THierry's Diary

New EPL Season

2008-08-21T22:10:00.003+08:00

After 3 months of close season suffering from football withdrawal symptoms (erm... ok, not really lah as there was Euro 2008 and some pre-season friendly tournaments around), the EPL finally gets underway.

A pretty good start for the Gunners, winning 1-0 at home to WBA, with Samir Nasri scoring on his competitive debut (a good way to adore himself to the fans). He is certainly better to watch than a certain Belorussian as he knows where the goal is and is not afraid to take a shot at goal given the chance. So it was only one game, but Samir Nasri has shown some good touches and vision with a number of through balls during the game. Overall though, the team did not play that well to build on that early lead. They certainly need to work more on the finishing and kill off the opposition while they have the chance.

And just this morning, Arsenal announced the signing of Mikaël Silvestre from arch rival Man U. I guess SAF thought the player has passed his prime. Though I would like to think he can give our team more experience and depth. But first he would have to win the fans over, which certainly takes time. Remember in 2001, another defender signed from rival Sp*rs and went on to have a pretty good few years here. If Silvestre can achieve the same level of performance, then I think he would be fine. Hope there would be at least one more signing before the transfer window closes.

So next up, a short trip to West London to Craven Cottage. A same result would be good enough for me... :)

43rd National Day

2008-08-09T11:34:00.002+08:00

Happy Birthday Singapore!!

PS: Anyone going to NDP today?! I won't be there though...

Personality Test

2008-07-30T18:52:00.002+08:00

Summary of Realists

Loyal and steady workers who meet deadlines

Believe in established rules and respect facts

Think of themselves as mature, stable and conscientious

May appear too logical or tough-minded and forget their impact on other people

More about Realists

Realists are loyal to the people around them and work hard to keep their promises. They are honest and straightforward with others and expect the same in return. Realists believe in standard procedures and will only support change when there is a demonstrable benefit.

Realists respect factual information, which they store up to use when making decisions. This group likes to have time to think quietly and carefully before taking action.

sThese extremely productive people like to be occupied in their leisure time with pursuits such as craftwork, hiking or reading.

In situations where they can't use their talents or are unappreciated, Realists may become obsessed with schedules, critical of others or have trouble trusting other people to get the job done properly. Under extreme stress, Realists may complain loudly that events have taken a turn for the worse and predict negative outcomes.

Realists typically only share their opinions or personal experiences with trusted friends

Realist Careers

Realists are attracted to jobs where decision making based on factual knowledge and experience is required.

It's important to remember that no survey can predict personality type with 100 percent accuracy. Experts say that we should use personality type to better understand ourselves and others, but shouldn't feel restricted by our results

Overall results

The graph below shows the percentage of people with each personality type out of everyone who has taken this test

New Jersey for the New Season

2008-07-13T18:47:00.004+08:00

This was launched in UK last week. Didn't expect it to arrive so soon... :D

Serviced or Self-service?

2008-06-29T00:45:00.003+08:00

Chanced upon this at a coffeeshop. Didn't know coffeeshop also got service charge one leh...

Question Of The Day

2008-06-11T22:23:00.002+08:00

Now you just knock off from work and met two of your colleagues, A and B, at the bus stop. The bus came and all 3 of you boarded the bus, with you going up last. The bus was quite empty. B took an empty seat near the front of the bus while A sat at an empty seat near the rear exit. There were more seats at the back of the bus.

So what would you do next?
1. Took a seat beside colleague A
2. Took a seat beside colleague B
3. Took an empty seat at the back of the bus

Euro 2008 is Here

2008-06-07T22:45:00.001+08:00

Euro 2008 is finally here... around 3 weeks into the EPL close season, finally we have some soccer matches to salvage.

For this year's edition, there are only a handful of players from the gunners:

Robin van Persie (NED)
Cesc Fabregas (ESP)
Lukasz Fabianski (POL)
Johan Djourou (SUI)
Philippe Senderos (SUI)
William Gallas (FRA)
Jens Lehmann (GER) *outgoing*
Samir Nasri (FRA) *incoming*

Probably need to sacrifice some sleep over the next 3 weeks to catch all the action. And finally my prediction for the quarter finals:

Portugal, Switzerland
Germany, Croatia
France, Italy
Spain, Russia

Regarding DBS CapitaCard

2008-05-01T23:45:00.002+08:00

Take note if you own a DBS CapitaCard.

Got my bill for last month and noticed that the Capita$ had expired pre-maturely. Called up the customer service then to alert them about this but they didn't get back to me (nor was anything done). So called them up again today after receiving my latest bill.

This is not the first time it has happened and I'm not the only one who encountered such a problem. So something might be wrong with their system... Hopefully they can come back to me this time with some explanation...

Update: All the Capita$ have been reinstated... :)

PS: Long time no post and the first post is a complaint... :P

Blackburn 2 Arsenal 3 (AET)

2007-12-19T08:24:00.000+08:00

The young Gunners have done it again, progressing to their 3rd consecutive league cup semi-final appearance. It looked a cruise in the park after 30 minutes when they went 2-0 up, courtesy of a defensive error. However another 30 minutes later, things changed and Blackburn were leveled with a Santa Cruz double.

At this point, I thought they cannot pull through with Blackburn controlling the game and having chances to take the lead. Song was having a tough time trying to cope with Santa Cruz. And to make matter worse, Denilson got himself sent off needlessly at the end of normal time. With a very young substitute bench (all under 20s), I don't know how Wenger can turn things around if Blackburn had taken the lead...

Luckily they didn't. Against the run of play, Eduardo scored his second of the night with a well taken goal after a through pass from Song... 30 minutes of extra time nearly went to 40 minutes as stoppage was added after an injury to substitute Barazite (the injury looks bad). Still they managed to hold out for a win, despite more pressure from the home side.

Next up, could it be Spurs again?! We shall see...

Long Time No Update

2007-12-08T11:48:00.000+08:00

How time flies, its been almost 4 months since my last entry... A bit lazy to write blog these days... :P... But will try to do some updating periodically...

A New Toy

2007-12-07T23:30:00.000+08:00

Finally got it!! :D

What's In the Name of a Road

2007-08-19T18:00:00.000+08:00

A sea creature on land...:P. So where would this place be leh?

Singapore Fireworks Celebrations @ Marina Bay (18 August)

2007-08-18T23:45:00.000+08:00

Got a pair of free tickets from mm to the event. There was like some 27,000 people in there, where almost all the seats were filled up. The seats were wet due to a heavy rain in the morning.

The display was done like a pyro musical, with the music and fireworks together. The whole display lasted about 15 minutes (although it takes 1.5 hours for me to get there due to the road condition). Nonetheless, a round of applause, companied by loud cheers, reverberated throughout the arena when the firework display concluded.

There were still some stalls (food, games and other stuffs) around which we could explore after the show. As many people were heading for the exits, it would take quite a while before the whole crowd clears.

Donut Factory

2007-08-18T23:00:00.000+08:00

Finally got my hands on the donuts. But only queued for 10+ minutes when it was my turn... :D. Maybe it was because it was early in the morning (at 11am).

PS: The strawberry was smudged over to the other donut before I could take a photo...:P

Blue Dragon

2007-08-12T23:30:00.000+08:00

Finally bought the game after it was out for months (although the English version was only released in recent months). This item was on my wishlist for this year. Time to take out the console again... :P

Happy Birthday Singapore

2007-08-09T11:00:00.000+08:00

It's the nation's 42nd birthday today. And this year, the NDP will be held at the Marina Bay, after the National Stadium was closed earlier. I won't be attending the event though (didn't get the tickets again this year).

Still let us wish for a prosperous year ahead. Happy Birthday Singapore!

"Will you make it happen, will you let your dreams take flight..."

Little Baldric

2007-08-02T23:00:00.000+08:00

Congrats to Uncle Wee & Peiyun for the birth of Little Baldric today.

And credits to a TP, who literally stopped the traffic and escorted them all the way to the hospital for the delivery. This after Uncle Wee was caught speeding along the expressway.

Interesting Signage

2007-07-31T08:00:00.000+08:00

Guess where this is?

Emirates Cup 2007

2007-07-30T23:00:00.000+08:00

Its just a pre-season friendly tournament, but the team's performance gave the fans optimism about the future. Missing the likes of Adebayor, Rosicky, Walcott and new signing Eduardo, the team still managed put in a competent performance. Strangely though each team only played 2 games and the Gunners won both their games 2-1 to finish top with 10 points (each goal scored earns a point as well).

Arsenal 2 PSG 1

First game on Saturday was a tough one. They didn't play very well, but still managed to grind out a result. The young gunners midfield looks promising with Flamini, Diaby, Denilson and Fabregas. Also, Nicklas Bendtner showed good potential since the first time I saw him in a league cup tie 2 or 3 years ago. But he could have been more composed with the one-on-one and penalty kick.

Arsenal 2 Inter 1

This time, the Gunners dominated the game only to fell behind to a David Suazo header, their only shot on target at that point of time. However, they did came back and Van Persie won the game with a well-taken goal, dragging the ball forward with his left and blasting it into the top corner with his right. In this game, we saw another promising youngster by the name of Kieran Gibbs, who was undaunted by the occasion (think will see more of him in the league cup this season). And Sagna and Eboue linked up pretty well on the right flank.

Van Persie's goal

Keep this going in the upcoming season!

Barnet 0 Arsenal 2

2007-07-17T23:30:00.000+08:00

A good start to the pre-season for the Gunners over the weekend as life goes on without Henry. Just look at the second goal.

3rd Anniversary

2007-07-10T23:00:00.000+08:00

It's been 3 years since my 1st post. 365 posts in 3 years, i.e. average 1 post every 3 days, not too bad sia...

