Saturday, September 26, 2009

Belated birthday celebration

13th September (Sunday)

It was a belated birthday celebration for the 4 August/ September babies – Kelvin, Tanpopo, Tuk and I.
We first went to Watami (ION Orchard) for lunch (which turned out to be so-so only), followed by a tea cum chalet discussion session at the Marmalade Pantry.

Happy! \(^ o ^)/

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Princess Kayley's hand & foot prints

9月12日(星期六)

这一天,为了帮kayley 小公主做她的手脚印,我很早就起床了。
第一次帮贝比做手脚印,还蛮紧张的。不知道会不会成功。
结果,还真的。。。不成功。
我太小看小公主的size 了。
带来的原料和模型都不够,也间接影响到拿捏石膏粉硬化的时间。
结果,石膏粉太硬了。手脚印最总失败。咳。。。(- _ -)
折腾了一番后,洗个手再拿小公主来玩。哈哈!
以下的图片,可爱吧?(^ _ ^)



Woke up darn early on that Saturday morning to work on Princess Kayley’s foot and hand prints.
I was pretty nervous about it as it’s the first time I’m doing this for a baby.
And I wasn’t sure if it will be successful either.
As it turned out… it was a complete failure. (- _ -)
I had underestimated the princess’ size and the materials and mould I had bought were insufficient.
This kinda thwarted my calculations, especially the time taken for the plaster of paris to harden.
In the end, the plaster of paris was too hard and I couldn’t get a proper imprint. Sigh.
But never mind the setback. I had fun “playing” with the little princess at the end.
Isn’t she cute? (^ _ ^)

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Saturday, September 19, 2009

JB & Danga Bay "adventure"

5th September (Saturday)

Went ahead with the Johor Bahru plan with colleagues, despite half of the team pulling out due to reasons like overslept, major hung over, work commitments & etc. Well... actually, there wasn't really a plan in place. We kinda just decided that we'll take a train over and linger around for a while and head for seafood - without knowing exactly where we are going to linger and which seafood place we were gonna patronize.

As it was my first time taking a train over to JB (usually i would take the bus or my other friends would drive me there), I kinda felt like a mountain tortoise and began snapping away...



The journey was rather short - about 45 mins, inclusive of custom clearance.

After we'd passed the JB customs, we decided to head over to the nearest shopping mall, City Square, to linger around before heading out for dinner. Well, it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for me as the shops in that mall were exactly the same as the ones we have in Singapore. And the prices were comparable too. So it kinda spoiled my appetite to shop. I was kinda hoping to see more local brands there though.

When it was nearing 5pm, we flagged a cab and headed down to Danga Bay - recommended by one of our colleagues who had checked it out over the Internet. As it turned out, we were far too early for the place - the cafes were closed, amusement rides weren't opened and the whole place just seemed like a ghost town. So much for the internet review...

We walked from one end of the bay to another and back again. In the end, we decided to just sit around and waited for 2 hrs to pass by before any cafe was opened. We just kept hypnotizing ourselves with thoughts of delicious seafood (especially sambal stingray) & etc.



But when the time finally came for us to settle in on our sumptuous meal, we realized that the cafe didn't serve any stingray! So we simply ordered some side dishes (the boys had beer) to fuel up a little before we moved on to try out another place that my other colleague had recommended.

As we began to walk out out of Danga bay, the bright lights from the amusement rides did its magic to cheer us up a little. In short, i kinda thought that's the main and only highlight of the day (sadly speaking). Well, at least it took our minds off the stingray for a while.



Although the day had began with anticipation, followed by disappointment to frustration, it ended off on a good note when we had a wonderful dinner at a Chinese restaurant called "New Hong Kong". And nope, we still didn't get to eat our stingray but we did have very fresh steamed fish and nice crabs :)



Morale of the story?
Don't ever trust official sites. Check out reviews instead...

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Friday, September 11, 2009

Tuk's 30th Birthday

3rd September (Thursday)

Took a day off work to celebrate Tuk’s birthday, but ended up spending the whole morning at work anyways. Bugger… With half the day gone rather unexpectedly due to work commitments, it kinda thwarted my plans for this birthday boy.

Instead of having breakfast by the horse ranch, we had lunch. Taking a cab, we went down to The Bukit Timah Saddle Club, in search of the Riders Café. The place’s rather secluded so if you don’t have a car, it’s best to grab a cab.

As soon as we got there, we were charmed by the old-building-turned-restaurant. In short, it felt very colonial and very un-Singapore. We decided to tuck ourselves at a table on the balcony, which overlooked the horse stable. But as the sun was up (just past noon) and the weather getting a wee bit too hot, there were no horses in sight. Kinda suspected that the horse riding was done earlier in the mornings where the weather was more cooling. Darn! Had missed the perfect timing.

