Taipei Wrap-Up

FINALLY, after filtering and sorting out, the pictures are up.

as mentioned, i forgot to bring along the camera charger so most pictures are taken using the cellphone camera. thankfully, NeuNeu brought the phone charger along because i forgot that as well.

*grins sheepishly*


don't worry, we'll be back there soon enough with better pictures (in hope that i'll remember the camera charger this time around).
i can't wait.


on a different note altogether. back to reality, back to work.

i'm on OT for these few days, as well as on Chinese New Year Eve.
my meeting with Aly today is ruined, plus i haven't even prepared for CNY yet.

my hair's in a mess with the half-fading highlights and kinked ends, i haven't had time to go for appointment at the dentist to remove my stitches, and i haven't cleaned up my room, although my mom did clear some of the stuff - simply put, she threw my things away when i wasn't around. grrrr.

okays, enough grumbling, i gotta get back to work.
NeuNeu's fetching me from work later and as with every year, we're going to queue for the renowned 肉干 bah-kwa at Chinatown's 林志原 Lim Chee Guan.

CNY goodies are always the best!


alright, here are the links to the pictures:

Taipei Day 1 - 2008.01.23

Taipei Day 2 - 2008.01.24

Taipei Day 3 - 2008.01.25

Taipei Day 4 - 2008.01.26

Taipei Day 5 - 2008.01.27

Taipei Day 6 - 2008.01.28

Taipei - Edited

Taipei 2008.01.23 - 2008.01.28

finally done with the unpacking.
touched down and arrived home late last night.


thank goodness, Esther came to fetch us at the airport otherwise it'd have cost us a bomb.

a huge "THANK YOU" to you!

the weather was cold and wet throughout, raining almost every day. the temperature in the city went as low as 10 degrees Celsius, while the rest of the time it averaged between 12 - 16 degrees.

though it affected our plans to visit some of the attractions, but it certainly was ideal for plenty of shopping and impromptu hotspring sessions!

we resided at the hostel for a change this time around.

the room allocated to us for the first few nights was so tiny we bumped into each other with every other step, and we didn't go to bed without some frustration each night!

thankfully we got a change afterwards,
otherwise... unimaginable.
tsk tsk :P


of coz as with all hostels and dormitories, it has its pros too.
we made some local and foreign friends during the stay, which would've been impossible should we have stayed at the hotels instead.

we'll be expecting them in Singapore pretty soon!


kudos to NeuNeu for bearing with me throughout...
i.e. my unusual increase in appetite; increased mood swings and tantrums; not forgetting all that help to carry the bags.

there's a whole lot to talk about but i'll hold the raves and rants till the photos are up.

Out of Town

finished up some last minute packing while contemplating if i should lug that heavy-duty coat coz i've been told it's rather cold these few days.
why yes, the swelling has subsided quite a bit but still noticeable and i've got to finish up my meds while i'm over there. how "exciting".

alrighty, i gotta make a move now.
to the airport for the 1pm flight.

don't forget to check back for the pix in a week's time.

Before the year ended..

this is going to be a long one..


i'm feeling a little lethargic today coz we were stayed up to count down this morning i.e. at the comfort of our couches.

we had our dose of wine, chips, chocs over "I Am Legend" after dinner.
then counted down together while comparing Singapore's Miserable fireworks display to Taipei's Majestic version.
yea, it's all about the Money, ain't it?


well, back to the week update..
we were out in JB to jalan-jalan on 26th coz the Perak trip was canceled at the last minute, as some of u may already know.

guess who we bumped into?
Loh Wei n Yongmei (with their friends Hoe n Wendy).
we joined them at Holiday Plaza after having our brunch at a cafe in City Square.
we waited while they took like 2 hours to browse Holiday Plaza?!
seriously, i never had much to see over there.

after that, we drove up to Taman Sentosa for some seafood before heading to Jusco for a little singing.

Loh Wei n Yongmei really can eat!!!
NeuNeu n i barely touched the buffet dinner provided,
but they tried almost everything on the buffet line (despite claiming they are already full).


after agreeing it's gonna be such a waste to stay in Singapore for the next 5 days, we decided to drive up to KL.
as it was too last-minute, we didn't have much choices available...

