In trying to keep up with tradition by reviewing my resolutions from the year gone by, here's a review for resolutions 2009 . I'm sure everyone's heard me complain about what a lousy year 2009 has been for me already and its no lie. It has been seriously bad from alot of angles.
But without going into the negatives and focusing on the positives instead, it has been a year of learning, reflection and growth. If anything, 2009 probably marks the year that I focus on becoming a better person within, realising what the priorities of my life are, and trully valuing the value of money. And that definitely is a silver lining to take away from 2009.
This year, I've added a pass/fail marker at the end of each reso.
So without further a due...
1) Eat Healthier
I would like to think that this has improved. But the reality is that it has stayed status quo at best. Mcdonald's Monopoly promotion in the 4th quarter seriously didn't help one bit. There were at least 2-3 days where I had fast food for all my meals then. And I never won anything with those stupid property stubs. FAIL
2) Improve Level of Exercise
This one was going well until April during one of those indoor futsal games when a clumsy opponent fell and somehow channeled all his body weight to his shoulder, which collided with the side of my knee. I was lucky to get away with just a sprain, given all the rupturing noise, but it was aggravated once more several months after, thereby rendering my competitive soccer career over. I now settle for Saturday pick up games with old friends for my weekly exercise. Oh, and I haven't been to the gym in 2 months. FAIL
3) Spend More Time With Family
I think this one should pass lah. I really do party much less (about once a week at best) and spend more time at home. Even though the entertainment room hasn't become reality yet. It is a good thing to do. PASS
4) Make More Money From Investments
Whoa. This one I have to bravely raise up my hand up high holding a white flag and admit that I failed. Spectacularly somemore. Almost everything I invested in turned to dust. It wasn't pretty at all. All I can hope for is that 2010 will be better hopefully. Else, I will also be trading alot less, just to be safe. FAIL
5) Less Alcohol Consumption
This is somewhat tied to point 3. Since I party less, I obviously drink less. Less alcohol is also better for me, and it looks like this will continue into the new year :) I've still got several cans of Tiger and Heineken from 2008 if anybody wants! PASS
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Well I won't go into any economic analysis this year (even though I was pretty accurate last year!). Instead, I strongly recommend everyone to read the Top 10 Outrageous Economic Predictions by Saxo Bank! Although I don't think this year's predictions are as outrageous as last year's ($200 oil, Ron Paul for President anyone?), they are pretty interesting nonetheless.
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That's all folks, as we wave goodbye to 2009! Me and the wifey will be heading to Marina Bay for the countdown later tonight to celebrate the new year IN STYLE (and with a bang!). Let's hope we have fun!
Happy 2010!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Final Countdown
Ok, we've decided that we're almost definitely gonna be spending New Year's Eve (NYE) somewhere in the Marina Bay area. Probably Butter Factory, but given that the whole damn place is gonna be so crowded, we have another friend's party we can hopefully pop by which is pretty near the area.
Lets hope we all have a great time at the Bay!
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Here's a little number crunching for fun:
Assuming me and the wifey manage to save up at least $100,000 within the next 3 years when our HDB constraint is due, coupled with another $100,000 in our CPF, we would then be able to afford a nice private home with a budget of up to $1mio, where we take an 80% loan from the bank.
For a $800,000 loan, monthly repayment is 3.7k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.
For a $700,000 loan, monthly repayment is 3.2k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.
For a $600,000 loan, monthly repayment is 2.8k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.
For a $500,000 loan, monthly repayment is 2.3k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.
Given that our humble little Sengkang flat can fetch $2k a month in rent, it means that we can almost use solely our CPF contributions to pay the rest of our instalments.
Time to start saving!
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Oh and I watched that Sasha Baron Cohen movie, Bruno yesterday evening.
Gayest shit I've ever seen man. It was tough sitting through some parts and some other parts I was laughing like mad. I don't think I can ever look at Ultimate Fighting Championships the same way ever again. Hahaha!
Lets hope we all have a great time at the Bay!
________________________________________________________
Here's a little number crunching for fun:
Assuming me and the wifey manage to save up at least $100,000 within the next 3 years when our HDB constraint is due, coupled with another $100,000 in our CPF, we would then be able to afford a nice private home with a budget of up to $1mio, where we take an 80% loan from the bank.
For a $800,000 loan, monthly repayment is 3.7k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.
For a $700,000 loan, monthly repayment is 3.2k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.
For a $600,000 loan, monthly repayment is 2.8k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.
For a $500,000 loan, monthly repayment is 2.3k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.
Given that our humble little Sengkang flat can fetch $2k a month in rent, it means that we can almost use solely our CPF contributions to pay the rest of our instalments.
Time to start saving!
_________________________________________________________
Oh and I watched that Sasha Baron Cohen movie, Bruno yesterday evening.
Gayest shit I've ever seen man. It was tough sitting through some parts and some other parts I was laughing like mad. I don't think I can ever look at Ultimate Fighting Championships the same way ever again. Hahaha!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Siglap - Almost 20 Years On
Almost 20 years ago when we moved into the area, this whole place was a sleepy town.
I was finishing up with primary school going on to Dunman High School (while it was still at Dunman Road). Parkway Parade was the newest shopping centre on the block. Katong Shopping Centre was still quite hip. There was a small little bus interchange sitting on the land where Victoria School sits. There was no Siglap Centre.
Siglap back then was just some place convenient for a quick bite at one or two coffee outlets and thats about it. The row of shophouse restaurants where Pizza Hut is located was the newest outlet back then. Now its almost as nice as Holland Village, and so much less crowded. And soon there's gonna be an MRT station?!! I guess we have to move back someday. :)
Was back this morning for some good ol' Ampang Yong Tau Foo at the coffeeshop beside Siglap Centre.
The food here has hardly changed. You're kinda spoilt for choice between some pretty awesome chicken rice, fishball mee pok, or this. For personal reasons, I only eat the Ampang Yong Tau Foo when I'm here.
After brunch, we walked around abit. The junction of East Coast Road and Siglap Road is like the new power junction with so many new changes. Its been renovated quite a fair bit and its alot more pedestrian friendly now.
The coffeshop selling the Yong Tau Foo is on the left of Siglap Centre, kinda cropped off on the left of the picture. Siglap Centre has surprisingly kept its anchor tenants all these years even though business hasn't been all that good. Mcdonald's, Cold Storage and Guardian.
Was telling the wifey someday I'll have a nice little store of my own on the 2nd floor, which nobody patronises. Haha. The new development on the right is gonna end up abit like Siglap Centre's newer cousin. We actually wanted to see the showflat but it wasn't opened yet. Still that didn't stop us from behaving like young millionaire investors (they're everywhere these days) getting psf quotations and floor plans from one of the eager beaver agents hawking their wares at the entrance of the development. It's not gonna come cheap - $1,300 to $1,500 psf.
Beside the new development is the old shophouse stretch signalling the beginning of the restaurant belt. Starting with Pizza Hut, it moves on to Lemongrass, KFC etc etc, tons of eateries all the way down.
Then directly opposite is another little building with lotsa eateries and POSB as anchor tenant. Obviously they noticed that UOB opposite them has been doing so well all these years and decided to move closer to the junction. POSB used to have a huge-ass branch further down the road.
Here's the stretch down East Coast Road leading to the rest of the eateries. Lotsa good stuff and I could go on and on but I'm tired liaoz. Haha. As if to highlight the familiarity of the place, we even bumped into my brother!
I love Siglap! One day must move back here!
I was finishing up with primary school going on to Dunman High School (while it was still at Dunman Road). Parkway Parade was the newest shopping centre on the block. Katong Shopping Centre was still quite hip. There was a small little bus interchange sitting on the land where Victoria School sits. There was no Siglap Centre.
Siglap back then was just some place convenient for a quick bite at one or two coffee outlets and thats about it. The row of shophouse restaurants where Pizza Hut is located was the newest outlet back then. Now its almost as nice as Holland Village, and so much less crowded. And soon there's gonna be an MRT station?!! I guess we have to move back someday. :)
Was back this morning for some good ol' Ampang Yong Tau Foo at the coffeeshop beside Siglap Centre.
The food here has hardly changed. You're kinda spoilt for choice between some pretty awesome chicken rice, fishball mee pok, or this. For personal reasons, I only eat the Ampang Yong Tau Foo when I'm here.
After brunch, we walked around abit. The junction of East Coast Road and Siglap Road is like the new power junction with so many new changes. Its been renovated quite a fair bit and its alot more pedestrian friendly now.
The coffeshop selling the Yong Tau Foo is on the left of Siglap Centre, kinda cropped off on the left of the picture. Siglap Centre has surprisingly kept its anchor tenants all these years even though business hasn't been all that good. Mcdonald's, Cold Storage and Guardian.
Was telling the wifey someday I'll have a nice little store of my own on the 2nd floor, which nobody patronises. Haha. The new development on the right is gonna end up abit like Siglap Centre's newer cousin. We actually wanted to see the showflat but it wasn't opened yet. Still that didn't stop us from behaving like young millionaire investors (they're everywhere these days) getting psf quotations and floor plans from one of the eager beaver agents hawking their wares at the entrance of the development. It's not gonna come cheap - $1,300 to $1,500 psf.
Beside the new development is the old shophouse stretch signalling the beginning of the restaurant belt. Starting with Pizza Hut, it moves on to Lemongrass, KFC etc etc, tons of eateries all the way down.
Then directly opposite is another little building with lotsa eateries and POSB as anchor tenant. Obviously they noticed that UOB opposite them has been doing so well all these years and decided to move closer to the junction. POSB used to have a huge-ass branch further down the road.
Here's the stretch down East Coast Road leading to the rest of the eateries. Lotsa good stuff and I could go on and on but I'm tired liaoz. Haha. As if to highlight the familiarity of the place, we even bumped into my brother!
I love Siglap! One day must move back here!
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Its that time of the year again. Haiz, how fast time flies. Suddenly its Christmas all over again. This year there seems to be a more Christmas-sy feel thanks to our trips down to Orchard Road. Really quite happening over there with the crazy people mountain people sea kinda crowds. Festive decors and entertaining displys all round. In fact, we did quite alot of Christmas shopping this year (rare indeed), mainly for myself :P
Bought myself a new handphone! Nothing really fancy except that its got a 5 megapixel camera! Damn happy playing with it. Initially I thought that there was something wrong with it because the camera wouldn't auto-focus. Luckily the wifey sorted that one out for me hehe.
Here's a sample picture.
That's me and the bros at TWC at Ion Orchard last week. Neat eh?
Sigh. Ever had the feeling like you just can't seem to do things right no matter how hard you keep trying? Even after sampling different ways to solve them they just keep popping back at you. Totally sucks big time. I dunno what am I to do.
Bought myself a new handphone! Nothing really fancy except that its got a 5 megapixel camera! Damn happy playing with it. Initially I thought that there was something wrong with it because the camera wouldn't auto-focus. Luckily the wifey sorted that one out for me hehe.
Here's a sample picture.
That's me and the bros at TWC at Ion Orchard last week. Neat eh?
Sigh. Ever had the feeling like you just can't seem to do things right no matter how hard you keep trying? Even after sampling different ways to solve them they just keep popping back at you. Totally sucks big time. I dunno what am I to do.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Avatar & THAT X'mas PJ Party
Just back from watching Avatar. Its the best movie I've watched all year. So good that I think I might watch it again once more (maybe the 3D version this time!). Although the plot's alot like The Last Samurai or Pochahontas, the graphics and the effects were well worth the $11 in the theatre. I wanna have an avatar too!
