Fish's Underwater World

why do we try?

2007-09-09T23:07:00.000+08:00

Why do we try? we try because we believe that we will be rewarded at the end of it. we try because we think it is worth our time and effort. we try because we just refuse to give up.
it takes a lot of determination to keep trying. i hope i can perservere and succeed.

27 july food poisoning sucks

2007-07-28T22:47:00.000+08:00

4am i woke up feeling miserable. felt that the food was choking me and the food in my stomach was rising up my oesophagus. nausea. i rushed to the toilet. tried to puke. but could not. i sat in the living room waiting for the next wave of nausea. i managed to puke this time round. and more. i puked on and off till 6 am. puking sucks. the acidic nature of the puke burns the throat. so i cant understand why pple wanna drink till they puke.

i thought everything was over after my bout of puking. then the diarrhea set in.
the diarrhea was more horrible. it was non-stop diarrhea. the type you wish you could hug the toilet bowl and stay in the toilet. the moment i lay down on my bed, i had to get up and rush to the toilet. doing the 100m dash to the toilet.

i had wanted to see a doc. but the diarrhea just prevented me from doing so. it finally cleared up at noon. in the rain, i walked to the clinic. the doc confirmed that i had food poisoning. gave me a mc and some med. the usual anti-nausea, anti-diarrhea med. he told me not to eat or drink anything for the day.

however, my ma had cooked porridge. so i ate a bit of porridge and an orange. then went to sleep. or rather rolled around in bed cos i could not really fall asleep. at 7 plus, my ma woke me up to have dinner. i puked again. but i still had a bit of chicken soup with rice. guess wat? yes, i puked again after dinner. i din dare to eat anything liao.

the next day which is today. i continued to have diarrhea. at least the puking had stopped. i could eat without throwing everything out. so i should say i m on the road to recovery.

melancholic

2007-06-26T23:15:00.001+08:00

will you wait for me? how important a friend am i to you? feeling melancholic today. its the littlest things that upset me. something which might not even be important or noticeable. i cant help but feel this way. when do people become frens even? when you hang out and talk more than work. something personal. like how you feel how you think. long chats about anything.

how things have changed. i can say proudly that i m a loyal fren. somehow things will not stay the same. the only constant is change. that is wat clarice said today. how i hang on to the past. but it is my principle, not others. i can force my opinion on others. everyone has his or her own rules. it matters to me that you buy the same birthday cake. it matters to me that the birthday gal is the first to show up and wait for everyone to cut the cake. it matters to me that what i have said before is not remembered. i know people cant wait for me. but i sure will feel happy if you wait for me occasionally. i said go ahead. to go ahead at all times sure hurt. new people old people left behind.

if you dun wanna do something, dun do it. i feel worse looking at you trying to celebrate my birthday. thanks for surprising me. best birthdays include pizza and sushi in uni outside lt20. all of my friends were lovely to orchestra that. buy food and get me there. though i did suspect something. another was the ktv at delfi. cos i love ktv. to plan something i love. these are things which make me cry. there is thought into the plan.

thank you to frens who wrote to me while i was in uk. it makes me smile. cos you remember. Clarice, D, JP.... people who had long chats with me over msn-menu, jam, R, X, princess. it makes things more survivable.

my celebrities lookalike

2007-06-15T23:45:00.000+08:00

http://www.myheritage.com

the return of 22 bucks. courtesy of honest botak jones

2007-06-10T00:40:00.000+08:00

I thought i could say goodbye to 22 bucks. but i couldnt. so i decided to try my luck in the end. for lunch, we ate at botak jones. as usual it was a long wait. there was no queue when we first walked in. however the queue built up while we were deciding what to eat. chilli fries. yum yum. i love fat fries!

N and I were almost finished with our food. then mr ng's order of cajun chicken was served. i gave the guy 50 bucks. the total bill was 28 bucks. after we were done, we left in a hurry cos had to meet my frens at ecp.

two hours of cyclin in the hot sun. really hot. sunblock sunblock. thought sotong had graduated from her sotong phase. she was showing so much potential at usurping our positions in the royal court. after a rest stop, she got onto my bike. i looked at her and she looked back at me. she was ready to ride off when i said "eh, that's my bike leh". haha. apparently sotong din hear that we were going to stop for sugar cane drink at the hawker centre and continued with her cycling. menu and i went after her but din see her in sight. was thinking she might have turned in at the jetty! at most we could meet her back at the bicycle kiosk. so we enjoyed our sugar cane drinks without sotong. sorry ah. the sugar cane stall lady said the lady packin the dirnks for us was very slow. hands like legs. bleh. she really sounded angry. we hurriedly grabbed our drinks and left. i wanted takeaway. she served the sugar cane drinks in disposable plastic cups. i thought i would get them in bags. thus we had to sit down and drink.

dinner was chilli crabs at jumbo. haven been there before. yum yum. crabs. this time round mr ng ordered some yummier food. the prawns were fresh and succulent. the yam scallop rings were cripsy and sweet. the corn crab soup that K recommended was delicious too. with lotsa vinegar that i added myself. slurp. the kang kong quite spicy. the chilli crab oso quite spicy. got sausage lips after eating. the gravy tastes so good with the buns. i wan more buns. but too full. after a satisfying meal, it was time to pay. i opened my wallet and thought to myself "why i so broke leh?". AH I DID NOT GET BACK MY CHANGE OF 22 AT BOTAK JONES! boo hoo. mr ng offered to act as gangster and accompany me to get my money back. i thought it was too much trouble on his part. so i said forget it. take it that i took taxi or wat. but i could not forget my 22 bucks. 忘不了忘不了 .....

on the mrt i decided to go alone to botak jones. i prepared my speech mentally. do u remember me? i was here in the afternoon with two other frens. we had the con carne served as a side dish in a separate bowl.......
it was much easier. i saw the guy who served us and he immediately said that i did not take my change in the afternoon. wah so honest.

since i got back my 22 bucks, i happily went to jurong point to spend it. late night shopping. i like. in the end, i spent more than 22 bucks. i could not resist. bought minature perfumes from sasa (20% off!). i like to collect nice bottles. plus the fragrance is alrite. the promo is until end of june. can go and buy more. haha. john little having sale as well. good for ladies. undergarments cheaper. stock up. bought a top from double index too. one of my favourite shops, along with bega. and 3/4 from baleno. oso having sale. 15 bucks! ok ok i must stay away from shopping malls from now on. otherwise i will be seriously broke by the end of GSS. but then again, gst increase in july. better shop more now....

april 21 around bath part two

2007-06-05T22:58:00.000+08:00

more walking on the free tour. the buildings explained. old and new. about the facade being brick like or a single smooth surface without looking like bricks.the sweet shop. the sweets looked yummy. but too bad, by the time we made it back here later, the shop was closed! it closed at 5pm. we reached a few minutes after 5. so sad. no sweets to buy. sally lunn shop. oldest house in bath. famous for the sally lunn bun. we bought the bun on our way back. you will get to see the picture of the bun later.

orange road hotel. oldest hotel. named after the prince of orange.

hospital for treating ailments. with the spa water. centre of the square. palladian houses form a square.the circus. palladian houses in a circle. Number One was the first house to be built in the Royal Crescent, John Wood's masterpiece of Palladian design. palladian style has 5 storeys. cellar, ground floor, secon, third and attic. attic for the servants. cos its the hottest during summer and coldest in winter. Crescent cos the houses form a crescent shape. prestigious to live at crescent.
My lovely french meal at bistro papillon. for about 11 quids. yum.

H's main course. her starter was mussels. which was out of this world.

the deco

off to bath roman bath and abbey part one 21april

2007-05-17T22:25:00.000+08:00

Yes we are going to bath. after reading about the beautiful sights in bath from the guidebook. the lonely planet guidebook has served us well. saw this guy/gal on the train. i thought was a gal but H thought was a guy. H was right. cos the guy behaved a bit guyish like diggin his nose and the way he was eating. he sure looked pretty. nowadays metrosexuals. guys looking like girls. or even prettier. anyway he seemed to know we were staring at him and moved to another seat. we tried to look discreetly.... we really did.

there is a beautiful looking park behind the train station. we would go there if time permitted. the sights were closer than we thought. it looked further on the map. compared to cambridge. but was actually closer. after walking for a while we reached the main touristy area. we attempted to find recommended places to eat while walking to the city centre. that is wat piggies love to do. sadly, we din see any.

first attraction that we passed. thermal spa. already crowded in the morning. the thermal spa is beside this monument. not in the picture. there was a queue at the counter. i had actually wore my coat for fear that it would be as cool as the morning in cambridge. i was wrong! now i could camouflage among the brown coloured buildings.

we had some time to spare before meetin the guide at the pump room. there are free guided tours around bath! freebies. you get a much better understandin of the place with a guide. how nice and it's free. we walked around the roman bath museum-the part which is free. could see the bath area from the viewing gallery. dun really need to go in. the water looks murky and green. no longer in use. you can try spa water from the cafe in the museum. of course not the murky disgusting one. the potable one is from another source.

next we walked over to the bath abbey. the bath abbey is not completed yet (as told by the guide later). the abbey was commissioned by the king. cant remember which one. he had a dream about angels climbing to the sky and to build a church.

see the angels climbin up the ladder. fallen angels too. the upside down ones.... spot one in this picture. strange.

the king also left his signature on the abbey. the crown the olive tree and the church. something like that.

The interior:

Stained glass. The famous one is on the east side. 56 pieces depicting the life of jesus christ.

the back of the abbey.our guide explaining. the guides are senior citizens. and they seem to enjoy bringin tourists around. he kept mentioning they were doing their bit for

the tourist industry. the town relies on tourism for revenue.

captive audience

15 april new phone and hk cafe

2007-05-08T00:18:00.000+08:00

My phone was spoilt and i had to get a new phone. Rushed out of the house once I thought the shops were open. It was a sunday. most shops did not open too early. i went into whichever phone shop that was open. darting in and out of the shops.....

since i had a vodafone sim card, i tried to find a phone from the shop at oxford st. but alas, the phone i had taken a fancy to was not available at this branch. the sales assistant told me to walk further down to the bigger branch. He was quite helpful. however, he failed to tell me that the shop only opens at noon. When i reached the big vodafone shop, it was still closed. so frustrating. thus, i decided to walk back home and have lunch first.

After filling my stomach, i continued with my search for the phone. At the big vodafone shop, i bought the cheap phone that i saw at cambridge. simple phone with no features. no camera no mp3 nothing. 30 pounds. cant expect much. but its small. nice to carry around. anyway, in london, i carry my camera around. dun really need a camera phone. i like the pink samsung phone though. more ex. plus my contract in singapore is ending soon. can get a new phone in a few months' time.

If i had known i would have so much trouble gettin the phone at oxford st, i would have bought it in cambridge. just that i would have to lug it around with me. its strange that we are back to square one after one enormous turn. how much time do we have to spend before we realise that?

Back home to meet H and then source for possible holiday options. Walked over to goodge st to check out sta. found some weekend trip packages. isle of wright sounded beautiful. the lady said she could only confirmed the places on monday. (not available anymore. all places were taken up)

early dinner at the hong kong cafe. the piggies love to eat. source for reasonably priced and yummy food. that is our quest.

duck's tongues. very chewy. interesting eat. it was such a coincidence that H and I were eyeing the same dish as something to share. the luncheon meat beehoon. luncheon meat sure tasted good. hmmm.

portuguese rice was what i ordered. with tumeric powder. like the powder used in indian dishes. it actually did not taste very creamy. unlike the ones i had in singapore. prefer this version in this cafe. and of course i must have the yuan yang. kopi with tea. slurp.

walked home from picadilly circus. famous display boards at piccadilly.

we tried a new route. passing through old bond st and new bond st. expensive shops lining the streets. can only see and no buy. sad.

14 april part four punting ghost tour

2007-04-30T05:41:00.000+08:00

we walked back to river cam area. cos we had to try punting. get a chaffeured one. we wont be able to punt ourselves. punting is an activity you must do in cambridge. using a pole to push the boat along. the chaffeured one cost 12 quids. if you go on this ghost tour (including punting), it only costs 14 quids. of course we went on the ghost tour. some time to spare before 730 pm.

river cam.

somebody punting.

mathematical bridge. supposedly built without bolts. until someone who took it apart could not accomplish the same feat.

corpus christi college

eagle. nobel prize-winning scientists crick and watson spent equal time in the lab and this pub. this pub was also popular with the american airmen in WWII. heard ghost stories later on the ghost tour. about leaving the window in the attic open so that the souls of the children who died in a fire could get out. americans being sighted. the door being closed though there was something stopping it from closing..
forgot where...

some ghost stories. ghost bookshop where a lady had been sighted by a customer. librarian shelving books in the tourist info centre. he was been heard by people who worked at night. a lady dressed in green in a house. her portrait was hangin in the doorway. but the owner said no such painting. when they checked again, there was truly no painting of the lady.

the guy who did the punting on the ghost tour. he looks quite young. he had been puntin the whole day and was hoping ours would be the last punt for him.must really go on the punt. you get to see the colleges from river cam. the bridges connecting the colleges are not open to the public. so you can only see them if you take the punt. bridge of sighs-replica of the original in venice. bridge at clare college. oldest bridge 1639. its architect was paid a measly 15p for his design. he cut a slice out of one of the balls adorning the balustrade (the next to the last one on the left).

lively pub life.

on the punt.

we took the train to king's cross on our return trip. platform 9-3/4. in harry potter.

14 april part three kettle's yard-fitzwilliam-chelsea bun

2007-04-30T04:48:00.000+08:00

It was around three plus when we were done with lunch. Decided to squeeze in some sightseein before the attractions closed for the day. visited kettle's yard since it was nearby. the house was the home of HS 'Jim' Ede, a former assistant keeper at the tate and his wife, helen. housed artworks in a living cottage. the three cottages were rather run-down and had to be restored before they moved in. it was interesting that you have to ring the doorbell just like visiting your fren's house. then someone will let you in.

next we hurried over to the fitzwilliam museum as it was closing soon. massive neoclassical edifice. actually reminds me of the pantheon in paris. this museum takes its name from the seventh viscount fitzwilliam who bequeathed his art treasures. one of the first public art museums in the uk.

pembroke college. lovely gardens and lawns. founded in 1347 by marie de st
pol de valence, the widowed countess of pembroke. at 17 she married the 50 year old earl, but he was killed in a joust on their wedding day.

fitzbillies. everyone eats the chelsea buns. of course the piggies must try too.other pastries from the window.

14 april part two meetup

2007-04-30T03:56:00.000+08:00

We managed to find the tourist information centre after some time. Some inconspicuous corner. But the maps were not free. luckily brought my lonely planet along. there was a map in the book. we should be able to find our way.

the king's college chapel. one of the many entrances (which may not be open). one of the finest examples of gothic architecture in the uk, comparable with chartres cathedral in france. some shots outside cos we did not go into the interior. was going to meet luen for lunch first.

senate house where the students will have their graduation in.

on the other side of the street.the famous fudge shop. really sweet fudge. but its fresh. you can see it being made in the shop.

the guide book recommended some french restaurant at northampton st. therefore arranged to meet luen n bf there. we were at the fudge shop when luen called. to walk to northampton, we walked along queen's road. it was later that we found out we should have walked the other way from the fudge shop. it would have been a shorter route. some fotos along the way to the french restaurant.

luen could not find the restaurant. apparently it had closed down (the lonely planet guide was a 2006 edition. within a year the premises had shut down). the poor gal was luggin her luggage with her (some help from the bf). if i had known that, would have arranged to meet her somewhere more convenient. sorry gal. she was in cambridge for a conference.

initially we settled on pub food. while at the counter, the staff told us it would take more than an hour to get the food ready. so long!!! thus, we changed our minds and ate at an italian restaurant. pretty decent food. its nice to catch up with frens over food. plus its in a foreign country. not in singapore. exotic meetup place. again, luen fattened me up with chocs. the not-too-sweet type of chocs. definitely suited my palate. Thanks. before long, we parted ways. it would be some time before we meet again. take care.

luen n i

all of us.

14 april part two cambridge in the morning to the city centre

2007-04-29T18:41:00.000+08:00

The train took us to cambridge. the train station.

We started walking to the city centre. Along the way, it was chilly. cold in the morning. should have worn thicker jacket. some photos:

the photo looks a bit eerie. the pink is very strange. i look weird too. too pale. must be the contrast between my face, the black jacket and the pink flowers.

the flowers close up.

as we walked, we passed by restaurant and cafe. the piggies were checking out the menu. then we saw tatties. the famous baked potato place. of course we must try it. the person behind the counter recommended con carne. so we ordered that. oh no, we have eaten beef unknowingly. yikes. did not think much cos it was recommended. spongiform.... i must say that the baked potato is really good. huge. after a satisfying meal we were on our way.

in our attempt to find the tourist information centre, we ended up doing some shoppin. i bought nike shoes at 90 sgd and H bought boots. we had to lug them around for the rest of the day. saw a cheap sagem phone (minimal functions) at 30 pounds. the salesperson was very friendly. tempted to buy. but wanted to think about it first. could get it at any vodafone shop in oxford st.

14 april part one hp woes

2007-04-29T18:36:00.000+08:00

my phone died on me. it just hanged and i could not press any buttons on my phone. i was supposed to meet luen in cambridge. so she must have tried contacting me. thank goodness i have her bf's no. i wrote it down in my organiser. at least i could get hold of luen through her bf. they were in cambridge together so i did manage to confirm my lunch date with her in cambridge. imagine meeting up with frens all over the world. it is indeed getting globalised.

now i had to borrow H's extra phone for a while before i get a new one. off to cambridge we go.

