded to the Yilan National Center for Traditional Arts. This place had buildings with traditional architecture, shops selling everything from local snacks to painted dolls, and a small theatre for performances. After exploring the place for about an hour. it was time to go.

View from the train window

One-way tix to Yilan

Yilan train station

Yilan National Center for Traditional Arts

Goods on sale

We were heading back to Taipei and our first stop will be lunch at one of the tallest bulding in the world, the Taipei 101. Unfortunately though we could not see much of the view with clouds blanketing the top of the building. Lunch was good though. After we had our fill, we were given time to walk around the shopping center.

Shinyeh 101 - Restaurant with a view (supposedly)

Waiting for lunch to be served

Shopping Ccnter

Our next stop was a small feng shui shopin Taipei. We were briefly taught how to touch a stone 'Chi Lin' before being herded in for a talk by the master. The interesting talk about auspicious names and home fengshui ended rather abruptly before the sales pitch began. This time it was little Chi Lin pendants. No matter how many auspicious strokes our names had, we were asked to buy those pendants that came in different colours and sizes. It is interesting to note that at least one sale was made out of the tour group at every stop (eg. Lingzhi shop, Jade factory, etc).

After feeling happy that my chinese fist name had an auspicious 13 strokes and that we resisted buying all the sales pitch, we were finally heading for Shi Lin night market, the biggest of them all. It was almost dusk now, so the shops were all out. We headed towards the 'fashion' street first before settling for food at the well known food market. It was our last chance to sample the Taiwanese street fare, so we dug into 'Smelly Tofu', Ji Pa (chicken fillet), and Da Bing Bao Xiao Bing (small bun in big bun).

Start of the 'Fashion' Street

Smelly Tofu

Da Bing Bao Xiao Bing

Ji Pa

Tonight we finally get to stay in a 5 Star accomodation, the Grand Hyatt Taipei. It was defintely the best hotel so far.

The next day, we had half the day to wander around before departing for Singapore. We got up for the breakfast buffet and ended up watching the 'American idol' finals on TV. Then we decided to roam around the nearby shopping malls which only opened at 11am. Our original plan was to visit the National Palace Museum but it was located quite far away and we just so little time to spend., so we will save that for our next trip. After lunch, it was time to depart for the airport, so we collected our bags at took the bus one last time.

Getting ready for the opening at 11am

Grand Hyatt lobby

Discovering Formosa : Day 6 - Hualien

2009-06-28T22:32:00.004+08:00

After having a taste of the Hot Springs of Taitung, we were headed to Hualien county, located on the mountainous eastern coast of Taiwan. And going into Hualien, we were certainly not going to miss Taroko Gorge, so we made it it our first stop there. The bus made its way up the mountaineous region and dropped us at the Tunnel of Nine Turns. We took the well known trek down the mountain which gave us chance to have a close up look of the magnificent gorge that was carved up by the river a long time ago. However walking down had its share of lurking danger in the form of falling rock. We were given helmets but that was just scant protection against the impact a falling rock can make. There was a scary moment too when a rock the size of a small papaya dropped just a few meters away from our group. We completed the walk in about 30 minutes and headed towards the town.

Taroko Gorge

Site of a recent rock fall accident

There was a short pitstop at a Jade Factory for a salespitch on Jade and other stone pieces. It was already dark when we stopped for dinner. We arrived at a normal house, looking nothing like a restaurant, that had a few tables laid out for us. However this was the best food we had for our entire trip. The food was mainly organic, with free-range chicken and wild boar, and tasty glutinous rice.

Jade Factory

Part of our dinner

There was more activities after dinner and like all Taiwanese towns, Hualien also had a Night Market. Although there was not much of a crowd in this sleepy town. The highlight of the Market was that it was loacated just next to the beach, and this allowed activities like firing fireworks and setting free 'Heaven Lanterns'. The flying lantern bit was quickly over due to strong winds but we had a good time lighting up the skies with fireworks of all sizes and colour.

Lighting up the Lantern

Flying to Heaven

Fireworks of all shapes and sizes

Age is not a barrier play Sparklers

Like A Comet Blazing 'Cross The Evening Sky

2009-06-27T01:31:00.004+08:00

...Born To Amuse, To Inspire, To Delight
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like A Sunset
Dying With The Rising Of The Moon
Gone Too Soon

Discovering Formosa : Day 5 - Kenting and Taitung

2009-06-21T23:54:00.003+08:00

It was another bright and sunny day today. Though the blue skies would really look great in pics, we will have to earn it by sweating it out. First stop was a tour of Hengchun which was a really a tour of the filming sites made famous in Cape No.7. Here are the pics.

The Hengchun Post Office

The Church

Aga's house. Aga is the male lead of the story.

Inside the house

The two panes which were replaced and autographed. The panes were broken by Tomoko in the story.

The West Gate, where the bus carrying the models had problems crossing

Sending a self addressed postcard back home.

Next we travelled the coastal road to two popular rock formations, ie. President Nixon's Nose and Cat's Nose (Mou Bi tou). You need some imigination to figure them out but if it gives tourist a reason to stop and admire, the Taiwanese wil name all the rock formations along their coasts.

President Nixon's Nose

Cat's Nose (Mou Bi Tou)

After lunch, the bus took us through the scenic coastal road all the way up to Taitung. While they played 'Cape No.7' on TV, I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery which meanders around mountains on one side and cliffs on the other. The skies were cloudy so we were given a respite from the scorching heat.

It was evening when we reached our accomodation for the night which was along the belt of 'hot spring' hotels in Taitung. Now, one has to be clothed in proper swimming attire (cap and trunks) to take to the hot springs, else you will just have to do with the piped in 'spring' water in the bathroom. But since I was there,I was not going to miss out on the real thing, so I bought a cheap set at the hotel. The water was piping hot in the 'All Male' pool, but once I am in the water it felt so comfortable and therapeutic. Too bad one can't spend too long in the pool. By the way, the rooms were spacious and had a nice Japanese theme to it. It could really have filled a full family.

Discovering Formosa : Day 4 - Kaohsiung and Kenting

2009-06-16T23:04:00.003+08:00

We had a day to explore Kaohsiung today. So we started off with the tallest building in sight, the Kaohsiung 85 Building. There was only one main attraction here which was the viewing deck on the 75th floor. The lift raced up the building in no time, so we had ample time to admire the 360 degree view of the city and port from the vantage point. This building has been surpassed by the Taipei 101 Building since, but the clear skies in Kaohsiung helped put one over the cloudy Taipei skyline.

Panaromic views of the city

Next up was the Dream Mall, located just a few blocks away. This was supposed to be the biggest shopping complex in Taiwan with a Hello Kitty Ferris Wheel on the roof. Yes, we did rode on it. It was purely for the view, I swear, and not for the cute Hello Kitty inspired cabins or the Cinnamon Roll pilow in ours. The rest of the mall was not much different from the ones in Singapore except for a few interesting shops. There was a particular one which combined fashion, collectibles and dining, and had moving display shelves.

After our shopping stint, we headed to the countryside for a visit to the Fo Guang Shan Monastery. This is just a monastery with big grounds, lots of buddha statues and one really gigantic one. The walk under the hot sun made us sweat out and we were glad to be back in the air-conditioned bus again. Our next destination was to be some distance away, so we had time to take a nap while the scenery slowly changed to one with a rugged coastline.

We were heading to 'Cape No.7 ' country, the Kenting National Park. This place is down at the southern tip of Taiwan and boasts many sunny beaches. But now it is even more famous as the filming site of the Taiwan's hit movie of 2008. We made a pit stop on the way to savour some local fruits, namely the 'Jambu Air' and local Mangoes. It has been a long time since I tasted Jambu Air and these Taiwanese grown ones were as big as Fuji Apples and really sweet.

After dropping our bags at the hotel, we headed to the town for yet another night market. For a small town, there were quite a number of people walking around the stalls. There was a difference between this night market and the previous ones in the major towns. People were less hurried and walking at a leisurely pace as you would have expected of a 'Beach' town. Our only buy at this market was a foldable bag which could fit the rest of our buys and potential ones. Yes, our luggage space was bursting at the seams and reinforcements had to be bought in.

Dognapped in Muar Town

2009-06-09T23:22:00.004+08:00

This actually took place at my in-laws' place in Muar.

My in-laws have three dogs at home , one Shitzu and two Toy Poodles. All were kept outside the house, under the porch. It was raining heavily that fateful night. When my bro-in-law got up the next day, the Shitzu was barking furiously at the cage where the poodles were kept. On further inspection, the cage was found empty and pieces of chicken (probably drugged) were lying around. Then the Shitzu started barking at the back of the house. The smart mutt was probably trying to indicate the direction where those thieves fled with the Poodles. The thieves had came from the back lane and over the back wall. My bro-in-law (BIL) who had bought his wife-to-be (WTB) those dogs was devastated. The police were called but there was not much that they could do (we don't expect much from them either).

Yet, BIL and WTB were determined to find their babies. They printed thousand over 'Missing Dog' notices and got them distributed and pasted all over town. A reward was offered to any leads leading to the stolen dogs.

Then a phonecall came. The person claimed to have seen the dogs being sold and had seen the new owners entering the temple at 'Lak Beh Loh' (or Jln Daud). So BIL and WTB called the police to meet them there. Now this temple is a hangout for gangsters, and the two policemen that turned up did not dare to enter the premises. While the policemen called their superior, BIL and WTB went in and tried to get their dogs back. When the police chief came, he had a quiet word with the people there and then asked BIL and WTB to take their dogs back. Nobody knows how the matter was settled between police and the gang, except that all charges were to be dropped. However there is high suspicion that the gang was somehow involved in the theft and the lead came from a fellow gang member.

So dog owners beware. These thieves are on the prowl. They know the worth of your dogs and your miniature-sized dogs are just the right size to cradle away under their arms (but we have heard cases of Rottweilers being stolen too).

One of the 'dognapped' poodles. He was dyed pink by the thieves to avoid being recognised.

The Shitzu that got away ... either she was too choosey with food (did not touch the chicken) or the thieves had only hands for two.

Discovering Formosa : Day 3 - Nantou and Kaohsiung

2009-06-01T23:17:00.005+08:00

We were going further down south today, passing by the mountainous Nantou county on the way to Taiwan's second largest city, Kaohsiung. Our first stop was the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village, one of the many theme parks that are strewn around the country. This would not be a stop if I had a say in the itenerary but most 8 Day tours around Taiwan seem to fit one of these amusement parks into their round the island tour. Maybe it was meant to appease any kids who were bored with night markets, temples and mountains, but the average age in our group bordered somewhere between mid-life crisis and retirement. We even had an over 80 Grandma who gamely walked around with the rest of us.

On the plus side, the park was set amidst wonderful natural setting with mountains on all sides. Once we were in the park, we started by watching aboriginal dance and songs at the Naruwan Theatre. The second half was free and easy, though we were not so keen on the rides there. We were rounded up again just before lunch. Our next destination was Sun Moon Lake which was not too far off.

Scantily clad all-male aboriginal dance troupe

The ladies' turn

The most photographed couple in aboriginal costumes ... and all they wanted was to sell CDs

Cable car ride at Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village

After eating at a restaurant near the lake, we were brought to Wen Wu temple, a huge temple complex overlooking Sun Moon Lake. As much as I appreciated the architecture of the place, being given over an hour to roam around the temple was just too much, and this is from one who takes a lot of pictures. I would be happier if we had spent the rest of our time cruising around the lake but I guess technically they did no wrong (in their brochure) - a 'Visit' to the lake does not equate to a 'Cruise' on it.