Yesterday we had a X'mas pyjama party at Simin's place. I guess I wanted to spice things up abit so we went to buy a proper shocker of a getup for myself to wear. I'll just post my best picture of the night below and the rest is up to all your wildest imaginations. :) It was a blast!
Friday was on leave playing golf at Tering Bay. Had a great game. I think I'm really improving!
This whole long weekend would've been the best all year if Manchester United weren't thrashed by Fulham 3:0!
Yesterday we had a X'mas pyjama party at Simin's place. I guess I wanted to spice things up abit so we went to buy a proper shocker of a getup for myself to wear. I'll just post my best picture of the night below and the rest is up to all your wildest imaginations. :) It was a blast!
Friday was on leave playing golf at Tering Bay. Had a great game. I think I'm really improving!
This whole long weekend would've been the best all year if Manchester United weren't thrashed by Fulham 3:0!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Its Christmas Time In The City
Took a walk down Orchard Road last night. Its been ages since I've done that, but this year's lightings looked pretty bright coupled with the opening of several shopping centres like Ion Orchard, 313 Somerset and Orchard Central, so decided to try a walk from Orchard MRT down to Dhoby Ghaut MRT. Quite a big feat by my standards.
Was pleasantly nice, all the bright lights. In fact, the new shopping centres actually are the brightest and most well decorated. Almost look like the casinos in Macau. Tons of people all over the place though. Felt like it was already the Christmas weekend already. There were a ba-zillion people taking pictures with the Christmas decors along the stretch as well as watching the various street performances. Driving would've been even worse. The traffic was literally crawling at a snail's pace.
Was a nice walk nonetheless.
The bummer of the night had to be watching the new cartoon Planet 51 at Lido cinema. The movie totally sucked big time. Lousy plot and not funny at all. Pui! Go watch Zombieland. Its much much much better!
Was pleasantly nice, all the bright lights. In fact, the new shopping centres actually are the brightest and most well decorated. Almost look like the casinos in Macau. Tons of people all over the place though. Felt like it was already the Christmas weekend already. There were a ba-zillion people taking pictures with the Christmas decors along the stretch as well as watching the various street performances. Driving would've been even worse. The traffic was literally crawling at a snail's pace.
Was a nice walk nonetheless.
The bummer of the night had to be watching the new cartoon Planet 51 at Lido cinema. The movie totally sucked big time. Lousy plot and not funny at all. Pui! Go watch Zombieland. Its much much much better!
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
All I Want For Christmas is a GPMG
Is this not the coolest toy ever ever ever?!
Comes with its own ammo box too!
Brought to you by Nerf.
Wifey had to drag me away else I would have bought it at Isetan...
Sigh.
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Broadway Beng: Jiak Liu Lian
Went to watch the 4th installment of the Broadway Beng series last night with the wifey. Really hilarious and entertaining! I think tix are still available if anyone's interested. We watched a Saturday evening show and it wasn't sold out(maybe like 80% full?).
Still the musical's tailored towards locals and appreciation of Hokkien is a must. The old couple sitting beside us looked absolutely morbid while everyone else was laughing hysterically at the skits(probably didn't understand a thing), even with subtitles.
Best bits were the 10-min version of Les Miserables, and the local rendition of Chicago's Cell Block Tango.
Go catch it if you can!
Still the musical's tailored towards locals and appreciation of Hokkien is a must. The old couple sitting beside us looked absolutely morbid while everyone else was laughing hysterically at the skits(probably didn't understand a thing), even with subtitles.
Best bits were the 10-min version of Les Miserables, and the local rendition of Chicago's Cell Block Tango.
Go catch it if you can!
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
BRPS Pride
Just back from the BRPS SAC meeting which oddly enough, was held at Ramenten at Far East Plaza(maybe we were all trying to act young).
As with most neighbourhood schools, our overall grades have gone up, with the exception of English and Chinese. And one of the students broke the record for best PSLE score this year! 273! Think it broke Shangzhou's record way back in our year.
Go BRPS! Whooooot!
As with most neighbourhood schools, our overall grades have gone up, with the exception of English and Chinese. And one of the students broke the record for best PSLE score this year! 273! Think it broke Shangzhou's record way back in our year.
Go BRPS! Whooooot!
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
The Long Leave
On leave all week. Yet I feel like going back office to clear some emails perhaps. Its boring at home all alone after awhile of cleaning up and packing up. And there's only so much Facebook and computer games I can play. Monitor the share and fx markets...
Went to the dentist yesterday. Ended up having to do a filling on the back of my two front teeth. Now they feel kinda weird. Luckily everything still looks normal. Guess I have to heed the doc's orders and floss more from now on. $210 bucks man. Lucky can claim. Phew.
Should be going back to office tomorrow before going for the BRPS SAC meeting at Far East Plaza. What a weird place for a meeting to share PSLE results. Haha. Hope they did well this year to compliment the better performance by neighbourhood schools.
Meeting Tsen Yeow/Thomas on Thursday for dinner, since he's back for a one week leave like myself.
Friday is the department Strategy meeting. Sounds like fun. Hur.
Watched The Twighlight Saga: Newmoon on Sunday. Super kiddie show although I kinda enjoyed it, since I never read the books. The wifey read the first book and didn't find this very exciting though. It's always the case that the books are better than the movies. I dunno why. But still its nice the watch a visualisation after all. Go Team Jacob!
Went to the dentist yesterday. Ended up having to do a filling on the back of my two front teeth. Now they feel kinda weird. Luckily everything still looks normal. Guess I have to heed the doc's orders and floss more from now on. $210 bucks man. Lucky can claim. Phew.
Should be going back to office tomorrow before going for the BRPS SAC meeting at Far East Plaza. What a weird place for a meeting to share PSLE results. Haha. Hope they did well this year to compliment the better performance by neighbourhood schools.
Meeting Tsen Yeow/Thomas on Thursday for dinner, since he's back for a one week leave like myself.
Friday is the department Strategy meeting. Sounds like fun. Hur.
Watched The Twighlight Saga: Newmoon on Sunday. Super kiddie show although I kinda enjoyed it, since I never read the books. The wifey read the first book and didn't find this very exciting though. It's always the case that the books are better than the movies. I dunno why. But still its nice the watch a visualisation after all. Go Team Jacob!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Down Memory Interchange
The day started with breakfast at Ya Kun at Compasspoint, casually reading today's papers. It's Hari Raya today so its a public holiday! Then we went to buy contact lenses and since we were at the shop, I finally decided that the people were nice enough to help me make a set of new glasses. Ended up changing my glasses AND making a pair of reading glasses. All for less than my transition glasses years ago. Total was $329 which the wifey paid for! Thanks for the early Christmas pressie dear! Hee! On top of that, we got a free $20 voucher and a Sesame Street umbrella!
Then we decided to head to the Singapore Expo, where SITEX was held, by bus. There wasn't any direct bus to the Expo from Sengkang, so we took the next best option, Bedok. And bus number 87 took us there, interchange to interchange. Bus ride was 40minutes in total.
Wah, when we reached Bedok interchange, it felt like I was taken back to my secondary school days. Hardly anything has changed over there, the whole place still looks the same, crowded as ever. In fact things got so nostalgic that we decided to eat there! The old mutton soup stall was there, the chwee kuay stall was there, even the Hollywood dessert stall auntie was the same! Still long queue somemore! Delicious stuff.
Afterthat we took the MRT to the Expo. Wah, it was so so so crowded man. People mountain, people sea. Took us almost 15mins just to walk to the first hall. Managed to buy what I wanted: a Toshiba 320GB portable harddisk. In fact we even almost bought an auctioned LG TV! Full HD, free wall-mounting, free DVDplayer, free trolley, all for $599! Super cheap right?! Amazing. But somehow it was fated that we didn't buy it. :)
Then it was so crowded on the way back that we took the train up to Changi Airport instead. Walked around for awhile before taking a taxi to the parents place. Then we went to Marine Terrace for dinner and finally back home.
What a fruitful day.
Then we decided to head to the Singapore Expo, where SITEX was held, by bus. There wasn't any direct bus to the Expo from Sengkang, so we took the next best option, Bedok. And bus number 87 took us there, interchange to interchange. Bus ride was 40minutes in total.
Wah, when we reached Bedok interchange, it felt like I was taken back to my secondary school days. Hardly anything has changed over there, the whole place still looks the same, crowded as ever. In fact things got so nostalgic that we decided to eat there! The old mutton soup stall was there, the chwee kuay stall was there, even the Hollywood dessert stall auntie was the same! Still long queue somemore! Delicious stuff.
Afterthat we took the MRT to the Expo. Wah, it was so so so crowded man. People mountain, people sea. Took us almost 15mins just to walk to the first hall. Managed to buy what I wanted: a Toshiba 320GB portable harddisk. In fact we even almost bought an auctioned LG TV! Full HD, free wall-mounting, free DVDplayer, free trolley, all for $599! Super cheap right?! Amazing. But somehow it was fated that we didn't buy it. :)
Then it was so crowded on the way back that we took the train up to Changi Airport instead. Walked around for awhile before taking a taxi to the parents place. Then we went to Marine Terrace for dinner and finally back home.
What a fruitful day.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
2012
Just caught the show. Damn kuazhang, but then I've always been a sucker for disaster movies. Just don't bring your brain to the theatre. And I really don't think the arks could survive the tsunamis anyway. Maybe a space station on the Moon could've been more plausible.
Nothing much else to update.
Knee still abit unstable. Will need to do more runs and more soccer games under my belt. Maybe some cycling in th gym might help.
On leave next week!
Nothing much else to update.
Knee still abit unstable. Will need to do more runs and more soccer games under my belt. Maybe some cycling in th gym might help.
On leave next week!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Lousy Game At Tering Bay
Ended up last even with our -18 handicap. Had a really rotten game and somehow I didn't like the course that much. Hoping to have a better game soon. Ended up with a score of one under.
Can't wait for payday.
Can't wait for payday.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Longest Week
Never been a big fan of reservist.
Every morning wake at 6am, today booking out the earlist so far, at 7pm. Last 2 days were at 9pm. Wahlao. Just one week and yet it feels like a whole month.
All the time in camp spent stuck in the Ops room. With no internet and not even handphone signal. My only source of information is an over-read copy of Monday's Today paper.
But focusing on the positives...
I hardly spent a cent all week (great for my super savings plan).
I've been eating extremely healthy meals (yes, all three plus night snack) all week.
I get to catch up with all my good friends from my unit.
I've cleared my IPPT for this year!
I've never been fitter in the last 5 years.
And finally, I'm probably going to New Zealand next year!
Every morning wake at 6am, today booking out the earlist so far, at 7pm. Last 2 days were at 9pm. Wahlao. Just one week and yet it feels like a whole month.
All the time in camp spent stuck in the Ops room. With no internet and not even handphone signal. My only source of information is an over-read copy of Monday's Today paper.
But focusing on the positives...
I hardly spent a cent all week (great for my super savings plan).
I've been eating extremely healthy meals (yes, all three plus night snack) all week.
I get to catch up with all my good friends from my unit.
I've cleared my IPPT for this year!
I've never been fitter in the last 5 years.