13 april fri the 13th! churchill arms

2007-04-29T18:22:00.000+08:00

Dinner was at churchill arms. a pub serving thai food. recommended by z. quite strange hor? think the place is popular. if we had arrived later we might not have been able to get seats.

the place was rather dark. and i did not put flash for my photos. you can see the deco of the place. tropical. butterflies, ferns, pitchers, fountains.balloons hangin on part of the room. otherwise its mostly covered with plants. really simulates dinning in the wild.

H and I. cos Z was around to help us take photos. hardly have the chance to be in the same pic. i will help H take and vice versa.

the food. huge serving. not bad. phat thai was tasty, the curry was good too. for the price we paid it was worth it. had cider again. magners. we seemed to be acquiring a taste for alcohol.

because we always talk so enthusiastically about food, z calls H and i the piggies. oh well, the piggies sure love their food. and its great that both of us love trying new food. hunting for new and cheap food is our hobby. glad that we came together to london. the piggies go london!

11 april tootin broadway curry n pub

2007-04-29T18:07:00.000+08:00

went to try pakistani curry at tootin broadway. the naan was fantastic. freshly made. u can watch the chef in action. it was not busy when we were there for dinner. cant exactly remember the dishes we had. think there was a mutton briyani (fragrant rice and tender mutton. its important that the meat is tender), spicy chicken (which was really spicy. hot after taste), okra (otherwise known as lady's fingers. hard to find this veg here. H and i love nuah vegetables. few pple like them actually. miss lady's fingers cooked with egg by my mum), pistachio kulfi (absolutely too sweet. sickeningly sweet. how do u eat this stuff? will get sick if you eat too much-put on weight, diabetes? though supposedly there is no link between sugar foods and diabete?).

after dinner drinks at a pub. stella as usual. plus tried cider. bulmers tastes good. slightly sweet. finally at a pub. british culture to hang out at pub before dinner and after dinner. have a couple of drinks to unwind and chat.

10 april sophie steak house & A&F

2007-04-29T17:56:00.000+08:00

not nice. cos i had the salmon. it was dry. as dry as the pork loin burger in borough. was expecting salmon to be cooked in gravy style like teriyaki or cream sauce or something. at least the dessert was interesting. tasted like tofu cheesecake. forgot to take fotos again. becomin a food reviewer. eat and eat and eat. hmm dunno if i should trust the weighin scale. it says that i m gettin lighter. how is that possible with the amount of food i eat??

A&F shop concept is cool. loud hip music playing in the shop. pretty babes and handsome hunks to serve the customers. the hunks were standin at the doorway. the babes behind the counter. short shorts. but the shop is very dark. cant see clearly.

9 april magic wok

2007-04-29T07:28:00.000+08:00

london eye in the day.me and london eye. big ben

first time in bayswater area. chinese food at magic wok. there were just normal chinese food. with some dishes which were better. hmm no pics to show cos we were eating with the rest of mr ng's frens. among his frens were some pple good at suaning/teasing others. very funny to listen and watch them. think in a group outing there must be people who talk and people who listen. the talkers make the outing interesting, otherwise it will lapse into those awful silences. but i suppose there are times when the listeners wish to talk as well. imagine someone always representing you when you actually wish to say something. it sounds totally miserable if you cant say anything!

the better dishes were the roasted duck. cripsy skin. aubergines were not too bad either. a bit salty though. the legendary rice was not that legendary. will depend on the type of rice that you like to eat. its the type which is drier. i prefer rice which is slightly moist and sticky. not exactly missing chinese food as yet. if i stay in london longer, i may. then again, i may not cos its possible to cook them myself (just whether it is palatable or not).

8 april dim sum and photo developing

2007-04-27T06:32:00.000+08:00

Had dim sum at london jade in chinatown. restaurant just beside misato-the jap food with huge serving. dun really miss chinese food as yet. cos we do cook ourselves. edible food. wont poison ourselves. K's ma is an apparent fervent supporter of this dim sum place. so it must truly be good. Not too bad. but think carrot cake in crystal jade is nicer. chicken feet not very yummy either. hmm so what is good? i dunno wat i ate. some cripsy roll. chicken prawn paste? the rest of the dumplings were mostly prawn. prawn overdose. bleh. the prawns tasted fresh though. this is very important for seafood.

after lunch we did some phototaking. see K or mr ng (R would rather be called mr ng or dr ng in due time) could take better shots of us. black n white foto. interesting. the development process is more tedious. we got to see the process for ourselves later.

mr ng loves to bring ladies to the darkroom. to sian char boh apparently. only gals are welcome. the darkroom is similar to the darkroom in the lab. but not as dark. the process is similar. fixing washin and developing. expose to light for various times.

then u choose the timing you wan and develop it. see the differences in contrast with different exposures?

the finished product. another better photo.

H and i. smiling prettily.

the rest of the photos. only enlarged the nicer photos. not many... modelling is a tedious job. fierce look fierce look. that is wat tyra banks would say.

so the best pic? we agreed it was of K at richmond park. oh well.

dinner was late. more like supper after developing the few photos. its a tedious process. exciting for the photographer to see his/her works. interesting for us to watch and help. seein the photo appear on the film paper. voila. thank goodness we are gals and have the opportunity to observe the process. thanks mr ng.

dinner was pizza at cafe forum. too tired to even think. watched the patrons of the restaurant play chess. a few tables playin chess. with timer. like professionals.

7 april the boat race

2007-04-26T05:35:00.000+08:00

yay. time to pig out at borough market. but this time round we had an expert with us. R was goin to tell us wat food to indulge in. since we were on time and he was slightly late, we walked around on our own for a while. photo in front of the church. another view point from the previous time. first up was the apricot tart. took a bite. not as fantastic as R described. the hot chocolate from the stall was good though. not too sweet. and thick. second was the pork loin burger with stuffing. not exactly fantastic. meat was very dry. the only saving grace was the dressing-mustard. so thumbs down. third was THE CHICKEN BURGER. really yummy. haiz R was smart to have bought the chicken burger. i was stuck with the dry and tasteless pork loin. surprisingly there was no queue at the chicken burger stall. perhaps chicken burger is too common? must try something more exotic. fourth was the chorizo. not sure if i had got the spelling rite. initially there was no queue. cos the sausages were not ready yet. by the time we came back again, we had to queue. H seemed to like it a lot. i found it too salty. would prefer something blander. fifth was not R's recommendation. i wanted to buy a pastry from this pastry stall that we bought apple strudel from the first time we were at borough. chose the greek yoghurt cheesecake. too bland. not cheesy enough for me. give myself a thumbs down. the apple strudel the previous time was good though. sixth was the brownie. really good brownie. one of the best i have eaten. in all were there more thumbs down?? Guess H and I had been doing pretty well in sourcing out cheap and good food.

since we had some time to spare before the boat race (yes, the famous one. between arch rivals cambridge and oxford), we took a walk along the river to shakespeare globe theatre/tate modern. Bought standing yard tickets (5 pounds only!) for othello on 4 may. open air theatre. modelled after what it had been in the past.

tate modern is a modern art gallery. dun really know how to appreciate modern art. some of the art pieces were a bit strange to me. my interpretation was different from the artists themselves. reminds me of the u channel show in which quan yifeng and bryan wong asked people to ask the meaning of the art.

in tate modern. can see the word tate??

the boat race was supposed to start at 4.30pm. there were many people on the other side of the river where there was a carnival. R wanted to shoot some good photos of the race. so we ended up on a bridge. he chatted up another photographer. the photographer was a press photographer and he mentioned that the bridge would be closed to unauthorised personnel once the race began. so we migrated to another spot.

Bridge we were on initially.

Din notice that bus 72 was in the picture. goes to my lab.

view opposite the river.

there was some problem with the spot. the police were telling us to move up cos the waters would rise up to the area we were in. some people were annoyed and argued that they had the right to sit where they wanted to. we were well-behaved and moved off. when the race did start, the waters did not rise up to the part we were sitting in. oh well.

muddy waters.
the wait. people were reading newspapers, chatting or drinking.

pre race. for the reserve team? race before the actual one.

photographer riskin his life.

the afghan gal taking foto while waiting for the actual race to start. i find that it is chilly when the wind blows onto my face. best to wrap up the face.the police explaining that the water would come in. people did not look very pleased about moving.

another tree pic.

found this gal interesting. she was trying to climb the tree.

the father and brother poring over the papers.
let the race began. thot oxford would win. oxford was leading when we were watching the race.
ended up in wagamama for dinner. jap fusion. i would not say that the food is super fantastic. interesting i would say. R would definitely remember the place. where his bag crashed to the floor and broke the filter. therefore he had no mood to develop the film and we played majong at our place.

on the bus ride to our place, a funny incident happened. all the other female passengers were dressed like me-the afghan gal. but they were the real ones. quite hilarious for me to blend in.

have you played silent majong before? we played majong on a towel for fear of disturbing our neighbour. we had antagonised our neighbour quite a fair bit. fighting with her for toilets, banging doors etc.

6 april richmond park

2007-04-25T05:45:00.000+08:00

It's good to have frens who drive. Especially to reach ulu areas. Thank goodness K could drive us around Richmond park. Such a vast expanse of land. Imagine having to walk around on your own.

Good weather to be out. It's obvious when you see the whole london population out in full force in the park, enjoying the rare moments of sun. The parking lots were full. Hard to find a place to park. K even got into an argument with a british lian. The elderly couple who vacated the lot backed out into our direction (against the traffice flow). Immediately, the british lian zoomed in, against traffic flow. The elderly couple must have been terrified by the lian. After the lian had won the parking lot, she reversed her car. At the same time, K reversed his car too. bummer to bummer. the lian demanded that K got out of the car and asked if he was not pleased and purposely bummed her car. K explained things to the lian and things were resolved. scary seh.

Eventually we did find a parking lot. off we go. wont be able to see any deer. the park was swamped with people. sigh. not fated to see deers. din get to see any at east hampstead park as well. Din sight any shy deer among bushes either. Some fotos around the park.

The lovely weather as you can see. blue sky with a streak of cloud (so artistic). greenery (different shades). reflections in the water. brilliant.

i love taking trees.

more greenery.

din take much pictures cos professional photographers (though one is more professional than the other. yo brother, think before you shoot. my off day better than your on day) around. funny to watch suaning at work. paiseh to take photos in front of them. anyway they could take pictures (professional ones) for us.

went over to R's place to pick up food supplies. maggie mee, laksa nissin etc. to satisfy my occasional bouts of cravings. after that we met K for dinner. at sakura. there was a queue. queue=good/cheap food. The beef shabu shabu was mouthwatering. but H and i resisted. no spongiform please. in the land of origin. The beef really looked very appetising. The sashimi we had were not too bad either. Sashimi is my favourite jap food. fresh ones.

Got a ride home. thank the driver. pity the driver having to drive frens around. anyway, thank you.

5 april out on my own partially

2007-04-25T04:52:00.000+08:00

I had to go to the lab and H had to go to the lab as well. I ended earlier and loitered around in chinatown/covent garden. R was coming to london today for a week (almost). Would be great fun to have someone show us around london. Someone who knew where the best foods were (the list was something we adhered to), the best places to go.

map of covent garden. market place with handicrafts and food. tried some fudge. alcoholic ones. but not that alcoholic. i made the comment to the shopkeeper and he said the alcohol is just a tinge to taste.

baskers around. musicians, performers and those people who dressed up as statues.

the audience captivated by the performance.

Punch and Judy pub. the balcony has a good view of wat goes on in the square.

Met up with R later. His fren was late. So walked around with him for a while in chinatown. Found indomie and maggie mee in the chinese grocery shop. I must have missed them! near the checkout counter. It's strange to intrude on someone's appointment. Not comfortable with a stranger. R had said that I could join him and his lady fren for dinner. they would have lots to catch up on i supposed. so i declined and met H for dinner. Never ask someone to join another fren for dinner. if its a small group. Imagine A knows B. B knows C. then who should B talk to??? I was in this kind of scenario before. Uncomfortable with awkward silences.

Dinner was at Ed's. Junk food. Really junk fattening food. Onion rings, fries and milk shakes. All carbo. unsuspectedly eaten beef! in the dips.

2-4 april easter hols soon

2007-04-25T04:44:00.000+08:00

Easter hols and the lab shuts down. It's one week of break. Of course, i cant sit and do nothing. So requested to try my hands on dendritic cell culture. C was nice to let me try out using the frozen PBMC. Nice postdoc. I have been bugging him. His pet phrase is 'that is so annoying'. Even had a muffin bet with him. If he did not say it at all in a day, i would buy him muffin and his gf, a postgrad student, would buy him coffee. In the end, he spouted the words (near the end of the day!!!). Just too bad. No muffin no coffee.

Office romance. A big no no? Postdoc would know the best ways of doing things and the postgrad student would wanna try things out. Imagine your bf telling you what to do and what not to do. It could be pretty annoying. Though at the end of the day, the postdoc is right most of the time. They are a cute couple. The gal reminds me of cameron diaz. sweet gal-next-door. my vibes about people draws me towards certain people. i cant explain. its sixth sense. are yours working?

1 april to market to market camden

2007-04-25T04:27:00.000+08:00

Happy April's Fool day. Cant think of any trick to play. the only trick that i can remember was one my class played on the teachers in secondary school. We exchanged classrooms with another class and planted some prominent students to make the teacher believed that she was in the correct class. It did take some time for the teacher to realise she had been tricked. Other than this minor trick, i cant remember much. We all do have our favourites. So cant fault the teacher for favouring some students more. Either you are the best student or the most mischievous one.

Initially we wanted to visit portobello market. But it was closed on sundays. Therefore our alternative was camden market. where drugs are supposedly on sale. more dangerous area??? the market is different from the ones we had visited so far. Not as much food. Mainly fashion. street wear. you can see quite a number of people in gothic getup. you actually see people walking around in the matrix long coat and 5566 dancing costumes. with elaborate makeup.

fashion-nothing for us. food? of course we must try something.

4 pound curry rice. can mix and match the different curries-veg, mutton, chicken, Not too bad. some pieces of potato actually were soft and melted in the mouth. yummy. as usual, i dun like green/red peppers. H had the honour of finishing those up.me enjoying my food on a sunny day. the sun was out. although its cool, the sun rays hurt. mabbe that explains why i feel i am getting darker instead. Sunblock please. We also bought some chocs. In the paperbag on the table. belgium choc. good choc. different flavours and not too expensive. plus they tasted fresh.photo in camden.

I had a craving for onion rings. So off to BK. Haha. The onion rings were piping hot!

There was a strange man searchin for his keys in the restaurant. Later he even barged into the ladies. Very scary. Heard from H that he peeped under the door. Aiyoh, what to do if really encounter 'funny' people.

31 march mama mia

2007-04-16T06:46:00.000+08:00

We are back in Chinatown again. Wanted to buy tickets for musical then go for lunch. Chinatown is becoming our favourite haunt. Gettin to know the area better. Now know where to walk the shortest way. We actually walked from oxford st to tottenham to leicester square. Along the way, there are many shops. Took us quite a while to get to our destination (chinatown to buy tickets). Bought boots! Yay. Can wear them here only bah. Singapore might be too hot.

Lunch was at another cheap eat. Cheap eats in london means around ten pounds. Japanese food at zipangu. We love japanese food especially salmon sashimi. the serving here is not as big as misato's though. still good.

After lunch, its musical time. We bought tickets to mama mia. Drinks before musical. A lot of people like to drink. See the bar in the background.Deco in prince of wales theatre.We enjoyed ourselves immensely. Good recommendation by R. Fun musical to watch. Much better than the no plot blueman group. We could sing along with the cast as well (Abba songs). The show still packs in the crowds after 8 years. Watching musicals is like a pasttime.

27 march to south kensington

2007-04-16T06:39:00.000+08:00

I forgot what you call these stuff. coat of arms? so different trades have a different icon. In the mechanical engin block. Sitting in the lobby area and having lunch. Had just attended another compulsory a course for postgrad studies. Assertiveness and feelin confident. Yeah i must learn to be assertive. To let others hear my opinion and to deal with aggressive people who do not listen. Takes skills. Practise.

Walking towards bus stop to take bus back to lab in east acton. Lost my way again. what's new. i was walking in the opposite direction. so walked one BIG round to get to the bus stop. Albert memorial in the day.

25 march part two green park and st james park

2007-04-16T06:10:00.000+08:00

Walking through green park first. Less manicured than the adjacent st james park and has trees and open space. Once a duelling ground and served as a veg garden during WWII. Had to quickly take the foto and grab the camera back. Afraid somebody might run off with my cam. St james park, the neatest and most royal of london's royal parks. The fowl:

London eye from bridge. the other side of the bridge. The squirrel. Very cooperative star. Watch the squirrel in action here:(youtube still processin at time of publishing. check back later if it does not load)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7oDxA9d-2E

We decided to walk to chinatown for dinner. Its actually pretty near. The road connects to trafalgar square. Everywhere seems within walking distance.Dinner at corean chilli. realli spicy korean food. too spicy for the locals i think. but we love it!! kimchi and soup. yum yum.

25 march part one off to buckingham palace to visit the queen

2007-04-16T05:50:00.000+08:00

In london, we must visit the queen off course.

Royal Mews. Shelter for the royal horses and opulent vehicles the monarchy uses.

Imagine your house filled with tourists! Sunny weather and everyone will be out in full force. Photos around buckingham palace:

Changing of the guards. No changing of the guards today. But you can

still see the guards walking about. Guards remind me of mr bean. In the show, he tried to make the guard laugh. so naughty. pity the guards in summer when its hot.

Can spot the two guards?

Guard walking.

