Been Blogging Since February 2004

CKP's Birthday - Behind the Scene

2011-09-05T02:08:00.001+08:00

Planning a birthday party has never been so difficult. I can even sit down for days just to daze. Though I knew there wasn't a thing called "Perfection" but there's prolly something close to it.

And the first thing that conceptualized half a year ago was a little book which consisted of a compilation of all our memories over the past 1 year. From stealing of photos through your iphone, to forcing all our peers to transfer all our group shots to me. I bet no one else has been reading up your Facebook as often as I do, and bit by bit, your collection of photos were being plucked off the web and finally landed in the book. And it has never occur to you why I would insist on using my phone to snap photos during our gathering?

(Naa, you promised that if one day I'm gonna lose my memory, you will use this book to jolt my memory back ya..)

This gift was not only memorable to us, but also to the printing company which printed this book, apart from having to wait up almost an hour before they can close shop (cos I lost my way there).... When the lady handed the book to me, she told me she has printed so many books but never as touched until she saw this. At that moment, I was lost for words too.

Going shopping seems like an everyday thing we would do together. But you prolly won't know that I would bring you along to shop for your own gift. You prolly know I'm very bad with remembering things and perhaps thought I would just forget about the things you've picked. But I didn't. Being very gan cheong about it, a couple of days later, right after yuping landed in Singapore, I went straight back to the shop with her and gotten her to fly it in for you specially.

(from the day you told me your colleague vomitted onto your bag, I already fixed my mind on getting a new one for you)

Now you know how much Yuping has done for you ah..

From sourcing out for gifts, right to the booking of hotel, it seems like you will always be the last to know it all. Cos all along, you would have thought you are gonna "camp" by the beach in the new 2-men tent I bought from Giant? Guess you must have sianed 1/2 when I happily told u that we are going camping for your birthday.

Woosh, the moment I stepped into the room with such a big bed, I really won't want to stop rolling up and down on it. With a dream-bathroom so big and bright, I think I can bath 2 hours daily in it.

(One of those lovely mirror shots)

(In the big bathtub)

(Role Play again: Perfect customer service!)

And you thought I was gonna kept it so simple? Think again.. While we were having so much fun snapping away and doing our role play, your 2nd half of the surprise slowly arrives...

Had so much trouble trying to force you to get out of the room so that the "2nd" half of the surprise can be setup. Thank god you still dote on me, otherwise I bet you will just nua in bed and watch TV ignoring me, instead of going out to cycle with me.

Planning this little staycation was pretty easy with the help of our gang. Gotten the help of reception desk to hide 1 key card prior to our arrival, told them to give it to Yuping to let her into the room. I really have Yuping to thank for everything she has done. From picking up a bouquet of your favourite white roses and lugging all the gifts to the hotel. I even had to bother her by going down to her place to deliver all the gifts the night before our party. Then our F&B manager, Yuwen and her hubby went to pack dinner and a cake for you too before heading into the hotel.

Down to the detail of where to place the gifts and where our peeps would hide, I even downloaded a floor plan for them!!

Our room was an exact mirror of this layout

Even until now, I still find it so funny that this actually came to my mind to get them to hide in the bathroom.

They arrived with their share of surprises for you!

As we arrive back to the hotel, the gang hid in the bathroom waiting for the moment to arrive. But I guess you gave all of us a bigger surprise when you made your first comment as you entered the room.

"Eh, how come I smell pizza??"

Haahaaha honestly I cannot stop giggling to myself. Let alone the rest of them hiding in the bathroom and heard exactly what you said.

Look at what our dear Yuping has prepared for you...

All wrapped with love..

I've not fail to deliver my 3 surprises of the day :) Now you know why I was so insistent not to pick them up from vivo city? Cos all of them took the trouble to deliver their little surprise to you instead.

Needless to say further, you should have seen how much the gang loves you :)
Blessed Birthday, ckp!

All in a day's work

2011-01-25T07:01:00.000+08:00

Just when I most needed a Bumming Buddie to hang around during my off day.. Here's the hero who came to my rescue.. rescued me from boredom, and that's none other than my cute little princess ckp~

Don't you just love her for the kind of creativity that she has? Something like covering your face when you shoot! And the best part is that she can even exclaim "LOOK, I snapped it perfectly with my eyes covered!"

My day started really randomly when I woke up feeling alittle bored. Decided to bake cookies but my mum said no. So I decided to just bum off my day since its MONDAY~ but little did I know, my funny lover somewhere out there decided to just watsapp me while I was busy in the toilet clearing my leftovers from the night before. And so, our little adventure started...

And for all we know.. that was how we lost our FIRST TIME to each other AGAIN...

CW's First Time @ Safra Mt Faber
Being a very kuku fella, I seldom steps out of her comfort zone (East Area) and venture alone into places that is so far out.. and today, I finally set my foot onto Mt Faber. It was never easy for someone who can't tell that "Mt Faber is not beside Mt Sophia" and "Bukit Timah is different from Bukit Merah" to find her own way to Telok Blangah. So I had to be guided with clues and landmarks. And finally I got my ass to Safra Mt Faber. All thanks to CKP, I had so much to sweat it out in the gym then followed by a nice cool dip in the pool..

HOT rite.... haaahaaa

It was then followed by a Jacuzzi and a little smokey moment @ the steam room.. Steam until cannot see lor! lol. But I must say it was fun. And for the longest time I had not been to Ya Kun.. So I can't be any happier when CKP suggested Ya Kun..I've always missed the "Set A"(can't remember if its A but anyway, its the set with eggs, toast and coffee) over there.. and what truly touched me was that CKP actually remembered that I will always change my drink to Ice Milo. I'm always so thrilled and impressed when my close friends can remember all my little life's habits. I just love simple moments like this, sit, chill, la kopi with someone whom I can confide in.

CKP's First Time @ Facial Treatment
Then the happening duo went down to Orchard for a little "investment" on the face. We had this Oxygen pumping stuff that was so fun, and a huge dose of Vitamin C on our pretty faces followed by some cool mask to end of the whole treatment, Boy this is good stuff man!

So that's where we are @ Beyond Beauty Parkmall. It was nicely done up, pity that this place isnt the closest to my house, otherwise I would definitely frequent this place more!

And the both of us had to bum around for quite awhile because we missed our appointment slot. But still, all that waiting was worth it cos tml when ckp is back to work, you guys will see the difference!!

CKP's First Time @ Standing Sushi Bar
So I finally brought her to my favourite sushi bar @ 8QSAM to have a "One Night Stand". Met my old friend, Frank and of course, Chef Roy. Yes, I love it when everything is ad hoc, no need to read menu, cos I can't understand a word of japanese. I've always preferred to leave it in good hands of Chef Roy.. so here's a peek to our menu of the night.

A little soupy dish to start the day. Abit of chicken, red carrot, raddish and celery

My all time favourite.. Chef's recommended 7 Combi Sashimi. Look at the brown little pieces in the middle, that's my favourite White Tune. Always never fail to perk me up!

And the grilled beef that will never go wrong. My beef with inoki mushroom roll :) yummy!

And my sweetie little rice wine, otherwise known as a girl's "SK III". Nice and smoothe and easy to go along with everything.

Drooling already? Not yet ya.. Chef Roy throwed in Miso soup and Yuzi Ice Cream as usual.. wah, nothing beats ending my day with ice cream! Chef Roy sure knows how to end my meal the right way.

So here's how a simple monday turned out to be such great enjoyment. Monday meant to be a day enjoyed especially with someone who truly loves you. 101% satisfied :)

How I lost my First...

2010-09-05T03:00:00.000+08:00

Ever since June came to a close.. I'm so glad I stepped out of it and made my life better.
And guess what, these folks made the fun doubled! These people made the time spent together worthwhile

And that was how I lost my "First" to them....

Our First "Family" Photo (missing Jes.. cos she went to Pee)

Our First Prawning Trip @ Bottle Tree

Our First time we celebrated our batchmate's birthday!

Happy Ageing, YY and Jeslyn

Our First Movie Outing (Despicable Me!)

I think thats the time when dar started fallin for me lor.. haahaa

Our First BBQ Nite @ Nat's Condo

My First Handmade Birthday for the month!

And of cos, it's for my Sweetie Pie, Karen for her 24th Birthday.. Can never ever forget how my blur sweetie can even forget how old she is!!! haaahaa

Our First Kiss (of the day... for me lah, not sure about her lor! haaaha)

And how can I ever forget to mention my new found luv~ my dar dar, Karen. She's really one great girl whom you can't help but to want to give her alittle more love. Alittle blur at times, but a truly generous and kind person in her heart. Trust me, this girl is one deep person whom you can really learn alot from, don't be deceived by her sweet looks lor. During our free time, we love "Guys watching" and our fav topic is.. "How to Tame bad boys"

Don't worry lah, we are all straight. She is happily attached to her boyfriend, while I'm busy handling all my flings.

Our First Drinking Party

Yes, ultimately, we just want to find the First "Merlion" of the gang who vomitted Bak Kut Teh...

My First attempt at making various kind of chocolate

...only to find out that the original truffle is still the best. This is dar's birthday gift from her hunny

My First mass baking session

all in the name of charity

Our First Training back together after the fantastic 2 weeks we spent together

The First Lame Invitation Emailer I blasted everyone with

Our First Gaming session @ Pitstop Cafe

My First time catching a prawn with bare hand

Yes, no rod used. just 1 slightly short but powerful hand

Our First time giving random names

Arissa aka Yuwen

My First time in my whole fat life wearing a Sponge Bob Square Pants Tee

My god, I can't imaging I'm actually doing such a lame thing!! But its really cool, I like this Tee actually

My First Male Lead @ work

We had so much fun acting out that silly role play, it almost look real

According to dar dar, she said that no matter what is going to happen behind the scene, she wants to remain FIRST. So Robin is still gonna be the FIRST runner up. haaaha

My First attempt to bake for dar dar

which didn't turn out quite what I expected.. but dar is one who appreciates all the stuff you do for her..

Honestly, I think I've not wasted my 2 months back here. I have been blessed with a bunch of great peeps to keep me going all day long. Whatever is to come maybe unknown, but the known fact is.. We are all in this Together. All these photos were made possible when folks like me didn't know how to draw a clear line between work and personal life. We brought work into our personal lives... Well, I'm happy to leave it unknown, cos its really made life a happier one for everyone.

Ahh, and I'm sure you guys didn't know that one can really have so much fun @ work with the people you deal with all the time.

Happy 2 months Anniversary peeps!! We are officially 2 months old!!

Summer Love @ The Philippines

2010-05-29T11:56:00.001+08:00

I sometimes wonder why people insist on buying travel insurance..

Well, then I concluded its just that your heart can really get lost in these beautiful cities? Or maybe is it just stolen by the nice folks down there. But again.. how to file a claim for that? Haaa~

For the longest time in my life I have been yearning to go to the Philippines. From all the books or magazines I ever read, from the Balut right down to the white sandy beaches, this place had already captured all my wildest imagination long before I even set my foot on this beautiful land.

Finally the journey to my dream destination begins.. so excited to see with my own eyes what a colorful jeepney might look like.

4am was the exact moment I landed.. gosh was I tired out.. Our first destination was of cos a super early breakfast followed by a visit to the Mactan Shrine where we were greeted by a beautiful swampy land in Sunrise!

I had so much problem sleeping on the plane.. but I think its all worth while, we started the morning with a very slow tour into the filipino history.. which I vaguely recall with my half awaken mind.. begins with this great warrior Luput Luput

The whole place was so tranquil so much so that even simple folks by the street look so generous with their smile. The peacefulness you see in them really lingers around my mind for the day.

Even simple seafood looks extra delicious :)

Thereafter, we took a break at Shangri La Resort.. Gosh was the view breathe-taking.. what private beach etc.. it was a total luxury just to even take a seat there and chill in the morning

It was really grand.. you know, even if I don't pay for these luxury stuff in life, its good once in awhile, go in and chill, relax, sit back and enjoy.. now that's life!

The next stop was at the Famous Guitar Factory on the island, oh my, you can really hear the difference, it was quality sound all right! Presenting Alegre Guitars

Guitars freshly made by the craftsmen in the workshop

Here's the Ukulele I bought for Kat Looi! OMG, the sound quality is superb, its not a toy lor... Its music to the ears...

Here's a huge icon of Cebu where it captures the essence of the Cebu history.. One can never tell from its name, this place is actually so rich in its history.

Our next pit stop is just across the street, the Yap-San Diego Ancestral Home, one of the most well-preserved heritage that depicts the evolution from the olden days when Chinese set sail to The Philippines and their settlement onto this foreign land.

Everything has to be so carefully preserved so much so that even the flooring has to be treated with love.. hence, we have got to put on such a foot cover while walking around the place

Next up, here's a glimspe of the oldest church in Philippines, Basilica Minore del Sto Nino.

The interior was so grand and magnificient

And I always imagined such scene only in a Taoist Temple, never knew Catholics lite a candle to make wishes too!

And how can your day tour be complete without a visit to the famous fort, Fort San Pedro.. The smallest, oldest triangular bastion fort in the country was built in 1738 to repel Muslim raiders. In turn, it served as a stronghold for Filipino revolutionaries near the end of the 19'th Century. This served as the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines. Well, within the walls of the fort now holds a very lovely ground for pinic, cafe chillout, or maybe just a day of photoshooting..

And did I tell you what they used to build this fort?? Egg White!! My god, yes EGG WHITE!

Last stop of the day is a visit to one of the grandest Taoist Temple sitting right up the hill top

This old man not only fish for you, he teaches you how to fish?

Practically spent the whole of the 2nd day shopping, buying, eating, snacking, shopping, buying, eating, snacking.. here's a shot right outside SM Mall, the biggest in Cebu I think..

When nite-falls, that's when the Balut challenge sets in.. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not for those with faint hearted.. presenting the Ultimate BALUT! woohoo! haaa, u saw the chicken there? Still got feathers somemore.. haaaha, but overall, its superb! It tasted like chicken (Duh!! Its a chick alright) with a hint of eggy smell.

The very next morning, it was time to head to the shores of Bohol where you will feel summer love revolving all around you. Its not going to be a shopping heaven, but its gonna be a good spot for chilling by the beach for bums like me!

The local Taxi..and it looks like its gonna topple anytime man.. scary~

Another old church that we went to.. the Baclayon Church. Some of the oldest in the region too. And the scary thing if you see carefully.. right beside the bell tower, you can actually see the face of a bearded man on the wall

Then its to the interior of the church, gosh, its another grand piece of art.

Nope, not Cabury Mountains nor Rocher Cliff, its Chocolate Hills of Bohol.. And why the name? Its because during the season, these little hills turn brownish on its own thus resembling little hershey kisses.

Okok, time out for lunch by the river, relax as we cruise down the river to nowhere just listening to music and chill in the midst of greeneries and calmness of the river

Little Tarzan swinging himself into the waters

Now to visit some cute fellows which resembles ET.. Tarsiers @ Tarsier Sanctuary. Guess what, they actually eat worms! Ewwww...

So far, this has been one of the nicer Jeepney I have come across during my trip, and the best part.. It looks like trasnformer!

The very next morning, it was another super early day when we woke up at 5am just to catch a glimspe of dolphins as we go chasing the playful friends

Here's the click once more doing a "Zi Pai"

Just look at how clear the water is..

Here's the whole fleet of tourist right infront of us scaring the poor dolphins

Finally its time for my own action to get into the waters @ Balicasag Island. Okie, time for me to get wet, but before that, maybe just a couple of starfish to start my day right!

Into the deep blue sea

Sea Urchins @ Virgin Island

Salty but fresh.. the taste is really good I must say~

GP Teh with her Urchin on hand, she is trying it with their famous coconut vinegar!

And after a long long day at the sea, best is always to chill by the cafe with a bottle of Ice Cold Beer.. And San Miguel Light makes the best choice!

And for Sundown, time to head for the beach to get a good nice dose of Seafood @ a bargain! BBQ seafood at prices you can't imagine! Here's the girls waiting for their food at Opps! Restuarant and Pub

A CW all time favourite, Icy cool Ice Tea~

Woohoo~ here comes the seafood platter.. deliciously layered with vegs, BBQ squid, Ocean fresh fishes, fat juicy prawns and sweetie crab!

Oh, how can I forget about my accomodation? A newly built up resort, Panglao Regents Park Resort

The nice cafe which I love chilling out and surfing web and sending nonsense emails and mindless facebooking over a cuppa~

Simply love the beautiful beach, white sand, clear water, no need for extra bikini babes, but preferably another beach hunk will make my day! ahaah

Here's beautiful me again!

The clear blue..

Our last pose before we bade farewell to the island :(

What a trip I must say, yes, it was absolutely burning hot, but with all the fun I had, its all worth while. Till my next trip comes along...

Cheers.

Its I, me, myself..

2010-05-02T00:30:00.000+08:00

Another random posting of a shot taken at a place where I hang out like more than 12 hrs a day?

Duh... Me, my team, my office~

Keeping the Blogging Passion Alive

2010-04-25T23:08:00.000+08:00

Its been sometime since I last blogged.. and unknowingly, I have been caught mugging at work and spending lesser quality time with I, me and myself.

Let me have sometime on hand, I shall start posting up all the interesting shots I ever capture on my camera~ I promise! Album by Album, they are coming on!

Life has never been the same since he came along. Well, anyway~~ here's some random shot.
Let's bring it on.

Here's Kiki and Lala after their shower~

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Food, Friends and Fun @ Sentosa!

2009-08-17T11:02:00.004+08:00

Urghh~
Its such a dread to come to work on a monday morning just when I thot I should be still sunning my ass in my balcony sipping icy cool ribena from my Tele-tubbies mug!

Anyway, ITS MONDAY! And the best thing you definitely have to do on a beautiful monday morning is to brag about the fun things you did over the weekend!

Gosh! Haa, and it so happened that I went to Sentosa with my "TP Gang". Just love the time we spent doing nothing, watching time fly by..

And so happened that Chris' Bday is Today (17th Aug)

So we had a mini celebration for her too!! Gosh, and I made Cheesecake for her as well. It has got to be my favourtie Blueberry Cheesecake! Ahh~~

And look at the cheesecake.. yummy yummy.. It was way MUCH better than the one they ate previously!! And the next best thing after a giant slice of cheesecake.. is to be forced to eat more cheesecake!

The last slice standing...

We had so much laughter during our game of frisbee, volley and of cos, a relaxing dip in the salty waters. Isn't it great to feel the water pushing you gently up and down the shallow beach.

Oie!! Drunk liao ah?

Ok.. here we are!

Then some of them decided to have a good sand bath.. and so we did...

There they go again!

He always wanted to do that!!!

Grumpy Bear

Jun Jun in the sand!

And guess what, we made a new friend by the name of Lisa!

The Babes and Lisa

And ending off the fun with a very simple and traditional childhood game..

Trying damn hard to kick ass!

Snake and Ladder!! Woosh! Old School!

And above all, here's the folks who made it happen..

Jun Jun, Kiddo from DHS

Keong in luv with Liz..

Teacher Goh

Super Smith

Cheerene the Super Beach Bum!

Have Fun ya!

Blood Donation, the brand new Sexy

2009-07-12T22:59:00.003+08:00

Giving blood is the brand new Sexy..