And finally, I'm probably going to New Zealand next year!
Saturday, November 07, 2009
On Reservist Next Week
Damn xianz, gotta go for reservist whole of next week with a compulsory book-in timing of 0630. Tentative book-out time is 9pm.
Wtf man.
Sigh.
I think I'm really growing older. Body not catching up liaoz.
Wtf man.
Sigh.
I think I'm really growing older. Body not catching up liaoz.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Lazy Weekend
Another lazy weekend for me.
Went to Boon Keng with the wifey for brunch today. Got to see what a wet market is like. Sengkang's gonna have one soon in December this year (hopefully there're no delays). If its as good as the one in Boon Keng then ho say liao! Its like a half wet market and half hawker centre. Just what we need around here. And maybe a cinema.
The Sunday Times also ran an article about how Sengkang has lost its "ulu" tag. Weird. I thought that was lost 2 years ago when we moved in already. Now I think Sengkang's getting too much publicity. Soon we'll end up like Tampines or Bishan and there goes and nice calm residential charm that I grew to like. And ironically maybe that will prompt us to move back east. Mandarin Gardens?
How time flies.
Its almost two years since we moved into this neighbourhood. And initially I didn't really like the place. Really wanted to stay in the east. But then now I can't even be certain that we'll move out once we're eligible to buy property again in 3 years time. Like I mentioned, this place has got its own charm. Hmmm...
Oh and today I bought my own little R2-D2 robot. Haha, at least it really looks like it! Aiyah its just a aircon fan that can at least blow cold air at me when I go to bed. Don't ask me why I don't switch the aircon on instead :P.
Went to Boon Keng with the wifey for brunch today. Got to see what a wet market is like. Sengkang's gonna have one soon in December this year (hopefully there're no delays). If its as good as the one in Boon Keng then ho say liao! Its like a half wet market and half hawker centre. Just what we need around here. And maybe a cinema.
The Sunday Times also ran an article about how Sengkang has lost its "ulu" tag. Weird. I thought that was lost 2 years ago when we moved in already. Now I think Sengkang's getting too much publicity. Soon we'll end up like Tampines or Bishan and there goes and nice calm residential charm that I grew to like. And ironically maybe that will prompt us to move back east. Mandarin Gardens?
How time flies.
Its almost two years since we moved into this neighbourhood. And initially I didn't really like the place. Really wanted to stay in the east. But then now I can't even be certain that we'll move out once we're eligible to buy property again in 3 years time. Like I mentioned, this place has got its own charm. Hmmm...
Oh and today I bought my own little R2-D2 robot. Haha, at least it really looks like it! Aiyah its just a aircon fan that can at least blow cold air at me when I go to bed. Don't ask me why I don't switch the aircon on instead :P.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Honjin And Ann Siang Hill
Though we agreed that our wedding anniversary should be celebrated with our ROM date instead of our customary wedding date, we still went out for a nice dinner at Honjin last night for a little celebration of sorts.
One thing good about eating at Honjin on a weekend is that its not very crowded. Also their all-you-can-eat menu has become a permanant 1-for-1 @ $52++ as long as you paid with a DBS/POSBcard. So it wasn't very expensive.
After a sumptuous dinner, we strolled to the Amoy area and walked up Ann Siang Hill and down to Club Street. The whole place looks surprisingly vibrant but I'm suspecting that some of the gay pubs in Singapore have shifted there :P. Otherwise, its still always been that atas Ang Mo hangout that its always been.
There is a really really nice and quirky book store called Books Actually along Club Street. I remember the first time I was there I saw Fiona Xie (before she disappeared). It sells really quirky books (mainly literature) and old-school stuff like old cameras, stationary and typewriters. In fact, they're retailing the latest in-thing for photography enthusiasts, the old-school Holga camera! Retailing for $138 if anyone's interested. Also a good place for some aircon along that warm and humid stretch.
Yup, was a nice little outing for me and the wifey last night.
One thing good about eating at Honjin on a weekend is that its not very crowded. Also their all-you-can-eat menu has become a permanant 1-for-1 @ $52++ as long as you paid with a DBS/POSBcard. So it wasn't very expensive.
After a sumptuous dinner, we strolled to the Amoy area and walked up Ann Siang Hill and down to Club Street. The whole place looks surprisingly vibrant but I'm suspecting that some of the gay pubs in Singapore have shifted there :P. Otherwise, its still always been that atas Ang Mo hangout that its always been.
There is a really really nice and quirky book store called Books Actually along Club Street. I remember the first time I was there I saw Fiona Xie (before she disappeared). It sells really quirky books (mainly literature) and old-school stuff like old cameras, stationary and typewriters. In fact, they're retailing the latest in-thing for photography enthusiasts, the old-school Holga camera! Retailing for $138 if anyone's interested. Also a good place for some aircon along that warm and humid stretch.
Yup, was a nice little outing for me and the wifey last night.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Spin City
Went to True Fitness at China Square Central today. Literally had to force myself to go.
Forced myself to go for one hour's worth of Spinning cycling class which was the most exhausting and gruelling I've experienced in awhile. Being unfit obviously didn't help.Ended up almost knee-ing myself in the face a few times. Had to remove my glasses because it was such a hazard.
That being said, it's also one of the few times I really enjoyed it. The mambo dance tracks really helped and for a moment there I was cycling and singing to the techno versions of Summer Rain and Since You've Been Gone. Awesome mixed tracks there.
And the best part is that I already feel myself breathing better and my knee feels more mobile!
And then I spoiled all that effort with the most deliciou Big Mac meal ever! :)
Forced myself to go for one hour's worth of Spinning cycling class which was the most exhausting and gruelling I've experienced in awhile. Being unfit obviously didn't help.Ended up almost knee-ing myself in the face a few times. Had to remove my glasses because it was such a hazard.
That being said, it's also one of the few times I really enjoyed it. The mambo dance tracks really helped and for a moment there I was cycling and singing to the techno versions of Summer Rain and Since You've Been Gone. Awesome mixed tracks there.
And the best part is that I already feel myself breathing better and my knee feels more mobile!
And then I spoiled all that effort with the most deliciou Big Mac meal ever! :)
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Sengkang Is Getting Waaaaaaaaaay Too Crowded
I've seen this in Jurong Point. Tampines. AMK. But Sengkang??!
Here are the top 7 signs that Sengkang is getting way too crowded:
1) Going to work and coming home, it is impossible to get a seat on the train, even though Sengkang's the second-last stop along the NEL.
2) Once you get off the train, gotta wait 5mins just queuing up for the escalator ride up to the surface.
3) Every restaurant has a queue that stretches outside its premises. Every single one of them (Except Jia Xiang Mian)!
4) Every ATM within the vicinity has a long queue.
5) 3 AXS machines and still there's always a super long queue (wassup with that D-pay shit anyway?).
6) Gotta queue up for all the escalators?!
7) Even ang mos are living here too?!
Here are the top 7 signs that Sengkang is getting way too crowded:
1) Going to work and coming home, it is impossible to get a seat on the train, even though Sengkang's the second-last stop along the NEL.
2) Once you get off the train, gotta wait 5mins just queuing up for the escalator ride up to the surface.
3) Every restaurant has a queue that stretches outside its premises. Every single one of them (Except Jia Xiang Mian)!
4) Every ATM within the vicinity has a long queue.
5) 3 AXS machines and still there's always a super long queue (wassup with that D-pay shit anyway?).
6) Gotta queue up for all the escalators?!
7) Even ang mos are living here too?!
Monday, September 28, 2009
F1 2009
Finally home! Lewis Hamilton came in first, Timo Glock came in second and Fernando Alonso came in third. The race itself didn't seem to be as exciting as last year with very few crashes and only one safety car incident, but was fun nonetheless!
Even managed to catch some 20min of Backstreet Boys!
Even managed to catch some 20min of Backstreet Boys!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Turn 1
Spent Friday night entertaining clients at the Turn 1 Grand Suite at the Singapore GP! Free flow everything including beer, wine and champagne! Was quite a good experience although it feels abit too atas for me.
Tomorrow will be at the Marina Bay Stands for the qualifying round and then on Sunday as well!
Whoot!
Oh, and cleaning auntie comes tomorrow.
Sometimes I really wonder how people can be that stupid. Sigh.
Tomorrow will be at the Marina Bay Stands for the qualifying round and then on Sunday as well!
Whoot!
Oh, and cleaning auntie comes tomorrow.
Sometimes I really wonder how people can be that stupid. Sigh.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Back From Bangkok
Was over there for business. Surprisingly, we hardly had any news about the red-shirts protest that apparently happened. All 20,000 of them protestors and we never heard a thing. The only thing that really did affect the seminars was the huge-ass thunderstorm on the second day in Bangkok. Otherwise it was an okay trip.
Happened to catch the last 5 minutes of the Manchester United - Manchester City clash at the airport upon arrival. It was 2-2 on the plane when we landed, and then when we docked it was 3-2 and I thought we'd won. By the time we got through the baggage check it was 3-3, 90th minute liao. Xianz. Then, Owen pops up with his goal from a perfect Giggsy pass. And suddenly we were screaming our heads off just outside the baggage check area. Think it scared the shit out of everyone around there!
Went home damn happy!
Happened to catch the last 5 minutes of the Manchester United - Manchester City clash at the airport upon arrival. It was 2-2 on the plane when we landed, and then when we docked it was 3-2 and I thought we'd won. By the time we got through the baggage check it was 3-3, 90th minute liao. Xianz. Then, Owen pops up with his goal from a perfect Giggsy pass. And suddenly we were screaming our heads off just outside the baggage check area. Think it scared the shit out of everyone around there!
Went home damn happy!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Peter Schmeichel For A Day
Successfully played goalkeeper for Saxo FC today!
And we won! Wasn't as bumbling as I thought I would be. Managed a few flying and reflex saves even!
Ended winning 10 - 4 against Herbert Smith FC.
And my knee survived the game too. Thankfully.
Now I'm feeling achy all over my arms from the lack of exercise.
Sigh. Really getting old.
And we won! Wasn't as bumbling as I thought I would be. Managed a few flying and reflex saves even!
Ended winning 10 - 4 against Herbert Smith FC.
And my knee survived the game too. Thankfully.
Now I'm feeling achy all over my arms from the lack of exercise.
Sigh. Really getting old.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
The Church And The Old Colonial Home
Spent yesterday morning and afternoon attending Jobeth and Clarence's wedding at that church beside the YMCA (darn I keep forgetting the name). It's the first time I've been in there and it was a really, really nice event! Always loved church weddings because they always come across a tad more meaningful than the standard Chinese ones.
Managed to catchup with a few old faces as well, considering how I've been missing out on some of the recent gatherings. All in all was a lovely afternoon spent. Only grumble was that I parked too far, at the SMU carpark haha.
Then we visited Iluma, the new shopping centre at Bugis. Was really nice and spacious! I'd recomend everyone to drop by there at least once soon because it's still not very crowded. It's a pretty funky place and the part that I like best is the arcade called Arcadia, which devoted more than half its floor area to those spaceship machines? You know, the one's where you control a machine hand that drops to fish out a soft toy? Yeah! There were tons of those machines there. Just like the zua zua le in Taiwan!
The above was from my Taiwan trip in 2007. Just like that except that me and the wifey didn't try playing it yesterday haha. Another time perhaps!