24 march wallace collection

2007-04-16T05:26:00.000+08:00

I like wallace collection. Cos the art pieces are displayed in the house as if they are still being used in their original state. But no photography within museums. Nothing to show again.

We went to the restaurant in wallace collection for high tea.

The roof top. Light streaming through.

Man behind the counter

Sugar on the table.

Seafood which looked yummy.

Me and food. Foodie! Expensive hi tea. Few pieces of delicate sandwiches. 20 plus pounds.

Tea.

23 march crush

2007-04-16T05:09:00.000+08:00

MANDY MOORE LYRICS"Crush"

You know everything that I'm afraid of
You do everything I wish I did
Everybody wants you, everybody loves you
I know I should tell you how I feel
I wish everyone would disappear
Everytime you call me, I'm too scared to be me
And I'm too shy to say

Ooh, I got a crush on you
I hope you feel the way that I do
I get a rush When I'm with you
Ooh, I've got a crush on you
A crush on you

You know, I'm the one that you can talk to
Sometimes you tell me thing that I don't want to know
I just want to hold you
You say exactly how you feel about her
I wonder, could you ever think of me that way

I got a crush on you
I hope you feel the way that I do
I get a rush
When I'm with you
Ooh, I've got a crush on you
A crush on you

Ooh, I wish I could tell somebody
But there's no one to talk to, nobody knows I've got a crush on you
A crush on you, I got a crush

You say everything that no one says
But I feel everything that you're afraid to feel
I will always want you, I will always love you

I've got a crush on you
I hope you feel the way that I do
I get a rush when I'm with you
I got a crush on you, a crush on you
[Repeat]

This is the song which goes to my mind when i have got a crush. Crush is kept within the heart. Cos i always think there will be no happy ending to a crush, an infatuation. But its a lovely feeling-the happiness when you see your crush, the racing of the heart and the anticipation.

22 march its snowing

2007-04-15T07:46:00.000+08:00

I woke up and gazed out of the window. It was snowing!!! The first time i had seen snow descending from the sky. It was white and pretty. Not the sleet type. Real snow. Being excited, I had to dash out to the outside and take a walk. Immersing myself in the quiet comfort of the morning.

snowman. Mini one. always wanted to build a snowman. and have snowball fights.

snowing... nobody to help me take a foto. so had to do the timer.

more snow.

In my excitement to take fotos, i actually dropped my camera pouch. It was lost! I could not find it. Oh well, never mind. Would just buy a new pouch.

Coat of arms.

That night there was dancing. I love dancing. We did some folk dancing. Ended the night with more card games. How time flew by. We would be going back to London soon.

21 march more walks in the park

2007-04-06T05:28:00.000+08:00

Although the course was not physically demanding, we were all tired. mabbe its mentally challenging. the tasks we had to do. anyway, its comforting to know that there are other graduate students sharing similar problems. hardly get to meet so many graduate students and know one another better.

We were divided into groups to carry out the tasks. Different people with different personalities thrown together. From being polite initially to more direct and working better as time goes by. Dun be afraid to speak up cos you may have the brightest idea.

my group mates.

Took more pictures around easthampstead during break before dinner. we were so well fed. the food is excellent. the desserts never failed to whet our appetite again (cos already full from the main course).

It was a fun night. Cards. Played asshole. i was the loser for most of the games. wat rotten luck.... had to perform forfeits like kiss a gal, sing a song. but it was fun on the whole. lotsa laughing. usually games are wat we play at chalet. now we hardly have chalets..... and BBQ. i wan!

20 march at easthampstead park

2007-04-01T17:26:00.000+08:00

On the train to bracknell. First to arrive. so early. got our keys and headed for our rooms. nice room too. was expecting some lousy room.

Photos around east hampstead park.

Fotos from my window:

my room mate-insect hiding in one corner.

fire evacuation plan.brilliant sunset.

fotos outside.

if you have noticed, i like taking pics of trees and sky and clouds. think they look poetic.

more green fotos. lotsa greenery. and air is fresh. breathe in!

the fountain which is not working.

timer foto. hardly have fotos with two of us inside.

another sunset foto before dinner.

the food is yummy. will be well fed for the next few days!

19 march to the train station

2007-04-01T17:13:00.000+08:00

off to buy train tickets for bracknell. its snowing? not truly snow, but almost there.

i got out at the correct exit but made a wrong turning. decided to look at the map and find my way to the train station. aiyah just across the road!

the train station sells paddington bear souvenirs. will buy them when i get back from bracknell.

18 march museums n 24@SG

2007-04-01T16:34:00.000+08:00

It's St patrick's day for the weekend. i missed the procession at marblearch. darn. cos i was too slow in rolling out of the house. here is one foto of the green hat they wear. one of our seniors had just arrived in town. we decided to meet up for lunch. waited for my room mate to come back and we hit the streets. sleet! tube was down a bit. so we tried walking to paddington to take the tube directly on the district/circle line to south kensington. alas, we made slow progess since it was raining and the wind was strong. plus we lost our way a bit. anyhow we read the map and was back on track. following some buses to paddington too.

our senior was almost done with his crepe already. the savory crepe. my room mate and i shared a savoury spinach crepe (too powerfully vege for our senior) and had a sweet crepe on our own. Not bad.

after lunch we took a look at the museum. first up was the victoria and albert. not really wat i like to see. the stuff on display were reconstructions from plaster. very artificial. with so many huge statutes n buildings in one floor area. its totally like a museum. with things arranged one item by one item.

the science museum was more interesting. can connect more with the scientific display. only had time for one floor. the floor on medicine. how medicine has evolved in different countries with time.

we walked around before heading for the south ken campus. royal albert memorial.

gate surrounding the statue.we would supposedly graduate from the royal albert hall.
dark clouds looming.

inside the imperial campus. pretty lights.

night was the singapore event. chicken rice, yeos, chilli. not bad the serving was small. cant have second helpin. the chilli was yummy. the skit that the singapore society had put up was pretty hilarious too. boobs and skin galore. the wonder of push up bra. hmm at least the girls have the figure lah. the two guys who acted in funny roles were good. definitely made us laugh.

chilly night when we left. so cold!

17 MArch wat did i do?

2007-04-01T16:22:00.000+08:00

yeah i cant really remember wat i did on 17 march. i m two weeks behind my blog. hmm. but think we went for a jog in hyde park. nice and healthy. great day to be out too. although the wind can really make u feel cold at times. no photos to show cos we din bring cameras on our run. its a beautiful park. there is a serpentine lake. u can boat there. so fun! mabbe can do boating. my obsession with boating must have started in europe with the kiddies n mich n cai. we went for two boat rides? one was on our own. the other was at the congress. got some taiwanese guys to row us along. effortless. sit and relax. its amazing how time flies. do cherish every second we have yeah.

16 march london eye but not up

2007-03-29T06:14:00.000+08:00

Went to the london eye after work. Cold cold day. We walked from waterloo station, hoping to grab a bite along the way. But no good eateries. By the time we reached the london eye, it was closed. Cant go up and take in the sights. Anyhow, some photos: (most of the photos i took were blurred. either too cold and hands were shaking or the zoom in function of my nikon not very good)

Big ben. Beautiful view along the river. The only not as blurred photo.

Walking towards tube station. View from the bridge.

Had nandos again. So much fast food. nandos twice in a week. KFC too. i must rave about the KFC. more herbs and tastier. The fries are yummier too. cant eat too much junk food. control, control!

13-15 march to south ken

2007-03-29T05:47:00.000+08:00

i accidentally navigated away from this page. In short what i wanna say is that work smart. Ask the question and think of the best experiment to prove it. Do not be afraid to ask questions. People will generally help if they are able to. So i need to learn to work smart and publish papers. Think before i do. Plan and action.

i had to attend a course at south kensington. since i was slightly early, i popped into the neighbouring science museum to have a look. the floor i stepped into from the entrance. some engines and energy exhibition.

Did not have enough time to look through everything. Not even the first floor. Will have to come back another time.

After the class, on my way home i passed by the natural history musuem. South ken campus is surrounded by three museum. science museum, natural history and victoria & albert.

Took a bus opposite south kensington station.

The horrid pickles that i had. 2 pounds for this side dish. And i threw most of it away. Should have settled for the fries. Wanted to be adventurous. Oh well....

12 March part one To the lab and back

2007-03-24T17:55:00.000+08:00

Off to the lab to meet my sup finally. finally met him in person yet. but first i must get to the lab with the set of directions he gave me. the directions looked easy to follow. However, i was still unsure as i kept on walking and not see the hospital. I should have trusted my sense of directions and kept on walking long the road. I turned back to the road junction and asked for directions. But the lady did not know where the hospital was either. In the end, i decided to walk down the stretch of road again. i was right! it was just deep in.

my sup meets with his staff the whole of mondays. so i din really get to have a super long chat with him. some stuff he told me:

1. the neighbourhood is not safe. be careful if you are going home late at night. take the bus. dun walk to the tube station. incidents of pple getting mugged. (i had walked to the hospital in the morning! so scary)

2. work smart. most of the time you can finis watever you need to do on time and get home early. it's amazing how pple work here. work smart and help fellow co-workers. you can get so much done. publish papers as well.

3. he can speak mandarin. that's totally cool. he used to stay in the eastern countries.

din do much that day. just read some papers. try to....

some fotos of wat i saw on my way back to the tube station

one side of the road

the other side

BBCmore bbc.

finally back to marble arch. Designed by John Nash in 1827 as the entrance to Buckingham palace. However it was too small and unimposing. so it was moved here in 1851.

since my roommate would not be home for dinner, i decided to shop around. this was when i got addicted to dorothy perkins. my buys:

dinner. takeaway from nandos. deco in the shop:

The packaging:
A satisfied customer.

11 march part two to chinatown misato

2007-03-18T19:14:00.000+08:00

Off to chinatown. We alighted at trafalgar square at the exact spot as last nite. It was dark. Now there was light. Photo time:Stupid windows vista. i still cant get my free upgrade.At leicester square. Can buy tickets for musicals.
The japanese food at Misato is yuMMy. LArge servings. I love jap food. It was almost three when we got seats at the restaurant. Not too long a queue. Luckily. heard that the queue can snake all the way out.

Sashimi bento. Such thick slices of sashimi. Yum.

Katsu don Me n food.

Chinatown. Bought rice to cook porridge in chinatown.

Wanted to watch musicals. but no musical on sun nite. Took some photos along the way to bus stop.

Ciao gelato at 1.90 pounds. Delicious. Saw the shop accidentally at the corner of national gallery.

11 march part one happie birthday to me. LOVE all my frens. sorry if i miss out pictures. cos i dun have all pics with me.

2007-03-18T18:27:00.000+08:00

10 March part four trafalgar square-chinatown-covent garden

2007-03-18T17:45:00.000+08:00

We walked from the south bank to the north bank, crossing on tower bridge. Then passing tower of london. After which we made our way to St Paul's Cathedral. The dome is only second in size to St Peter's in Rome.It is also renowed for dodging the bombs during the Blitz of WWII.
When we were done, we had to find our way to chinatown/covent garden to meet kiat. Its a long story from here onwards. First we tried to find our way to a metro station. SUpposedly, st paul station is the nearest. But we could not find it. SO we decided to retrace our steps to cannon station that we passed. At the bus stop, we saw buses going to trafalgar square. Hooray. we could get to our destination. One bus came, stopped but did not open its doors. The bus driver did not let us up the bus. Supposedly it was full. However, it was not. The people at the bus stop were all shocked. Along came another bus. The same thing happened. %^$#@@$^**!!
We decided to take the tube. Alas, the tube was down. We either had to walk to bank station or wait for the bus. We should give the bus one last chance. Our persistence paid off and the bus stopped. Yay!
At the next bus stop, the bus driver did not allow more passengers to get on the bus. We looked around and saw a sign which says no standing beyond this line. The bus was not super packed but we were standing near the line. So we moved in. And the bus driver opened the door at the following stop.
We alighted at Charing Cross station and tried to find our way in the dark. It gets dark at 6 plus. Streets which were deserted and not well lit were avoided by us. We ended up walking in circles before we found the right way. While tying to get to covent garden, we passed chinatown. Saw misato (the jap restaurant with HUGE serving), london jade (for dimsum). Can come back the next time.
Kiat called and gave us directions as to where to meet him halfway near haagen daaz. Finally can deposit the box i had to carry around the whole day. He brought us to covent garden and attempted to find the oldest fish n chips shop at endell road/street. He succeeded. But fish n chips usually does not bode well for me. I will feel nauseous after eating it. It happened again. think its the combination of tartar sauce and oily deep fried food. Bleh. Thanks Kiat for the treat. now i can say that i have tried the oldest fish n chips. chips and vinegar is great!
Kiat, having been entrusted to take care of us, kept us awake beyond ten o'clock. His theory was that staying beyond ten o'clock each day would cure us of jetlag. Initially we were going to eat ice cream at haagen. but no brandied cherry. that is the only flavour i eat in the shop. Thus, we ended up following him to the supermarket. And buyin a comb n eyedrops at a pharmacy. I forgot to pack in my comb. was looking like a siao char bo for a few days. eyedrops cos its very dry here. Yay we stayed up late beyond 10pm.

10 march part three tower bridge

2007-03-18T17:38:00.000+08:00

10 march part two along the southern side of thames river

2007-03-15T07:06:00.000+08:00

On the way to the thames river, we passed by vinopolis. ANother polis. biopolis, fusion polis. Its a place selling wine and beer. Cheap wine. Perhaps will buy wine before going back home to singapore. A map of vinopolis. Walking along the river side to shakespeare globe theatre. Southwark bridge in the background. I suddenly remember the name of the cathedral at borough market. Its southwark cathedral. There is a story to the cathedral. A rich miser wanted to save money and pretended to be dead. He thought that his servants would mourn for him and live simply for a time period. Alas, he was wrong. They celebrated his death by spendin a lot of money. He was so angry that he died. His daughter, on hearing the news, sent for the lover to receive the inheritance. The lover died on his way to see her. Thus, the daughter was terribly distraught by the deaths and did some mission work and gave money as well. Then the cathedral was built.

Some shots along the river.

Underpass.The shakespeare globe museum and theatre. We din go in though. Not free. Haha. Tate modern is beside it. But we din see it. Tate modern is supposed to be the ART MUSEUM. Europe's most successful contemporary art gallery and London's number one attraction. Was not readin the map then. So we missed it. Oh well, we can come back another day. We retraced our steps back to vinopolis and continued in the direction of Tower Bridge. Along the way we passed some people gathered in front of a signboard. Wouldn't have known there is an interesting palace ruin otherwise.

Ship that we passed. Supposed to help commuters get from one side of the river to the other.

As we walked we ate the tomatoes and strawberries that we had bought from borough market. The tomatoes were really sweet. The flavour and juice erupts in your mouth.

10 march part one borough market part two

2007-03-14T05:32:00.000+08:00

You have to pay money to visit the church. So we did not go into the church. At the road side, we saw a cute ice cream truck. there is snow white.

Building on the same road as the ice cream truck.
There were free samples of sausages and cheese. But was thinking if it is a british culture to sample. In singapore, if u sample the food and dont buy, the sales assistant will look a bit mad. In japan, you can sample food till you are full. Can just go around supermarket and pick up freebies. Generous helpings as well. This was wat i saw on the travelogue on japan. I wanna go japan!!! K said that it is alright to sample. Taste and then buy if it's nice.

Cheese making poster:

The cheese made. End product you can get in borough. Huge slabs of cheese. so amazing that there are many varieties of cheese.
Jam. Bread and crackers provided. Free to sample. Ginger and marmalade, strawberry, damson (a plum which is dark purple), rhubarb etc. We bought a small bottle of damson. Many foods are organic. Healthy living? Erm organic foods may not differ much from normal foods. They are not as expensive as those in singapore.
Who says only singaporeans love to queue? Look at this queue.

So wat does this stall sell? Sausage sandwich. Looks the same to me. Maybe the food really tastes extra yummy. Cos you are very hungry after the long wait.

Such a lovely colour on a vegetable.

Some shots:

wine. wine n beer cheap.
another long queue. venison burgers/sausages.

More food. The vegetables looked very fresh.

Interesting orange juice machine: The oranges will roll down, get stucked and juiced.

Enjoying my orange juice.

10 March part one Borough market part one

2007-03-13T06:25:00.000+08:00

We woke up at 7 plus. Toasted muffins with cheese and salami. Yum. I love melted cheese. At this rate i am going, i will become both vertically and horizontally challenged. Should try to control my love for cheese.

Borough market is near london bridge station. So we just took the tube. Borough market is like our wet market with fresh produce. But its dry and smells nice. With the aroma of grilled meat, fresh fruits and vegetables. Lotsa food to buy.

First item we tried was the ostrich sausage. Cant tell wat the difference between ostrich, chicken and other meats is. Just meat to me. But it is supposed to be almost fat free. Healthy meat! Eat more. Wrinkles formin on forehead liao. Meat is a good source of collagen. Eat more!

Closer look at the meat.
Some of the signs are interesting. Check this out:

The people at borough.

The bread. Mountains of bread.

Pastry shop. I love pastries. But gal, self control please. Otherwise.....

Closer look at the pastries. Apple strudel, lemon cake, yoghurt cheese cake, chocolate cake.... slurp. Church and surroundings.

Flower garden. Is that receding hairline? High forehead?

Flowers closeup.

9 March 07 part three To school we go

2007-03-13T05:40:00.000+08:00

After unloading our luggage in our room and nuah-ing for a while, we were on our way again. Trying to make it to school in south kensington. Need to collect our matriculation card. To get to the campus, we decided to take a bus. View along the bus ride is certainly more interesting than the tube underground. We alighted and walked towards the natural history museum.

