Interlaken @ Switzerland (21 Oct 2006 - 22 Oct 2006)

Interlaken - a small town between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz in Bern Oberland. It is popular probably due to its accessibilities to many of the famous alps nearby.

We set off at 6:30am by car from Cosmo Residence. We took about 6 hours to get there, 2 hours longer than what other people experienced. Haha! We got lost in Milan main town for about an hour or so... The map which I had was so small that I did not know the route we are planning to take does not intercept each other. People said once you drive inside Milan, you will be like a lost child. How true it is. After searching for the nearest highway, we managed to exit Milan. From the map, the 1-hour search covered only 5% of Milan! We even drove onto the tram road which was illegal. How scary can it get!

After getting out from Milan, we took about another 45min to reach the Swiss custom. Need to pay 40 swiss franks for a pass to use their highway. The immigration did not check our passports though. Once we entered Switzerland, we were bewildered by the views of snow-capped mountains and small cottages at the foot of the mountains. Cameras began snapping away. It was highway all the way until we reach the SustenPass. It was a pass through a few of the mountains, Yes, it was literally crossing the mountainS. The roads are treacherous. It was nothing like Genting or Cameron Highlands. Comparatively, the latters were like babies to a mother. With our 1.2 litres FIAT PUNTO, it was no surprise that it took us 2 hours to cross the 40km of mountainous roads. The view there is breathtaking with the occasional waterfalls, plateaus of water and valleys.

After crossing this range of mountains, we heaved a sigh of relief when we reached the bottom of the mountains. We continued "wa-ing" at the sceneries for an hour or so before we arrived in Interlaken, where we will be lodging for the night. As it was still early for check-in, we went check out the surroundings and to admire the serenity of the town. Then we head to the nearby supermarket to buy chocolates! Actually, they are not that cheap as what some people said. Maybe they have more varieties from the Lindt choc range and slightly cheaper than in Singapore that's all.

Time for check-in at 4pm. The hostel, Backpacker Villa was great! It was way off better than the one we stayed during our Venice trip. We had a 7-beds mixed dormitory with attached bathroom and, a balcony! The view at the balcony was really what I had always hoped for. Mountains! Snow-capped too mind you! The hostel is very self-sufficient. When they know that we will not be in time for the all-you-can-eat breakfast in the next morning, they gave us each a token to buy hot drinks and a bagel for breakfast. How sweet of them. I highly recommend this place - www.villa.ch.

Off we head to Darlingen to view one of the 2 lake, Lake Thun between Interlaken (hence the name). The other one is Lake Brienz which we had seen on our way to Interlaken. The town has many small cottages, just like those I had imagined in Hansel & Gretal's story. The Swiss also placed a lot of attention on their house decorations, all those little ornaments on their window panes. So cute!!

Dinner was at this authentic Italian restaurant just down the street from the hostel. Their local specialties are the fondue (cheese, olive oil, chocolate) and the rosti. I had wanted to try on the rosti but the menu shows beef fillet with herbal butter and I could not resist it. I have not had steak for the past 3 weeks and I am going crazy! The meat was tender and the presentation was great. Later, we had the chocolate fondue to dessert. It was nothing fascinating - a ceramic bowl with melted chocolate and a small plate of typical fruits like bananas, strawberries, peach, grapes, apples & pears. I don't really the chocolate cos it is slightly bitter. Why cant they melt those toberone chocolates instead?

The highlight of this Swiss trip is the Jungfraujoch mountain that we went the next day. It was named "Top of Europe" although it is not the highest mountain in the Swiss Alps but cos it has the highest train station stop in Europe. The train cost 100 euro to get up the mountain. The journey up the mountainous region was a sight to behold. Cottages at the foot of the hill became like houses in the Monopoly boardgame. There are snow-capped mountains everywhere and I don't even know which mountains are which. But I know it when I reach Jungfraujoch. The air got thinner and I saw a wide spread of snow. I was dying to feel and touch the snow. However, the feeling was not as overwhelming as I expected, probably cos it was still autumn and the snow had became compacted ice. It was not like those I had imagined where once I stepped foot on it, my whole boots will be stucked in the snow. The ground is like a skating rink just that it is a -4 degree rink. It's amazing that I don't feel at all -4 degree, all thanks to my thermal top. I was merely wearing a thermal top with jacket and jeans. On our way back to Interlaken, the train stopped by Grindlewald where the main attraction there is the Eiger Mountain. It is just a tourist town, smaller than Interlaken with lots of Japanese visitors.

