Time for Old Friends

It has been almost 4 years since I saw my old colleagues from Infineon. Last Friday, I had the chance to met them up at Downtown East as they were holding a bbq for their section. It was good to finally catch up with them. They are still pretty much the same wacky group of people that I left behind. I guess you do need a sense of humour to stay in operations department that long.

Trips in June

After a few months of quiet activity, looks like the second half of June is going to get busier. There are two weekend trips out of Singapore lined up in the next few weeks. The first will be this weekend, where I'll join Wee Loong and Ge Hau on a road trip up Malaysia's East coast. It will be a first for me as I have never been to the eastern shores of the peninsular. Finally, I've come out of my shell, crossed over the great central ranges to sample the other half of my country (next I guess will be to cross the Sea to visit the lands below the wind) . We'll probably head towards Kuantan and along the way pay a visit to small towns like Mersing and other coastal towns with names that just escapes me. Any suggestions on what else is worth a visit or at least a drive-past?

Got to borrow a Malaysia-Singapore travel guide at the library today. And it's quite a new edition too. It's amazing what you can find in the Singapore Library. There a many gems waiting to be discovered among the rows of other old and ordinary books. There has been a number of occasions where I find new books that I was eyeing in the book store lying quietly in the local library. Just to list down all these good reads will require a post of its own. Okay, but now back to my trips.

Then at the end of the month, I'll be headed up to KL for an old friend's wedding. Just realised that my past few trips up to the capital has always been to witnessed some childhood friends' marriage. This time it is Pauline's turn. She used to be my next door neighbour in Muar. She and her brother is of the same age as me and my sis, so growing up was never lonely when you know that you have play mates just a holler away.

Will be bringing my 350D along this weekend, so hopefully I'll have some good shots to show rather than the ones from my N73 that has been populating my posts.

Happy Beginnings begin with a Stout

It came down to this. Two drinks. One for the bridegroom, one for the bride (of course, we were kind enough to let her off). A few gulps later, including some anxious moments at the end when the yolk almost proved to be too big an obstacle, Chien Wen prevailed as we wished him our final congatulations and a quiet farewell to his bachelorhood.

Food Log

In a blink of an eye and May is gone. Well to remember the month that just past, here are some of the food we sampled.

Ayam Penyet at Resto Surabaya, Lucky Plaza. Looks like the place is becoming popular with this flattened poultry dish from Indonesia.

Musakka! The only way I like my eggplant. The lamb bits helped too. Oh, this dish was last spotted at Alaturka, Bussorah St.

Sushi, all for a flat rate of 99cents per plate. This was enough to get us to Nihon Mura at revenue House, Novena. Of course, the Small Baked Lobsters and Half Shell Scallop made sure we didn't only got off with the cheap sushi.

Dim Sum buffet at Teahouse ,China Square. The honey char siew in baked pastry was delicious.

The Great Summer Sale

No, I am not talking about the Great Singapore Sale. It is the activity that takes place after the end of the soccer season in Europe that intrigues and excites us soccer fans.

With the European leagues close to an end, or ended for most, the attention now shifts from the soccer pitches to the tabloids and soccer grapevine. Yes, it’s the season-end sale, but without the discounts. The rumour mill is at its busiest now as every available, want-away, unwanted, promising, sought-after, and disgruntled football player is being linked with almost every other club.

With the English Premiership clubs growing richer with all the TV broadcasting and sponsorship money (while we pay more for soccer channel on cable), club managers can now draw up shopping lists and pass them on to their chairmans to draw on their best negotiation skills and opportunistic timing to capture the necessary talents to either push their case for premiership glory, an European spot, or for some, a chance to avoid relegation.

To some soccer fans, the transfer season is even better than the actual game. Very true. If you had played ‘Championship Manager’ before, you’ll know that the wheeling and dealing to bring the unspotted talents and the best players to your club can be more exciting than the actual matches itself. But of course, those games didn’t quite have the visuals to showcase the excitement on the pitch, and those flashing commentaries (of the CM3 era) or the 2-D moving spots(of the CM 2001 and beyond era) can’t quite match a live game.

And what a way to start the summer sale; Manchester United who are often caught in long protracted transfer talks for their targets, has swooped in on three young talents. HARGREAVES. NANI. ANDERSON ABREU. These are the names that will feature prominently in the future. Promising young players who will have to prove themselves to be fit to be called successors to Keane, Giggs and Scholes. As a fan, I am delighted. Can’t wait to see Nani and Anderson in action, especially alongside Ronaldo. Opposing teams will now have three young attacking midfielders, with mazy dribbling skills, running at them with great speed.

Here’s a peek at what you can expect. Nani, the back-flipping star and Anderson, the braided samba star.

And the best part is, Man Utd is not done yet. Now let’s see who the rest of the clubs bring in. The Summer Sale can only get better.