We were taking a "long" cut. Instead of just going to the entrance on exhibition road, we went one big round to queen's gate. We were always walking in circles. We nearly missed the sheffield building while walking straight. The signage was on the opposite side. Luckily i saw that the building on our left read "sheffield building". Sharp eyes are always welcome! We went up to the admin office to register as a student and received a note to collect the matriculaiton card from the security office. However, the security office was not due to open till 345pm. So, we decided to look for lunch. R wrote down Cafe BMS at SAFB. Off we went in search of good food. Yup, there is a cafe, but no food!!! The prepared food counter was already closed. Oh well, we would just take photos then.

Queen's tower. It's so cold that our fingers got numbed while trying to take photos for each other. i forgot to install the nikon picture perfect software onto my samsung. So, i cant stitch fotos together!

Closer look at the top of the tower.

Building in school. Not very nice looking.
I love clouds. Once a fren mentioned that she dislikes the clouds. Mar the appearance of the clear blue skies. But i think clouds make the sky more interesting. You can see so many paintings in the sky.

It was close to 345pm. We walked back to the security counter and waited. Two other people were already waiting for the counter to open as well. The counter really opened after 345pm and not earlier. Had to take a mug shot for the card. No retakes. Horrible photo. My eyes were going to close. Biopolis photo still can choose and retake..... Sigh. Cant stand having horrid pics.

Mission completed for the day. We were too tired to venture to hyde park. Just wanted to grab a bite. Initially we wanted to eat in school. There is a senior room. Only seniors can go in! We could have eaten there but we din. Ended taking away a chicken escalope panini at a cafe. Back to the hotel we went.

9 March 07 part two back in the hotel

2007-03-12T03:47:00.000+08:00

After our walk around the neighbourhood (we had to figure out how to get to our labs on Monday), we went back to the hotel. Prior to that, we had visited Tesco (bought a strawberry jam doughnut). We had tried to open the door close to 7am. But the door would not budge. The people inside the shop looked at us strangely. They only open at 7am. So we walked further down. Tried to get a sim card at this mama shop. But the owner said that his top up vouchers were not available. Thus, we din buy from him. Bought vodafone sim card from ryman. The helpful salesman advised us to buy one sim card to test if it was compatible with both of our phones. Then we wont waste money buying two cards at one go. Nice of him to help us. But we helped him too. By buyin a 5 pound top up voucher he keyed into the cash register wrongly yesterday.

Back at the hotel, we had our blackberries. Good to eat fruits.

Enjoying our fruits....

Some shots of the hotel room we stayed in. We could check in earlier cos the previous occupants had vacated the room. yay. So we din have to sit around and wait in the guy's office. A bit paiseh to disturb him while he worked.

The kitchen. It has everything. Pots, microwave, toaster, dishes, cups, cutlery. Good good. We can use them immediately. Dun have to spend more money.

hangers to hang clothes. Z had advised me to bring hangers. He mentioned the importance of hangers. But they are provided!!! Iron too. to iron clothes. no ironing board though. had to do it the ancient way. put towel below and then iron the clothes.

Our living space during our stay in London.

9 March 07 part one from Paddington to Hotel

2007-03-12T03:13:00.000+08:00

In the dark we arrived in Paddington. The heathrow express takes people from the airport to Paddington. It costs 15.50 pounds. Later i found out we could have just taken the cab directly from the airport to our hotel and it would have been cheaper. Well, so much for saving money. They say all the newbies take the heathrow express.... See the heathrow express clearly now on the right. time was about 6.15 am. Early early morning. No picture of the cab. So i attempted to piece together the diagram.

The passengers and the luggage all fit together in the same compartment. Passengers get into the cab. Then cab driver helped to carry luggage on board. The roads were quiet since it was stil early. Next question was to tip/not to tip? We read guide saying that cab drivers should be tipped 10%. So we gave 6.50 for 5.70 ride. That should cover.

The reception at Amber Residence was closed. So we called the caretaker. The guy H had been corresponding with regardin accommodations. He was in his sleepwear. He looked very different later when at work. Professional looking in office wear. As our room was not ready to be moved into, we dumped our luggage and decided to explore the neighbourhood. No shops were open yet. The chilly wind surely woke us up though. The BA flight was so uncomfortable with the little legspace. Din really had a good rest on the flight. Tossed and turned.
Some sights we saw:

Parking spaces to let??? Can rent parkin space!

Road that we passed. All the buildings looked lovely.

Selfridge. Cant afford anything. Expensive clothers. But look at the beautiful window display.Another beautiful window display.

Basically we just walked the down Baker Street and Oxford Street. Window see-ing. Since shops were still closed.

Up up and away 8march

2007-03-10T04:18:00.000+08:00

My first trip to London. More nervous than excited. Had waves of LS. Lousy stomach. Nervous cos i was afraid i would forget to bring sth (which i did. I did not bring any passport sized photos) and data that i might need for lab discussion here. One near mishap nearly occurred on my way to the airport. I dropped the luggage key on the cab. Luckily the cab driver saw and passed it back to me. Phew.

The girls at Changi airport. See us luggin many hand baggae. I had three pieces-wind breaker, gold sling bag and side carry laptop bag. Will develop muscles lor.

My first travelling experience with BA. It sucks. First the seats are very crammed. Even for me, a girl! I was sandwiched between two guys. The Norwegian guy on the left and the aisle guy. Poor Norwegian guy. He was tall and had to squeeze into the window seat. So he took occasional walks to prevent DVT. To do that, he had to bypass me and the aisle guy. Each time, we had to file out. Similar rules applied for toilet visits. The Norwegian guy did not take the main meals on board. He just asked for bread and butter (which the crew conveniently forgot. wonder how hungry he was at the end of the flight). Second, the in flight entertainment did not have the convenience of video on demand. You could only watch the movie from whichever part they are showing.

Arrived in the wee hours of the morning. Din have much sleep on board. Cos of the sardines conditions. When i was sound asleep, i was awakened by the Norwegian guy. Wanted to scream then. Since we arrived so early, we could not check into the hotel yet.

Look at the time. and the luggage that i had to lug.

We took the Heathrow express to Padidngton before changing to a cab. There is even a businees class section with tables provided for people to work on the express train... Which i dont think is necessary. Just take 15 min of time.On the heathrow express.

Early birthday thots

2007-03-07T00:26:00.000+08:00

Happie early birthday to me. I m a quarter century old!!! OMG. that sounds old. Though W said wah u so young when we cut the birthday cake. Partly true since only R was younger. Its farnie that so much has changed in a year. Same cake different people.

birthdays? what does it mean to me? older and who your frens are. people who wanna wish u well will celebrate with you. i dun think presents are that important, just as long as all your frens are around. So my memorable birthdays are the ones with my uni pals. Thanks so much gals. Love u lots. One was at the KTV at delfi. Sadly it had closed down. We used to bring in our own food and drinks and sing. Second was the "surprise" in school where everyone brought some food lke sushi, pizza for lunch. People are important to me. Where will i be without frens and family?

Thanks to all who celebrated my birthday early this year (Cos i m leaving on a jet plane on thur). my uni buddies who gave me a bag buffet. showed me two bags. thot i could only choose one. in the end, i got both bags. surprise surprise. the brown one looks better with time. my ma loves it. i m using it. can ask jam and menu. i used it immediately when i received it that day. Thanks to Clarice who got me a bag too. I get three bags for this birthday. Thanks to R who tried to organise a party. No party in the end but we still managed to go ktv. i love ktv!!! will be missing it for two months. Thanks to R again for the london map and tips on where to eat. Here is the official IOU- will get you more than one present.

Happy birthdays to the girls (ming, dawang n menu) while i m away.

Fish's random thoughts on....

2007-01-29T00:13:00.000+08:00

Friendship
Friendship comes and goes. But i truly hope all the frens i have made will stay. There are some you gradually lose contact with. Eventually the friendship just dies off. Natural death. The friendship is gone cos the one party who bothers to ring the other one up/arrange for dates/sms to update finds it tiring and gives up. I have tried my best in some instances. When the other party no longer replies, I just throw in the towel as well. I wish things have gone otherwise.

Love
Missing makes the heart grow fonder?? This is the case when two people are passionately in love. Every single minute apart one thinks of the other party. The moment awake-two people wishing each other good morning; meal times-has he/she eaten? Is he/she having a good day at work? Endless of lovely thoughts and words spoken.
Missing makes the heart forget. Watching his back is painful. Facing him you feel a sense of joy. But this is one sided. You wanna say something. He has nothing to say. Endless of maybes and words not uttered. Things kept within the heart.

Life
I wanna do my best. But i feel weak and unmotivated. Lost in my little dreamworld. Asking myself wat i m doing exactly. What do i wanna achieve? Walk straight and never look back. I wish i could be so determined.

Transition
How does an acquaintance become a fren? One party must be active. Always trying to chat the other party up. Then slowly there is the sharing of inner thoughts and secrets. A bond is established and trust is gained. If you keep getting rejected, acquaintance will remain as that.

Things that happen to me when i am not very awake 14 Sep

2006-09-16T23:32:00.000+08:00

This week had been a sleepy week. I do not know why i feel so sleepy. Cant get out of bed and continue rolling in bed till the last min. Not very mentally alert in that case. While alighting from the bus, I nearly fell on someone. The bus jerked and I slided into the gap between seats. I scraped my elbow and nearly fell on the guy sitting near the window. So embarrassing. I did not dare to look the person in the eye. Just said sorry and moved on.

I fell asleep on someone before. Usually i cant sleep on buses or trains. However, it is a totally different story when i am tired. Ever sat beside a noddin person? With head swaying vigorously from side to side? Think that is how i look. I will wake up once i hit the person's arm/shoulder. Then i will pretend nothing has happened and hope no one has noticed either.

On thur, I actually alighted at the wrong stop. I walked out of chinese garden station (my usual stop is lakeside) and turned left. I thought to myself: the rubbish bin has been moved near to the station (sometimes i throw tissue cos my nose acts up). The trees have been trimmed. The blocks of flats appear nearer. Huh?!! I had alighted at the wrong stop. Goodness. Never mind, i could take a bus from here as well. Oh, good the bus is coming. But hey, i could not get up the bus cos it was full! Then i heard a man beside me grumble about the poor bus service and may the tires go flat due to overcrowding on the bus.

Stupid bus service. The passengers have no say over the increase in transport fares. The transport companies justify their hike by saying there is an increase in fuel prices/it's been a long time since the last fare hike. But hey, they are still making profits. Can we pay less if the service is not good? We cant. We are left to the caprice of the buses. If they take ten min to arrive, it's your lucky day. If they take twenty min, it's just too bad for you.

Curry flavour n ben n jerry 13 sep

2006-09-16T23:11:00.000+08:00

Mentioned that I met up with my JC classmates. We went to Curry flavour at Cityhall. This place serves japanese curry but i wouldn't say its value for money. The chef's recommendation did not impress me. I ordered the cheese pork katsu. I expected a larger serving of the pork katsu and something more cheesy (like the one i had in europe. yum. yum). Instead i got four small pieces of pork katsu. The cucumber in the salas was bitter. I spitted it out. The curry was served in an aladdin lamp device. The curry was not bad though. However, this set cost 17.90. Quite expensive. The things i like abt the place was the ambience. Very cosy. With jazz music playing.

After dinner, we went over to Ben & Jerry at raffles city for dessert. creamy ice cream. i tried the new strawberry cheesecake flavour. not very cheesy and pricy. at 4.50 per scoop. would have preferred azabu's greentea hokkaido icecream. The highlight at ben was a threesome sitting at the next table. i shall describe their scandalous behaviour. Two gals and a guy were sitting on the same couch. The guy was sandwiched between the two gals. One gal had her hand on his lap and the other gal had her leg touching the guy's leg. The guy behaved intimately with both gals as well. Really wondered wat their relationship is. Kaypoh kaypoh.

Memories 13 Sep

2006-09-16T22:26:00.000+08:00

I revisited my secondary school today. Cos i had to get my o level certificate certified true. And had to be by the school, not any other institute. So i had to make the trip back to school. Very troublesome too.

The moment i approached the school gate, lots of emotions well up within up. Everything in school still looks the same but the people have changed. Things are not the same anymore. The tennis courts, the field, the drama theatre looks the same as before. Even the cannon ball tree in front of the school gate is just as robust. Such familarity.

I remembered standing among the students at the amphitheatre, singing the national anthem, reciting the pledge, watching performances. The scenes just unravelled before my eyes, letting me relive the times again. I remembered practising hard on the erhu with my erhu group. Preparing for concerts.

Out of curiosity, I checked out the staff board. Most of the teachers who had taught me were no longer teaching here. So i did not visit any of the teachers. Since i did not bring water bottle, I decided to grab a drink from the school canteen. The drinks stall uncle is still the same uncle. But I dont think he remembers that i was a student here before. Too many students come and go.

In the evening, I revisited my JC times. Met up with a few of my JC classmates. Three guys to be exact. I thought it was a klass outing and more people would turn up! But it was nice catching up. Had always imagined how many years down the road, old pals will meet up and be surprised at the changes. Everyone is still the same. Not much have changed. But it's strange that people remembered different events. Guess the significance is different for different people.

MOF- My Izayaka 8 Sep

2006-09-09T23:40:00.000+08:00

Ohhhh good japanese food and desserts at this new restaurant at marina square. We took half an hour deciding wat to order. WHich is nothing new. We always pore through the menu, scrutinising the pictures and the description of the dishes. After thinking for a long time, three of us finally made up our mind: hamburger with mozarella cheese (recommended by the newspaper). To our disappointment, we were told that the dish was not available! Yikes, what to do now. We killed so many brain cells, thinking about wat to eat.

Then, YY suggested we could actually shared the set between two people since it was a lot of food. We must have been too famished to have thought of that earlier. The set comes with sweet potato/salmon/unagi stone bowl rice, chicken/pork katsu/beef shabu shabu, crab maki/california maki/soba crepe, coffee/tea and top up three bucks for desserts (many choices!). We chose two sets: salmon and unagi rice, katsu and shabu shabu, crab maki and soba crepe, tea and green tea imo and a long jap name dessert (cant remember liao).
The shabu shabu was fun. Cooking our own food. The beef was tender and tasted great with the apple sauce. Salad with radish sauce was not bad too. There was tofu with unagi as well. Really a huge set. Still got some more food....

The salmon stone bowl rice. We smelled someone eating it at the neighbouring table and changed our order to this. It smelled great. Fun too. Like pepper lunch. Cook our own food. Must keep stirring it so that it would not stick to the bottom. The unagi version was more moist due to the sauce given. But both were equally delicious.

This is an interesting dish. Soba crepe. Soba is wrapped around with crepe and topped with mayonnaise. You dip it into the soup before popping it into your mouth. Nice! The crab maki was cripsy but less refreshing than this soba dish.

The desserts were scrumptious. Hmmm. Looks are deceiving though. The green tea imo (recommended by the newspaper) was actually pretty good. The sweet potato was cripsy on the outside but soft on the inside. Quite a surprise.

The soft serve is soft and milky. Hokkaido ice cream are really good. The fruits and the dumplings and the kanten make it a wonderful combination. The serving is large compared to other restaurants.

Service is good too. Kept refilling our greentea. The waiters were helpful and courteous. Think it's because of the four million smiles campaign. The visitors are coming to singapore soon.

Wanted to order more desserts. But decided to save space for venezia ice cream. However, by the time we walked over to venezia, the ice cream parlour was closed for the day. Being greedy, I still had an icecream. Green tea with red bean gelato from azabu sabo. Yummy. Now will have this ice cream each time i vist marina.

Hoshigaoka 4 Sep

2006-09-09T23:21:00.000+08:00

Congrats to ZY on her engagement. Such a big bling bling. Haven seen her for more than half a year? i guess if the frenship is there, it does not really matter how long one meets up. can always correspond via email or sms. i know there is a fren there for me and she will listen if i truly need a listening ear. but hey should try to meet up more often. it takes effort to maintain a frenship.

Being true japanese food lovers, we must have japanese food. ZY had a craving for sushi. however, there was no good sushi outlets around. Only sakae sushi. Which was not exactly very yummy. Thus, we decided to try out a japanese restaurant, hoshigaoka, in bugis junction. Quite pricy for people who wanna have economical spending. Sashimi cost 14.80! Both of us were reluctant to pay that much for the salmon sashimi. So we settled for something else on the menu which has salmon. ZY ordered a set with salmon maki and I took the salmon don set. Here's how my set looked like:

There was salad, seaweed, udon and salmon don. A closer look at the salmon don:

It would have been better if the udon could be exchanged for cha soba. The waitress told us the udon could only be exchanged for tofu. Neither of us wanted to do that. While eating, both of us were lamenting how little the salmon was. We really LOVE salmon. Not satisfying enough. Was tempted to go cold storage to buy more affordable salmon sashimi.

humpty dumpty rolled down the stairs

2006-09-03T18:20:00.000+08:00

Been having some mishaps lately. Perhaps i should go bai4 bai4 (pray pray). Nearly rolled down the stairs while crossing the overhead bridge. I missed a step and fell. It was embarrassing. I had wanted to break my fall with my outstretched hands. Somehow my brain decided to do otherwise. I ended up sitting on the ground. Luckily, my knee was just slightly bruised. No bleeding. Better be careful next time.

Why is it different in colour?