Evening we went over to Joey's house-warming near Harbourfront. She's got a really nice and huge place there (I seriously mean HUGE). IT's an old British styled colonial home, creeky floors and high ceilings type. Cool stuff, BBQ, beers et al. Although I dunno why I'm still meeting colleagues when I already see them 5 times a week!
This morning we went to this renovated hawker centre at Upper Thomson. I remember ma used to bring me there to by groceries from the Econ Minimart there when we were living in that area LONG ago. It was pretty nice being there and having a chillout breakfast.
Then we went ot Lower Pierce reservoir to catch some fish for my fish tank! Got ourselves about 5 baby shrimp and a couple of little fishies. I think they're all gonna be food for the rest of the fish tank population though. Sigh. Can't wait to renovate our balcony area.
We had crabs for dinner today! At Buangkok! Verdict? Great stuff! No need to travel too far for good crabs any longer! Whoot!
Ok enough of updates!
Managed to catchup with a few old faces as well, considering how I've been missing out on some of the recent gatherings. All in all was a lovely afternoon spent. Only grumble was that I parked too far, at the SMU carpark haha.
Then we visited Iluma, the new shopping centre at Bugis. Was really nice and spacious! I'd recomend everyone to drop by there at least once soon because it's still not very crowded. It's a pretty funky place and the part that I like best is the arcade called Arcadia, which devoted more than half its floor area to those spaceship machines? You know, the one's where you control a machine hand that drops to fish out a soft toy? Yeah! There were tons of those machines there. Just like the zua zua le in Taiwan!
The above was from my Taiwan trip in 2007. Just like that except that me and the wifey didn't try playing it yesterday haha. Another time perhaps!
Evening we went over to Joey's house-warming near Harbourfront. She's got a really nice and huge place there (I seriously mean HUGE). IT's an old British styled colonial home, creeky floors and high ceilings type. Cool stuff, BBQ, beers et al. Although I dunno why I'm still meeting colleagues when I already see them 5 times a week!
This morning we went to this renovated hawker centre at Upper Thomson. I remember ma used to bring me there to by groceries from the Econ Minimart there when we were living in that area LONG ago. It was pretty nice being there and having a chillout breakfast.
Then we went ot Lower Pierce reservoir to catch some fish for my fish tank! Got ourselves about 5 baby shrimp and a couple of little fishies. I think they're all gonna be food for the rest of the fish tank population though. Sigh. Can't wait to renovate our balcony area.
We had crabs for dinner today! At Buangkok! Verdict? Great stuff! No need to travel too far for good crabs any longer! Whoot!
Ok enough of updates!
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
End Of August
Spent the weekend celebrating the wifey's birthday.
Started with dinner at Timbre@Substation. We had nice soup, pizza and fish&chips. Alas, we wanted to enjoy the live music there but the first set of musicians started only at 10pm. Xianz. So we left to search some other place. Food was really good though!
Ended up in Holland Village intending to check out Wala Wala. Had a sumptuous plate of fruits at the hawker center before walking over. But turns out the
live music was by a local hard metal group. Kinda too loud for us, all that screaming and shouting. So we headed off to do something else instead.
Went to Great World City to watch The Proposal. Wifey's choice, naturally. Turned out to be pretty ok, except the plot's a little too far-fetched. Oh, and Sandra Bullock is too old lah. Gimme Jessica Alba any day.
Then it was time for the Man U Arsenal game! Luckily the wifey didn't mind catching it so late. We watched it at Man U corner, Marquee@Far East Sq. Great game with Man U coming from behind to win 2-1. We played like shite and still manage to nick all 3 points. True mark of champions. We'd better improve from here though. Bring on Anderson!
Sunday I was brought to the most horrendous baby shower! Never felt so off before. Shant elaborate more here but it was just bad lah.
Evening we did family steamboat at the In-laws! Tasty and healthy food!
Started with dinner at Timbre@Substation. We had nice soup, pizza and fish&chips. Alas, we wanted to enjoy the live music there but the first set of musicians started only at 10pm. Xianz. So we left to search some other place. Food was really good though!
Ended up in Holland Village intending to check out Wala Wala. Had a sumptuous plate of fruits at the hawker center before walking over. But turns out the
live music was by a local hard metal group. Kinda too loud for us, all that screaming and shouting. So we headed off to do something else instead.
Went to Great World City to watch The Proposal. Wifey's choice, naturally. Turned out to be pretty ok, except the plot's a little too far-fetched. Oh, and Sandra Bullock is too old lah. Gimme Jessica Alba any day.
Then it was time for the Man U Arsenal game! Luckily the wifey didn't mind catching it so late. We watched it at Man U corner, Marquee@Far East Sq. Great game with Man U coming from behind to win 2-1. We played like shite and still manage to nick all 3 points. True mark of champions. We'd better improve from here though. Bring on Anderson!
Sunday I was brought to the most horrendous baby shower! Never felt so off before. Shant elaborate more here but it was just bad lah.
Evening we did family steamboat at the In-laws! Tasty and healthy food!
Monday, August 24, 2009
KL Whirlwind
Spent the weekend travelling up to KL for Jon’s wedding.
Was a really tiring trip indeed. Caught the 1130pm bus at Golden mile on Friday night with the wifey and siblings. Reached around 430am. Took a taxi to Prince Hotel and bunked in the parents room for the next six hours, totally beat. Next morning 11am we get up and out for Jon’s tea ceremony. Meet the relatives et al. Was fun, and got to catch up with my two fav cousins. Afterthat we took a break walking the Bukit Bintang area for a quick shop around till 4plus. Then back to room to sleep. Slept till 7pm and then back down to the Grand Ballroom for the wedding proper. Cousins got a whole table to ourselves. Caught up with Grace and boyfriend as well. Wedding ended around 11plus, hung around until and the guests were gone. Got back to room around 12plus. Next morning wake at 10am for breakfast. Bumped into new cousin in law (the bride), Regina. Had breakfast together with family. Back to room for a bath and rest. Check out at 2pm. Berjaya Times Square for KFC lunch and then on the bus back. Reach Singapore around 8plus. Reached home around 10 after late dinner with wifey at Buangkok.
Was a total whirlwind of a trip but somehow it was really fun because its been awhile since we all hung out as a family overseas and its been even longer since we hung out with the relatives. Great fun no doubt!
Oh and did I mention that celebrity Jamie Yeo is technically my cousin-in-law now?
Small world.
Was a really tiring trip indeed. Caught the 1130pm bus at Golden mile on Friday night with the wifey and siblings. Reached around 430am. Took a taxi to Prince Hotel and bunked in the parents room for the next six hours, totally beat. Next morning 11am we get up and out for Jon’s tea ceremony. Meet the relatives et al. Was fun, and got to catch up with my two fav cousins. Afterthat we took a break walking the Bukit Bintang area for a quick shop around till 4plus. Then back to room to sleep. Slept till 7pm and then back down to the Grand Ballroom for the wedding proper. Cousins got a whole table to ourselves. Caught up with Grace and boyfriend as well. Wedding ended around 11plus, hung around until and the guests were gone. Got back to room around 12plus. Next morning wake at 10am for breakfast. Bumped into new cousin in law (the bride), Regina. Had breakfast together with family. Back to room for a bath and rest. Check out at 2pm. Berjaya Times Square for KFC lunch and then on the bus back. Reach Singapore around 8plus. Reached home around 10 after late dinner with wifey at Buangkok.
Was a total whirlwind of a trip but somehow it was really fun because its been awhile since we all hung out as a family overseas and its been even longer since we hung out with the relatives. Great fun no doubt!
Oh and did I mention that celebrity Jamie Yeo is technically my cousin-in-law now?
Small world.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Yo Joe!
Watched GI Joe yesterday. Loved it! Especially those of you growing up and playing those toys back then, really action packed man! Can't wait for part 2! Only part I'm not sure is the whole Anna - Duke - Rex saga. Was that really part of the origins?
Friday went to celebrate Yipeng's birthday. Told us he's bought a place in the East! Big congrats bro. Dinenr at Waraku. Proceeded to IndoChine's icebar for two shots of vodka each afterthat. Then finally to the Reverse Bungee which they both chickened out. What a bummer.
Sprained my knee on Thursday playing soccer against BT Singapore FC. It got even suckier that we were leading 5-2 at some point and then ended up losing 5-6. Tamade!
Went to Changi General Hospital A&E for an x-ray right after the match. Who would have thought that that tedious process would take 2hrs?! Geez. Ok lah at least it was cheap. Luckily no fracture. Yesterday went back to the regular AMK sinseh to rub. Even he is starting to nag at me. Haiz. Time to quit the game perhaps?
Me and wifey have got season passes to this year's F1! We're gonna be at the floating platform grandstand! Let me know if you're gonna be there! Damn excited about it although the wifey is a little lukewarm. Hopefully the atmosphere is exciting enough to perk her up when race weekend comes!
Reminds me of that story Lasse told me about the poor camera assistant he came across when he attended the race last year. She was carrying tons of camera gear and had no ear plugs on, right beside the track (with the photographer of course!). And then the cars came roaring by and she couldn't free her hands to cup her ears, she ended up in gyrating spasms each time the cars raced by. Haha...damn funny to imagine.
Heading to KL with the whole family next weekend for Jon's wedding with his long time gf! Leaving on Friday night and staying over near KLCC. Excited! Whole family's gonna be there.
Watched 6 consecutive hours of EPL last night. Not good for life balance (and wifey didn't end up very happy). Maybe that's why I never did subscribe to cable. I'd grow into a true-blue couch potato if I did. It's going to be a very exciting league this season!
Friday went to celebrate Yipeng's birthday. Told us he's bought a place in the East! Big congrats bro. Dinenr at Waraku. Proceeded to IndoChine's icebar for two shots of vodka each afterthat. Then finally to the Reverse Bungee which they both chickened out. What a bummer.
Sprained my knee on Thursday playing soccer against BT Singapore FC. It got even suckier that we were leading 5-2 at some point and then ended up losing 5-6. Tamade!
Went to Changi General Hospital A&E for an x-ray right after the match. Who would have thought that that tedious process would take 2hrs?! Geez. Ok lah at least it was cheap. Luckily no fracture. Yesterday went back to the regular AMK sinseh to rub. Even he is starting to nag at me. Haiz. Time to quit the game perhaps?
Me and wifey have got season passes to this year's F1! We're gonna be at the floating platform grandstand! Let me know if you're gonna be there! Damn excited about it although the wifey is a little lukewarm. Hopefully the atmosphere is exciting enough to perk her up when race weekend comes!
Reminds me of that story Lasse told me about the poor camera assistant he came across when he attended the race last year. She was carrying tons of camera gear and had no ear plugs on, right beside the track (with the photographer of course!). And then the cars came roaring by and she couldn't free her hands to cup her ears, she ended up in gyrating spasms each time the cars raced by. Haha...damn funny to imagine.
Heading to KL with the whole family next weekend for Jon's wedding with his long time gf! Leaving on Friday night and staying over near KLCC. Excited! Whole family's gonna be there.
Watched 6 consecutive hours of EPL last night. Not good for life balance (and wifey didn't end up very happy). Maybe that's why I never did subscribe to cable. I'd grow into a true-blue couch potato if I did. It's going to be a very exciting league this season!
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Long Weekend
Yay! The long weekend is here! So happy. Its been a long and tiring week at work. Sigh. I can see we're all getting numb to the things that happen in office these days.
