3rd Day of CNY (House Visits)

Went quite a few places for CNY house visit today. In the morning, went Mrs Lim's (my form teacher for secondary 3 & 4) place, at Serangoon. Think the last time I went was during New Year's day on last year. Met SK, SP and YP on the bus on my way there, then EW at the void deck of Mrs Lim's block. This time, her son was not around (phew...). Her son was rather hyperactive and would 'stick' on you once he knows you well enough. Still remember him bringing a few of us around the revolving restaurant on LY's wedding dinner.

It seems that time really flies, 10 years have passed since I've graduated from secondary school. And how Mrs Lim have changed from a fiery young teacher to having 2 kids at home now (though I'm not sure if she is as fiery as before). She's still teaching now at a top school in Bishan, but this time taking lower sec. We spent most of the time reminiscing old times and also catching up with one another, especially with SK, who came back this week for CNY from his overseas posting. Think the few of us didn't really change a lot since our school days. It would be really hard to catch hold of the whole class of forty plus as quite a few are working oversea. But even if everyone is here, the whole class would still be incomplete... ... ...

Anyway we stayed there until after lunch time. Initially wanted to order Pizza Hut delivery, but they wanted us to self collect the food at the outlet (but then what's the point...). In the end though, her husband da bao lunch for us instead. Had to leave for my next destination pretty soon after that.

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Next stop was DT's place. At least SP was travelling in the same direction as me, so the journey was not so bored... She's still taking Korean lesson at NUS, and will be going for another exchange programme soon. Makes me wonder if I should pick up the language again. But based on my current schedule, it would be quite difficult...

Arrived at DT's place soon after that, but he's not home!!! It seems that he went to fetch XY and YM at the MRT station then went to the petrol kiosk to pump up the fuel tank. Waited for a while before they came back. It was the first time I came. He brought us around his home and found that his place was actually quite big and it was on the top floor if I remembered correctly. We started watching the DVDs which he bought in Brunei while waiting for the rest to come.

Soon AJ arrived followed by S. Then we started playing Blackjack. Was rather unlucky with my hands, getting 15 points for quite a few times. And continued my losing streak from the previous day. Luckily at the very last round, YM offered to place a big bet to let me recouped my losses, in which I did. In the end, incurred a net loss of about $4+.

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Final stop of the day was SK's place. Had wanted to go Lou Hei with the rest of the guys (and gals) in town. But then SK suggested going his place instead (I'm more happy also as its nearer DT's place and not so rush for me). Arrived at SK at around 730pm, and they already started 开台 liao. Only CK, HW, D & XH was here while J came a while after me. Think he took the same train as me and saw me walking in front of him and sms-ed me. But I was walking too fast that he couldn't catch up... :p.

Dinner started at around 8+. SK's mom prepared quite a lot of food for us, juz like last year. But this time also got the 鱼生 for Lou Hei, and salmon sashimi some more leh... More MJ after dinner but its only a friendly friendly game, with a minimum of three 番 to win, as it was quite late already. DL then came at around 9 or so. But playing in a friendly game, luck seems to have come back to me as I've managed to draw the tiles that I want most of the time. As the next day is a working day for everyone (barring the students D and XH), we had to end the session quite early.

2nd Day of CNY (MJ Session)

Woke up pretty early today, considering that I had a late night out. Had some house visit from my cousin and 姑姑 in the morning. Then went mahjong session @ StupidGenius' place in the afternoon. Quite surprisingly the bus journey to SG only took 35 minutes. So I arrived quite early at Holland V. Then kena arrowed to 打包 lunch for S and SG.

Played a total of 3 rounds, at a rate of 3/6 half, in around 6+ hours. Lost pretty badly in the first round but managed to recouped a bit in the next 2 rounds. XY was really 旺 today and won in all 3 rounds. And as usual, the overall winner had to foot the bill for dinner, which was Mac Delivery in this case. In the end though, accumulated a net loss of $18 (but still did not lose as bad as SG).

1st Day of CNY

New year, new clothes and a new hairstyle (err... juz a haircut la...). This year's schedule is as usual. Breakfast at home then went Grandma's place. We arrived first before 三叔's family. Stayed for a while before heading to 大舅's place. A lot of people was already there when we reached. Then there were some who I was not so familiar. Being quiet as I am, I just sat down there the whole time, as there were no one around my age to interact with. Then tagged along with Brother who was going back as well, while Parents stayed for MJ session.