2006-09-01T23:36:00.000+08:00

Think it must be due to the lack of quality sleep that i did something so laughable. The stall assistants must have thought I was crazy and had a good laugh. I had a craving for ice cream and popped over to scoopz. healthy local ice-cream. they have flavours like lychee, jackfruit, durian. i tried the macha flavoured one before. it was slightly bitter. but i liked it. the serving was pretty small though.
This time i wanted to try another flavour. I took a good look at the ice-creams on display. I saw rum and raisin and pointed at the brown ice-cream. "can i try the rum and raisin?" Stall assistant A scooped a generous spoonful and passed it to me. Mmmmm. Nice and nutty. There was a hazelnut in the ice-cream (at this point i should have thought: why is there hazelnut not raisin???? which i din).
"OK. I will have a single scoop of rum and raisin." Immediately, stall assistant A turned to B and told her to get me the flavour i requested for. B disappeared into the back of the shop. I found it strange that A was not scoopin the ice-cream for me.
Soon B returned with a cone with a huge scoop of a white ice-cream. "Here you go." I stared at the ice-cream and asked why the ice-cream had a different colour from the display one. B looked at me and asked if i had ordered rum and raisin. I said yes and looked at the brown ice-cream. B followed my gaze and asked if i had wanted mocha ice-cream instead. Yikes. It then dawned on me that i had tasted hazelnut just now! Gosh. Only i would do this kind of thing. However, I wondered why A did not clarify my choice when i pointed at mocha and asked for rum and raisin.
By the way, the rum and raisin was delicious. U can taste the rum. Unlike some other brands. The raisins had imbibed the flavour of rum as well. But are rum and raisin icecreams white? I remembered eating light brown rum and raisin.
Another indication that i was truly tired was that i fell asleep on the bus and missed my stop. Luckily i only had to walk the distance of one bus stop.

Are you thinking of me?

2006-08-28T22:31:00.000+08:00

This is one post when i have so many thoughts to share. Dunno if it's the studying that has done me in. Feel alone all of a sudden due to the lack of interaction with fellow humans. I haven seen my frens for some time. I think of them. Think of how they are doing. Think of when we can meet up and chat again. But is any of my frens thinking of me? Sometimes i send sms and get a belated reply the following day or worse a few days later. Then i will seriously wonder if they have lost their hp and changed to a new number. I blame such melancholy on my piscean blood. Too sensitive and thinking too much. Fretting over things which are not within my control. Maybe my concept of frenship is too much? Thought that frens should keep in touch. If one cant meet up, at least send a sms/email. Just say something. I always feel touched that someone asks how my day has been. At least you know you are not alone in the world. Just a simple greeting can really warms one's heart. It's like you making a point to remember somebody's name upon introduction. The other party will feel really flattered. How have things changed? Time will make a frenship weaker since everyone is busy? Can one be so busy that he/she has no time to meet up with a buddy? Or since there is a boyfren in the picture, galfrens dun count anymore?? Yeah the one will always be the top priority in life. Frens are relegated to nothing? I need to have lunch/dinner/food. So there is always an opportunity to meet. To me, it's a matter of whether you wan to.

celebrating 12 years of frenship 13 aug

2006-08-20T17:38:00.000+08:00

Cant believe that i have known clarice for almost 12 years. Here's to our frenship. Cheers!
Clarice was performing at Hark Music Cafe. She has been taking keyboard lessons at Hark and the cafe is a place for students to showcase their talent. The ambience at the cafe was relaxing with lights dimmed. Tealights were placed at the table. The place does not charge cover charge once you have ordered a drink.
That night, besides keyboard performances, there were song items by graduating classes. Hmmm the vocals were not super fantastic or wat. Passable. Perhaps the songs that they had picked were not suitable for them. Too difficult? Cos one gal could not hit the high notes and sounded squeaky. I think that a good singer needs to have a good natural voice to start with, after which the vocal techniques can bring out the best in the voice?
Vocal training does make a difference. One guy who was playing the keyboard sang in such an "old" manner (imagine rong2 shu4 xia4) for the song wo3 zhen1 de shou4 shang1 le that the audience wanted to laugh. Very bad lah, but it was really funny. Full marks for the courage though. This music school at least offers an avenue for their students to put wat they have learnt into use.
Saw on their flyer that there are other activities on different nights. Like ladies nite (ladies get the priority to sing with the live band), gents'nite, students' nite (the singer gets tips from the vocal teacher on how to sing better) etc. Sounds pretty exciting. mabbe can drop in on other nights to have a look.

Rag n Flag 12 Aug

2006-08-16T22:17:00.000+08:00

It's Rag and Flag. Never taken part in NUS Rag and Flag before. Excited that pharmacy will be represented. Back to the good old days where we get to have a presentation. At least get some exposure and let people know our existence.
Went with Jam to school to support the juniors. Though i din wear maroon. No maroon shirt leh (u all know my wardrobe mainly whites). We din know where to go. The maroon shirts only occupied a small section at the side. We walked all the way to the opposite side of the grand stand. The area was labelled engine. But it was empty. So people started to pile up there. Then the engineers made their grand entrance. One guy shouted that it was their section and those who did not belong there had to get out. Warrao. **&^%$# People who want their space should come early mah. Come late and rant at people. What kinda attitude is that?!!
Never mind. We still managed to get a good view of the performance area. The floats were impressive. Especially the pirates of carribean one. The ship could bob up and down, the treasure chest and clamshell could open, the dragon's eyes could blink etc. Just amazing. The performances were overlapping with many fairies, soldiers, toys. But the floats were really wonderful. Much better than the bian4 bian4 bian4 show on tv. Being the first year at the rag, pharmacy did not have a real float, just a backdrop for the dance display. Can work on it the next year.
After supporting the juniors, jam went back to feed her dear cells while i waited for her in the office. Wanted to study some vocab but ended up settling some work stuff. At this rate, how to get good grades??!! Argh.
We had late lunch at esplanade ichiban boshi. japanese food to save the day. yay. cant get sick of jap food. yum yum. With our hunger satiated, we moved over to marina square for dessert. However, we were sidetracked by various stuff. The tamiya race track. Having some kinda competition. Remember playing with tamiya cars when i was a kid. They still exist. The cars on display looked cool. Cant afford real car, can only buy toy car. :(
Found my tomato too. Always wanted a tomato toy. Now its sitting on my work desk and my handphone rests in it. Nice. Jam got her meah meah cushion. Very cute. Eventually, we bought the desserts we craved for. My venezia icecream and jam's green tea frappucino. To end off the day, we visited mph where there was a 30 % off on hundred popular titles. Will try finding them in the library first cos i dun usually spend on books. The books (hillary clinton and rule of four) that i bought at the expo book sale are still sittin on my book shelf. Opps.

Xing wang hongkong tea cafe 8 aug

2006-08-13T23:06:00.000+08:00

Forgot to introduce a new food outlet i tried. Sotong, great recommendation. Cheap and yummy. Like its name suggests, this place serves hongkong dishes and dim sum. The kiddies shared the dishes among them. They tried black pepper chicken spaghetti (the chicken chop is huge and juicy), fried rice (the minced pork sauce is tasty and makes the rice more fragrant), baked rice with cheese and pork (not as fantastic as the previous two dishes) and sesame balls (cripsy on the outside. hmmm) I tried the yuan yang as well. Tea with coffee (u can taste the tea and coffee and it's a nice blend). Potent diuretic (jam n menu din wanna order that for fear of visitin the toilet later)? I din really rush for the toilet after that though.
Business was very good that day as everyone was in marina for the fireworks. Thankfully we had made reservations and did not have to join the snaking queue. The food is not bad but the service could be improved further. Two of our orders took a long time to arrive. One order was overlooked and came twice later. We cancelled the second order after waiting for some time as we wanted to watch the fireworks.
Once the fireworks started, everyone immediately rushed towards the esplanade area. We just hung around marina steps. Quite a good view of the fireworks as well. I was not that excited anymore since I had already watched them live many times. Plus the display looked the same to me. After the fireworks, we stood around and chatted. Everyone was now headed back to the mrt station.
The night was still young and the next day being a public hol, we wanted to chill out. Alas, it was not meant to be. Everywhere was packed. Pacific coffee at marina, gelare at citylink etc. Couldnt find a place at all. In the end, we walked back to the mrt station and tried our luck at raffles city market place. The place had a major revamp and looked much better. However, the restaurants all closed or were closing. So we all headed back home.

Are you brave enough?

2006-08-09T14:17:00.000+08:00

Am i brave? have I ever jumped headlong into something without thinking of the consequences? I always think too much and not let my heart prevail. Cos i am afraid of getting hurt and that my pride gets in the way. I dun think i will ever have the courage to confess to someone that i like him. So my dear frens (i know who) out there who have done this brave deed, I applaud you for trying. If you never try, how would you know? At least now you will get an answer, even if it's not the one you hope to be. You no longer have to spend your time regretting what could have been. You can now get over it and move on with your life. Coach morrie said that one should experience all kinds of emotions. if you have learnt wat is sadness, you can better appreciate happiness. Do i have the guts? I still dun think so.

campus superstar report card

2006-08-06T23:53:00.000+08:00

Campus superstars were in Jurong. For some national day celebration concert. Kool rite? In line with our govt's morphosis into hip and happening.
The show started with an award ceremony. Luckily i went over later and missed the clapping hands part. The ceremony was followed by cultural performances like malay, indian and modern dances. There was even korean dance with three singers belting out the theme song from da chang jin.
The highlight of the show was the superstars. It was obvious that the audience were staying back for them (some people left after their performance). Renfred has improved a lot. His singing was much better than those superstar days. Though he is still shy and did not interact much with the audience. Too bad he did not dance. He would be even more charming. Geraldine has a fan club. She received the loudest applause. There was a group of fans waving signages and cheering. These people disappeared immediately after her songs. Wonder if they were paid by the recording company? Is she churning out an album? She was the most hyper and talked to the audience. However, there was a boo boo at the end of the song. Dunno if it was a mike or sound system problem.
Zhiyang sang JY's new song. Yikes. Free promo for JY. He should have sung other songs. Did not struck a chord with the audience at all. His performance was also marred by technical faults of the sound system.
Theresa maintained her standard. If you are good, you cant improve much. So there is no wow factor. More impressed by Renfred.

Hanabi was disappointing

2006-08-01T22:30:00.000+08:00

After much hype about Hanabi, I was sorely disappointed. This Japanese restaurant was reviewed twice by the newspapers and received lotsa accolades. Perhaps the ala-carte menu had better offering than the buffet menu. The buffet menu has 99 items. Most of the items have similar stuffing but in different forms. You get salmon temaki/maki/sushi. Get the idea? Just repeating food. The highlight is only the sashimi-hamachi, cuttlefish, octopus, salmon, maguro. I love sashimi. Yum yum.

The chawan mushi is too much egg n no fillings. Aiyoh. Save until like that. To think i paid 38 bucks for this meal!!! Definitely not worth it. Go Kuishin bo better. At least Kuishin bo is cheaper on ladies' nite and there are hourly specials with stampedes. So exciting. This Hanabi does not even serve desserts on the buffet menu. For me, desserts are a plus. Gals always have space for sweet stuff. (we ended up in New York New York for desserts. The gals initially wanted real desserts like ice-cream, pastries etc. But we all ended up having drinks. And i kept complaining about their normal-looking cups. Thought the drinks would come in a gigantic cup.)

Please dun go hanabi lah. Go Kuishin bo with me next time.

Back to being me

2006-07-30T14:26:00.000+08:00

Hey gals. thanks for listening to me lately. I think i am close to straightening out my heart and brain. Figure the rollercoaster ride of emotional upheavals due to a certain person is not worth the effort. Been through this phase before and there was a lot of heartache involved. So i should tear myself from this stupid mess i created for myself before i actually sink in deeper. Time will make it easier for me to save myself. For now, i should just concentrate on other important things in my life and stop procrastinating.

From Auntie to Ah1 Ma4

2006-07-27T22:51:00.000+08:00

Yikes. I have been relegated to the status of Ah Ma. At lunch, I ordered food from my favourite economical rice stall. However, I decided on porridge cos I wanted to satisfy my craving for tangyuan. The stall finally has the green tea tangyuan! When hk saw me eating porridge, he commented that he thought only the ah peks would have porridge. They old and could not bite the food properly. Ok lor, so now i ah ma. But I dun care. Porridge is nice.

只爱陌生人？

2006-07-25T23:26:00.000+08:00

每天见面的人可以像陌生人。我讨厌这种陌生的感觉。想跨进一步却没那么多勇气。在新环境的我觉得好累。又是这种心情。并没那么厚的脸皮邀请自己加入一群已粘在一起的人。但我会加油的。加油，加油，加油！

Love at first sight

2006-07-22T23:40:00.000+08:00

Do you believe in love at first sight? I believe in that for things. The moment i saw tigger, i knew i must buy him back. I call that affinity. I buy things that i have an affinity for. i saw a couple of things today but kept myself in check. I evaluated the value of the item-is it a decorative piece? am i goin to use it often? etc. If not, i will be forever on a spending spree mode, which is bad for the pocket.

Do you believe in hate at first sight? I believe in that for people. But since i start out disliking the person, my standard for him/her will be lower. This means that i can like the person easier. Once the person does something nice, he/she will gain acceptance on my like list. So it's really hard to dislike someone forever.

New road ahead

2006-07-21T23:31:00.000+08:00

The moment we had been awaiting for after the numerous rehearsals we had to go through was finally here. The few seconds we would be on stage to receive the award. The one handshake to perfect. The smiles for the camera. The proud beaming parents sitting among the audience. The applause showered on the recipient. 3, 2, 1 and all was over. A new journey has begun.

20 July Jolin is in town

2006-07-21T23:20:00.000+08:00

Gals' night out. Jam had craving for burgers so we went to changing appetites at marina square. On our way there, we passed by the stage where jolin tsai was going to have her autograph session at 8 pm. E fans had startin to queue up. However, the cordoned-off area did not fill up with people. I was excited about seeing her in person as she had been in the news recently for her famous bustline. Gals always wanna increase her bust. For? The male species? More self confidence? Sitting in the restaurant, we took half an hour to decide on our orders. Kept changing my mind-from burger to pizza to pasta then finally to the wow mushroom pizza and minty slinkie. The pizza was delicious. Plenty of mushrooms, cheese and garlic sauce. All of my favourite food. Hmmm. Sure deserved e wow remark put beside e food item in e menu. When i was done with e pizza, i went over to e stage area. Many people were eager to catch a glimpse of jolin. I managed to see part of her once e tall people moved out of my view. Ha but din get to see her assets cos she was sittin down n partially blocked by her minders. Her fans were very orderly and did not create much disturbance. No screaming, shaking her hands or grabbing her.

Tagged by luen

2006-07-15T22:19:00.000+08:00

Gosh i seldom play along with chain mails/sms. Now i get tagged by my good fren on a blog. Erm suppose i can reveal something about myself....
Favourites
Colour: White, pink, blue
Food:Soups, japanese food. generally not picky eater.
Song: Favourite singers mabbe like ah mei, elva hsiao, jolin tsai, gary, wu ke qun, fish leong and many more. those songs i k in ktv.
Movie: Not really a movie person. like romantic shows, comedies and action films.Scary movies are a BIG no-no.
Sport: Is ktv a sport? Iceskating and possibly roller blading. Shopping too.
Day of the week: Any day which is a holiday?
Season: Have not experienced the four seasons. Favourite weather? Perhaps cloudy day. Cool and the sun is a bit hidden
Ice-cream: Eaten with frens. Will remember the earthquake we shared at swensens.

Currents
Mood:Awake from karaoke and shopping.
Taste: Japanese food.
Desktop: A lovely sunrise taken in yushan recreation area.
Toe nail colour: No nail polish. A healthy pink?
Surroundings: Tv on and radio playing on FM 933.
Annoyance: I am starting work !!! wanna slack some more.
Thoughts: I wanna blade tomolo. good weather please.

Firsts
Best friend:A gal in kindergarten. Went on to primary school together. But we din remain as best of friends since we went to different classes.
Crush: Some guy in school? i cant really remember the first crush. though there is a current crush.
Movie: Cant remember. Think was a chinese movie watched in an old cinema when tix were still $3.50.
Lie: just dun say the whole truth?
Music: Singing classes at the RC. remember singing tong2 nian2.

Lasts
Cigarette: Never
Drink: Two days ago. Sheridian.
Car ride: From the airport.
Crush: On going.
Movie:X men II
Phonecall: From my ma this evening, asking me if i was coming home for dinner.
Cd played: Gary, gary, gary. Listened to him before sleep, just last nite.

Have you ever"
Dated one of your best friends: No.
Broken the law:Accidentally littered but not caught? Vandalised the playground during mid-autumn fest with candles and sparklers?
Been arrested: No.
Skinny-dipped: No.
Been on tv:Acted as a passer-by in an arcade when i was a child.
Kissed someone you dont know: No.
5 things you are wearing: My geeky specs, blouse, hairpin, shorts, undergarments
4 things you did today: Went for ceremony rehearsal, ktv at ten dollar ktv joint, shopped at this fashion, blogged.
3 things you can hear right now: Drums (tv commercial. why are there so many commercials???), Someone talking on the radio and my typing.
5 pple whom i want to do this thing: Anyone who wanna play and let others know you better.