Wen-Wu Temple

Inside the complex

From the top ... in the distant is Sun Moon Lake

Our next stop was Kaohsiung. We were promised a boat ride on the Love River but a check at the river front revealed that there were no services that night due to a Dragon Boat competition the next day. I guess we were just not meant to be on the water today. We were already hungry by then, so we were off from the word go when we reached LiuHo night market. This was not a very big market but the crowd there was huge that night. We helped ourselves to a bowl of Dan Cai Mian, buns and some tropical fruits before calling it a night.

Love River

We had noodles from this stall in LiuHo night market

The rich variety of Taiwan fruits

Discovering Formosa : Day 2 - Jiufen and Taichung

2009-05-30T23:43:00.002+08:00

We had a better look of Keelung this morning as the sunlight revealed the harbour and the backdrop of hills. However we were not lingering any longer in this town as we were off to Jiufen right after breakfast. Jiufen (or 'Nine Portions') is an old gold-mining town set in the hills overlooking the sea. A popular tourist destination today, it was made popular by the movie 'City of Sadness' (never heard of it before but it is mentioned in every guide book) and later on was the inpsiration of the ghost town in Hayao Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away'.

So I was pretty much expecting to see an old town in the hills, instead we stopped in front of a narrow pathway between two buildings. Well this was just the entrance to the famous shopping street in Jiufen. It ran upslope flanked by shops and teahouses, selling anything from sausages and almond tea to handicrafts and leather goods. We had time to walk up to the end of the street while sampling the famous Yam Balls dessert. At the end of the commercial street, there were a few teahouses that had good views of thePacific Ocean. Here was also where we finally spotted the rest of the old town set on the slope overlooking the ocean. The time spent window shopping did not allow us to futher explore the rest of the place.

Our next stop was lunch in Taipei. We had a quick steamboat lunch before heading to Hsinchu for a short visit to a temple there. It was more like a toilet stop. Anyway we did manage to buy the popular Hsinchu Rice Noodles there.

It was then back on the bus for a two hour drive to Taichung. When we finally got to Taichung, we headed straight to the busy Feng Jia Market. This was a street market that had grown around vicinity of the Feng Jia University. There was a youthful air about this market with quite a handful of young entrepreneurs manning the stalls. Vicky enjoyed browsing through the many fashion boutiques there and we agreed that this was one of the best night market in Taiwan. The time to leave came to soon. Well this was part of being in a tour group where the schedule cannot cater to your personal whims. We were sent to our hotel for the night. We had time to go out for a bite before calling it a night.

Discovering Formosa : Day 1 - Taipei and Keelung

2009-05-25T23:14:00.004+08:00

The Portugese named the island "Ilha Formosa" or 'Beautiful Island' way back in 1544. To see whether the island indeed lived up to its name and greatly helped by the publicity it garners on its many live show productions and travelogues, we decided that it was to be our next holiday destination. This time though, we decided to take it easy by leaving our backpacks behind and join in one of the Group Tours.

So just before dawn on the 14th of May, we found ourselves looking out for the pink shirted ASA tour leader at Terminal 1. Checking in was a breeze and the flight just took over 4 hours. On getting onto the the top deck of the tour bus at Taoyuan Airport , our Taiwanese Tour Guide, Sony, introduced himself and from then on was personally responsible that we had a good time there. Of course, all commentaries was in Mandarin with a smattering of Hokkien, so that ensured that I barely understood half of what was said. The easy way out was to turn to Vicky for instant translation, but sometimes I allowed myself to hear the whole speech and then try to figure out by context, or just let it slip by and catch forty winks instead. Yeah, I took lots of short naps on the trip.

Our first destination was the Taoyuan train station where we caught the high-speed train up to Taipei. From there, the tour bus took us to Ximending (or West Gate 'Ding' as Janet Hsieh calls it), the youth culture hub of Taipei. The weather was sunny and breezy, just the right condition to stretch our legs. Our first stop there was the famous Oyster Mee Sua.

Here's how you use the card High-Speed Train

Oyster Mee Sua

Streets of Ximending

Sights at Ximending

For a quick bite before dinner, we settled for 'xiao long bao', dumplings, fried rice and vegies at a local restautrant. It felt like dinner but Sony quickly reminded us that the main course would be on our own at the Mioukou night market in Keelung. This concept of multiple meals in a day would be a common theme throughout the trip, so much that the trip basically revolves around this few activites - eat-see-sit-sleep. No cracking your brains on how to get to the next destination or worrying about missing your next ride, just follow the leader and worry only about what to eat at the next stop.

Next we headed for Keelung, a port city north east of Taipei. This was where we were spending the night, the Laurel Evergreen Hotel. The hotel was only a 5 minute walk away from Mioukou Night Market, so we had the luxury of taking in the sights and scents before we plunge in for our very first Night Market fare.

Back in the Lion City

2009-05-23T01:26:00.003+08:00

We are back from Taiwan. More photos and stories to follow.

May Showers

2009-05-13T01:15:00.003+08:00

When it rains, it pours.

May is a month where people look forward to for the double public holidays. I am giving myself an extended holiday starting this Thursday. Yes, a mid year break. We will take pause from the rat race and take the first plane out. To recharge? Maybe, but it is always hard to put your mind back to work when it indulges on leisurely pursuits that are far away from overcrowded inboxes and grid-lines. However the weather will be working against us as the heavens are set to pour in the next few days. Oh well, I'll take the wet weather over the office cubicle any day.

Half full or half empty?

2009-05-03T15:37:00.006+08:00

A company had invited over a Japanese Guru for a 'Lean Manufacturing' Workshop. These was part of a series of workshops that had started over two years ago, with the main aim to inculcate 'Lean Manufacturing' values and good practices that will help the organisation improve its processes and systems, reduce waste and drive cost savings.

At the end of the workshop, something caught the eye of the Japanese Guru. The keen-eyed man had noticed the many unfinished mineral water bottles on the tables. These bottled water are commonly handed out at such workshops. He then asked the audience to find out how many bottles the unfinished water could actually fill up. The results revealed that the water filled up half the total bottles that were opened. This was 50% waste! The Guru was dissapointed that his lessons on cost savings and waste reduction had not been entirely taken to practice. The management immediately stepped in and pledged to look into this issue.

Well one thing is for sure, all future workshop participants and visitors to the company will have to drink straight from plastic cups from now on.

Of cat fights and singing contests

2009-05-03T00:43:00.006+08:00

What has the recent AWARE saga in Singapore have in common with the ongoing American Idol competition?

In this little corner of the world, you have the new AWARE exco (make that ex-exco) with their 'Christian agenda' and the old guards with their alleged pro-gay stand.

And on the other side of the world, if you have been religiously following the weekly Idol contest, you will know that Danny and Adam are favourites to face-off in the finals. One is a Church Music Director from Milwaukee while the other is highly favoured to be the competition's first gay winner (after Clay had gone so close).

Strange coincidence huh?

By the way, Adam gets my vote. He's sure one heck of a performer...

*********************
AWARE = Association of Women for Action and Research

All about Sophia

2009-04-26T23:43:00.004+08:00

Sophia is 2 weeks old. She's still a fragile little baby. Her big eyes dart around when people talk. The frequent 'ker-chik' sound from my camera does not unfaze her. So I happily snap away during her waking hours.

Sleep comes after a meal...

"I need my beaty rest now .. be gone"

Sohpie and big brother Josh

Ready to burp

Easter Miracles

2009-04-13T23:28:00.003+08:00

A busy Easter weekend. The duty of babysitting my 4 year old nephew Josh fell to my mom, Louisa, Vicky and me after my sis checked into the maternity ward. Got to see Josh experience his first dentist appointment, completed watching 'Cars', and finally gained a new niece on Sunday.
Here is the Easter miracle ...

After Earth Hour

2009-04-01T22:31:00.003+08:00

What were you doing last Saturday?
Here is us at a mystery location. (Don't worry, this was after earth hour)

And here is one of Alicia and Steve. (hmmm... where did they got hold of the cotton buds...)

Saturday Celebrations

2009-03-24T00:13:00.002+08:00

It was a day of celebrations on Saturday. First up was Jeng Yen's graduation lunch ... graduating from bachelorhood to couplehood. It was a meeting up of sorts for old friends at our table. Most who knew him since we stepped foot on Singapore shores 15 years ago.... days when we celebrated midnight birthdays and thought up of pranks in our prison-like hostel along Balestier Rd. As Norman pointed out, the married now outnumber the singletons in our small group of 13.

Then at night it was a double birthday celebration for Pa and Josh at Grandma's Restaurant, United Square. My whole family was down in Singapore for the weekend that coincided with my dad's birthday. And its close enough to Josh's birthday which happens to be today. Hope both birthday boys were happy with their presents.

IKEA Inspired post

2009-03-20T00:14:00.006+08:00

We love being in Ikea. It's like being in a wonderful bright foreign store with great furnishing and also serves good food. You'll be tempted to grab so many things, but as long as you don't push a shopping cart, you'll only buy what you can carry in the yellow bag. Okay, so here's a list of things that Ikea inspires in me.

Ikea inspires me
... to pick up my rusty tools and drill set for some DIY project
... to break my back putting up a simple rack (half the time to reassemble after getting the orientation wrong)
... to eat eight meatballs, two chicken wings and drink free coffee (and to buy a pack of frozen meatballs back )
... to start hanging photos on my wall (just don't get the square ones that can't fit any photo)
... to buy more than I need and end up storing a few of those things that don't fit anywhere
... to foolishly believe that I can make-over my house by just buying the right stuff
... to arrange for delivery service so that i can walk over to Alexandra Village for bbq stingray and avocado juice
... to make plans for a repeat visit just to grab that one thing that I wasn't so sure about the last time

Friday the 13th

2009-03-19T00:09:00.002+08:00

Friday the 13th. D-day.

So Friday came. Arrived on time. A large group of people was gathered outside the gates. These were folks that had already received their letters. Lots of chatter. Some were happy with the 'windfall'. Some stayed for gossip. Some stayed to bid their fellow colleagues goodbye.

I did not stop. Cleared the 'beefed-up' security and headed for my office.

Finally got my letter at 9 and was instructed to report back on Monday. Yay, so I still got a job. Lived to fight another day.

Later learnt that over 200 people were culled in this exercise. Knew a few of them. None were deserving, they were just people chosen as sacrifice so the rest could carry on. Let's hope we find a quick end to this terrible long winter.

Till the other boot drops

2009-03-09T00:37:00.002+08:00

The announcement on Friday was swift. The message was clear. The ship can't take on any more more water. The perfect storm of credit crunch, worsening global economy and ailing car sales has sent waves that threathen to overwhelm the entire organisation. Current cost cutting measures of shutdowns, shorter work weeks and hiring freeze can only do so much. Sacrifices has to be made to keep us afloat. Simply put, men will be chosen to walk the plank.

Friday the 13th will be a short and distressing day for many unfortunate souls.

Up the ladder

2009-03-03T00:10:00.003+08:00

Yew Tee just got bumped up the heartland class ladder. Now we got Subway! Take that Admiralty! We are now one measily rung above you ...

Ok seriously, at least there is something new to gloat about on staying in Yew Tee, the place where people who don't look at MRT maps do not know about. The new shopping block at Yew Tee Residences is promising a whole new shopping experience to the Yew Tee faithful. Now we get to experience Watsons and Comic Connection, even Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe is in the works. That is one whole level up from Bess Point housewares and Ananas Deli. Soon, we won't have to take the train one stop down to Lot 1 to partake in the shopping mall experience. Soon ...

While the rest of the shop fills in, what better way to imbibe the mamak supper culture than to imbibe a glass of teh tarik at our very own Jln Kayu Prata Cafe.

Godzillas beats Dinosaurs by 50 cents worth extra of Milo or Coffee powder ...

Eurotrip : Day 12 - Last day in Paris

2009-03-01T23:34:00.002+08:00

We had one last day to savour Paris as our flight was in the evening.