Was at this Okinawan restaurant called Mimigar last night having a sumptuous dinner treat from the boss of the place. He had played golf with us the weekend prior so it was nice to have him serve us a wonderful array of different dishes, some even off the menu. We ended the night really high on sake and even have a bottle left there if we ever bring our wives! :)
The wifey wrote a pretty interesting take on our property hunt that led to our purchase in SengKang. So I've plagiarized it for your reading pleasure (lousy grammar et al :P), thanks dear!
these days, the hot topic amongst frens is how property prices is shooting up like crazy and how unaffordable HDB flats are. during such conversations, i always thot to myself how lucky i was to be over that flat hunting phase. it can get quite tedious and torturous. & whenever me n boss are at the topic, i will remind him how lucky he is to have a wifey with such great foresight, & knew immediately that this is the unit to get & how lousy the one he liked better is. well, besides my constant reminder, we also have our dear neighbours to remind us again and again (even though we have moved in for near 2yrs) that we are damn lucky to get this unit at this price. yesh! they still rem how much we get this unit for! wah liew!!!
ok, to be frank, back then when we were hunting for a unit, SK was like the very last on the list, just above SBW. but after checking out the prices and stuff, and being practical and realistic pple, it dawned upon us that with the $ that we have, we can never get any unit in the prime areas (like AMK or TPY or anywhere in the east). the nearest we can get is SK which smacks right between both sides. and we got quite lucky...
yah lah. this place is not perfect lah. our unit is, simple and... orbit to put it bluntly. no ID, no theme, no nothing. keke! & no one has yet to break the record of not getting lost when coming to our place! but other than that, this place is not TAT bad what! we have the famous CP, a Kopitiam Hub which is 8 mins walk away, a wet market which is 6mins walk away (another upcoming one nearby), a swimming complex with slides! we are just 3 mins from the KPE and 9 from the CTE. what more can you ask for??? or lah.. the only thing tat is lacking is ONLY a cinema!!!!
eh, machiam a sales speech. whatever... dun think i will ever be able to convince anyone to move here. shall not try too hard.. hee! this is a place where u will love it only when u r living in it! yeah! i love sk!!! :)
So yeah, I love SengKang too. And it helps that I'm a 5min walk away from the MRT, where you can get to town faster by train than by car. Now hopefully we can see our home price skyrocket!!!
National Day's just a day away! So excited. Can't wait to participate in Pledge Moment at 8.22pm where I will do my part and recite the pledge as well (I can recite the whole thing lor! Dun play play!). Plus I heard the NDP is really good this year. And please go memorize this year's NDP song "What Do You See"! Its just awesomely hummable!
Was at this Okinawan restaurant called Mimigar last night having a sumptuous dinner treat from the boss of the place. He had played golf with us the weekend prior so it was nice to have him serve us a wonderful array of different dishes, some even off the menu. We ended the night really high on sake and even have a bottle left there if we ever bring our wives! :)
The wifey wrote a pretty interesting take on our property hunt that led to our purchase in SengKang. So I've plagiarized it for your reading pleasure (lousy grammar et al :P), thanks dear!
these days, the hot topic amongst frens is how property prices is shooting up like crazy and how unaffordable HDB flats are. during such conversations, i always thot to myself how lucky i was to be over that flat hunting phase. it can get quite tedious and torturous. & whenever me n boss are at the topic, i will remind him how lucky he is to have a wifey with such great foresight, & knew immediately that this is the unit to get & how lousy the one he liked better is. well, besides my constant reminder, we also have our dear neighbours to remind us again and again (even though we have moved in for near 2yrs) that we are damn lucky to get this unit at this price. yesh! they still rem how much we get this unit for! wah liew!!!
ok, to be frank, back then when we were hunting for a unit, SK was like the very last on the list, just above SBW. but after checking out the prices and stuff, and being practical and realistic pple, it dawned upon us that with the $ that we have, we can never get any unit in the prime areas (like AMK or TPY or anywhere in the east). the nearest we can get is SK which smacks right between both sides. and we got quite lucky...
yah lah. this place is not perfect lah. our unit is, simple and... orbit to put it bluntly. no ID, no theme, no nothing. keke! & no one has yet to break the record of not getting lost when coming to our place! but other than that, this place is not TAT bad what! we have the famous CP, a Kopitiam Hub which is 8 mins walk away, a wet market which is 6mins walk away (another upcoming one nearby), a swimming complex with slides! we are just 3 mins from the KPE and 9 from the CTE. what more can you ask for??? or lah.. the only thing tat is lacking is ONLY a cinema!!!!
eh, machiam a sales speech. whatever... dun think i will ever be able to convince anyone to move here. shall not try too hard.. hee! this is a place where u will love it only when u r living in it! yeah! i love sk!!! :)
So yeah, I love SengKang too. And it helps that I'm a 5min walk away from the MRT, where you can get to town faster by train than by car. Now hopefully we can see our home price skyrocket!!!
National Day's just a day away! So excited. Can't wait to participate in Pledge Moment at 8.22pm where I will do my part and recite the pledge as well (I can recite the whole thing lor! Dun play play!). Plus I heard the NDP is really good this year. And please go memorize this year's NDP song "What Do You See"! Its just awesomely hummable!
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Two Things
Two things I've learnt since turning 30:
1) Hair is starting to grow in the most unearthly places. I mean c'mon, asscrack is fine but my buttcheeks?!
2) Time is flying by SO much faster that I simply and perpetually don't seem to have enough of it.
Sigh. Am really getting older.
_______________________________________________________
Just had Sake Sushi with the wifey at CompassPoint. This whole Sengkang area is really upgrading and changing so fast! The shops are looking more atas and there are more and more blocks of flats coming up. Gosh, in no time this is gonna be yet another Tampines or Bishan.
1) Hair is starting to grow in the most unearthly places. I mean c'mon, asscrack is fine but my buttcheeks?!
2) Time is flying by SO much faster that I simply and perpetually don't seem to have enough of it.
Sigh. Am really getting older.
_______________________________________________________
Just had Sake Sushi with the wifey at CompassPoint. This whole Sengkang area is really upgrading and changing so fast! The shops are looking more atas and there are more and more blocks of flats coming up. Gosh, in no time this is gonna be yet another Tampines or Bishan.
What Do You See (Mr Brown Parody: lekuasimi)
Bloody hilarious!
National Day's coming people! Fly your flags high high!
_________________________________________
Did I mention we won yesterday's Saxo Texas Scramble at the Laguna Bintan? Whoot!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Whitewashed
Got thrashed for the first time this season. 1 - 7 to DSO FC. Haiz. Kinda sucked because I was scolding everyone in the team and even got myself sent off in a fit. Sigh. Oh well. Till the next game.
Summer Party over last weekend was awesome! Abit too much alcohol as always!
In my patriotic best, I'm posting the lyrics of Electrico's "What Do You See" NDP song! Awesome stuff!
_________________________________________________________________
There's a jewel on the ocean,
a gem upon the sea
Where the future is an open book
A land of destiny
We could set our sights into the wind and sail the seven seas
or climb the highest mountain top as long as we believe
What do you see? What do you see?
See the moon and the stars, look how far we have come
Look around at our faces, they shine brightly in the sun
With our hopes and dreams, imagine what tomorrow it may bring
What do you see? What do you see?
Now the time has come to reach out,
To open up to see
That we stand together in this land
Cos we are family
As thoughts of reaching to the sky are carried on a dream
With hearts and minds united, our dreams we will achieve
What do you see? What do you see?
See the moon and the stars, look how far we have come
Look around at our faces, they shine brightly in the sun
With our hopes and dreams, imagine what tomorrow it may bring
What do you see
What do you see when life makes you take on a mountain
Youll see that nothings gonna stand in your way
Together we can share
The strength of a million
and the courage of a million more
See the moon and the stars, look how far we have come
Look around at our faces, they shine brightly in the sun
With our hopes and dreams, imagine what tomorrow it may bring
Cos the skys the only limit when youre not afraid to dream
What do you see? What do you see...
Summer Party over last weekend was awesome! Abit too much alcohol as always!
In my patriotic best, I'm posting the lyrics of Electrico's "What Do You See" NDP song! Awesome stuff!
_________________________________________________________________
There's a jewel on the ocean,
a gem upon the sea
Where the future is an open book
A land of destiny
We could set our sights into the wind and sail the seven seas
or climb the highest mountain top as long as we believe
What do you see? What do you see?
See the moon and the stars, look how far we have come
Look around at our faces, they shine brightly in the sun
With our hopes and dreams, imagine what tomorrow it may bring
What do you see? What do you see?
Now the time has come to reach out,
To open up to see
That we stand together in this land
Cos we are family
As thoughts of reaching to the sky are carried on a dream
With hearts and minds united, our dreams we will achieve
What do you see? What do you see?
See the moon and the stars, look how far we have come
Look around at our faces, they shine brightly in the sun
With our hopes and dreams, imagine what tomorrow it may bring
What do you see
What do you see when life makes you take on a mountain
Youll see that nothings gonna stand in your way
Together we can share
The strength of a million
and the courage of a million more
See the moon and the stars, look how far we have come
Look around at our faces, they shine brightly in the sun
With our hopes and dreams, imagine what tomorrow it may bring
Cos the skys the only limit when youre not afraid to dream
What do you see? What do you see...
Monday, July 27, 2009
"What Do You See" - Singapore NDP 2009 theme song MV with subtitles
Personally, I LOVE this song. Dunno why so many people are doubting it. Maybe because its not as "singable", but sit down and listen. Still inspires as much pride as the other anthems.
Two thumbs up!
And support this year's NDP here!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
30
Still 20 more minutes of my 30th birthday left to enjoy. Its not anything I'm very proud to be somehow. 30 just feels old. The fundamental difference between being 29 and 30 is 'korkor' and 'uncle'. Simple as that.
Its my party and I'll cry if I want to.
I guess looking back at my first 30 years I'm not as happy as I should be. Possibly because I haven't achieved alot of what I have set out to achieve in life. But then at this stage, no point grieving. Setting high standards for myself have already ensured that I've done great things. Instead I should be happy of the things I have made happen. Happy that I have all my loved ones and friends around me. Happy that I'm still very much alive. Happy that I can afford to be happy.
Here's to another good 60yrs to come. I'm 1/3 of the way there. And since I've come this far, why not make the future even brighter by striving for greater things?!
Tomorrow will be a new day.
Its my party and I'll cry if I want to.
I guess looking back at my first 30 years I'm not as happy as I should be. Possibly because I haven't achieved alot of what I have set out to achieve in life. But then at this stage, no point grieving. Setting high standards for myself have already ensured that I've done great things. Instead I should be happy of the things I have made happen. Happy that I have all my loved ones and friends around me. Happy that I'm still very much alive. Happy that I can afford to be happy.
Here's to another good 60yrs to come. I'm 1/3 of the way there. And since I've come this far, why not make the future even brighter by striving for greater things?!
Tomorrow will be a new day.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Sentosa!
Spent the weekend at Amara Sanctuary Resort in Sentosa!
I must say how much Sentosa has changed from the old resorty island we were previously used to. The whole island's like a theme park of sorts now.
The wifey booked a room on the island to celebrate my birthday! Awwww....thanks dear!