Why i like chinatown

2006-07-15T22:02:00.000+08:00

I go to chinatown quite frequently. Today, I was with Jam and she said we auntie, always going to chinatown. So let me defend myself. Reasons why i like chinatown:

1. There are many ktv joints. Besides partyworld, kbox, kster, there are other cheaper joints around. i joined the ten dollar family ktv joint today. Not a bad deal. As anytime you just pay 10 bucks to sing. We got to sing from 2 plus till 7. Free flow of drinks and one bowl of shark's fins soup. Good deal definitely. No wonder the place is always booked.
2. This fashion joint. There is 30 % off for members during their mid-year sale. Buy, buy, buy, That was wat i did. Burning a hole in my pocket.
3. cheap cds. parallel imports. i can buy lotsa cds at one shot.
4. new youth shopping area like far east. clothes imported from hongkong etc.
5. yummy food. best egg tarts (in my opinion) from liang2 chen2. ah balling tang yuan at food street (with almond mild and green tea stuffing)
6. wonderful memories from the congress

Finale. homeward bound 9 July

2006-07-14T16:52:00.000+08:00

Yup we were on our way home. I had such a hard time packing the stuff in. 4 pieces of luggage in all. One cabin bag, one backpack, one sportsbag and one plastic bag. Show you the stuff i bought.
I can open a shop with the foodstuff. 4 packets of jelly, 3 packets of metal eggs, 1 packet of bamboo shoots, 2 packets of mochi, 6 packets of handmade mochi, 1 packet of preserved plums, 1 packet of almond powder, 1 bottle of sakura fruit, 1 box of train mooncakes, 1 box of greenbean cakes, 1 box of pineapple cakes, 1 box of preserved quail eggs, lychees, 1 bottle of rose jam and 1 box of bbq pork slices.

The other stuff i got. Jeans, skirt, 2 tops, bag, 2 pairs of shoes and froggie. The skirt and pink top was a bargain (NT250 toget). I cant resist buying shoes and bags.

The ride home on the airplane was full of turbulence. I was clutching my seat fearfully. Thank goodness, i reached home safe and sound. Did more shoppin at the airport. Bought my sheridian. Been bio-ing it since i left singapore.

For the record, I finally mastered my courage to weigh myself. Phew, i did not gain weigh. Must be the low carb diet and the intensive shopping and walking around.

Wulai 8 July

2006-07-14T14:45:00.000+08:00

Our final full day in Taiwan. Decided to go Wulai since it was highly recommended by many of the locals. Home to aboriginal tribes as well. We had not had any experience of aboriginal culture. In legend, when the Atayal braves hunted there, they saw smoke from the riverside. They yelled,"Wulai, Wulai!" In Atayal language, hot water is pronounced "wulai", meaning hot spring. Many Japanese tourists go to Wulai for the hotsprings.

The morning started out on the wrong foot. Thanks to me, we took the wrong train. I just remembered we needed to take to the end of the line of one of the coloured lines. After a few stops, it was nearing the terminal stop. The train we were supposed to be on would take about 40 min. That was when i realised we were on the wrong train! Eventually we made it to xindian to take the bus which would bring us to wulai. The moment we stepped out of the train station, we saw the wulai bus. It was already packed till the front door. Thus, we waited for the next bus.

Thinking there was possibly a less crowded bus stop, we walked further on. At the next bus stop, I asked the traffic police if I could wait for the wulai bus there. He had no idea. A passer-by heard me and said that i should just wait at the mrt station bus stop. So we were back to square one.

Soon, the wulai bus came along. Just when we were contemplating over how to pay the bus fare (at point of boarding/alighting), the bus driver said,"Pay up now. NT 40 to wulai." I gathered both mich and my easycard (similar to our ezlink card) to deduct the fare. The bus uncle barked,"After using easycard, still need to pay NT25 each." The machine deducts a flat rate of NT7 only. Need to top up the difference. Anyway, 25+7=32 not 40. Perhaps cheaper if pay by easycard.

Before long, we reached our destination. Our first stop was the wulai atayal museum. Again, no photos to show. The Atayal people tattoo their faces to mean adulthood. Males must fight in combat or hunt and prove their bravery. Females must be able to weave. It is shameful to be without any tattoo. You cant get married without one. The Atayal people are also headhunters, literally. They justify cannibalism by the fact that many people died in wars waged between countries. Their killing one or two did not matter.

After visiting the museum, we had lunch at wu lai snackshop. Reading my lonely planet guidebook, the must trys are the bamboo rice and black boar meat. We ordered beehoon, soup and a mysterious dragon's whiskers veg. The black boar meat was well seasoned and tasty. The bamboo rice was better than that in Alishan. More fragrant.

With our stomachs filled, we set off to explore the area. It was a long walk to the cable car station. The weather was hot and not breezy. The tourist tram was out of order. So we could walk on the tracks. Along the way i took some photos of the wulai waterfall. Just a small waterfall.
The weather was so hot that we bought ice popsicles to suck on. I bought bai3 xiang1 guo3 flavour. Whatever it was, it tasted sweet and fragrant. Finally, we made it to the cable car station. The highlight of the ride was flying across the wulai falls. The top was Yun2 Xian1 Le4 Yuan2, a holiday resort. Me and mich in the cable car. The cable car was very stuffy. No ventilation. But we were too busy trying to take a photo of us to admire the surrounding scenery. Had to admire on the way down. A photo taken at the top. In the holiday resort.
What can you do in the resort? You can soak your feet in the waters. Cool waters. Very refreshing. Healthy too. Something happened while i was soaking my feet in the water, i slipped on a rock and fell into the pool. My pants were all wet. Quite embarrassing....What else can you do? You can take the kiddy rides. Nothing exciting. You can watch performances as well if you go on a weekend.
To watch it live, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyrIIj1SsoE. This one shows a younger lady and an older lady dancing. Was surprised to see the auntie as an anchor dancer though.
For younger, sexier dancers, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jATf7VFbdes
You can go boating in the pond.

Walk around the resort and take photos. Photos from cable car. I insisted on walking all the way up to the waterfall park while Mich waited for me at the cable car alighting point.

Grasshopper at a signboard. Facial tattoos on Atayal people.

A closer look at the waterfall.We did not have time to go to neidong forest recreation area. Heard that there is a bigger, nicer waterfall. From the cable car station, we took a cab down to the wulai st. Then we tried finding the public hotspring. The description given was hot waters with steam. I did not see any steam. Only the uncles were soakin in the hot spring. This hotspring was pretty difficult to locate. Had to climb down from the road side. You only see the stairs down if you know where they are from the road. Anyway the hot spring was disappointing.

Back at the bus stop, the bus driver (the same grouchy bus driver) refused to drive off unless someone took his fren's cab. In the end, we took the cab and had a brief intro of taiwan from the cab driver. He mentioned that wulai hotsprings were better than beitou's cos there was no sulphurous smell. He also recommended us to go wufenpu for clothes. Mich found the cab driver irritating and tried to 'suan' him.

Cab driver: wulai waters very good. you will get younger and prettier.
Mich: yeah lor. I only see uncles around.
Cab driver: waters really good.

Either he din get it or he pretended not to understand. He dropped us off at the mrt station. Since bi4 tan2 (a lake) was nearby, we walked over to take a look.

See the boats? Can do some paddling. Think this was where "it started with a kiss" was shot. Ariel lin and Joe fell into the pond on their "date". Funny show. Joe is so cute. It gives hope to those who are in secretly in love with someone. Cos ariel's love was reciprocated in the end.

Last minute late night shoppin was done in wufenpu. We took a train from the taipei main station to songshan train station. You can hope onto any train as long as it passes songshan. We did not know until we asked the train officer. As usual, he was a grouchy guy.

Wufenpu offered cheaper shopping but no trying was allowed. Managed to get some cheap buys. Totally broke. Need to leave some money for bus to airport the next day. When i was back in ximending, i found my frog prince. Been wanting to get this cushion. Now i really had no space in my luggage.

Grand Palace Museum 7 July

2006-07-13T14:34:00.000+08:00

Finally we visited the grand palace museum. One of the world's best museums. The free guided tour at 10 am was already full so we had to walk around ourselves. We rented the audioguide and off we went to explore. The audioguide was good and provided clear explanations. How to see which works were from which era. The pots started out dull in colour, then became more colourful with indian, french influence. Since no photography was allowed, I had no photos to show. There were guards holding up signages which said "no photography" and "keep quiet". They would flash it at anyone who breached the regulations. After an educational morning, we took a walk in the Chih-shan garden nearby. Some photos:
The fat fishes in the pond. You can buy fish feed from a dispensing machine to feed them. No wonder they are so fat. The swans. Mandarin ducks.Map of the garden.
Entrance to the garden.
The Grand Palace Museum. My camera cannot fit the whole palace in.

A pictorial representation.

At the entrance before we climbed up the steps to the palace.

The public bus and the view from the bus stop.

The bus. The bus driver very fierce. He shouted at an old man for blocking the way up the bus.

Lunch at ikari coffee. Not a bad deal. Set lunch under S$10. Pasta, soup and ice coffee.

The keep right rule. All the taipei citizens abide by this rule. The people who wanna overtake will walk on the left. See the passageway is clear on the left.

Dinner was at tian1 wai4 tian1. A place which serves buffet steamboat. Good deal. It serves meiji ice-cream. Plenty of fruits to choose from as well. Yummy beancurd jelly. Too much food too little space. The different soup base you can choose from. Can split the pot into five types even.
We chose two types of soup: ma lan and clear soup. We cooked a lot of mushrooms. I love mushrooms!! Also been a long time since i ate duck's blood. Banned in singapore. All the blood products.

lazy day 6 July

2006-07-13T13:16:00.000+08:00

Woke up late cos had a late nite or was it an early morning? Ktv plus world cup. So we had buffet for brunch. The place was called xi3 duo1 wu1, located at mingyao department store. There are two sets of lifts at the department store. One set does not take us to the top floor with the buffet restaurant. We asked a salesgirl and were told to take the transparent lift. Ah wat transparent lift? All the lifts had opaque doors lor. The transparent part could only be seen from outside the building. Eventually we did find the correct lift. Happily, we arrived at the restaurant. But it was not opened yet. Had to come back later.

When we were back later, there was a queue forming at the counter. This showed that this restaurant was indeed very popular. We were worried that all the seats had been reserved. Luckily, there were still tables available. This place served japanese food and seafood mainly. But you can get Chinese food as well. So what did the buffet queen eat? She could not eat as much as before. Only tried a bit of most of the food. Example, one small piece of chicken, one small bite of fish etc.Mainly sashimi. Salmon was too popular. Only two slices left. There were tuna, swordfish sashimi. The oyster was yummy. Lotsa food. The aunties not very polite. If you tried to get sauce (not food) she would think you were cutting queue and ask you to queue up. Another auntie tried to cut in front of me. She told me to hurry up. Gosh. The chinese herbal soups. Longan red date, eel soup, frog soup....

Some of the desserts. The fried thing was durian. Green tea mochi, custard and red wine. I had some beer as well. Was worried about pairing wine with durian. Some deadly combination? (you will find out later why i said this)

It was one plus when we finished gorging ourselves with food. Then, it was an afternoon of shopping. We wanted to find sogo department store. Again, we asked passers-by for help. Sogo department store is high-end shoppin in taipei. All the branded goods. This was where i had diarrhea. Very bad diarrhea. It's the explosive kind of diarrhea. Luckily, no one was in the toilet. This was not the end of my woes.

We decided to walk back to the mrt station. There was an underground mall at zhongxiao dunhua. More shopping. Actually shopping is a good form of exercise to compensate for eating too much. The downside is you will burn a hole in your pocket. We bought more stuff. Next, we set off for guanghua st. Supposedly there are cheap electronic goods and manga. I got my second diarrhea. Yikes. Wonder what was the cause. Oyster, beer, red wine, durian--things that Mich did not eat.

Anyway, I did not see cheap pda phones. Wanted to get one to complete my IT gal collection. Have a mp3, laptop, digital camera, dvd recorder....Maybe should get a 3g phone. Mich bought more comics and vcds. I din get anything. The korean dramas they had were not the new ones. Singapore has a better collection.

In the evening, we were off to Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. It was 7 plus by the time we got there. Surprisingly, the place was still full of activity. Students practising dance, people jogging (jogging in hot weather? something i cant understand. I only jog on cool days) and others who were just sitting and chatting.

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall with taipei 101 in the background.

View of the memorial hall from where i entered.

The statues. Thought it looked eerie in this photo.

The front which had the name of the place. We had started to walk back to the mrt station when we saw a map of the place and realised we were at the back area of the memorial hall.A plant sculpture in the garden. I still could not find the pond. Found a carpark instead. Upon consulting the map, think the pond was near the school side which was near the mrt. I had diarrhea again. Decided it was time to get charcoal pills at taipei 101 later.

We took the mrt to taipei cityhall. Once we stepped out, we could not see taipei 101. Isn't it supposed to be the tallest building? We tried to locate taipei 101 using a photo i had taken previously. Taipei 101 was blocked by some building. Then we started to walk towards it. We walked and we walked. We were still not there yet. It was another case of so near yet so far. The first thing we saw was the fountain show. We were very lucky as the show was on every two hours. To see the show, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOEbKofzRIQ
Queuing up to take the lift up to the observatory tower on the 89th floor of taipei 101. It is the world's fastest lift.
The tickets. Different colours. Raining and sunny day. We were wondering if there was a four seasons edition as well.
View from the top. Typical night scenery. Me and 101.

The tuned mass damping pressure. to resist wind pressure for high-rise buildin.

By the time we were done, the food court was already closed for the day. I tried to buy charcoal pills. But the pharmacy did not have charcoal pills. So, we took the bus shuttle back to taipei cityhall mrt station. We din wanna walk again. the so near yet so far. However, the cafes at ximending were closed as well. Bought white sausage (din realise white sausages are stuffed with rice-bad for my diarrhea) and instant soup from 7-11 for dinner. The soup was quite delicious. Better than the instant soups in singapore.

explore 5 July

2006-07-12T23:26:00.000+08:00

We were brought back to the hotel at 7 plus in the morning. Off we went to have breakfast. Porridge at a eating place. The hotel had issued us the breakfast coupon the night before. We tried findin the place for breakfast within the hotel. Thought that breakfast would be served by the hotel.

After breakfast, we explored the alishan trails. The signboards were pretty good. Showed us our current location and where we could go. We could go in two directions. The direction we chose was mainly uphill. We realised that a bit too late. Were huffin and puffin all the way up. The first tree we saw was this tree which was supposed to look like an elephant. Can you make out the trunk and the ears. Use a bit of imagination ah. Near it was the three generation wood. One growing after another. Next we passed by a school. I was wondering where the children attended school. Education is important.
As we walked further, we came to a museum. Too bad the museum was closed for renovation. So I just took a photo of it. All the photos are small sized cos they were taken using my phone camera. My camera batt had nearly gone flat. Wanna conserve energy.

A photo i took at a clearing.

The tree spirit monument commemorating ancient trees felled in 1936. Built by the Japanese to appease the spirits in the trees.
One of the giant trees on the giant trees trail. Many giant trees. All of them labelled. Example tree 18. This was where we were climbing uphill.
We could see the zhongzheng village in the distant (see the white part among the green?).

The sister ponds. This is the jie jie (elder sister). It looks very beautiful in winter. Saw a winter photo in the hotel.

The mei mei (younger sister) pond.

It was so misty when we got back to the hotel.

The alishan forest railway. Very bumpy ride. But could still fall asleep. By the time we reached chiayi, it was already 5 pm. About twenty min before we caught the train back to taipei. I thought we migh have missed the train as the next train to arrive at the platform indicated a later time. We asked a train officer and he told us our train was late. We bought the second cheapest train ticket. Mich suggested that the lateness could be due to the cheaper train.

Sunset view from the train. All sunsets look beautiful. By the time we were back in taipei, it was 10 plus. We checked into the hotel, dumped our stuff and went ktv. Ktv queen finally made it to partyworld ktv in taipei.

The TV screen was huge. The remote control was not user friendly though. Din know how to use it. Ended up pressing the song selection from the keyboard. Could not learn how to sing new songs too since i could not find the A/D button. Or everyone who comes to ktv in taipei knows how to sing all the songs? Anyway, not very cheap from 11 to 2 am. Came up to about 20 plus per person. But it was an experience. The ktv facilities occupied the whole building. Amazing. Even had toilet in each room. I din see the toilet and went out to the counter staff to ask about it. So paiseh. Then the mike had disposable mike covers. More hygienic. Even if kissed the mike also no prob. I wanna k more in singapore.

Think the eng-port match was on . So i even watched the world cup.

Sunrise tour 5 July

2006-07-12T14:17:00.000+08:00

We woke up bright and early to catch the bus sunrise tour at 4 am. All was still pitch dark. The morning was cool. Shivering in the cold. The guide brought us to the fuqi shu (couple tree) first.
The pre-dawn view of the place.

We were then driven to the sunrise viewing area. Apparently, the sunrise viewing spot will shift as the year goes by. The guide also explained to us the various peaks. Triangle peak, camel hump peak correspond to XXX. I could not remember. The peaks before sunrise. The peaks after sunrise. Photo pre sunrise. Photos after sunrise.
To watch the sunrise, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L7efenUTM8

View of the surrounding areas. The mysterious yunhai.
The next famous sight we were supposed to see was the monkeys called mi hou.

The monkeys were very smart. They knew that humans had food with them. So they would approach us. The driver sold us some dried fruits to feed the monkeys. Once we held out our hands, the monkeys would take the fruits. One female monkey sneaked up behind one guy and stole his breakfast. She then gave the bun to the monkey king. The monkey king knew how to peel the skin and eat the meat within.

Another yunhai view.

Flower garden.

Map of Yushan.

The shen2mu4.

The road we took.

road trip 4 July part two

2006-07-12T13:12:00.000+08:00

Our final stopover before we reached alishan was in fenqihu. Fenqihu is the halfway point on the narrow-gauge Alishan railway. Map of Fenqihu:Me with the new puma bag i bought. It sure came in handy as a day trip back from taipei.