After packing our bags for the last time, we headed out to the cafe down to the street for a breakfast of croissants, ommelette and fresh morning coffee.

We decided to do the Rue Cler and Left Bank walk, both recommended by Rick Steve's. Both walks brought us pass busy street cafes, historic buildings and quaint little shops. We got small comic figurines of famous french characters like Tin Tin, Snowy, Asterix and Obelisk in one of the Toy Shops. We ended the walk by paying a visit to St.Sulpice (of Da Vinci's Code fame) and the sprawling Luxembourg Gardens.

The next part of the afternoon was spent revisiting the LV store to pick up a few bags for our friends. By the time we were done, we were running late, and quickly headed back to our hotel to have dinner and pick up our bags. After wolfing down our pizza dinner, we took the train to the airport.

It was time to bid farewell to Paris.

Eurotrip : Day 8 to 11 - 4 Days in the Valley

2009-02-22T23:33:00.005+08:00

Yes, I am guilty of leaving half-written travel stories on my blog. To assuage the guilt, I will at least try to complete the one on my honeymoon. Note that this took place at the end of September last year.

Okay, where was I... yes we were just about to leave Rome for Switzerland. The overnight train from Rome arrived in Bern on time. We were impressed with the Swiss punctuality. We did not linger long in the capital city, instead we took the next train to Interlaken. We spent the morning exploring this small town and I took time off to nurse my camera which had tripped dirt and a loose mirror (a trip to Coop helped me find a temporary solution).

Morning greets Interlaken

Where we had our daily roast

After lunch, we headed for Lauterbrunnen, which was to be our base for the next few days. Lauterbrunnen is a charming little town located in a valley surrounded by mountains and icy peaks. After days of city life, this sure was a welcoming sight. We stayed at Hotel Oberland that reserved us a room facing the Staubbach falls. Even from our bed, we had a clear sight of the falls.

Lauterbrunnen. That's Staubach falls in the back.

Hotel Oberland... wonderful rooms (with excellent view) and service

The next two days was spent exploring the wonderful alpine sights, and the weather was great on both days too. On the first day, we headed up to Jungfraujoch, 3,454 metres is the highest railway station in Europe. Up in the icy peak, we got to walk on the snow while enjoying the proximity to the three peaks, Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.

At the Jungfraujoch

From the viewing platform

The next day was spent hiking around the mountains. We took the easy trail from Allmendhubel to Murren to Grimmelwald. Before gong back to Lauterbrunnen, we stopped to visit the Trummelbach falls. No trip to Switzerland is complete wihtout trying the Cheese Fondue, so we tried that at the Hotel Oberland restaurant.

At Allmendhubel ... many trails to choose from

Walk down to Murren

Green peaks and white ones too

Hiking back to Lauterbrunnen

After enjoying fresh mountain air for the past days, it was time to depart. We had a train to Paris to catch at 5.23pm, so we spent out last day in Switzerland exploring the medievel city of Bern.

The famous Clock Tower of Bern but don't expect fireworks on the hour mark

The river Aar that surrounds the city

The famous bear pit with the only star.

Slumdog Valentine

2009-02-15T15:30:00.003+08:00

How do married couples spent Valentine's Day? For us, it was pretty much like before we did the walk down the aisle. No flowers (I know I'm a miser), just some time together at the mall, doing the things we like.

We also took the chance to watch 'Slumdog Millionaire', the rags to riches fairytale of a former slum dweller, now chai wala, Jamal and how his difficult past and unyielding love for Latika, came about to win him the 20 Million Rupees prize money. And yes, there was an Indian dance scene if you must know.

Now I leave you with one of the themes from the movie, 'Dreams of fire'

Moving south

2009-02-09T23:31:00.002+08:00

With my sister setting up house in Singapore, my parents were down over the weekend. It felt strangely like being at home with home cooked meals and afternoon tea.

Here is Josh showing off his new pad.

And here is a vantage point for shooting fireworks over Marina Bay.

Few good things

2009-02-03T23:13:00.002+08:00

A few good things about the recent Lunar New Year break.

- Afternoon naps after a full meal and a good book at the end of the day
- Heavenly sinful food, from homecooked curry chicken and duck stew to delightful dishes at Uncle Charles' ...
- The warm feeling you get being around family and old friends (knowing in the back of your mind that you'll get this only once a year)
- Being away from work and finding very little e-mails while you are away
- Having eight glorious days of all these

The extra rubber tyre around my waist and lethargy at work after 6pm are small problems that should be ironed out in time ... hopefully.

I leave you with some photos from the New Year celebrations.

Farewell Ratty

2009-01-25T16:45:00.003+08:00

It's only hours away to our reunion dinner but the feasting has started since yesterday.

Had a good time catching up with old freinds last night at Halo Cafe. The place would be quiet without the 20 odd people we had there. Willie even made some of us sing on stage. It'll be hard to meet gain the next few days with everybody dashing around to meet up relatives and in-laws.

Got to go help out with dinner preparations soon. This year we'll have 'Or Ni' (Yam dessert) for dessert ...

Here's an early Gong Xi Fa Cai to all. May you prosper and stay healthy this new year. Huat ah!

Ghost of New Year Past

2009-01-23T00:50:00.003+08:00

New Year Eve reunion dinner at Sin Kee Ting, hearts a leaping when thunderclaps explodes in the night skies, firework fumes in the air, uncles and aunts at the blackjack table, never-ending crackers at midnight, ketupat and sate for first day guests, lion dances at the neighbour's house, 'Jackie Chan' movie at Rex cinema, visiting on bicycles, dinner at parit jawa, cards till the wee hours of morning, early dim sum breakfast thereafter, counting ang pows, .... memories from the days when I was truly excited for the New Year.

This year I'll just be contented with my prawn rolls and braised duck, and maybe a few rounds of 'banlat'.

Candies at the Exit Door

2009-01-19T21:57:00.004+08:00

I have switched my broadband plan from Singnet to Starhub. At the end of the whole process, I found out that I could have just stayed on the same plan at the same monthly rates. It's a story that began late last year, just before my previous Singnet broadband plan expired.

A Singnet rep called me in October to remind me of my expiring plan and to dangle a sweet carrot for renewing the plan. 8Mbps for only $36.90 (I was paying $47 then). I decided to resist, thinking that there would be better deals during the November IT fair or at least during the month of December where the Internet Service Providers would be going all out to meet annual sales quotas. Alas there was no sniff of such good deals.

After Christmas, I checked again. Singnet was still charging $45 for the 8Mbps plan, even to re-contracting clients. The best on the plate was the Starhub Triple Freedom Pack Plus that cost $59.62 for 8Mbps broadband, Cable TV (basic channels) and digital home (telephone line). That roughly translates to $36 for the broadband, but I would have to get a wireless LAN card ($33) for my PC and a wireless home phone ($99).

So I called Singnet again. I explained to the staff that I wish to recontract and wanted to know whether there were any promotions for people like us. $45 per month, they would not budge. The plan was not an improvement of my previous plan I explained, cause I had 4 months free subscription the last time. No such promotions for now, but I could wait till end of the month.

I was fed up so I took up the Starhub plan. After spending a night hooking up the new voice-enabled modem and figuring out the router settings, it looked like I was all ready to terminate my old plan. So I called Singnet and they referred me to the 'Termination' department. A lady asked me why I decided to terminate, then came the clincher ... "Sir, what if we offered you 8Mbps at $36.90 per month and free home phone line subscription for two years..."

I do not know whether to laugh or to cry. I just wonder why they had placed the 'Candy' lady at the 'Exit' door and not at the door that reads 'Recontract' !

Home Kitchen Recipes

2009-01-18T23:29:00.002+08:00

I don't usually wander into the kitchen when my Mum is cooking (leave it to the pro) but I couldn't resist picking up the recipe of my favourite 'Chilli Pork with dried shrimps and belacan' when I was back during Christmas. I not only got the recipe, but also the home-made blended chilli (a blend of 'cili padi', onion, ginger and garlic)!

We managed to test the recipe out a few weeks ago in our own kitchen. First a spoonful of blended chilli went in. I was ready for what was next to come. The spicy aroma that rose from the sizzling wok starts tickling the nostrils. With a hand over my nose, I just had to bear with it. Next the dried shrimps and belacan chili (we couldn't find belacan powder) went in, followed by the pork belly slices. Then a dash of dark soy sauce and a teaspoon of sugar for taste. The verdict? It was a super spicy (too much chilli) and could do with better pork. Nevertheless it was a good first try. Well there's enough chilli for a few more rounds of this dish, so fret not.

In the wok

Ta dah ...

We also learnt how to cook chicken rice while back in Muar.

Onions, Garlic and Ginger into the fry

Whole chicken on the boil

Frying the rice in spices and butter

Into the rice pot - with the boiled chicken stock

Ode to the Ox

2009-01-16T01:26:00.003+08:00

hey bovine-lovin' mister ox,
hear you're movin' into town
to take the keys to the keep
on the zodiac merry-go-round

now here comes a new year
even before I sober up
from the countdown parties
where I puked over my party garb

we'll celebrate in pomp
to usher you in
red packets (ouch!) I'll impart
over 'lip-smackin' good' home cookin'

but oh what tidings you bring
to the rest of your peeps
especially to the dragon kind
who'll be glad for some tips

on how to survive
the gloomy sullen markets
and the weary sounding horoscope
without losing our heads

so how now brown cow,
before I run out of rhyme
promise we'll treat you right
in three years time

Cafe Amour

2009-01-13T00:15:00.003+08:00

We love coffee and what we love to do during weekends is to savour a cup (or two) of kopitiam coffee. Not the ones at the nearby coffee shop though because those taste really awful and should be banned. We used to frequent the Ya Kun outlet at Lot 1 or the Toastbox at Causeway Point, but since late last year we have been regulars to the western-most outpost of Jurong Point. Why? Cause they now boast of the Old Town White Coffee, Ipoh's own favourite blend of White Coffee. One sip of the Nanyang Memorable and we proclaimed it the best in town. The taste is a delightful mix of bitter, sweet and sour that certainly stands out from the common sweet coffee found at the Ya Kuns or Toastbox. So good that we have been there three times since December. The food there is not too bad either. I have enjoyed both the Chicken Rendang and Nasi Lemak.

A cup of Nanyang Memorable

Nasi Lemak ... looking at it just makes me hungry

Curry Chicken

We missed the taste when we went back to Muar during Christmas, so we went hunting for good coffee. Unfortunately the 'Old Street' cafe on Jln Abdul Rahman isn't quite in the same class (though it has a similar-looking old town pic as a logo). Rather than let that spoil the image of our Muar coffee, we went to the 434 Sai Kee coffee shop at Jln Salleh the next day and our confidence in our local coffee was restored. As the espresso machine was down, I tried their 'Elephant bean' coffee (yeah, it is bigger than the normal beans) instead. I will definitely be back the next time to taste the 'Queen coffee' with the coffee flower on top.

Muar's own 434 Sai Kee Coffee

Final thoughts for the year

2008-12-31T23:45:00.004+08:00

As I sit here in my familiar swivelling chair in front of the computer screen, music is blaring from the countdown programme on TV while the year or what's left of it can be measured in mere minutes. 10 more minutes to be exact.

Looking back, it has been quiet an eventful year for me, despite my paltry 38 blog posts this year. This was my most travelled year, where I made a few short working trips around Asia and the US. And yes, I experienced my first snow fall in the small mid-eastern american town of Kokomo. Then there was my all important nuptials and the major planning that preceded it. That was soon followed by our European honeymoon. Not too bad to have stepped into two new continents this year.