So here's how you can be sexy too. Being sexy isn't gonna be painful. The whole process don't even take you more than 40 mins.

From a simple questionaire to a short medical checkup and followed by a blood test. And you are all ready to go Sexy.

Simply sit back, relax and enjoy. It's not painful at all since you are given local painkiller. Once the needle is in.. ahh.. just go with the flow :)

The hole where they poked me was covered just in case you all find it gross :(

So here's 450ml of me! :)

But this time round, my palates can't be used becaused of my previous voluntary trip to Cambodia. Nah, I can't do the separations of my blood cells and palates, shall leave it to the experts then.

And the coolest thing about donating blood in Singapore is that you get to choose your color of bandage :) It comes in Orange, pink, yellow, green, blue, purple and others! With funky designs too! I had smiley today!

And you know what, you can now be a bone marrow donor too. You don't actually donate on the spot, its harder to find someone with matching bone marrow than striking Scratchie or 4D! Its only upon a match, then you will be called upon to make the donation. As of today, I'm one proud potential donor.

Ok.. If bone marrow donation is painful, I promise I will blog it out too :)

What good is it to keep things in excess when sharing them saves?

Now, go ahead and be sexy.

I like the way I'm regaining my smile..

2009-07-06T00:25:00.003+08:00

I don't know why.. seems like work is getting abit on my nerves these days. Not really anyone can help improve the situation except for myself. Don't read inbetween the lines, I mean everyone is really nice to me, just that I have been locking up things within myself, I cannot change my mindset.

But ever since my mind was set, I really can feel much lighter in my heart. Seems like the burden I have been holding onto is slowly dissolving.. Been doing things I love doing, been scheduling my trip to go to, been up to really quite abit of nonsense every now and then. And the last thing I would want to talk about.. Thats WORK! Wahahaaa! Thank God for every bit of kiddish-ness in me. That's really what my life is all about. FUN!

Anyway, backed by popular demand.. I've baked another cheesecake. Its nutella this time =)
Folks, stop requesting le.. its a smaller cake this time, not enough to go round one lah.. sorry k.

I really like the way I'm regaining my smile bit by bit..
and I only wanted to be a happier person.

Our friendship is like pee in the pants..

2009-06-06T21:22:00.005+08:00

Well, everyone can see it..
But only you can feel its warmth..

True isn't it? Everyone sees that we fought like mad almost every other day, but only we can understand the joy of having a buddy to bicker with :)
Well, at least I enjoyed the process of bickering. Haaaa

This is like one major big gift that I really spent loads of time to plan and worked on.. As promised, I've made it specially for you lor..

Pity that I've forgotten to take a photo of your Cash Box.. otherwise it would have been lovely to let everyone see how "wet" this friendship is.. haahaa

But in any case, the next highlight of your birthday surprise is our favourite Blueberry Cheesecake.. This was the one that got me hooked onto cheesecake lor..

Yep, to add on to the sweetness, I've got the imps to do a gig for you too :)

Enough of the fun ya, I better keep my posting short.
So, before I end off, here's my wishes for you..

"...Here's a toast to a very nice friend of mine, wishing you a berri Happy Birthday! I am truly thankful for a friend like you..

I do hope that all of us managed to make your day a special one. And enjoy this wonderous moment ya..."

Luv,
Me

How well do you know me?

2009-05-26T23:56:00.004+08:00

I was reflecting on my life this evening when I was having a quiet moment to myself.. then I realized a hard fact..

Truly 1 thing remain constant in my life.. and that is my Height!

I'm so stupidly short and sometimes, people call me "short fart"

So here's the thing.. I have gotten so many nick these days.. I'm starting to loss track of all of them.. Maybe I should just try to recall each of them and the reasons why those nicks?

The Nick: Short Fart

The Reason: Cos I'm Short and Fat, that's why. It's rather self-explainatory.

The Existence: During my Aussie days

The Nick: Ah Pui
The Reason: Another self-explainatory one. The harder I try to lose weight, the rounder I get. Got it?
The Existence: Only Ronald dares call me that. Si San Por!

The Nick: "Chi Ring"
The Reason: A simple case of mis-prounounciation of my English name, Cheerene.
The Existence: During my stint @ Creative. And occassionally with I go out with my ex-colleagues.

The Nick: Cher Cher
The Reason: A sweeter version of my English name.
The Existence: Started since I begin calling everyone my "dar dar" and "hunny" in office. Dating back to Feb'09.

The Nick: Ah Ping ah..

The Reason: A very traditional way of greeting me in my chinese name commonly used in my family and other older folks I meet anywhere.

The Existence: Since young and every now and then.

The Nick: Xiao Hua
The Reason: Just for fun. Decided to go very traditionally Chinese by adopting a common Chinese name since I was from a really Chinese-cultured school, and what's more, I was from Chinese Orchestra and have special interest in Chinese Skits. It came to a point whereby all my school assignments are all submitted under the name of "Xiao Hua". Back then, whoever don't call me by Xiao Hua was totally ignored throughout the day. Period.
The Existence: Throughout secondary 3 and 4 years. And comfortably using it as my permament email address, superlittleflower.

The Nick: Chilli
The Reason: No particular reason. Officially, only 1 person uses this, so... PLS DO NOT IMITATE!
The Existence: When both of us are having a good hair days

The Nick: Piglet

The Reason: There were days where I simply love to go all Pinkish. And it all began when I brought this piggy mug of mine into office. This nick was officially declared by Grandmother Geok. I think I remind her of Bak Gua when she sees me, hence this nick.

The Existence: My Bedokian days @ the bank.

The Nick: Hamburger
The Reason: During my XXXXXL days, my face looks as if I stuffed 2 hamburgers into my mouth daily. The inspiration of this nick was derived from my stuffed outlook.

The Existence: My primary school days

There are loads more of nicks I have, but those aren't the commonly used ones, so nothing to blog about.

(The above post is an inspiration from Facebook's "How well you know XXX?" quizes.)

Anyway, you have recently seen my new craze.. and that's baking Cheesecakes!

And here's my new creation... Oreo Cheesecake..

My new Sensation in Life.

If life is just as good as cheesecakes...

When I sank deeper into my love affair...

2009-05-15T23:54:00.002+08:00

You know what? When you are in love sometimes, you just don't know where you are going and you will just end up sinking deeper and deeper into love.

And all you will ever want to do, is just to find a way back into love...

Here's a slice of my love.

Wonderfully baked for mother's day 09.

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Touched by an Angel

2009-02-27T23:18:00.003+08:00

Being "not attached", V-day has got it own special meaning. Its more of like a Friendship day to me where everyone should deserve something nice. A Friend.

So I guess everyone has gotten their fair share of V-day...

well, so did I. And I happen to be on the giving end..

Just imaging I spent nights doing all these..

And what if you are the one who received the one and only..?

Actually gave this bear to someone whom I shared this "Love-Hate" Relationship with..

Highly likely, she is also my "Only Friend in UOB". I bet to my last penny that there isn't anyone who can hate each other so much as to try to irritate the shit out of each other daily.Yet at the end of the day, we really do care for each other.

Seriously, anyone would be so touched to receive this isn't it?? Her comment was just... "Its becos my name is XXXX"

Bloody hell.. can't you even shut up and just gimme a hug for being a nice friend. Must you even irritate the shit out of me even when I'm trying to be nice!

GRrrrr~

Anyway, I've been quite boogled down by work recently. So much so that there became a point of time, my mind was made up. And if not for the call the other night... I would have thot that it would spell an end to my days here. And so from then on, I decided that I was Touched by an Angel that night.

Its been long since I last heard from anyone soul that I CAN DO IT! and just stay POSITIVE! I really appreciated that for it brought back life to a dying soul.

PTL for he sent the Angel to be with me, right on time. and thanks for the morning call. I saved 8 bucks because of you again. Muacks!

As the cookies madness continues

2009-02-08T22:13:00.003+08:00

Best in Singapore and JB.. and now, some say Vietnam!

From Vietnam, With Love..

2009-01-27T18:30:00.002+08:00

Long since I came back from Vietnam, long since I felt the little sense of love. If there's something I can blame, I would definitely blame it to "Love at first sight".

It wouldn't have been made possible without Chi really. If not for her wedding, I would really have put off this trip till the next century. Vietnam has always been a country that I've wanted to go so badly. For the fact is, I've always wanted to comb the whole of Asia. Now with this trip, I'm a step closer to this dream.

Being a super sweet friend, I went through thousands of photos in search of an old one.. it was taken way back in the late 2003 when we embarked on our FYP just to get our ass out of Temasek.

Behold.. Time for our "Now and Then.."
Eeeek!Awwww~~~~ so sweet..

Anyway, this time, we began the tour in an odd number, which is something I don't do frequently.. Its just not right.And other than with handphones, its really been a long time since I last "Zi Pai" (self-taken shot). Haa~

Guess what? I think this is Baby Alpha's first overseas expedition too!Sorry baby, it really took me that long before I took you on your first flight since your birth in this blog.

So we finally arrived at Ho Chi Minh City on 31st Dec 2008. Just in time for New Year Party!! We did a quick check-in to our accommodation for the week, An An Hotel.Hidden in our comfy bedroom, we started indulging in the illusion that we are all millionaire! And yes, we shopped with millions of Dongs in our pocket! It isn't so illusive afterall. Here's my worth of Dongs!

Wasting no time, we headed straight to the streets, wanting to catch the best deals in town and of course, looking out for the biggest party in town. Afterall, we are SINGLE IN VIETNAM! Here's one of the party spots. Looks like we are in for a big big party~

But before that, we headed to the Ben Thanh Market for "Round 1"..
and there we found ourselves succumbing to the aromatic ca phe phin, Vietnamese drip coffee.

And the stall which got my Million Dong Deal! I seriously didn't know I can be so mad about ca phe!! Its a Vietnamese culture that they will make you sit on little stools right outside their stalls while they talk terms out with you. It just reminds me of my work back home, every sit-in is a chance to close a deal. Haa~After so much bargainning, don't you think I deserve a free pack of tea or something?!? *Hint Hint*

Some little porcupine pastry I found just beside my favourite ca phe shop.

Ben Thanh holds quite abit of interesting stuff, but beware, there are lots of "Rippers" around! But if you are a seasoned shopper of such market, you should do fine. I always try to stick to my 50 cents +/- principle. So if you are in a hurry, or not somewhat in the mood for shopping, then its best you should just leave me to shop on my own. Here's a shot of one of the stall owner in the corner. She seems alittle tad familiar somewhat. By the time I'm done with the shot, this ah mah already seemed egdy, and the next best thing to do is to scot off lah~

Heading for our first good meal in HCM, we went for nothing less than their "National Food".. Pho (Rice Noodles)! And for a start, do try it out at Pho 24!Its almost a "Macdonalds-equivalent" over in Vietnam. Operates like a fast food chain, everywhere, anywhere.So happy with my first Happy Pho Meal in HCM, Vietnam!
Here's a platter of everything to spice up your pipping hot pho. and little side dishes to make your meal complete.It's just like how a large fries would go well with your Big Mac.

*Owl howls~~*As night falls.. you can really hear the foot steps of 2009 drawing closer and closer.. Haahaa, that was alittle too descriptive. What I meant to say is just how we did our count down at a local pub. Guess what we found!! Its our Tiger Beer!

Because of time zone differences, we did a round a of count down in GMT +8:00, and scot off. The pub was getting alittle too warm for my liking as well. Grabbing on to my last few sips of Tiger, I staggered back to my hotel room..Oh pls.. don't think I'm really that drunk. Its just posing. Bin.. you are not suppose to laugh!! You are suppose to look drunk too.

And back at the hotel, I was alittle happier than my usual self, so here's another candid shot. I shall proudly name this.. "Tipsy Vietnamese"

"Gd Morning Saigon!" that's how my tour guide would put it as.. and it will be followed by a 5 seconds worth of quirky smile on his face. Beginning Day 2 with a day tour round Mekong Delta at just USD$10 was a pretty good deal. But of course, price to pay.. you got to wake up really early and wait really long. HaahaaRise and shine, with a cuppa from Mimi's Rest House! Nothing like waking up to a cool cuppa authentic Vietnamese ca phe.

So we began our tour down Mekong. And here's one more of me happily localising myself there..
Once more. The Little Vietnamese.

All ready to setup my own fruit plantation in Vietnam! Think most Vietnamese are pretty slim etc, so I don't really fit into the picture of a farmer in Vietnam, I look more like their fruit?? A coconut maybe?Sitting back, relaxing with some tea after all that posing..
Up next, my encounter with the wilderness. This baby can weigh a tonne! But no fret, I'm quite experienced in this. You will safe with me..

And this is Kina, my new friend from Vietnam! This really sweet girl was part of our day trip's group.
And for dinner that night, we went to Pho 2000! Its there we had our encounter with Vietnamese curry. Yummy Yummy!

Next morning, I was greeted by a very localized version of "hello!".. and that's "Yaallow"!

And its none other than the old lady who makes Banh Mi Thit just beside my hotel. She can't really understand english, so we communicate in "Dongs" instead, haahaa, pure transactional dealings. By then, Mimi already knew what I wanted to drink first thing in the morning... and that's my ca phe.
Seated at Mimi's Rest House again, enjoying my breakfast. Its quite a big Banh Mi Thit, or simply, French Loaf with fillings.

Then we proceed to another half day tour to Cu Cui Tunnel... where we were brought back to the war days. Men dissappearing into little holes once again.

Men in Burberry Scarf. So now we know, Burberry is of a Vietnamese origin.

Seriously man, I don't know how men find their way into such DEEP DARK HOLES! And they can go really really really deep down under. *Sniggers*

Here's myself, emerging from the tunnel.

After a long morning running through holes.. we treated ourselves to fastfood. Ahhh~~ KFC~~ heehee I think they call it "Lotteria" or something like that.

She's all smiles! Such good service! 2 thumbs up for her!

And here's me again, sending sms back home to some coconut-head back home. If you have somehow received an sms during one of the days I'm at Vietnam, prolly you might be the coconut-head I'm referring to.

Then we headed for the Chinatown of HCM, that was pretty far away actually. After going all the wrong ways, we finally reach our destination, An Dong Market. Well, we got there alittle too late for shopping.. but things there are about the same price as compared to Ben Thant Market. The only difference at An Dong is, they do more of a wholesale biz, so it can get slightly cheaper provided you buy in bulk. This is also a good place for you to pick up some gifts for friends.. perhaps adding on to their international keychain collections? Heehee

So I decided to reward myself with some local snacks at the market just before everyone packs up and head home.Some Vietnamese Satays. Eh, I'm impressed alright! Its really very tasty.

And this is Viet version of Chendol. Don't really know what they call it thou.

Some really huge prawns.. but too huge for my liking. Not cheap too!

So it finally comes to the day of our main business here in Ho Chi Minh. Chi's Big Day, 3 Jan 09!
Really very touching to see my "old" friend getting married. It's been long since I last felt that I wanted to get married too. Don't worry folks, not too soon! The bride and the happy Mom! Guess what, I met Chi's Mommy 5 years ago in Singapore. 5 years later, she didn't even change a single bit. I think she uses SK II.
Here's the bride getting ready for the moment.

And her bridesmaids wasting no time to get infront of the camera.
So nice hor... photobucket now comes with photo-editing function.
Chi's sis and me.
After much discussion, I've decided to adopt a "Chi" for my name too. For her family, it runs like "Diem Chi, Quyen Chi, Doan Chi" and I shall now officially become "Dep Chi" (which means pretty)
And heres all the 8 of us
The gang of 8 brothers...
And our happy newly weds.

After the ceremony, we went for a good lunch reception, when we got our first hand encounter with drunk uncles. They are really funny folks.. although we don't have a common language, we only have a common word. And that's Bia (beer in Viet)
No time to spare, no beer to waste

The rest of the day were spent on shopping, mani + pedi then followed by dinner at a really crowded restaurant and.. the highlight of the night... massage at Salon 137! Its a pretty comprehensive set of massage where they would really go from head to toe @ about $18 or less in SGD. Just watch your bum. They will place hot stones on mine and I thot they almost burnt my bum.

Spent the next morning doing some last minute shopping and the other "touristy" stuff like photo taking of the landmarks.
The Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica. A very common place for taking wedding shots

The Saigon Opera House

Ho Chi Minh City Hall

Post Office

And here's a very classy shot of a young lady sitting by the roadside of a really busy street holding on to a bunch of balloons.

And we went back to prepare for the moment we have all been waiting for. Its the wedding dinner! It was at a very grand place called the White Palace. Omg.. really very grand.
A nice one before our drinking adventure starts

Time to kiss the bride! Its the 3 of us again...

The uncle who tried to make us all drunk. We made him the Star of the night.. by taking photos with him. Haahaa..

And for some REAL fun.....
Eh, why the shocked look?? Don't worry, its not going to hurt too much.. Haahaa

This is like those usual shots we get in wedding dinners..

Ahhh.. now we see the other side of the bride... a wilder side..
Ok.. this is not too normal..

And the 2 guys who tried to squeeze into our picture.

In Vietnamese culture, we are allowed to pick a bride/bridegroom when you get drunk during Wedding Dinners. And so we did. Duy and I made our decision that night. With him, I'll never be "Single in Vietnam" ever again...

The whole bunch of us. Some drunk, some partially drunk, some dead drunk. All in the name of fun.

Better get back to rest soon folks, early flight to catch the next morning!
It was certainly a trip I will never forget. Till the next time I get back to HCM to start off again from where I left before.. Take care..

I love Vietnam! Woo~

Those Random Shots

2009-01-25T21:52:00.002+08:00

Well, I've got heaps of photos on my computer which I have no idea on how to blog 'em out. So I guess, this heading is pretty reflective of the category these photos belongs to... "random shots"..

All the way back to those days....

As a PBA, I had to report back to Regional Sales Office. Basically, just a place where I put up trades etc. Miss those days~ miss the free Ice Milo...In a moment.. I was transferred back to the classroom for more training. So here's one taken by my fellow colleague during a training session.. This is one of the first few shots taken by my baby A200.
Back at home, even more fun awaits...
The 3 Little Imps. These kids are the life of the party! Ever since all 3 of them could walk and run, I had no peace at home. They are always up and running about. And their favourite hangout?? In the candy haven.. My room!

Here's Xuan Xuan learning to put on her own shoes. Being the eldest of the gang, she often leads the gang (which is ultimately, leaded by me!) to bend the house rules.

Chubby baby, Hong Xiang. Xuan's little brother. Another Rising little Imp. Getting really hard to handle these days. Seldom like to bring him out really.. cos he likes to call me "maa maa" out of the blue.
A very classic shot of Hong Xiang.

At our favourite Hangout... Macdonalds!

And there was a time, Hong Xiang was left at home as he was fast asleep.. while I brought Xuan Xuan out to run some errends.

He was so angry that he wasn't able to see us at home when he woke up from his slumber... Upon reaching home, I was greeted by this little angry face.. He refuse to talk to me for a good 5 minutes.

So lesson learnt, never do something behind a kid's back.

The Little Home-made Blessings

2009-01-25T17:52:00.004+08:00

Tuck away in a small corner of Blk 602 @ Bedok was a bustling kitchen with 1 aspiring baker. And that's me, the overall In-house Chief-baker. But of course, Chief-inspector has to be around just in case...

