woah yesterday was a mad rush for me... in the morning we made our way to church... it has been a really long time since i have been there and i decided that i would force myself out off bed... dont get me wrong i didnt go to church the past few weeks not because i couldnt wake up but because i was either not in singapore or was working... was really nice to be back home and be welcomed by the chorus of praise as i relished every moment beind craddled in Gods arms like a baby... =)
well after which i followed my parents and met up with some family friends of whom i had not seen for some time... had some peranakan lunch together... haha... well the food was good... but just like what any italian would say i still think my mom cooks better... haha... some how there is nothing like home cooked food...
well after that, we ran back home... my parents took a rest but there was no rest for me... immediately i scurried around the kitchen grabbing ingredients as i prepared myself to make some cream puffs... was planning to go out tmrw to meet my friends and they kinda wanted to tey my puffs so well since i know i wasnt gonna have time today i had no choice but to make them that afternoon... and man was that the fastest time i have ever made my puffs... 1.5hrs flat... woooot... and that included 1hr of baking time... RECORD... yea...
and what did i do after that? well i rushed all the way down to town to meet up with my beverly... haha... we strolled around taka for a while... bought some doughnuts... really nice... definitely not from doughnut factory... i honestly dont see what the queue is all about this place at taka i feel is just as good and there is no queue at all... well i guess it is better for me... well after all that, we made our long long walk to the symphony lake at botanics... we went there to watch the SCO play... really nice... had lots of fun...and i thought that our night would have just ended with a simple dinner... but well i guess i was wrong...
minutes after i arrived at the symphony lake, my phone rang... it was dad... and to my suprise, my cousin had just given birth in gleneagles... man was i excited... so after the concert was over, we walked over to gleneagles in hope of seeing my new nephew... but well too bad he was still undergoing checks so we couldnt get to see him... so we decided to grab a bit first as it was already 8... we went back to the botanics to have some malay fair... i then sent bev to the bus stop after that as she made her way home...
i then made my way back up to the hospital to check if the baby was out yet... but he was still undergoing test... haiz.... well so i decided to have my second dinner with my parents at sushi tei... i have no idea wat was wrong with me... they told me to meet them at paragon... so i took a bus, missed a stop and landed infront of lucky plaza... i then decided to talk abit, got to the building, thought they were refering to sakae sushi so when i got there, obviously i couldnt find them... so i called and clarified for a while just to find out I AM IN WHEELOCK... was so fed up... i marched my way across to paragon... ARGH.... and like that wasnt enough... talk about luck... when i got there and placed my order, the waitress told me... "sorry we are not taking any more orders" ARGHHHHH!!! normally at this kinda situation i can still control my emotions but i really couldnt take it any more... my face just crumpled up... and i guess the waitress could sense my irritation... hahaha... but she was so nice.... 10mins later my sushi just appeared... was really happy... haha... contented and satisfied, i made my way back to the hospital to collect my bag which i had left earlier on and there i saw all nicely wrapped in a cacoon was my baby nephew... he was so cute... big round eyes.... so cute... haha well that was then finally the last paragraph for my day... really hectic and crazy isnt it... well shant bore you anymore... CHOW...
friends always care
21:47
yesterday was totally great for me... really had fun... yesterday quite a few of us from TAS trotted all the way down back to tampines side to hold our first ORIENTATION for the freshies... WOOOOT..... was really great fun... i was asked to be the event photographer... haha... was kinda apprehensive at first as i know that at times my photos really sux and sux bad... so i kept on drumming into my head these few words "dont screw up" ahhh was kinda nervous...
make things worse, my stand kept breaking in two and when ever i fixed it back it broke again... thats number one... now many of you who know me know that i hate using flash as it kills the colour... but this time round with a wobbly stand and really poor lighting in the area, well it was a real challenge for me... and last but not least my pants... you might be wondering what does my pants have to do with taking photos... well how bout this... i was running along trying to take photos and my belt broke... AHHHH... my pants kinda dropped half way... but luckily it was pitch black and no one was at where i was... arghhhhhh.... hahah... kinda suay isnt it....
well i had fun being the photographer... but funnily eventhough i was the "neutral" party throughout the event or rather suppose to be the neutral party, i came back looking the most dirty... ok here is what happened... in one of the games the had prepared this devilish mixture of flour and water and as penalty, they would rub it on the player's face... i didnt play the game and got out of that station clean... but at the end of the event whilst i was taking photos of the freshies, suddenly out of no where i found this disgusting sludge being wipped all over my face and hair... AHHHH remember people... face ok...... hair dont touch.... urghhhhhh... well but it was great fun later hunting down the guilty parties... well here are some photos i took...
are you the oricle?