The "train ticket counter" i saw. Think it actually sells food. Old street, The street is narrow, crowded and small. More food to try.
The alishan forest train will pass by Fenqihu. No train at the moment, so everyone stepped onto the railway. An old train in the train museum. Scene of old street as we were goin back down to meet the van driver.
After 4 hours, we had finally reached our hotel. Yippee. Not very nice though. The hotel only provided one large towel. And it looked yellowish. Not much cable tv. So no watching of world cup and k dramas..... The food we bought from Fenqihu. Railway lunchbox and tree tomato.

A closer look at the food. Railway lunchbox was yummy. There were sausages, preserved veg, meat (black wild boar) and bamboo shoots. I love bamboo shoots. The tree tomato is a mix of tomato and passionfruit. A mixture of sweet and sour.

The train cakes we bought. They looked like square mooncakes with a train stamped on the surface.

After we had eaten the lunchbox, we walked over to another hotel to collect our forest train ticket. Here we learnt about the full/half ticket. Full ticket is for adult. Half ticket is for children and school-going people. Cos people kept asking us what ticket we wanted. Outside the hotel, I saw a flower and tried out the close-up capability of my camera.

The special characteristics of the forest railway.
1. One of the three famous mountaineering railway
2.Train is driven from Chiayi (elevation of 30m) to Alishan (elevation of 2216m), maximum grade of 6.26% and minimum curve radius of 40m
3. Train is driven to mountains in the way of "push".....

View of the zhongzheng village. I stitched the different pics toget. But it looks small now.Part of the photo enlarged:

It was getting dark.....

It was dark.

The yellow dog which kept us company while we ate at the roadside stall. The stall auntie like got pms. very grouchy. No business still so grouchy. We asked her questions about the food and she snapped back at us. No wonder no business lah. After we had eaten, the dog actually left too.

Road trip 4 July part one

2006-07-11T22:34:00.000+08:00

Woke up early to catch train to Chiayi. Bought breakfast from 7-11. The convenience stores are everywhere. There are a number of other convenience stores run by other companies. We found 7-11 after asking the train master at the level below. We had checked in and found ourselves at the boarding area without food. So we asked the train master where we could buy food. He grumpily replied upstairs. Think many people had asked him this question before.
Received a free doraemon magnet with purchase of more than NT70 i think. I was looking at the packaging and realised that there was an expiry date printed. The magnet will expire in 10 years' time. I din know that magnets had expiry dates as well.

The train ride was comfortable. We travelled on the tze qiang train which was the best class. Enough leg space and seats were softer than those of China Airlines. China Airlines ones made my bum ache.

A scene from the train:

To get a feel of what I saw from the window, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE0jL8EwkPw

After travelling for 4 hours on the train, we finally reached Chiayi. The moment we stepped out to the arrival area, we were swamped by an auntie. She offered to take us on a van ride up to alishan for NT399. The forest train was already full for the day. We agreed after much consideration. Then another lady offered to help us buy the tickets for the forest train which travelled down alishan the next day. She was not earning from the sale cos she was selling the tickets at the same price as the train station. We paid her a deposit and were told to pick up the tickets when we reached alishan. After we had arranged our tickets, we set off to look for food. The van driver told us we could get food across the road. A place called fountain chicken rice.

We walked and we walked, but no chicken rice in sight. Then we asked a passer-by. She told us the stall was right at the end where the fountain was. Quite far. Very popular stall. We would not miss it. So we walked quickly cos we only had less than an hour left before we took the van. Along the way, we did not see any food stall, except for pastries. Eventually, we reached the fountain area. The chicken rice was so-so cos singapore chicken rice tasted better. The fountain chicken rice was more soya sauce based.

Soon, we were on our way in the van. We passed by a reservoir called lan2 tan2. It had a fountain show at various times. We din manage to catch it though.

After some time, the driver stopped to let us take pictures. I did not know where we were though. Saw this sign:
Another view of the area: On tian1 chang2 bridge:

A temple.

On di4 jiu3 bridge:

Views from the bridge:

Next we stopped at a oolong tea plantations. The air was cool and we were surrounded by lotsa greenery.

We are on our own 3 July part two

2006-07-11T15:50:00.000+08:00

We had arrived in Danshui. You can see Guanyinshan at the back.
The MRT train we took.
Some pictures I took around Danshui:

We took the ferry over to Fisherman's wharf. Some pictures taken on the ferry:

See how rough the waves were. Water even splattered onto the deck, making us slightly wet. To get a taste of the ferry ride, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPdqUNCTlec

Soon we reached Fisherman's wharf. Some pictures:

We took the bus back to danshui, then the Mrt to taipei main station. We had dinner at Xin guang san ye which used to be the tallest building in taipei until 101 came along. There was a food court selling food from all over the world. I had korean food for dinner. After dinner, we proceeded to longshan temple. But it was closed for the day. Still, I took photos as proof that i was there.

Next, we asked the police guard of the temple where snake alley was. He pointed it out to us and we were on our way. Snakes are sold here.But we din taste any.
We also had a foot massage for NT400 for 40 min. My first time trying out a foot massage. Quite painful. But no pain no gain right? After the massage, my feet were no longer so sore.

We are on our own 3 July part one

2006-07-11T14:53:00.000+08:00

Yeah today its choose your own adventure day. With a map in hand, we were goin to explore taipei own time own target. Trust myself to read map though.... After a breakfast of porridge and bread provided by the hotel, we set off to locate the red playhouse in ximending. It is an example of Japanese period architecture. This wooden, octagonal structre was originally a public market. Then it became a theatre for Chinese opera and a second-run cinema.

Part of the metal frame depicting different scenes.

It was a hot day in Taipei as usual. We whipped out our umbrellas and started walking. We tried to walk to the Presidential Building. I am bad at reading maps and not all the roads were labelled on the map. We ended up walking round and round. Eventually, we managed to find the Presidential Building after seeking help from passers-by.

A building we passed by along the way. Mistook it for the Presidential Building. This should be the supreme court. If we were not wrong, this should be the Presidential Building. It had the same colour scheme as shown on the taipei map. Its ornate brickwork is typical of the Japanese era.

We gave up walking and decided to find the nearest mrt station. With my "superb" map reading skills, I came to the conclusion that xiaonanmen was the closest. Again, we asked a passer-by for directions. Above is xiaonanmen. Part of the original walls that once enclosed the old city.

We took the MRT to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. It has been converted to a concert hall and theatre.

The massive traditional-style Chinese gate.
Students practising under the hot sun. Think was some concert band.

Up the flight of 89 steps (denoting Chiang's age when he died).

After climbing the 89 steps, you see the bronze sculpture of the man himself. Behind him, carved into the white marble walls, are Chinese characters reading "ethics, democracy and science", the Three Principles of the People.

What the sculpture sees everyday.

Since my camera had run out of battery, we headed back to the hotel. At the same time we had lunch at a japanese restaurant in Ximending. The restaurant looked good from the outside but the food was only so-so. The shop had no menu as well! The list of food along with the pricing was pasted on the wall. See the different coloured banners hanging from the top as well? I ordered nabeyaki udon. It looked a bit different from the usual one i had. The egg was cooked. The ones I had eaten so far were all cracked in eggs. The food could also be taken off the conveyor. The conveyor belt is actually a toy train going around the track.Some of the food was cooked while some were artificial food (you had to order from the waiter). The food was not very hygienic-looking cos the dishes were not covered.

Thought that this building located near the ximen mrt station is very cute. Sells egg biscuits. Nicholas looks good too.
We took MRT from ximen to danshui to see the sunset.

Day tour 2 July part two

2006-07-10T23:38:00.000+08:00

Next stop is Beitou. This is the locals' easiest choice when they need a quick dip in sulphurous waters. An interesting plant i saw along the way.
The backview of Yangmingshan. More photos I took around the place:

After a walk in the country side area, we were brought to the city. Since tour guide earns commission by bringing us to places to shop, this tour guide is no exception. We were shown some herbal products like royal jelly and lingzhi at one shop. Learnt something interesting: If the honey is top grade honey, the beehive shape can be seen when you add the honey to water and then shake. The beehive shape will gradually appear. Wild lingzhi can be identified by the spore bags present. Those grown on the farm do not have spore bags as the nutrients supplied are only sufficient for own growth and not for reproduction. Another shop that we were taken to was the pastry shop. Bought plenty of pineapple tarts, green bean tarts and pork floss. The shop even had delivery service. So we placed an order to be sent before we headed back to Singapore.

With our purchases made, we proceeded to Miramar ferris mall. This mall has the second highest ferris wheel in asia. The highest one is in Japan. Me and ferris wheel.

Me and Mich posed for a foto in the carriage of the ferris wheel. We were trapped in there for about ten plus minutes.

The rows of cars in the carpark. Waste of space to use large area to park cars? Better if it's multi-storey or underground carpark?

See part of miramar mall on the right?
Another view from the top.
Me at the highest point.
Closer look at the structure of the ferris wheel.
Our final stop for the day was Shilin night market. There is a food section and shopping district separately.
Inside the night market. Me acting greedy and idiotic while waiting for food.
The uncle preparing the coffin rice.
The coffin rice. Stuffed with crab meat.
Eating 七里香 (chicken backside). All full of fats.
爱玉冰 some kind of jelly. We wanted something coolin to quench our thirst. Night scene.
In total we ate oyster with egg, oyster mee suah, coffin rice, chicken backside, ai yu jelly at the stalls. We packed the fried chicken chop back. Along the way to the hotel, we bought the big fat squid as well. We really ate a lot.

Day tour 2 July part one

2006-07-10T22:25:00.000+08:00

The tour guide arranged to pick us up at the lobby at 8.30 am. The guide came and gave us an excuse that the minivan was under repair yesterday. Hence, he could not pick us up. The thing was that I found him familiar looking. I thought I had seen him loitering around the airport yesterday. So i turned to Mich and asked if she had seen him before. She also thought that he looked familiar. Anyway, we decided not to confront him, lest he drove us to funny places. This guide is super blur. He did not know how many people he was supposed to pick up. After leaving our hotel, he suddenly remembered that there might be more people going on the tour from our hotel. He called his boss and his boss said no more. Next, he drove to another hotel to pick up the elderly couple. Then, he made a final stop at kirin hotel. But some of the people did not wanna go on the tour. All in all, he picked up 6 passengers.

After picking up the required passengers, he wanted to deposit us with another guide. However, this guide B refused to let him go. In the end, guide A drove the van while guide B gave the commentary.

Our first stop was to Martyr's shrine. This shrine enshrines the dead of wars fought on behalf of the ROC. The main reason people go there is to see the hourly changing of the guards. But we din get to see it cos was not the hour yet.

Note the mountains across keelung river in the backdrop. The main complex covers over 5000 sq metres and the main sanctuary was modelled after the Taiho Palace in Beijing.

The poor guard who has to stand under the hot sun. His uniform was all wet and face dripping with sweat. The tour guide said the guard was undergoin national service and he would be paid more than the others.

garden area. Nice pavillion and greenery.

The details on the ceiling of the pavillion.

The arch at the entrance.

On the way to Jiufen. Jiufen was once a settlement of nine families. Then, in 1890, gold was discovered and the population ballooned up. For decades, Jiufen supplied gold to the Japanese empire.
Jiufen was the place where "City of Sadness" was filmed. After seeing the movie, many urban Taiwanese flocked to the place.

View from the pavillion we went up to. There is a map explaining wat the different structures are.

The hustle and bustle.

绵绵的山与绵绵的情意

Jishan Street. The old town is rich in decorative old teahouses, Japanese-styled homes and traditional narrow lanes. Main activity here for me was buy food (metal eggs, jelly, mochi) and eat goodies (grilled mushrooms--so juicy, taro balls--chewy and fragrant, herbal cakes, soups with fuchou balls, meatballs, mushroom balls).

The herbal cake tasted like soon kueh. I chose one with the same stuffing.

The honey peach mochi i bought. Must be eaten within a day. Yummy. We also bought a box of other flavours as well.

Misadventures in Taiwan 1 July

2006-07-09T22:47:00.000+08:00

We were all packed and ready to go. Taking China Airlines to Taipei. Let's start with a mini story of China Airlines.
Scene 1
Me: I am taking China Airlines.
K: China Airlines very bumpy ride. Old planes. Though Jetstar Asia is budget airline, the planes are new.
Me: My fren has taken China Airlines before. So should be ok lah.
Scene 2 (At the airport)
Mich: I dunno if i should tell you this.
Me: Huh? What?
Mich: Actually I din take China Airlines to Hongkong the other time.
Me: Oh no. Since we are here, there's nothing we can do. Both our first time taking China Airlines then.
(Read in subsequent blogs about China Airlines)

So the two brave gals boarded the plane and landed safely in Taipei. However, the real drama took place here. Our plane landed on time but the guide who was supposed to pick us up was nowhere in sight. We walked right then left and even walked a few rounds after that. No one with the sign "chenming tour agency". Instead we found an elderly couple who also bought the package from wingo in singapore. Again, we walked a few rounds with the couple. Still no guide in sight. We decided to sit and wait. About an hour had passed. Eventually, we tried paging for the guide (three times in total) over the broadcast system. But to no avail. The lady at the information counter helped me to call him on his mobile. This was our conversation in short:

Me: We have waited for one hour plus.But where is the tour guide?
Man: I am so sorry. He picked up the wrong passengers at the wrong terminal. Therefore, he had already left the airport.
Me: How could that have been possible? You mean there's no name list to check?
Man: You all take cab and will reimburse you tomolo.
Me: (tryin to say something)
Phone went dead.........

No problem. We could make our way there. Just that it was time wasted waiting for the guide. We could have shopped more and eaten more food. Since the hotel (rainbow hotel) we were staying in was in ximending (pedestrian area akin to our chinatown), the cab driver dropped us off at the main road and we walked in.

Our hotel room. Comfy enough.With attached bathroom as well. Once we had freshened up a bit, we explored ximending before the shops were closed for the day. A street in ximending: Bright lights and bustling.

What is the most common thing you can do in Taipei? Eat and eat. Obviously we started our trip trying out the various snacks.
Attack the smelly tofu. The tofu stinks but it tastes ok. Look at the pushcarts at the back. Some of the pushcarts are illegal. When the police come, all of them will disperse.

Another common stall selling grilled stuff. The squid is really HUGE. Cheap too. Me and Mich had the NT70 squid for two days. Ha but it's best not to see how the stall owners prepare the food. What you dun know wont hurt you.

Sausage with jiu ceng ta stuffed in it. Tasted like normal veg. Sausages are yummy. Best food during BBQ.

The BIG FAT JUICY squid. How i love you....

Menotti

2006-06-27T17:22:00.000+08:00

23 June. Gals nite out. Meant to celebrate Joc's birthday. Din expect her to get bronchitis. Sounds serious hor. We were so scared it's infectious. Even suggested wearing N95 masks to protect ourselves. Since the doctor gave her three-days MC and she was meeting us on the third day, she should be fine.
Initially, we planned to go to Menotti (Italian restaurant) for dinner. Jam had even reserved seats there. Before the birthday gal arrived, we ventured to check the restaurant out first. It seemed that the main courses were not fantastic. The desserts, however, looked pretty decent. We were quite reluctant to patronise the restaurant. Therefore, we decided to check more places out.
We went over to Odeon Towers to take a look at Hanabi. Hanabi received rave reviews in the straits times. It is a Japanese restaurant, offering ala carte buffet. The place was nicely decorated. I will definitely go there once i manage to jio pple. :) I love Jap food.
Next, we proceeded to CHJIMES. There are many food outlets to choose from. Haha, without fail, each time we meet, we will end up wandering around and deciding what to eat. Waste plenty of time with our stomachs growling away. In the end, we still decided to give Menotti a try.
The place was super noisy. We could not even hear ourselves. We had to shout. Not a good place to hang out with friends and chat. Eventually, our food was served. Most of us ordered spaghetti. Only Jam, Dawang and I ordered something different. Jam and I ordered panini (toasted sandwich) stuffed with chicken and mushroom spinach respectively. We din know that both of us had actually ordered mango smoothie. You cant possibly go wrong with mango. Dawang ordered mutton. The panini is pretty good. But the serving is not large. Saved some space for desserts later.
After dinner, we moved over to gelare to chat and have ice-cream. I actually ordered cappuccino favour. So gutsy since i had been suffering from palpitations the entire day (I had teh terik in the afternoon). Too sensitive to caffeine liao.