It was overall a good experience given that I had always wanted to feel the coldness and admire the snow-capped mountains in Switzerland. It also convinced me that Switzerland is more than just a chocolate country.

Ciao!

Ciao! Been ages since I have written. I am in Milan, Italy now on business trip for the past 3 weeks. Another 8 weeks more to go! Gosh, do I miss Singapore! The prawn soup noodles from Newton, the garlic butter crabs and honey pork ribs from Defu Lane, the fish head curry from Banana Leaf and "cui kuey" and of course Superboy!!! Sob sob!

To be specific, I am in the town of Vimercate in Milan. Before I came here, my image of the Milan is full of glam and people wearing trench coats carrying poodles, modeling around the town with huge sunglasses covering 3/4 of their faces. But I was so wrong. Maybe this scenario only applies to the centre of the central Milan where all the posh boutiques are. The first time I went inside central Milan was to get the permit of stay from their police station. The roads there are terrible. We would never had made our way back to the apartment if we were not taking a cab. And one horrible thing is there are very few cabs in Milan. Hey! Milan, the main fashion city, where are all the cabs? I haven't been to the heart of Milan yet but this Saturday I will be going to check out those big boy boutiques in town and to see those aspiring designer shops and to watch the Milan Darby match at San Siro stadium. I am so excited!

Alright, to elaborate more of my life here for the past 3 weeks... basically, I look forward to dinner at night in my apartment where the few of us will be cooking Chinese dishes everyday. Of course, the week will begin with planning for shop trips to nearby cities or countries for the weekend. Work is so light... I don't consider myself working at all. Lunch here is free in their cafeteria. Their food is not too bad but it is so crowded cos the thousand-over strength of employees eats there cos it is a ulu place and you can hardly walk anywhere for a decent meals unless you drive. Fortunately, my apartment is comfortable. It is a 5-star service apartment where you have chambermaid cleaning up for you everyday. The bed is comfortable and the view is good. We can see the Swiss Alps from our windows. Milan is actually about an hour's drive to Switzerland. So far, I have been to Lake Como, Venice and Verona. I will write more on my trips in the later entries.

Time to pack up and go home!

Troubled TGIF

Tired. It's TGIF but damn I don't feel the mood. Reached home not too long ago. Was finishing up some things in the office. The office was as quiet as a graveyard. Mine was one of the 3 cars in the big carpark when I left. Look this is how an European company opreates. Time up to go home and all vanished. *poof*

Was bothered by what is happening in my work place... Have been giving training to some newbies. This is my 2nd batch actually. I will be expecting a 3rd batch. Since when did I became my department's trainer!? Ok, I don't deny I have always been thinking of becoming a lecturer. I thought I like to teach, to impart my knowledge to others. I always know I cannot stand teaching kids. Cannot tolerate their disobedience and rowdiness. But I never expect adults to be so hard to handle as well. And maybe I neglect the fact that not everyone is a fast learner. I was looking forward to train the newbies.. I had some materials prepared which was not asked for by my boss. I was recalling how things would be easier if I had those materials when I first started out. I thought my trainees will all turn out to be appreciative of what I had done for them and will all turn out to be diligent young engineers. I was wrong...

They complained that there were too many things to remember and shouldn't there be a manual to show them how troubleshooting should be done. Where do they think they are in? Primary school? I don't even have a fucking guide when I was an apprentice! I have to recollect everything that was taught to me and try to draw some flow diagram for easy reference at the end of the day. Also, I remembered I dared not even go for breakfast and tea-breaks which only the more seniors are "entitled" to. But these newbies don't give a bloody respect. They go for breaks after our morning meeting at 9am and only appear in the office at 10am. They would go for another tea break at 3pm which will last another hour. As a senior and a trainer to them, I only occasionally go for breakfast if my work is still manageable and I never go for tea-breaks.

Besides these, being a shift trainer I have to fall under the critism of the other shift people. If a less diligent trainees cannot perform a task well, they will say the trainer did not teach them. The training is on top of my workload. No one know how I stayed back everyday to complete my work and the datelines that I did not meet. My peformance objective did not state "Shift Training for newbies".

Why am I getting so upset over this? I should just let them die in shift. This was what happened to me last time. But I can't. They have became my responsibility and their every actions reflects on my achievement. I cannot control them like a mother hen and scold them like a primary school discipline mistress right? I don't want to tell on them to my boss. I dont wish to destroy someone's career. I can only swallow and work late everyday and get upset everytime and be treated as a poor trainer.

Missing

Been too lazy to blog lately... Maybe I can summarise the major happenings in my life for the past 2 months?