To prepare for the big CNY this year, I specially took time off my work to stay home and bake. Yes, its almost crazy to take off days to stay home for such chore.. but seriously, "home made yummies" and those "3 bottles for $20" kind sure taste alot different. To make sure my loved ones are having the best for this CNY, I'm not leaving it to any chances...

All in all, I came out with 5 different kinds of cookies this year..
The first one needs no further introduction.. it has got to be my very own favourite "Choco Chip Cookies"

Simply love the chocolate chunks that melts in your mouth, not in your hand. Ahh~~ Its a "must-try" for all chocolate fanatics!

Up next is my Godmum's all time favourite, the "Cornflakes cookies".
This will be something for those who loves the "healthiness" of cornflakes. Simply plain nice. Nothing less.

Then we have our "Twin-Towers" of Almond and Cashew.

The cookie itself already had heaps of almond power within, giving the cookie a little nuttier taste. Same goes to its brother, the Cashew cookies.
The highlight of every CNY.. it will be none other than our HUAT HUAT Pineapple Tarts!
Simply can't stand the tenderness and sweetness of the pineapple fillings... every bite, every mouthful, busting with flavours... and to make double happiness... I made another version of this ever famous CNY goodie, the Golden Pillow.
Chunks of pineapples hidden within the thin crust, topping it off with a layer of egg wash giving it the most appealing golden brown skin.

It really makes my day whenever I see the smile on the faces of my loved ones, family and friends who received the cookies. And here's one happy girl who received her favourite cookies. She was tasked to bring bottles of joy and happines back to her home town, HCM, Vietnam. Hope these cookies made your day too.

Blessed Lunar New Year.

For its my love affair

2008-11-16T22:14:00.002+08:00

Sometimes I just can't help it but to fall in love over and over again... with food.

Blueberry Cheesecake.. The overwhelming cheesey taste is enough to kill. Deadly!! Had this last night after a super filling dinner, but even so, the cheesiness simply make my mind go wild!

Nothing too cheap. Cost you like $6 to $7 for a slice, but its really worth it till the last cent. Coffee is good as well, nothing too sweet, just to my liking. Nice cafe, with a little candle light on your table. Try the outdoor seat, nice and cool, plus you get to see some nice cars zooming by. I was with my bimbo bestie last evening, hence, this created the best environment for us to gossip. And there we go again. Oh yeah, request for the rattan seats, otherwise, you will freeze your butt on the metal chairs! Butt Freeze can cause sever damage to your netherworld system, mind you.

Location: The Cheese Cake Cafe @ Siglap

I feel so Loved

2008-11-09T22:29:00.003+08:00

Aww, its the time of the whole fat year which I take time to rest and relax. Its gonna be my birthday again! Gosh, I'm morphing into a HOT 24 years old Super Babelicious and Juicy Chick! Okok.. that sort of gross me out in a way.. fancy calling myself a "Chick"

Anyway, I really already had been having so much fun

And why do I keep saying I am so LOVED? Read on~

Here's my big makan session with my band of brothers.
And the gang minus myself. Grrr~~ And our food is good, and most importantly, its fast!

And look at my yummilicious Mahattan Seafood Platter.. drools man!

So for starters, we had some calamari rings, some fried mushrooms like the ones above and these huge juicy Oysters. Yum Yum lor!

Finishing the day off, we had a Choco Mud pie! Drools... Well, it wasn't really that muddy for a mud pie. It tasted more like a choco Ice cream cake to me lor. Anyway, its good food.

So for today, I had yet another celebration again. I had some cheesy beef baked rice over at the Xing Wang Cafe. Although I hate to give any credits to these Hong Kong cafes, I must say Xing Wang really has got decent food there.

I didn't bring my baby Alpha out for a walk today, hence no photos to be loaded here.

Anyway, tonight's dinner was a treat from FART, thanks FART!

As for tml, I've got things all planned out as well. Gonna be back in office to work, then will do some healthier stuff like swimming and tanning.

Anyway, I just love food. I can keep eating and eating and none stop eating. For my big day, I'm just gonna sit back and let the chef cook up the storm for me then. Cheerios.

Food Fun

2008-11-08T00:03:00.002+08:00

I've been pushed to blogged again. Gosh.. Thanks for the reminder man! Thanks!

Ahaahaa, sounds like I'm pushing it all to that Bimbo who had been asking me to blog some stuff all because she is running of of webbies to surf!

BIMBO!

Anyway.
Apart from work, life is good. Been eating, shopping, eating, shopping.. I could hardly find time to rest, honestly. So here's a glimpse of it.

I was at Xing Wang Cafe during one of my PMssy nights to eat this Mangossy Ice Kacang. It was good fun, that funny waiter cum manager cum whatever actually dropped the ice-cream right infront of us. Gosh, am I shocked! Ya man, I would have paid only a quarter of the price without that scoop of Ice-cream on top. Watch out the top left hand corner for her fatty bom bom arm.

Anyway, this mad ass woman who was late (and always late) turned up at the cafe. When she saw a little bouquet of flowers on the table, she immediately exclaimed.. "OH! FOR ME??" Hell, can anyone say NO??

Ya, and I simply piled up some leftovers cookies for her in a plastic container for her lor. Even the chocolates were my leftovers from last Valentines.

Anyway, I took a day off sometime ago and decided that I should do some cooking once again. Hence, I decided that I'm gonna make nothing less than a decent sushi platter.

Pretty nice right? I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself.

Once upon a Ubin...

2008-10-05T22:15:00.002+08:00

As you might already know, I always enjoy a good day off, slacking out in the sun, away from the bustling work place, back into the arms of the good O mother nature. I took a day off the calandar.. just for the knack of it really.. Or should I say, I really needed some action out there once again.

So.. It all began on a not too bright Tuesday morning. Sky was slightly overcasted.. but nothing is gonna deter the sleepy head from waking up late and brushing her teeth while she pees. Thats "Multi-tasking" in short.

And I finally made my way down to Changi Ferry Terminal. Not too long after that, I boarded the little boat and headed for my destination... Pulau Ubin! I had a pretty annoying boat ride which I totally didn't enjoy. Though it was only a 10 mins ride, I was almost driven crazy by a bunch of chatter bugs... I almost gave up the idea of heading to the island thinking that their mindless chatter might sink the whole Kampong. They really made full use of the 10 mins to "cam-whore" and giving silly comments about Pulau Ubin. Anyway, apart from the awful boat ride, everything about my little trip were great.

And so we are, arrived at Ubin.
This is a little part of the mangrove area of little Ubin.

As you walk alittle further into the village, you will get to see the Island's Information Centre and presumably the only Post box on the whole island..

It wouldn't take a Dog's nose to smell some lovely food from a distant across the road.. In fact, its just too hard to miss it all.. There is this Malay stall smacked right at the enterance to the village. Further down the road you will actually find a few Bike stalls renting out cheap bikes for the day. Well, don't bother to argue, you get what you pay for. Anyway, a decently good bike would cost you about $10 for a whole day of ride. All you will need to provide is the money and your particulars, no need for Identity Cards as collateral.

Personally, I always get my bike from Aunty Misco, whom I always address as "Lao ban niang". Aunty Misco's shop is the first one from the jetty, so again, its really not quite possible to miss it all, and what happens is, most of the time, Aunty Misco would be the one who will always greet you with a super big wide smile when you walk pass her shop. And for folks like me who likes to bring along lots of barang barang on your trip over to Ubin, Aunty Misco will throw in an extra basket for you.. Don't you just love to have a shopping basket hooked to your bike? It's just so cool to have one there!

To begin the journey, there's a few landmarks that will catch your eye ALL THE TIME.

The old stage for those traditional Teochew Operas and..
the entrance to the Toa Bek Gong Temple.

A couple of steps down the route, you will get to see the nice entrance to a private house by the road... pls pls, don't trespass.. I don't want to be sued for putting up photos of it.

Nothing much in particular about this house, just that I thought it looks kind of nice in such a setting, hence the shot. Maybe I'll try to make friends with the owner, then I will write more about it for my next trip back there.

And for those of you who loves our TV serials like "The 8 Immortals" etc etc.. You might recall the scene whereby the characters flew over water surfaces.. most of our TV serials are filmed over at Xiao Gui Ling, but if you need a nicer and more natural background, do consider Ubin for the next drama serial.

One of the many Quarries over at Ubin. The Pekan Quarry.

Heading further West along Jalan Jelutong, you will be greeted by slightly denser vegetations and alittle surprise by the side.

A deserted blue little house which used to sell drinks. This little blue house caught my attention with its really unique signboard which reads..

"Welcoming Cold Water to Ubin"
And that is what I call the beauty of Singlish. It doesn't really have to be politically nor grammatically right as long as your people understand its real meaning.

This is also where I met the Punggol Uncle.

Punggol Uncle really isn't known as "Punggol Uncle". Just that Punggol Uncle was alittle shy when I asked how I can address him as.. to him, Singaporeans just greet every guy with little or no hair as "Uncle", and lady with wrinkles or grey hair as "Aunty". How I decided on "Punggol Uncle" is because he resides in Punggol back in our main Island. Punggol Uncle has been a Ubin-er for almost half a century. His old house is actually a dilapidated house along Jalan Jelutong, but since many years back, he decided to move to the main Island with his family. He was back today just to check out his old village and its surroundings and just to catch up with neighbours from the past.

Leaving behind Punggol Uncle to reminisce the past.. I went on and I came across a little dam.. which I almost fell into. Its not a weird thing that I always get myself into troubles like this. Due to the fact that I'm also so careless, I'm really accident prone. Sigh~~

Alright, maybe its not all my fault. Someone left the gate unlocked. And the Danger sign was obviously not brightly colored enough to catch my attention.

Just alittle distant up Jalan Endut Senin, you will come across a little signboard like this..

This place is off the normal maps you get from the information kiosk, so not many travelers would want to enter this path. This path is much rockier than your normal mud and sand track so do expect a little more bumpier ride. However if you are like me, carrying some big barang here and there, I didn't want to risk having my camera falling on the rocks, I decided to come off my bike and walk my way in.

So this is where the rocky path will lead to.. to a very very old Ubin Temple.
According to its keeper, this temple is "The Ubin Temple". But I guess I will be their old guest for the day. It seems really secluded somewhat, and yes, I didn't come across any single soul who were heading for this temple on the day of my trip. The "Exclusive-ness" of this temple has also forbidden me to take any shots within the temple itself. Guess this shot would sort of sum up the whole temple itself.

Right infront of the temple is a little lake which I later found out is a lake whereby visitors come and "Fang Sheng", which means little aqautic animals are being set free from captivity. Interesting, I was warned of not to venture further into the path as it will lead me to a private property heavily guarded by watch dogs which bite. So yup, I'm gonna keep myself safe for the time being.

As much as I would love to travel further West, the weather didn't look too promising to allow my journey. It was just within minutes, the sky became dark. Hence, I decided to make a run for the main village back at the jetty area.
Here's a shot taken while I was riding.. I love the blurred effect somewhat. Anyway, my bike broke down not too long after this.. I sort of screwed up the gears while I was changing it.

Here's a shot of a stranger whom I caught peeing in the woods. Heehee.. That should teach him a lesson NOT to pee when other strangers are around.

Here's another random shot of a banana tree along my way back. That's hell alot of Bananas.

It started drizzling when I got back to the village. When I returned the bike to Aunty Misco complaining about the broke down. She was kind enough to offer me a replacement at no cost. I didn't really want to continue my cycling journey as I wanted to hang around the village. So during my conversation with Aunty Misco, I realised they have got Kampong durians in Ubin. No Sane Durian Lovers should miss this out seriously... With recommendations from Aunty Misco, I dropped by a nearby provision shop to ask for durians.. and I'm so glad I did.

The durian was so tasty compared to the ones you get in Singapore.

The meat was so tasty that it was almost overwhelming! Can durian get any tastier than this.. That I wouldn't know. But the sure thing is.. this is really the best one can ever ask for. Kampong Durians boast a "Chemical Free" selling point. And because its free from the Chemicals, its taste is so much better and stronger than what we get in Singapore. According to Aunty Misco, eating Kampong durians will not cause sore troats etc.. the only thing about Kampong Durians.. it still make you fat because its high in Calories, just like any other durians. And that's a sad but true fact about it. Its not anything too expensive as well. It only cost $5 for a kilo.

Just like any other James Bond movie, its never complete without a babelicious female lead with Mr Bond. Similarly, how will my trip be a complete one without a handsome one in the story?

And here's my Mr Cute for the day. Zhang Zheng, the little Jr of the provision shop. In the background is his little sister. Little Zhang Zheng is really adorable. He actually didnt want to talk to me in the beginning. I only managed to break the ice when I draw out my camera and started shooting him in action. Bet you didn't know that camera is actually one of the best tools to break the ice with kids.

My day trip didn't end off after I parted with Zhang Zheng. After I got back to the main Island, I decided to travel down to Opera Estate to find some really good pies @ Big Ben's Place.

You bet I can really stomach 2 of these yummlicious thing in 1 shot.

My all time favourite would be their Beef and Cheese Pie.. and for those of you who loves the taste of mutton.. then Lamb Stew would be worth getting a go at. Best eaten while they are HOT! Anyway, if you are choosing the pies, usually they would place their TOP selling pies together on the bottom row in their display counter. They include Beef and Cheese pie, Chicken and Mushroom pie etc etc..

As night falls, its time to call off the day with a little celebration for Cynthia. So we headed for Delifrance for a simple yet nice dinner..

The Grill Combo!

And the Seafood Baked Rice..

Dinner was then followed by a really funny movie.. "The House Bunny". Man, that is a really silly movie that really tickled me throughout. As all good thing comes to an end, we decided to slack off the night at Macs Cafe with my Ice Chocolate..

It was such a long day of Fun, Food and Adventure.. what more can I ask for? Hmm.. maybe make it 2 days? Haaahaa.

The Serious Side of Me..

2008-10-04T20:22:00.002+08:00

Well, sometimes in life, there ought to be moments we spend in seriousness, pondering, wondering and kept thinking..

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going..
On the verge of toppling, 100% concentration is absolutely needed.

Oh, and here's one in the new hairdo!

Look at that Shiny Sweet Smile.. So Sweet! All dressed down for a Saturday of Fun! And thats the Levis specs which DCCL loves more than anyone else..

Oh well, life isn't really suppose to be anything more serious than Saturdays..
And Thank God, Sunday was made!

New kid of the Blog!

2008-06-14T10:04:00.002+08:00

Haaa.. Think I'm really falling in love with myself yet again. Introducing the new kid of the blog.. The Sony DSLR-A200K..

Can someone just stop me from going crazy about it all?

This has been my dream for like millions of seconds, thousands of hours, hundreds of days. What more can I say? Thanks to the PC show, I'm getting a Camera Bag, Extra Battery, 4GB CF card, 160GD Ext HDD 2.5", tripod and a extended 5 years warranty all at $1091.

I strongly suspect that the sex of my camera is a boy and I don't know why.

My Khmer Story

2007-11-10T20:43:00.001+08:00

S'were-s'dai (Hello in Khmer)!
Yet another memorable place to mark down on my atlas. Gone were my 10 days there, but glad that I brought back worthy loads of sweet memories. Gained were wonderful friends, great fun and not forgetting the bonding we shared.

Goodie good! I'm back from Cambodia.. erm.. since long time ago. Well, maybe some of you might know that going to Cambodia has been my dream for a very very long time.. oh yes.. I do mean a very very long time.

Yesssh.. Trip has been good. In fact, it was so much fun, so much so that I didn't really want to come back home. Erm.. well, you see, its not the first time I enjoyed myself overseas.. and almost everytime, I didnt want to come back home.

Excitement rose as I touched down at Siem Reap Airport early in the morning of 7th Oct. Following that, I was treated to a delicious DIM SUM brekky!!! Wooo~~ my favourite ah!!!

Don't you just love to Yum Cha!
Remember that Yum Cha place slogan??
"yin char, yin chu zhen gan qing" (I told you I am an avid TV commercials fan!)

To add a hint of the "Chao Ah Bengs and Ah Lian-ish-ness" to my blog.. I'm gonna bring you to...
see WAT see! (also know as Kua simi kua?)

Wat (in Thai meaning Temple) in Siem Reap is definitely something that you can never miss out. In order to “acclimatize” myself to their warm and humid weather and to immerse into the country’s rich history, I had the privilege to spend my day going round and round from Wat to Wat. Among the many Wat we visited are Bayon, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm. Then again, the highlight of it all has got to be the Angkor Wat tour.. Ahem ahem.. why has it got to be the highlight? Cos, yours truly managed to put some of her good photographical skills to test again.. and without fail, some of the pictures turned out classic and pretty.. just like myself. But of cos, some of the shots on my blog were taken by other budding photographers from my team of shuttlebugs too.

Previously one of the Seven Wonders of the World – Angkor WatAngkor Wat is truly visually, architecturally and artistically breathtaking. It is a massive three-tiered pyramid crowned by five lotus-like towers rising to a massive 65 meters from the ground. It is no wonder why it was even listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the World previously.

This photo was taken from a very popular spot infront of the main building of Angkor Wat. The only word I can use to describe it... B E A U T I F U L!!!!
And walking over to another side of the Wat!

Guess this is considered their East Wing..

And a couple more random shots of what's inside the Wat.

Eh, can't help but have to admit that I'm indeed talented right?
Yes, you had better feel that way, otherwise you can forget about asking me out for supper in future. Hrmpt..

And if you think taken photos is what your dear friend here is capable of.. then your are wrong.. cos Cheerene is good at striking a conversation with anyone at anywhere..

"Cheerene - Bringing you closer to her heart once more" ohh sweet!

And here's the one who fell for it. Hey.. No Cheesy pick up lines please.

Okie, nuf of my crap.
So to begin the voluntary work we have set out for... first stop was a floating village situated right out of no where.. but it was 2 hours of journey away from Siem Reap Town.. (not for folks who are afraid of waters and those who get sea sickness). A fair bus ride followed by a long long boat ride.. and the worst bit is.. the boat got caught in the middle of the lake in the midst of all the mangroves.

So first thing we did upon arrival was to divide the team into 3 groups to do house visits and deliever some food supplies to the poor villagers.

Me and my small team travelling on a really flimsy boat which everytime when we step out of it, the boatman has to scoop out all the water seaping thru the slits in the boat.

I was terrified to see the first house we visited sinking at least 5cm into the water as a small team of us stepped into it. Water just rushed into the house, sending cockroaches and spiders running over your feet! And yet, this is what they call home.

And back at our base, a floating church, we started preparing the food for the children and their families. These poverty-stricken families were invited from all over the village to have a meal over at the church, we called it the "Rice Soup Program", specially catering to the poorer folks of the village. Not only that, we even taught them some simple basic English words and alphabets.

Cheerene helping out in the kitchen once again!
There is a Chinese saying.. "jing de liao chu fang, chu de liao ting tang", meaning "can enter kitchen and walk out of the living room". I always knew I will make a perfect wife one of these days.

Not only that, I really think I have a great smile.
Those are the little volunteers with the church.

Now who says the kids can't dance?
I like to move it move it!

The Maternal Instinct.
Awww~~ come to Mama.