Hat Yai Trip 2007: Day 4

2007-07-01T23:55:00.000+08:00

The final day and a final look at the hotel.

And the transport to the airport (with the same chatty driver again).

And the airport once again.

Finally, home sweet home... :)

Hat Yai Trip 2007: Day 3

2007-06-30T23:55:00.000+08:00

The day started with breakfast at the hotel. And once again the food is the same for the second day in a row, which wasn't surprising. We asked from the hotel staff where we can go shopping as we went to most of the places that we've researched on. They gave us a map and told us about a market near the Clock Tower and an Asian Trade Market which opens in the evening.

Judging from the map that the Clock Tower is within walking distance, we made our way down to the place. Passed by Kim Yong Market along the way.

The Clock Tower is just within 10 minutes walk down the road. The goods sold at street market here was not as good as those in BKK, though the variety is there.

The market here looks like those old style markets in Singapore, like old Tiong Bahru or People's Park.

From the map, it seemed like Big C was not so far away, so we decided to go there on foot. Along the way, we passed by the fountain circus.

And the Jiranakorn Stadium.

However, the shopping mall was nowhere in sight after about 30minutes of walking. On a closer look at the map, then I found that there was an indication on the map which marked "long way" (the map was not drawn to scale). Wanted to take taxi but persevered on, and finally arrived at our destination.

The building was just a 2-storey shopping mall, and Big C was just like Carrefour. Went for a 1-hour foot massage session in the mall, which felt very shiok after such a long walk. Nothing much here though.

And so we took a (shared) tuk tuk back to the hotel for a short rest before going to the night market recommended by the hotel staff.

This night market is quite big compared to the others here in Hat Yai. There were quite a few stalls organized into different lanes. It took us slightly more than an hour to complete walking through all the stalls. Though we didn't get anything here.

After this, we went for dinner at a Japanese restaurant called Fuji Restaurant at Lee Gardens Plaza.

Finally went to a pub called The Pubb for a drink. They offered a 1-for-1 Tiger Beers at ฿80. And there was a band performance here as well.

Hat Yai Trip 2007: Day 2

2007-06-29T23:30:00.000+08:00

An early morning view from the hotel room.

Signed up for a half-day tour at a nearby agency, as we didn't have any plans for the day.

First stop, went to look at the 4-faced Buddha up the hill of Hat Yai City Municipal Park. Then the Buddha statue at Brahman Shrine.

Next is the Kuan Im Temple just down the hill

Then we went to look at the reclining Buddha at Wat Hat Yai Nai, passing by the Khlong U Taphao Bridge. This place looks like under maintenance and the guide said people seldom come here anymore

After this, we traveled for about 15 ~ 20 miniutes before reaching Samila Beach.

Here we saw the Mermaid statue

And a rat and cat statue. There is a legend here which says that a dog, a cat, and a mouse, on a Chinese sampan stole the merchant’s magic crystal and tried to swim ashore but drowned and lost their lives. The cat and the mouse became the islands in the Songkhla Lake, which is called into Rat and Cat Island in English.

The tour ended with a visit to a local product shop in Hat Yai City.

After that, it was lunch at a place called Daothiam, just opposite of Odeon Shopping Mall. We ordered some local dish.

After lunch, it was further shopping again. We went to Odeon Shopping Mall and Robinson Department Store.

Then we walked all the way to Diana Department Store which took about 20 minutes...

Took a tuk tuk back to our hotel after the shopping spree. One thing unique about the tuk tuk here is that it was shared with other passengers. And the shared transport costs ฿20 per person. Then had a massage at our hotel before going to Tian Chwu Restaurant to da bao dinner. And that was the end of the day.

Hat Yai Trip 2007: Day 1

2007-06-28T23:55:00.000+08:00

My first trip to Hat Yai. Now that there is budget airline flying there, gone are the days of 10+ hours of bus journey there I suppose.

And there is this spin to win game at the Budget Terminal. But we didn't win anything.

After a 1 hour 20 minutes journey, we arrived at the Hat Yai International Airport.

And waiting to clear the custom.

Took a 10-seater vehicle from the Airport to the hotel at Lee Gardens Plaza. The price is the same for up to 10 people at ฿250, so the more people, the less costly the transfer becomes (although its not very costly lah). The hotel is a 33-storey building and the first 7 floors is a shopping mall.

After checking into the hotel, walked around the vicinity of the hotel. Central shopping mall was just opposite of Lee Gardens Plaza. There is a local street market just down the road as well.

Dinner was at a nearby seafood restaurant.

By the time we finished our dinner, it was pretty late already and there weren't much shops or stalls that was still opened. So we went back to our hotel to rest for the day.

Henry is gone...

2007-06-24T01:32:00.000+08:00

Thierry Henry is joining Barcelona... T_T... Now an exodus of players (and manager) seems on the card... Time to re-build the squad again...

Buzz My Day

2007-06-23T23:30:00.000+08:00

The event was jointly organized by SBS Transit and SPH. There were some hitches before J, PS, S and I finally formed a team to join. The day started with the registration from before 10am, then the briefing at 1030 before finally the flag off at 11am. There were 250 teams participating in the event, coming up to about 1000 people. As there were still time after we registered, we went to Long John Silver for breakfast as PS didn't have his.

The Team

At the briefing, the hosts was Wenhong (from 100.3) and Hubert Tang (from 91.3).

There was 5 different checkpoints but there were different sets of question booklets in which the checkpoints were in different order. Bonus point will be given when teams visit the first checkpoint in their booklet. This is to ensure that all teams can be dispersed when the game starts.

Our order of checkpoints were as follows:

1. Toa Payoh

Our first stop, took the NEL to Potong Pasir then tranfer to bus 142 to TPY Interchange. Spent quite a while before we found the Buzz Kiosk and complete the task.

2. Paya Lebar

Wide swamp when translated to Malay becomes Paya Lebar. The clues took us to the Malay Village and the Singapore Post Center.

Horn-roof Minangkabau structure

Need to solve some riddles here as well. And J still managed to find time to grab a drink from Coffee Bean... :D

3. The Heeren

As we spent too much time at the last check point, we gotta touch and go at this checkpoint. Linzhi and Suzanne Walker were here, whom I almost couldn't identify... :P. However one of the bus drivers won't let us board the bus without paying. Seems like he didn't know about this event. Had to wait quite some time for the next bus to take us to PS.

4. Chinatown

Time was running out by this time (only less than half an hour left). We ran from the MRT station to the Heritage Center to Sri Mariamman Temple and then Smith Street to take pictures. All this within 15 minutes.

5. Vivo City

No time to do anything here as we just managed to get back in time. But PS managed to spot one of the answers to the questions as we ran back to submit our booklet.

After a gruelling (not really lah) 4-hour rush, we were all given a complimentary sandwich and goodie bags. Free floss candy and pop-corns were being given out as well. We took a rest before going back for the announcement of the result.

Our team number was the first to be announced, much to my surprise... hehe... That means we got the 10th prize; not bad considering we didn't prepare for it. Maybe the last answer spotted by PS made the difference... :P

Of course, credits must also be given to all those who have helped us throughout the race, i.e. Hellspawn, Strike and J's friends etc... and Sotong.

Dinner @ The Mussel Guy

2007-06-21T23:30:00.000+08:00

It's The Mussel Guy, not muscle guy... And its a cafe / restaurant at Vivo City where I had dinner with my Uni friends. SK just came back from a 1.5 years overseas working stint and this dinner is sort of like a welcome dinner. Meanwhile it was also another catch up session once again. (Think the last time we met was like SK when was back for a short break last year?). This time, DL, HW, JG, SK and Vic were present.

The food here was ok, although the portion for the main course in the set meal was rather small (although this is acceptable given the price). The baked mussel was not bad though.

I ordered a grilled chicken (served with baked rice) which turned out very much like chicken rice.

Went to the Pacific Coffee Company for a drink after dinner. Initially wanted to go Ben & Jerrys but there were no seats. Sat at the cafe and talked for a while more before we head for home. Hope the next meet up won't be such a long time later again... :P

Birthday Wish List 2007

2007-06-11T23:30:00.000+08:00

Now its that time of the year again :P... So what do I want this year, have a look... wahaha...

~~An 80GB external HDD (bigger capacity are welcomed... :P)~~
~~Blue Dragon~~
Arsenal 2007-2008 Away Jersey (~~but then not out in the market yet...~~Out and available at Queensway for $94)
...

Will add on to the list if I thought of anything else... :D

IPPT

2007-06-09T23:30:00.000+08:00

Went for IPPT at Maju Camp and failed. As usual it was the chin up (just one short) and the 2.4km run that gave me the problem. Need to train if I really want to pass, I still have 2 weeks of time. But knowing myself, I think RT looms... :P

Mother's Day Dinner 2007

2007-05-13T23:30:00.000+08:00

Last year's dinner, I suggested going to a Korean Restaurant. So this year, Brother suggested going to Seletar Hill Restaurant at, of course, Seletar Hill... :P. We went there quite early at around 530pm, and it was quite empty. But by 6+, the place was packed. Ordered a 6 pax set meal.

First comes the cold dish

Then come the main course, got chicken, fish and vegetables. And there was also sour and spicy soup. The chicken was nice (its called 左公鸡).

And finally the desserts.

All in all, not a bad place. But a bit ulu to find.

Spiderman 3

2007-05-05T23:30:00.000+08:00

The much awaited sequel was finally here. View synopsis here (Warning: Contains Spoilers). All I gotta say is that the movie is trying to contain too much content within its ~2.5 hours. A bit disjointed as well.