Had been leading a normal person's life after switching to work on the normal hours 830am to 600pm. So that means I can see the Orchard crowd on Fridays and not fall asleep on Sat midnight shows. I missed those days of shift works though. Most importantly missed the good money that comes with shift work and the many off-days where I dont have to queue for the hairdresser or the bank. Can go swimming in the noon without having to be deafen by the cries and hysterical screams of kids... Now I work an average of about 11hrs a day compared to 12hrs for shift work but surprisingly, I dont feel as tired as I was on shift. I can still meet Superboy for dinner every other day now or come home and watch TV and VCDs. I guess I look fresher now. The main reason why I don't resist coming out of shift is because I want to do things that are constructive and more project-based. It has come to a point in time where I want to advance. I guess I had just been given such a chance...

Right... last week Superboy and I attended our good friends' wedding. We were one of the bridesmaid and bestman, and we were also the emcees for their wedding dinner in Pheony Jade restaurant. The place is nice but a bit small though. The aisle is in the center of the 22 tables which leads to a small stage. We were slightly nervous as we did not have much time to prepare and we are afraid of spoiling the beautiful night. Superboy did great but I think I somehow did not deliver it as well as I did during our rehearsal. Anyway, it was a very tiring for all of us. Wedding can really be the most tremendous project of your life! I wonder will mine beat my unforgettable FYP. Haha!

The World Cup fever is here again after 4 years. Still remembered 4 years ago, I was addicted to betting on the World Cup and as a poor IA student, I lost my 1 month's pay. I knew it was addiction when I looked back because everything on my mind was the damn World Cup - looked up soccernet.com to see which key players are injured, read analysts comments, keep messaging my friend on the match's details during IA, and most obvious of all was I totally forget to think about Superboy! We were still not together at that time and I recalled I was day-dreaming of our conversation and hoping he will message me every minute of the day since we started getting to know each other. But World Cup came, and I eat, drink, sleep only soccer and started to fantasize about how to use my winnings. Quite insane when I come to think of it. Those were the days....

Up and On!

Hey! In case you are thinking I am somehow related to SAINTS (aka St Andrew's affiliations), yup I am (and proud of it *smiles*). A SAINTS fanatic? No, I am not hor!

This phrase of "Up and On" should be very familiar to those who are in any way related to St Andrew's schools as our school song has a sentence which goes... "Up and on! Up and on! Up Saints, .... lalalala~" and the tempo is damn upbeat I tell you. When I first stepped into the grounds of SAJC as a student, the school anthem was played. I was still half asleep standing at attention during the morning ceremony and looking around sheepishly at all the un-cool guys (unlike those ACS-potato guys with swimmers tan and spunky hair) and there goes the "Up and on!!" song. I bursted out laughing! I guess at that time the people around must be thinking what an idiot I was. I was expecting a school song to be of those boring and melodious beat that sounds like Christian hymns. I don't know what was on my mind but at 17-yr-old, "up and on" sounded rather vulgar.

Anyway, back on track. I was sick, or rather ill sounded more correct. ("sick" sounds like I am sick in the mind or some kinda psycho) I was having fever for 3 days constantly last week and I was given 2 days MC. I should be happy right since this is one of the many times when I am really sick until cannot go out and cannot go work. But I was feeling miserable! I was scheduled to be on night shift and night shifts are supposed to be fun. No boss around, wear PJ to work and no one will care, listen to music, sit cross-legs on the roller chairs, sit on your boss's chair, play kyodai, talk on the phone, eavedrop on people talking on the phone, sleep (but I don't. work ethic ok?)

So I decided to go work on my 1st day. On my drive to work, I was already feeling my body temperature rising but then I had already made the effort to wake up and bathed and plucked my eyebrows so I decided to head to office nevertheless. Wrong choice. The moment I clocked in, I felt terrible. I was sneezing non-stop and I looked like one of Santa's helper, an illed one. As the night progressed, I felt worse. I felt as if I may just drop on the floor any moment. So I popped a panadol and felt better. 2 hours later, the fever resumed and I popped the antidote again. Think I popped 3-4 painkillers that night. Going home was not an option for me cos I already came all the way from CCK to AMK and if I were to go home halfway, I will waste on my petrol! So considering all factors, I die die also must tolerate the night and prepare to take a much-deserved MC the next day or 2, which I did.

