Friday, February 29, 2008

hong kong feb 2008 - days 2 to 5

day 2 - Wong Tai Sin Temple, Victoria Peak
day 3 - Macau (Senado Square, St Pauls, Casino Lisboa and Venetian)
day 4 - Giant Buddha, Yuen Long
day 5 - HKU (met Jiahao)

other than some minor descriptions, let this be a pictorial post =)

Spent some time praying here...


At the Peak Tower


Is it really effective? I tried though...


Lost $400 here. Luckily won $1500 at Lisboa to offset this


Cable car reopens!


The fog made this visit the most 'memorable' one.


My type!!! If i say i accidentally snapped her, would you believe??


Hong Kong University - had a great catchup with JH


Their iconic main building


Had a Cafe de Coral breakfast here


aunt preferred the tour package way of travelling. But i believe this is highly up to own preferences. I like free & easy, because i get to mingle with the locals and go to places i really want to. Hope they enjoyed the trip though, the weather wasn't at its best (it was cold, wet and gloomy). My temper wasn't so good on the last day, because my parents just keep buying and buying, even just before departure. In the end, even taking the taxi was a problem.

bought a nice (my opinion la) bracelet for myself onboard the flight back home. It cost more than anything i bought in HK... but it's nice for formal occasions.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

hong kong feb 2008 - day 1

some of you might be aware this trip was intended to bring my parents overseas (for the first time).

so i'm not experimenting new stuff or places, but just going to places i covered before.

some quick unusuals:

- i ate six meals today - breakfast (mac), brunch (on the air meal), lunch (wanton mee), dessert (xu liu shan), dinner (duck rice) and just awhile ago, supper (gong zai mian).

- i have a shop under my name, and it's related to something i'm really not familiar with.

I wanted to find a shop with my big name on it for long time...

- my places of stay is moving downwards - mar 07 was at Prince Edward MTR (Metropark MK), dec 07 was at Mongkok MTR (Ah Shan Hostel), now it's at Yau Ma Tei MTR (YMCA).

- my room sockets tripped because i played too much with the aircon controls. Oops...

Friday, February 22, 2008

crane toppled at NUS

the year of 2008 is kinda wretched.

had my math tutorial at S16, then took the long winding A1 to Biz for my MNO1001 tutorial. It was a normal bus ride, until the bus turned into Law Link (around 2.10 PM).

as i sat with Steve and looking towards the Biz bus stop, i saw a large white crane falling down, with the highest end falling towards Biz1. I thought, maybe someone was lowering the crane. But the speed at which it came down was too fast.

since i was in the bus, i couldn't hear anything. But i can see people at the bus stop staring at the mess less than 8 metres behind them. And the force of the fall split a tree, and parts of that tree went down on the motorcycles in front of the bus stop.

if you see the scene, those people at the bus stop are very lucky. And fortunately, nobody appeared to be standing at the linkway to the bus stop, which bored much of the impact. The linkway is almost gone.

I waited for my friend last week at the same linkway. PHEW..


See the mess in front of the bus stop too.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

dining at waraku

it was a long time i met up with them for a (no-stress) meal. The last time was in Sept 2007, before sh!t started. Maybe there's some small gatherings in between, can't really remember. This time, we went holland again - wanted to find out the route to Waraku East Coast, but my mind slipped under a heavy load of to-dos. My poor advice saw the car going all the way to Fort Road, then turning back to Carpark C. =x

the ambience is excellent this time - no bustling marketplace of the typical Waraku dining scene. I managed to book a private room, with a view of Long Beach's entrance. Had to remove our footwear before entering too.

had a short chat after dinner, the car driver voiced out the concerns of NS. Every man gotta go through it, so bite the bullet with bravery. It's really where boys come out to be men, minus a few screwed up cases. After you come out, we can start discussing about what men really do - work and girls!! =x

limited photos with me, so the rest of the photos will be posted by the rest.

They called lots of curry, i stuck to my favourite paper steamboat


Dining in comfort - large table with own air conditioning control

my HTC touch's camera is really notches away from U600. Should i bring my U600 out again??


i'm few days away from flying off, but much work has been piled up. Scary. No, i must do something about it.

Monday, February 18, 2008

weekend happenings

had a short time in sch on friday, because i went for curry fish head after lecture and tutorials. Steve had his brother's car in campus, so we took bus B to Kent Vale to get the car. Was my first time taking bus B past the Engineering faculty. After 1.5 years of being a student.

we had the curry fish head at whampoa market. Thought the stall was opened by Steve's relative (he's a Sim), but unfortunately not. We got sambal kang kong, additional duck and roasted meat from another stall to complete the whole package. Not bad. We each paid $11.50 after factoring in the sugar cane drinks.