We checked into the room at around 2pm and were given a 2nd-storey courtyard room. Its the one of those old colonial-styled terraces with the creeky floors and frightnight ensemble. Since the wifey booked the Endless Love package that promised your own pool (promotion's over here), I was abit dismayed tht we got the 2nd floor and not the first which came with a private jacuzzi.
This was in spite of the fact that the hotel had already upgraded us from the Sanctuary package to the Courtyard package. Still, a room without a pool is not good enough for me, upgrade or not. So we complained. Given that the hotel was full (not sure if that was true), credit to them for making the extra effort to accede to our request. And before we knew it, a buggy came to pick us to send us to our upgraded room - the Villa!. No more complaints!
The villa given to us was so huge that it had its own zen space, and two enclosed rooms separated by a jaccuzi/swimming pool! Waaaaaaaaah!!! Amazing. Never stayed under such posh conditions before. One room had the queen-sized bed while the other was like the living room/business area. The only downside of that villa was the amount of pesky mosquitoes, a lack of tv in the bedroom, and the shower facilities on the outside of the room. But then, how could I complain further?!
The package also had dinner and breakfast thrown in. Dinner was made special (else why call it the Endless Love package?) being candlelit and having free champagne. But what trully stood out was the food at Shutters (their resident restaurant). Onion soup was fantastic, wagyu beef steak was crazily gratifying, and the chempadak creme brulee rounded off an excellent 4-course dinner.
Then in the evening the wifey and I went to try to catch one of the attractions at the Beach Station which was the Songs of the Sea 40-min show. So commercial an attraction that it spawned its own DVD, softtoy, fried chips food and whatever else saleable. Sadly, we also realized that the show was wildly popular with tourists! So much so that the tickets sold out by 5pm! Crazy! In the end a nice Malay Sentosa usherer told us (I think because we were fellow kiasu Singaporeans) that we could actually catch a free view of the performance from up a zigzag slope. Haha. So we headed there and managed to watch bits and pieces of it. Fireworks, musical fountain et al.
Would totally recommend everyone to come visit Sentosa soon!
Thanks for the treat once again dear!
I must say how much Sentosa has changed from the old resorty island we were previously used to. The whole island's like a theme park of sorts now.
The wifey booked a room on the island to celebrate my birthday! Awwww....thanks dear!
We checked into the room at around 2pm and were given a 2nd-storey courtyard room. Its the one of those old colonial-styled terraces with the creeky floors and frightnight ensemble. Since the wifey booked the Endless Love package that promised your own pool (promotion's over here), I was abit dismayed tht we got the 2nd floor and not the first which came with a private jacuzzi.
This was in spite of the fact that the hotel had already upgraded us from the Sanctuary package to the Courtyard package. Still, a room without a pool is not good enough for me, upgrade or not. So we complained. Given that the hotel was full (not sure if that was true), credit to them for making the extra effort to accede to our request. And before we knew it, a buggy came to pick us to send us to our upgraded room - the Villa!. No more complaints!
The villa given to us was so huge that it had its own zen space, and two enclosed rooms separated by a jaccuzi/swimming pool! Waaaaaaaaah!!! Amazing. Never stayed under such posh conditions before. One room had the queen-sized bed while the other was like the living room/business area. The only downside of that villa was the amount of pesky mosquitoes, a lack of tv in the bedroom, and the shower facilities on the outside of the room. But then, how could I complain further?!
The package also had dinner and breakfast thrown in. Dinner was made special (else why call it the Endless Love package?) being candlelit and having free champagne. But what trully stood out was the food at Shutters (their resident restaurant). Onion soup was fantastic, wagyu beef steak was crazily gratifying, and the chempadak creme brulee rounded off an excellent 4-course dinner.
Then in the evening the wifey and I went to try to catch one of the attractions at the Beach Station which was the Songs of the Sea 40-min show. So commercial an attraction that it spawned its own DVD, softtoy, fried chips food and whatever else saleable. Sadly, we also realized that the show was wildly popular with tourists! So much so that the tickets sold out by 5pm! Crazy! In the end a nice Malay Sentosa usherer told us (I think because we were fellow kiasu Singaporeans) that we could actually catch a free view of the performance from up a zigzag slope. Haha. So we headed there and managed to watch bits and pieces of it. Fireworks, musical fountain et al.
Would totally recommend everyone to come visit Sentosa soon!
Thanks for the treat once again dear!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
I Geddit
So when we do well, you get jealous and say we're earning so much more than you and the bonuses are hardly spread even. When we stop performing at those levels, then you say we're not working hard enough to ensure that all you guys back there have got jobs?
I geddit now.
And that's the way the cookie crumbles...
No wonder everyone wants a piece of us.
I geddit now.
And that's the way the cookie crumbles...
No wonder everyone wants a piece of us.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Passed IPPT
Once again this blog is brought to you via my BB Storm. Damn amazing that I'm able to blog while standing in the train heading to work. That's how far we've come from a technological perspective, that even me, a several seasons late gadget user (geez, I just found out that this keypad has no hyphen) is doing something like this. Think I first read about the prevalence of blogging on the move some 2years ago in either Korea or Japan. Still. Wow.
Anyway, last night took IPPT and almost died. Here are the stats for records sakes:
Standing Broad Jump
234cm 4pts
Sit Up
37 4pts
Pull Up
5 2pts
Shuttle Run
9.9s 5pts
2.4km Run
11.43min 4pts
In all didn't get the silver thanks to my lousy pull ups. But at least get the $100 bonus.
Ok, look at how fast time flies. Reached Chinatown station liao.
Achy all over.
Anyway, last night took IPPT and almost died. Here are the stats for records sakes:
Standing Broad Jump
234cm 4pts
Sit Up
37 4pts
Pull Up
5 2pts
Shuttle Run
9.9s 5pts
2.4km Run
11.43min 4pts
In all didn't get the silver thanks to my lousy pull ups. But at least get the $100 bonus.
Ok, look at how fast time flies. Reached Chinatown station liao.
Achy all over.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Devil's Pride
Spent 2hrs hours yesterday morning drawing this on my room wall! Damn impressed with my own artistic talent. Colouring it will be alot tougher though. That's Man U pride for you!
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Watched Ice Age 3 last night at Century Square as well. First things first. The movie sucked. Seriously. I hardly laughed one bit. Terrible. Only suitable for kids below 5. We also visited the new Tampines 1 Mall! It actually has a pretty Jap-py kind of concept with alot of Japanese outlets. And we had dinner at this Japanese restaurant called Manpuku which was really awesome! Its really like a Japanese-styled Marche. The food is pretty good, and they cook it on the spot for you. Not very cheap but not extremely expensive either. Think I will come back for more soon!
I just need to rant about the Century Square movieplex for a moment here. I mean I've been going to that cinema since I was in JC! Thats like 13years ago! And all they've done is recently upgrade the handrests from velvet to leather?! The rest is the same! Crap, the seats are still velvet and the theatres are stuffy and hot! And it totally didn't help that some guy with really smelly feet was sitting beside me!!! Argh!!!
Spent most of today at the Singapore Science Centre. In fact most of the time was spent at the Da Vinci Exhibition thats here only for two months. Details most of his works from his scrapbooks. Basically they just use his drawings and build some of the models out of wood. Pretty interesting actually but quite intensive reading for all of his works. And they spent alot of exhibition space on the Mona Lisa. Maybe more write ups on his Vitruvian Man instead would have been nice.
And we also watched this movie short called Sea Monsters at the Omni-Max Theatre. Was crap. Like watching a locally produced Finding Nemo! Hahaha...
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Watched Ice Age 3 last night at Century Square as well. First things first. The movie sucked. Seriously. I hardly laughed one bit. Terrible. Only suitable for kids below 5. We also visited the new Tampines 1 Mall! It actually has a pretty Jap-py kind of concept with alot of Japanese outlets. And we had dinner at this Japanese restaurant called Manpuku which was really awesome! Its really like a Japanese-styled Marche. The food is pretty good, and they cook it on the spot for you. Not very cheap but not extremely expensive either. Think I will come back for more soon!
I just need to rant about the Century Square movieplex for a moment here. I mean I've been going to that cinema since I was in JC! Thats like 13years ago! And all they've done is recently upgrade the handrests from velvet to leather?! The rest is the same! Crap, the seats are still velvet and the theatres are stuffy and hot! And it totally didn't help that some guy with really smelly feet was sitting beside me!!! Argh!!!
Spent most of today at the Singapore Science Centre. In fact most of the time was spent at the Da Vinci Exhibition thats here only for two months. Details most of his works from his scrapbooks. Basically they just use his drawings and build some of the models out of wood. Pretty interesting actually but quite intensive reading for all of his works. And they spent alot of exhibition space on the Mona Lisa. Maybe more write ups on his Vitruvian Man instead would have been nice.
And we also watched this movie short called Sea Monsters at the Omni-Max Theatre. Was crap. Like watching a locally produced Finding Nemo! Hahaha...
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Palm Resort
Was on leave yesterday. Went to Palm Resort, JB to give my newly bought hybrid a runout. Hit a 119 and it sure felt like I had a pretty lousy game. Think I didn't spend time testing out the hybrid in the range thats why I didn't hit many good shots with it. But of those that connected, boy, it does show some sparkle of brilliance. Must bring it to the range for some practice soon. Was nonetheless real fun and relaxed. Think we took a good 5hours to finish the game with hardly anyone on the course to bug us (except maybe the grasscutters!)
Click on the image to enlarge!
Darn it, missed my IPPT this morning. Had booked it for the 730am slot and woke up like just half an hour ago. Sigh. Gotta rebook and hopefully not get into trouble for this.
And what's all this about Michael Owen's transfer to Manchester United?! Was shocked when I first read about it. But okay, lets be a little optimistic here. For starters, he costs us zero pounds, whole transfer is free. According to Soccernet, his two-year contract is based on an appearance/goals scored remuneration basis. And he sounds like he really wants to make it to England's World Cup squad. So fine lets give him all that.
But still?! I mean. This dude used to be pure Liverpoot-lian! If he had been any better, the press would've compared him to Luis Figo's Barca - Real switch! I dunno but having spent Newcastle's money scoring what? 8-9 goals for them in all his time there? Sitting comfortably on the injured list most of the time? Sucking when he was in Real? His heydays when he was freely scoring for Liverpool and everybody wanted to be him are long gone, mind you. Never been the same since he left.
But lets wait and see. If he's really trying to prove that he's still got it, then perhaps there's no better place than us to bang in those EPL goals. Maybe Fergie knows something the rest of us don't and usually he's gets things right.
Read this for excellent commentary of the transfer.
What's the worst that could happen anyway? Bench him or banish him to the reserves lor. Beats letting him go to Blackburn/Bolton and turn in a top goalscorer next season. AND he might help tide us through till Macheda and Wellback matures.
Exciting stuff...
Oh! And who here remembers that its US Independence Day today?! Happy 4th of July you happy folks over there!
Click on the image to enlarge!
Darn it, missed my IPPT this morning. Had booked it for the 730am slot and woke up like just half an hour ago. Sigh. Gotta rebook and hopefully not get into trouble for this.
And what's all this about Michael Owen's transfer to Manchester United?! Was shocked when I first read about it. But okay, lets be a little optimistic here. For starters, he costs us zero pounds, whole transfer is free. According to Soccernet, his two-year contract is based on an appearance/goals scored remuneration basis. And he sounds like he really wants to make it to England's World Cup squad. So fine lets give him all that.