1. Desaru was fully booked
2. Kota Tinggi has rooms available but they've got this exorbitant Super-Peak Period charge (school holidays + public holiday)
3. Malacca has only 2 shopping malls plus the prices (shopping n accommodation) are more expensive compared to other cities

so we left for KL the following afternoon around 4pm.
NeuNeu seems to be getting the hang of it n the journey only took us about 3 hours.


as usual, we ate, shopped, caught a movie.

this time we watched the show at The Curve instead of Pavilion to avoid the crowd.


visited my cousin (he happens to be business partner of Wynn's family) n stayed over for a night

also, we tried our luck at Genting on the second day with Wynn n Cheng Hoe.
photos in Wynn's camera (.. again) so will post them up shortly.
my first time to have "hands-on" in Genting.



aiyah, don't say "gamble".
we think it's more like "support".
we "support" the casino,
then the casino "reward" us.

i'm sure Johnny would agree.


we spent the second night in Damansara, then made our way back to city to Yum Cha, drop by Wynn's place n leaving after another round of shopping.

free n easy trips are always more fun,
impromptu ones are even better.
but we definitely still have to do some planning before heading to Taipei, just to make sure we fully-utilize the time we have there :)


that's all for now.
time for lunch soon..

Weekly Update

oops.
it's been a week since the last update.

unlike night shifts, day shifts require more attention n concentration so it's a tad to hard to shift the focus onto blogging..
ya, that's the excuse for this time :P

was at 5th aunt's house in JB on Friday with 7th aunt n NeuNeu.
yea, i've got 7 aunts, 5 auncles (counting the maternal side only, mind u..)
had a little trouble with the directions, but this time it's not my fault!

lunched at Perling.
Char Kway Teow & Prawn Noodles in Soup.
no kidding, bagus!
we'll bring Mommy the next time, if we can set directions straight that is..


last evening, we attended Esther's performance at The Crystal Tabernacle Church in Pasir Panjang.
more like a rehearsal but we attended this session coz we can't make it on the actual performance on X'mas Day.
as usual, the people were nice though it lacked the atmosphere like Charis last year, but i suppose it'd probably be different on the actual day.

oh oh, we had supper at this 99 Restaurant in Kent Ridge (Lorong Sarhad to be exact).
since we already had a filling dinner, we only ordered the much-raved-about Yam Paste while the rest had their meal.
unlike the traditional Yam Paste, made from steamed yam (taro), their version was done with an additional dose of steamed pumpkin.
nonetheless, it was served with gingko nuts just like the original version.
we're going back later to try their dishes.

ooh.. all this talk is making my tummy growl.


X'mas is in 2 days..
no specific plans for the day as NeuNeu n i are both working on the eve PLUS the actual day.
how exciting, huh.

however, we'll be leaving for Perak/Ipoh on the evening of 26th.
we might just drop by KL (.. again), but just for a day before we return to Singapore.

before i go (without knowing when i'll be blogging again..)
here's an advance X'mas Greeting to all of u!

Rain, Rain...

started out from office to ICA Building in Lavender after sending his car for servicing at Aljunied.
intended to extend my passport coz it's expiring on 6th Dec , which is like er.. tomorrow, only to find out i have to make a new biometric passport at 70 bucks instead n he had to make a replacement NRIC as well for 100 bucks.
boo.

had a quick brunch at Golden Mile FC before heading back to Aljunied to collect the car.
ps: the Lor-Mee was fantastic!
back at the service centre the in-charge told us we had to wait till 2pm to retrieve the car coz the alignment had to be done elsewhere.
anger.
had to take a cab back home to rest coz it started raining pretty heavily plus all that fatigue accumulated from the night shift really wasn't helping much.

'twas supposed to be a beautiful weather for sleeping in...
BUT
the renovation next door was still going on.
ultimate disgust.

in the end woke up around 3pm, washed up, had early dinner n went to get the car.
transferred from the bus to MRT at Tampines interchange.
alas, it's been some time since we've taken public transport together.

anyways, of late, numerous pairs of my shoes have been falling apart.
i've thrown away 4 pairs of shoes in the past month..