OGLS
freshies at ampi theatre
friends always care
13:54
ever wanted to just run away from the crowd and be a recluse up on one mountain if only just for a while? well went through that today... there is nothing wrong with me... just kinda felt like being alone for a while... actually i went out with my friends this afternoon to play some badminton work out some energy... then escaped to Joseph's house for a while and it was not till 6 that i left... actually intially i wanted to go out with some of my friends... started making calls and smses, the usual proceedings you all should be familiar with now... but in the end after 4 calls i decided to stop and just go on my own... i ended up in town where i decided to ply the streets by myself in my own thoughts...
orchard road was crowded but it was ok for me... all i needed was time away from everyone i knew... and shut off the world around me such that only my shadow accompanied me... walked around plaza sing for quite some time decided to look at some sandals and shirts but didnt get anything in the end... it was not ill 9.00 did i leisurely make my way back home...
sounds kinda sad doesnt it? but i think it was kinda refreshing on my side... some how i feel good after that... i guess i just needed time away and spend some time by myself...
friends always care
22:31
well yesterday was my first day at school... haha luckily the stress and opressive feeling of being under work isnt here yet... i still feel as if i am still having holiday...
well guys heres introducing you to the tourism academy @ sentosa... my new campus... well if you guys didnt know the history of this building, it was actually used as a british barrack during the colonial days... till now you can still see some traces of its heritage around such as the little stumps soldiers used to clean their boots... this place brings about a really nice rustic charm to dilute the stress of school... during tutorial and lectures you can still hear the crickets creaking and birds chirping... now you see why i dont feel like i am in school? it is so much like a urban getaway...
well i guess many of you dont know about why i am so happy that i am here in sentosa eventhough travelling maybe a chore and food edible and expensive... well a few years ago just after the O's i came to this very campus for a closed door tour around the building... our principle knew many of the lecturers and heads in the campus of whom were old boys and initiated a meeting for us to view the campus... once i entered the campus in the back of my mind i told myself... in 2 years time i will study here... i know the results werent out yet but i was determined to make it to this campus as to me this was sorta a signal that i am going into this industry that i love and i am going to do my best in it and God is behind me...
it was not only till i reached the foot hill of the campus yesterday that i realised my dream has come true as i breathed in the fruits of my labour... and for that moment i felt satisfied and my happiness was just undefinable.... i just felt like as if my soul came out of my body and just patted me on my back saying "well done, you made it." and that was good enough for me...
well i was barely able to make it to this campus with my grades but all along throughout my Olevels till now i have a feeling of what God wants me to do and that soon became my dream and that became my goal and God backed me up and supported me all the way through my journey... all i can say is thanks...
friends always care
10:47
scorching rays pierced through the sieve like umbrella burning each inch of skin on the already burnt skin... perspiration and sweat only added a pundgent aroma to the humidity entombed within umbrella... the umbrella kept the heat and smell in... it kept me perspiring... yet it was my friend and partner i couldnt do without for separation meant iminent death in the harsher conditions faced beyond the umbrella....
well when i landed back from vietnam immediately the next day it was off for briefings by suntec on the new event i was going to help out with, Boat Asia 2007... this must have been one of the toughest jobs i have ever been through... i must say it might even be number two... nothing can beat APBS... haha... this was not only tough but man was it disorganised... for a big company like suntec that does this kinda events on a daily basis, this event was a flop... but i did learn alot from this event... WHAT WE SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT DO....
1) have signs to show directions
2) ensure that all enterances are blocked to allow only ticket holders in
3) ensure that souveniers have the correct year printed on them
4) ensure that volunteers know what they are signing up for
5) ensure there is enough lunch for all
6) ensure there is more than one main toilet available
well these are some of the things that suntec failed to include at one point or another or even throughout... i mean these are the fundemental things but they seemed to have been over looked... was quite bad... ok enough complaining... but i must say this job was a really humbling experience for me...
what did i do? well.... HI WELCOME TO BOAT ASIA REGISTRATION IS THIS WAY... yep i said that all the way from 11am to 7pm whilst being battered by the elements of weather... throughout the period i kept on praying so hard for it to storm... a few times the sky did turn black but suddenly moments later the clouds were gone... really weird and really pissed me off... it was terribly hot there... even the umbrella didnt help much but nevertheless was better than nothing... imagine i could finish 1.5l of water in 15mins at the peak of day... i honestly think my job was one if not the worst position to be in during the event... there were many times i felt like puking bec of the heat and glare from the sun... and so standing under the hot sun for 10hrs and drinking 4.5l of water soon became my hobby...
haha but ok i admit i wasnt always at my station... mainly because it was too hot or too boring... haha would sneak off to the main tent to get some air con or run to the cafe get some ice cream or go to the pirates corner for a little chit chat session with my friends... and when my supervisors call well simple.... i was too hot so i needed to cool down... or i needed to refill my bottle... or i needed the toilet... okok i feel really bad lying and all but seriously it was really rough out there... strangely during my little walk abouts i managed to bump into some of my uncles and friends... haha...
but now and then when we did manage to sneak off to the docks, we managed to see some really cool boats... some are bigger than my house by quite a fair bit... and a boat there could range anything from $5000 all the way to a wopping $24 000 000... but they were great... some even had stuff like saunas, garage, etc all packed into the yacht.... haha well i think you have had enough of all this shall move off here is a picture up on one of the yachts with some friends of mine i just met...