But still?! I mean. This dude used to be pure Liverpoot-lian! If he had been any better, the press would've compared him to Luis Figo's Barca - Real switch! I dunno but having spent Newcastle's money scoring what? 8-9 goals for them in all his time there? Sitting comfortably on the injured list most of the time? Sucking when he was in Real? His heydays when he was freely scoring for Liverpool and everybody wanted to be him are long gone, mind you. Never been the same since he left.
But lets wait and see. If he's really trying to prove that he's still got it, then perhaps there's no better place than us to bang in those EPL goals. Maybe Fergie knows something the rest of us don't and usually he's gets things right.
Read this for excellent commentary of the transfer.
What's the worst that could happen anyway? Bench him or banish him to the reserves lor. Beats letting him go to Blackburn/Bolton and turn in a top goalscorer next season. AND he might help tide us through till Macheda and Wellback matures.
Exciting stuff...
Oh! And who here remembers that its US Independence Day today?! Happy 4th of July you happy folks over there!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
My Tainted Wall
Painted one of my home walls today! Since I was on MC, I might as well tried to do something with the house while I'm stuck at home.
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This is the blank wall. No wait! There's stuff written there already! Not clear enough. But yes, I was so uncreative I decided to just write some words to get myself started.
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Then the colours came raining down! As you can see, I was doing a terrible job at painting. Had earlier walked to CompassPoint to buy two boxes of acrylic colours just for this paint job!
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The unfinished product thus far! Its too late to do the black outlines or draw anything else. Will have to continue another day! This is the beginning of the magical coloured room!!!!!
Looks damn bloody childish right? If you have the chance, come over and take a closer look, its a terrible mess!
Super happy.
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This is the blank wall. No wait! There's stuff written there already! Not clear enough. But yes, I was so uncreative I decided to just write some words to get myself started.
.jpg)
Then the colours came raining down! As you can see, I was doing a terrible job at painting. Had earlier walked to CompassPoint to buy two boxes of acrylic colours just for this paint job!
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The unfinished product thus far! Its too late to do the black outlines or draw anything else. Will have to continue another day! This is the beginning of the magical coloured room!!!!!
Looks damn bloody childish right? If you have the chance, come over and take a closer look, its a terrible mess!
Super happy.
MC
Am on MC today.
Doctor told me to go home to rest yesterday but I didn't listen. Down with a bad sorethroat and yellow phlegm. Didn't even bring my meds home.
Hopefully will get well by today. Cuz staying at home alone is boring...
And i just wasted my whole morning sleeping like a pig.
Least I get to update my Facebook and Twitter and do some trading :P
And here's a couple of pictures for entertainment:
I'm catching a rainbow in New Zealand!
This was in Lake Taupo shortly before we headed down to Turangi.
This was in Kai Iwi Beach where the winds were extremely strong!
Jumpshots were a MUST on everything that looked good during our trip. And the nicer the backdrop, the higher my jump!
Miss the weather there!
Doctor told me to go home to rest yesterday but I didn't listen. Down with a bad sorethroat and yellow phlegm. Didn't even bring my meds home.
Hopefully will get well by today. Cuz staying at home alone is boring...
And i just wasted my whole morning sleeping like a pig.
Least I get to update my Facebook and Twitter and do some trading :P
And here's a couple of pictures for entertainment:
I'm catching a rainbow in New Zealand!
This was in Lake Taupo shortly before we headed down to Turangi.
This was in Kai Iwi Beach where the winds were extremely strong!
Jumpshots were a MUST on everything that looked good during our trip. And the nicer the backdrop, the higher my jump!
Miss the weather there!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Twitter Is Great!
What a revelation.
Took some playing around to harness the power or Twitter. Its great not as a friend site, but more as a collector of all this relevant that I'm interested in!
Haha.
What a Twit I am.
Took some playing around to harness the power or Twitter. Its great not as a friend site, but more as a collector of all this relevant that I'm interested in!
Haha.
What a Twit I am.
Twitter Is Crap
Maybe because I've got no friends. Yet.
Nothing fun aside from status updates. Wtf.
Crap.
Nothing fun aside from status updates. Wtf.
Crap.
I'm A Twit
Hello, new Twitter-er!
Using Twitter is going to change the way you think about staying in touch with friends and family. Did you know you can send and receive Twitter updates via mobile texting or the web? To do that, you'll want to visit your settings page (and you'll want to invite some friends).
Activate Phone: http://twitter.com/devices
Invite Your Friends: http://twitter.com/invite
The New York Times calls Twitter "one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet." TIME Magazine says, "Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app," and Newsweek noted that "Suddenly, it seems as though all the world's a-twitter." What will you think? http://twitter.com
Biz Stone and The Twitter Team
http://twitter.com/biz
Using Twitter is going to change the way you think about staying in touch with friends and family. Did you know you can send and receive Twitter updates via mobile texting or the web? To do that, you'll want to visit your settings page (and you'll want to invite some friends).
Activate Phone: http://twitter.com/devices
Invite Your Friends: http://twitter.com/invite
The New York Times calls Twitter "one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet." TIME Magazine says, "Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app," and Newsweek noted that "Suddenly, it seems as though all the world's a-twitter." What will you think? http://twitter.com
Biz Stone and The Twitter Team
http://twitter.com/biz
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
BNP Paribas FC
Dear Futsal Organizers.
Tonight's game was seriously not fun. I would like to lodge an official complaint against the team we played.
If you're out to randomly injure your opponents using our soccer match as an excuse, I really don't feel like playing anymore.
If you're fielding young kids who look like they just entered varsity, under the guise of your established highflying name, I really don't feel like playing anymore.
If you're organizing a league that somehow makes our team play their team not two but THREE consecutive weeks in a row, I really don't feel like playing anymore.
This is rubbish. Doesn't matter that we won comprehensively. I've never seen such aggression from an opponent since the days of ICAP (and weren't they kicked out of the league for violent conduct?).
Week in week out we're just hoping to get a good exercise and get our corporate team hanging out together. You can see from our previous season's league positions what we mean.
But when a team like this just wants to use agressive play, ankle-breaking tackles and flailing elbows to make your life on the pitch a living hell, then there is no more joy in evening football anymore, is there?
Heck, we were just one or two more rough tackles away from an all-out melee out there.
I trust you will look into this promptly and organize things more sensibly.
Regards,
Tonight's game was seriously not fun. I would like to lodge an official complaint against the team we played.
If you're out to randomly injure your opponents using our soccer match as an excuse, I really don't feel like playing anymore.
If you're fielding young kids who look like they just entered varsity, under the guise of your established highflying name, I really don't feel like playing anymore.
If you're organizing a league that somehow makes our team play their team not two but THREE consecutive weeks in a row, I really don't feel like playing anymore.
This is rubbish. Doesn't matter that we won comprehensively. I've never seen such aggression from an opponent since the days of ICAP (and weren't they kicked out of the league for violent conduct?).
Week in week out we're just hoping to get a good exercise and get our corporate team hanging out together. You can see from our previous season's league positions what we mean.
But when a team like this just wants to use agressive play, ankle-breaking tackles and flailing elbows to make your life on the pitch a living hell, then there is no more joy in evening football anymore, is there?
Heck, we were just one or two more rough tackles away from an all-out melee out there.
I trust you will look into this promptly and organize things more sensibly.
Regards,
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Texas At Horizon
2nd weekend in a row we played at Horizon Hills. This was what we were training up for all week. The mini tournament or Texas Scramble. Given that we were given a 26-stroke handicap meant that we hopefully wouldn't come in last even though we were plying with the pros.
Once again the course was seriously beautiful and scenic. I tried to take a picture of every hole until I slowly forgot about it haha. And we played pretty ok. Definitely better than our showing during the Ambassador's Cup. Ben bought himself a whole new set of clubs (to show how serious he was). Think I'll go invest in a few new ones myself.
We ended up with a raw score of 85. 5 better than our previous competitive Texas game. After handicap we actually came in 3rd! Which was pretty respectatble given the competition and the course.
Highlight was the 160m par 3 17th hole! This was the notorious island! With a 5-iron I managed to get it onto the green! For a moment I even thought that I had won the nearest to pin (didn't though).
Bummer was the causeway traffic, which took us almost 3 hours to clear customs, and the rain midway into the bottom 9. Boo those.
Midweek Thursday we played our futsal game against SJII (St Joseph Institution International) FC and lost 2-4. Felt like I played a really good game but the goalkeeper and the goalpost kept me from scoring more than my solitary goal for the team. Bummer man. Knee and ankles feeling ok though. Hopefully getting better.
Gotta take IPPT soon.
Once again the course was seriously beautiful and scenic. I tried to take a picture of every hole until I slowly forgot about it haha. And we played pretty ok. Definitely better than our showing during the Ambassador's Cup. Ben bought himself a whole new set of clubs (to show how serious he was). Think I'll go invest in a few new ones myself.
We ended up with a raw score of 85. 5 better than our previous competitive Texas game. After handicap we actually came in 3rd! Which was pretty respectatble given the competition and the course.
Highlight was the 160m par 3 17th hole! This was the notorious island! With a 5-iron I managed to get it onto the green! For a moment I even thought that I had won the nearest to pin (didn't though).
Bummer was the causeway traffic, which took us almost 3 hours to clear customs, and the rain midway into the bottom 9. Boo those.
Midweek Thursday we played our futsal game against SJII (St Joseph Institution International) FC and lost 2-4. Felt like I played a really good game but the goalkeeper and the goalpost kept me from scoring more than my solitary goal for the team. Bummer man. Knee and ankles feeling ok though. Hopefully getting better.
Gotta take IPPT soon.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
The Hell That Was Horizon Hills
Spent the whole day in JB yesterday at Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club with some of the company people. We're sussing the course out so that we're more familiar with it when we play again next week in that Texas Scramble tournament.
My oh my was the course tough or what. I think it's one of the toughest course I've played so far. We got very well acquainted with the sand bunkers. They look like wide open mouths trying to swallow up your ball all the time. They're really deep and really steep facing the holes. Eugene even put on a "Bunker Show" for us when he was stuck in one for 6 strokes. Haha. The fairways were also really narrow and there were alot alot alot of water bodies. Think I lost a total of 9 or 10 balls. Haiz. Need to stock up against before next weekend.
In the end, I scored a 119, Eugene got 116 and even Lasse who had an ok game could only manage a 94. So that shows how tough the course was.
Yet, as challenging as the course was, we actually had lotsa fun! Somehow it was very exciting and inspiring at the end of some of the holes, to know that you survived and didn't double-par it! Haha.
Its off to the range most of next week to practice, practice, practice!
Oh and you gotta click on the scorecard to enlarge it.
My oh my was the course tough or what. I think it's one of the toughest course I've played so far. We got very well acquainted with the sand bunkers. They look like wide open mouths trying to swallow up your ball all the time. They're really deep and really steep facing the holes. Eugene even put on a "Bunker Show" for us when he was stuck in one for 6 strokes. Haha. The fairways were also really narrow and there were alot alot alot of water bodies. Think I lost a total of 9 or 10 balls. Haiz. Need to stock up against before next weekend.
In the end, I scored a 119, Eugene got 116 and even Lasse who had an ok game could only manage a 94. So that shows how tough the course was.
Yet, as challenging as the course was, we actually had lotsa fun! Somehow it was very exciting and inspiring at the end of some of the holes, to know that you survived and didn't double-par it! Haha.