Career wise I'm still where I left off last year. No promotion, a little more extra dough, but at this trying times I am just thankful that I am still in my job. The year ended in a flurry of bad news. It doesn't help that my company is in an industry that is struggling to keep afloat amidst worsening car sales and a credit crunch to boot. Work now is highly focussed towards plugging the gaping hole at the bottom of our ship. Cash is king. And it took this deep recession to make us realise how true this words are. Looking forward, I believe more hard times are ahead of us. Some people will be thrown off the sinking ships and some ships will sink to the bottom of Davy Jones' locker, but importantly we'll have to keep ourselves afloat (and fire some flares) until the next ship comes along to rescue us.

Okay, enough of the gloom. Resolutions?? To make some this year, after failing to make any last year. It will probably contain words to the effect of continuing to learn and experience something new. In short, to continue to grow in all the right ways, not sideways. Why bother with something that is doomed to fail from the onset as past experiences clearly proves that? We must have faith ... a little hope and faith won't hurt your chances. I liked what Mr.Oei Hong Leong quoted in the papers today, "‘If winter has come, can spring be far away?"

So cheers, drink a cuppa on me, and let us make this new year the best one yet.

Two Words

2008-12-15T21:40:00.002+08:00

Though we did not get to hear Justin's rendition of the song, it was still a thoroughly enjoyable celebration, filled with food, drink and song(s)...

I'm getting married in the morning!
Ding dong! The bells are gonna chime.
Pull out the stopper! Let's have a whopper!
But get me to the church on time!

Eurotrip : Day 7 - A walk in Rome

2008-12-01T23:10:00.002+08:00

What can you do on a Sunday in Rome? We were done with the major sites and had one last day before we took off for the mountains. So we decided to take a long walk today. The day was brilliant, blue skies and all, a total opposite from the day that greeted us to this old city. The church bells were ringing, from towers of churches and basilicas that hid among the buildings of the city. The streets were just calling out to us to come out and roam.

But first we had to pack our bags and bid goodbye to our homey apartment. Here is a peek.

After settling our breakfast at the Termini, we hopped on a bus that took us close to the Campo de Fiori. We took a quiet stroll to the Campo square, before venturing to the banks of the Tiber. Of course, this river was quiet not in the class of the Seine, but the cobbled stone streets and great Piazzas of Rome, not to mention the espressos and pastas, is what makes this one of the best cities in Europe. Maybe it is too soon for me to mention that, just after stopping in my second European city, but let's see how long this stands in my book.

Here are some photos of our walk.

Flower Stall at Campo de Fiori

What looks like a church in a quiet street corner

The lively Piazza Navona

The street performer with his bag of gags

Sant Eustachio, possibly the best coffee in town

Pantheon, the Temple of Gods, where everyone constantly looks up

Outside the Pantheon

The Trevi once more

After spending the last leg of our walk accompanying Vicky in her window shopping, we were ready to head back to the terminal for our final Roman dinner. On our way back, we did some last minute souvenir shopping as we decided that Switzerland could be too expensive for simple key chains and magnets (we were right!). Our train was leaving at 7.55pm and we just had time to gobble down our dinner, grab our bags at the Beehive and hunt down our cabins. We were done with our Roman adventure, but something tells me that I will back some day for more adventures in the eternal city, and that belief is not just some myth from the coins thrown into Trevi Fountain ... well at least I got fate on my side. Ciao!

Eurotrip : Day 6 - Of the Holy and Ancients

2008-11-24T23:17:00.002+08:00

It was back to sunny blue skies after a rare wet blip on our european tour. Today we plan to blend in with the tourist crowd and make the pilgrimage to the hallowed grounds of the Vatican as well as to get a peek of ancient Rome.

First the Vatican. We found ourselves at the back of a snaking queue of what we guessed to be heading for the Vatican Museums. Fortunately we were right and the queue moved fast. It was fairly easy navigating ourselves through the Museum as it was all one-way. When we found some exhibits interesting enough, we just had to side track before rejoining the tour which eventually led to the pride of the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel.

Bust and Statues of Greek Gods and Roman royalty

Priest of Troy and his Sons

Perseus and the head of Medusa

Raphael's School of Athens

A contemporary piece of the pope

Michelangelo's Masterpiece ... we could not resist taking a few shots

Inside St.Peter's

The grand facade of St.Peter's Basilica

After a costly lunch near the Vatican, we set off to explore the ruins of ancient Rome. Where better to start off than the Colloseum.

The pits

The Collosuem, looking its age

After the quick tour of the Collosuem, we ventured next door to the Palitine hill and Forum.

Ruins of Ancient Rome

A mighty door that still stands to this day

After a exhausting walk around the hills and forum, we got out near Piazza Venezia but we were not quite done yet. There was one more stop before we called it a day and that was the famous La Bocca della Verita (or Mouth of Truth) located at the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

La Bocca della Verita ... where everybody queues up to take a shot like this

Quantum of Connubial Bliss

2008-11-03T23:23:00.003+08:00

A wedding run. My third in a row. I bet you're having a run too as it is after all the season for nuptials. Four more to go this year. A D&D this Saturday, a half way break. And Daniel Craig & Olga Kurylenko on Sunday. And to beat the Monday blues the next day, you guess it right, a Wedding to start the week.

Here are photos from the recent Weddings...

At Alex and Lily's in Grand Hyatt, JB

From Wei Wee's at Grand Straits Garden, Danga Bay JB

With Ling Tze and Raphael at Full Gospel Centre Muar

Eurotrip : Day 5 - Wet welcome to the Eternal City

2008-10-28T00:29:00.002+08:00

We were served coffee and croissants in our couchette while we passed the expansive Italian countryside. The train was running late and it finally arrive in Stazione Termini at 11.40am, almost 2 hours past its scheduled time. Our late arrival was not helped by the wet weather. We managed to find 'The Beehive' along Via Marghera despite the 'blink-and-you-miss' entrance. We were too early for check-in so we had to wait till 3pm; so off we trudged back to the station for lunch. We purchased our Roma pass for 20 Euros each. This pass allows us unlimited transport within the city for three days and two museum passes, so it fits nicely into our plan.

We checked into our shared apartment, which was just a stone throws away from the train station, soon after 3pm. It had 4 big rooms, a kitchen, a common bathroom and even a Mac in the living area for people to surf the net. It was a nice change from staying in a hotel, although Vicky did get rashes on her hands while we were there.

View from our bedroom window

The rain was now down to a drizzle so we decided to do one of the walks. We started with the church just down the street, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, stopped for dinner at a pizzeria, strolled down the dimly lited cobbled streets to the Trevi Fountain before making a final stop at the Spanish Steps. There was a big crowd of tourist at Trevi, each taking turns to throw coins into the shallow pool. It was quite confusing following the hand-drawn map in the guide book, so we made a few wrong detours along the way, one which led us close to the walls of the Colosseum and another to the columns of the Pantheon. This also goes to show that Rome is actually quite manageable on foot, especially on bright sunny days.

Basilica di Santa Maggiore

Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon

The Spanish Steps

Eurotrip : Day 4 - Homage to the Sun King

2008-10-20T23:19:00.002+08:00

On our last day in Paris, before we ventured off to Rome, we decided to make a trip to Versailles, to where else but the Sun King's palace. King Louis XIV's royal château was supposed to be the dream palace of every European king during his days. So we parted with 21 Euros each for 'Le Passport' that covered the RER trip, main palaces and the estate of Marie-Antoinette.

Versailles Palace
Equipped with an audio guide, we were definitely going to understand more about this place than the guess-work we found ourselves in at the Louvre. From the minute we entered the King and Queen's apartment, we were treated to a heady mix of opulence and extravagant luxuries. From the hanging chandeliers to the ceiling paintings, and from the dazzling hall of mirrors to the the richly decorated bed chambers, all of it spelt wealth. However we left the château feeling slightly disappointed as we had set our bar of expectation real high. The jarring artwork of Jeff Koon's that stood out like sore thumbs in the palace halls did not help. (see giant balloon dog below)

It was now mid-day and we thought we could wrap up the visit early with only the gardens and the queen's estate. But we were not quite prepared for the scale of the gardens which was easily 20 times bigger than the 'puny' palace. Our walk to the Queen's Estate seemed like ages (around 50 minutes), though it had a country-side feel to it with tall handsome trees on every side. Must be a wonderful place to jog.

The Queen's little hamlet was like a little 'kampung' she decided to built near her royal abode. The place was a picture of calm and quiet, filled with quaint huts, small vineyards, a pond and a handful of farm animals. She must had been a 'Kampung' girl at heart.

Anyway, we underestimated the time and found ourselves brisk walking out of the palace grounds. We reached back to our hotel just in time to gather our bags and head for the Bercy train station. We managed packed some Kebab before getting on the train.

Au Revoir Paris (we'll see in you in a week), Rome here we come!

Eurotrip : Day 3 - From Louvre to Elysees

2008-10-14T22:35:00.004+08:00

Today was the day we were finally going to see the smiling Mona. After filling up with McDonald's coffee and breakfast meal, we took the familiar 'pink' metro line down to Musee du Louvre. Flipping through the guidebook, we finally knew how it was supposed to be pronounced - 'loov-ruh', not 'loof' . And Champs-Elysees was 'shahn zay-lee-zay'.

The Louvre
This was one sight that one probably can't cover in a day. But we were no great scholars of art, so other than the famous masterpieces at the Denon Wing, we didn't have much of a clue where to go. So after getting our tickets from the machine, we headed towards the Denon.

Sounds Greek to me ... the French descriptions made recognising the statues much harder

Winged Victory of Samothrace ... still magnificent inspite of missing limbs

The Wedding at Cana ... the other crowd puller in the room

The Mona Lisa ... needed a zoom lens to see the famous smile

Crown Room

Mummy ... they seem to be in every famous museum, probably gotten through threat or trade

In front of Pei's controversial pyramid

Jardin de Tuileries
After walking through the maze-like rooms of the Louvre for almost four hours, we made our way out to the courtyard and then towards the gardens. It was a good sunny day to be out, so we had a quick bite on the garden lawns before making our way to Champs Elysees.

Avenue des Champs Elysees
A 2km strip lined with tall leafy trees that stood like sentries in front of luxury brand stores and other prime real estate occupants.
The highlight for Vicky was of course the store with the 'LV' initials displayed prominently on the building front. I guesses that worked, as it draws quite a crowd in. And more than half of these were Asians. So it was no surprise that the store had a couple of Chinese staff who could converse in Chinese. I guess they were no more afraid of the Chinese pirate. After fulfilling Vicky's fantasy, we happily trudged out and headed towards our final destination.

Arc de Triomphe
It must be quite a sight, to ride a horse triumphantly through this massive arch with cheering Parisians flanking the promenade.
Well, at least we settled for a walk round this famous monument, admiring it from all angles. Did not fancy a climb up to the top, so we decided to call it day.

Eurotrip : Day 2 - Paris City Streets

2008-10-10T00:05:00.003+08:00

Day two. We went looking for breakfast near our hotel. We finally found a cafe at a street corner just a block away. It was a typical French cafe where you can choose to sit at the bar counter or one right next to those big windows that look out to the street. No prizes guessing where we sat. Anyway breakfast was a simple meal of omelette, baguette, croissants, orange juice and cafe au lait. After filling up, we were ready to take on the streets of Paris. But first stop, the iconic iron structure of Paris.

Eiffel's Tower
Gustave Eiffel must have been a visionary. Who would have thought that an entanglement of metal latticework rising high above the city's ornate buildings and built right next to the graceful Seine, would have blended in perfectly into Paris' romantic skyline. So, we like every other tourist to Paris, had to scale the famous tower to breathe in the air up there and to tick off this modern wonder in the 'must-do' list. 7.80 Euro got us to the 2nd Level where we proceeded to walk around the perimeter, snapping away at will. The sunlight was a tad too bright, bathing the entire city in a harsh glare. Then we got down closer to the ground, to the 1st level, where the view was more defined. When we left, walking across Champ de Mars, we couldn't help but to steal a few parting glances at this magnificent structure, now beautifully set against the deep blue sky.