Then felt quite bored while at home, so decided to ask people out later in the night. In the end went KTV at Oriental Partyworld at 11pm with AJ, S, XY and StupidGenius. Had wanted to go to the $10 Family Club KTV, but there were no room available liao. So meet up with S and XY at Outram MRT at 10pm, then went Mac at Lucky Chinatown for a drink while waiting for the rest to come. When everyone was here, we proceed down to the KTV. Then found out that today can't use the VIP card (==> no 10% discount... ...). The person never told me when I called and asked for the overall charges. Today's theme for K was retro night, SG and I dedicated quite a lot of oldies (80s to 90s song actually), specifically a lot of Emil Chou's song.

Went for supper after KTV session. Walked all the way down to a prata shop @ Boat Quay area. SG ordered quite a lot of food but couldn't finished as they had served more than what we had ordered (and of course, it was not free). By the time we finished were done, it was almost 4am already. Me, S and SG walked to the bus stop to take a bus home, while AJ and XY took cab. At least today I got an SBS Transit Nite Owl bus to take. The journey took about 30 minutes, with an additional <> 20 minutes from the bus stop in order to reach home. Apparently, the NR did not come and S and SG had to take a cab home in the end. While XY also had a hard time hailing a cab, and I managed to reach home even before her!

Happy Chinese New Year

Wishing All a very Happy Chinese New Year. May All your dreams come true! :D

Photos At a Glance

Our lunch venue for wednesday. (25 Jan)

Quite a unique menu IMO, which looks like a pugilistic kung-fu manual seen on TV. At the same chicken rice restaurant where we had lunch on sunday. (26 Jan)

Went to The Empire Hotel and Country Club on our final day of stay in Brunei. (26 Jan)

The interior of The Empire Hotel. (26 Jan)

Some panorama shots of The Empire Hotel. (26 Jan)

Dinner @ a Japanese restaurant on our final night, our PM's treat... :D. (26 Jan)

Prata shop nearby the hotel, went for breakfast and missed our flight... :P. (27 Jan)

Bandar Seri Begawan Airport. (27 Jan)

Stranded in Brunei (almost...)

Sighz... Thought D was quite late when he went to the airport... 唉... 想不到... As it is, I'm still in Brunei at noon... Just missed the flight in the morning as we went to the airport too late. We (DT, PK, XY and me) were still checking out from our hotel at 915am, but the process took a fair bit of time. By the time all of us was done, it was about 10am already. And a normally 10-minute journey to the airport took slightly longer due to a little traffic jam... And so by the time we reached, it was less than half an hour before our flight at 1040 and we could not board the plane anymore.

After some communication back to the people in office, informing them about our predicament, we almost got the ticket for a 1220 flight. But at the last minute, we were told that our flights would be changed to the 735pm one... But here's the catch, only 3 of us got the confirmed tickets, with 1 on the waiting list. And the one on the waiting list is ME (duh!!!)... But at least got a confirmed ticket for the morning flight the next day... DT said I can come with them to the airport later to see if I could get a tix...

So went back to the hotel, and stayed at the lobby... Went for lunch at a nearby restaurant... Played a few games of DOTA while waiting for time to pass... This time went to the airport very early after the lesson learnt in the morning. Tried to smoke through the check in counter, but of course, the system wouldn't let me do so. Nonetheless, at least the person at the counter told me I have a higher priority on the waiting list, so not too bad I suppose. Took a short break at a fast food outlet in the airport as there was still time.

Went back to the counter, half an hour before the flight scheduled time, when the check in would close. I was told that there were 3 seats and 4 on waiting list. But I was not so unlucky not to get the ticket. So finally got my tix at 7pm, and what a relief that was... So much for the change in my flight timing, in the end still come back at the same time. But at least i don't need to spend a lonely night here in Bandar Seri Begawan...

Draw a Pig Personality Test

Think about 80% accurate.

Click here to take the test

Oh! What a Rush

Monday at least got a chance to go out and see the sun (not that I can't see it in my room). Went to DC after lunch to have a familarization session to the system setup for my project.After that, PK and D stayed to test on D's portion. So I drove the rest of them to DRC for more familarization. From outside the building, DRC doesn't look like the place it is. Whichever way you look at it, you would not know its a DRC until you went inside of the building. Actually the system setup in both places are pretty similar. After a brief stay there, we all went back to the hotel.