Bangkok Trip 2007: Day 4

2007-04-30T23:45:00.000+08:00

Final day of the trip liao, and feeling a bit sian at this point... Wished can spent more time here... Took a bus to Pratunam Market for more shopping, then went to Platinum Fashion Mall to continue the shops that we didn't go the previous day.

Only finish exploring the building by around lunch time, and we went to the food court here for lunch. The Pad Thai was pretty nice, but not the Tom Yum Gung.

Ordered a papaya salad also (does it look appetizing?!).

And this is a "cashless" food court, i.e. all the food are paid using a stored value card instead of cash.

As we were feeling full after lunch, decided to walk to MBK from here. Along the way, stopped by the Naraya retail outlet @ Central World Plaza (ladies should be familiar with this brand I suppose). Spent quite some time here and gotten quite a lot of stuff.

Continue walking to MBK after that, passing by Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery Center along the way. Bought some more local food product from Sing Thang Yeng, a place where we patronize everytime we came BKK.

Stopped for another tea break at the above... (that shouldn't be too difficult to guess).

Finally its about time to go to the airport and it took us some 1.5 hours and ฿280 to get to the airport (this is only the meter fare, no surcharge or toll).

As usual need to queue quite long to check in.

And this was our flight back from BKK. Finally this marks the end of our BKK trip.

Bangkok Trip 2007: Day 3

2007-04-29T23:45:00.000+08:00

Day 3 was not much different from the Day 2, i.e. more shopping and walking... :P. First stop of the day was Central World Plaza. They had just completed some renovation and think there are more shop spaces now. There are 2 bigger department store in the building, and this is one of them.

Walked down to Central Chit Lom Department Store afterwards and stayed for around an hour. The department store here is the same as the one in Central World Plaza. Then took the BTS to Thong Lor station, and made our way to Playground on foot. This is not an actual playground but a shopping complex, or an "inspiration" store as they called it.

The stretch of road contains quite a number of Japanese restaurants. And along the way saw another shopping complex but didn't go in.

But we did break for lunch at a coffeeshop just opposite of Playground. The food was cheap here but wasn't that fantastic.

The playground was just a 3-storey complex, so didn't take long to finish exploring the place (less than half an hour). Took a taxi to Platinum Fashion Mall but got stucked in a traffic jam for about 45 minutes.

Spent about 2 hours shopping at the mall but still couldn't complete exploring the whole building. Went for another massage afterwards at the same parlour, this time a traditional Thai massage. By the end of the session, it was almost time for dinner already...

Went to the Stella Palace Restaurant on the 79th floor of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel. The dinner was a buffet with Chinese, Western and Japanese food.

The variety was quite limited but the taste was not so bad, especially the desserts which was some kuehs.

Went up to the revolving roof deck and the observation gallery after the dinner. Enjoyed the view of Bangkok city at night. Wonder how it would look like during the day though...

Bangkok Trip 2007: Day 2

2007-04-28T23:45:00.000+08:00

The second day was whole day shop, shop and shop as we went to the Chatuchak Weekend market. And no we didn't take the bus to Chatuchak, but took the BTS to Mo Chit station instead.

After 3.5 hours of non-stop shopping (although most of the time, I'm not the one buying things), finally settled down for a rest. Grabbed a small portion fried noodles and some pork ribs as snacks.

Then had lunch at a local restaurant within the weekend market, where we ordered a Tom Yum Gung with kuay teow, and a fried catfish with spicy mango salad

Continued Shopping for another hour or so after lunch. As we were about to leave, saw someone performing ball juggling. There was quite a substantial crowd watching.

Went back to the hotel after that to put down the stuffs that we bought and had a quick shower and break. Then made our way to Pantip Plaza (BKK's equivalent of Sim Lim Square). This was the first time I came to the building in all my visits to BKK. And it looks very much like SLS as well.

And saw these soft toys at the A & W outlet. But they were not for sale.

Wanted to go Platinum Fahsion Mall after that but the building was closed for the day. Then went to Baiyoke Sky Hotel area, where there was a little street night market.

And after a long day full of walking, whats better than to have a nice little foot massage session. This was where we had a massage. The parlour is in Pratunum opposite of Indra Hotel and a little down the road.

Finally went for dinner at an outdoor local food stall just outside of Pratunum Complex. The auntie who took our orders recommended us some dishes and told us not to order so much food when we had wanted to. I was glad she did, cos in the end the food was just about enough.

Bangkok Trip 2007: Day 1

2007-04-27T23:45:00.000+08:00

Going to Bangkok again, the fourth time in the last two years, although the last time was for company retreat. Took a shuttle bus from Terminal 2 to the Budget Terminal, and waited at the queue for about 30 minutes before I was checked in, by which it was almost time for boarding liao...

The plane I'm taking to Bangkok. At the Budget Terminal, the passengers had to walk outdoor and board the plane.

Arrived at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport (which opened around September last year) after a 2 hours 20 minutes flight. The last time I came, Don Mueang International Airport was still in used.

Cleared the Immigration and collected my luggage within 20 minutes of arrival. But noticed anything wrong about the photo above... :)

Took a taxi from the airport to our hotel. The fare was about ฿250 including the airport surcharge and toll. The journey took about half an hour (in normal road condition). This time round, I stayed at Ibis Siam Hotel. The hotel was not located near any BTS station, the nearest being Phaya Thai or Victory Monument Station some 15 ~ 20 minutes walk away. However it was not as bad as there is a bus stop directly outside of the hotel, with buses going to Pratunum, MBK and Chinatown.

The room key looks like there was morse code on it.

Checked in to our room and wasted no time in going out.

Public bus ticket in BKK

First stop, we took a public bus to MBK to change our money as there is one money changer opposite of MBK which offers a good rate. There is a bus conductor on the bus who issued the bus tickets (฿14 per person). This reminds me of the old days when there was still bus conductor for the buses here in Singapore.

A small 5-storey shopping plaza in Chinatown

Then we took a taxi down to Yaowarat Road (Chinatown). Spent about 2 hours shopping at the street markets here. Then stopped for a break for some bird nest and sharks fin at one of the shops in the area. Finally went to (老铺)林真香 to get some local food before heading back to MBK.

It was more shopping at MBK, where I bought 2 pairs of 3/4 pants. Basically explored the whole building once again. If I remembered correctly, I didn't explore the top 2 levels of MBK before. There is a Marche-like restaurant on level 6 and there was a live performance by a local band ongoing when I passed by the place.

Level 7 is the cineplex, an arcade, a KTV and some restaurants.

The karaoke box was literally a "karaoke box"... :P

An odd couple.

Finally settled down for dinner after a long day at a Korean-Jap restaurant called Sukishi. Nothing special about the food here, although the spicy fried noodle was not bad.

It was time to go back after dinner and unluckily, it was raining very heavily at this time. This meant that no taxi would go on meter, and all the drivers would raise the fare to pick you up (some as high as ฿400!). In the end, paid ฿150 to get back to the hotel.

B & J Free Cone Day 2007

2007-04-17T23:30:00.001+08:00

Ben and Jerry's is having a free cone day today. So like last year, I went for the free ice cream again. However, this time, there is an outlet at Raffles City which is nearer my office. So PS, Queenie, Rolli, XY and I went there for the event. D, ET and HT went together with us as well, but they opted to have lunch, while we went for the ice cream first... :)

No surprises that the queue was long, although initially I didn't think so as the queue was broken up in different segments. And already some people were going for their second round while I was still queuing.

And for once, the queue is longer than the one for Donut Factory, hehe...

After queuing for 15 minutes, I finally got my ice cream, which was sweet cream and cookie flavor. Went for lunch at the food court after that. This year, however, there was no second round for me.... :P

Guess what am I?

2007-04-16T23:30:00.000+08:00

I am yummy. Some loves me very much but others hate me a lot too!

No prizes for the right answer though...:P

PC Rebooted

2007-04-14T01:00:00.000+08:00

Saw this at the MRT station and took it down. Now I know they are using a AMD K6 processor with 16MB RAM, a bit bo liao right... :P

Free Ice Cream Again

2007-04-11T00:45:00.000+08:00

Similar to last year, Ben and Jerry's is offering free ice cream next tuesday. Click here for more details. Grab it while you can! This time, its stated on the website as one cone per person... :D

Kelong Ah

2007-04-10T23:30:00.000+08:00

It was Stupid Genius' birthday last friday and he organized a kelong trip at Sibu Island, Malaysia. We were supposed to meet at JE at 630am to board the transport, which will then pick up the rest of the people from Kranji MRT at 645am (hmm... 15 minutes from JE to Kranji, not quite possible IMO...).

S and I arrived at JE at around 630 but no one was there. So we sms SG, and it turned out that he has just woke up and will instead meet us at Kranji. Then Alex arrived, luckily he came in and ask, else we wouldn't have known him (this is the first time we met). The bus departed from JE at around 655am. The driver was unsure of how to go to Kranji from here, and worse, his english wasn't that good. Lucikly Alex knows malay and was able to direct him to our destination.

It was already 720am when we reached Kranji. One by one the people came, Wanda, Bel, =.= & FT (who arrived at 630am at Kranji), SG and DT (who thought that the trip was on the next day). But we were still unable to set off even when all the people had arrived as SG forgot to bring his passport. He then asked his father to deliver it to him.

SG's dad delivers his pp

After an hour wait at the custom, a 2-hour plus journey and another half an hour of ferry ride, we finally reached our destination, Hot Boys Kelong.

Had our lunch when we reached and every meal we had like 3 dish 1 soup (三菜一汤). Settled down at our bed after lunch. The bunk beds were lined up in rows to save space.

Started playing mahjong for 1/4 round in which I break even. After that was island hopping. We were brought to Sibu Island Twin Beach Resort. It was quite a long walk before we can reach the shore.