Adidas track shoes
Nike sneakers
Mondo kitten heels
Jellies from Bangkok

so today, we drove out to Queensway to get new sneakers for me.
opted for Nike again. almost bought the transparent pair, which the salesperson recommended, but turned out it didn't fit very well on the sides so i got another design instead.

tried on size 23, but it was still too big so i asked for size 22..
guess what?
the smaller size turned out to be the kids' version so it was cheaper.
for the difference of 1cm, we saved 30 bucks.
pity though coz i love many of the adults designs but they don't come in my size.

anyway to sum it all up, we bought another seven pairs of socks.
yes, SEVEN!!!

now, we're both back at work.
off tomorrow n the plan's to go to JB for food, groceries, manicure/pedicure.
hopefully we can also go to City Plaza after that too.
darn.
D&D's on Friday but i haven't really made up my mind on what to wear.

my PAssion card has been left unused for quite a while now.
i doubt we can take up any courses for the time being too, two more trips (Perak n Taipei) plus his classes start in January again.
anyone keen to take up baking / cooking classes with me?


oh, here's a couple of photos i have a hand from we took at Pavilion in KL (not the old Pavilion in Tampines)

from left: (picture 1) Joanne n Me, (picture 2) Will n Me

2007.11.30 - 2007.12.03 Kuala Lumpur

back in Singapore around 11pm last night.
after the 4-odd hour drive, we were at NeuNeu's house unloading some of his mom's stuff before heading back to my place.

could've reached earlier if not for the slight congestion due to an accident along the North-South expressway.
didn't looked like there was any fatality though the two vehicles involved were damaged rather badly.

anyway we visited the new mall Pavilion n found it rather unappealing.
it houses the usual stores we have in Singapore apart from Paul Frank, Juicy Couture, JCo Donuts n not forgetting, the relatively larger Forever 21 store..

oh, we also caught "Enchanted" at Pavilion's new GSC cinema with Wynn n Cheng Hoe the night prior to departure.
like what NeuNeu says, it's been ages since we seen anything on the big screens.
it was a good choice, apart from the far-from-reality storyline.
but hey!
everyone could do with a little dreaming once in a while :)


too tired to write too much now..
the darned memory card was formatted n all the pictures are lost as well.. gotta wait for Wynn to send those in her cammie so no pix tentatively.

Yeah, today is here!

TODAY IS HERE!

finally after 5 dreadfully long, hectic nights.
6 hours more n i'm outta here for the next few days.

we're headed for KL tonight.
NeuNeu's gramps, mom, aunt, uncle-in-law n 3 cousins have arrived safely earlier yesterday night according to Wynn.
boy, has she got a handful this weekend coz we've got 10 people waiting to be pampered n served!

meanwhile, Wynn n i have already got "Grand Plans" for the boys over the weekend.
*hiak hiak*

the plan for the next 24 hours:
0700 knock off
0830 arrive home
1400 final packing
1700 dinner
1800 prepare sandwiches n snacks
2030 depart from home
2130 meet NeuNeu at Boon Lay when he knocks off
2200 bring his PC to friend's place (Bukit Panjang)
2230 customs
2300 supper at Taman Sentosa
0000 headed for KL
0500 arrive at Wynn's
0700 dim sum breakfast with everyone!

on a different note altogether..
'twas Masaaki's last night on shift.
he's moving on to IM role from today onwards.
congrats!
i suppose that also means a visit to Singapore again soon, eh. =P


i'll be missed for the next few days
(at least that's what i'd like to believe),
so here's a picture to compensate for my absence.

have fun, kiddos!

JB Jusco & Asia Pacific Food Expo

yesterday was the day for our weekly trip to JB.
brunch-ed at "The Chicken Rice Shop" in Jusco.

plain as the food looked, they tasted surprisingly good.
for the set NeuNeu ordered, the bean sprouts were crisp n not "raw", whilst the chicken was cooked till tender n drizzled with honey sauce.

my order of shredded chicken noodle was very nicely done too.
wanton noodles cooked with the usual veggies, shredded chicken n preserved veggies.
when undercooked the wanton noodles will turn out tough n "springy". but theirs wasn't under / overcooked n the soup complimented it well.