My mum always think I am childish, cos I mingle extremely well with kids in general. But I guess this group will have a much different impression of me, cos I keep tricking them into losing the game to me! Haaaha!

No, I'm not a Kid! Really! But I have to say, I still enjoy those kiddish games once in awhile.
No, I'm not a loser!

The little one who peed on my pants! Hrmpt!

The hour has come for us to leave the village.. and without a doubt, my heart was heavy.

Heroic farewell!

That marks our end of our visit to the floating village as we had to travel back to land and head for our next destination, Proyouth Village.

As the night sets in, we finally reach our destination @ Proyouth. And little did I know, my stomach was already growling like nobody's business.. hence I really spared no time to sit down for my well deserved dinner!

Specially prepared by the villagers, simple yet delicious! Yummy! Obviously everyone was starving!

And here's my room for the rest of the week at Proyouth. Doesn't it remind you of those camps you used to have when you were younger? And the next best thing is, electricity is being cut off at 10:30 everynight. Sorry, we gave you the fan, but we aren't gonna give you the power to use it!

Erm, so what's the point then??
Well, we still have a couple of day light hours, isnt it? Grrr...

Oh well.. here a couple of shots taken at Boys' Brigade Learning Centre.

Here it is, standing at its gate.. Taa Daa~~ BBLC

The long long way home..
Country road~~ take me home~~ to the place~~ I belong~~~~~~awww~
Maybe that's where I really belong? Hmm, you wouldn't know man!

Sunset sia.. just remind me so much of those roooolmantic movies again..
aiya! *kok* my head! How many times must I remind myself.

I must "borrow" my current favourite again.. "Oh My God, So Beautiful!"

We may not be having Killiney Kopi O, but at least we have Nescafe Gold! Don't play play ah!
Eh people.. instead of working and checking your emails.. you stand here and "lim kopi", you still need your job or not huh? Tell your boss!

Getting back to the main point once again.. we were there for 2 main tasks, that is to repair the road and to conduct some English classes.

The Road Repair Project was indeed an eventful one. First was the attack by the snake(s)!

Ok.. maybe this photo is already scary enough. Chill mate! Just for fun only!

Anyway, here is our slithering friend. He was the second one caught on camera! The first one was prolly its 1.5 meter long mummy cobra. But for safety reasons, both of them were made into soup dishes on their fateful day.

Can you understand why the road needs to be repaired? What's more, we are already going into the dry season already.. talk about wet season where it practically rains non-stop!!??!!
Its almost unimaginable.

Some smart ass was indeed smart enough to test the depth of a big pothole...

Ahh.. No doubts on her intelligence!
Measuring depth in the most authentic way!

Up next, local delicacies..

OMG, its sashimi at its freshest!
I really can't imagine what will happen if this slimy thing actually slip off my gloves.

I got muscle one hor! Who says only guys can be tough!
This is the POWER PUFF GIRL!

Sometimes, when the scorching heat gets the better of you..

Trust me, I can understand how you feel...

Now alittle more serious side of me...

You SEE that? You SEE that?? I'm really working my ass off!

Now thats quite abit of work there!

After all the sweat and pain you go through, the neighbours are really fine with you slipping into their hammies for Siesta!
Remember folks, always ask for permission. Not everyone walks straight into people's house and sleep in their hammock successfully like me.

Alternatively....

Heading back to your quarters, find a quiet spot, you'll be fine there too.

After our day of hard work cum great workout cum fantastic tanning, its really great to reward ourselves with a group pix!
Smiles!

Heading back to the Learning Centre, we teach as well! But of course, with me around, I really have to include the funnie elements into everything I do.

After years of being Orientation leaders etc.. I do developed the habit of playing the Adjective Games with younger audiences. I always have ready-made adjective cum names at the back of my mind!! Things like..

Cheerful Cheerene, Lovely Li Ping, etc etc..
and I guess the best still came from Ben, who bestowed me with...

Cheeky Cheerene!
omg! Anyway, Thanks Ben!

Here's everybodies' favourite "Cheeky Cheerene"!

That's all our SBS dancers and "Fiona" with her green Shrek ears!
Oh and anyway, I left my green ears being in Cambodia with Vichny with a promise that I will pick them up the next time I visit them.

And being a person who never sits still, do you really think I can stay in the centre all day long?? Ahh haa! definitely NOT!

It always takes 2 hands to clap, and my partner for my adventure has got to be my best buddy isn't it!

Can you smell the conspiracy going on between the 2 of us? Heehee..

So its once again, a little time for some adventure again!
We are heading off to the local district market! Pouk Market!

The dirt road leading to the market which is like 25 minutes walk away.

And if you remember those kind of Kampung days where kids don't use handphone but just walking right up to your doorstep and drag you out for a game of "Hop Scotch" kind of thingy.. thats exactly what happened.

Vichny was holding onto my hand asking if I wanted to have Silorn joining us on our little adventure.. and before I know it, we were at his doorstep already.

Before we move on too far, we decided its "that" time again!
Say Cheese Everyone!

I know this will never work in my life.. Just imagine that I were to stand at Chewling's door and ask her to go shopping with me immediately, I think by the time she is ready to go, I would have been standing at her door for 2 hours already. I doubt she would even invite me into her house for a drink???

And there we are at the market already..

Here's a nicer side of the market. My shots taken from the other side turns out pretty dark, cos honestly, it was really darker over the other side.

Ahhh... French loaves!

My best buy of the day has got to be my fave Cowboy hat! And that's a whopping 5000 riels!! OMG!! Must buy!!

Later in the day, some of the kids got really excited and decided to bring us straight deep into the very edge of the village at a dam.

Guess what? They actually threaten to throw me into the dam! But hey, I'm a nice person in general!

Here's the girl gang!
Oh.. and that funny fella with his back facing the camera was Ben. Oh gosh, he just can't stop being funnie. oh well.. neither can I.

Ahh.. here comes the heavy and "hard to stomach" part.. on the last night of my stay at BBLC, I actually lost sleep once again. Despite all that hard work and sweat in the day, all I needed was a good nite rest then, but somehow, I was overcomed by my emotions once more. All.. I felt so bad then..

I knew deep down I will be missing the kids there. These kids were just so much a part of my life there. They had really brought out the kid in me once again. Aww man.. I really miss the great feeling. Miss the good old times when we played 3 minus 1 in the fields. Its a new game which I learnt from them!

On our last day there, we threw a party for the kids. They were such good sport to be willing to perform for us.

That's my Vichny buddy

Skillful Silorn as he calls himself

SreyNeang, I know she will be hotter than Spice Girls someday

Vichea. Oh, don't you think his name is cool? I thot it sounded awesome!

We had a Scanvenger hunt too..

And there I was giving away the prizes to our winning team!

Following all the dances, songs and games.. here comes Cheerene's favourite again!! Its photo taking cum autographing session!

That's a more normal me! Well, you see, best buddy deserves to have a proper photo with me!

Look, they made me cards!

That's the boys group!

Ahh Haaa! Here's the funnie group!
I always thot Zitta looked like Patricia Mok..
Amara is another funny one who gave me a hell lot of fun there..
And the girl in pink is Lyny. Gosh, you know what? She is the Top student in the school man! OMG!

That's Reaksa and Me! (This is kind of a cheat, I took this picture way long ago in the morning, not like what I've mentioned thats during the photo taking session)
I thot I looked abit funny in this photo somehow.
Reaksa wrote 2 fantastic books regarding his life and how he managed (by God's Grace) to walk thru the darkest period in his life and overcome vengence and forgave the people whom killed his whole family. Many times, I was brought to tears by his words.. you really have to read it to believe it..
Gosh, he even autographied my copy of both books.
I can lend you my copy if only you promise not to drool on my book.

Signing autographs!
Oh dear, I just felt as if I'm a superstar! I knew I would make it one day! I'm gonna have my own fan club!

The last shot before we head off..
Right infront of Vichny's house

We boarded the bus to send us back to Siem Reap Town for the night. While I was on the bus, I was reading the letter and cards given to me. So much feelings actually swelled up within me. I was utterly chocked with emotions that I can hardly express. As usual, I would try to force myself to sleep, but I failed again.

Back in town, we checked into the hotel once again for the night.
It was R&R for the rest of the day then. So we decided to catch up on our shopping there. Following that was a really cheap and standard massage. It was indeed a bone breaking experience! Eeks!

Soon, it was time for dinner.. we decided to settle ourselves with some roadside munchies..

Not suitable for the weaker tummies!

Being the silly-O-me, I just had to do something idiotic just for the heck of it..

Ok.. this is suppose to be a "HK-Styled: gun-shot fighting scene" not a "SG Comedy-Styled: OMG! I'm Pregnant! scene"

Think I totally spoilt the picture for Sarah.. oppps.. sorry girl! OMG, I sure look gross.
I was totally too engrossed with my "Hey Pouk Mark" hand sign and I guess it will last me for at least a couple of months more..

How will dinner ever be complete without ice-creams??!! Arrrghhh.. Run people, Run!!

To the Blue Pumpkin we go!

It has got to be the best in town man!! Remember to check out the Sinful chocolate Ice-cream.

Sweet tooth anyone?

Pretty in the Jar!
Melts in your mouth, not in your hands!

Rise and Shine, the next morning, we began our journey to Phnom Penh. Oh gosh, I guess you must have heard that we ran over a cow.. now.. here's the evident:

If you zoom zoom zoom in.. you will see a slimmy thingy at the area which was crashed. Well, thats the cow's intestine. Totally gross me out... geeez..

The impact was so great that it sent the cow sliding by the bus in a circular motion. It was an instant and definitely painful death for the cow. I was totally stunned for a moment.. I realised, if the bus had turned to avoid the cow, it would plunge a bus load of 20 into, possibly, a massive accident.

It was definitely an eventful journey. But nevertheless, we arrived at Phnom Penh safe and sound. Now time has come for us to reward ourselves with a good meal to awake our senses once more!

So.. introducing..... the BEST BEEF BOWL!!!!

Wah, I tell you ah.. This is really something to DIE for lor!
The beef was so juicy and tender. The soup was so steamy hot and yummy. All dished with a generous serving of veggies! I really will give this the Ultimate 5 stars rating man!

So yeah, as Phnom Penh weren't generally a place too safe for night travel especially when you are not a local.. its really better to stay indoors. Hence.. we decided to go indoors.. and more specifically.. Ben's door! heeheee

Well, if only card playing is an Olympic Event, otherwise I don't think I will ever have a chance on the center stage of the Olympic Games.
Adults' favourite past-time.. mindless rounds of funny "Asshole Dai Di" and forcing the "Asshole" to drink till he or she drops.

Hence being a good player, I'm never a good drinker.
But of course, sometimes, a little amount of alcohol can cause undesirable/uncontrollable actions:

Not to get too worked up even with a lousy hand. Oh come on, its only a game.
Not everyone can win a Casino with $10 USD. That only happened in that "Shuang Tian Zhi Zun" TV Serial lah.
Not to belittle this "sports", I used to get my daily income from this during my primary school days. That sort of explained why I'm so numerically inclined. I knew I will be a great banker one day!

Back to serious stuff now..
The next morning, we gathered down at the lobby for our final destination which is the Dumpsite School.

Here's the half asleep shuttle bug working on her camera. Wah.. this is pro-ness lor!! Can work on her camera with her eyes closed. I think I can become "Yan Kun" already.. (Yan Kun was the blind father of Yan Fei.. do you now believe I'm an avid TV fan???)

Arriving at the dumpsite, you will be really "impressed" with the horrendous amount of garbage. Not to mention the smell.

This is the way leading to the village. This is already considered the better path. Can you imagine I got my whole feet stuck in mud earlier on.

And we thought those stuff were gross.. think of having to live there for a life time... we ought to be grateful for what we already have. At the very least, you don't have to open your door to see your backyard as such...

This!
We Singaporeans are a blessed bunch, isn't it!!

Getting down onto business, upon reaching the school, we had a quick cleaning up and started our lesson proper.

The young ones~~ oh darling we're the young ones~~
Oh yes, I suppose I'm not too far off from this age group.

Oh gosh, don't you just love his gorgerous eyes..

**Psst.. no prizes for the fastest painter!

Miss Wee at work again.

Read blog also have to take 5 lah... Gimme a break man!

~ COMMERCIAL BREAK ~
The following picture is strictly used for entertainment. All commentaries/analysis does not represent the blogger's point of view.

Nurturing Minds, Touching Hearts.
Choose teaching as a profession
Moulding the future of our Nation

~ BACK TO THE BLOG ~

Has everyone been faithfully following the HK TV Serial "Tian Ya Xia Yi". Well, Irene and I have been great fan of that show. She was into the story then while I was more into the "sight-seeing" aspect of it. Ok.. you know what I'm up to again.

I have a feeling I'm going to become the next female lead of that sequeal that is coming up!

My little patient waiting for her wound to be cleaned and dressed.
Silly and hare-brained as I may seem, but I'm first-aid trained, not to worry. You will be absolutely safe with me!! Certified by the Australian Red Cross ok!!

But truthfully, I'm always very inspired by such shows and documentaries where doctors/volunteers journeyed on roads less travelled to reach out to poverty stricken folks. For these are the people who see the needs and are willing to go all the way and touch lives. How many of us can bear to surrender our comfy life here, step out of our comfort zone and do such wonderous act out of love for humanity??

It takes heaps of prayers and loads of courage to do it.

Up next...

A very raw glimpse of History of the Khmer Rouge Regime. Countless sad tales you will hear, groteseque torturement on the prisoners. All in all, accounting to almost 2 million deaths throughout the country.

Maybe its really far too sad a tale I would want to share. Again, I have to do my advertisment again...

Get those 2 books from me!! Its a good read! I promise I won't charge you a cent if only you promise not to drool on my book!!

Here's the ever favourite pose!! This is a pagoda which housed hundreds and hundreds of skulls of the victims uncovered in this grave-site.

The actual grave site.

If only you were there to hear the atrocities done upon the innocent children

He survived to tell his story.. The Survivor

One of the only remaining 3 survivors. The old mister in the previous photo is the tallest guy right in the middle of this picture.

And after going thru such sadness in life.. the only way to heal my wound is... RETAIL THERAPY!!

The shopping is goooood.. I tell u ah!

You really have to master the art of bargaining to survive there! Every single dollar counts! A peek at Central Market!

Its that time again! And everybody loves Dinner time!

Oh boy! I've got everybody do it!
Everybody now~~ yeahhh~~~Rock your body now~~~ Woooh! Hey Pouk Mark!!

Babes chilling out at FCC by the river!
Yup, and there we are chilling out on the last nite of our journey on the road less travelled.
Hold you horses, girls!! We have an early flight to catch the next morning!!

And so, back here I am, sharing my journey with you. Hope reading has been good so far.

**Much appreciation goes to our donors for your donations in kind. Rest assured that the full amount had been handed to well-deserving beneficiaries in both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh (about $1000 to be shared equally by beneficiaries). In addition, we have contributed over $6000 for the road repair project at Proyouth Village instead of our original target of $4800. And as of friday, we have received news from our Cambodian correspondance that part of the road under repair has entered the final stage of construction which is the cement pouring stage.

PTL!

Prince Shrek!

2007-07-01T01:01:00.000+08:00

And I made him do it again.

He's the baby who made me Aunty.

And this silly baby just refuse to smile sometimes.. Monday blues I guess. And Gollie, he look so sweet when he does it... gosh, its definitely a melting smile..

That time of the year again...

2007-07-01T00:23:00.000+08:00

Just a couple of days (or rather a few weeks) ago was the Chinese Traditional Festival.. "Duan Wu Jie" better known as the Dragon Boat Festival.

As a Chinese, mixed with Sugar, Spices and Everything nice (since none of you ever believe that I'm a pure Chinese...), I'm so proud that I finally get to eat Rice Dumplings after 3 long years~~~ and yea, I meant it. 3 long years was the time I had to go thru without my BAK CHANG.

Po-Po's Bak Chang.

Hang on Hang on....

This is not all... now hold tight to your seat.. Cos I promise.. its gonna be nicer than what you can imagine..

Drools~~

Be honest with you, I'm never a fan of Bak Chang.. In fact, I hated bak chang since long, cos they are annoying oily. And to get those leaves off, its DARN tedious! Gosh! But again, one side of me just can't stop myself from having 2 big ones for supper occassionally... those were the days you see. And I can swear by it, 2 big bak chang really have no effect on me.. None at all.

And it only took this Po~Po's Bak Chang to rekindle all my love for this traditional thingy.. And it made me feel so Chinese once again.

Filled with lean meat, Gao Luk and the ever tasty chinese mushroom. Gosh, and the rice was yummylicious. The rice... Awww... the rice... its just filled with the meaty smell and fragance of the mushroom... Oh man... it has got to be the rice!

I promised I'm gonna learn how do DIY Bak Chang by next year, I'll go and beg po~po to teach me her skill.

Po~Po please...

Okok.. I promise to play maid for 1 day pls?

Hong Kong Revisited!

2007-01-18T01:00:00.000+08:00

You know why I always tell you guys Hong Kong is a nice place?
Ahh.. thats because I always receive a warm welcome right at the doorstep of my jetplane.. Gosh, it always make me feel so "Presidential".

Well.. I just love to feel important anyway. Haahaa.. But I sort of didn't expect such a grand reception. Its just good to be GLAM! Weee!

Ahha, right upon arrival.. I went over to Causeway Bay to meet up with Thomson and Steve! Isn't it a nice feeling to meet up with your buddies to chill out somewhere away from Uni.

The very next day.. I reported to office.. alright.. here's the catch.. I said "report to office" not "report to work".

You can never imaging office as a place where it could be fun as well? Well.. anything is possible when you have such a mad-ass person to hang around with.

By afternoon, I was totally out of office.. away from work.. all ready for fun and food! Cool!

So in order to really get away from work.. we decided to go all the way up up up! By cable car of cos! And thats a really long way there.. gosh! This is only like half the cable car system..

And we went all the way up there just to catch a glimspe of the big buddha.

And trust me, this is huge!

Ah haa! Caught in action! Its the fishballs once again! Gosh, how can you consider yourself in Hong Kong if you don't try a stick of these yummlicious fishballs!

My sincere apologies if I made you crave for food at this moment.. but I can tell you.. there's more to come! Ahahaaha..

And the following picture is a "MUST SEE" cos I had to climb so many flights of stairs to get this view! You guys better appreciate it man!

I think I'm just cut out to be a model with that Mega-Watt Smile! Sigh sigh..

After that hard work to get up there! Of cos, I should be rewarded with something nice like these authentic Hong Kong favourite "Kueh Kueh" (Its actually a malay word which refers to those nice finger food or cakes).. And in the picture with me is the "Fried Mua Chee" ( That piece of thing sticking on my fork)

Just to entertain my poor friend kelly, I had to make that silly face to pretend the food is awful..
And the plain truth? Its just plain nice! Slurps...

And to be slightly less cruel.. I shall not show you the picture of the next food item, rather, I will just show you its name.. It actually means "Silky Smoothe Soya Bean Curd made from Mountain Water".. But if you look up the previous photo, you can catch a glimsp of the beacurd actually.

Finishing our round at the Big Buddha, we will head of to Tai O, a small fishing village in Hong Kong.. some of the road less travelled by tourist of that city.. perhaps, even unknown to some.