Crystalbelle

2006-06-16T22:55:00.000+08:00

Ktv queen has finally stepped into a ktv lounge again after a month's hiatus. Before she started her bout of singing, she had dinner with her frens at food street. On the way to food street, XP said that jam is very 有爱心和耐心 (caring and patient) and a 怪伯伯 (strange uncle) overheard her. This 怪伯伯 then followed us and commented if it was true. We were freaked out and started walking faster. The 怪伯伯 even said yes 走快点儿 (walk faster). Luckily, he din do anything dangerous to harm us.
By the time we reached food street, menu had already chopped a seat. Well done! Soon, ming joined us too. We all ended up eating sarawak kolo mee. Quite yummy. Liked the noodles which was very Q. Funny that xp ate the same thing cos she is msian. Turned out that she had not eaten this dish before. Since we were at food street, we must definitely eat tang yuan. So all of us ordered tang yuan. Green tea filling is the best! With almond milk soup base of course!
After we had our stomachs filled, we proceeded to find a place to sing. We tried our luck at the ten-dollar ktv lounge but it was fully booked. Therefore, we ended up in Crystalbelle (dunno if i spelled correctly) near the outram park mrt station. Cheap too. But smoky. At the end of the night, i smelt of cigarette. The room we were in was painted with characters from dragon ball. We were served drinks (can choose alcoholic drinks too), fruits and keropok. It was about 11 bucks for a three-hour session. Enjoyed myself singing with the gals. Not as paiseh. However, we were not high enough. No dancing, no shouting and swaying. Sedated. Must go again and be high.

ladies nite

2006-06-15T14:59:00.000+08:00

Wednesday is ladies' nite at many places. Pubs, restaurants.... It pays to be a lady. We went to Suba at millenia walk. It was featured in the newspapers before. The place catered mainly to the office crowd and was packed. The free drink was cosmopolitan martini but tasted like raspberry vodka. The supposed chocolate fondue was elusive (in one corner). Just a pathetic home chocolate fountain with no condiments left. There was a group sitting next to the chocolate fondue.....
The guys got beer at one for one and we played 7-up. Nothing interesting. One rochester is still better. Quieter and more conducive for chatting. Suba played good music but was a bit too noisy. Once we finished the drinks, we went over to Uberburger to watch football. Spain vs ukraine.
Like the ambience at uberburger. Cosy and nice place to watch football with friends. We ordered some finger food and drinks. I was pretty relaxed while a few of my colleagues were too excited. They had placed bets and were worried about losing. The match was a stunner. Nobody would have guessed the score line would be spain 4 and ukraine 0. Obviously, everyone lost money. But i guess it makes watching the game more exciting as more is at stake. Perhaps i should try to place minor bets. Who knows might have beginner's luck?

no luck

2006-06-11T23:03:00.001+08:00

10 June. We decided to hunt for travel bargains in chinatown. Before we started our hunt, we sat down to grab a bite. Tried Mr Bean soya bean ice-cream. Tasted very soya beany. At least it is healthy and high in calcium. Not that sinful. With our stomachs satisfied, we began to look for Taiwan travel bargains
To our surprise, most of the travel agencies told us that the prices for free-and-easy packages were not available for the month of July as yet. We were too early in our preparations! As for the air tickets, the prices quoted were similar. China airlines was the cheapest. About $350 before taxes. Looks like we have more homework to do. To check out online prices for accommodation and compare those with packages. Planning a trip is not easy but it will definitely be a lot of fun traveling with frens.
At one plus, we threw in the towel and went for lunch. Too many choices at the Chinatown hawker centre. Quite a number with awards. In the end, I settled for wine chicken in claypot. Not superbly yummy. Just normal tasting. The highlight of lunch was supposed to be durian tang yuan. The uncle said that we could not choose flavour. So the mixture we got consisted three durian tang yuan. Poor me, I had no luck in tasting the tang yuan. You see, the tang yuan were all plain-coloured. The uncle told the different flavours apart by shape: oval, circle, elongated etc. We were only given two durian flavoured tang yuan. Sad ah…..

hiccups@restaurants

2006-06-11T23:03:00.000+08:00

8 June. Yay. Got to eat jap food at ichiban boshi in esplanade. Finally satisfied my craving for jap food. Initially I wanted to take the set meal but decided to go for the sushi plates. Had my favourite salmon sushi of course. Hmmmm. The cha soba is a must-eat too. Ok, let me count wat i ate: cha soba, sushi (salmon, spicy lobster mayo), spider temaki and tuna mayo inari. Did not eat as much as i would in a buffet. But mabbe i was saving space for desserts (haagen dazs). The first hiccup occurred in this restaurant. My fren's order was taking a super long time. We checked with the waiter and he told us it was on the way (he did not check with the kitchen). Later, when we asked again, he told us that the order had not been keyed in. So i started to complain about the poor service. Know wat he said? He said," So u wanna cancel order?" I was stunned. The point was that the mix-up was by them and we just wanted the food to be served fast. It was already 8.45 pm. Pretty late for dinner. After settling the bill, we thought there was 10 dollars extra and splitted the money.As planned initially, we went over to haagen dazs for desserts. That was when i realised that the money was mine! I only had fifty bucks with me that day, so after payin for my dinner, i should have three ten-dollars left. And another ten bucks from menu cos she changed money with me. However, i was short of ten bucks. Forgot to take the ten dollars when menu changed $$. Sorry gals, no sponsorship for ice-cream.
There was another hiccup at haagen dazs. The staff got the topping wrong. Gave us aloe vera instead of almond flakes. We told the staff and got the additional almond flakes (they cant possibly removed the aloe vera. so we got a free toppin!). Ice-cream is such good food. We had cookies n creme, brandied cherry (the cherry tasted as if it had been soaked in the wine for some time. i like...), green tea, mango and chocolate. Wat a good way to end the day with ice-cream.

Shopping queen

2006-06-11T22:51:00.000+08:00

3 June. Spent the entire day shopping with my frens. It's the great singapore sale. Been spending lotsa money lately. But was pretty disappointed as there was nothing much on sale. Only bought a pair of shorts in the end. To think that walked the whole day from 2 plus till 10 plus. We started out at taka, then proceeded to cineleisure, espirit, john little, OG, metro paragon, tangs, scotts isetan and finally wisma. Wisma was the last stop since it was having a midnite sale. However, not all the shops were open. Our favourite isetan was already closed for the day. Looks like i have to wait for the post sale sale.

PC Show

2006-06-04T23:36:00.000+08:00

2 June. Yippee. Finally managed to get pple to go to the PC show with me. Sent out an email yesterday to the interns and none of them was interested. Then, tried asking again today and Y agreed to go with me. She wanted to buy a thumbdrive. I had a shopping list too. Modem cum router, sd card, look at pda. No $$ to buy a pda yet. Dunno wat to do with it even if i have one. Just wanted to complete my collection of IT gadgets. I own a digital cam, mp3, dvd recorder, notebook.....

Along the way, I met A in the lift. She asked if i was goin to the PC show. I nodded and invited her. Eventually she came with us as well. She was interested in getting a sony mp3 player. G joined us even though she was not buying anything. Her mum did not cook that day and she tagged along for dinner.

The PC show was crowded, as usual. Packed with budget hunters. I din bother to do a price comparison and bought the sd card at the first store i saw. Cos did not have time and the energy to check out the prices at all the stores. After which, i refused to look at sd cards at other stores. Din want myself to feel bad and cheated. Happy to find the stuff i need.

There was a lot of activity around us. The show girls promoting certain brands of goods. The promoters trying to catch your attention. Flyer distributors who stuffed the flyers into your hands. Walkable adverts-the guys who carried a huge sign on their backs advertising the current promos to entice customers over. Good marketing in action.

With our purchases, we went over to Hans for dinner. Had linguine alfredo. Not very yummy. The dessert had been changed from cake to fruit. Disappointed cos i liked their pastries, especially the peach tart. Initially, I was tempted to eat the peach tart but was too full. Always felt that Hans was value for money. Whole set with soup, coffee n dessert.

The highlight of the night was the chill-out session at cafe cartel with Y. We chatted a lot and shared some secrets. For people to get closer in a friendship, I advocate sharing some secrets. We have been doing that pretty often recently. One of the closer friends i make on the internship. Any secrets you wanna share? My ears are nearby.........

Roselle

2006-06-01T22:58:00.000+08:00

29 May. Do not read on if you intend to eat..... Roselle. Sounds like a harmless name. Anyone knows wat it is? Make a guess first before u continue reading.

I walked past a medical hall after lunch. Opened the fridge and looked at the herbal drinks available. Roselle caught my eye. Initially, I thought it was a rose herbal tea. At most, will taste like bandung. Paid the auntie at the shop and took a sip of the drink. Hmmm tasted like ribena. Not too bad. But did not expect it to be sweet since it is herbal. Herbal stuff taste bitter most of the time.

As i was curious about roselle, I went to google it. This was wat i found:
The botanical name of this plant is Hibiscus Sabdariffa. Its common name is Roselle.The constituents of the flowers contain gossypetin, anthocyanin, and glucoside hibiscin, which may have diuretic and choleretic effects, decreasing the viscosity of the blood, reducing blood pressure and stimulating intestinal peristalsis. Roselle is a folk remedy for abscesses, bilious conditions, cancer, cough, debility, dyspepsia, dysuria, fever, hangover, heart ailments, hypertension, neurosis, scurvy, and strangury.

After drinking the whole 500 mL in the bottle, I had diarrhea. It was a very bad diarrhea. The kind where your stomach churns like siao and when you visit the toilet, it is so explosive that it makes a lot of noise. This is embarrassing, especially if there is somebody else in the next cubicle. The exact scenario that i dreaded happened. I tried to control the explosions but to no avail. Was hoping that the person in the next cubicle did not know who the cause of the explosions was. Did not meet the person face-to-face in the toilet at all. My diarrhea cleared after she had stepped out of the loo.

This diarrhea continued even after i had reached home. Roselle is really a good purgative, making me diarrhea so many times. For those constipated, go try.

Korean food

2006-05-27T23:03:00.000+08:00

22 May. Intially we had planned to try the hot pot at lucky plaza. After checking out the place, we decided otherwise. Cos it was expensive and not many customers were in the restaurant. Some other time perhaps. Maybe during lunch when it is not that expensive. This hot pot place is recommended by the newspaper, so it should not be too bad.

Before leaving lucky plaza, we walked around. A few shops were selling minature perfumes and sample size branded skincare/cosmetics. A wider selection compared to sasa and much cheaper too. Those interested, can go check it out. i love buying minature perfumes for the nice bottles.

Without making any purchase, we walked over to far east plaza. I suggested trying out the japanese restaurant that jam recommended. Alas, it was all packed. it was a small restaurant with less than twenty seats. In the end, we had dinner at a korean restaurant that mich recommended. The food was good. But the manager a bit too friendly. Flirted with the female customers at different tables. Overall, good job, mich! Liked the food and it was filling.

One Rochester

2006-05-27T22:20:00.000+08:00

19 May. Yay. Finally joined the in-crowd in putting an appearance at Rochester Park. For those who have not been going out/reading the newspaper, Rochester Park is the new place to hang out at. It is located near Buona Vista Mrt. There are mainly bars and restaurants, converted from bungalows.

We went to a chill-out bar, One Rochester. The place was packed. All the alfresco areas were already occupied. Therefore, we ended up indoors. Not too bad since there was music playing in the background. It was a relaxing atmosphere. I have always wanted to go to a pub and chill out with frens. It was something I talked about with frens way back in school. Like it will be cool to meet up after work for drinks. Finally, got a wish fulfilled.

The food is quite pricey. By the end of the night, i have spent close to thirty dollars. Drank black russian (vodka+kahlua) and beer (american brand). The beer was recommended by a visiting lecturer who was in Biopolis during the day. He said it was his favourite beer. Found it very smooth but lack the punch.

Before long, we were spilling out the beans about our personal life. Look wat alcohol and a good ambience can do to you. But it brought me closer to my colleagues. This bunch of gals has become much better frens from hanging out toget more often.

Cycling

2006-05-24T23:22:00.000+08:00

14 May. Miss Couch Potato got her bum off and went cycling with Clarice and Celeste at ECP. So woke up bright and early on a Sunday morning. Quite a feat. Since three of us lived in the west, we decided to coordinate the boarding times of train. First, Clarice boarded the train at Boon Lay. Then, she sms-ed me. However, Celeste was late and Clarice had to get off the train. Both of us waited for Celeste to join us at the platform before three of us could head for our destination.

Took about one and a half hour to reach ECP. After we rented the bikes, we set off on the straight cycling path. I thought that the jetty was the farthest one could go. But I found out we could make it even farther. Pretty fun trip: admiring the seaview and enjoying the sea breeze. ECP has become a happening place. Seasports, sexy babes and hunks on blades and camping families.

Finally, did some exercise. Felt fit for a change. Wanna go cycling again. Too bad menu and jam missed the cycling. They could not roll out of beds in time. By the time they arrived, the sea looked threateningly dark. But it din rain in the end. The calories i shed was put on again with the macs i ate. :(

Being a westerner, I made good use of the time in the east. Metro expo sale. Spent money and got good deals. Love warehouse sale!

JB

2006-05-20T23:17:00.000+08:00

12 May. Vesak day. Everyone was rushin to get into JB. I was one of them. Went with my bro and we were stuck at the malaysian customs for one and a half hour. It was quite a sight. Everyone was plastered to the person in front of them for fear of queue cutters. It was a tight squeeze and we were all sweaty. The fans/air-con were not powerful enough. Before long, people started fainting. So drama. Then, someone shouted "faster lah!". Not very courteous of singaporeans to do this in others' country.

After clearing the customs, we headed for the cinema. Bought tickets for MI:3. Maggie Q has great legs and looked so hot in the red dress and fancy sports car. Interesting gadgets in the show. Pretty entertaining show. Tom cruise still can make it. (though one of my fren said only with clothes off. Haha)

Din have much time to shop since we spent so much time at the customs. Bought some pastries and off we went to catch the bus. This was where the drama happened again. We did not clear customs before boarding the bus. I saw the bus at the bus stop and just hopped onto it with my bro. To our horror, the bus was on the causeway bridge! Oh no. At the singapore customs, we asked an immigration officer for help. He told us to clear singapore customs, take a bus back, clear msian customs and come back to singapore again. It was a fast trip since there was no jam. Goodness, we could have become overstayers in msia!

KL trip part three

2006-05-20T22:09:00.000+08:00

30 April. Since i din go clubbin the night before, I wanted to wake up early and not waste the last day in KL. At 9 plus., i was all ready to go to Chinatown. While waiting for the rest, I took some fotos of the house.

The Garden The other side of the house The koi pond with all the fat koi. The dining area.
Those of us who did not go clubbing plus a guy (who managed to sober up in time cos he drank lotsa water to clear his system of the alcohol) left for breakfast in Chinatown. We decided to take the train. After taking a look at the map, the most direct route was through the stadium. So, we walked into the stadium and were greeted with much festivity. There was a children's sports meet goin on.

We paraded in front of the spectators while walking on the track. Then a policeman stopped us. He said we could not cut through the stadium. We apologised and walked up to the spectators' area. But we were persistent in finding a short cut. After some aimless walkin, we still could not find an exit. We were trapped in the stadium! Eventually,we managed to get out of the stadium.

Chinatown has a pasar malam selling mainly fake goods and road side food. Along the way, we bought food and nibbled. I tried the sweet potato balls which were not so sweet and cripsy on the outside. I also pinched a bit of the sesame muah chee my fren bought. Very yummy. Flavoured muah chee unlike the plain ones in Singapore. Soon, we reached our destination-a chinese tze char place. Food was reasonably priced and delicious.

With our tummies satisfied, we shopped around the area. It was disappointing cos most of the goods were counterfeit stuff. Before long, we proceeded to the art centre. This place sells mainly handicrafts. I bought a pair of small wooden cats after bargaining with the shopowner. Auntie bargain power! Yay. The walking around made us tired and we rested our feet at a foodcourt. Thought the washing hands area looked pretty interesting. The basin is a wok! Din even realise that it was a washing area till i saw some pple washing their hands.

Once we had enough rest, we took a bus over to sungei wang. Cheap shopping. Like far east plaza. I bought shoes and watch. Had to borrow money from my fren cos almost broke liao. Though i wanted to shop more, I could not. Had to catch our train at 10 pm. We had dinner at another jap place (tepanyaki). Quite a number of pple inside. But the food was not good. My conclusion was that japanese food in KL was not suited to our palate.

For the return trip, we took the overnight train. Quite cosy and i managed to sleep. It only cost played bluff. And i won by telling the truth most of the time! It pays to be honest. Hehe. On the whole, it was a fun trip and i got to know the rest better. Wanna go travel again. Who wanna join me?

KL trip part two

2006-05-17T22:34:00.000+08:00

29 April. We started the day off with a good dim sum brunch. Saved $$ since breakfast and lunch combined. We set off for the dim sum place near fajar in two taxis. The taxi i was on arrived at the destination first. So we stood by the roadside and waited. There was a bunch of guys near us who had alighted from a bus. They were hockey players. An Indian guy was shouting out some numbers. I did not pay any attention and chatted with the rest of the gals. Later, the next cab arrived and the guys said that the bunch of hockey players was trying to pick us up! The numbers were their phone numbers and they were singaporeans. The guy kept shouting +65..... There was a cute guy among the hockey players though.

The dim sum was very yummy. Cheap and good. One of the best meals i had on the trip. The shrimps in the dumplings were fresh and crisp. The bean paste sesame ball was the tastiest one i ever had. The outer covering was crispy and the bean paste was not those super sweet kind. The chicken feet were great too. I could go on and on about the food.

After brunch, we walked to the train station (quite a distant and the weather was hot). I had truly become an auntie by using my umbrella. We had finally reached our destination. View from the platform:
The train system is pretty complicated. Changing trains requires one to walk out of the station building to another. Think there are a few train operators. We changed trains and continued our journey to Midvalley Megamall. My train tix. It's similar to the farecard that we used to have in singapore.

Shopping at Megamall is like shopping in Suntec. The prices are about the same. Nevertheless, i must still buy something. So, i bought a pair of shoes from vincci and a t-shirt from factory outlet store. Not much to buy in my opinion. Spent money on food instead. Tried a cafe and the cakes were not very fantastic. The tiramisu was too dry. To think that it looked delicious sitting in the display window. On the contrary, the not-so-yummy-looking apple cheesecake was much better. Looks are deceiving! Money was also spent on a jap dinner at sushi king. Do not be deceived by the word "king" cos the food is nowhere near fit-for-king standard. Yikes.

Initially we planned to go chinatown after dinner. But we were all too tired and decided to head home for a rest before we hit the club. We slacked and watched princess diaries 2. At nine plus, we called for two cabs. The cabs took an hour plus to reach! We should have just walked to the main road and hailed a cab.

Another surprise lay in wait at zouk. The bouncer asked for IC to ascertain that we are above 18. Three of us (including yours truly) did not bring our IC out. Therefore, we were barred from entering. Disappointed, we took the cab back and had a mi goreng party with beer while the rest partied on.