starting from left: yours sincerely, erm... hehe.. winnie's friend so sorry didnt get your name, winnie, ashley and lastly jasmine... sighhh will miss you guys... so sad wont be seeing you in school anymore...had lotsa fun...
friends always care
19:14
i just feel like shouting out now... i just feel like letting loose everything within... some how i think i have just recently stepped into another episode of PMS late today... dont know why but starting to think too far into stuff... thinking too much and making myself feel worse and worse... have no idea what is wrong with me... argh... maybe i just need to shout... AHHHHHHH.... ok much better...
friends always care
21:54
well its really strange isnt it? about me not posting when i touch down in singapore... a post to sorta sum up what ever i have posted... well truth of the matter is that i havent been in any mood to post up anything the past few days... and well i honestly can say that i really dont want to come back to singapore... really i dont... dont ask me why i have no idea but the night before my flight i was really fighting not to come back home... i really really wanted to stay on badly for my own personal reasons... was kinda rough for me that night was...
well the funny thing was that when i reached back home in singapore, for a moment i just did not recognise the house anymore... it was really strange... it is like as if suddenly this was really just a house... the feeling wasnt there... like where by you come home and say," ahh home at last.." for me on the other hand it was kinda like,"is this home?"
haiz well life hasnt been too good for me on the emotional side either... getting blowings from the family and from friends... haha... not the kinda welcome party i expected to recieve... haha... o well but i am getting stronger as i go... oh i just recieved some great news... a load off the shoulder... we finally managed to buy a home... mom just called saying that we finally managed to secure the deal and finally after so many years buy our own home to live in... it is situated at chuan park minutes from bishan and serangoon mrt with a new circle line coming up right infront of it... really nice place... what can i say from near bankurptcy to buying a new home in a matter of a few years... only Gods providence could have seen us through... praise the Lord...
friends always care
22:16
well today is my last day here in vietnam... kinda sad actually... i am going to miss alot of people, food, activities, basically i am going to miss staying here... i really enjoyed myself to the fullest this time... was really a good break that i so desperately needed... well i guess its time to launch myself back into the reallity again when i get back to singapore...
no driver
no maid
no cheap clothes
no cheap food
no excitement when crossing the road
no excitement whilst on the road
no fruit juices (just love them)
no cheap flowers
family split
well i guess thats life all good things have to come to an end so that you can apperchiate them when they do come again... well talking about flowers... it might seem kinda random that i just blurted out cheap flowers... haha... well today i decided to lifen up the home abit... so i made my way down to the market to pick up some daisys and try my hand out at flower arrangement... had a good idea of what i wanted to do... and well so here it is...
what i did was to wrap a clear vase with long leaves to give that nice effect and just simply stick in the daisys... well actually this one has some meaning to the way i arranged the flowers... if you realise i have 5 fire red daisys that surround a white one... well the meaning is simple... being different can be beautiful it is just how much confidence you have to make yourself stand out from the rest... haha... kinda poetic huh... well i kinda thought it had some meaning to it so i decided to go on with it if not i would have bought all the different colour of the daisy and put them in this vase... and they are so cheap... only 20cents for one... not too bad.... but recently i have been too lazy to bargain... kinda tired of haggling with the vendors... so i just bought them...
well thats it i guess... ill probably go out with dad to eat some seafood tonight... strangely i have not touched any seafood since i came... well there were the prawns and stuff but i didnt really go to any seafood restaurant to eat like crabs and stuff... and that is something i must do... have to satisfy my craving for their flower crab... well ill see you guys when i get back tmrw... probably land around 1530hrs... chow...