The place looked quite deserted leh, doesn't looked like a resort at all. And the beach was dirtied with little... :s...

S and I stayed on shore while the rest gone into the waters. I thought there would be some shops here at the resort, but there were none. Had to asked from a local before we were able to get some drinks and tidbits, which was being transported from a nearby kampong.

Back to the kelong and it was more mahjong session before dinner. This time I won about $22. While 4 of us played, =.= and FT tried their hands at fishing.

Soon it was dinner time, again there were like 3 dishes and 1 soup. After dinner was mahjong again. Bel and Wanda sang at the KTV while we were playing. Had wanted to go sing also, but someone had booked the timeslot from 10pm ~ 12MN. No choice then, just laze around after taking a shower.

There is a BBQ later in the night for supper, thanks to SG who footed the bill... :D. I was almost about to doze off (or maybe already), before SG came to tell me it was ready. There were quite a lot of food, i.e. crabs, prawn, sotong, chicken wing etc... The prawn and chicken wing were quite nice, while the crab was a bit difficult to eat.

SG brought some wine here and so we drank. And one of the kelong operators also joined us. Apparently, he remembered SG and his friends who was here about a year ago. That time they were also on a "drinking spree"... :P. It was good that he joined in, cos we got some cans of free coke to mix with the wine. And he even dared Wanda to finish up the (water) bottle of Chivas that SG brought, which she did eventually and got herself a free lifetime "membership" to the kelong.

After drinking a few cup of the wine, I fell asleep soon after the BBQ session ended. But I was awaken at about 5am+. Apparently the guy sleeping behind me was snoring VERY loudly. But heck, I continue to sleep nonetheless as I was too tired.

The next morning, after having breakfast, which was chicken porridge, I watched SG, DT and Wanda fishing. It was quite bored as nothing was caught. When everyone woke up, we played mahjong once again. But this time, it was =.= who suggested playing. My luck was pretty good during this trip, and I won $13 this time round... :D. After the mahjong session, it was lunch, then managed to sing a couple of songs at the KTV before we were hauled off the kelong back to Tanjong Leman Jetty, and this marks the end of our kelong trip.

And finally, forgot to say on the day:"Happy Birthday, SG"... :P

A Special SBS Transit Bus

2007-04-08T12:20:00.000+08:00

Notice anything wrong with this picture? Make no mistakes, this is taken on top of an SBS Transit bus (see the 2 TV Mobile panels at the top).

Look again and the seats are very different from those usual bus that you've seen. The passengers were sat facing each other on both sides. And there is something like a bar counter near the front entrance of the bus. Looks rather cool!

So far I've only managed to board this bus once. Anyone can tell me the service number for this bus? :D

Dumplings

2007-04-08T11:30:00.000+08:00

Tried quite a number of dumplings / gyoza (or whatever you called it) over the last month.

Dumpling from Hong Hu Eatery at Far East, so nice that only one left before I remember to take the picture... :P. The boiled dumplings (no more left when I took the picture) here taste better than the fried ones.

This is from Northern Dumpling along Mosque Street. On the contrary, the 锅贴 here taste better than the boiled ones.

Finally the gyoza from Ohsho (@ Cuppage Plaza), different style from the above. And I think they put some vinegar into the fillings which I didn't really like.

Good Old Frog Porridge

2007-03-22T23:30:00.000+08:00

Like 三顾茅庐, I had to visit the place 3 times before I was able to try out the food here. The first time I came (on a tueday), it was their rest day. Then the second time, the food were sold out at around 745pm. So this time I came earlier.

The frog here was very nice, better than the one in Geylang or 长城, especially the 宫保 one. So didn't waste my trip here to try.

By the way, the restaurant is at People's Park Complex (near McDonalds).

Flag the bus early (but not too early)

2007-03-11T00:00:00.000+08:00

Recently, there is this Flag The Bus Early Campaign initiated by SBS. But I found out today that you can't do that too early.

I put my hand out as usual (for at least 3 seconds) to flag down the bus before putting my hand down. The bus was some 2 bus length distance away when I did this. As the bus came toward the bus stop with no intention of stopping, I frantically tried to flag again. However, the bus just breezed through... Luckily, a second bus directly behind did call on the bus stop, and I was able to take this bus to my destination (though with a longer time...).

"Perhaps my hand should stay horizontal until the bus came to a stop before me..."

"Perhaps it was too dark that the bus captain cannot make out that I was flagging for his bus..."

"Perhaps the bus captain thought that I was flagging to the bus behind his..."

Whatever it is, I guess you would have to flag the bus at the right timing...

Henry Out!

2007-03-10T02:14:00.000+08:00

Wah piangz... What could be worst when your favourite team got knock out of 3 cup competitions in 2 weeks and the number 1 player out for the rest of the season...

Tough luck (and tough season ahead...)

Chingay 2007

2007-02-25T20:30:00.000+08:00

Can't remember when was the last time I watch Chingay on TV. But this year is the first time I attended the event.

The event was pretty grand and there were actually a lot of audience along the road, be it tourists or locals. There was fireworks at the start and end of the parade as well. Just take a look at the pics... :)

During pre-parade

The President

First float with Singapore Lions Captain, Aide Iskandar

Float with Team Singapore's athletic James Wong

Some of the parade performers

The end of the road

After the CNY...

2007-02-21T23:00:00.000+08:00

Over the CNY period, I had

4 days of rest
played 3 mahjong sessions
went 2 house visits
watched 1 movie

And nothing but a bigger paunch to show for (from the eating spree)... :D

Twins Mission

2007-02-19T23:30:00.000+08:00

This is really a movie with twins, as the title suggests, i.e. Twins, who aren't twins in real life, and of course 5 pairs of real twins... :). However, don't be fooled by the poster, as Twins weren't exactly the main lead for the show. The last movie I watched that features the group was House of Fury. Coincidentally, the movie was shown on cable a couple of days back.

Anyway back to this movie, the story was about a 天珠 which was being transported to Hong Kong and protected by a group of Tibetan Lamas, including Sammo Hung and Wu Jing. Along the way, the item was lost when an attempt to steal it has been foiled (expectedly...). And the group behind the attempt was 双子门. The members of 双子门 were all twins. Then the plot goes into the usual flow of goodies vs the baddies to recover the lost item, where in the end the good triumph. The ending though suggested that there would be a sequel to the film.

Overall the show was good for entertainment, with the usual funny scenes and fights scenes, aided by some CGs. But certain scene were quite unrealistic, like when Gilian was stopped by a locked door during one scene didn't think of breaking the glass door to go through it，but was later shattered during the fight... And how coincidental that Wu Jing took a toy car model to the hospital to look for his (twin) brother and met Jess Zhang's character who drove the exact same model of the car.

Even if the plot wasn't exciting, there were still some pretty babes in the show to entice audience (maybe... :P). Like Jess Zhang, (former?) girlfriend of Dickie Cheung. She plays a rich girl who wants to get her hands on the 天珠 which is believed to have mystical power in helping cancer patient recovers (her sister was struck down with cancer). There was also the evil twin ladies, played by Mona & Lisa (who?). And of course Charlene and Gilian.

Happy Chinese New Year

2007-02-17T01:19:00.001+08:00

Wishing everyone a happy chinese new year. Enjoy the long weekends.

Sally Yeh's Concert

2007-02-11T12:55:00.000+08:00

The last time I went to a concert was some 8 years back with my army friends. It was A Mei's concert at National Stadium in September 1999. And last night, I went for Sally Yeh's concert at Suntec Convention Hall with S. I was glad that this concert was held here rather than at the Indoor Stadium, which I found inaccessible.

It was nearly a sell-out and as I observed, the crowds was a mature one... :P

I must admit that I am not a big fan of her, and only knew her mandarin songs and a handful of cantonese one. But I was pleasantly surprised at how the concert turned out.

The show started at about 830pm and it began with a series of cantonese songs. It was followed by some mandarin songs, including classic tunes by another artiste like 用心良苦 by Phil Chang and 哭纱 by 黄莺莺, and english songs, like Unchained Melody. Her voice was really powerful, as showcased when she perform the tune, 王昭君. And the diva really did well to get the crowd going, who were really quiet at the beginning of the show, barring those in center block at the front row (I think the people there were from her fan club).

In the middle of the show, she was throwing out some Piggie soft toys (which carries her autograph) from stage, since this year would be the year of the Pig. Unfortunately it wasn't far enough to reach where we were seating. By this time, the crowd was getting into the mood already. And there was a man who was dancing right before Sally, just below the center stage, during one of the songs.

During the encore, Sally appeared offstage, escorted by a sea of bodyguards. She circled along the perimeter of the front block (where the CAT A seats were) before going on stage for a final performance. And I managed to see her up close, like within a metre... :O. At the same time, she was still throwing out the Piggie soft toys. This time, one of them landed at a row in front of our seats... So lucky!!

And a lot of fans were invited to dance on stage for her final song of the day. The crowds were really high by this time. And there was still time for her to give away some signed shuttle cock to the fans, by swatting them into the crowds. Once again, I didn't get my hands on any of them.

The concert lasted for about 2.5 hours, and I thought it was a bit too short. One down side about the concert was that George Lam didn't turned up, :(. I was hoping they could do 选择 live on stage. By the end of it though, the crowd still couldn't get enough of her.

New Nite Owl Service

2007-02-11T12:30:00.000+08:00

There is this new Nite Owl service by SBS Transit, which started at the end of last year. And I was glad as one of the new service route passed by my house, thereby offering me one more option. The existing NR serivce only stopped by some 20 minutes walking distance from my house.