A warm welcome once more!

In contrast of the bustling Hong Kong city streets, may I present the tranquil of Tai O at Sunset..

And perhaps unknown to all of you.. I do have a license to drive a boat..

Or rather, its more like a license to "Pretend to drive a boat"
Welcome onboard!

Alright, here's something more "tourist-look-a-like"

That kind of smile.. that kind of pose.. that kind of background..
Typical Tourist.

After a long bus journey, the best is still to reward yourself with a good dinner at some fine restaurant.
Here I present to you..

Bon Appetite!
Seriously, the food alone is seducing enough..

And to ensure quality of the food I used to praise about, maybe I should head down the streets and do a on-the-spot "Street Inspection"

Food Quality: 2 thumbs up!
Here's a common sight in HK where everyone just buy from the roadside stalls. Not many of you will get used to it thou. I'm a really huge fan of this thou!

And if you are wondering the amount of food I eat in a day.. rest assured.. this is just the beginning..

The very next day.. I woke up wee early and headed for the HKCEC to setup our booth for the exhibition. It was amazingly done up within 3 short hours! Thats like a record-breaking speed for us! Gosh!

And definitely, its a reason for a little treat, isn't it?

How about a bowl of Shark-fin soup with special fish paste. Ahhhhh....
Such a treat on a cold windy day..

At the evening, we headed for Yueng Lang.. the birth place of the ever-famous "wife's cake" fondly known as Lao-po-bing.. Well, I did have my fair share of fun with those Lao-po-bing during my previous trip there, this time round, we were there to meet up with the rest of the gang and headed for Lau Fau Shan for our long awaited SEAFOOD DINNER!

Its so much of a BYO culture.. you can even buy your own seafood elsewhere and bring it over to one of the restaurants for them to prepare!

Now we are picking up our dinner! Thats Geoffrey behind me.

The whole gang picking the fishy! Thats Kelly, Geoffrey, Wendy and Brother Long!
Sigh... I got to remind everyone else.. "Fish are friends, not food (when alive)"

Time waits for no man.. so does food.

Tuck in, Tuck in!

And my favourite among all.. It has got to be the Crab with noodle in clear seafood sauce.

Let me do a proper introduction to this heavenly dish..
Ahh, needless to say, the crab is really sweet and tasty to the shell coupled with tasty crab roe! And the egg nodle hiding at the bottom is just so nice. But yet the beauty of this dish lies in the sauce.. Rich thicken seafood stock.. just added so much flavour to this fantastic dish.

At the end of the day.. I really need alittle something to curb my sweet-tooth..

Thats malt candy inbetween 2 pieces of crackers.
Yeah, my sweet tooth problem is such a huge issue in my life.. Remember my trip to Perth.. I needed a dose of ice-cream on a daily basis before I can get to sleep.

By this time, I think this no longer seems like a travel-blog, more of a food commentary of some sort. Haahaaha

Alright, how about a more serious side of me!
Presenting...

Thats me at work!
Trying to be funny at work again! Well, thats me! What can I say...

WARNING!!
The following pictures are really something out of the world and its gauranteed to bring you heaps of laughter.. Some may contain explicit contents. Beware!

Alright folks, there is one little secret that I have been hiding from all of you..

I'm a true blue princess. Yours truly, Princess Cheerene

And the best part? With some luck, I'm going to rule US one fine day!

Here's US's 2nd female speaker..
The first law I'm going to pass.. I'm gonna ban guys from giving flowers and Chocolates for Valentine's Day. GUYS.. There is such a thing called DIAMOND out there!

And this fella is one of my childhood-sweetheart...

Pity that he only lives in the TV Box. Sigh.. Its high time he should GET OVER ME! Heehee

Gosh, here's the latest pop sensation!

Ayumi-Era is long gone.
Welcome to the Princess Cheerene New Age!

And here's the new Highlight of the Museum..

Doesn't the gentleman in the middle look tad familiar? Apart from that funny looking moustach..
Its best to leave such paintings in the Museum..

Cos sometimes, pictures do COME ALIVE!

Are you guys all set for the next generation of James Bond movie!

Oh mine, the future female lead looks all set to go!
Aren't we a good couple?

Now let me take you down a road trip on the bike along HK's street

And here is Leon Lai

Ahh ha! Here is the Korean Heart Throb..

We kind of look good together as well..

Whose idea was it to make such a weird wax model..

And I guess only weird ass like me would think of doing a pose like this!

Thou mine is only a short trip to Hong Kong, I managed to meet up with Tiger Wood and gave him a few pointers on golf..

Gosh, I just look so professional!

No doubt, I'm a champion!

And perhaps my biggest crime..

Thats to fall in love with you..

This picture is specially taken for my mummy just to cheer her up.. Will the rest of you not take it too seriously! :)

Its like an advertisement for part-time maid, but I must say it looked really wacky.

After a crazy night at the Wax Museum, its time to bring the excitement to new heights! How about a really mad carnival?

Apart from swaying violent side to side.. this ride is really nothing compared to the one I took previously which is the one that brings you swinging like mad 360 degrees..

And of cos, a silly Ferris Wheel ride

Hahaaahaa.. all the way up there, its the best time to get a bird's eye view of the whole carvinal and decide your next fun ride..

Well, we tried our luck..

Pity that we can only take pictures of it.. not bring it home.

As a consolation...

I got myself a silly stuffed toy. Lucky me!

The last and final stop I'm gonna make.. Disneyland! Weee!

Here's Mickey and Minnie..

Gosh, you wouldn't believe that I spent 1 hour and 15 mins just to snap this picture with them. Its just so unlike me!

We just had so much fun in the Theme park.. I sort of went crazy..

Here's Stitch!

Cheerene Loves Stitch! Stitch Loves Cheerene!

And Cheerene eventually became Stitch..

Everyone please read out loud... "ADORABLE!"

A kiddy ride can really freak me out!

I just look like a kid.

Guess I can become a model for the new line of Sunnies.

Or maybe I should become the next Disney Mascot.. Well, Kelly complaint that I would freak all the kids out one of these days.. I've completely turn DisneyLand into a nightmare for them.

Thats Buzz Light Year

To Infinity and Beyond!
Simply love the slogan!

Raiding aliens to aliens..

Captain Cheerene in her Buzz-mobile!

Kelly commented that I took a really stupid shot of snow white flipping up her skirt for no apparent reason.. so she warned me about posting that picture up, it might dissapoint many many kids out there... so I decided..

How about one with all 7 dwarfs pointing their butt at you?

Since young.. I've always aspired to be Sleeping Beauty..

Doesn't it explain why I can always sleep during lectures?
Anyway, isn't she sweet? So am I!

So lets head up to tarzan tree house for more fun.. but you really got be becareful..

That kind of fall might not crack your butt, but it might crack the steps. Mind you.

The bridge?

Dare you cross it!

To get up to the very top, its abit of climb there!

All the way up there...

Its beautiful!

As the night sets in.. the fun never end! Continuing the fun-filled day.. we took a few more shots with my childhood favourite, Chip and Dale

Gosh, we are just so adorable!

And here's me trying on the Piglet's headband

Then a minnie mouse one..

Look and they are all mine!

Weee I love Disneyland!

Its perfectly understandable that a kid would enjoy the whole theme park, but it's just so weird that a grown up like me have so much fun there..

Its no wonder my mummy always says.. "You are such a kid"

After a hell load of fun at Disney..

I really need to stuff myself with more nice food again!
Having a tall glass of Double Chocolate! Surprisingly, its not as sweet as expected, making the chocolatey drink a "MUST-TRY"!

Final morning in HK means I only have 1 last chance to sample such delicious fare

I'm not letting the chance off.. Yummy Yummy!

Now I guess no one would believe that I went there for work.. Sigh..

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Never ending fun down under!

2006-12-15T00:25:00.000+08:00

This is a repost of some sort cos I realise I got all my trips blogged out so well and pretty.. so I really can't sit down and let one of my most beautiful trip go un-noticed!

And if you enjoyed this " visual-tour" remember to PRAISE ME!!!! Arrgghh.. out of courtesy at least! Boooo~~~

So yeah, this trip officially begins on the 14 of April.. but due to lecture committments etc.. I had to start off a day later then the rest of my gang. But still, I will never short change myself when it comes to having fun!

So I spent my official day 1 travelling up to Sydney and went over to the Paddington Market for a morning of shopping fun.

Food place at Paddington Market in Sydney, selling some asian crusines like our Char Kueh Teow! Woo.. Smells good! I said ----->Smell good not taste good!

We got a car and started roaming around streets of Sydney and then headed off to Hunter Valley! Weeee..

And this is our accomodation for 2 nites! YHA Hunter Valley!

Gosh I must admit this is my first time sleeping in this sort of hostel. And darn, its really great fun! And seriously, this is such a great place. You wake up to a beautiful vine-yard and a whole great bunch of friendly folks.

And the first stop of the day was the Visitor Centre at Hunter Valley to recharge abit. Then its off to the Hunter Valley Garden where I finally get to display my talents..

I mean my hiden talent is that I look very professional with instruments.. but hey! Its a form of performing art! The Art of Pretending!

Then we continued on our journey to look for easter eggs.. but really had no luck.. nevertheless.. we still came across a Huge egg.. known as Humpty Dumpty (or watever its being spelled)

Oh my! Thats a huge fallin egg! Thats alot of protein and cholestoral over there! Heehe

Anyway, I really had to rush off for my tea party...

This is sure my cup of tea!

Remember how your mummy will always warn you about running too fast? You tend to fall?

Ahh.. but you will never find kids like me who always smile even when I crack my knee of bump my forehead??? Heehehe

Ahh.. Hidden within the tranquil.. Here lies my perfect Wedding venue.

Remember when I was a kid, I always dreamed of getting married in a beautiful church.. But these days, I seemed to be having second thots.. Well, my image of church has never changed.. rather, its my image of guys that changed. From bad to worst. Geez.

After the garden, we spent the rest of the day visiting numerous Vineyard, big or small, tasting wine after wine.

Needless to say.. you tend to feel alittle happy after a few glasses. Sometimes, you even blush, don't you? Heehe

Still not over my "getting-married" mood.. I found my perfect venue for a fantastic Outdoor wedding... In this lovely vineyard

The best wedding gift you can give me? How about bringing me a guy willing to marry me! Bugger off.. Grrrr..

Ok.. after a whole day of drinking, the gang retired to the hostel with a car full of wine! Guess whats the best part? We were given another half a bottle of wine for free! Wahhaaha, that sort of took care of our "alcohol-needs" for that night.

The next morning, we woke up wee early to freshen up and pack up for our next journey down south! We are heading off to Bundanoon.. We took a scenic drive down the Great Dividing where we stop by this little kiosk.. and I got something special for my mummy.. its a little metalic box with an angel on it.. very intricated design.. Ahh, bet you can't find it elsewhere! When it comes to getting her a gift, it has always got to be the most special one.

Anyway, we sort of spent the whole day on car.. kept having rest stops here and there.. until we finally arrived in the little town of Bundanoon..

Bundanoon is a little cosy town where there really isn't many people there. It was already nitefall when we settled down. So we decided to do a night trail at a national park nearby.... We tracked for almost an hour before we reach our destination which is the Glow Worm Glen. Its a ptiy that I can't snap any pictures while I was there.. Still, it was a good hike, tiring but fun.. We were told that if we ever get unlucky, we might come across small animals in our path.. or worst still.. humans.. Just imaging what can be more scary than lone humans roaming in the middle of some national parks? Its my first time doing hiking in complete darkness except for a few rays of moonlight.

Our accomodation for the nite?

YHA Bundanoon!

Ahh.. maybe thats not all.. how about a dose of beer at a Scotish Pub nearby?

Anyway, let me do abit of advertisement over here first.. you have got to try this pie..

I don't earn commission here.. but still, do try it out!

The beauty of this little town lies in its location which is stratagically located by the side of Morton National Park..

And being an avid fan of doing crazy and nutty stuff, how can I miss the chance of visiting the park and do something silly there?

Like meditating on some protruding rock out of nowhere..!

Okok.. time to move on, we are spending far too much time in Bundanoon..
Oh, a word of advice, never send your photos around cos you never know there might be weirdos who are so good with adobe photoshop that they start playing around with your photos till it turns freaky like this..

So its another day of driving and more driving.. passing by Southern Highlands and heading all the way towards Snowy Mts.

We had to stop by this Caravan Park called Khancoban for the nite. Ahh.. thats where we were fed a very authentic Chinese Teochew Porridge

Yummilicious!

Time to retreat! Ahhh.. and after a good nite sleep, we had a great day at Snowy Wilderness.. where I almost broke a limb cos I almost flew off my Quad bike.

Here's the bike that scared the shit outta me!

And here comes the bikers!

Quad bike riding is fun afterall! Ahhh.. Like I always say.. anything that doesn't kill will only make you stronger.

Next thing up! Horse Riding anyone?

Its really hard to get up the horse.. and if you accidentally annoyed the horse, beware, it might just sneeze on you.. like what this horse did to me! Grrrr...

During our lunch break, the owner of the place, Ross, gave us a nice piece on his double bass.. this rich fella is actually a millionaire cum musician cum businessman cum etc and etc.. ahhh.. just a rich fella with all the time and money in the world.

Cheers mate!

After lunch, its a ride on a 4WD around Ross's estate! Gosh, we had never finish touring the place.. its just too huge.

After the ride, we went fly fishing! Ah haa! Something new! Its not normal fishing.. the way to cast the rod is very much different.. and the baits are all hand made! Interesting..

But really, I'm more interested in the catch! Ahh.. a rainbow trout for dinner! Looks yummy!

After the fun and "misadventure" at Snowy Wilderness, we headed for Snowline Caravan Park located right beside the beautiful Lake Jyndabine.

By this time, coldness is filling the air as you begin to feel a little more "snowy" than usual...

Next morning was filled with excitement as we are all gonna conquere the highest peak in Aussie! Mt Kozzy!(I'm too lazy to check up the correct spelling of its name) Anyway, this mountain is recorded at 2228m high, thats about 1/3 of Mt Everest!

Here is the peak!

Did you see snow? How about this?

Brrrr.. Do I really have to make it so obvious that those white looking stuff is snow?

Wow, when we were decending from the peak, we took a chairlift from the halfway point.. but.. those people decided to turn off the chairlift system halfway while we were up there.. stranded.

Guess it might be becos of my weird actions infront of their camera that prompted those attendance to switch on the system again to let me down.

The next day while heading down the mountain... it started snowing! Gosh! We were really lucky to see snow in Autumn,

How about a snowman?
Melts in your mouth, not in your hand! Guess I need a better slogan.

Your eyes aren't playing tricks! This is for real! Snow shower!

Time to move back to my coastline... hours and hours of driving led us to Bateman's Bay where we stayed for a nite in some nice suite

Can you feel that kind of luxury I was enjoying? Ahhh..

That nite, we decided to treat ourselves to a good dinner at a Thai restuarant there..

Ah.. after so much fun.. our tour has finally come to the last bit.. the drive back to Wollongong.

Nevertheless, it was still fun as we stopped by some nice place like Jervis

Ahh sweet... I just love this photo!

And to refill our empty tummy, we stop by Berry for an afternoon of great pies and shopping!

At the famous Pie shop! Berry Bakery! Ahhh, the pie is really worth dying for! Gosh!

And of cos, my daily dose of ice-cream...

At Ice-Creamery

Ending off the day with a visit to Kiama before heading back to Wollongon..

Kiama Lighthouse!

Beautiful sunset isn't it!

Well, all good things come to an end. I'm glad this good one left me with beautiful memories.

Farm Fun-tastic

2006-12-13T15:44:00.000+08:00

Good day!
Ahh.. this is another post that is long overdue.. its actually my Mowbury farm trip..
Finally found time and alittle inspiration to blog it out today..

Doing a farm trip has always been on my "To-Do-List" ever since I step into Australia. Things like milking the cow and feeding those farm animals.. Ahh, its just so wonderful. And the best part? I got to do it on my 22nd birthday(10-11)! What a memoriable day for me. :)

Our day started with horse riding. This is really a very thrilling experience for me. Thank god the horse wasn't galloping away.. its just a slow walk.. with occassional short stretches of road for the horse to gallop abit. Overall a pretty smoothe journey.. thanks to my Zoro

Here is me and my trusty Zoro

And the whole group of "experienced" riders

This farm sure have a very interesting way of transporting its guests...

Using a tractor.. and its really fun and bumpy! I'm sure everyone had a good time squeezing together.

The next thing we did was watching a STRIPTEASE.. Nope, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. Yup, its a Striptease we have watched. And introducing our 2 main character in this show..

Aww... I wanted to help the poor lamb.. but what can I do, gosh, that fella is holding a shaver man!

There was abit of commotion and struggle. I mean.. can you guys be more understanding.. stripping infront of a huge crowd requires a certain amount of guts you know. Gosh, that lamb is surely traumatised after the show.

Still stripping..

The poor naked lamb spare no extra seconds and dashed straight to the backstage area. And this is what is being left on the crime scene..

Thats a huge piece of Wool!

After this, we had a sheep dog demostration..

This sure reminds me of those days when I used to get chased by these dogs.. I don't know why, but dogs seemed to be always attracted to me.. Grrrr.. I do recall one of the most horrible experience was the time I was being chased by a Sausage Dog. ARrrrhhhgggg.

After we had lunch, it was time to let our animal friends have their well-deserved lunch.

Ever heard about this joke about counting the teeth in an animal's mouth?
It was said that you should never put your hand into their mouth to count the number of teeth they have, cos they will close their mouth and use their teeth to count how manay fingers you have.

Here's a big group of rabbits..

Ah.. and me carrying a lamb-chop..

Lamb Chop Lamb Chop Lamb Chop!

And look at this! I'm milking a cow! Weeee!

She sure has got lots of milk! Enough for everyone.
Milking cow is sure fun! But please be gentle, and mind where you are touching! Hee

After all the milking fun, its time to have tea.. Definitely, we will have to try out damper making and have a cup of Billy Tea.

So thats grilling the first damper of the day and the tins of water for our Billy Tea

After refreshing our tummy with nice dampers with golden syrup and a cup of tea, we continue the fun with Whip Cracking...

And of cos.. I'm really good with whips.. ah.. you should know why..

Poor Maggie had to be my model of the day

Ending of the trip, we had a boomerang throwing session..

Hey, I am pretty good at it..
So don't mess with me, else I'll crack your head with a boomerang.

Thats all for now..

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Mantra of the East

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

(Thai words used here might not be spelled correctly, but its the way it should be pronounced)

Sa-Wad-Dee Kar (Hello)
Pai-Tee-Nee Thailand!! (I wanna go to Thailand)

About 10 to 11 years ago, I first step onto this "Land of Thousand Smiles". Now they call themselves the "Mantra of the East". Indeed, time changes everything, Thailand has really changed a fair bit since I last went there.

For the better of cos.

Reaching Thailand at midnite is somehow the best way to escape the horrendous traffic jams. Heehe. So all my fun starts on Day 2 of my trip where I found myself floating on the famous Chao Phraya River.

And here is a nice photo of my sister and me.. Ahem.. when I say nice.. I'm really referring to myself. Hehehe

Then we got to see a few landmarks by the river which include this super steep temple which is now no longer open to tourist cos there are cases where they got stuck up at the top..