Bus #69 Sightseeing Tour
This bright idea from Rick Steve's book promised a good sightseeing tour of great monuments and neighbourhoods, and it will bring us from the Eiffel Tower to Marais, our next destination. There was another couple on the bus who carried the same book, so they must have had the same idea. Disappointingly the bus had to stop its service just before crossing Pont Du Carousel. Something about a problem at the bridge. Dumped in the middle of Rue St.Dominique, we had to turn back to the trusty Metro, that was never too far away.

Marais Walk
One of the more trendy and atmospheric neighbourhood. We relied on the book's hand drawn map to lead us through the narrow lanes and lively parks.

Montmartre on the hill
We still had time and anyway the sun sets quite late over here, so we headed to Montmartre. Stopping at Anvers Metro, we walked up the busy cobbled street towards the big white church at the top of the hill. Feeling a little tired from the days events, we laid down on the grassy slope, to rest our eyes and to just inhale the fresh cool air. It was like a carnival atmosphere up here. People were sitting on the steps in front of Sacre Coeur singing along to a busker belting out 'Guantanamera' (or Girl from Guantanamo), the wildly popular Cuban Song, while strumming his guitar. We took a tour of the basilica before taking to the streets of Montmartre. This place was like a wonderful getaway from the busy city streets, with its charming town square and quaint houses. Not to mention the few famous hangouts or houses of famous dead people. We walked all the way down to boulevard de Clichy for a glimpse of the famous cabaret, Moulin Rouge, as well as the many 'interesting' shops and theatres that stands along the road, before climbing back up the hill for dinner at one of the restaurants in the town square (Place du Tertre).

Sacre Coeur

Montmartre

Moulin Rouge

Van Gogh's pad

Thank you for the music

2008-10-07T23:48:00.002+08:00

"So I say,
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing,
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing,
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty ... "

Yes, what would life be, without a song or a dance or a tune to hum along. So that was probably what the producers were thinking when they wrapped a simple, yet endearing story, around a bunch of all-time favourite hit-songs, which guaranteed that even the most dour miser would start tapping his feet when the music starts playing, and throw in a group of well-known veteran actors, and wa lah .. a box office hit; or of course you could just follow the lead of the producers of Mamma Mia! and adapt the stage musical onto the silver screen. I must admit though that it was a riot listening to song after songs of ABBA's greatest hits, while enjoying the uninhibited performance of Meryl and gang.

Musical films are kind of a rarity nowadays, though they are making a comeback with one or two rare gems in the past few years. We have had stage-to-film musicals like Chicago, Rent, Phantom of the Opera, and others like Dreamgirls and The Producers. I guessed it is not easy to produce one without a group of talented singing cast and great songs.

Disney also had rebuild their cartoon dynasty in the 90s with successful cartoon musicals like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, though they have kind of cooled off with the musical theme.

However despite all these wonderful movie musicals, the torch bearer for musicals will still be the classic evergreens of the past such as The Sound of Music, Singin' in the Rain, My Fair Lady,West Side Story, etc. They are the ones that come to mind when the word 'musical film' is mentioned .. and the ones that we had repeatedly watched on video (pre-recorded version), in the familiar drab colour film quality that old movies are known for. I bet most of us will instantly recognise the Austrian hill scenery that was made famous by the Sound of Music.

Anyway, be it old or new, we should be thankful that we still have some song and dance in our lives. If not, it is time you find some ...

"...What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me"

Eurotrip : Day 1 - City of Lights

2008-10-04T23:13:00.005+08:00

It was a late flight. Checking in at T3 was a breeze. We even had time for coffee and toast at Toastbox, plus a stop at the optical shop for Vicky's box of disposable contacts. Oh, we were going to be so bloated with supper served on the flight later. Flight 334 had started boarding. So we headed for the gates, for our first European adventure ...

Bienvenue en France
We arrived at CGD T1 before 7am, Paris time. The airport had an interesting muti-level design, not the usual flat, one/two level design, but with many escalators leading to the baggage collection area. We collected our bags and caught the RER towards Gare du Nord. The north station was quite a confusing labyrinth, with signs pointing to all destinations except ours. We were lost for a while but with some help from the information booth we were pointed in the right direction of the Metro. We decided to buy a Mobilis ticket; this allowed is to have unlimited train/bus rides for the day in Zone 1 & 2 for only Euro 5.80 per person. This beats the Euro 11.40 carnet of 10 tix if the two of us takes more than 5 rides a day.

We got off at the Crimee station, just a 50m walk to our home for the next 3 days, Hotel Crimee. It was still too early to check in, so we dumped our bags and headed off for our first stop in our plan, Ille de la Cite.

Historic Paris walk
With Rick Steve's Paris 2008, we were hoping to be guided through this historic part of the city. Our metro line stops at Chatelet, which was close enough to the island. Our first stop was the church dedicated to "Our Lady", which inspired many imitations around the world, the famous Notre Dame.

We were quite famished when were done. No, we did not climb up to have a closer view of the gargoyles. We conveniently hopped over to a restaurant on the left bank for lunch. After a quick introduction to the local cuisine and billing system, we were back to our walk.

We walked along the sides of the church, stopping briefly at the deportation memorial, before crossing the bridge to walk along the left bank and the Latin Quarter.

Another famous stop that deserved a visit was Sainte-Chapelle, famed for its stained glass. The long queue at the security checks did not deter the many tourists waiting eagerly in line. As the entrance was the same one for Palais de Justice, we waited in the wrong queue until someone informed us about the other queue. But interestingly, after you cleared security, you could go to either place.

Cruising down the Siene

It was past 7pm, and the skies were still bright. We got off at Trocadero. I was wondering what time would be best for a river cruise. Naturally we would need the night sky and a lighted up city. We walked over to the base of the Eiffel tower and found a kiosk selling hot dogs and crepes. That would be our dinner. The boat was beginning to fill up with people from the many tour buses stopping at the jetty. We bought our tickets for the 8.30pm cruise and got on. The boat had outdoor and indoor seating, over a hundred seats and audio guides in almost every language.

The cruise began and I took a sit on the outside, soaking in the sights and trying to get a good shot of the night skyline. It was an one hour ride, and when the boat U-turned we were both getting a little tired. Guess our bodies were not in tuned with the local time yet.

Back to the hotel for a a good night's rest as tomorrow will be a long day.

Shoot-out gear

2008-09-10T23:32:00.005+08:00

Will be hoping to bring these babies with me on the trip. Can't afford them yet, so I'll be renting them for the two weeks.

the multi-purpose zoom lens ... for the gargoyle high above or quietly snapping the outdoor diners from afar

the wide angle lens ... to take in the mountain ranges

It's my first time using something besides my kit lens. So let's see how the shots turn out ... cross fingers...

The free & easy way

2008-09-08T22:23:00.004+08:00

Planning our upcoming trip was a journey of some sorts. It was never as complicated as planning the wedding as we had only the two us to consider, not two families and 400 guests. Here's an account of our trip planning journey ...

1. Making our blue list
The first question that sprung to mind was 'Where to?' Let's draw up our top five destinations and deliberate over it, I suggested. After days of no action, we sat down and unanimously picked Europe.

2. Tour vs F&E
After going through the hassle of wedding planning, we were hoping to just hop on a tour and leave the hard work to someone else. The tempatation was great to sit back and have no worries. For suggestions of places of interest in Europe, we turned to the ever reliable Singaporebrides forum. It was clear we needed to meet the people in the business, so off we trudged down to Chinatown. We visited the usual suspects in People's Park Complex (after mistakenly roaming into People's Park Center) where we quizzed and probed the sales staff over similarly looking tour packages.

The upside? Pay your deposit, sit back, and wait for the confirmation. Cover many must-go places in 10 over days. NO PLANNING needed! They even tell you what to bring, how much money to carry with you and how much tips to pay the tour agent/bus captain each day.

The downside? Only one free day in Paris, plus what is left of a night. Packing off too soon after falling love with the place. Lots of traveling time. Too much in too short a time.

The F&E way started to gnaw away at the fringes of our minds. Some interesting debates in the forums plus encouraging backpacking stories began to emboldened us. Cost was an issue as well as time (time to plan and work the plan). Do we want more time to explore each city? and wander the streets? We took the bait and plunged in.

3. At the drawing block
Now that we decided on F&E, we had to pin down our destinations. Paris was a must. What next? To archaic Italy or the serene Swiss Alps, or the grand old city of London?
Should we get a Eurail pass or take budget flights? Where do we find affodable and good budget hotels?

Endless questions poured in. For answers, I turned to the public libraries with their impressive collection of Travel Guides and many helpful websites like virtualtourist (for pictures and many interesting tips) and tripadvisor (for hotel recommendation).

4. Connecting the dots
Among the first thing we did was to book our air ticket, amidst fears of rising prices due to escalating oil prices. We decided that SIA was a great way to fly, after considering the other cheaper flights that transit in other countries.

Next was to plan the inter-city logistics. After picking Rome and the Bernese Highlands as the other two destinations, it was a matter of which train or flight option has the lowest cost and yet does not compromise on our trip itenerary. In the end, the point-to-point train tickets edged out the eurail passes (best for multiple day trips) and Ryan Air flights (takes up half a day and not too cheap with its extra charges). We reserved two overnight train rides with 2 person bunks that cost close to a night stay in a luxury hotel. At least it will get us to our next destination while we sleep.

5. Cheap Stays
Accomodation was next and we went about with a budget in mind. However we had to settle for rooms of 70-100 euro per night for hotels with reasonable number of healthy comments in tripadvisor. The first choice was not always available so we went down our preferred hotels list. We had only three cities/town to work on, so made our reservations pretty quick.

6. Finer details
The last and final part was to work out itinerary (must-see sites and walks), entry ticket costs (passes vs indiv tickets), trip budget (in euros and swiss francs), and gear (backpack, packing list, camera gear, travel guides).

Now that most of the hard work is done, I just count the days...

Age of Tera-sours

2008-09-03T23:31:00.005+08:00

I rarely go to PC shows and only pop in when I have something in mind to buy. With one every quarter, we are really quite spoilt here in Singapore, as we are allowed to bide our time in finding the right bargain on the wide variety of latest tech gizmos. Yet, the PC Shows never fail to attract a crowd, a spectacular crowd that is, everyday single time. Maybe this is one way the men gets back at their gf/wives who drags them to every Robinson sale.

Anyway I was there at the Comex'08 last weekend with the intention of buying a CF card for my upcoming trip. Entering the exhibition hall on the 6th floor, I couldn't help noticing the many booths selling external hard drives. The minimum storage is now 160GB, selling below $100 (and I bought an 80GB for my office a year back at almost the same price), and behold ... 1TB ... Tera?? ... a trillion bytes??!! Woah, we have moved so far from the age of 1.2MB floppy disk to this age of monster data storage. These 1TB ext drives are about the size of a bible but could probably contain copies of the bible in over 200 languages plus audiobook, with plenty of space left to spare. Leaving the hall with my puny 8GB Sandisk Ultra II CF Card, I was left wondering what I could do with one of those monster Tera drives.

I guess there lies the trap set by the many consumer goods maker, knowing that we consumers are always willing to spend more money on bigger and better products, with our expectations growing with each snazzy advertisement or sleek looking gadget. Maybe in the not too distant future, I'll lament on how times have caught up with the modest 1TB drive ...

For now I just hope my IT dept will move with the times and expand my inbox storage limit. How can you survive with 100MB nowadays??