However, it seems that not many people were using this service, as I found out last night. After I boarded the bus at Esplanade, I was expecting a substantial crowd to board the bus along the way, from Boat Quay to Clarke Quay, MS and all the way to Orchard Road. To my surprise, there weren't that many people getting on the bus (was it because the night is still young or the people were not travelling in my direction?).

One thing I noted was that there wasn't any indication at the bus stop that there is this Nite Owls in service, at least not all the bus stops along the way. So the people might not know about this service. I only spotted a little board at a bus stop, by chance, along Orchard Road regarding this and later went on to the SBS Transit website to find out more.

It is stated that this service would be ongoing for 3 months. But I certainly hope that it could be extended beyond that period... :)

Your Aim, My Aim

2007-02-08T08:00:00.000+08:00

No prizes for guessing where I saw this... :)

Project SuperStar 2 Grand Final

2007-02-05T01:30:00.000+08:00

Went to Project SuperStar Grand Final at Singapore Indoor Stadium. It seems like I've never been to Kallang for quite some time liao. And didn't even know that Kallang Leisure Park was torn down.

Went to Kallang without having dinner, and had to walk about 15 ~ 20 minutes from the MRT station. Bad move... There is only restaurants over there, like Thai Village, No Signboard and Jumbo. Had to make do with some sandwich from 7-Eleven in the end. Met Grace, who was also attending the event.

Had to queue up to go into the indoor stadium. And the process was slowed down by the spot checks on the bags of the people going in. There were stalls selling food and drinks in the stadium, but the price was like double from the outside.

The crowd were dressed in a sea of blue and red. I sat at the red camp, which was suppose to support Diya. Though I supported no one in particular for this final, I just follow suit when the surrounding crowd started a cheer.

The crowd was noisy but not rowdy. And the performances of the 2 finalists were pretty good most of the time, especially the acoustic duet 天天夜夜.

And there were also guest performances by the previous winner Kelvin Tan and the winner of PSS Malaysia and Vietnam.

And Gary Cao Ge (remember Superwoman, and now Superman... :D)was also worth mentioning. His voice was pretty powerful IMO.

I thought this years' contest weren't as dramatic or hyped up than last year's. In the end, Daren triumph over Diya, garnering about 60% of the votes, and won a 2-year contract with Werner Music. We shall see how the new superstar fares.

2626

2007-01-30T21:31:00.000+08:00

Found a pattern... :D

Wedding Dinner

2007-01-27T02:00:00.000+08:00

Went to my neighbour's (the groom) wedding dinner at Marina Mandarin today. I had attended Charlene's wedding dinner at the same venue about half a year ago. This time I think there were more tables, something like close to 60. This makes the whole place very cramped. And worst of all, my seat was in the path of the waiters most of the time.

Dinner started quite early though, at about 830pm. And before that was the solemnization ceremony for the couple, which lasted for about 15 minutes. The usual 9-course meal then ensued. In between, a video montage of the day's happening was shown, which includes the process of the groom picking up the bride and the tea ceremony etc...

And finally some event worth mentioning about the dinner:

I saw Silver Ang (from last year's Project SuperStar) at the dinner and she was sitting at the table on my left. Apparently, she was the bridegroom's cousin.
At 2 tables behind me, a man (looked like in his forties) went on a booze and got drunk. He had to be escorted out of the ballroom by 2 of his friends.
And finally at the table on my right, a wine glass shattered towards the end of the dinner. Not sure why though. Only saw the broken wine glass.

Arsenal 2 Manchester United 1

2007-01-22T02:00:00.000+08:00

Arsenal and Man U always produces great game. Although there wasn't end to end stuff here tonight, it's still a good game to watch. Especially so if you are a Gunners fan... :D

Both side dominated in different periods throughout the game. Although the first half finished goalless, one could sense that a goal would surely come before the game ends. And it was Rooney again. Thats 5 goals in 11 games against the Gunners...

Now everytime when Arsenal concedes the first goal at home this season, the final score was 1-1. So you thought it wouldn't be so bad if that statistic remains. But as time went by, there was still no equalizer, just some half chances. The manager made an attacking switch and brought on 2 more attacking players. And the goal duly arrived in the 83rd minutes. Fabregas and Rosicky showed good determination to win possession and the latter's cross created the goal for Van Persie.

After the equalizer, the momentum certainly swung towards the home team. Now you began to think: "theres still time to go for the kill". I was silently hoping so, and I was not disappointed... In the final minute of stoppage time, Eboue sent in a superb cross after playing a neat 1-2 with Fab. And the skipper did even better to score with his head. Just when you think he had a quiet game, he simply popped out from nowhere to grab the winner. That's Thierry Henry for you.

Now after the results this weekend, the EPL is certainly getting more interesting.

DT's Farewell Lunch

2007-01-10T22:30:00.000+08:00

How time flies, about a year ago I was still working under DT in Brunei and now its his turn to go. XY arranged for a farewell lunch for him, in which GC, PK, Queenie and Sharon (from PS) also attended. We went to the (Joaquim) porridge buffet at Suntec City. As usual, no clue of where his next job destination until he leaves. But he was planning to have a short break.

Wish him all the best!!

A Fishy Sign

2006-12-26T23:30:00.000+08:00

Do you know where can this sign be found?

Olympus Scarvenger Hunt 2006

2006-12-17T23:30:00.000+08:00

It was pouring as I made my way down to Courts Megastore at Tampines. Had to walk a little from the bus stop where I alighted. There was a long queue at Courts even before the store was opened for the day. Think could be some good deals in stall.

There were around 20 teams participating in the event and the winner would walk away with a Olympus E-500 Digital SLR. Our team, which includes Nemesis, Templar, and Temp's brother, TZ. We ran around City Hall area in the drizzle hunting for the answers to the given clue. Was not expecting to go islandwide for the hunt and I was right. In the end, we managed to complete the hunt within 2 hours. Think we were the 5th or 6th team back... No prizes then.

Though the hunt had ended, the drama didn't end there. As we were grabbing a bite at Ikea Tampines, there is this lady who tried to cut our queue (click here for details). We still got our food before the lady in the end though after she incur the wrath of Nemesis.

Taiwan Itinerary At a Glance: Day 10

2006-12-14T00:15:00.000+08:00

Went out early in the morning for a KTV session at 7am. Had to get up at about 6 plus (why are we torturing ourselves... :P). The Cashbox Partyworld KTV is actually quite big, and it comes with an attached toilet.

And all in all, the 3 of us dedicated a total of 63 songs... :D

And each of us had to pay a total of around NT250.

After the K session, we took the MRT back to our hotel. Then we returned our Easycard as we won't be coming to Taiwan again so soon.

We went to pack up and check out from the hotel. Then we went for lunch at a nearby cafe. Took the hotel airport transfer to CKS International Airport.

And by 315pm we had already checked in and waiting for our flight to HK. Our flight was at 405pm actually.

Finally arrived at HK after a 1 hour plus flight. Upon reaching, we took the Airport bus to our hotel in Kowloon. After checking in to the hotel and settling down, we went for dinner. The food here weren't cheap, about S$5 for a bowl of wanton noodle.

We walked from Kowloon to Temple Street, where I bought a T-shirt at Temple Street for about HKD$50, then Fa Yuen Street and finally back to the hotel to rest for the day... zzz... zzz...

Taiwan Itinerary At a Glance: Day 9

2006-12-13T22:45:00.000+08:00

A lazy day today as we only got up at around 11+ and skipped breakfast. As usual, took a 15-minutes walk from our hotel to the nearest MRT station. Decided to go down to Ximending (西门町). We went to the Cashbox Partyworld KTV (钱柜) there to book a room for the next day. The KTV outlet occupies almost the whole building.

Coincidentally, there was an event going on at the lobby of the building, an autography session by newcomer Evan Yo (蔡旻佑)

This time, we did not hesitate to take a photo of the event.

Went for lunch at Ximending KFC, the restaurant overlooks the street. Noticed that there is someone being engaged to hold up an advertisement board at the cross junction.

Walked around the area one more time before taking the MRT to Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall (中山纪念堂).

There was a Buddhist Lecture going on and there were a lot of people who came from the different counties in Taiwan.

There is a huge statue of Sun Yat Sen at the center hall.

And some interesting pictures on the wall.

We also went into the museum.

After that we walk to the Chinese Television System (中华电视公司), the TV station that produces Super Sunday, which was nearby. We saw the building from afar went we came out of the SYS Memorial Hall MRT Station.

We were not allowed to go inside, so we took a picture from outside.

And here is the CTS main entrance

Then we proceed to walk along Zhongxiao East Road (忠孝东路).

I think we walked around 2 MRT stations distance (until Zhongxiao Fuxing Station). Along the way we bought some muah ji. Then we took the MRT once more to go to Linjiang and Tong Hua Night Market (临江/通化街夜市).

The street was rather cramped.

We met Xiao He for dinner. He brought us to a Cantonese restaurant and once again this was his treat.

After dinner, Xiao He and SG went drinking while S and I went back to the night market to explore further. During this time, we got ourself some soft toys through those catcher machine. And this was our tally for the whole trip... :P

Chelsea 1 Arsenal 1

2006-12-11T02:38:00.001+08:00

Honours even at Stamford Bridge, but in truth, the Gunners were probably a bit lucky as their opponent hit the woodwork no less than 3 times, one of which right at the death. Although they were also a bit unlucky as there was certainly a call for a foul in the build up to Chelsea's equalizer. And of all people, the man involved was "Cashley" Cole. Nonetheless，I was a bit relieved when the final whistle went.

The match really came alive in the last 20 minutes or so. The gunners took the lead against the run of play , through Flamini, who had worked tirelessly throughout the match. Not only did he score, he also prevented a Chelsea winner by getting his studs onto Lampard's goal bound shot just before the final whistle to touch it on to the post and safety. Lehmann again fumbled when he was supposed to be the one to lead by example with a young back four in front of him.

