Saturday , was as usual , the day we had our steamboat dinner! Had an afternoon reunion lunch at my auntie's house with my paternal side family , while my branch of the family had our own small steamboat dinner at night as usual. Did not really ate much this year as I was rather full. (20 mins?)
Sunday was officially the first day of the Tiger Year and as usual , we went to my Paternal Grandmother house first before proceeding to my Maternal Grandmother house.
This year was quite special though , my Paternal Grandmother has shifted house and is now living in a flat near Jalan Sultan , which is seriously just beside Kampong Glam CC! In fact she had moved there since I started studying for A's , but I haven't officially visited her. The house was a bit clammed because it was smaller than her other house which is being rented out. Hence the 30 odds people from this side of the family squeezed in the house haha.
However , as they say it , the more squeezy it is , the more atmosphere there is and true as it is , there was a better atmosphere this year as everyone was within inches of each other(Not Joking).
Then , we went to our Maternal Grandmother house as usual and stayed there till nightfall. Played cards without using real money haha. And again this year ,we did not touch Mahjong at all , cause it was too troublesome to set up everything.
The next day , on Monday , we have this habit of going for a meal on the 2nd day of the lunar new year and so we went to this hotel just in front of the National Library for Buffet. The food was quite average though despite the price(Around $35 per person) and quite limited in selection. So we kind of regretted eating there.
The next stop was to Marina Bay for the River AngBao festival.
It was a super sunny day and we were literally being toasted by the sun when we walked around the place. Had some really great exhibition though. There was 2 very special "dragons"~ One was made from sugar and the other made from porcelain cups , bowls and spoons. Could see that a lot of effort went into making those stuffs and they were very detailed and nice to say!
Haha my eyes closed
Sugar Dragon
Tuesday was spent at my Maternal grandmother house to make some offerings to my late grandfather as he passed away on this day years back. So this had been our schedule every year on the 3rd day of Chinese New year. Went to watch Wolfman after that with my cousins.
And yesterday , went alone to Mustafa centre to get my non-camera phone which I have been looking for very long. Settled for an E1107 from Samsung after some ideas from the young indian Samsung Guy who was the promoter there. It has a solar panel though it is more or less only for ornamental purpose. Got the phone as I thought it sufficed for my usage in term of battery life and also in case of emergency when I run out of power, I could use the solar panel to get an extra call through per day.
Then went for Movie with the guys at Cathay and we watched True Legends. I would say that to do it justice , the action choreographing was very well done. But as Jingliang and Wenglin seriously agree with me , the plotline was almost the same as Huo Yuan Jia~~ And The director of this movie was the action choreographer for Huo Yuan Jia so there would be no doubts I guess. The wife being killed , the lead actor taking revenge and the lead actor in the end fighting against 4 westerners and winning!
Then dinner was have at Somerset at a place call Prima Taste. Haha , had a $12 chicken rice O_0 Could not believe it but oh well. It was quite nice to do it justice though.
Had been slacking on my guitar these few days , but going back to it slowly. Still very fundamental now. Look like I have to take it deep into NS to learn it well.
Just came back a couple of hours ago from Movie(Watched Big Soldier small general) and steamboat with the class. Again , a mega stuffing of teppanyaki meat. Which is probably one of the better food there .
Again it has come to another Chinese New Year. This time the year of the Tiger!
In fact today is the eve already. And CNY is just tomorrow.
So I wishes everyone a very prosperous Chinese New Year.
There used to be quite an atmosphere for CNY , when I was younger. I still remembering playing the fire sparkle sticks at my doorstep every CNY eve after dinner and looking forward to CNY everytime. New clothes , chances to meet a lot of people and we feel especially rich those days because we would Jiak Ho Liao and eat as much as possible. And of course the Ang Bao money.
Nowaday , such a feeling seems dispensible.
Perhaps as you grow older , CNY does not hold such significances anymore in our heart.
For some people , it's just another day.
Of course , for me , I still look forward to it as a day where we can meet and exchange our heartfelt greetings with our relatives and wishes a good year ahead. Sometimes it's the thoughts that count. Relatives where you won't meet for the whole year would appear in front of you and at least you have some chances of chatting with them.