Forty five minutes away

2008-09-02T21:46:00.003+08:00

That's how long it takes to reach this Indonesian island, south of Singapore. Batam.

Memories of Batam before this trip - two distinct trips, poles apart. One day trip to a plastic moulding facility on a hot sunny day, passing through parched empty lands. And another an overnight disco -hopping reverie that left my ears ringing through the next day.

Well I was back again two Saturdays ago courtesy of Vicky's well laid plans. It was raining when we got to Sekupang, located on the north western tip of Batam. We were greeted my Mitra, Matt and Andrew, who then promptly whisked us off on a short tour of the island before taking us to lunch at the old Batam town. Our lunch stop was an ordinary-looking chinese coffee shop, much like those you find abundantly in Malaysia towns. Then came our treat, two fish dishes - Sup Ikan (with delicious yam-sweeetened soup) and Fish Curry (not the asam type). This was enough to whet our appetite for more of Batam.

With full stomachs, we headed next towards Batam Center. I must admit that the island now look better with more planted trees and the rain did help by providing a cool island breeze. Shopping was next on the cards. Don't expect great bargains but some of the labels are indeed cheaper compared to Singapore. We both bought a pair of jeans each.

Our home for the night was at the Holiday Inn, located at a remote corner of the Island, near the Waterfront City ferry terminal. For about $110 a night, this place was a steal. F1 visitors should consider this alternative accomodation if they find Singapore too expensive in September (but first they have to find a way back to Batam at night). Once we checked in, we took to the bed for a short afternoon nap.

For dinner, we were introduced to more of the local seafood. Andrew picked out live white-shelled crabs and crayfish from the small tanks while Matt lingered to play with the rest of the crabs. Prawns and fish were later added on and we feasted on a splendid seafood dinner.

The next day, we got to enjoy a slow breakfast buffet at the poolside before heading off to take our 11.40 ferry back to Singapore.

A big thank you to our host. This trip has gave me a chance to see a side of Batam not commonly revealed to day-trippers. Maybe we'll come back for more ... I hear there are roads leading down south to the smaller islands ...

Photos of Holiday Inn, Batam

Two weeks to Paris

2008-09-01T00:16:00.003+08:00

We are going off on our honeymoon in two weeks time. Yes, the countdown that started when we first made the intial flight booking in June, is finally down to just 14 days. That comes to just 10 days in the office, and part of that time will be reserved to equipped my colleague with the necessary background, knowledge and short-cuts to handle my work. Good luck to him :P

Back to our plans. We are targetting just three European destinations, ie. Paris, Rome and the Bernese Oberland (Switzerland), in the 12 days that we are there. That will give us ample time to do the highlights (in a less hurried manner), while finding time to discover the city. It's going to be free and easy all the way. We've got our inter-city train tickets, backpacks, money-belt and Rick&Steve's Guidebook all ready.

I guess the planning and anticipation also makes up the whole experience. So I will savour the next two weeks to make the experience last a little longer.

Telling time

2008-08-06T23:54:00.002+08:00

How do one tell time when all three IKEA-made clocks in the house have ceased ticking?

Here's a good TV guide to time ...
Reruns of 'Friends' on AXN - 8 plus
Channel 8 Chinese Serials (it was good while Beach Ball Babes lasted) - 9-nish
Sportscenter news - 10s
CSI (yawn..) - time to go online

And it's time to get new batteries too. BTW, what's with the batteries nowadays or is it the energy draining clocks?

Follow the narrow ridge road

2008-07-29T00:11:00.002+08:00

Colour Blindness

2008-06-25T23:36:00.003+08:00

While we are on the topic of Yasmin Ahmad. She recently won a Cannes Lions Gold for her heart-warming 'Tan How Ming in Love' commercial. Brilliant! Bravo! Just got to see it again ...

Another notable win(Bronze) is the one titled 'Race'.

Yasmin's Gift of Love

2008-06-23T23:54:00.002+08:00

Now we have Yasmin's storytelling on Singapore TV screens :)

Penang Food Feast

2008-06-23T22:19:00.004+08:00

Asam Laksa, Beef Rendang, Chendol, Penang Char Kway Teow, Hokkien Mee, Kuih Talam ... this was reason enough for us to head down to Penang Place last Sunday for lunch. For $19.80 plus Service Charge and GST, you get to enjoy a quiet lunch buffet at a deserted business park (what do you expect on a Sunday). If you like spicy, it had enough 'hot' dishes to keep your tongue burning; if you like sweet, there were the DIY Ice Kachang or Chendol; and if you like it sour, thre's always the Penang Laksa. A Penang hawker food feast in a foreign land!

Fish theraphy

2008-06-15T23:44:00.002+08:00

We finally got the chance to sink our feet into a pool of Garra rufa fish yesterday at Qian Hu's fish Spa. Paid $10 for the half an hour session. Tried to be ambitious at the beginning by trying the pool with the bigger fish, some almost 12cm long, but it got too ticklish and we bailed out. Moved to the more popular pool with the 1-2 inch long fish. All in all it was a good experience and we left with smoother soles.

The other part of the outing organised by Vicky's company was to the farm (yes, we have farms here in some backwater part of Singapore) and F&N's birdnest warehouse sale. Though it was a free outing, I guessed we paid our dues by buying lots of farm produce and bottled birdnest.

Post-Wedding Post

2008-06-05T21:41:00.002+08:00

Been busy with my pics and my other blog.
At least no more tight deadlines and countless little details to look into ... for the wedding I mean.

Schmap-ed

2008-05-08T22:54:00.002+08:00

My Sydney Fish Market photo(above) found its way into Schmap...

From:	Emma J. Williams
Subject:	Schmap Australia Second Edition: Photo Inclusion
	Hi Benjamin, I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo has been selected for inclusion in the newly released second edition of our Schmap Australia Guide: Sydney Fish Market www.schmap.com/australia/attractions/p=43141/i=43141_7.jpg If you like the guide and have a website, blog or personal page, then please also check out the customizable widgetized versions of our Schmap Australia Guide, complete with your published photo: www.schmap.com/guidewidgets/p=45169335N00/c=SG35011579 Thanks so much for letting us include your photo - please enjoy the guide! Best regards, Emma Williams, Managing Editor, Schmap Guides

Bubbles on a Friday

2008-04-18T00:20:00.003+08:00

Somedays you wish that life could be so simple; that you could spent your mornings blowing bubbles and day-dreaming in the park. Well today is Friday, you've got one more day to go.

While you day-dream, here are more bubble-blowin' pictures ...

(thanks to Josh for always being the sporting model...)

Tale of two cities

2008-04-15T23:03:00.003+08:00

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way....

Ok, that's as much as I will take from Dicken's classic and move on to write about my trip to the two cities in Vietnam.

Well, there I was on this trip with a bunch of Singapore Business delegates, being treated more importantly than we should, visiting the twin boom towns of Vietnam, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. There were the official and business-like affairs to attend to like sitting in a 'Information Systems Convergence' conference listening to mobile phone industry stats and benefits of the new satellite (and wondering why I am still there while the rest of the delegates have quietly dissapeared), filling up the second row seats in the 'IT Show' opening ceremony (to make sure that the VIPs have their audience), and visitting the Industrial Park. Of course there were the perks like free lunches and official dinners, but somehow I suspected that some of the money I paid went to the food budget. Fortunately too, interspaced between the events, we had time to do some sightseeing and bargain hunting.

There are indeed much similarities between the two cities. To name a few, the busy two-wheeler traffic, french styled buildings, opera houses, giant cathedrals, road side makan stalls, handicraft shops, art galleries, highland coffee chains, cyclos, motorcycle taxis, the summer heat (though Hanoi has its cold days) and the inflation, yeah, the amazing price hikes that gets many people all excited just recounting about the days(read: one year back) when they could stay in a particular hotel for half the current price and could eat a plate of Pho Bo off the road for VND5000! But moving from Hanoi to HCM, you can't help but notice the wider raods, city parks, shopping malls, taller buildings, and discover a happening night life. So much that people likens the two to Beijing and Shanghai, maybe 15 years back. In defense of Hanoi, they have of course a wonderful lake right smack in the middle of the city, the old quarters that is bursting with character and bargains, and not forgetting the cooler temperature in winter-spring.

I came back from this trip with a heavier luggage, 5 kg heavier to be precise, partly contributed by 1 kg of Vietnamese Buon Ma Thuot and Mocca grounded coffee, 200g of green tea leaves and rosebuds, ceramic vases, a small painting and more carved wooden souvenirs.

Here are some shots of Hanoi...

From top (L to R) : Old Quarters, Pho Bo at Pho24, Opera House, IT Show, World largest photo album, West Lake temple, All-girl band at Dinh Lang restaurant, Hoan Kiem Lake

And shots of HCM...

From top (L to R) : Benh Thanh night market, Saigon River, Gloria Jean's, Opera House, Louis Vutton store, Benh Thanh market, 'where I got my coffee', 'where I got my vases'

Death Cycle of the Heartland Doughnut Shop

2008-04-03T22:17:00.003+08:00

Three signs of a dying donut shop (besides the alarming dearth of customers!) .

Sign 1 ...
The unmistakable vanilla scent that used to assail your nostrils as soon as you stepped out of the train station is a thing of the past

Sign 2 ...
The donuts, the former pastry elites, are now sharing the same shelves with the middle-class curry puffs and the errr... oily prawn cakes!

Sign 3 ...
Nothing foretells the end more than being bought over by the rival bakery shop ... and having to change names form the palatable 'munchy donut' to the unsavoury 'ananas donuts!

A dash of peppercorn, belacan, and cardamom

2008-03-25T01:10:00.004+08:00

Travelled a bit the past week. First was a short overnight trip to Suzhou, where the travelling lasted longer than our stay. Then spent the weekend back in Muar. But not before our taxi driver outfoxed his way through the immigration traffic. Next, was on plane to Chennai on Sunday night and for the next two days, aclimatizing myself to the spicy local dishes and hot dry weather.

Shila Hotel in Suzhou, luxury stay away from the city, where the only food you will find in the middle of the day is from room service.

Funfair in Muar, where the operators gleefully turn on a ride even for a single kid, and allows more than the allotted revolutions for the 360deg rotating cabins (had to hold my dinner in!)

Chennai, where the new and modern hides behind the old weathered facade.

It's spelt A-R-C-H-U-L-E-T-A!

2008-03-01T18:25:00.003+08:00

After this performance, you just feel like jumping on the David Archuleta bandwagon, stop the knock-out rounds(to spare the rest further misery) and pick him immediately as this season's American Idol. Yeah, I'm a dreamer too ...

*******
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Lunar New Year pics - First Day

2008-02-21T00:05:00.002+08:00

Before the 15 days are up, here are some pics from the first day of Chinese New Year ...

First Day Lunch, where Aunty Mary and Aunty Gan's families make it a big family gathering

Matt zooming in ...

Aunty & niece - Alicia and Maya

Rebecca, Callista and baby Davina

Max with his make-shift mic

Pa, Josh and Louie, before going out to An.Mary's for dinner

Vicky posing with Josh

Me posing with Josh

The Ladies Club

****

Happy Chap Goh Meh!

View from the top

2008-02-15T00:01:00.002+08:00

On Monday, I had the chance to take a ride on the inaugural flight of the Singapore Flyer. My chance came late in the day when they could not find a willing volunteer to take the visiting director to the event.

Arriving at the flyer complex, we were entertained with a brief launch consisting of dancing lions and lots of drinks. Next came the long wait before our turn to climb up the stairs to the launch platform.

Our capsule, which had around 28 people, was confortable but still we had to take turns to snap shots of the marina bay scenery. It was moving so smoothly that I don't even feel the motion. Then at the top, we started tossing the yu sang with the rest of the passengers. The 2 rounds it made took over an hour, and we were all ready to come down after that.