Its no joke man! I would have peed in my pants if I got stuck up there!

And if you hold a coin from Thailand, try flipping it over and you will get to see this temple on one of the side.

I hope some of you might still recall this famous Thai movie.. "Nang Nak". I simply love this movie man! Anyway, from what the guide told me, this is a true story that took place in Thailand long long time ago.. and in the story, the monk who caught Nang Nak is none other than.....

And the temple he hails from is none other than...

The next stop is a visit to the Golden Buddha. This Golden Buddha was being discovered so accidentally actually. But anyway, if only i can have a bit of the gold, I would just sell it off and continue with another 6 months tour of South East Asia.

Thats a hefty 5 and a half tonnes of pure gold! Geez.
Jokes aside, I really need some cash to travel.. anyone interested to contribute to the "Cheerene Loves the World Fund"?

Back to my trip..

The next thing we get to see is some pigs feeding tiger.

Such a weird combination.. but anyway, introducing the mama pig and the baby piggies and tigger from the Tiger Zoo.

Then its a Tiger Show!! WooHoo! Its kind of boring really, cos I really didn't enjoy seeing animals being beaten etc..

The next thing up was a Croc show! It was pretty alright, these guys dun really hit the tough crocs that much like what they did to the tigers.

Anyway, see this guy in red? He was wearing a Calvin Klein Undie that day.. hehe, and I'm not gonna tell you how I saw it! **Giggles..**

Ah ha! Racing "ba gua", erm.. I mean Racing pigs! Thats the last show before we head off..

That nite, after abit of shopping and checking into Ceasar Palace Hotel, I had a go at some exotic yummies.. like a whole frog.. its crispy n tasty! Yummlicious till max!

(I know some of you folks would be really disgusted by that.. well, I do feel abit disgusted, but guess the taste would make up for it)

All of us went for a bite at this humble food house..

All my folks!

The food was really "so-so" but the price tag was surely impressive! From this, I do learn my lesson.. afterall, I'm still a "road-side hawker stall" folk..

Next morning, we woke up bright and early, all geared in T-shirts n shorts getting ready for a morning on the beach!

All the Beach Bums heading for para-gliding (don't know if this might be the correct term for this sea sport)

I was going up the sky as well so I had to leave my beloved camera with my mum.. and so the next couple of shots turned out really interesting.. like this for example.. a shot of my sister and I geared in the harness...

Anyway, you can't blame her for it, rather, you should blame me for not exposing her to technology more frequently.

Still.. after that gliding fun.. We headed for the Golden Sand Beach where I tried the Banana Boat for the first time in my whole fat life.

After a couple of falls in the sea, I was really WET. Geez, I didn't realise the towel would go so well with my Astro-Boy T-Shirt!. I love Pink!

And a new addition to my leg...

Moving on.. we headed back for a quick shower and lunch then headed off to the Nong Nooch Village where we were treated to a Thai Cultural Show at the Thai Cultural Show House

And did a couple of silly things like making my cousin do a silly face..

and having a sharp pair of eyes is such a blessing as I always spot interesting stuff like..

Sometimes, your eyes just doesn't lie to you.

Up next is the Elephant show where Elephants either big or small comes out and dance, do silly tricks just to earn a couple of bananas and a few dollars.

It really hurts to see them being "trained" this way just to entertain the crowd. Just think of the pain inflicted on them during the training process. They might look tough.. but remember, what looks tough, is always soft on the inside.

Heading back to Bangkok on Day 4 morning, we stop by the Dream World for a day of fun and fun and more fun.

Spot anything interesting?

Awww...

And a couple of ghastly shots..

Lets name this.. "Romance by the Pond"

And this is.. "PDA" (Its not "Personal Digital Assistant".. but "Public Display of Affection")

"Poker for all ages, dead or alive"

Finally... "Keep the Head Rollin"
(Not edited by photoshop, I promise!)

How can the day be complete without heaps of roller coaster rides! Its really rolling good fun! And the best part... you see people barfing like hell after the ride. I bet thats the best part! Heehee

After a day of maddness in the park.. sometimes, adults do get abit weirder than normal, and they start behaving irrationally.. like popping out from a jar?

And recently the Thai government had passed a new law about gambling in the City.. they said that all poker card must be printed like this...

Usage of all other design of poker cards violates the law.
Always remember. Look for the Original!

The brainy me always have to catch up with local news with the locals.

Looks like Something interesting has caught my attention again.

Leaving DreamWorld, let me treat you to a glimpse of the roads of Bangkok.

Time for Party! Its the New Year heading our way again!

To do business, you really got to be a "local" yourself..

And of cos, Uncle Ronald does believe in this fact too.

Next morning, we were being brought to a Snake farm where they were showing a couple of boring snake..

And the interesting fact I found about about snakes... they have 2 penis! It was said that touching the penis of snakes will guarantee good luck when you gamble.

We then headed for the Safari World where we were being watched by animals.. rather than we watching them...

We had to be kept inside the bus cos the animals are allowed to roam freely.. you really don't want to go onto their lunch menu...

And here is an interesting picture.. A Rhino with 5 legs?

Guess if you are an avid fan of my humble blog.. you might be pretty bored of seeing animals already.. so how about a pool of animal poo.

The next half of the day? It has got to end off with a half day shopping spree at MBK. By now, MBK would have become a landmark for Singaporeans.

On the returning morning, I woke up early to join the crowd at the Bobae Market area where they sell things cheap like dirt.. cos they all do wholesale! And thats where I learn the phrase..

"Ma-dem.. very cheapp.. wholesale price.. no discount, ma-dem, cheap cheap" (you got to have that thai slang before this phrase sounds nice!)

You won't believe it... its so cheap, even cheaper than MBK. But before I head off for shopping.. I caught the day break of Bangkok on my camera...

Heading off back home then! Till next time! :)

Wow guys, this is a really long posting.. glad you guys are still following thru.. good work!
Kob-Kun-Karr (Thank you)

Ahh haha.. I've been there and done all that!

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Sydney Discovery

2006-12-02T22:07:00.000+08:00

First.. apologise for the lateness of this entry.. I'm still very much caught up with all the food and fun in Singapore

Covering the 3 big attractions in Sydney all in 1 day, its no joke man!
Gosh.. and with me around.. it can only be fun! Heehe.

Prior to the trip, I had a little time to do some planning too.. and so, to save me some trouble of rewriting the trip's detail, I will jus do a copy n paste here and add on to the details from there. Bear with me! Otherwise, switch blog lah!

Our trip of the day all begins with...

We will meet up at the North Wollongong Station at 8:10am where we will catch the train at 8:16am. Then reaching Sydney Central Station at 9:46am. (Everyone will need to grab a return ticket to Central Station)

From there, we will walk over to the Paddy's Market for alittle shopping. This is where the chinatown of Sydney is located as well.

Well, I did plan for alittle shopping.. but.. shopping is afterall a sport that most girls excel in..

Stoping for a quick pix. The Queen Victoria Building.

We will leave for the Sydney Tower where we will have a 360 degrees view of the beautiful harbour city. Up at the Tower, we will be going on the OzTrek, the largest simulated ride in Australia, that takes you on an amazing virtual reality adventure across Australia's cultural history and geography.

Sadly, I can't grab any picture about the OZ Trek, but rest assured, its pretty worth the ticket price. And whats more, you get to go all the way up Up UP! Up onto the Sky Tower where you get a magnificiant view of Sydney.

And here is the tower! To is no surprise that to get up this tall thing, you will need to pass thru some stringent security check.

Here is the highest working Post Box in the Southern Hemisphere.. Guess what will happen if that bloody crampy lift breaks down? Heehe

Ah.. the ever famous Sydney Icon.. the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The busy streets of Sydney. I thot this picture really look like my "Sim City 3000" (For those who don't know, I'm am avid fan of the Sims!)

TaDa! And here is the Princess in her "UniScrew" T-Shirt!

Hyde Park.. A park out of da blue!

We will then head for the Sydney Fish Market for a fantastic seafood lunch. From the all-time-favourite fish 'n' chips to signature seafood platter, they are just so hard to resist!

(Sorry folks, no photos for this bit here.. The Princess is just famished! Anne has got the pixs, will update if I grab them from her!)

Fish are Friends, Not Food!

After lunch, we will head back to Darling Harbour where we will visit the Sydney Aquarium where you will get to see a large collection of Australian aquatic life with over 11,500 animals including huge sharks and rays, platypus, seals, fairy penguins, crocodiles and much more! We should be able to catch the feed time of the penguins at 3pm! (If time allows, we can even pop by the National Maritime Museum for awhile)

Ahh.. thou we were slightly late for all our planned activities, we still had the time to pop into the museum for awhile.

Ahh.. here is the Museum..

Just beside the Aquarium is our Final destination, Sydney Wildlife World and see over 6,000 animals living in their 9 natural habitats and ecosystems, where you can take a walk on the wild side with the yellow-footed rock wallabies, or meet one of Aussie's national icon, the Koala.

Here is the next 2 destination.. The Aquarium and the wildlife world.

While we were in the Aquarium, you really have to look out for Crocs and some funny signs like this..

And if you still have trouble picturing a Croc or if you really have no idea whats that, here is a clue.. Duh!

Freshies, Salties and Hottie.. Ahem Ahem!

Mr Lonely.. A Fairy penguin

And if you are still "Finding Nemo"

Here's Nemo Found

Nemo's Home

Still looking cool..

Next at the Wildlife World, we were greeted with many different kinds of animals! Duh! Didn't I mention that this is the Wildlife world? Grrrr....

Just reminds me of the cartoon "Antz".. Awww, looking at it jus makes me feel itchy.

Remember when I was a kid, I used to be freaked out by one of these... Eeewwww

Stop thinking all animals that look like this is called Kangaroo... This is a Wallaby, mind u!

Unmistakable, the lazy Koala!

Ending of our tour with an evening stroll around the Darling Harbour where we will come across some landmarks like the Sydney Exhibition centre and the Chinese garden. We can head for Chinatown for some authentic Chinese Crusine or grab some nice pastries and cakes from the "famous" bakery along the street.

So we had the Dumplings from this Da Niang Dumpling Place. Pretty good actually. And a really big range to choose from. Yummy.. And of cos, following that, I have to take my daily dose of Ice-cream again... and need I say again.. GO FOR THE BLACK SESAME FLAVOUR ONE!!!!!

Then at the bakery, you should try some of the stuff like the Yam cake etc.. That day I bought some "Dan Tart" (Egg Tarts) for Sally, my daily evil plan to help her... ermm.. hehee

Then its back to the Central Station for our ride back to Wollongong.

Rendezvous in Perth

2006-10-06T18:23:00.000+08:00

Maybe its really my luck..
The moment I got onto the plane, Peter caught my attention.. with that "oh-so-sweet" smile and that nice hunky frame.. no wonder I didn't catch a wink while I was on the flight to Perth. Just 1 look from him could make me melt. Everytime he would walk past me leaving my mind running wild.

But anyway.. thats not the story I'm gonna tell. Heheehe.

Well Well, Sorry to have kept everyone waiting, I've finally got abit of time to upload my Perth Collection just today. So yeah, for those of you who have been to Perth, its time to relive its glory.. while for those of you who have not been to Perth, its about time you plan your next trip down-under.

The first thing that ever caught my attention was the quietness of Perth International Airport..

So this is about the "grandest" view I can give my audience.. But anyway, the peace and quiet didn't last that long, minutes before the flights arrive, the airport was swarmped with visitors coming to pick people up!

So we headed for our accomodation of the week.. which is located right in the city center with the main shopping street right at my doorstep.

Its quiet not because there is no shops, its just that not everyone wakes up at 8am to do shopping like I do. Heehee..

Hopping on to a train from the Perth station and dazing around for about half an hour, you will land yourself up at the Fremantle Station.

Gosh.. this is when the fun begins!
Shopping + Food + Shopping + Food + Shopping

Oh did I mention the good thing about Perth is that you get a free bus service in the city area known as the CAT service! So hopping onto the one at Fremantle would bring you around their town area. Well, its more like a joy ride to me, cos I've always enjoyed riding in cars and smack my face right on the window and daze all day long.

Anyway, this is some of the best shopping place in the area already.. Need I say anymore!!! I spent alot there lah! But but but but.. I really did get some really good buys.. like a bag and a couple of lizards! Geezzz..

Great place to shop, with whole lot of fun!!
Don't you just love shopping?

And because it was a Sunday, its pretty crowded on the streets as well..

Interesting life on the streets isnt it! Oh... and I just can't let go of any chance to take pictures anywhere.. any corner on anything..

Can't even let this tiny set of table and chairs off..

Enough of shopping.. its about time to head off to another part of the town for the ever famous.. "Fish and Chips"!!

Before you sit down for a seafood feast.. don't you think its only right that you should work for your own lunch?

So there's me fishing for the best catch of the day!

Further exploration around that area would bring you to a few of their famous landmarks!! Say .. the Maritime Museum

Oh, before I go any further.. remember to lock your gates everyday.. cos you never know who might be the next one to trespass your property and taking pictures there..

all in the name of fun.

Being a "long-term tourist" in Aussie, how can I ever not do what every tourist will do? Something like trying out the Digeridoo..

Thank god, Photos don't capture sounds at all.. heee, that also mean I can get away with just a pose.. instead of blowing my whole lung out.

Enough of fun? Heading home? Yeah.. time to catch a train at the station..

But pay attention to instructions.. you are only to wait at the STATION.. not on the TRACKS..
(Seems that Uni education isn't doing me much good)

Back in Perth, you just don't feel like stopping really.. so might as well take your camera along for a couple of shots at the Bell Tower!

And if you might feel abit lazy to walk back to the hotel.. simply hop on to the Swan Express.. (which really brings you no where)

HEY! Stop complaining! I never say its gonna give you a ride back to the hotel!!
You are better off walking...

So to all of you who are thinking if I ever had a boyfriend or not.. answer is NO!
and if you are trying to match-make me.. try using the following photo.. I hope it helps.

I really hope it will help in some extend..

So the Princess will now head off to her daddy's garden.. "King's Park"

Its not just a Botanical Garden.. Its a garden that overlook the whole Perth City. Something fit for a King, and of cos his Princess.

And didn't I always tell you spring time is some of the best season I enjoy.. apart from the wonderful weather.. there is also a nice scent lingering in the air..

Perth's Wild Flower Fest was just round the corner!

I realise this is one of the day when I took much lesser pictures.. and the only thing that can stop me from taking pictures?

That has got to be shopping! Shopping has really got to be the best sport in the world!
I was trying to get something for my nephew actually, but I just can't take my eyes off those pinky little clothes.. thank god I finally got something for him. If only I have a niece as well.

Anyway, shopping malls do close early as well, so having much time to kill, its time to hop on to the CAT buses and go round again! Hence I got to the bell tower again to grab some photos of it in the day.

Looking from another angle..

Doesn't it remind you of Lord of the Ring.. The Bell Tower. hehe

Feeling abit adventurous, we went hunting for the cheapest Japanese Bento set in town! Thats only $6.50 a set! Woo!!

After a good dinner... its always good to take a stroll and do some window shopping..

This is London Court by the night.. Its really a total different feeling.. Aww.. Bet none of you can feel it.. you got to really be there to experience it! (Nah Nah!! Heehee, I'm just trying to make you feel lousy!)

And I'm staying right in the middle of the city centre, how can I not catch a glimsp of the CBD..

Alright, guess my fun in the town area has come to an end..

Lets head down South West.. Firstly.. to the Margaret River..

Such a wonderful day.. how can I not take another picture of myself.. basking in the warmth of the sun!

I think Aussie Wildlife are so lucky, they get to take pictures with me every now and then.. Guess which is the lucky one this time..

Gosh! I'm such a hit with animals! (if you can remember those pictures from my previous postings) Heehee.

Oh, the next place I went to was somewhere that I've been wanting to visit since I was 15.. Limestone cave! I was a hardcore Geography Student really.. I have no idea why I ended up in engineering seriously.

This is the entrance of the Mammoth Cave.. Oh wait.. I was 15 just some time ago.. I'm not that old really.

Then heading back to the coast line.. we have come to the Leeuwin cape, where we will find the Leeuwin Lighthouse

which is situated right in between

the Southen Ocean and Indian Ocean

By that time, you could almost hear the deadliest rumbling sound on earth.. thats your tummy rumbling!! So its got to be dinner time! Having dinner at Equinox Cafe overlooking the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere can be quite an experience.

When I say its long.. its really long.. Cos I still can't figure out where is the other end of it.

Oh, another thing about travelling in Aussie, it is never complete without hours of bus ride. So.. too bad for those who can't sleep on moving vehicles.. Thank god I sleep anywhere..anytime.

So to being my next set of adventure. We shall head off to the Valley of the Giants!

This is where i did my "stunt of the trip" when I climb up a 51m tree..

when you are halfway up, you feel good..

And when you get up right to the top..

It takes awhile for you to catch your breath and start looking cool on the photos again.

So now, I can finally tell everyone.. "Been there, done that"!
Can you spot the little hut up there?
Presenting.. the Diamond Tree Lookout
Heading further down South will get you to the Valley of the Giants Tree top walk where you get to walk straight into a tree without banging your head.. and this is why..

Comparing the cross section of the tree to me.. its no wonder they are call Giants

After covering the bottom layer of the huge forest.. its time to go up up up!

and finally getting there..

Then its back to the coastal towns again where we were treated to some beautiful coastline again. And here is a couple of random shots which turns out very artistic..

Well, I do get to save abit of money from having to buy postcards.. Heehe

The next day.. fun still continues when I went for a dolphin cruise.. and getting to see and some of the nice waterfront houses..

Well, if you are thinking of buying it.. have something like 2.4 million to 4 million AUD ready! One of these days.. I might.. but meanwhile, a picture for memory sake would be good enough.

Moving on.. we came to Reabold Hill.. Thats about the height of the highest hill in Singapore!! Bukit Timah! Both standing tall at about 140m.

Travelling along a few of the nice beaches does make me feel relax..
And having a relaxed mind is a pre-requiste of having a good shopping day.

Giving you an exact idea of where I am.

And we even got time for abit of fishing!!

Smile Crabby! You're only candid camera!
I said smile! Otherwise you are gonna end up as my dinner!

And remember that time at Snowy, I complaint that having short legs too ke 2 minutes to climb up a fence and taking that picture only took 2 seconds?

Well, I've improved! I took less than a minute to get up those rocks this time!

Gosh.. Time flies.. this is the last day of the Princess journey in Perth already..

And after 1 whole week of food + fun + ice-cream + shopping.. its only right that the Princess should head back to Wollongong and get back into the gym..

Princess Cheerene will definitely miss all those good stuff and great company in Perth!
Princess Cheeren is sure a busy princess..

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

A Special Dedication..

2006-09-01T17:06:00.000+08:00

Can't believe it.. Its 1st September once again..