Of course the skipper of the day, Gilberto Silva, also had to be mentioned. He protected the two young Swiss center back, who had a torrid time really, well enough. One incident when Senderos gave the ball away, and Drogba was ready to pounce when he managed to foil the Ivorian's attempt.

Overall though, I would say this was a good result. It could have been better or worse...

(And the quote of the day:"How did he (Essien) score from so far out and yet missed from so close in")

Taiwan Itinerary At a Glance: Day 8

2006-12-10T23:30:00.000+08:00

Spent the whole of the day at Leofoo Village (六福村). We took the MRT to Jing An (景安) station before transferring to a bus. There was some miscommunication when we were using our discount coupon to buy the bus ticket at the counter. But in the end all was promptly settled. Here is the bus ticket

Arriving at the theme park.

Entrance to one of the four different sections in the theme park.

And some of the rides that we took: Ring of Fire... Went round and round in 360°

Flying Horse... Bored, a slow ride.

Rocking Steam Boat... Not good to do it just after lunch, and luckily we didn't... :D

Kid's Katarmaran... From the name itself, you knew it was not meant for the adults

Captain Cook's Swinging Ship... The usual pirate ship. A young girl was quite daring to be seated at the other end of the ship, and she was enjoying it.

Bird Flight

Mighty Mountain... At this ride, other patrons to the park can use a coin-operated cannon to "shoot" at the boat coming down from the slope and splashing the water in the process.

Sea Serpent... Another one that just went round and round.

Pagoda's Revenge... This is rather thrilling, the thing just went up and then descend down within less than a second and its over.

Barrel Ride... Spinning and spinning.

Screaming Condor... This was another thrilling ride. The thing just traverse in a U-shape and got a little twist right at the end. And there was a technical problem when we were about to start off. This delayed us for a few minutes. This picture only shows part of the U though.

In between the rides, we had our lunch and watched some performance as well.

We went for some more rides and it was dark by about 530pm or so. The park closed at 6pm, and we made full use of our time there. Just managed to shop for some souvenirs right at the end. Then took the same bus back to Taipei City, where we alighted at the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station (忠孝复兴) to take the train to Taipei 101.

A pity by the time we went there, the observatory tower is already closed for the day.

Then we went to a Japanese Restaurant at Neo 19 for our dinner. And it was here that we saw Aisa Senda. What a waste we didn't take a picture with/of her

The Jap restaurant was called Jogoya (上阁屋). It was buffet style, and they got a large selection of food, drinks and desserts. Really value for money IMO, even though the price was not cheap. Had a very satisfying dinner I would say. It was back to hotel after that. Although SG still had a date afterwards... :P

Jocie Kok

2006-12-06T23:30:00.000+08:00

I saw Jocie Kok (郭美美) on Saturday. She was at the grand opening of Ajisen branch @ IMM

She arrived a bit later than the stipulated timing. Her entrance was preceded by the huge Ajisen mascot. She was driven into the branch not long after.

Jocie and the CEO of Ajisen then went on to cut the ribbon to signify the grand opening of the branch.

Taiwan Hotels At a Glance

2006-11-27T20:45:00.000+08:00

Day 1: Taoyuan Holiday Hotel (桃园假日饭店)
Located @ 269 Dah Shing Road, Taoyuan

The hotel looks a bit old from the outside. The duty manager was very friendly and helpful, although he gave us a room that belongs to another tour leader from the same agency (we had arrived earlier than the main group).

Day 2: Gold Coast Hualien Union Hotel (国统大饭店)
Located @ 50 Jian Chang Road, Hualien

This hotel got lots of marble and other type of stones at the lobby. There is also a pool table and a treadmill like machine at its basement.

Day 3: Chih Pen Toong Mao Hot Spring Hotel (知本统茂温泉旅馆)
Located @ 61 Lung Chuan Road Pinan, Taitung

As its name suggest, its attraction is the hot spring, though very much like a swimming pool.

And the room looks like this.

Day 4: National Citizen Hotel (星辰大饭店)
Located @ 134 Chung Chen 1 Road, Kaohsiung

This hotel is at the main road. There is a Mos Burger just beside the hotel, which we bought and ate in our room.

Day 5: Twinstar Hotel (双星大饭店)
Located @ 158 Fu Hsin Road Sec. 4, Taichung

This hotel is just beside the Taichung Central Mall.

And the hotel room door is made of metal.

Day 6: Sunny Business Hotel (朝日商务饭店)
Located @ No. 213 Bade Road Sec. 4, Taipei

Nothing special here, just that the glass wall of the bathroom in this hotel is a bit translucent.

Day 7: Friends Hotel (友莱大饭店)
Located @ No. 23-1, Shuang Cheng Street, Taipei

Our hotel for the next 3 days. They provide quite a lot of services, e.g. free DVD player rental and internet access in the room. Furthermore, they also provide free shuttle bus service within Taipei City, just that you need to tell them in advance. Unfortunately, we did not utilize this service at all.

They also have free tissue paper at the reception counter which we diligently took everyday when we went out... :P... One bad thing about this hotel is its breakfast. They served the same food everyday, and the food were not appealing. What's more, the cafe only has about 4 ~ 5 small tables.

There was also an LCD TV in the room. And there was some interesting TV channel on show every night... hehe...

A Day At Singapore Expo

2006-11-25T23:30:00.000+08:00

Spent around half a day at the Singapore Expo today. There was quite a number of sales going on. First went to the L'Oreal Sale. A lot of stuff are going pretty cheaply, from cosmetic to hair dyes to skin care products.

Next up, went to the Adidas Post-Season Sale. Gotta queue up to get into the hall.

Not many items were left that I would buy by the time I went in. The Zizou Real Madrid jersey was selling at $50 though. The Singapore Marathon 2005 merchandizes were also on sale (but I already got the 2006 ones liao... hehe)

Came out from the hall with only one item to show for. Then went for a quick lunch before going to Fish Leong's autograph and mini concert session at the Max Pavilion.

There was a super long queue by the time I reached (think around 400 metres?!). Luckily, I got the tickets for VIP and there was a separate and shorter queue for that. And managed to get a seat at the front rows.

The concert began at about 440pm. Fish sang a total of 10 songs, including 7 from her latest album. I haven't listened to all the songs in her latest album yet, and actually there are quite a few that I like. She could sing live pretty well and performed all the songs effortlessly IMO.

After the performance, there was an autograph session for her latest album. Bought her new album just for this purpose... :P. The queues were very long as usual.

And finally got her autograph.

Final destination of the day was the Popular Mega Books Sale. There was nothing there of interest to me and I left after some 15 minutes. Think this one was more for parent to bring their young kids here.

Yet Another DotA Gathering

2006-11-23T23:30:00.000+08:00

Date / Time: 23rd November 2006, 1930hrs
Venue: Newton Circus Hawker Centre
Attendees: =.=, Bigaro, Dragon, DM, Hellspawn, kian, lioncub, Mao, marcus, Newbie, Obiwan, ps, sotong, templar and thierry

A 3rd gathering for satay, and there is a change of venue from the last time. This time round, there were more people from ECQ that went, 10 in total. I only went right at the last minute when some of them were leaving office, and I just tagged along. Total orders were around 140 sticks of satay and some side dishes like BBQ Stringray, and sambal squid.

And I just made a cameo appearance and later become an early "leaver"... :P ... But I was not alone though.

Taiwan Itinerary At a Glance: Day 7

2006-11-21T01:00:00.000+08:00

Last day of the package tour was F&E. We went to the Pacific City Living Mall just diagonally across our hotel.

And found this stall in the food court.

Notice an interesting sign on the 8th floor. Can you spot what is wrong?

And SG posing as a receptionist at the information counter.

Overview at the viewing gallery.

We went back to check out from our current hotel, then took a cab to check into our hotel for the next 3 days, Yolai Hotel (友莱大饭店) at Zhongshan district. There was a food street just down the road but the hotel was some 15 minutes walk away from the nearest MRT station (民权西路捷运站). Not very convenient IMO.

We went to the Guanghua Market (光华商场), Taipei's equivalent of Singapore's Sim Lim Square. But it is just a one-storey complex.

Then we took the MRT down to Danshui (淡水), the very end of the MRT line. And we needed to make a bus transfer to reach the Fisherman's Wharf. By the time we reached, it was already dark, although it was only around 6+.

This is the Lover's Bridge (情人桥).

Another view of the bridge.

And scene from the top of the bridge.

There is a stall selling super big ice cream cone here.

We took a speed cruise back to Danshui Old Street (淡水老街), instead of bus. The journey is only about 10 minutes.

Walk along the street and grabbed some food in the process.

Head back down Wufenpu and also the night market that we missed the previous day (饶河夜市).

And we managed to walk, shop, eat and play at this night market.

Taiwan Itinerary At a Glance: Day 6

2006-11-20T22:00:00.000+08:00

Heading back north on day 6 and first up was the fruit farm at Miaoli (苗栗).

Some of the plants that were grown here.

And the persimmons that we plucked ourselves (not for free though... :P)

After this, we made our back to Taipei, to CKS Memorial Hall.

Then XH brought us to the Grand Hotel (园山大饭店), built by Soong May-ling (宋美龄). It was just a stop-over for photo taking.

Next stop was Martyr Shrine.

There was a change parade on the hour.

And a fancy arms drill as well.

Had lunch after this. Then we were brought to Mao's House to look at some honey and royal jelly. I did not buy anything here though.

Taipei National Palace Museum (国立故宫博物院) was next on the agenda. A pity we were not allowed to take any photos indoor.