The doc gave me a 2 days MC after registering my temperature to be a 38C. MCs usually are used to enjoy and relax at home but mine was terrible! I slept and slept, woke up to eat a bit, take medicine then went back to sleep again. I think I slept a total of 60 hours, bathed 4 times, shitted 3 times (the medicine made me shit a lot!) and ate only bananas, cup noodle and 1 decent dinner. I lost track of day and night, lost weight, lost fluid, and almost lost my mind.

Talked to Superboy on the phone 3 times and each time we ended up slamming the phone on each other. I was super easily irritated. I was pissed at him for not renewing his 2-yr mobile contract. He said he needed time to think of what hp model to buy but I could not take hesitance for an answer. Then, I was pissed that he did not spring a surprise visit on me. He wanted to come over after his course at 10pm but I told him not to as it was late and he was tired from a long day at work. How thoughtful of me. Then the next minute, I blew my top at him cos he actually listened to me and NOT come over! The next 2 times we talked, he was trying to get me to admit that I was being unreasonable on the hp thingy. WRONG MOVE! I was not repentant at all and told him I am not going to interfere into his things anymore. That got him worked up and after 20-30mins of silence, we gave up on each other. I was still thinking it was SO UNTHOUGHTFUL of him to not come see me or send me a GET-WELL-SOON card! Heck the hp plan, why didn't he come surprise me despite me asking him not to, I thought.

Sigh, I was glad I have finally recovered! Superboy renewed his plan and got a new hp and I got myself the Nokia N7370. I was so sad to trade in my N7200. Sob Sob.... Will definitely show off my new phone in my next entry! *smug*

English lesson

Back in action after I bought my desktop and subscibe to broadband. No more frustrating dial-ups. My desktop set comes with a 19 inch LCD monitor ok? (*smug*) Dont know why I need such a big screen also but Superboy insisted that it is a good buy. However, it certeinly cleared my table space a lot. Now I can put my plates, mug, tissues in front of the screen and eat and goggle the same time. Isn't it fabulous?

Went dinner with a girlfriend last night and out of the blue, she started telling me about her fantasies.. oh well, how often do you get someone who would tell you their fantasies besides your boyfriends? She was telling me how she used to fantasize a Prince Charming rides along and wakes her up from her sleep. I was muffled initially as this is the first time I am hearing this from a girl. The word "fantasize" seems like such a taboo word. It's like associated with the words "porn", "sadomasochism", "kinky lingeries". Then it suddenly dawn on me that isn't "fantsize" similar to "imagine", to "daydream"? So, i checked out www.dictionary.com and this is what I found.

fan·ta·size

: to indulge in fantasy : create or develop imaginative and often fantastic views or

ideas

: to portray in the mind by fantasy

Ha! Then I must admit that I have been fantasizing since I was young! I am always imagining myself striking the lottery, score 50 points in a basketball match, Aniki Jin picking me up in a pub, or what would my life be like if I were born a Hollywood star. I guess "fantasy" is just a simple word for imagination but somehow it was made different by men. I don't know what's wrong with men but most of them time I guess their so-called imagination are filled with romping with a pair of supermodel twins or having sex with at least 2 or more girls, and preferably in tight see-through school blouses and ultra-mini pleated skirts. I don't think women are able to come up with any thing that creative except for biceps, triceps, a firm bum and a washboard tummy. So, do dreams considered some kind of fantasies too?

dream

: a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the

mind during certain stages of sleep.

: a state of abstraction; a trance.

: a wild fancy or hope.

: a condition or achievement that is longed for

: one that is exceptionally gratifying, excellent, or beautiful

I had a dream few years back that would make every girl envy me. I dreamt I was having a sensual session with the God of Men, Aniki Jin! The feeling was so real that I actually blushed when I woke up. Oh by the way, he was on top and I was just lying there enjoying the fantastic reverie...

Fresh Look

Notice my new look? I mean my blog.. duhz! I am so proud of myself! I am hopeless at all those programming stuffs since uni. I am always scraping through all those codings and what-nots. Lets see.... I am actually "trained" in my Java, Fortran, C and Assembly Language but the most I can remember is "printf"& "scanf". *grin* I must really thank my lucky stars that I even manage to pass relatively well at those modules man. Must have been my papers were somehow swopped with another person. I think those who read/write programming language are simply divine creatures!