friends always care
17:16
flying over a mosaic of farm crops, we were welcomed by the cool and crisp air that greeted us. the air was perfumed with the fresh smell of pine. horses ran free around the large water base, situated in the center of the town.well i just came back from a mountain resort stayed there for about 3 days... was really really fun... we took the first day pretty easy... arriving at about 12 noon, we went on to visit the flower garden there as well as walk the town... one thing great about dalat is that you dont really have to go to the flower garden to actually see flowers... the streets, towns, buildings are just festooned with them... its a really beautiful sight... everywhere you look you see flowers and horses... makes you kinda forget that you are in vietnam...well day one was pretty simple... you might be wondering why i call this post red lobster patrol... simple... my second day explains it all... lobster when cooked is.... red on the outside white on the inside right? good... well thats me... right now i am red on the outside and white on the inside... you see we signed up for this kayaking trip in yet another lake away from the hustle and bustle of the city... its really really situated in a remote part of the mountain where the forest are untouched and the lake is still in its prestine condition... there we spent 4 hours of non stop kayaking... was really fun... the water was cold, the wind was refreshing and cool, the smell of pine was so alluring and along the sides at some mountains and forest there were farms, many fishermen and at some locations, elephant rides so we got so see a few elephants... really fun... OH and i forgot there were little ducklings swimming around this gargantuan size lake... the funny thing is that i saw many ducklings but no ducks... haha well maybe it is because i was too busy chasing them with my kayak... hehehhee.... well great isnt it? my dad and i were there loosing track of time... kayaking round enjoying ourself sun was shining the wind was blowing the birds were chirping... well after 4hrs of that we were pumped and decided to rest... had some fruits for lunch... it was not till 2hrs later till we got the after effects of out fun... thats when the "FUN" actually began... our legs our arms our face was scarlet red... the sun burn was or rather is so bad that we cant sit properly, cant walk properly, cant bathe, cant sleep and every movement is a torture... and i aint exaggerating this time... it was really bad... so how did i cope with the pain? simple GET ME A DRINK... no lah... haha... it just so happened we were having lunch and i felt like trying out one of their cocktails... B-52 really beautiful... a concorction of my favourite liquers... kahlua, baileys and contreau build into a shot glass and flamed... really nice... but being a stupid one at all these fancy cocktails, i did a stupid thing... you see you are suppose to stick a straw into the cocktail and suck it up one shot layer by layer... so that was what my dad told me... so i was thinkin the cocktail is on fire now i stick the straw in, it would melt.. so well i decided wat the heck just stick it in and suck... well dumb move... i didnt suck any liquer in... instead what went in was plastic fumes... so my straw was melted and had a hole in it... ok nvm i learn i am suppose to do it fast so it doesnt melt... so i wanted to try again.... but this time round i was smarter i decided to blow off the fire so and then suck it in just so that i wont waste the drink... so i blew... and guess what... 1/3 of my contreau went with the flame onto the table... so i was like watever just drink it in... so i sipped in another 1/3 of the drink and choked on it not realising how strong contreau was... so my dad passed me a new straw and finally this time round it went well... and all this happened with all the eyes in the restaurant pointed at me... AHHHHH haha... kinda funny though... haha...well after walking around a bit dad and i decided to rent a tendum for only 15 000 dong($1.50) we ended off the night with a nice ride around the lake in town... thus the rowing around the lake and the cycle around the other lake gives rise to why i add the last word to my title... now you know why i name this red lobster patrol...well today itself we made our way up in the morning to the highest peak in dalat... it was colder up there and thus i was all padded up... the scenery from up there was amazing... the mountain stood at about 2km up from ground level which meant about 1km above dalat, as dalat is already 1km above sea level... was really amazing... but what kinda spoilt it during the initial bit were the paddlers... i know that they are trying to sell stuff for their survival and stuff... we really try to be quite nice to them... but this one just didnt stop and she irritated dad and i to the max... i sound really bad dont i... but seriously... we told her nicely that we didnt want to buy anything for about 10 times whilst she tagged behind us where ever we went for at least 20mins... but after that we just couldnt take it anymore my dad had to signal to her in quite a frustrated manner to go before she actually moved away to yet another tourist... we really didnt want to do that... haiz... i wish she only knew when to pull back... kinda pitty her actually...haiz... well after that unfortunate inccident, i decided to try myself out on a horse.... haha... relive my childhood days... weeeee.... took a few pictures followed by a little walk around on the horse... actually at some parts the guide made the horse run and my goodness MY FAMILY HEIRLOOMS.... OUCH!!!!well after that, we soon made our way to this funny looking house come hotel... called the crazy house... the architect was inspired by the famous goudi from spain... well just have a look at the house from the outside and you understand immediately why it is called crazy house... the inside is kinda like that.... but one thing bad about this place is that it is kinda run down... can you imagine... it took her 20yrs just to build 2 sections of the house... the third one is still under rennovation... the idea is there quite interesting actually... however it was not excecuted well... o well i think i have talked enough... the pictures are all below... see ya...
B-25
crazy house
corny picture
view from up above
a picture from the kayak
flower
friends always care
21:54
Joel is a pig.... thats what many of you may think... haha... and i dont think i can challenge you on that either... to some extent he is... okok to a large extent he is... haha... well but hey guess what today piggerism didnt take hold of me...
the stage was set... the final result of four days of maticulous measurements and planning had finally reached it's finally stage and was awaiting the perusal of it's stringent judge... each piece of fabric carefully and delicately binded together by the fine and intricate sewing of it's master craftsman.... in this little house shop that is hidden behind it's labyrinth like maze... a little shop few would ever stuble upon given all navigational devices the world over...
well today was the day... after 4 days of waiting it was time to collect my shirt... and i must say it wasnt too bad... it isnt the best that i have seen but it wasnt too bad either... it was very simple in design a few features a bit back dated but the workmanship wasnt too bad... i guess it was because of the language barrier i wasnt really able to tell him exactly what i want... but hey this shirt was good enough for me.... i mean i paid a total of only 11 bucks for it so why not eh.... well so i learnt.... immediately after recieving the package, i made my way down to the market to buy some more fabric... this time i wanted to make a linen shirt... and this time round with an already made sample in my hands i think i was able to better communicate across what i wanted... after all that discussion and talking which probably lasted slightly over half an hour the tailor started to measure out the fabric that i had recently bought... and ARGHHH i was short of just a stupid 20cm.... its so irritating... i was so excited about doing this shirt and what held me back was a stupid 20cm length of fabric... sighhh.... so we called the lady that sold me the fabric and she agreed to bring in more fabric for me but i can only get it tmrw....