Back for more work at the hotel. Time really flies when you are working (did I mention that before?). At about 6, I pinged XY to ask what time we going dinner cos it seems that PK and D were still at DC. Then at 7pm, they were still not back yet and the car key was with me! This would mean that we would need to go fetch them first before going dinner. And what's more, D's gotta catch his flight at 9pm.

By the time we reached DC, it was almost 730pm already. And it seems that PK and D did not receive our message and were still inside DC. After fetching them, we went back to our usual dinner venue, as we had already ordered food through phone. But D did not had time to have his dinner, so PK and SS send him to the airport while the rest of us were dropped off at the restaurant. By the time they were done, it was already 8pm (phew...). In the end, it seems, there was still plenty of time left and D could have had his dinner before leaving

A (not so) Lazy Sunday

Just woke up and receive a call from PK to go breakfast at 9am. Went to another prata shop nearby. Order 2 pieces of prata this time, and it was very filling. Work a bit after breakfast but time seems to fly very fast while working. Soon it was lunch liao.

This time we split into 2 groups to have lunch, else DT would have to lunch alone as his wife had went back to Singapore. So D, DT, XY and me went to a nearby restaurant for lunch, while the rest went back the same vegetarian restaurant. The restaurant's decor was very oriental. We ordered half a chicken plus 2 side dishes and chicken rice. Food was not too bad, and finally able to have some meat after days of vegetarian food.

Rest a bit after lunch and back to more work. After further discussion with DT and XY, found that I would need to implement more stuff. DT suggest to go jogging in the evening. But did not go as I have not brought my track shoe here. Waited for DT to come back before going for dinner. And you may have guessed it, we went back to the same restaurant again... This time though, the boss gave us some curry puffs, which were unsold for the day. This would be my breakfast for the next day. Accompanied BK to an optic shop to fix her specs after dinner.

Went back hotel watch TV after that. Spiderman 2 and I Robot was showing at the same time on different channels. Later on watch the epic clash between Man U and Liverpool. So a sunday has gone by in a pretty uneventful manner.

Updates From Bandar Seri Begawan

3rd4th day here liao. Everyday working in hotel and only went out for regular meals. Quite a few tasks on hand actually. Progressing slowly by the day. Finally know what I have forgotten to bring here, my Vaporub. So went to the mall to buy one on thursday after dinner. Also got a bottle of 枇杷膏 for my cough. Managed to play a game of DOTA with PK and XY on Thursday night. XY and me vs PK. PK uses sand king and XY, skeleton king. I randomed Necrolyte. All went center lane as it was 2 vs 1. PK was killing us all the time cos he was faster in levelling up. Although we managed to down his 2 mid towers first. Then we were all disconnected, due to the poor network connection here at the hotel.

Yesterday had breakfast with DT, his wife and XY at a nearby prata shop. The prata taste not much different from those in Singapore. Then back to hotel for more work. Lunch as usual at the same vegetarian restaurant, where I had all my meals before today's breakfast. SS bought a cake for everyone after lunch. Then there was staff meeting back in office at 330pm, so we all squeezed into XY's room for the meeting, where we skyped back to Singapore. A lot of changes in policy, but not many good news IMO. But its one of the rare times that the whole team here is together. Although during the meeting, everyone was still working as well.

After the meeting, DT and SS still gotta go for a meeting at somewhere else. So we all waited for them to come back for dinner at XY's room. PK kept entertaining everyone with what he said. Finally, SS came back from meeting at about 8+. And so we went back to the same restaurant for dinner. We went back to the place so many time that when we requested for a discount, the boss promptly gave us one (a 10% discount). And the boss thought we not coming for dinner today as we were so late. After dinner, went for coffee at a cafe nearer the hotel.

At least I've stock up some food this time, in case I felt hungry at night again. More updates in a couple of days bah (though I think nothing interesting to write here...)

SOHO @ Brunei

Was confined to my hotel room all day today, only going out for lunch and dinner. And had both meals at the same restaurant... Think my progress today quite slow, hope can get into gear tomorrow. But then tomorrow is a non-working day here, so... ... ...