NeuNeu's set consisted of:
1 bowl of soup
1 plate of chicken
1 plate of bean sprouts
2 pai tee
1 dessert
1 drink

mine was made up of:
1 bowl of shredded chicken noodle
2 pai tee
1 dessert
1 drink

what's more, each set only cost us RM10.99

we decided that the restaurant should really be named,
"The Surprisingly Good Chicken Rice Shop".

after our routine visits to Carrefour n Giant, we returned to Singapore.
hopped by his place to fetch his mom n Glenneth, then to mine to fetch my mom.
we were all headed for the Asia Pacific Food Expo.

we bought individually-packed mini bah-kwa (肉乾 dried pork), sachets of nuts, dried cod-fish n eel, bah-chang (肉棕 rice dumplings), tang yuan (湯圓 glutinous rice dumplings) just to name a few...
Mommy never fails to lug bags of goodies home from these food fairs.
pity though, coz i didn't see the mini-eclair which we bought from the previous fair.

all busted n tired, we had a quick dinner at Bedok 85 n headed back to my place.

NeuNeu tried to scare Glenneth with talks of a scary crocodile kept in my house. while we were chatting in the living room, he checked out my room n was greeted by...

my kookoo-dile :)
he does look quite cuckoo with the silly smile on his face, doesn't he?

Gluttony

since our trip to Vietnam in July, i've been searching high n low for the recipe to this yummy dish. it was love at first bite n we ate it EVERYDAY at Benh Tanh Market when we were there.

priced at about VND10000 (approx SGD 1), this bowl is packed with a punch!
it's consists of thick yellow noodles, pork slivers, spring onion, peanuts, bean sprouts, Chinese mushrooms, shrimp, mortadella, stripped morning glory (kang kong), saw-tooth herb, minced pork balls, chicken stock.

served with fresh-squeezed lime juice, rice cracker, chopped hot pepper goop n tastes a tad like our local rojak with the nutty-tangy taste.
variations include use of thin slices of roast pork (not the cut with the orange outer coating, just plain pork roast.)


it was an impossible mission... why?
that's because i don't even know the name to it!

that was until today...

it's called Mi Quang
"Mi" = Noodle
"Quang" = Major ethnic group that lives in Central Vietnam

the answer came all the way from down under, thanks a million Justin!
gluttony has driven me mad, mad enough to e-mail for help from our new Vietnamese colleague in Sydney for help. i thought i'd never know the answer since Xuan left us a couple of months back (before i could ask him, obviously).

though he refused to get courier a yummy portion to Singapore, he was kind (or unkind) enough to arrange a customer service training (and cooking) session in Sydney so that i could go get a tip or two from his mom (not forgetting i'm supposed to cook for everyone in the Sydney office).



ok, all these talk has got me hungry n craving for it even more now.

wonder if we'll be having a nice Viet lunch at Holland V later?

meanwhile, here's some pix for u (so that u can better understand my undying crave)!

The Day

still feeling tired from the long day,
pictures to tell the story...










1000AM
donuts to start the day






























1200NN
lunch at Jusco, Tebrau City


followed by...
shopping,
shopping,
shopping!

1900PM
dinner at Bukit Batok

lastly, pixie of My Melody from NeuNeu :)
isn't she sweet...?

Night Update

a second trip to JB yesterday (Thursday) morning.
brought forward by a day coz Will doesn't have to attend the monthly brief before work in the evening.

started the day with KTV-lunch at Red Box before loitering within the mall a bit. then moved on out to Giant for car wash n some supply of munchies, BBQ gear..

unfortunately, we still didn't manage to get any My Melody car accessories in the 2 places (someone please tell me where to find them?!!!)

finally, Will spotted My Melody's air freshener at our last stop, City Square. was really sweet coz he bought it for me n of coz he allowed me to house it in the car :) typically, i purchased my dope of magazines, contact lens solution n headed home to work after the usual jam across the causeway.



oh sueann, i saw lots of ur favorite mushrooms in City Square!
took some pix will upload later for u.. i'll just charge a minimal (discounted) commission for bringing in those fungus for u.. :P

Plans Plans Plans

baking class is resumed. *yay*.

but
we're still going
there
again
for...




SPA!!!

(not forgetting the long overdue manicure/pedicure)


sadly, Taipei trip may be postponed coz NeuNeu has some problems on leave application.

and tomorrow, i'm going for facial with mr hu after lunch.
contemplating on catching a movie at Yangtze after that,
then head to town for the Hermes exhibition.

i hope we don't bump into too many ah peks especially the TiKo ones while we're there.

the links

we're back from the trip

... spa, A&W, donuts, go-kart, cakes, whipped cream ...


now, here are the links:

Clip: The Birthday Montage
Clip: The Birthday Song
Clip: The Birthday Prank
Clip: Go-Karting

Pix: Holiday Inn Resort Batam, Indonesia

and also, pictures of our BBQ on Saturday
(ah yes, finally i've got rid of the flu bug!)