Had done some shopping for Army recently! Bought a new pair of black frame Spectacles and a new Iriver mp3 player which have both been draining on my saving.
As for a non-camera phone , I'm still searching! For the ideal one.
Something I have forgotten since a year back. / Thursday, February 4, 2010
With not time left till my Enlistment , I have finally gotten back to something that I have pushed back for quite a while.
Learning the guitar.
Bought some books. Both Chinese and English to help me in my attempt to learn abit before my enlistment , such that I can continue learning it during the weekend bookouts during my NS time.
Got this guitar at home since last year end and yet did not made much attempts to learn it. However spent 2 days at home studying and practicing and now I'm making slight progress , which I think will allow me to play some stuffs in a couple of weeks. For some reasons , some people suggested that I start by learning the chords , but my guidebook has a step by step guide which start with fingerplucking , which is what I'm doing now to train my dexterity.
I also have some serious doubts about my sense of rhythm which I hope to improve slowly as I learn the guitar.
The beginner part of the book state that I should complete the 26 lessons in 6-12 months.
However was a bit lazy and busy at the same time , so I did not blog about it.
Well , this trip to Genting was with Weng Lin and Gabriel and it was okay I guess. Kind of like a small retreat for us before we enter Army in a short while . Gabriel next weekend especially.
Started having sore throat on the 2nd day of the trip to the theme park and after playing quite a bit of roller coaster , had quite a headache at the end of the day.
Haha I think I just could not tolerate the pirate ship's oscillation movement which made me so dizzy.
And we did play a lot of bumper cars while Weng Lin was the main hand behind our many , many hoop shooting games at the arcade where we amassed 3k tickets to exchange for some gifts!
The trip there was fast at 6 hours. While after we left at 2pm on Wednesday , we only managed to reach at 10 pm at Golden Mile Complex! Almost 8 hrs of bus. That surely exhausted me out.
And to think of something infuriating. After I decided to go for a jog today. I actually fell down after 3 rounds and now I suffer from quite a serious abrasion on my knee ~~ :(
So much for 5 years of running on the same terrain.
First time dyeing my hair / Friday, January 15, 2010
Went for my final haircut before NS and for Chinese New Year today.(Actually yesterday) And did my first ever dyeing of hair! Just felt like doing so actually , since I won't have the chance until after NS.
So far , the effect turns out better than I expected. Actually quite used to the colour. Do not expect too much though as the colour is not very bright. It's a dark Mocha Brown Haha! Just wanted a change of colour and not a complete reversal of my hair colour.
Working tomorrow and ending soon. Oh well.
What do I have left to do before I have no chances?
Had been working these few days and all had been well. At least my job has been quite relaxing compared to the rest of the people at the John Little Mega Expo Sales. I just sit there and serve customers who are doing deliveries. The guys there are great and my supervisors are nice and friendly.
Except for the long working hours , all are fine!
Oh ya , and for all those O level Graduates who I know from the sales , good luck for O level results on Monday~
Then just went for dinner at Old Kallang Airport with my family. On the way back home on bus , my Mother told me about the place where she and my father dated more than 25 years back , at a park just beside the Kallang Canal, somewhere near the Lavender Wet Market , where they so called "fed mosquitoes"!
Haha , that was like so long back~
And that was when I realized that my Father , mother , and my brother and I , have all been living in this part of Singapore since we were bornt and have never moved out of it.
Bugis , or some people called "小坡" was the place where my mother and father had grown up in , and yes , they have moved house 2-3 times each , but still within this small part of town , near the city.
Needless to say , my brother and I have grown up here over our 21 and 18 years respectively and it certainly is a different experience from living in the heartland.
We don't have the big open parks , the clear lanes to cycle , the void decks to hang out in , the nice playground where we can spend our childhood in(Instead , my childhood playground was at Kallang Bahru and Tampines which was my Grandma's house where we spend every Saturday last time).
Every morning when we wake up , it's the hustle and bustle of the Kwan Yin Temple when my mother goes praying. And the breakfast at the Queen Streets Market.