The first cup, you are a stranger ...

2008-02-05T00:06:00.000+08:00

'Three cups of tea' is an amazing true story about a man, Greg Mortensen, who being moved by the kindness of the people of Korphe, a remote village up in the Karakoram mountains, promised to return and build them a school. In the next few years, he struggled to save the little he earn as a nurse, laboured to raise the money and finally to rise above the challenges of building a school in the remote part of the world.

Just ask yourself, would you bother with people you hardly knew living half-way across the globe, other than to put in some extra notes when the collection bag comes along? What more if you were broke and jobless, living out of a small rented space? Would you seriously put yourself in harms way, in the path of fatwas and tribesmen bearing AK-47s , or even attempt to enter the Line of Control in Kashmir or the Mujahadeen controlled-lands of north Afghanistan, just to build a school for girls?

Yet Greg Mortenson did all that and in the process he encountered the beauty of the people living with the lack of modern conveniences, and learned the wisdom of their ways.

Here is a short write-up.

Excerpts from the book.

The right reason ...
A Republican congressman from California interrupted Mortenson in midsentence, challenging him. "Building schools for kids is just fine and dandy, but our primary need as a nation is security. Without security, what does all this matter?"

"I don't do what I'm doing to fight terror," Mortenson said. "I do it because I care about kids. Fighting terror is maybe seventh or eighth on my list of priorities. But working over there, I've learned a few things. I've learned that terror doesn't happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us. It happens because children aren't being offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death."

Wisdom of the Balti, from Haji Ali, the nurmadhar of korphe village, and Mortensons' mentor.
Haji Ali spoke."If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways, "Haji Ali said, blowing on the bowl. "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honoured guest. The third time you share a cup of tea,you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die," he said, laying his hand warmly on Mortensen's own.

"That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I've ever learned in my life," Mortensen says. "We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We're the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills. Our leaders thought their 'shock and awe' campaign could end the war in Iraq before it even started. Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them."

K2, one failure that led to his many triumphs

'Dr Greg' and the children

More of Greg doing what he does best

Pre-Wedding Photoshoot in JB

2008-02-03T23:48:00.001+08:00

We had our pre-wedding photoshoot last Saturday in JB. The post as well as other wedding related posts can be found at my wedding blog.

There and back again ... in pictures

2008-01-30T00:37:00.000+08:00

Here are more photos on the trip from my handphone...

In Transit ... Changi T3(left) and Narita(right)

Parting shot of Holiday Inn Denver (left) and Denver's mountains on the horizon (right)

Snow covered fields from the air

Love this blurred old-photo-quality shot I took of Indianapolis

Castleton Mall ... our Sunday getaway from Kokomo

Learning Center where we had our workshop

Clay Terrace, a breath of modern charm. Had dinner at Kona Grill (Left Bottom) once.

Airports again ... Indianapolis (left) and Los Angeles (right)

A week in Kokomo

2008-01-28T00:14:00.000+08:00

To get to Kokomo, I had to fly to LA, and to Denver, then to Indiana, and finally a 1 1/2 hour drive by car. Kokomo is a small little town, north of Indianapolis (famous for the Colts and Peyton Manning), that happens to be where my company's headquarters is located. It was quite an easy place to navigate (the GPS proved quite useful) as the main trunk road led to most places (ie.food, shopping, work).

I was greeted with sunny weather in Indianapolis, so that helped made the driving conditions to Kokomo easier. I just had to remind myself constantly to think 'right-hand' drive. Well the snow finally did come on a frosty Sunday morning. Fortunately I had a scraper in the back seat of my rented car and that helped us get the car on the road on Monday morning.

Food wise, my first bite of local cuisine was 'Chinese'. I ended there after finding the other diners fully packed on a Saturday night. Maybe the football game going on kept the diners firmly stucked to their warm seats and the beer flowing. So I had to settle for 'Beef Hor Fun', cooked by a Taiwanese in a near empty restaurant (there were only 4 customers!), for my first Kokomo dinner. Well I can't complaint as I had more than my share of steaks, ribs and sandwiches in the following days.

Shopping in Kokomo meant shopping for cheap bargains. I bought vitamins, bath towels, shirts at American institutions like JC Penney, Target, Walmart and Dick's Shopping Goods. There was good bargains if I looked hard enough and as long as the prices were lower than back home, I was sold. I just had to keep an eye on the volume of the shopping goods as I had a list of vitamins to buy for colleagues and a limited room in my luggage.

I stayed at holiday inn throughout and it really felt like an inn. It had a small fire place at the 'living room' area and it was a simple breakfast fare of ommelettes,bagels and sausages every morning. There was a nice old lady who helped prepare the breaksfast and she was always cheery and greeted every guest .

After almost 6 days in Kokomo, I flew off from Indiana on Friday morning, but not before driving through Indianapolis and taking a look to the RCA Dome, home of the Colts. By then the Colts were already out of the running, having lost to the Charges while we were there. The trip back was without hiccups, as there were no delays this time.

Here are some random pictures.

Holiday Inn Kokomo

Whiter after the snow

St.Elmo's in Indianapolis - good steak!

RCA Dome

Somewhere after the international date line ... on the way home.

Snowy Midwestern Encounter

2008-01-25T00:41:00.000+08:00

Just came back from my maiden trip to the US on Sunday . It was a 29 hour long trip back to good old Singapore.

Over there, I got to see snow up close for the first time and then got numerous chances to scrap it off the car's windscreen after that. Not much sightseeing in the quiet little town of Kokomo, just lots of steak dinners and shopping at Walmarts and Targets. Will post up more pictures soon.

Reflections

2008-01-02T23:31:00.000+08:00

Allow me a moment to wallow in nostalgic stupor ... with an old song about change and Peter Pans.

I guess it's a good time to reflect on the year that just past. So here goes...

It's been a year of many firsts ... first visit by my family to my new place, first housewarming, first trip to China and Australia, first meet up with old Infineon collegues in a long long time, first trip up the Malaysias east coast and spending the first year in my own home.

Of course there were the changestoo, the most significant would be moving to my new job. I guess the closing down of my old company was a blessing in disguise as it made me look beyond my shell.

There was the usual wedding dinners too and regular meet-ups with friends. And I took up a new past-time, ie. adopted 10 tetras (now down to 6) but is slowly losing interest. Stepped back from blogging a little as other activities and distractions took centre stage, among them is the ever addcitive facebook. Found time to photograph but mainly during functions and trips.

Well for the next 364 days, I hope to always keep in mind to live my best life now, today. Not tomorrow. Not 'someday'. And to remember that God makes all things possible for those who dare to dream and believe. And of course I hope to find more time blogging too.

So have we outgrown our Peter Pan and wings? Certainly not!

Last Day of 2007

2008-01-01T14:58:00.000+08:00

It is always hard waking up on a Monday, what more if it is on the eve of New Year's Day. There was definitely much less traffic on the roads and the office had a silent hush about it, occasionally broken by the tapping of the keyboard. Turning on the notebook, there was only a trickle of mails coming in. So far so good. Lunch came sooner than expected as the morning crept past. As there was to be no official announcement of an early release, my collegue and I were prepared to stay till 6pm but were anticipating for a concession.

We had our announcement or more like a casual remark from our manager, at something like past 4pm. So I packed my bags and trudged off into the liberated air. Next year was just a few hours away, the work can wait. I made a pitstop at Novena Square 2 basement to check out the much talked about 'You Tiao' from Daniel's BreadBar stall. Each twin bars of flavoured dough cost $1.20 but buying 5 gets you one free. The onion and sasame flavoured ones were quite tasty, but don't wolf down too many at one time or you might get tired of the taste.

Dinner was at the Kallang Waterfront, at Mushroom Pot to be exact. There were six of us, 3 couples that is, and we settled for the buffet set. There was a nice breeze blowing that kept us cool while we had our meal outisde the packed restaurant. What better way to spend the last day of 2007 than being with good friends.

Not being the partying kind, we skipped the countdown and headed home instead to usher in the new year.

It's 2008 today. Not that I am leaping gleefully into another new year. A year past means unfulfilled resolutions and adding a year to my age. Well to inject some optimsm, at least I get to wipe the slate clean and start over again. Happy New Year and choose to have a great year.

A Season to be Merry

2007-12-30T11:53:00.000+08:00

I headed back to Muar for my Christmas break last Friday, 21st Dec. First on the agenda was Willie's wedding on Saturday. It was to be a full day event with fetching-the-bride in the morning, church wedding in the afternoon and dinner at night. However the festivities started slightly earlier on Friday night, as I hopped over to his place soon after I arrived in Muar. A bunch of old school friends were already there and we chatted until we realised it was past midnight and time for the bridegroom to get his rest.

Saturday began early at 7.45am. Here was how it went ...

Willie : "Brothers, keep heart. What's a mouthful of odd tasting spices and a few strands of hair?"

Justin : "Wait, not the whole lenghth of my lower leg! Oooh, I'm regretting this..."

Brothers :"We're still good. The worse is over. Hope it will be lunch soon ..."

Willie : "I have got what I came here for ... luckily her 'chi muis' didn't know about the 'angpows' in my left pocket."

Brothers : "Hey Sigrid, he's yours now, catch!"

Willie : "This is the day that the Lord had made ... "

Willie & Sigrid : "Cheese ... (our cheek muscles are aching so much)"

"Dam dam damdam ... " (ok,maybe not the bridal march...)

Kids of the seventies; one for the road.

Yuletide Getaway

2007-12-21T00:13:00.000+08:00

It's just four days to Christmas. My bags are packed, and I am ready to head home tomorrow after work. The presents under the Christmas tree are waiting to be rounded up and bundled into our taxi ride tomorrow. December has been quite hectic inspite it having a holiday feel to it. Work has not let up but at least it is easing off now that our US counterparts are starting their Christmas vacation. A flurry of meet-ups with friends and hunt for christmas gifts also ensured that time passed swiftly. When I am back from my short holidays, it'll be time to prepare for the new year. For now, let's hope it will be a good Christmas; less rain, more merry making.

'Merry Christmas!'

Santa's on his way

2007-12-02T01:17:00.000+08:00

Orchard Road has been turned into a fairyland. Small Christmas ornaments are popping up around the office. Christmas CDs, new and old, are given prime spots in Music stores. Friends and colleagues are heading off for vacations. The nights are getting cooler.

Yes, it's December again. The air has a holiday feel to it (no doubt helped by the Christmas Carols replaying in my head). And tonight, we got our tree out from the store and we dressed it up in red, gold and dancing christmas lights, while Josh Groban belts out songs from his latest album Noel.

It's definitely 'Chestnut roasting over an open fire' time again.

A double eleven wedding

2007-11-13T23:24:00.000+08:00

One of my dear friends got married on Sunday. I was on hand to capture some of the magical moments as well as to partake in the little 'fun' that the sisters dished out. I guess this is a phase that everyone passes through. Soon I'll run out of bachelor friends and will moved up the evolution ladder where I'll be taking photos of their little ones. Oh drats, I think I have started on those.

Anyway as this is my number 200th post, let me end on a bright note by wishing the happy couple a wonderful journey ahead.

Ernie & Rubber Duckie finally tying the knot?

*******

"Love is blind, but marriage restores its sight."

Suzhou short trip

2007-11-12T23:38:00.000+08:00

I’m procrastinating too much these days. I guess it’s much easier to succumb to one hour of mindless navigating through FB, biting werewolves, racing online pets and creating new groups then to put my thoughts into words in my often neglected blog. Anyway, I’ll interrupt my Ozzie holiday series to update on my latest trip to Suzhou.