Pix: BBQ @ Changi Beach

Links to pictures..

most of the pix for the Vietnam trip are up.
so as usual, remember to log in to view them. also, if u're not in my network, please add me to view.

Vietnam Part I : Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam Part II : Da Lat


coming up.. pix taken on Regina's bday @ Changi Village

A Quickie

stealing some time off work to post a quick note.

WE'RE BACK!!!


.. back from holiday
.. back from Vietnam
.. back to work

pix will be up by this weekend.


another piece of good news is...
we're going for more holidays!
details are yet to be confirmed. keep ur eyes peeled.

Out of Town

... counting down the last hours to our Vietnam-bound flight

we're almost done with the packing.
"what's there to pack?" some may ask.
apart from my usual shower/skincare essentials, i've got my handy "china-man" canvas tote - the ones typically in red, blue, green stripes.. - it's a fashion statement. if u're not aware, one of the designers (not sure if it was Dior) came up with a fashion catalog in the exact canvas prints.

ok, i'm rambling too much becoz i'm a little hyped up. the excitement only started knocking on my door the night before.

minxun, i'll stuff u into my luggage if u don't mind being crushed like the beer cans when i returned from my Bangkok trip. otherwise, seats should still be available on the Jetstar flight (but the airfare n taxes apply).


a tout a l'heure!

Last week of May

The week has passed quickly since my return from Teluk Intan, Perak.
In summary, lotsa people, snacking, heat, fun and scurrying around. Now, it's the time of the month when I'm down with flu again. Got my nose all red and sore from all the rubbing. A quick check on events for the week.

Monday
Mommy & I visited the Food Expo at, of course, the Singapore Expo.

Tuesday
Was back at work with Neeraja & Steve.
Busy, busy, busy.
Thoroughly glad it's over and NeuNeu came to fetch me after work.

Wednesday
Packed the room a little (it's high time I did that!).
Started to feel terribly sick in the afternoon and NeuNeu rushed over after class to check on me.
Sssh.. Don't tell him I wolfed down the entire tub of Mint Choc Chip ice-cream. The darn weather is just too blardy torturous.

Thursday
Fought the crowd for prayers at Waterloo Street. Had lunch at Koo Kee and did a little shopping for karaoke mixer before heading home for mahjong. It's been awhile since we did a little "dry swimming".

Friday
Blogging & Rest

Saturday
Company's family day at the Zoo
Bintan Trip

Sunday
Work
Bintan Trip

Some of the stuff uploaded this week:

Born Into Brothels Review

Teluk Intan Pix Part II: Sights
Teluk Intan Pix Part I: People & Event

Vid: Around Gramp's House
Vid: Helping Out
Vid: Arrival of The Bride

Out of Town

out of town from 25th May to 28th May

Weekstart update

Greetings dear readers,


Haven't been able to speedily upload all the Bangkok pictures as promised over the event-packed weekend.


Here's a preview of some events over the weekend.





We brought Pitt-Pitt to the Zoo for a reunion with his family..


Here's Pitt-Pitt with the Babirusa (pig-deer).


We recognize him as a slightly different species, pig-dear :P











Later in the evening, we had our human version of reunion.

Advance Mother's Day celebration @ Gombak for NeuNeu's Po-Po (not in picture)


Here's a snap of Gong-Gong, Auntie, NeuNeu


All the buzz has got me looking forward to the celebration for mommy this weekend!




Dreamt of an argument with NeuNeu over a keychain on Saturday night.
A quick check over the internet says:

"If you are quarrelling or arguing in your dream you may be experiencing some inner conflict. The quarrel may reflect your own inability to resolve important issues, ideas or values. Most likely, you may be experiencing ongoing difficulty with making decision, cannot accept authority, or you may have carried an argument from your daily life into your dream.

Very old dream interpretation books say that quarrelling is a dream of the contrary and that you will have peace and harmony with your loved ones."

I sure hope the old interpration books are accurate!


Anyways, complete set of pictures to be by next week.. hopefully..
Meanwhile, here's the link to the fragmentary Bangkok compilation

Album


Same old words to wrap up..
Check back again for location of the albums