Steve recommended his clan - Uncle SIM


I think i'm WOLS. But...



saturday was really busy to the max. Morning was my exciting kayaking session. Too bad HK was doing in-camp range, but we still enjoyed the 2 hours of sunbathing. Our forward paddling is improving as we practise; especially towards the end we paddled so mechanically, like well oiled machines. This session, i brought a camera out to take ourselves in action. Quite a hassle because i have to bring a belt pouch, then put my U600 into a ziplock bag to keep out the water. The belt pouch was completely wet after 2 hours, luckily there was the ziplock bag.

a girl from a dragon boat saw the camera, and told her friend to look. lolz... so funny meh..

Preparing to set sail in our bandits


This is PA Water Venture Kallang


Tanjong Rhu in front of us, Indoor Stadium on the left and Sheares Bridge on our right


Heehee


Sailing to Sheares Bridge first


mn, remember this place from the movie. haha..


Current below the bridge is normally strong...


The other side of Kallang Basin - Indoor Stadium/Cosy Bay

after the kayak i rushed down to class. Didn't had full attendance for class, and i spent $11 on cab for a 1 hour tutorial. Not quite worth, but anyway the tutorial was light-hearted. Dozed off on the bus home, because i was really dead tired.

the night was spent with my sec school friends. Had fun playing the "fishing" card game. Teacher was very helpful especially when i know nuts about gambling! Then wenqun, his teacher and me went geylang. Not hanky panky ok, went there for some snacks. Had the mee sua. Good man.

I think i cannot show this photo because of teacher in the background.
But never mind la, hor?


Geylang treats. Yum yum...

sunday was started late because of the late supper. Spent 1-2 hours sorting out my finances, which was in a mess. My savings dropped alot because i didn't track my spending timely enough. Have to put back the spending asap....! Then went to do my banking at the various banks, went to Suntec's money changer. Sneaked over to mn's place to slack. What a lazy day...

Thursday, February 14, 2008

etc

some random post. The past 2-3 days were spent on school work. I think there's still so much more to complete though.

went back school yesterday to complete my CS3261 and CS2301 assignments. There was a CNY dinner buffet for SoC students, but the amount of food was more for a group of 15-20. But gotta admit it, my team mate QJ and i got there late =p

since i had only $0.20 with me, and DBS atm nowhere to be found nearby, i went out to eat. Eventually decided to have my fantastic noodles at Lau Pa Sat. I still like the thinly wined soup. But for some time it's (still) quite a challenge to have a meal in Tanjong Pagar, because of past memories. Somehow these memories will always linger around. Have to live with it.

had a friendly chat with an Indian worker on 960. He mentioned about the bus captain driving the bendy bus - a small sized lady with a pleasant smile. And when she sat inside the driver's cabin, i couldn't see her head from the back! When she initially started on the route, many people at the bus stands were turning heads to take a proper look. Quite a wonder.


My U600 is in cold storage... but i still like it.

zw just told me that xinyan just passed away. She came across to me as an excellent junior and acquaintance during poly days. It's rather sad to see someone young passing. Hope her loved ones can be strong.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

wo huo ding le!!!

this year's chinese new year was kinda boring, in summary.

for the 1st day, i overslept at home and got groggy.

for the 2nd day, my family went back to Johor, to visit relatives. I didn't, but i couldn't sleep after they left. So went to the airport and did some work at mac. Evening was at the theatre watching CJ7.

for the 3rd day, i went to bai nian (earlier post), and thereafter back home to sleep. Mn la, go see flowers also don't want. =p

for the 4th day, woke up late. Did a lil' math at woodlands mac, then had family dinner. My eldest aunt from Kluang came, so didn't go out after that. But managed to meet my kopi-mates and had a joke with the favourite kopi-soh.

boring hor? Worse of all, although i did bits of work, the work continues to pile. And pile. I'm worried for my HK trip in 11 days, because i might end up bringing my books along. NOOOOO!


Got my bro to fix the bugger before leaving Singapore last Fri


Back to school (not my school actually)


Steve wanted to enquire about a course, but the counter was unmanned.
Was rather disappointed.


my bro is leaving next week for some jungle-luvin' time at Brunei. I've not seen the place before, but heard the place is extremely boring. Well, just get it done with and come back.

meanwhile, good luck to poly peeps for the exam papers! To that someone, better study ok. Othewise NI HUO DING LE!!

Monday, February 11, 2008

anyone from starhub mobile?

i'm interested in getting an O2 Atom Life from StarHub shop, because of the very good contractual pricing (around $488 for the lowest tier plans). Exclusive to StarHub i think.

so i have 2 suggestions if you have an existing line with StarHub, but not under any contract -

1. i'll topup $150 in return for the contractual obligation you sign up

2. i purchase the O2 under your line, you can purchase a phone of your choice under my Singtel line (no contract currently). Special angbao of $48.88 for your effort.

please do contact me if you're interested. The topup amount is negotiable.