now you see what the problem is is that i am going up north tmrw to the mountains... yea its gonna be so cool... going up to a place called Dalat... i heard it has a really romantic ambience with the air of love... so its a place i gotta see... o yea back to the material... yea and i am flying there in the morning... haiz... [= but my dad's driver was so nice he offered to pick up the matterial for me and send it to the tailor for me... haha... yay... so i am goin to get my shirt... hopefully it would be ready by monday... wooot.... gotta go and start packing my bag to go to dalat... heard that the weather up there is pretty cold so gonna try and pack as much padding as i can into my small deuter bag... wooot... done it once i think i can do it again...see ya....
friends always care
21:01
what did i do today hmm.... i honestly dont know... haha... i basically woke up went for some nice dim sum lunch with dad at crystal jade dropped dad back to the office... ran over to saigon square for i think half an hour then made my way had some juice then went home took a quick nap then went for a short swim and went out for dinner at santa lucia... really good food at really affordable price....
well the funny thing is that our total dinner cost about 25 dollars dad and mine... but our drinks were 37 dollars... haha... dad had a cherry brandy i had a triple sec and we shared some wine from italy a nice medium bodied merlot... but i really enjoyed the triple sec... they mixed the liquer with orange juice which gave it a nice sourish refreshing taste....
o well tmrw i am going to collect my shirt... i hope the tailoring here is as good as they say it is... then it cuts me the trouble of having to find shirts... haha... sorry nothing happened today... well thats about it... chow...
friends always care
23:52
hey... i dont know whats wrong with me i have been having so many sleepless nights... not because i cant sleep but i just keep on thinking about stuff... its like as if throughout the day my thoughts have just formed a long queue and my laziness to think during the day seems to have shut all doors to my central processing system in my brain and it is only at night when i am all relaxed that the doors open... argh.... irritating... well but at least last night was productive... some how i just started to think of creating a new dish... and as i started to develop on the idea i got more and more excited... o well after so time i guess i must hav dozed off... and it landed me up with this little creation of mine which i managed to excecute today and suprise my dad with...
ITS A BAKED APPLE... with a sweet caramelised honey glazed layer and the spicy flavour of the sprinkled cinnamon accentuates the sourness of the granny smith apple... and we had it for dinner... woooot... okok... dont worry thats not all let me continue my little desciption... as you pull open the lid formed by the top of the apple, complicated yet pleasant smells are deliverd to your nose as the steam caresses your face... you are then pleasantly suprised by the stuffing of chicken within the apple... as you gingerly separate a piece of chicken, entombed juices from the chicken and apple just drip slowly... as the chicken enters your mouth you get a slight wiff of spicy cloves and then a light wiff of apple and cinnamon...
okok i think that is enough.... haha... i think i exaggerated a bit... but well i basically described the dish to you... it is chicken stuffed into a granny smith apple and let to bake... i got my idea from apple pie actually... i was thinking actually alot of the spices in apple pie goes quite well with chicken.... and why not i play around with the common apple... so i came up with this...
but man... the ingredients were really difficult to find... just think of it such a basic spice as black pepper is already so difficult to find... what more all these that i added to the chicken... haha well... my dad enjoyed the dish he said it was quite good however needed a sauce to accompany it as i had to balance out the sourness of the apple and the texture of the meat... i personally found it ok... but you see i am not a real fan of cloves and i kinda found the taste of the cloves too strong... eventhough i know it was literally only a wiff... after eating the entire apple i kinda had a light headache... haha... well thats all that i basically did today... ran round looking for ingredients... and OH!!! i almost forgot... today was the first time i had ever ridden on a motorbike... decided to hop on with my domestic helper, on her bike to go round getting the ingredients... it was a blast... but given the disorder of the traffic and the poorly tared roads, it was quite scary... one moment i was praying i wont get hit by the turning car a few meters away and the next i was clinging on to the seat with my dear life so that the bumps would not throw me off balance... haha... but well here i am still alive... haha... o well thats the end... chow...
friends always care
22:49
do i really know vietnam? do i really know what the people are like? do i even know a slight insight into their life within just HCMC itself? no i dont... hardly know anything about vietnam... i hardly know what they are going through... i am living in a life of luxurient fantasy... i do not know them... but of what little i know i know that these people are one of the most blessed people on earth... not because they are rich nor have many opportunities... but because in them i see inner happiness without all the worldly things at times even without daily neccessities like food, and yet they are happy... blessed are they who find true happiness in adversity for nothing can pull them down nothing can break them nothing can stop them...