Nevertheless, we ordered the main courses and the food was fresh and delightful, and the service was great too! (^_~)

We munched on and talked about his ad-hoc photography assignments with a local magazine, our plans for the weekend and etc, etc, etc… But soon we realized that both of us were perspiring (it’s a non-aircon place btw), so we decided to ask for bill and head on to another place.

And you know what? We saw a horse pulling up at the stable just before we left! Lucky! \(^o^)/

Think I’m gonna head back to makan again… but either in the morning or evening instead, when the weather’s much cooler :P


Riders Cafe
51 Fairways Drive, S(286965)
Exit Eng Neo Ave from PIE or Dunearn Road.
Along Eng Neo Ave, follow the sign to Bt. Timah Saddle Club.
Average price per person: S$25

Next stop – Shaw Towers. Went to a shop there to scout for Tuk’s dream camera bag. But there wasn’t any that suited his needs, so we decided to pop by Haji Lane before heading over to Bras Brasah. That’s when trouble started!

I kinda thought that I kana heat stroke while I was walking to and lingering at Haji Lane. I was dehydrated but didn’t realized until it was too late. By the time I reach Cat Socrates (shop cum café), I felt drained.


Cat Socrates
#03-39B Bras Basah Complex, 231 Bain Street, S(180231)
Open Hour: 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm (Daily)

But the stuff at Cat Socrates kinda cheered me up. As I browsed through the interesting notebooks, stationery, books and music recommendations, my mind was taken off the fact that I was dehydrated. Well, at least it did for a while.

Cat Socrates is mainly a lifestyle shop that has a small, cozy resting corner (call it a mini café if you like) for its customers to order drinks (i.e.: ready drinks like soft drinks, spirit & etc), browse through the books/ magazines/ lifestyle items sold there, and simply have a mini break before setting off again. Also a place for photography/ lomo lovers as some of the stuff sold there were quite appealing as well. And most of the items were quite affordable too! (^_~)

Now back to my boring story of being dehydrated and feeling drained. After having work commitments that took up the whole of my morning, the heat stroke set me back for the evenings. Darn! Birthday boy’s disappointment couldn’t be helped as I really felt unwell after we left and café and made our way elsewhere. So we kinda decided that we should call it a day and arranged for a belated birthday dinner on Sunday instead. Bummer…


6th September (Sunday)

Had the belated birthday dinner with tuk at Heaven’s Loft, located at Orchard Central, level 8.

Well, the place’s ok and the food’s not bad, but it was kinda pricey for pastas though - about S$35 to S$45 per person. I wouldn’t mind going back there to makan but I wouldn’t make a conscious effort just to go there as well. Well… not unless I’m feeling rich on that day. Who knows? :P



After a rushed dinner, we headed down to GV Plaza Sing to catch The Cove. Highly recommend you to watch this!!! Check out my blog entry and you’ll know why.

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

26歳の誕生日

8月29日(土曜日)
いよいよ私の誕生日だ!もう一年を取ってなんて、ちょっと悔しいなあ。。。
天気が暑くて、昼も用事があるので、朝にJohn のところへいくと髪を切った。
するとすぐに、Crystal Jadeにいくと家族と昼ごはんをしました。
当たり前に、かわいいなKayleyちゃんと写真をとったんだよ!
かわいいじゃん?



昼ごはんをすると、家に帰ると少し寝ました。すると、家族と一緒にケーキを食べました。
夕方に、Tukさんは私を My Secret Garden(レストラン)に連れて行きました。
そこの食べ物や、環境や、雰囲気もかなりいけるわよ。いいデートな場所と思う。


161 Middle Road,Sculpture Square
Average price per person: S$ 35 - 45

美味しい夕食の後、近くのCat Socrates (喫茶店) にいくつもりけど、もう時間が遅くなったので、喫茶店はもう閉店しました。残念なあ。

そして、Tukさんはもう1つおすすめな場所があるん。。。15Minutes(喫茶店)だ。
これはLaselle の外の喫茶店でした。
多分腹いっぱいので、メニューを見ると、ちょっと食欲がない。
ちゃんと考えると、fruit punchと1つ特別なデザートを並べた。
あのスペシャルなデザートはBanoffeeだ。
つまり、バナナとToffeeの混合だ。超甘い物だ。
そのままで食べられません。Whipped creamを入るとほうがいいだと思う。

はっきり言って、そこの食べ物が美味しいかどうか、解らない。でももし友達とピザをたべたり、飲み物を飲んだり、話し合ったつもりが、そこはいい場所と思う。いろなソファがあるので、ゆったりを感じる。



デザートを食べ終わったら、もう疲れちゃった。
そのままで26歳の誕生日が過ごしました。


8 月29 日 (星期六)
终于等到了生日这一天!咳。。。又老了一岁了。
因为天气热,再加上下午时分会很忙,所以特地起了一大早,到John 那里把头发剪短。
紧接着,我们 (Tuk 和我)便赶到 Crystal Jade 和家人一起共进午餐。
当然少不了和宝贝Kayley 一起合照啦!