Wishing all teachers a Happy Teacher's Day

Gosh.. I just can't believe that this is my 17th year celebrating Teachers' Day, or rather, being able to relate to "Teacher's Day" (as a student). Geez.. that sure made me sound like an old ass, isn't it! Yeah yeah.. so pretty much I've been studying all my life till now.. But I do agree being a student is the best phase of your life! :)

So yeah, I always like teacher's day anyway. Its a day of celebration definitely (at least for the first 12 years of education-kindergarden, primary school, secondary school). Remember we always had songs, dances and everything else.. and it was during a teacher's day celebration back in 1995 when I got to pit my acting skills against all other kids of my level.. and I came victorious as the Best Actress. The Best Actor was an Indian guy from the other class, now don't tell me he is an actor in Mediacorp now.. (anyway, I'm quite sure his name isnt Gurmit)

And every year.. whether teachers are gonna receive cards or gifts from me, every much depends on how much work they give me the week before teacher's day. My gut feeling tells me other kids out there shares the same idea too.

Well, frankly speaking.. I really don't know what those teachers would do to their little cards and gifts.. Many of them insisted that they would keep those cards.. but think about it, 10 years down the road, how many of them would remember the face of the one who gave the card? I doubt any would.

Well.. don't deny!!

Just think of teachers' mind as a Intel Pentium M715 processor (i know this is a pretty old chip, but don't you think its a good representation of our teachers in school !!opps!!).. at 1.5GHz, 400MHz FSB and 2MB L2 cache.. They still function well at this point of time. Pretty fast I should say, to be able to run at 1.5Ghz and has 400MHz FSB.. BUT!!! A 2MB L2 Cache! With a 2 MB L2 Cache, how much data can they store? A couple of webbies?(maybe more) Its good enough if they can remember the names of students in a class without having to flip thru the class register already. Anyway, cache are never meant for storing stuff that dates back to 10 years ago.. you would be better off with a 300GB HDD really.

And for those of you who had been tortured by weird history teacher or cranky maths teacher or watever.. STOP pushing everything to being PMS! Well, indeed PMS is some of the most terrible things that female teachers have to put up with, on top of those horrendous handwriting and mind-less assignments submitted by students (need I mention those crap we used to write in tests and exams?). But teachers don't suffer on mood swings because of PMS only.. and let me tell you why..

Just pretend that your teacher is a 3-years old Pentium 3 (any P3 chip is a good representation in this case) PC with 256MB RAM and onboard graphics and SB Live! sound card. After serving you faithfully for 3 consecutive years... There is no reason why it would start up properly if you try installing WarCraftIII on it. (Alrite, you kids out there! Imagine yourself as WarCraftIII now! I know its an old game.. but its fun and you can't deny!) You are just overloading the poor PC with all those fancy graphics etc.. and those nice sound effects just don't go well with that SB Live! Sound card!! So don't complaint next time your PC decides to play you out. (or in a way.. don't blame a teacher if he or she throws you out of the class.. in most cases, you deserve it!). Just think of it as a Software-Hardware incompatibility issue, that should pretty much explain everything.

Oh gosh.. enough of trying to relate our teachers to computers.. No offence to anyone really. Just trying to lighten everyone's hard day at work with some silly jokes! (But my guess is not many would understand those techie stuff!)

I reckon the best way to show my appreciation is still to end this blog off with a sincere word from my heart..

As the old Chinese saying goes.. "Yi ri wei shi, chong sheng wei fu".. (which I very much believes in, even till this very day!)

Someone who almost had to repeat her secondary 1 education and failed 7 out of 9 subjects in her secondary 2 and faced so much problems with her studies till she had to drop A-Maths and failed her Accounts. And don't make me mention all those "bad discilpinary acts" she had committed. From then till now... No one would have guessed..
Well, thats me, yours truly.
Looking back at my life now, I'm quite amazed by the things I've achieved so far.. I'm not a top achiever, but at least that 180 degrees phase shift is a good representation of what we might call a "miracle"
And I would credit such "miracle" to no one else but a special lecturer who came into my life almost 5 years ago.. (oh gosh... this is far too mushy.. I can hardly go on..)

Guess those knowledge within the textbooks will not stay with me for long.. but, I'm thankful for the things they have taught that wasn't scribe anywhere else but only found within the word of wisdom they had shared.

Kids, do remember to give thanks to the one who taught you the way of life.. (and help you pass your exams lah!)

A Princess Diary

2006-08-09T16:06:00.000+08:00

It all begin with a 6 hours journey down south..

Everyone was so excited.. just like kids going on their first field trip. All of us had little "surprises" in our backpack.. stuff like kit kats, freddos, crackers and so much more.. you name it, someone is bound to have it.. Gosh, now you know why everyone had such huge backpacks.

We sure had fun on the bus.. All the food and the food.. and more food.
So.. finally, I decided to be abit more "brainy" by taking my notes and make an attempt to read them but.. I fell asleep within 5 minutes. What can I say..

Anyway, we reach Carinya pretty on time. Got our room and then... start looking pretty on photos again..

This is the "Forbidden Room" as Gen might call it.. So yeah, introducing my roomies for the 2 nights.

So after freshening up, we headed for the long awaited.. DINNER!!

Yummy!! Gosh, if only I get such fantastic dinner every night..

After dinner, everyone was just frantic about getting their equipments for skiing.. thereafter, we head back to our room for a Scrabble Challenge.

Ahem.. of cos, Princess Cheerene's team had to win!! After all that brain work.. the Princess finally doze off..

Next morning, we were treated to some really good breakfast. And before we head off to ski.. The ladies have to look pretty on camera again..

So there's Lin and Me

And one of my recent favourite pose.. Lets just call this "Come to mama.."

Introducing the group leaders of the trip, Me - Melissa - Michael - Thomson

So there we head off into the mountains for a day of snowy fun!

Everyone were just so eager to put on all their gear and get onto the snow. So am I (:
Yeah, so we finally get to ski.. and we had a two hour CRASH course to learn how to ski (and crash). Then we were set loose to go skiing for the rest of the day.

Always being accident-prone has sort of became my trademark.. and hence how can my day be complete without abit of misadventure..

Doesn't this remind you of "Luo Han Yu" (Luo Han Fish) that was so much in craze a couple of years back in Singapore? How many of you guys out there can still be so happy after having such a big bump on your head?

Well, beautiful memory hey!
(I swear I wasn't looking at that handsome snowboarder when I skid!! Really!!!)

But that bump will never stop me from taking more shots.. and so..

here is one of Melissa and Me infront of the ski grounds..

Thou I spent my day on my skis.. but that doesn't stop me from looking cool with a snowboard! So here is 1 real snowboarder and 2 who look good with snowboards.

There's Me and Rob just trying to look "Garang" again. As we always say.. we are from the same class, work on the same projects and have the same $@#%&%$@#%& supervisor.

That ends the first day of adventure and a tinnie winnie bit of mishap.

Heading back for Carinya.. everyone was just dead tired..
And little did I know.. Serena actually had a little surprise waiting for me..

TaDaa! She drew a picture for me! It was a picture of a fairy from her book. Don't you think she look so sweet on this picture..

Oh well, we are just as cute as each other.

So after dinnner, we head back to the games room for abit more fun! So we started a game.. Oh.. don't you just love games? I love it especially when someone else has to do the forfeit.

So there's Melissa stealing a ball off the billard table.. That was sure shocking! (Thanks to Princess Cheerene for this great idea)

The next morning, Champian and I woke up early to walk around the place to snap some really good shots..

Thats Champian and Me infront of the rooms.. Ah.. and a little something you will never get to see in Singapore.. Frost on the grass..

Its not a very good thing to have short legs.. It took me 2 minute to climb up there, but took Champian 2 seconds to snap this shot.

After abit of travelling, we came to the groud for Tobogganing. (Shot courtesy of Susan)

A group shot before we start the next adventure..

So this is Tobogganing.. And thats Me with Serena again. As we slide down, we ate so much snow on the way..

This has got to be the greatest shot of the day.. And I, Princess Cheerene, shall bestow it with the title of "Best shot of the Year". Just look at Serena's sweet smile. She is such a sweetheart.

Of course, how can snowy trip be complete without a snowman..

So there you go.. A snowman!

Oh, bet you didn't know this.. You can find Koalas on the Snowy Mountains as well..

Geez.. It was such a rare shot of a HUGE Koala. I almost missed it cos its so well blended into the surroundings.

And not forgetting the 4 Musketeers

Oh.. as always, trying to be funny. Me-Champian-Lin-Robert

Here ends the adventure of Princess Cheerene as she heads back to Wollongong once again..
And thanks guys for the great fun!

Till next time..

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Symbio Wildlife Gardens

2006-07-22T20:47:00.000+08:00

Its just a small park tuck away in the almost secluded Helensburg, less than 40 minutes from Wollongong.
Getting to see wildlife hopping right next to you is what its famous for. Having a few kangaroos hopping behind your ass is definitely an experience. A funny one indeed.

First we saw a couple of koalas sleeping on the tree.. eww, their poo poo stink the whole place man!

Then after wandering around, I came across something new.. its a Meerkat

They look really cute and funny. Doesn't it reminds u of Ice Age 2? Somehow I kept relating this little animal to that movie.

Going inwards the park brings us to the Dingo.. Some fox look-a-like animals..

Then we had a reptile show thingy.. just a silly show thou. But the best thing is, I was given a free scarf afterwards to keep me warm on winter afternoon..

Then I got a chance to go upfront and personal with some REAL AUSSIES..

Later as we move on, we got a chance to meet a pig-gish looking 30kg-fat Wombat.

Some other random animals include the lamb..

Oh great.. the rest of the pictures just refuse to get online now... Tempremental Internet... Darn.. I will post more next time..

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Thou is Chinese! Really.

2006-07-14T23:23:00.000+08:00

Don't think I speak English means I don't know my Chinese..
Today I really freak a girl out when I gave her a few Mandrine words out of the blue.. Gosh, u should have seen her reaction! It was funny!

Anyway.. Seems like I've been cookin some International Crusine hey.. I better add something "Chinese" on my blog as well.

Celery and Minced Chicken. Its heaps easy to cook this. But how nice it will be, depends on who is cookin lah.

Another dish of the similar genre

Capsicum and Minced beef.. (Sorry, not for buddist friends and Indian friends) opps.

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Tonkatsu

2006-07-14T23:15:00.000+08:00

I'm feelin pretty lazy to jote down all the steps to make this great tasting pork chop.. but I'm pretty sure you can find something online about it.. Introducing the Japanese Pork Chop.. Tonkatsu.. I added some tomatoes which I stirred till it almost become puree on top.

It would be fantastic with some brown sauce etc.. but aiya, eat alone, no need to make swee swee right?

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Salmon Curry Set 1.. Upsize please!

2006-07-14T23:07:00.000+08:00

Just last week, I bought a new bottle of chilli sauce.. Its an Indonesian style sambal chilli.. EXTRA HOT!

So eager to try, my neighbour decided to make a feast to "test" the hotness of the sauce.. Tested and proven, that sambal chilli was REALLY HOT!

Here is our feast..

Starting from the top left hand corner, we have Basmati Rice, unsalter peanuts, Our new Sambal Chilli, Garden fresh tomatoes with boiled ladies' fingers (this is for eating with sambal chilli), egg-plant in chilli, Salmon Curry and Seasoned Jelly Fish.

YUMMY!

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2006-07-14T22:55:00.000+08:00

Gong Xi Gong Xi..

I always love Spring Rolls and Ba Gua during CNY.. Nothing thrills me more than these new year goodies.. especially when u are away from home for long.. the longing just gets greater.. so decision comes down to DIY..

Actually I wasn't the one longing for such goodies.. Thanks to my mate for asking abour Spring Rolls.. Heehe.. To them, Spring Rolls is always big (U know the type with Vege inside,etc..). They didn't know there are things like pork floss.. Even my friends from China didn't see this before.. Does it make this an Authentic Singapore Snack?

This is something new to my Aussie mates.. Spring Rolls with Pork Floss.

Gong Xi Gong Xi

And just a little joke I played.. This is Vivien and Me in the UniBar

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Orientation Part II

2006-07-14T18:53:00.000+08:00

Orientation just ended this afternoon..
Woow.. thats heaps of fun and more fun.. As I got in this morning, I started off with extra strong dose of coffee and some cookies as usual. Help out here n there.. then do some attendance stuff then had a debriefing session. It was good.

Then I went over to my "Second home" in the uni.. the Sports hall. I think I don't even frequent labs as often as I frequent the Sports Centre.

So I helped out with ICIS booth to setup the stuff.. and help to look nice on pictures. :)

And here is our booth. And there's Karina, Me and Susan

Then took abit of time off to tour around and talking to various clubs in the Sports Centre. Got myself a chocolate, a stress ball and a cute bottle. Woo..

Later on, I went out for lunchie.. we had a typical Aussie BBQ.. there were some animals being brought in for show as well.. so we had..

A Salt water Crocodile..

And... I didn't really know wat's his name.. sorry.

As I was transferring the pictures to my computer, I realized something... That crocodile looks kind of familiar... I knew I had seen it somewhere.. and I found..

Similarity Index : 85%

My god..

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Creating a Comotion-The Evolution

2006-07-11T15:38:00.000+08:00

This post contains lots of evident of "self-indulgence".
What can I say.. I got to love myself since no one else loves me right?

Recently, lots of people had messaged me on MSN saying that I've changed alot.. I'm really flattered by their comments.. but the truth is.. this is taken in Feb 06 (an old picture thou)

The other day I found this picture lingering about in the D Drive, hence I decided to post it up for everyone to have a laugh..

Taken in 2004 in Sentosa, after I graduated from TP. Hey, I miss that smile..

Picture taken in Singapore, just a couple of days before I came back to Aussie.. at PS. The picture that created a WooHaa!

This is a picture taken at an End of Session Party held just before exams. I kind of didnt like that long fringe.. so I finally got it cut off last sunday.

Hope by my next post, my lastest picture (taken on monday) would reach me then. Then I will have more "self-indulgence" to share. Let everyone indulge in it.. heehe.

But still, thanks for all those nice and flattering words! Cheerios! And everyone says..
WEE WUUT WEEET!

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Whats for dinner tonite?

2006-07-06T18:33:00.000+08:00

So proud of myself again.. I learnt a new thing today!
WooW! I did a whole series of recordings by myself. Yeah!
So what happen was I actually spent the whole day hiding in the most secluded area in the university and did the speech recordings. Well tucked away in one of the furthest buildings from the heart of campus, in a small room where no one knows.. I sat in there for 5 hours just to do some recordings. I almost go crazy man!
But overall, just glad I did something useful again.. Its a step closer to my Final Thesis! Yeah!

Well, my good friend went to brisbane today.. so it would be 4 boring days for me till he is back then. Shall make him some Singapore-Style Curry when he is back then.

Oh, I went over to the Uni's Career Service Office to check on my resume, apparently, it was pretty well written, no editing needed! Whoopee!

Before I go.. I want to share my dinner with you.. I saw a friend's msn nick goes like this.."Chicken Chop tonite".. I'm sorry but I had to laugh at him.. cos.....

There you go.. Baked Lobster with Cheese and Italian Herbs.. Cheerios! I'm not going to write the long reciepe for this dish.. Too lazy le.. just felt like sharing the picture only.. Drool ba!

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

You have a Strong Dislike for Interest Type 1 - Technology and Science

2006-07-01T11:48:00.000+08:00

Following is a Job Interest Profile I did prior to commencing my studies in Australia. Hope you guys might find some entertaining values here.

Cheers!
=====================

You would not enjoy applying Physics, Chemistry and maths to design, invention and building of advanced engineering, scientific and technical products. These products include equipment, instruments and machines. Doing research and carrying out experiemtns does not appeal to you, nor does work requiring logical and analytical thinking, knowledge of maths and the ability to understand and apply scientific principles. This type of work often involves the use of computers.

=====================

Now, I'm doing my B-E (Computer Engineering), working on heaps of research for thesis on computer simulation..

What does it say about me?

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

2006-06-25T21:05:00.000+08:00

Five Spice Stewed Pork and Porridge
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Nostalgia

2006-06-25T20:04:00.000+08:00

Definition of Nostalgia:
1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.
2. The condition of being homesick; homesickness.

Yeah, winter can be abit boring as night falls really early and I have to call it a day at 5pm. Its really boring. As we see a weekend-Orchard Road being the crowd-magnet, I wonder where did the Aussies go to after dark?

Feeling bored? I decided to do abit of showing off again.. Allow me to share my latest dish.. 5-spice pork with porridge.

Significance of the dish:
I am never a teochew porridge lover. Recalling the days where I would fight with my parents against eating porridge on Sunday afternoons. All those rebelious fight I would put up week after week to "Say NO to teochew porridge". But as I grew up, I still didnt like teochew porridge, but started to fall in love with those kind of porridge u get in hawker centres etc.. I think its sort of Cantonese porridge?? I'm not too sure thou. But I love it, especially when you beat an egg inside.. just love it! My father likes to do it this way too. But my mum simply gets irritated when we do that, she hates the taste.. Perhaps my father didnt really like the egg afterall, maybe he is more interested in irritating my mum? Who knows? Hehee

That teochew porridge is the de-motivator which pulled me away from lunch at home on Sundays. Hence I was never close to my father cos thats the only few time in the week he sits at home for a meal.

My father loves to have that 5-spice fatty pork dish (in Hokkien, we call it lor bak), or stewed pork in dark sauce. I love it with those pig organs etc.. the type you get when you eat Kuey Chap. But my father likes those pig trotter with bean curd puffs and eggs. And sadly, my mum always follows my father's choice. At that very instant, I would start staging my fight against the porridge!

Its a nostalgia feeling that made me feel like cooking such a simple and traditional fare that winter night. Hence, presenting.. stewed pork with porridge.

Ingredients:

Cubed pork about 300 to 400 grams
4 Hardboiled Eggs
A few Bean Curd Puffs (depending on size)
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 whole Garlic (smashed lightly)
1 to 2 tablespoons of Dark Soya Sauce
3/4 teaspoon of Salt (depending on personal taste)
Some water lah!
1 tablespoon of five-spice powder
A packet of Maggi Instant Porridge (my personal favourite)

The expert says:
Basically, throwing everything in a pot and sit around for 1 hour would do the trick. Like sometimes I would say, everyone can cook, it just depends on who can do it well. Hence, I've decided to give you a clearer step-by-step instruction.

If you would need any instrcutions to cook INSTANT porridge, please refer to the back of the packet.

For the stew pork, first, a bit of marination would remove all unwanted smell from the pork. Feeling a little lazy this time, I just added salt and pepper to my cubed pork and finally the five-spice powder. Leave it in the fridge to let it absorb the taste. To start cooking, bring some water to boil maybe like 1 cup) then melt the sugar in the water. When its pretty done, add in the garlic, pork, hardboiled eggs and bean curd puffs. Then more water (this is dependent on how thick or thin you want to sauce to be). Add your salt and dark soya sauce as well. Then leave it alone for about 1 hour at least. But pls remember to check on it from time to time, cos sugar will make it burnt easily.

Thats about it I guess.. All you have to do is to keep waiting then. :)
And while you wait, I'm going to catch some sleep now.. Goodnite!

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

2006-06-24T23:08:00.000+08:00

Garlic and Herbs Kangaroo Steak.. Yummy!
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Go Go Go SocceRoos go!

2006-06-24T22:16:00.000+08:00

When we talk about the national animals of Aussie..
First to come in mind would be koala and kangaroo..

There is no need to explain why the Aussie Soccer team calls themselves the SocceRoos! Gosh, this is such a hit nowadays.. Everyone is talking SocceRoos! Thanks to World Cup!