Hope can explore more of the area before I left...

At the Airport

Currenty at Changi Airport Terminal 2, waiting for boarding for my first ever oversea business trip... Feels so strange travelling alone... More updates when I arrived.

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Reached Airport at around 12pm, checked in and requested for the window seat when they wanted to give me the isle seat. Then had lunch at the Staff Canteen @ Terminal 2. Luckily came Airport two weeks ago, and so now still remember where it's located. Went to the boarding gate at the last call... after waiting for quite some time to use the free internet access... Thought I was still early... :P

Then on the plane, they issue more food... Seems like long time never take full fledge airlines liao, so forgot they serve food... The plane was right on time and I reached Brunei at about 330pm... Then I forgot to fill in the immigration card until the last minute...

Someone Lost It's Way

Found it sitting right at my doorstep when I came home last night... Oh no, better not let StupidGenius see it... :P

At the Mind Cafe

Went to The Mind Cafe, another boardgaming place, @ Prinsep Street with S and StupidGenius (the fourth board gaming cafe that I've went in 8 days). Had wanted to come here on XY's birthday but was full house then. Initially, SG wanted to go OASIS at Liang Seah Street, but when we went there, we couldn't find the place. Later SG found out from his friend that OASIS was already closed down.

Arrived at the cafe after dinner at about 9pm. Tuesday was ladies night, so gaming is free for ladies. So we went for a twin package, which includes 2 drinks, 1 snack and 1 tidbit, and 2 hours of gaming. And I think it was rather reasonably priced. The place was rather cosy, and I could jolly well slouch on the sofa. The people here does not seems very enthused in interacting with the customers though...

The first game that we played was Rumis. This game is like a 3-D version of Blokus, where we played at Pitstop Cafe. It's some kind of block building game but need quite a bit of thinking to work out the strategies. At the end of the game, the winner is detemined by the most number of tiles visible when looking from the top. SG won this round.

Next we went on to play a game called Jungle Speed, a fast card game which tests our reflexes. The objective is to get rid of all the cards in our hand. In order to do so, the person would need to grab the totem when 2 cards of similar shapes appear. Apparently some of the shapes on the card are very similar and there is a penalty for grabbing the totem at the wrong time.

Finally, our last game of the day is Sorry, known as the game of "sweet revenge". This is something similar to the 飞机棋 that we all have played when we were young. The goal is to get all the pawns to the Home. But instead of rolling dice, we had to played out a card to determine how the pawns move (rather unique that a board game with no dice). We played 2 games and I won both... hehe...

Picture Courtesy of Stupid Genius

(You may wish to check out Stupid Genius' blog entry on the same event.)

Exhausted Sunday

Sunday went skating in the afternoon as the weather was finally sunny after raining for the past week. As I alighted from my bus at Marine Parade Road, it started drizzling, and I thought "oh s*&%". This time, I arrived slightly earlier and sure enough, no one was here yet. Then S and YM came at around 3pm. So we called the rest of the people (i.e. Irene and hubby, FL, =.= and PS) to check on their location and ETA. Then the people started coming in one by one and we finally get started at around 345pm.

PS brought a fren, YT, along and both of them are first time skaters. I followed YT along the way and it seems that he's doing quite well for a first timer, even managed to go all the way down to the Fort Road end without much help. And he only fell a couple of times for the whole session, which I think is pretty good liao... Went to ECP Mac for rest and drink before going for dinner at Parkway Parade Hawker Centre. At dinner, met Sri (from badminton session), who also went skating at ECP.

After dinner went Board Gaming (yet again... the 3rd time in this week!) at a place called Boardgame Paradice (BP). Apparently this is a newly opened outlet (only one week old according to the boss). Only 4 of us stayed to play though, =.=, S, YM and me. We played a game called Ingenious, some block placing game. The game lasted about an hour and =.= won... Then we also played the Settlers of Catan (the same game which I played on wednesday)... And coincidentally, the game also lasted about an hour and =.= won!

Overall I think the gaming package here was slightly more expensive than Pitstop Cafe or Settlers. And they could improve a bit more on the decor, but since they are new, I don't fault them too much for that. By the time we are done, its about 1030pm liao, so went to the bus stop to wait for the buses to go home. I could take 2 service numbers home at the bus stop. The 1st one that arrived goes a longer route. Luckily I did not board, as the 2nd one arrive within minutes. Took a 35-minute bus ride home.