Its off to the range most of next week to practice, practice, practice!
Oh and you gotta click on the scorecard to enlarge it.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Pictures From Our NZ Trip - South Island
Darn. Had blogged this post halfway already and then I accidentally deleted it without saving. Damn frustrating. Anyway, was mentioning that it seems impossible for me to post our trip pictures on Facebook, so I'll try to direct people here instead.Have added some pictures to the North Island blog as well. So technically if you're reading this for the first time, you should start with the previous post first.
Our first stop in the South Island was Kaikoura! Unfortunately we couldn't go out to see seals due to the choppy seas, so we had to settle for the seal colony at the Kaikoura Peninsula. This fella is the size of a big dog and starting growling at me the closer I got.
Our trusty Mazda 3 for our South Island tour. Served us really well and I'm impressed with the new range of Mazdas, especially the fuel consumption. Think we clocked some 1,800km on this baby in our little time here. Can you spot a pesky seal?
St James Walkway, Lewis Pass. Heading to the west coast and this was the first snow we saw on our trip. Not only was the ground covered in snow, it was literally snowing while we were playing around. Friggin' cold though. Here is my best "throw snow" impression.
Franz Josef Glacier. An amazing view from the scenic lookout. It would have taken us an hour and forty-five minutes to walk to the terminal of the glacier.
Haast. This is wifey screaming for dear life as she is being attacked by sandflies! Corner shadow is me calmly taking a picture of her in distress.
Queenstown. We got ourselves a damn power room. That is The Remarkables there and this picture was taken from our balcony. I shit you not!
Pelennor Fields! This was near the location of where the LOTR battle was filmed. On our way to Milford Sound. Wifey is so enthusiastic in her jump!
The Southern Alps behind me! The scenary starts getting abit too beautiful and mesmerizing that you just feel like stopping everywhere to get a picture. I'm so pumped I'm jumping for joy! I would've been more creative with my jump but its really windy and cold!
Homer's Tunnel. I'm so psyched I'm power jumping now! Check out those abs! And then the mountains behind.
Milford Sound. What more can I say?
Fergburger. Queenstown. One of the best burgers I've ever had. Period.
Linus Pass. This was during our drive to Christchurch and would be the last time we would see natural snow. Boohoo!
Christchurch. Full of old buildings and architecture. The city walk was probably most fun in this city.
Auckland. The best highlight was Mt Eden. You get a 360 mesmerizing view of the city and when the weather permits, you get fantastic blue sky. Here I am fiddling with my camera. Summit's in the background and there is a crater in the middle. Its huge. You can almost imagine a postcard out of this picture if I weren't in it!
The skytower. There was a skyjump platform up above and we were straining our necks for a long time trying to catch someone jump from there. Then we realised nothing was gonna happen...
That's it folks. I think overall we had a really awesome and fun trip. Between me and wifey, we took more than 3,000 pictures, travelled more than 2,500km on the road and had so many nice funfilled surprises and sights along the way. If you're wondering if New Zealand's a good place to go(especially with the wifey), hell'yea!
Our first stop in the South Island was Kaikoura! Unfortunately we couldn't go out to see seals due to the choppy seas, so we had to settle for the seal colony at the Kaikoura Peninsula. This fella is the size of a big dog and starting growling at me the closer I got.
Our trusty Mazda 3 for our South Island tour. Served us really well and I'm impressed with the new range of Mazdas, especially the fuel consumption. Think we clocked some 1,800km on this baby in our little time here. Can you spot a pesky seal?
St James Walkway, Lewis Pass. Heading to the west coast and this was the first snow we saw on our trip. Not only was the ground covered in snow, it was literally snowing while we were playing around. Friggin' cold though. Here is my best "throw snow" impression.
Franz Josef Glacier. An amazing view from the scenic lookout. It would have taken us an hour and forty-five minutes to walk to the terminal of the glacier.
Haast. This is wifey screaming for dear life as she is being attacked by sandflies! Corner shadow is me calmly taking a picture of her in distress.
Queenstown. We got ourselves a damn power room. That is The Remarkables there and this picture was taken from our balcony. I shit you not!
Pelennor Fields! This was near the location of where the LOTR battle was filmed. On our way to Milford Sound. Wifey is so enthusiastic in her jump!
The Southern Alps behind me! The scenary starts getting abit too beautiful and mesmerizing that you just feel like stopping everywhere to get a picture. I'm so pumped I'm jumping for joy! I would've been more creative with my jump but its really windy and cold!
Homer's Tunnel. I'm so psyched I'm power jumping now! Check out those abs! And then the mountains behind.
Milford Sound. What more can I say?
Fergburger. Queenstown. One of the best burgers I've ever had. Period.
Linus Pass. This was during our drive to Christchurch and would be the last time we would see natural snow. Boohoo!
Christchurch. Full of old buildings and architecture. The city walk was probably most fun in this city.
Auckland. The best highlight was Mt Eden. You get a 360 mesmerizing view of the city and when the weather permits, you get fantastic blue sky. Here I am fiddling with my camera. Summit's in the background and there is a crater in the middle. Its huge. You can almost imagine a postcard out of this picture if I weren't in it!
The skytower. There was a skyjump platform up above and we were straining our necks for a long time trying to catch someone jump from there. Then we realised nothing was gonna happen...
That's it folks. I think overall we had a really awesome and fun trip. Between me and wifey, we took more than 3,000 pictures, travelled more than 2,500km on the road and had so many nice funfilled surprises and sights along the way. If you're wondering if New Zealand's a good place to go(especially with the wifey), hell'yea!
Pictures From Our NZ Trip - North Island
Wow, it took awhile just to get the pictures into this computer. Cameras these days are abit too high-tech for me. Tried to load them on Facebook but it keeps jamming on me. Darn.
Hopefully they'll look okay here!
We start heading out of Auckland towards Whitianga. I'm so pumped up right now!
This was in Coromandel, the beginning of our 40min trek down to Cathedral Cove. The cove wasn't especially spectacular but the views from the car park were the beginning of the breathtaking sights throughout the course of our trip.
And this was me 15min into tramping...
Our trusty bright red Ford Focus during our North Island tour. So early in the trip and it's muddied all over. Served us very well. Wifey is trying to grab her scarf (to wrap around the exposed waist?) because its really windy.
The Swoosh. Its a fun ride in Rotorua where wifey and myself are hoisted on a crane some 40m high and released like a gigantic swing, whereby at the lowest point, we're just ONE metre from the concrete ground. The scary part was while we were dangling for dear life, one of us had to pull the release cord then sent us plunging(obviously it was me). I swear the series of shots leading up to this photo would have exponentially added to the humourous effort.
The Zorb. Extremely over-rated and expensive. I have no idea why anyone would pay 50bucks to roll down a hill in a giant ball. All over in 20seconds and I climbed out of that stupid ball feeling pukish. Oh, and wifey is just pretending that the ride's awesome.
I dunno about you but this animal rates as one of the funniest in our travels. Which part of the "Survival of the fittest" theory did this poor bovine fit in to survive till this day? Camouflage definitely wasn't one of its strengths. Has it been hiding at the zebra-crossings all this while?!
Hell's Gate. Thermal geysers, hot spring et al. The sign says it all. Steaming. Cliffs. All 120degs of it.
This was a popular brand of potato chips over there. Bluebird. Try saying it in Hokkien. Didn't taste good at all and in fact was quite smelly.
My virgin bungy jump. At Lake Taupo. Freakin' awesome. This is the most popular jump site in the North Island. 47m drop. Jump platform is on the right. There're scarier places to jump, but this was a start. The DVD and photos cost almost as much as the jump itself. Haha.
Turangi, south of Lake Taupo. Here's wifey thinking that she's caught a rainbow!
That night we both got high at Stell*r, a swanky restaurant in Wanganui. Good food, good wine, good company.
One of the best and surprising sights on our trip. Kai Iwi Beach. Somewhere along the way between Wanganui and Wellington. The crashing waves of the Tasman Sea has caused this erosion of cliffs in such magnitude. Just the awesome power of Mother Nature in full glory. That black speck is wifey, who got so emotional that she ran as far as her legs could take her, until the strong winds blew her back to me :) Took awhile to get this jumpshot right as the winds were so strong.
Te Papa. Wellington. Father sky and mother earth. Nuff said.
On board the InterIslander, South Island bound! Wifey thinks she's stronger than the wind. The winds are so strong that we cannot stay on the deck for more than 10minutes without getting blown away. Haha.
Going out liaoz! That's it for the North Island. Later tonight will post some South Island pictures!
Hopefully they'll look okay here!
We start heading out of Auckland towards Whitianga. I'm so pumped up right now!
This was in Coromandel, the beginning of our 40min trek down to Cathedral Cove. The cove wasn't especially spectacular but the views from the car park were the beginning of the breathtaking sights throughout the course of our trip.
And this was me 15min into tramping...
Our trusty bright red Ford Focus during our North Island tour. So early in the trip and it's muddied all over. Served us very well. Wifey is trying to grab her scarf (to wrap around the exposed waist?) because its really windy.
The Swoosh. Its a fun ride in Rotorua where wifey and myself are hoisted on a crane some 40m high and released like a gigantic swing, whereby at the lowest point, we're just ONE metre from the concrete ground. The scary part was while we were dangling for dear life, one of us had to pull the release cord then sent us plunging(obviously it was me). I swear the series of shots leading up to this photo would have exponentially added to the humourous effort.
The Zorb. Extremely over-rated and expensive. I have no idea why anyone would pay 50bucks to roll down a hill in a giant ball. All over in 20seconds and I climbed out of that stupid ball feeling pukish. Oh, and wifey is just pretending that the ride's awesome.
I dunno about you but this animal rates as one of the funniest in our travels. Which part of the "Survival of the fittest" theory did this poor bovine fit in to survive till this day? Camouflage definitely wasn't one of its strengths. Has it been hiding at the zebra-crossings all this while?!
Hell's Gate. Thermal geysers, hot spring et al. The sign says it all. Steaming. Cliffs. All 120degs of it.
This was a popular brand of potato chips over there. Bluebird. Try saying it in Hokkien. Didn't taste good at all and in fact was quite smelly.
My virgin bungy jump. At Lake Taupo. Freakin' awesome. This is the most popular jump site in the North Island. 47m drop. Jump platform is on the right. There're scarier places to jump, but this was a start. The DVD and photos cost almost as much as the jump itself. Haha.
Turangi, south of Lake Taupo. Here's wifey thinking that she's caught a rainbow!
That night we both got high at Stell*r, a swanky restaurant in Wanganui. Good food, good wine, good company.
One of the best and surprising sights on our trip. Kai Iwi Beach. Somewhere along the way between Wanganui and Wellington. The crashing waves of the Tasman Sea has caused this erosion of cliffs in such magnitude. Just the awesome power of Mother Nature in full glory. That black speck is wifey, who got so emotional that she ran as far as her legs could take her, until the strong winds blew her back to me :) Took awhile to get this jumpshot right as the winds were so strong.
Te Papa. Wellington. Father sky and mother earth. Nuff said.
On board the InterIslander, South Island bound! Wifey thinks she's stronger than the wind. The winds are so strong that we cannot stay on the deck for more than 10minutes without getting blown away. Haha.
Going out liaoz! That's it for the North Island. Later tonight will post some South Island pictures!
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