过后,便回家小睡一下,再和家人一块儿切蛋糕。
在接近傍晚时分,我们又往外溜了!
这会儿,Tuk 带我到 My Secret Garden 去享用晚餐。
不论是在食物,环境和情调方面都还蛮不错的。蛮适合情侣们约会的。
只可惜当天没办法参观餐厅里头的setting。应为当天有另外两个寿星公/婆早已预定了里头的位子招待他们个别的朋友。算了吧。是该让位给年轻人了。哈哈。

享用了精致的晚餐后,本想跑到附近的Cat Socrates去喝杯茶,但时间已晚,已经打烊了。
之后我们便跑到了位于Laselle 外面的15 Minutes (Café) 喝杯茶。
可能是之前吃的太饱,一看到menu上的那些Pizza之类的食物,就觉得有些反胃。
结果,我们只点了两杯饮料和一个奇特的甜点 – Banoffee。
基本上,那是香蕉和toffee的混合体。超甜的。幸好加了不少的whipped cream才把甜度降低。
说实在的,我无法说那里的食物是否好不好吃,但至少在情调方面很蛮适合和朋友聚在一起吃吃Pizza,喝点饮料或啤酒,好好的谈天之类的。尤其是那几个sofa area更是再适合不过了。

吃完了晚餐再吃了甜点后,两个人都累了。
就这样忙碌的度过了26岁生日。 (^ o ~)

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Monday, September 07, 2009

Join the cause! STOP the massacre of dolphins in Taiji, Japan

Just came back from watching THE COVE - a documentary that uncovered the mass slaughtering of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. Although the shocking scenes were really short (compared to the rest of the film that sets the pace) and mostly towards the end of the film, they were perpetually disturbing - from seeing the dying dolphin struggling till its very last breath, how dolphin trainers actually bear to witness and curate the fitter dolphins, a guy stepping over a dying dolphin and many more. I just felt so sick and disgusted.

And to some extent, i felt guilty for indirectly supporting the massacre at one point. How so? Many years back, i went to Sentosa just to witness and touch the pink dolphin. The thought of being close to one, even for a mere second, was an exciting thought.

Now, you may find it puzzling how this could contribute to the massacre. Tracing back to the "demand and supply" theory, Taiji was (and currently is as well) one of the biggest dolphin suppliers to the aquariums around the world. And dolphins equate to multi-billion ventures across the world - because of spectators like me, who would rush to aquariums to watch them perform and etc. But there's only so many that could be bought at a time that the remaining 23,000 (which included dolphins, porpoises and other small whales) were slaughtered EVERY YEAR and passed off as whale meat!

What's even more disturbing was that dolphins have high levels of mercury and were not suitable for human consumption! And most Japanese didn't even know such an annual blood bath existed and that they were buying food that weren't what they thought it to be. In fact, the people interviewed were perturbed at the thought of dolphins as a food source.

There were many more ironic situations brought up in the film and would be best if you catch it and watch it for yourself instead. Here's the official movie trailer:



Apart from watching the movie, and learning more about the quick facts, you can also help stop the annual massacre (extracted from the site):

1) Help get the word out.
Help get the word out in Japan, and pressure our leaders to take action. Send a letter to President Obama, Vice President Biden and the Japanese Ambassador to the US. Your message will be displayed on social networks, web sites and blogs in Japan, along with information from the The Cove. I have sent one. How about you?



2) Make a pledge: don't go to dolphin shows.
Don't pay to see or swim with dolphins in captivity.

3) Donate now.
Help our campaign to stop the killing of dolphins in Japan, and the sale of captured dolphins around the world. Read Ric's blog to find out why.

4) Show your support. Go see The Cove.
The secret is out. Spread the word. The more people who see the new documentary The Cove, the greater the pressure around the world to end the killing of dolphins and whales.

5) WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) has the power to stop the slaughter in Taiji.
Pressure them to take action now. Visit The Cove website for more info.

Let's not condone this act of mass slaughtering.
We can do our part (no matter how big or small) to help curb this.
Let's stop it before it's too late.

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Tuesday, September 01, 2009

LIFE

Stumbled upon a blog today.
One that belonged to Stephanie Aurora Clark Nielson aka Nie.
A survivor who returned "from a almost fatal plane crash [and] happy to be blogging again".

Had taken some time to read through her blog.
And perhaps, instead of calling it a blog, it's a better fit to call it a reminder of LIFE - to treasure and appreciate every single living moment. To be grateful for every breath that we take. And to learn to lean on family.

Through the pictures that she took, and through the words that she'd shared, it's not hard to be touched.

Perhaps, just perhaps, it's time to re-look at how we live our 1st life... 'coz a 2nd life may not come again.

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