Picture Courtesy of Stupid Genius

(You may wish to check out Stupid Genius' blog entry on the same event.)

Rate My Life Quiz

Quiz seen on Stupid Genius blog:

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	6.6
Mind:	7.3
Body:	9
Spirit:	5
Friends/Family:	3.7
Love:	1.4
Finance:	7.4
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Life: Your life rating is a score of the sum total of your life, and accounts for how satisfied, successful, balanced, capable, valuable, and happy you are. The quiz attempts to put a number on the summation of all of these things, based on your answers. Your life score leaves room for improvement. You can make changes to improve your trouble areas, and this will bring you greater satisfaction. Focus on your weakest points and set about to change them. Do not delay your happiness and success.

(Not too bad a life I suppose...)

Mind: Your mind rating is a score of your mind's clarity, ability, and health. Higher scores indicate an advancement in knowledge, clear and capable thinking, high mental health, and pure thought free of interference. Your mind score is within a healthy zone. This means you have achieved a level of mental balance and harmony consistent with living a healthy, happy life. Continue doing what works, and keep your focus. In our fast-paced world, mental clutter is all too common. Be vigilant in maintaining healthy mental function.

(At least I have a sound mind...)

Body: Your body rating measures your body's health, fitness, and general wellness. A healthy body contributes to a happy life, however many of us are lacking in this area. You have an excellent body score, which means you are incredibly focused on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Continue in that focus, and your body will remain healthy and strong.

(Wah... since when did I maintain such a healthy lifestyle...)

Spirit: Your spirit rating seeks to capture in a number that elusive quality which is found in your faith, your attitude, and your philosophy on life. A higher score indicates a greater sense of inner peace and balance. Your spirit score leaves room for improvement. Consider making a concerted effort to redefine your attitudes and focus your beliefs. Boosting your spirit will lead to greater life satisfaction.

(True to a certain extent...)

Friends/Family: Your friends and family rating measures your relationships with those around you, and is based on how large, healthy, and dependable your social network is. Your friends and family score suffers, yet it does not need to be this way. Strengthen your social network by reaffirming old bonds. Seek out new friendships, and they will provide you the reward you need.

(Sad... I need more friends...)

Love: Your love rating is a measure of your current romantic situation. Sharing your heart with another person is one of life's most glorious, terrifying, rewarding experiences. Your love score is very low, indicating trouble. There is love out there for you. Seek the advice of wise people on how to go about finding it. Do not lose hope.

(Nothing new here... still finding...)

Finance: Your finance rating is a score that rates your current financial health and stability. You have a rather good financial score, which is not all that common these days. Keep doing what works. Avoid common pitfalls and save for the future. You will be glad you did.

(How can my finance be so high in my current situation?!)

Mahjong Session

Had a mahjong session on Saturday. It was scheduled at 1pm at JX's place. But left home quite late actually, and needed to change 3 buses before arriving. On the way, AJ called to say she was on her way, so I thought I'll be the last one to arrive. I reached at about 130pm but only HJB has come. And so we waited... ... 230pm liao but AJ still not here, so we took turns to call / message her but got no replies. Meanwhile, the 3 of us started playing a warm-up round.

Finally, AJ did arrive at around 3pm. As it turned out, she hol-lan-ed and made a wrong turn at the Expressway and went straight up to Changi! As she was driving, she did not pick up our phone calls. But she did bought some potato chips for her late arrival. And so we started playing, at a small rate of 1-2. One round and 3.5 hours later, we decided to call it a day. My total winnings was $4.90, which is about enough to cover for my dinner.

JX and HJB wanted to go skating later, but as I did not brought my stuff, so did not join them. AJ then gave me a lift to Yio Chu Kang MRT on her way back home.

Another Late Night Out

Have been going out pretty often these days, and stayed out very late as well for that matter... And yet again, it was another late night out yesterday... Was initially trying to organise a night cycling event, but due to the poor weather condition in the past few days, the response was overwhelmingly poor. So decided to switch to an indoor activity instead, and of course it was none other than my fav activity, KTV. As StupidGenius got something on until quite late, so decided to push back the timing by a little. But as it turned out, he settles his stuff pretty early and met up with S at the office. However, it was me who came back from client's side a little late, what's more being stuck in a traffic jam on the way back.