hmmm... why dont we talk about something that resembles me yea... can be a pain on the outside most of the time... thick skinned... and at times makes life stink for many people around and takes some getting used to... however once you get through all that and get to the center of it all inside you would find a soft and flavourful person within... haha okokok enough ego... haha sorry about that... just wanna spice things up... like to see some of you puke now and then... haha... okok cut all the crap... im going to talk about the king of the fruits... the durian... hmm well today i decided to try my hand on some of the local durians in HCMC... all their other fruits were really great so i just had to try one of my favourite fruits... haha... actually i have no favourite... i LOVE THEM ALL...
okok back to that thorny prickly thing... well the vietnamese durians are really different... they kinda look like the thai durians that we get back home however, the durian itself is quite light... compared to the ones back home this is like comparing fish with a beef steak... the flesh is not really creamy at all... but the taste is still the same strong as ever...but strangely it is not really all that smelly... it doesnt really have much of a smell... so i really dont know whether you would consider this to be a good durian or not... haha... but it certainly satisfied my craving... haha i sound pregnant.... o well... see ya tmrw... O QINGYUN HAPPY BIRTHDAY...see ya...
friends always care
00:55
hey yo... wazzup... today i had a really packed day... managed to pull myself out of bed this morning at about 7am... am quite suprised bec last night AGAIN i had quite a rough night... i just wasnt comfortable and couldnt really get a proper nights rest... i think in total i only managed to steal about 2hrs of sleep...
well why did we wake up so early? haha... well if you know me you definitely would know that i wont wake up that early for no apparent reason... we being ecologically friendly people decided to make our way to a nature reserve as i had mentioned in my last post... and as mentioned in my last post i said we were headed for nam cat tien... haha... well it turns out that yet again like what happened before with mui ne, we ended up at a different nature reserve....
this one was also on an island thats said to be bigger than HCMC... well when you think of an island you start to imagine it to be something like sentosa or something like pulau ubin... but the funny thing is that this island was neither... it was totally baren... the mainland had hardly any trees no houses no farms.... it was not till much later than did we start to see some mangrove swaps and some fish farms.... but still there were no other trees on dry ground.... the grass was almost like little needles of hay poking out of the ground.... half built bridges and poor roads formed the communication channel for this island.... it was really strange as we started to really wonder how this island actually survives... there is no farming, too way out for tourist, no industries, hardly any population, and only a hand full of fish farms... till now i am a bit stuck on that...turns out that this island was formed by the mekong river from all the soil sediments left behind...
as we travelled along the roads to the reserve which i would cover later, we saw many locals selling this funny looking fruit... guesses from the people in the car only evloved what the fruit could be from coconut to sea coconut to palm fruit to atapchee.... well either way we didnt get to the conclusion till we decided to end this and just go down and have a look for ourselves...
turns out that it was sea coconut... haha... heh heh i knew it all along... hahah... well but this was the fresh kind so it is not all brown and sweet and crunchy as the kind that you find in those desert stalls... this was white and kinda tasteless... or rather it tasted quite close to coconut... wasnt really to my liking...
ok sorry i think i am starting to bore you... well lets get to the main part of the reserve... unlike nam cat tien that has a full array of flora and fauna, this place is called monkeyy island... the whole reserve is filled with those little fidgitty and playful animals... there were a few crocs and other animals in cages but the main attraction were the monkeys... but when i arrived i just couldnt stand how the monkeys were being treated... fellow "naturalist" kept on taunting the poor animals... they would scare them by screaming, throw things at them or start chasing them... worse still the park wardens themselves would shoot the monkeys with catapults and they think it is so funny... illiterate idiots.... i really hate it when people like these disturb the poor animals... they should all just be shoved out of the reserve... should have pushed them into the water so that they can try and torment the crocs... irritating... i really hate people like this...
o well other than getting distracted by these imbeciles boasting and showing off to the world their stupidity, i managed to take a few shots of these beautiful primates in their poise in their glory.... well above is an alpha male that i managed to get a portrait shot of... how can someone actually bear or actually be able to traumatise such a beautiful creation of God? sighhh... men.... well had quite a full day today... kinda pumped out now... goin to take my well deserved sleep soon.... chow...
friends always care
22:21
so sorry guys.... again noting happened today... in the morning i went to send my mom off... she is flying back to singapore and leaving me behind to look after my old man... and now i really dont know what to do with the rest of my holiday... thinking of going to a nature reserve with my dad called nam cat tien... it is kinda like a resort for nature lovers... it is a real forest with tigers, leopards, sun bears, elephants, javan rhinos, crocs, etc... something that i really wanted to do for a really long time now...but the problem is that the water there is affected by agent orange and i am also not too sure about the safety precautions there... haaha... well wish me luck... see ya...
friends always care
14:30
well i managed to wake up at 7.30 yesterday... had a full day i went to the museum then did some shopping followed by a massage then went to buy beef and lastly cook dinner... i hope that kinda explains why i didnt blog... was quite tired and i have many pictures for this one... today however i didnt really do anything at all... i went for a swim in the morning, swam 50 laps (30m pool) then lunch and that was pretty much it... well have a look at my experience at the museum decided to use mainly pictures to convey the message in this one...