Then made another stop-over at the 辟邪展示馆 for some more sales pitch. Two more stops to go on a fully-packed day. And we went to Miramar Shopping Mall for a Ferris Wheel Ride (which takes 17 minutes).

The view on top of the Ferris.

And the final stop of our package, Shih Lin Night Market (士林夜市). We had our dinner here but was only given a little time to explore.

After this, we checked in to our hotel. Then still managed to find time to go Wufenpu (五分埔), a wholesale center for garments. Here we saw not only shoppers like us, but also people carrying trolleys to buy the stuff in bulk for re-sale. We had also wanted to go to a nearby night market (饶河夜市) but there weren't enough time, in fact, the shops here in Wufenpu were closing as well. Thus we took a cab back to our hotel, but not before stopping for supper at a soybean milk stall.

Taiwan Itinerary At a Glance: Day 5

2006-11-19T11:00:00.000+08:00

Starts the day by boarding the little train (五分车) to go to The Cow's Home (乳牛的家).

On board the train.

And scenes along the way.

Here, we got to feed the cow.

And besides cows, there are other types of animals here as well.

Next, we went to the Sun Moon Lake (日月潭). Had our lunch first before going to the Peacock Garden (孔雀园). A pity it was raining, the peacock were not let out of their cage.

Some of the peacocks that we saw.

Then we travel a bit down the road to the Wen Wu Temple (文武庙). Wen refers to Confucius, while Wu refers to General Guan Yu and Yue Fei. This area was very much affected by a massive earthquake a few years ago. And part of the temple was re-constructed.

Statues of General Guan Yu and Yue Fei.

After this was another few hours of journey to Taichung (台中). We were brought to our hotel, and had dinner, before we were dropped at a night market. This was a different one from the itinerary (which was 蓬甲夜市). This night market is called Yizhong Night Market (一中夜市).

The night market stretches to a few streets and there were some small building with shops which we could go into. We bought a some little snacks as we go along.

We took a taxi back to Taichung Central Mall (德安购物中心), which is just beside our hotel. Explored a bit at the shopping mall before taking a drink at one of the shops at level one. Finally went back to hotel just before midnight.

Taiwan Itinerary At a Glance: Day 4

2006-11-18T13:00:00.000+08:00

Same early set off to go to Mei Nong Hakka Village (美浓客家村). Along the way, stopped by to buy some jambu (莲雾) and mango freeze.

Arriving at the Hakka Village.

At the Hakka Village, we were given time to tour around. Bought some souvenirs here and the 板条, which was quite famous according to XH.

Then we came to Fo Guang Shan (佛光山). The tour took about 1 hour plus. This is the map of the vicinity.

And there is a gigantic buddha statue.

We went into the Main Shrine (大雄宝殿).

And there was lots of buddha statues as well.

We also went into the Buddhist Museum. And as we were leaving, saw this message at the exit.

Then we were brought to a pearl factory and jewellery outlet, where they sell pearl powder and pearl jewellery.

This is how they grind the pearl into powder.

And the inside of the jewellery outlet.

Next we were on our way to Xuan Tian Temple in Kaohsiung (高雄) with another big statue of 玄天大帝.

Just a bit further down the road was the Spring and Autumn Pavilion (春秋阁). Its signature was the dragon and tiger pagoda. According to forklore, one should enter through the dragon pagoda and exit through the tiger.

Dinner after this and final destination of the day, we went to a night market in Kaohsiung called 新崛江夜市. Perhaps due to the poor weather, there weren't many stalls open and not as crowdy as I thought it would be.

Taiwan Itinerary At a Glance: Day 3

2006-11-18T01:15:00.000+08:00

First destination of the day was Taroko Gorge (太鲁阁).

We took a 20 minute walk along one of the trails, Tunnel of Nine Turns (九曲洞).

A rock that looks like Fish jumping upstream (鱼跃龙门).

Then at another spot, we walk across a bridge, went through a long trail before finally reaching the Eternal Spring Shrine (长春祠). The shrine is made from white marble from the gorge.

Took another photo at the entrance of to the gorge.

After this, we were brought to a place called 蒲园 to look at Lingzhi and deer foetus. SG bought some Lingzhi here.

Then it was lunch at a restaurant near the Ah Mei tribe performance yesterday. After lunch, there was a tour of the jade and marble factory just beside and also the jewellery shop.

A statue of the 12 animals made from the marble.

And inside of the jewellery shop, which sells a lot of jade stuff.

It was another 2 ~ 3 hours of bus journey before we finally arrived at the hot spring hotel at Zhi Ben (知本). We had our dinner, rested for a while before going for the hot spring. The place was very much like a swimming pool. Not the kind of hot spring that I thought, i.e. a natural open area with all the rocks and stones surrounding, hehe... Nonetheless, I felt refreshed after the session.

And the hot spring could be used to boil eggs.

After going to the hot spring, XH suggested to go for supper in a small eatery nearby. This time a bigger group went, like 9 of us. Ordered a lot of food and beer. There was also a coin-operated karaoke machine here. All of us sang a few songs.

Taiwan Itinerary At a Glance: Day 2

2006-11-17T23:00:00.000+08:00

An early morning call at 6am and it was time to go. Washed up, packed up everything and had breakfast. Bus sets off at 7am.

First stop of the day at Yehliu (野柳地质公园).

The rocks structures here are formed naturally over time.

And there is one that looks like a queen head.

A statue that was erected for a hero that sacrificed his life to save an undergrad from drowning in the fierce wave.

Here is a plaque that describes how the rocks were formed.

Next, we went to Jiufen (九份). We had to alight from our tour bus and board a public bus up the hill.

Free and easy time. We walked along the streets picking up some little snacks here and there. It was here that I bought the "hand" (similar to the one used in 小气大财神).

After lunch, went to a temple call Nan Tian Temple (南天宫).

Significantly, this temple had statues of 妈祖 made from different materials， one is made from jade, one from gold and one which we normally see.

Before we left the temple, our tour leader (whom we called Xiao He) told us to touch the pair of lions on either side of the entrance to pray for a safe journey down the expressway to Hualian (花莲)

After hours of travel, we arrived at Hualian, at a place where we would be watching a traditional dance performance by the 阿美族.

The performance was spectacular but not that interesting.

Went for dinner after the performance and the tour programme ended for the day. However our day did not end here. Xiao He brought the 3 of us to a place for prawn fishing nearby our hotel, which cost NT200 per hour. We tried for an hour and my tally was only 1... :(... Luckily, Stupid Genius caught a few and XH, even more.

And here were our 战利品.

We ordered some noodles and vegetables to go along with the prawns. And of course not forgetting the beer.

Taiwan Itinerary At a Glance: Day 1

2006-11-16T08:45:00.000+08:00

Finally found time to do some updating. Had been back for a few days, but it still took me a while to unpack all my stuff. And after a long break, its been pretty hard to get going again (but what to do...). To cut things short, I'll describe the happenings in Taiwan in points and put up photos to give more details. Here is day 1...

Took a flight from Singapore and transit in Hong Kong.

Waiting for flight to Taiwan at HKIA.

Finally reached CKS International Airport.

And waiting to cross the custom.

Now we were waiting for the transport to our hotel at Taoyuan.

After settlling down at the hotel, we took a bus from Taoyuan to Taipei and walk to Ximending from Taipei Train Station. Along the way, saw some people 倒扁 and a red car that was smashed.

We met SW and his colleague for dinner at 西门町.

Walked around the area after dinner. It was really crowded, especially since it was a weekend today.

Gonna catch the last bus back to Taoyuan but went to the wrong bus terminal.

Finally went to the right one and bought the bus tickets

Going to Taiwan

2006-10-28T07:23:00.000+08:00

Yay, finally going to Taiwan... :D... Just had breakfast at Mac and will be boarding the flight within an hour.

Bloglines Plumber

2006-10-23T21:00:00.000+08:00

Saw this for the first time, and thought it was quite funny...

Mahjong - Malaysian Style

2006-10-15T23:00:00.000+08:00

Played the Malaysian style mahjong over the weekend. This game only requires 3 players instead of the usual 4. Only 1 color is required for this game, plus the 飞 and 人头, altogether there were 84 tiles. This means that each player will only make 14 blocks in front of them.

All the basic mahjong rules applies here, but a minimum of 6番 is required to game. Sometimes, you got a winning hand but was unable to do so due to not enough 番. Other times, the game seems very fast. Its like racing against time to get enough 番 to game. There was even once when I managed to win a 地胡.

And I think this game can train up your skill, especially with the 飞, or joker, around. It can be used as any tiles, thus making it easier to game, and it gives you a lot of combination to do so. I shall not bore you down with all the rules, which you may get it here. But its definitely worth playing this style of mahjong for a change.

Auntie Kim's and Icekimo

2006-10-13T23:30:00.000+08:00

Saw this restaurant while on a bus. Had tried a few other korean restaurant and suddenly thought of coming here for a dinner, and to celebrate V's birthday as well. FL and S dropped by the office then with V and I, the four of us took a bus here.

This restaurant is at Upper Thompson Road. They have seats on two storeys. There were no more tables on the ground floor when we arrived, so we had to go upstairs. It was quite warm upstairs initially as they had just turned on the air-con. We ordered a pancake, rice cake, BBQ pork and a kimchi fried rice, very much the same dish when we went to Togi korean restaurant the other time. All the dishes are spicy dish yet again. S thought Togi's food was better, and I think so too, though the BBQ pork seems nice. StupidGenius came after the food was served and his office was so near!

Went for ice cream at Icekimo which is just a few minutes walking distance from Auntie Kim's. Came here only after seeing my SIL's blog entry.