So we walked to Esplanade for dinner, as S wanted to eat BBQ stingray. But before we reached, we were distracted by the cookies sold at The V Tea Room. Tried one round of tasting for almost all the cookies there, and in the end, S bought 2 tins of cookie. Finally arrived at the Makansutra at the Esplanade, which looks very much like the food street at Smith Street. And as usual (with all this people), ordered a lot of food. We ordered Fried Prawn Noodle, Fried Oyster, Sambal Kang Kong, BBQ stingray and BBQ sotong. The BBQ stingray tastes quite nice, but the rest of the food were so-so. And all the food were so unhealthy (it's time to do some exercise...).

Went KTV after dinner. SG called up Partyworld to check out the price while I got the number for the Ten Dollar Club Family KTV from TC and called them up. Surprisngly, they still have room and it's very much cheaper compared to Partyworld. So we decided to go there instead. At the K, YM dedicated Jay Chow's 七里香 and at the same time, he showed me a funny (and also R(A) rated) version of the song on his laptop. So in all good fun, I sang along with the edited version (in sync with the MV on screen)...

After KTV was already 1am, and we still dun intend to go home yet. So we walked down to Boat Quay to check out if Pitstop Cafe is still opened. The cafe was already closed by the time we reached. In the end, the 3 of us bought some drinks from 7-Eleven and went down to sit by the riverside. SG, probably still feeling hungry, also bought supper from a nearby 24-hour coffeeshop... We played some finger guessing games, in which the loser will have to drink up... By the time we were done, it was already 4am liao... So finally we decided it was time to head back home. I took a cab home while S and SG took the NR.

Trying Out New Food

Went out for dinner on Thursday night with S. Finally decided to go Bugis Junction after a long deliberation. Reached there at about 720pm, and we walk walk see see for a while. S wanted to try Jap food, so in the end we went to a Japanese-Western restaurant @ a little corner on the 2nd storey of the building. The restaurant is called Ma Maison. There were still 3 groups of people in front of us in the waiting list, so we sat at the entrance (there are seats), browsing through all the Japanese magazine / comic while waiting for out turn. As I had a light lunch earlier in the day, so was feeling very hungry while waiting. Finally it was our turn after about a 20-minute wait.

The decor inside the restaurant is pretty unique and I very much like the ambience here. They played some soothing jazz music, and along with the dim lightings, which makes one feels very comfortable dining in here. According to S, this is a typical style for a Jap-Western restaurant.

Also noticed that there is a different design of lamp on every table. This is the lamp on our table.

Then we placed orders for our food, an appetizer of baked potato with cheese (forgot the exact name of the dish liao), main course of squid ink spaghetti and garlic chicken. I think all the food here taste brilliant (maybe bcos i'm hungry?!) and I wouldn't mind coming back here for dinner again. But just that there's not much ingredient in the spaghetti (with only a bit of mushroom thats all).

And there is this key that we would bring to the cashier counter while settling our bills. The key shows the table number for which the cashier would be able to pick up our orders. And overall, I think the price of the food at this restaurant is also rather reasonable.

After dinner, we walked for a while more at Bugis Junction, and in the process bought some more snacks, as I was still feeling a little hungry. By the end of it, both of us went home feeling a little heavier... :P

Gaming @ Settlers

Went for another board gaming session later in the day. But at least this time did not go Pitstop Cafe, we went Settlers at North Canal Road instead... Left office at around 7pm after meeting up with SM. AJ and JX were already waiting at the Clarke Quay MRT, so along with ET, the 3 of us took a bus down to meet them. HJB arrived soon after we met up with the ladies.

At the cafe, each of us ordered a set dinner. A free gaming of 2 hours comes with the purchase of 4 set meals. And the meal includes the soup of the day, main course, soft drink and ice cream. I ordered a chicken chop which tasted pretty normal... The game we chose to play is called The Settlers of Catan. The game is very much similar to Travian, an online game which I'm currently playing, or Civilization. The main objective is to obtain 10 points, either through building Settlement / City or obtaining certain development cards. Each settlement would generate a certain amount of resources, which in turn would let you build roads or more settlements. The game lasted for 2 hour + and in the end, ET won.