they had modern machinery
they went to save civilians from suffering
they went as the world policemen
they boast of being humane
they harmed no civilian
they were humane
they came to help
they came to remove pain
and yet they didnt do anything of which they said they came to do.... they broke many humanitarian and war laws... and yet none of them were charged for war crimes and yet none of them were charged... and yet many of them have all the right to talk and charge others for war crimes.... these pictures are all evidence of the american oppression on the vietnamese...
friends always care
21:08
wake up - 1200
watch tv - 1230
go online - 1400
watch tv - 1430
go out - 1600
man have i been lazy today... i feel like a pig... i havenet been to the gym for over 3 days now... i just find it too boring.... i hate going to the gym... well so above is how i spent my day... okok... i spent 4 hours watching sponge bob happy... grrr... sighh wasnt in the mood for doing anything.... but after that at 1600 we decided to go out...
we actually went out to get a pair of trunks for me bec i kinda forgot to bring mine... and i needed to swim real bad... i managed to get a sexy lookin trunks for 4.80 sing... not too bad eh... haha well i just hope that the elastic band doesnt give way whilst i am in the pool tmrw (thats what i intend to do)... and a pair of goggles for 5.50 sing.... which is actually quite cheap... so was quite contented with it...
mom and i then decided to walk down the street as there were a few shops selling some office wear and i need to find a white shirt desperately.... so we came across raoul... haha didnt really think i could afford anything there... in singapore their shirts hit past 100bucks... but to my suprise it was only 40+ down here.... really cheap... really good quality... not too bad designs too... AHHHH BUT I COULDNT FIT ANY!!!! ARGHHHH....
o well so we carried on our way down the stretch.... we entered a few more shops and man were they ex... and their material were of such poor quality in comparison to raoul... they were like 100 sing for a shirt... well so i didnt really get anythin done today....
but tmrw is different... planning of goin to the meusem in the morning followed by goin to saigon square then buy some beef come back home for a swim then go for a face massage.... wooot... welll would probably also be going up north this weekend...arghhh i still cant get over it... why is it i cant fit into any shirts here where then men are considered small... AHHH.... ok now dont add... i guess i shouldnt fret on it too much... ARGH BUT RAOUL.... sighhh... o well thats the end of my post... bye...
friends always care
22:37
addidas tee shirt - 450 000 dong
dvds - 12 000 dong
beer - 12 000 dong
meal - 1 000 000 dong
realise a trend? yea... everything goes in the thousands and millions... i have been wondering for a long time... why is it that countries like korea, thailand, vietnam, and practically every other country in asia except singapore and malaysia have to have their currency going in the thousands... i mean seriously rarely do you find anything at 1000 dong that alone anything below it... so why dont they just slash off 3 zeros it kinda makes things looks less scary and easier to count... besides they are not pegged to any other currency... what i never thought nor realised was that people in the rural areas are actually able to go out and have a good meal for the entire family of 4 at only a mere 10 000 dong (S$1) and in the rural areas which constitutes about at least 60% of the country, people purchase things in the hundreds of dongs.... so i guess its a way to decrease the income gap between the haves and the have nots.... once my dad told me this it all just came so clear...
well today was really free and easy for me... again didnt do anything much... we went to send my bro off to the airport to catch his flight back, after which we went to ben thanh... well not quite for shopping this time round haha... we made a rash decision to make some bak wang kepiting today so we ran down to buy some ingredients... well the funny part was that we had actually made our way down to the market with the main intent to buy bamboo shoots but we didnt use it in the end... funny isnt it... go round hunting for one of the main ingredients and end up not using it... the reason being that as we started to slice the bamboo shoot, it started to smell horrible this really strong sour preserved smell... and the more we sliced it the more aromatic it got... so we couldnt take it anymore and decided not to use it just incase it spoiled the entire dish...
well so in the end i had bak wang kepiting without bamboo shoots... haha... so that is basically crab and pork balls.... haha... not quite the peranakan dish i expected to churn out... well taste wise i guess the pork wasnt too nice... it was dry.... and the soup that it was in didnt really have a base stock... so it wasnt too tasty... and of course the bamboo shoots were missing... next time round i am going to send the cholesterol vaulve shooting rocket high... going to use fattier pork and use a seafood stock.... wooot... oh yes and the bamboo shoots... haha... practice makes perfect i guess...