So there I was again in Shanghai, almost 8 months after my first trip there. This time, there was no Shanghai stay as the meetings were in Suzhou. As I had made a late booking, I could not get on the same flight as my colleagues. Thus I had roughly 2 ½ hours to wait for the rest to arrive as we were sharing the same transport to Suzhou.

This gave me the chance to try out the Maglev or bullet train from Pudong Airport to the train station in Luoyang Rd. After paying 80RMB or S$16 for a round trip, I dragged my luggage into a sleek-looking MRT-type train. Once the train pushed off, it was accelerating from 0 to 430kmh, where it maintained the speed for a while before it started decelerating. The 30Km journey took just 8 min. At Luoyang Rd Station I got off and started looking for a place to have lunch. I ended up with two dishes that were drenched in chilli oil and a hot cup of tea to washed it away. Well I told myself that the food could only get better.

Back at the airport, my travel weary colleagues finally stepped out of the arrival hall around 6:30pm after suffering a two over hour flight delay. We arrived at our hotel, Youngor Central, in Suzhou around 9pm. We were terribly famished by then.

The next two nights we got the opportunity to explore the Shopping belt along Guanqian St where we stayed and Shiquan St which was another popular tourist spot. We got to visit countless DVD shops (my colleagues were hoping that newer movies could be found in different shops but no luck), pastries and sweet shops (Suzhou is famed of Sasame Seed biscuits), boutiques and handicraft shops. I prefer this kind of shopping compared to those mega complexes, and some shops even allow bargaining. I ended up with some simple titbits for the office, souvenirs and half a kilo of ‘long jing’ tea.

As for food, we treated ourselves to buffet dinners, Szechuan fare, local noodles and rice, and even Satay. I had to get use to the food there which uses more oil and salt. We also avoided fish as we were warned of the many bones and ‘fresh-water fish’ smell.

Well if had a chance to come back, I’ll certainly try to find time to visit the many famous temples and parks around the city. And not to forget the boat ride along the canals of Suzhou that I was hoping to squeeze in this time. Not to fret, I’ll be back again to this city of UNESCO heritage parks and mammoth industrial parks.

You've Got Mail

2007-11-01T00:50:00.000+08:00

It's amazing how fast e-mails get replied in Facebook. I wrote three mails to old friends tonight and all three replies came back within minutes. All three from different countries. I couldn't help replying and got back replies soon after. Are these people perpetually on FB? Huh, they must be addicts like me.

Because We're Tuesday People

2007-10-22T23:15:00.000+08:00

I guess most people has read Mitch Albom's book, momentarily ingested his message about living and dying, and soon after pushed it all into the attic of their minds. Well there's now ten short youtube clips that tells the story. Well if there is one thing I took away from it, it is, in Morrie's own words,"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into our life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." It's Tuesday, start living.

Oz Trip Day 5 – City Explorers

2007-10-21T23:50:00.000+08:00

This was the day we finally ventured onto the streets of Sydney. With a trusty map and comfortable walking shoes, my family and I took to the streets. We started off from Wynyard Train Station …

Outside the Townhall. They just had a ceremony to mark the torch run of the Shanghai Special Olympics, that explains the green flags that we were waving.

Queen Victoria Building. Not a place for us to shop ...

Darling Harbour, filled with sea gulls and school children on day trips.

Grilled seafood on sale at Sydney's Fish Market

The fisherman wharf next to the Fish market. A good day to be outside.

A friendly motorcyclist posing on Harris Street

The busy Chinatown. A good place to buy cheap souvenirs and chinese food (where else?)

The Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park

Hype Park and the many parks around Sydney are splendid places to spend your time chilling out or just reading a book.

St.Mary's Cathedral. The interior is just as imposing ...

After a tiring day of walking, we had a quick dinner as the shops were closing and headed home. The next day promised more time in the city and beyond.

Oz Trip Day 3 & 4 – Yum Cha and Little Vietnam

2007-10-16T00:44:00.000+08:00

It was a lazy Sunday, we slept in after a late night in the city. We were picked up from the hotel before noon. Lunch was at Chatswood, at a Dim Sum restaurant. I must say that the Hong Kong chefs in Sydney are certainly keeping up the level of Chinese Food there.

After a full stomach, my uncle took us for a ride up north to the beaches. It was a winding journey through small towns and forests, passing rivers and sandy beaches. We made a short stop at one of these beaches. It was chilly as the wind blew in from the sea. There were quite a number of people living in this part of Sydney, with their homes on the hill side, some with magnificent views of the sea. I wonder what is it like to have a home like this.

Northern Beaches. No surfer today!

When we headed back it was almost dark. We had dinner at another Asian joint, The Istana, that served Malaysian food. Looks like we are not missing Chinese food at all.

The next day, we headed north again, but this time to Cabramatta, the Vietnamese town. The town was about 2 hours away from Wahroonga. This was a place that would make any Vietnamese feel at home. We took a leisurely walk through the town. Like any Asian street, there were butchers, food stalls, pharmacies, and the odd body-piercing shop. We settled our lunch at , no surprises, a Vietnamese restaurant. Sadly the Pho here wasn’t up to the homeland standards, but the popular Criskin Chicken was selling well.

Streets of Cabramatta, Criskin Chicken and even a Singapore Plaza!

That night, we had another family dinner (Chinese!), at Carlingford Court. We had to take two separate tables, with the younger ones on one and the old folks on the other. It was a good time to catch up with my cousins as we did not have much time to talk during the wedding. Soon the night came to an end. But before we headed back to our inn, my Uncle took us for a drive through the city. I couldn’t wait for the next day, as finally it was time to take to the streets of Sydney after two days of exploring the outskirts.

After Dinner at Carlingford Court

Oz Trip Second Day – An Aussie Wedding

2007-10-02T00:20:00.000+08:00

It was Saturday, the sun was out of bed and at its dazzling shinning best by 7am. We slowly pulled ourselves out of our warm beds. We had to dress up for the wedding.

Eugene came to pick us up soon after 9. the Church wedding was to be held at St.Joseph’s College, in Hunter’s Hill Sydney. St.Joseph’s is a Catholic School for boys and only old boys had the privilege of holding their weddings there. The church itself needed no decoration as its architecture and stained glass windows were a sight to behold. Not long after, the ceremony started and Su walked down the aisle with her dad (Un Daniel). The service was brief and sweet, and soon we were out in the sunshine taking photos.

The Wedding Lunch was to follow and it was held at the Sydney Opera House. They had a marquee tent just outside the famous landmark, that had a fabulous view of the harbour bridge. Inside the tent, we found our seats which were easily identified by name tags. It was to be a long lunch, spanning the whole afternoon. We were served three delectable main courses, and were entertained by speeches from both fathers and the best man, serenaded by the Robinson Brothers who do Bee Gees quite well and laughed at the jokes from the MCs (brothers of the bride and groom). It was sunset at the harbour when the event ended.

The day did not end there. The younger crowd adjourned to the Argyle, a hip looking bar at the Rocks, while my parents and uncle settled for coffee somewhere else. Eugene gave us a lift back to our inn sometime after midnight, but not before we got a glimpse of Su’s bridal suite at the Shangri-la.

Oz Trip First Day – Touch Down

2007-09-30T01:08:00.000+08:00

It’s about time I wrote about my trip to Sydney while it is still freshly imprinted in my mind. Here I go …

We set off to the land formerly known as terra incognita on 14 Sep soon after midnight. In between getting some shut eye and watching Hot Fuzz on the plane, there was really nothing much to do on the 8 hour journey. On arrival, there was a queue at the customs as the officers were pretty strict on the checking. Vicky and I got passed it without checking as we managed to convince them that soil from Singapore was from the city not kampungs. While waiting for the rest of my family to clear customs, we decided to try the Krispy Kreme at the airport. Conclusion - it was a tad too sweet for our liking. Outside, the skies were a little cloudy for Sydney standards and the temperature was nice and cool.

Soon after, my uncle whisked us off to his place in Wahroonga in a rented 7-seater. The journey took about an hour as we made a pit stop at McMahon’s Point to savour in the view of the harbour. Uncle Daniel’s place was a townhouse in the suburbs of Wahroonga, a compact double storey house with a small backyard. It was just the right size for him and Aunty Lilian as my cousin’s Eugene and Su have all grown up and flew the coop. We had lunch there before going over to the inn to check in. Vicky, Louie and I would be staying in the inn for the next 6 days.

That night, we went over to Mandarin Centre in Chatswood for a very Asian dinner. It was a typical food court set-up with stalls selling Asian fare. We settled on pork chop rice, black pepper beef rice and chicken rice which to our surprise tasted much better than the hawker food in Singapore. On the other hand, hawker food in Singapore is nothing to boast about either.

We called it a night soon after dinner as it would be a long day ahead. This was our first day in Sydney and we were looking forward to see more in the next one week.

Mid-autumm Memories

2007-09-25T23:50:00.000+08:00

Today is the mid-autumm festival. When I was walking back earlier, I couldn't help noticing the many excited children fawning over their lanterns. It's amazing how a simple construct of paper, illuminated by a single candle flame can bring such joy to a kid. I still remember those moon-lit nights, when I was still in the primary school, and how I loved the walks through the housing estate with my lantern. I will gather the gang soon after dinner and we will start our journey through the many streets of the estate.

Maybe it was the festive mood heightened by the many hanging lanterns on the lawns of the houses we passed. Maybe it was the sheer excitement and adventure in walking out at night. Maybe it was the opportunity of passing by the houses of friends and shouting their names as we passed. Maybe it was just the magical sight of the lanterns, but it is nights like this that I wish was a kid all over again.

Off to Oz

2007-09-13T00:17:00.000+08:00

But not to see the wizard. Funny, no? Who cares, in 24 hours time, I'll be on a plane to the land Down Under. With Vicky, Louie, Mum and Dad in tow. We got a wedding to attend at the Opera House (that sealed the deal, got me all interested in the first place) and some exploring to do around Sydney. The stay's too short according to my Uncle, and he is convinced Sydney needs more then 8 days. Well I've already cut out Melbourne, which was in the original plan, but hope to do the blue mountain stay-over.

So the next time someone in a bikini ask "Where the bloody hell are you?", I'll say, "I'm abso-bloody-lutely sure I'm in Oz." An alternative answer, to borrow a line from the great Steve Irwin, would be "Crikey, what a beauty!", and I'm sure that would endear me to the womenfolk. Unless a crocodile happen to be near...

Would you lug this around ?

2007-09-10T00:29:00.000+08:00

Though I know RM50K is a big motivation, imagine lugging around a human-size cardboard everywhere you go to garner publicity, braving the crowd at big events, having the guts to grab that ‘one-minute of fame’ opportunity, and having the perseverance to stay ahead of your competition (the other 299 recruits). Yeah, it’s outwit, outlast, and outplay … on the streets of Malaysia.

I’m talking about Mix FM’s “Living with Ika, Serena C & Pietro” competition in Malaysia. My friend, Ann, is among the recruits and it is certainly hard work for her. You can read all about her exploits in her blog.

In her own words, here’s what she’s gonna do with the money.
“Did I tell you why I'm so hyped with this competition? Well, I'm planning to donate a certain percentage of the prize $$ to PAWS as I'm a big fan of cats and dogs and have been a supporter of the shelter since years ago. I also would like to use a percentage of the bounty to host a party for the underprivileged kids. The balance is for me to take up a course relating to animal care in Australia."

If you can help her out with any of the following she’ll be really grateful ...

- She’s doing a road trip and she’s looking for sponsors.

- If you know how to get her story or photo publicised in the media, contact her.

- Put her story in your blog

- Spot her and you may stand a chance of winning RM200.

No, she did not ask me to put this post up. I just thought that my blog could be put to better use J. Here’s her other regular blog.