Farewell Obiwan

Yet another person leaving the company today, and this time, it's none other than my neighbour, Obiwan... Temp arranged for a farewell lunch for him yesterday, in which 14 people attended: 13, BrudderLuv, CK, DM, DRQ, Irene, KL, Kian, Mao, Newbie, Obiwan, Temp, UT and me. We went to Kuishin Bo at Suntec City. Temp booked a table for all of us at 1215pm, but then, as usual, by the time everyone was ready to go, it was already time liao. In the end reached at about 1230pm.

As usual, need to chop chop finish the meal within an hour in order to get that little bit of discount... Despite the time constraint, I still had a really full course of meal there, taking at least 3 full plates of food. Had to walk back from Suntec after that as I felt very full...

Of Work And Line Bunk Gathering

Morning got UAT, but went on quite smoothly. Then CH dropped a bombshell just after lunch by telling me that I might be joining the team in Brunei! And I could be joining them as soon as this week! Though most likely is next week... still dunno, everything not clear as yet... I dun mind going actually, just that a bit sudden... Now I guess I should start packing... hmm...

Back to the day, today is last day for DRQ (yes, another person leaving...). They were going drinking somewhere but I can't join as I've already got another appointment liao... Was meeting with my Army friends for our annual K session (yes, its annual)... The last time we went was before TC went abroad for his studies... Now, he was back from Toronto for vacation. We've arranged for quite a few time already and finally managed to come out this time round...

Meet TC and QW at Maxwell Market for dinner first, then went to the K outlet at Smith Street. It's called Ten Dollar Family Karaoke, or something like that... Think that time YM did suggest we come here for K, but in the end also never come... This time I finally managed to come to this place... We brought some beer up as well... Later, MW and WK also joined the session... The room here was pretty small (may be bcos its a small room), as well as the TV... Songs are pretty new but sound system is not that fantastic though... Oh, and the K system was the same as the one in Chevrons where I've operated... and the package comes with a bowl of sharks fins and free flow of drinks as well... all this only cost $10+, can come here next time if wants a change of environment...

We were all so friendly during this session, as we all took turn to sing, unlike other K sessions... TC dedicate his usual arrays of songs from female singer ranging from Stefanie Sun, Jolin Tsai to Cyndi Wong... While MW's fav was apparently Zhang Jing Xuan... Heard some songs from the old school as well, those that we were listening to during our army daze... No points for guessing who's my current favorite if you knows me well (yes... its them... hahah)...

The session was quite short and ended at around 10pm... So we felt we did not sing enough and wanted to go for a second round. And so we went Oriental Plaza there see how's the package was like... It would cost us around $20+ more to sing for another 4 hours, we felt it was too expensive and decided not to go ahead... Then I suggested going to Pitstop Cafe (yet again...) to play board games...

And so we took the train down to Raffles Place and walked to Pitstop... I was there twice in 3 days and 3 times in 2 weeks now... The 5 of us first started playing a game called Cranium. It is a board game in which the objective is to try to be the first to move into the finish line, and collecting all 4 different colour cards. Each coloured cards represents a certain category of puzzle:

1. Star Performer [green] - includes charades (act) or hum out a song.
2. Data Head [red] - consists of general knowledge questions with MCQs.
3. Word worm [yellow] - (can't exactly remember what is this liao...)
4. Creative Cat [blue] - sculpt out or sktech (with closed eyes) the answers.

We split into 2 teams and compete, Me & WK vs MW & TC, while QW was the coordinator... Well, the game was pretty fun but some of the questions we are not familiar and so had to re-draw the cards... It would be good if they have a local edition... In the end though, TC & MW won the game but we all had much fun... Then we moved on to the next game, Taboo. I guess nothing much needs to be said for this game... TC really knows how to describe the words...

Then L finally found his way here and we go on into our final game of the day, Citadel (not sure if I spelt correctly...). Its a card game where the objective is to build eight districts. The values of each player's districts is then totalled, with bonuses given for having eight districts or having districts of each of the five colours. The player with the highest total wins. On every turn, each player take turns to draw a character card, each with its own ability. This game involves some strategies and I would say its pretty fun to play...

Went for supper at a coffeeshop nearby after that, where we had prata. Continue to sit and chat until the wee hours of the night. Then it started raining heavily, and so we waited for the rain to fizzle out before finally calling it a day.