well after eating a few of the meat balls i got ready to go for dinner with my mom, dad and his collegue.... we went to legend hotel for dinner at crystal jade... had some hor fun and some prawn with salted egg sauce... it wasnt too bad... we soon sat in the lounge as my dad and his collegue drank a few bottles of beer... my mouth started to feel itchy... hehehe... itchy for some liquer... haha.... ARGHH its becoming a habbit... and i thought i detest the taste of alcohol.... o well... this time round however, i didnt take baileys.... decided to try my hand on some kaluah... yes yes as you can see i have a soft spot for liquers and an even softer one for coffee liquers... but this time round i didnt quite like it... it was nice on the first few sips... but later on i didnt really like it... it was very very sweet... i think sweeter than coke... it left a really sweet after taste... the kind that you get after eating too much sweets... didnt quite like it towards the end.... hope to maybe try tia mariah next... hey but if you realise i only take one drink a night.... it is good for the body you know.... hhaa.. self control... my dad asked if i wanted more and i said no... heh heh... o welll signing off see ya...
friends always care
00:28
"push push push.... come on boy push... oh yes... one more time push!" *SPLAT* "OOOO... Goood Boy... " *SPLAT* "Oh is there more? good boy... mmm...."
well after the usual shopping and eating, we had some dinner... then yet again we made our way to yet another pub, saho.... really nice joint catered to an even more matured crowd than carmen... selling more of the japanese drinks than anything else... but we didnt go all the way there just to have drinks as you all would have realised by now... we went there for an attraction that was far beyond any of the other pubs that we had been too... and it has to do with little creatures down below... if you know what i mean.... hehehhee....
and here is one of them... the charismatic hawk billed turtle... beautiful isnt he... if you havent have guessed... we went there for the aquariums... the owner displayz all his unique and interesting pet marine animals in various tanks around the pub.... this included murrays, puffers, different kinds of turtles, sea lions, alligator fish, parrot fish, etc... really nice.... his murray is estimated to be about 6 ft long... really nice creature... oh and there is one other fellow that is really interesting... but the poor thing from what i hear gets tormented by almost everyone that goes to the pub... and here he is...
ahhh see he is so nice... he even smiled for the camera.... well you see what people do to irritate him is.... inside the tank there is a plastic block with a really strong magnet attached to it... outside the tank is yet another magnet... so basically you can control the plastic block with the magnet outside... what people would do would be to use the plastic block and keep on poking at the croc... haha... but seriously it is really tempting to do so... i am guilty of it.... haha... and after some time, the croc would start to attack the plastic block... really fierce isnt he... well here is yet another little but devilishly ruthless puffer fish...
cute isnt he? well you see those two horn like things? well they are stings... at its rear it has yet another two more... even though this fish is only not more than 4cm long, it's venom is highly intoxicating...
but the main draw yet again is kept for the last.... it wasnt all these creatures... but what captivated the attention of about 10 pairs of eyes, constantly staring for a total of more than 30mins, was this majestic looking sea horse... sorry souldnt really get a shot of him bec of the crowd.... why everyone was all excited over him as seen above from my opening lines was because he was giving birth... Yes male sea horses give birth to their brood of spawnlings not the females, for your information.... there were at least 400 little ones that were born... and man was his stomach huge... talk about gender complications... haha... so well warren i guess it is ok... maybe you are part sea horse.... jkjk.... well thats all from me today... catch ya tmrw... bye...
friends always care
00:39
well i was talking to my driver, Hui yesterday afternoon and we started to divert our topic to my education and what i was going to do after that and inevitably we came to the topic of NS... i soon found out that it was the same here in vietnam where it was manditory for all males to register... haha... but when asked if he went to the army, Hui said no saying that he had paid some under table money to get out of it.... so i was curious and i wanted to know why so i asked him if they were paid his reply was... yes but only S$4 a month... after he said that i stopped wondering...
as i was walking along dong koi (city center) i saw this elderly man, probably a war victim, crawling around the floor begging for money... my question i posed to my dad was doesnt the government give them any money? his answer was a simple no...
looking at just these two examples here one can really see that this system of government is really meant for the strongest to survive... all those who are "weaker" or born into poverty seem to have the weight of the whole society supressing them down, not allowing them to improve or better themselves.... arent we fortunate?
well yesterday was a blast for me... wondering why i didnt post anything last night? well simple... i went, if you wanna call it, pubbing with my parents... went to this really nice pub called carmen catering for the matured crowd... the pub was really nice it boast of a nice rustic spanish ambience and the music only enhances the feel in the pub... OH AND ONE MORE DARN REASON IS BECAUSE THIS STUPID LAPTOP OF MINE JUST KEPT ON SHUTTING DOWN ON ME LAST NIGHT SO I GOT FED UP WITH IT....had a beautiful glass of that nice creamy and coffee flavoured baileys... other than the suffocating smell of tabbacco smoke that lingered around the air, sitting down, sipping a glass of coffee liquer and listening to that ooooo so sexy spanish music who could have asked for more?but the highlight of the night was not the drinks, ambience nor the music.... a korean man decided to steal the lime light... he would pick up a mexican hat and shakers from the band and start dancing around in the front of the crowd with his esentric moves... and the scarry bit was that he wasnt drunk! can you just imagine him when he is drunk? i cant... haha... well because of him he made my entire trip down all the more worth while... well thats yesterday... dont forget to read later on tonight for todays update... chow...
friends always care
17:10