We ordered a lot of ice cream plus got a free sundae from one of the coupons in the Popular Food Guide. That makes up a total of 6 scoops of ice cream. They have a lot of different flavors of ice cream, including horlicks and chempedak. Still we had no trouble finish them all... :D

My Old Home

2006-10-11T22:00:00.000+08:00

Do you know where is it? :P

Botak Jones

2006-10-10T23:55:00.000+08:00

Went to Botak Jones at Clementi for dinner after a 1-hour badminton session at Delta Sports Hall. Had seen a newspaper article on this stall some time ago and wanted to come since then, but only able to realize it today.

This is their third and newest outlet, which opened its door not so long ago. Thier first outlet was at, of all places, Tuas industrial area.

There weren't as many people as I'd thought, which meant that we didn't have to wait too long for our orders to come. I ordered a US smoked turkey sausage with bun, while S ordered the cajun chicken plate. StupidGenius ordered a fish & chips. The serving comes in a pretty big portion. I like the others' order more than the sausage, especially the chicken. But there was a strange taste in the fries, which I think is due to the chilli powder all over it.

Really had my fill after the meal. Don't mind going to the other outlet at AMK which is nearer my home.

How many botaks do you see... :P

Hazy Dayz Again

2006-10-10T23:45:00.000+08:00

PSI reading hits a high of 140+ on Saturday. Though it seems to get better this few days liao. But then still see the people around me starting to fall sick. Was it cause by the haze I don't know...

Anyway take care everyone...

The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift

2006-10-06T23:30:00.000+08:00

Synopsis click here

The Break Up

2006-10-05T23:30:00.000+08:00

Synopsis click here.

Really live up to the title. No happy ending but still it something couple should go watch IMO. It depicts how a couple could really break up because of certain events that escalate into an unreturnable outcome. So don't take anything for granted.

Pleasant Surprise

2006-10-04T22:01:00.000+08:00

Got a surprise from a friend today, a belated birthday present... 好感动啊，感动得像要掉泪 T_T...

Seriously though, thanks for the gift... You know who you are... :D

Just Like Heaven

2006-09-28T23:30:00.000+08:00

Synopsis click here

Satay Attack

2006-09-20T23:00:00.000+08:00

Date / Time: 20th September 2006, 1930hrs
Venue: Lau Par Sat, Fatman No 1 Satay Stall
Attendees: 13, DM, lioncub, marcus, Nemesis, Newbie, ps, sotong and thierry (from DOTA) + Inti, Sundae and Tauwan (from travian)

Another satay session at Lau Par Sat, although I did not go the last time round. Quite a few couldn't make it, and in the end there were only 4 from ECQ (and 1 more soon to be ECQ-ian, :)).

The food come and go in a matter of minutes. Ordered a total of 120 sticks of satay (of various type). Finally get to see my neighbour in S3 travian, Sundae. We had coordinated quite a few attacks in the game, though not all were successful I should say. All 3 of them are from FTCL and coincidentally Tauwan was from the same camp as me during my Army days. And we had actually seen each other at FTCL family day last year.

Not surprisingly after the meet up, the few of us played a game of DOTA when we got home... :P

KFC without Chicken

2006-09-20T22:30:00.000+08:00

Went KFC for lunch today and guess what, they run out of chicken. No more originals left, and left only the wings and drums for the crispy. Perhaps we ordered too much, but then only 16pcs of chicken ma (tsk tsk tsk...). How could they let this happen, especially at lunch time...

But for all the trouble, we got 2 pies for free. Or maybe it was due to R's 美色... hehe...

The Devil Wears Prada

2006-09-16T11:55:00.000+08:00

Adopted from a novel by Lauren Weisberger of the same name, this movie is about a university graduate, Andrea (played by Anne Hathaway) who started working as the second assistant to a powerful fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly (played by Meryl Streep). This job is a stepping stone towards her dream of working as a journalist.

From a young lady with no fashion sense initially, Andrea's dressing changed gradually as the movie goes along. As she worked towards her goal, her friendship and relationship suffered. Ultimately Andrea realizes she must make a choice between them and her job as she become more like the woman she despises working for.

This movie would certainly go well with the ladies, with all the designer's clothing, bags and other accessories on show throughout the movie. I would certainly pity the person working for a boss like Miranda if there really exist one. Andrea managed to pull through in the show, but I doubt if anyone can do it in real life though.

Drama on the Train

2006-09-16T11:45:00.000+08:00

Witnessed some drama on the MRT today. It was between a young guy (let's call him "Mr A") and an uncle who looked like in his 50s (let's call him "Uncle B").

Didn't exactly see the incident that triggered the confrontation, but according to Uncle B, he said that Mr A pushed him as he lost his balance and stumble towards Mr A as the train started to move. The two of them started arguing. Then Mr A, trying to break out of the arguement, went to take a seat and told Uncle B to go away. But Uncle B wouldn't stop there, he went on complaining to the rest of the passenger in the cabin.

In the heat of the moment, he pushed Mr A's head against the train window and there was a loud bang (ouch... must have hurt). Of course Mr A wouldn't take that lying down, he got up and aim a kick at Uncle B and missed though. By this time, the rest of the passengers who were nearby, tried to siam from the area where the 2 men were at. A scuffle almost broke out and Uncle B started taking out his belt to wield as a weapon.

Some passenger tried to pacify Uncle B as he started to turn violence. Luckily, Mr A backed down and did not continue to argue with Uncle B (else a fight would be unavoidable). By this time the train had come to a stop at a station and Uncle B alighted, though still complaining as he walked out of the train.

All this happened just a few steps away from me.

Long Time No Updates

2006-09-14T23:00:00.000+08:00

Wow, it's been more than a week since the last update liao, 9 days to be exact... trying to write some entries now... :P

A bit the lonely this week, and have been staying home playing DOTA everyday!!! At least I haven't forgotten how to play yet... hehe...

SG Idols

2006-09-06T23:30:00.000+08:00

Went Mediacorp to watch the Singapore Idols after StupidGenius had gotten the tickets. It was the first time I went there actually.

The show began at about 730pm or so when the host and the contestants came out and mingle with the audience, although it was only on air at 8pm.

The show lasted for about 1.5 hours. It was certainly a good experience to watch the performance live at the theatre. The fans were screaming away each time their favourite went on stage. Apparently, Paul Twohill got quite a lot of supporters but he was still booted out next. Jasmine and Hady could sing pretty well IMO. And Jonathan weren't that bad as well. All in all, a nice experience... :D

Blogger Beta

2006-09-06T01:30:00.000+08:00

It's out now with new features. Try it before registration closes...

Chronos Jr

2006-09-06T01:00:00.000+08:00

Congrats to Chronos for becoming a father on 2nd September (though a bit late liao... hehe). She was born in the evening at KKH.

The little one wasn't name as at this point of time, so we'll just call her Chronos BB for now... :P

Bad Skating Session

2006-09-03T23:55:00.000+08:00

It was a bad skating session on sunday where almost all got injured, except one escaped unharmed... :P. Today we went further eastward from the Bedok Jetty side up until the sea sports club. And on our way back, three of us fell and 挂了彩. Irene felt the most impact amongst all of us, hurting her lower back again (she had injured almost the same spot not so long ago). Think she will be out of action for quite some time.

Hope you have a speedy recovery!!!

Mahjong Session

2006-09-02T23:30:00.000+08:00

Went for another MJ session at SW with S and StupidGenius. It was more than 2 months ago since the last session. And that time, S was the only winner on the day. Went to buy a MJ table near SW's home before our game could commence. We played a total of 2 rounds, at a rate of 3/6 half with a maximum of 6 Fan.

Most of the time when we play at SW, the host dun win, and this time, it was no different... :P. And S must be either very unlucky or very blur, her first win only came in the west wind of the second round. Not surprisingly, she was the biggest loser of the day; SW was a close second... And for me, I was pretty lucky. Though not the biggest winner, it was still my biggest win so far this year. And I even came close to winning a 十三么, was waiting for one last tile... :D

After the game, the winner, SG, treat the rest to a dinner as usual.

New Players at the Emirates Stadium

2006-09-02T02:30:00.000+08:00

A busy day on the transfer dateline for the Gunners yesterday with players coming and going. As expected, Ashley Cole and Jose Antonio Reyes departed, and in comes William Gallas, a versatile defender, and more unexpectedly, Julio Baptista, the player Wenger tried to sign a year ago. Now that the unsettled players were finally gone, hopefully the Gunners can start turning their entertaining style of play into results.

A New Companion

2006-09-02T01:00:00.000+08:00

Not alone anymore...:D

Ayam Penyet

2006-09-01T23:45:00.000+08:00

Ayam Penyet, a.k.a. smashed fried chicken, is an Indonesian food (or so I believed). I went to this shop at lucky plaza to try the above for dinner today. Apparently it is a franchise and has outlets in Indonesia as well. But it has only 2 branches in Singapore and is not opening another one, according to the notice pasted outside of the shop.

There was quite a long queue at the shop when I arrived, although I've only waited for about 15 minutes or so before getting a table.

The chicken was not too bad but didn't find it that fantastic as well. And the chilli was VERY spicy. And to make things worse, I have a ulcer in my mouth (ouch)... Will still come to try the smashed chicken wings the next time though.

Featured at the Pitstop

2006-08-31T01:00:00.000+08:00

Haven't been to Pitstop Cafe for quite a while liao. Managed to drop by some time 2 weeks ago and try out one of the new games, Cleopatra. It was quite an interesting game really. The way that we are getting the resources for building stuff in the game is very similar to another game that I've played before.

And our pic managed to appear on their blog entry (wahahaha...)... Now I know what they were referring to when they were taking our picture at that time... :D