Yeah man! Run For Your Balls!

Yup.. So today, I'm going to show my culinary skills again..
We are not going to eat koala.. we are going for some Kangaroo rather.

I love this cos its really not that oily as compared to other meats I get in the supermarket. So I guess its a healthier choice for all.

You can hop, but you cannot hide! :)

Significance of the dish:
Its my first time cooking and eating kangaroo, so this sort of made me a Newbie to it. But nevertheless, it was such a wonderful experience. The meat was soft and tender. Tentalizes my taste bud till the max!

Presenting.. Garlic and Herbs Kangaroo Steak..

Ingredients:

Garlic and Herbs Kangaroo Steak (other options discussed later)

Sides:

Carrots
Celery
Cauliflower
Tomato
Dash of peppercorn
Small serve of Bell pepper salad dressing with olive oil

The expert says:
The way you cut your veges really depends on how you wanted to present your dish this time, there isn't any rule to it. Boil your carrots and cauliflower, have your celery and tomato raw, they taste good! Sprinkle your freshly grinded peppercorn on top and finish it off with some salad dressing.
As for your kangaroo steak.. there is a couple of options. You can get the marinated ones from the supermarket, or you can get those plain ones and do your personal marination. I've tried both, and I prefer the ones I marinated myself.. Cos I get to control what goes into my steak to fully bring out the taste of the meat.
A bit more on the "traditional" side, I've actually tried 2 different marination for my steak. First is black pepper one, then a more oriental way of garlic and herb style. Black Pepper has always been my fave.. it goes well with almost anything. To do this dish, simply rub your steak in oyster sauce and black pepper. Then leave it for a couple of hours before cooking. For the garlic n herbs version. Grab some minced garlic, a dash of white pepper and your favourite mixed herbs, not forgetting some oyster sauce and start rubbing it in onto your steak. Again.. leave it for a couple of hours to let the taste set in.
The best way to cook this steak is to oven bake it. Its a slower process as compared to grilling, but you can be assured of better texture of the meat. More tender in other words. Don't over do it.. you are gonna waste your money, cos you will end up with a piece of rubber to chew on. About 20 minutes or so would be a good time. A tip to note, you might want to flip it just to ensure both sides get cooked.

Another way to ensure that you meat (this applies to all sorts of meat) is tender, you might want to pound the meat a few times before you marinate them. The purpose of this pounding is to slightly break the bonding in grains of the meat. If you don't have the proper tool (thats a hammer look-alike tool), you can always use the back of your knife.. But a word of caution, over pounding cause the meat texture to go really bad.. (this is a comment by a top chef I saw on TV years ago)

Interesting point: A glass of shiraz really will go well with this dish.

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

2006-06-20T22:51:00.000+08:00

Xiao Mei, yao chi fan mah? Tung Fen hao mah?
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Xiao Mei, ni you hui lai le ah?

2006-06-20T22:25:00.000+08:00

Whats so good about Tung Fen?
You have really got to taste it before you know why..

Significance of dish: Reminds me of Chewling... so sad rite? hehe
no lah, it reminds me of Short Circuit rather.. and why link to Chewling? Cos she was the one who always spend the "Rush Hour" with me in Short Circuit. Recalling those FYP days.. when everyday was a busy day.. Rush here n there in the name of FYP..

Why linkage to Short Circuit?
Cos the Thai food stall always sells this.. I know I hated that stall cos her food always has so much oil etc.. Well, I think its my taste bud problem cos I always find fault with that stall I think.. I have no qualms with other stall.. especially the Corona stall.. In fact, I'm kind of scare to walk pass that stall now.. each n everytime, without fail, the aunty will shout "Xiao Mei, ni you hui lai le ah?" grumblesss..
But I still miss my TP..

Anyway, still presenting...

Dish of the Day: Fried Tung Fen with Chinese Sausage

Ingredients:

1 small packet of Tung Fen
1 chinese sausage
minced garlic
half a tablespoon of Oyster sauce
dash of pepper

Garnish:

Spring Onions (chopped)

The Expert Says:
Remember to soak your Tung Fen before you cook them. Maybe for about 20 mins or less will do. Then dice your chinese sausage into little bits (not too small either).
Right, first, you got to fry your minced garlic in the pan with a little oil till almost golden brown, then throw in your diced sausages.. Watch out for the heat cos sausages can get burnt. After a minute or two, dump in all the Tung Fen and mix well with the sausages and garlic. Next, get some water and mix with the Oyster Sauce, stir well, and pour into the pan (onto the Tung Fen obviously). The Tung Fen will soak up the water in a jiffy. Then finish it off with a dash of pepper.

Anyway, just a word of caution.. this dish is suppose to be dry.. Tung Fen is suppose to be springy and nice.. If your dish turns out to be really soupy.. I suggest you change the name of YOUR dish Tung Fen SOUP.

Sprinkle chopped Spring Onions before serving. TaDA!

2006-06-20T22:15:00.000+08:00

Me and Mr Ranjit
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

2006-06-20T22:12:00.000+08:00

Steamboat in winter
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

2006-06-20T22:09:00.000+08:00

Queenie bday celeberation
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

2006-06-20T22:07:00.000+08:00

Drunkards
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

2006-06-20T21:56:00.000+08:00

12 years of sushi making
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Hope or Faith?

2006-05-30T15:57:00.000+08:00

Do you have a hope?
Do you hope that one of these days, you will strike Lottery? Don't you hope for a promotion at work? Or hope for a news of 20% pay increment company-wide? Don't you hope to top the class in your biology class test or come in first in the school's annual Maths and Science Quiz?

Or do you think its better to have faith?

I always thought that having hope is the first step to success. Being able to dream of big things and dare to hope for it opens your heart to receive the success that might follow. And just recently, my theory was proven wrong.

Hope isn't all. In fact, hope doesn't mean that much afterall. Maybe hope is somewhat still needed to sustain a dream, but the most important factor that draws us closer to sweet success is none other than faith.

I had this bad experience just recently that I wanted to share it with everyone here.

Its more of a known fact that I have been fighting hard to get the "good" grades that I was hoping for. All along, I knew I didn't enjoy much of what I was doing, I was only hoping to prove myself. It became so bad, so bad that it started to spawn into an uncontrollable yearning to win myself. I was hurt because of that. In a recent test, I suffered a humilating defeat. I knew I had done my best.. but why are there still regrets?

All along my game, I was sustaining on hope. The hope to do really well. But I didn't know that the faith wasn't there. I thot I was self-sufficient. But I was wrong. The defeat hit me so hard. I was really depressed. I couldn't get to work ever since then. I lost hope.

I think its really easy to go off track. Well, I used to do pretty well earlier on in the session because of the presence of faith. But then success has this over-powering control in my heart that everything became mere hope. I lost my footing and let hope took over. I wouldn't say hope is a bad thing. It is good till some extend, but to get further in life, you got to have faith(and god of cos).

Why am I saying that faith is better than hope?
Let me try to explain the two words according to my own understanding. I may be wrong thou, humans do err... come on! :)

Hope is more of a human desire. A desire for something to be done? something to happen? For example: "I hope to get into the top management of my company" or "I hope to get a hunky boyfriend within 10 days". With hope comes expectations. With expectations come dissapointment.

While Faith is more of a trust in God. A trust and believe in him that everything will go the way he planned it to be. When there is faith, there wouldn't be doubt.

And getting back to my question again.. Why faith is better than hope?

Simply because man fail, but not god (isn't it awesome). That goes to say that hope may fail to get you to your desired destination, but faith brings you a long way.

I remember a pastor once said that our relationship with God is like an equation. You have got to fulfil your half of the equation before God will make the other half come true. So I guess, Faith in this case becomes the key variable. If "faith=0", no matter what numbers we multiply with it, we will still get 0, needless to say, balancing the equation would yield a 0 on the other side of the equation.
Hence the expression (0=0) ----> expressionless face.

I asked myself, since I believe in God, why is he putting me thru all these?
Simply because of his love for me. That goes for just anyone and everyone else. Every test that he put us thru is a step forward.. closer to him. At times of struggle, do you think He will forsake you? No, so be faithful and trust Jesus. Just like what mummy always tell me, Just do your best, and leave the rest to God.

Last sunday as i broke down and cried out to God.. Sally was there to pray for me. Thru her, God has send yet another important message to me..
"look down and just focus on putting the next foot forward. Do not look at your friends and compare with anybody. It is your own game. All you have to do is put the next foot forward, think about the very next step, do not think of how far more to go or whether you can do it or not. Recall those moments of victory you had? relive them once more".

Remember my previous blog was asking if I'm hearing from God.
Answer is, I close my heart from him by not having faith. Faith will bring about open communication. Only then, can he show you his way.

I know this test is not easy, but I am sure, with enough faith, I will clear the test. Only when I can overcome this test will I be ready for my next test to come.
(In any case if you are still unsure of what my test is, its about being able to be not over-concern about my grades)

I think the key points being highlighted to me in this current test is to be patient and be faithful. Trust myself and do my best. Don't you agree?

So, after reading all these, are you still hoping for anything?
Or would you rather have faith?

Alot of things here have been pieced together by me, I can only assure they are correct at the time of entry. Please feel free to correct my thots if you ever think they are so wrong.

Acknowledgement: Bits of the entry comes from conversation or mails with some great people like mummy and sally and of cos my pastors in Gateway City Church.

Please talk to me...

2006-05-25T16:10:00.000+08:00

I think there is something wrong with my laptop these days... too much rubbish on it, causing it to hang on me.

Yeah, it can get really irritating.. and worst still, some programs just refuse to work. Darn.. not at this time of the year, baby. But it seemed that a reformat will only cause me more issue, I've decided to stick to it for the time being. Reformatting it just don't make sense now. With all the data that is loaded in it, no one ever bear to format it..

But anyway, its not a problem big enough to call for a reformat. I think it might not be even due to its problem but my problem.. My bad for running heaps of program on startup. Sheer laziness to get everything going without having to work on them. ARgh.

So I've been feeling really low these days. I'm really sick n tired. I just can't get going on anything. Now even "hello blogger bot" refuse to talk to me, I'm so stranded. I had wanted to post up pictures taken these few days. So don't blame me, blame tat bot! Exams are just round the corner and I have not even finish my assignments.. let alone revision.

I'm sort of de-motivated towards my goals. I'm just not exam smart, thats the point. Oh god.. oh god. Please tell me what to do. Am I not hearing you or am I refusing to hear from you.

Achieving, Achieved, Achievements

2006-05-11T07:33:00.000+08:00

I felt somehow irresponsible to make that kind of remark.. "Humans are just like tat". Hey! Whats wrong with the rest of the humans when only of them has done wrong. So my conclusion is.. the rest of them didn't do anything wrong, but somehow stood in the picture and got blind accusation.

So yeah.. I take back my words. I'm really sorry if it upsets anyone from anywhere at anytime.

Morale of the story? It does pay to stand out of the crowd. At least you wouldn't get fingers pointing at you for things that you haven't done.

Alright.. Here is a complain yet again. I've been really bothered by this girl apparently. Whats wrong with HER(its a more specific term used instead of "their") mentality? I might have blog about this infamous person before in my previous entries, describing how irritated I got and its all thanks to her!

Oh well.. she did it again. As most of you readers would be avid PBL fans, I'm sure group projects are just nits and grits of your daily life (we should have got used to it by now). Yeah, I'm a huge fan of PBL actually. I love how the system would actually force people to do things out of the box, etc.. By this time of my life, I should have (theoritically speaking) got very used to projects and "Special cases" of ingenious team-mates. Indeed, every group project that I ever worked on is an experience of its own. All of these are amazing experiences that would contribute to character building. So don't blame me if I've got a "character of my own" :)

Anyway, I sort of deleted, instead of posting, what I've wrote in this entry. Cos readers might find it dry and irritating.. If you happen to be working right now, isn't it comforting to know that irritants don't only exist in offices? They are practically everywhere! (Anyway, since I've typed out those shitty stuff already, I felt better even if I didnt post it up.. Its not a matter of who reads your blog, its a matter of your ability in expressing yourself freely and be able to live up to it.)

In-lieu, I will blog about some of my achievements and those "yet-to-be-mine" achievements. Or perhaps just some etc etc stuff to get by.

This session has been great fun as most of you might have perceived from reading this humble blog. Yes indeed. Fun in many aspects. Acadamically speaking, I've done alright.. Presentation and project submission this friday. Following monday will be Thesis submission day. Next friday comes the submission of my Posters and etc for my Thesis. Last academic week of the session will see me thru a test and a Java project submission not forgetting a report for the whole session of work done in one of my software subjects. Wow.. I didn't know I have so much to do if I hadn't blog it out. Oh well, this happens all the time during this bit of the session. Thats the final countdown to exams. A good news is added on recently, my lecturer had sent me a mail saying that I've done really well in one of the exams I took before I went on holidays. It did cheer me up greatly, and to further bring up the spirits, that same day I got back a test script with 87/100 inscribed on it! Weeeee!

On top of the busy schedule, I did find time to go out and have some fun as well. Oh yes.. the gym and badminton bit always turns me on. No complaints about it. X-) I kinda make it a weekly affair to have a game of badminton or gym, usually both in a week. Gym is really a good place to be when you felt the burning effect of assignments or thesis. Badminton is good when you wanted interaction with the sane people. I haven got time for any this week. Thanks to group meetings and thesis work.. I actually had plans to sweat out in gym this friday, but little did I realise I had an appointment made last week to visit my friend. Oh well, tonnes of excuses always up my sleeves.

And travelling wise.. definitely more than last year. And this time, I had the chance to stay on for winter. This is gonna be cool.. COLD I mean. Haaha. Yeah, this period never fails to remind me of the really depressing time I had last year, sort of like a depression period for me, when my life doesn't seem to fit into the world.. and thank god I walked out of it. I remember running home straight after exams just because I cound't take the stress. Because of that, I've got a good scolding.. and thanks to the scolding, I know from then on, I do not have to trod this path alone. And the motto I've got out of this experience?

"Whatever doesn't kill you will only make you stronger"

My Uni-life is becoming more like my poly-life for some reason. Remember the days in CENT? Well, now in Uni.. I have one more club to remember. Thats the ICIS. Yeah, I'm running clubs yet again. I remember teling myself that I will not touch any clubby stuff in uni cos I badly wanted to concentrate. But now? Somehow, running clubs give me the motivation to put up a good fight academically. Yup, Full steam ahead!!! Talk about "clubbing life" huh! Heeheehee

I can vividly recall how I dread leaving poly towards the last bit of my poly-days in TP.. Now, I'm beginning to have the similar feeling here.. Leaving University can be even more dreadful. Its once again back to working society.. I don't know whats got into me.. I even started to think of doing my masters and even PhD?? Its just measures that could be taken to keep me away from heading back to 9 to 5 jobs. I think its a fear of heading back to the REAL world. I think I really enjoyed life as a student.. (except for the exams and assignment bits).. Heading back to offices just doesn't help me get a life.

I was chatting with a long time friend just back then. I was talking to her about this issue..
"live a life" and "work to live". To me, she has definitely chosen the first path, while I have to trot the latter. I'm glad that she is now enjoying her life. Sort of care-free. Whatever it is to come, I'm sure she would really treasure this period. Its alot on our character I reckon. She is not as career-minded as I am. Well, thats a good thing. She believes in "having enough" while I chose to believe in "having surplus". Its our choice afterall.

I was reading my research material the other day and came to notice a word that is spell the other way round (eg. murder-redrum). And as the spelling suggest, the meaning of the word is the other way round as well. So if I were to say that she leads a "simple" life, then I've got be a leading a "elpmis" life (please pronounce it as "alp-miss").

Anyway, thesis is calling for my attention now.. I've got to finish it today (pray hard), so I can get over it and get a good night sleep. ZZZZZzzzZZZZzzzZZZZzzz.

I can't wait till I see the end of my last exams. I badly needed a 2 full day dosage of "The Sims 2".. I had it installed in January, but since coming back to Wollongong, I only had an encounter with it. Nothing since then. This game just doesn't fit into my schedule. :(

Before I end it up, I would really love to pray for my readers again. While I was praying yesterday, something dawned upon me. "To be a better friend". My personal struggle has drawn me away from some friends whom I used to be close with. Remorse and regrets. And since I've always said that "I've chosen this path", then I shall be held responsible to mend it back to the way it used to be.

God Bless.

2006-05-09T19:31:00.000+08:00

The last thing you will imagine finding in Great Aussie...Prata Dua and Indian Curry Chicken..

2006-05-09T19:29:00.000+08:00

Shiny Clean!

Uncle.. Prata two, no egg

2006-05-09T18:55:00.000+08:00

I was watching the TV sometime ago when I heard this phrase:
"Humans are easily satisfied"

How true is that? Well, at least not for me. This is something that I definitely have to confess to. Anyway. Not being "easily satisfied" calls for the need to constantly improve yourself. It gets tiring after sometimes thou. But still.. this is human instinct.

Anyway, I have yet another thing to share tonight. As you might have guessed.. Prata! Its not only prata, but also the Indian curry by its side. Sitting in my living room now, thou that dish was done yesterday, smell of the spice still lingers in my living area. Ahh.. nice nice! Thanks to my hsemate for refusing to air the place. Even if I love the smell of the spices, I don't think its wise to "keep" it to yourself.

When innovation has done me proud once again..

Main Dish: Roti Prata

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry (1 slice can be cut into 4 portions)

Side Dish: Indian Curry

Ingredients:

3 medium Carrots (chopped into big strips)
1 huge Onion (sliced)
2 big potatoes (cubed)
2 chicken drumstick (Chopped into 3 pieces each)
200g of chicken breast fillets (bite size please)
1 packet of Indian curry paste
440ml of Coconut milk
1 table spoon of oil

The Expert says:
Well, I guess we should really start with the curry this time. Using a non-stick pan or pot, put in the oil first and stir in the Indian Curry paste, just for half a minute. Then dump in all the other ingredients except for the coconut milk. Needless to say, please leave the puff pastry alone in the freezer first. Its not easy to work with puff pastry skin once it is thawed. Back to your pot of curry.. Remember to mix the ingredients well with you paste, this would sort of give it a very nice and even taste later on. Then let it sizzle for something like 5 to 10 minutes. Time to add in your coconut milk then. Stir well and let it simmer for 20 minutes at least.. You have got to wait till your chick is cooked and potatoes are soft. I love softer potatoes, so I did take a longer time to cook this dish. Just before you decide that you are done with the curry, turn the heat really low just to keep it warm...

Time for Prata showdown! Its so easy to get pre-prepared prata from the supermarkets in Singapore, but not in Aussie thou. So what we need to do is to improvise and be creative! Instead of the normal Prata we get in SG, I used the puff pastry instead. Viola! It works! So what you actually do is to pan fry it till crispy brown perfection. You don't even need oil if you have a good 'O' non-stick pan. Taste exactly the same (or somewhat close) to what you get from the indian uncle in the Kopitiam.

Its really really nice to serve both the curry and the prata warm. Especially on a cold "pre-winter" night.

Anyway, how much does our prata cost nowadays?

2006-05-05T17:44:00.000+08:00

Xiao mei.. lai..xiao xin, shao ah... $3 lai..