Shopping is always near . Before Bugis Junction was open when I was in Kindergarten , the place was quiet , backwards and slow. And Stamford Primary School , which was beside my house , was the place of choice for my brother and me.
Then Bugis Junction was opened and the area was revitalised. So it has been the place where we shop and hang out and the place became more and more busy.
I think that it must be weird when one day I wake up and I am no longer living here , because I'm really too farmiliar with this area. I have been to all places within 3 kms of here and it's nice to think that I can walk to Suntec City from here. Haha!
I must really say that it has been a pleasure living here and although this post is so random , I relish waking up in the this part of town everyday and awaking to the sounds and sights of this area.
Last night , I went for a countdown BBQ at Pasir Ris Park with the class people and it had been a few years since I countdown outside. Most of the past years countdown were either spent at home or
I have been quite a couch potato for the past 1 to 2 weeks and now I could not afford the time to slack. From tomorrow till perhap end of January , I think my schedule would be pretty much filled up by my work , Genting trip and some other miscellaneous stuffs.
That's fantastic though! Staying at home might be relaxing but it does get boring after one month.
However it's all different now. And thank for it ^_^
Hey I'm back from KL! Well again , since i went there for 1 or 2 days last year!
This time round , I spent a longer time there and trust me , it was a well-deserved rest which I need after My BK this december and sydney trip this June was cancelled. Well , a simple , but nice city tour and plenty of shopping!
Should upload some photos~~
1st Day
This is the Christmas Tree at Berjaya Times Square!
My mother had some craving for coffee and we went to a small cafe to have a short teabreak after touching down not long ago.
Sitting at the small cafe.
Cosmo world indoor theme park
Traffic wardens commanding the traffic!
Swiss Garden Hotel which I lived in. Fairly okay I think although I never used any of the facilities at all. The swimming was OMG.... Small....
Then we had dinner at a restaurant at Chinatown called Ho Lian Zi which serve a very mean Black Soya Sauce Hokkien mee. Food and price-wise was the most affordable throughout the whole trip.
This dish was nice! The chicken was pre-fried and it was cooked in a very fragant spicy sauce.
2nd day
Early in the morning , we proceeded to the Twin tower and this is a picture taken in Suria KLCC. However , we were super late and did not manage to get the tickets to go up to the skybridge. Well and mind you , it was only 9.30 a.m.
After that , we proceeded on to Thian Gong Temple to pray pray. There was a small tortoise pool there that was filled with tortoise.
After that was Lunch at Madam Kuan at MidValley Megamall
A nice concoction of Nasi Lemak in a restaurant. Quite nice I would say.
After a few hour of shopping , it was dinner at KFC.
This was mine , Oriental chicken set. 2 pieces Chicken + rice + chicken ball soup.
Zinger XX burger
3rd day
On the third day , we went to watch Avatar 3D version at Berjaya Times Square. The 3D structure there was quite filmsy though , the spectacle kept on falling off my nosebridge... Some photos taken are below.
After that we went on to Sungei Wang Plaza which is known for its cheap buys! Plenty of cheap and street style stuffs there of all varieties.
Lunch at a new Hong Kong Restaurant there which had quite a lot of people eating. Serve very authentic Cantonese cuisine!
After hours of shopping at Sungei Wang Plaza , it was a nice dinner at Dragon View Restaurant at Jalan Alor again. Ordered 5 dishes for 3 people so it was really a lot~~ Can just say it was a sinful and totally satisfying dinner.
Bah Kut Teh
Stirred Fried Vegetable with meat
Pineapple fried pork ribs
Seafood Pot
Jalan Alor , which is a busy food street
4th day
Buffet breakfast at the hotel cafe which we stuffed ourselves throughout the three days. They have quite a sumptious buffet spread with different breads , some local delights and majority western styled breakfast. Even the egg has 4 varities. The thing is that the menu was quite similar almost everyday. So by the 3rd buffet there was nothing much to eat already.
Some of the food.
Well after that , it was back to shopping for a while after we checked out and we waited out the last 1 hour at Starbuck before we left on our bus home at 5.30 p.m.
Ya and that's it. What I bought there was some clothes and a bit of food. My mum bought A LOT of food.