Programming is still not my worst subject though. I still vividly remember the dreadful Graphics where they give you a 2D shape and you are supposed to draw out the 3D structure with the exact dimensions, on paper as well as using a software to draw on the computer! That was really the nightmare of the nightmares. I flunged the module expectedly on 2 tries. Yes, I am so proud of that. If it had not been the uni finally realised that this is a USELESS subject and decided to abolish this module forever, I think I may be still in the examination hall staring at the stupid question paper and eventually draw a 3D cube (that's the only 3D object I can draw with precision) and hand it in. In my then 21 years of my life, I have never handed in an almost blank answer sheet in tests. Even during my most untalented Art class which my Mum enrolled me in when I was younger, I still manage to crayon out a crooked house or an aeroplane which looked more like a ship. However bad I was at Art, I did not hand in a BLANK paper. Looking back, I am impossible at Programming, Graphics and Arts... what am I exactly good in my god! Oh... maybe I have some kinda flare in E, D, A, C, F Mathematics.

Ha! I am a freak.

Xiaxue vs Dawn Yang

CLEO was comparing our Singapore 2 most famous bloggers, Xiaxue & Dawn Yang and it sorta sparked my interest to read about their blogging styles.

Superboy has a link for Xiaxue's blog (www.xiaxue.blogspot.com) which I occasionally peeked into just to look at ...the photos. The first time I saw her blog, her last entry was about a talking kai-lan and she had some pics to narrate about her cooking an egg and she was fascinating about the egg-white looking like her white scrungy. My then reaction was: "What an idiot (bimbo is used to describe pretty girls with no brains)! And I was puzzled why the whole Singapore including Superboy (duhz!) was so glued on to her nonsensical blogging. Was it some kind of an in-thing to read about crazy stuffs, or were they just keen on looking at the pictures of her and her friends in itsy-mini spag tops? One year later, I was reading an interesting article from the one of the local papers and I was praising how well the columnist wrote when Superboy pointed out to me that the writer was Xiaxue, the xiao zha bor! It was then I started to actually read about what she wrote in her famous blog and inadvertently became her ardent fan of her columns in the papers.

I came to know about Dawn Yang the blogger (www.dawnyang.com) through TNP. What caught my eyes was that this girl looks so chio! She has that caucasian-asian manga look with her big and dewy eyes. I signed it off as just some pretty girl's blog which lonely Singaporeans visit instead of going into those restricted porn sites. Was bored after Superboy fell asleep just now, I remembered the chiobu blog which was as famous as Xiaxue, and decided to take a look. She did not write much in her blog though, sporadically some englishy poems (dunno written by her or not) and mostly pictures of her in nightspots, her in the States, her potato friends (I have this supernatural powers to tell if a person is a potato just from looking at his photo), her on couch, her with damn thick mascara (Do famous bloggers need to coat their eyes with thick, lengthening mascara?), her and her alone.

Both of them writes good english but I think Xiaxue woos readers by her wacky and oh-so-Singaporean style of writing. The contents are very to the hearts of every Singaporeans. She blogs about the current affairs, she bitches like nobody's business, she critisizes people's looks, she pens vulgarities and she evokes a blush on women out there with her daring entries on the penis, boobs and orgasms. In one word, she is real; she symbolises woman, ME!

On the other hand, blog readers goes to Dawn for her lavish style of living, her havoc incessant clubbing, her celeb friend Fiona Xie aka Big Boobies, her choice of male friends (lucky fellas) and her once in while cleavage peek-a-boo. I bet most of her readers are males. After I look through all her entries which isn't many (actually I was just squinting at all her photos), I began to dislike her. Her photos displays too much innocence. It's sexy if you strikes an innocent schoolgirl-look once in a while when taking photos but NOT every damn picture! Ok, she is a goody-two-shoes alright.... but wait! Do innocent girls cheong discos, get sooo close to different males when taking photos, go travelling with guys alone?? She seems to me like a poser... those rich kids from a certain girls school near Orchard (she is from that school to my not-so-surprise) who can't speak a proper word of chinese, who is smart - don't have to study also will get As types, who giggles and exclaims loudly when happens to meet friends in the streets, who buys prezzies for their gal-friends on Valentine's Day and who likes to shop in Cold Storage and not NTUC.

This is soon going to turn into a hate-Dawn Yang blog.... think maybe I am just envious? :)

Crossroad

Statement: Challenges or stability?

I always thought I was someone who wants a sense of security. This applies to many aspects. Many things going on my mind recently. I am at a crossroad now. Shall I continue to embark on my stable journey with expected route and destination or shall I hook on to my tiny thread of youth for challenges and excitment and new discovery?

(1) Career. Been 2 and a half years into my first job. I would say besides the physical tireness, there is nothing tough about it. Initially I was glad and adored what I was doing but now it seems a bit too simple. Like I am not making use of my knowledge and capability. In other word, there is no breakthrough. I want to have that opportunity to develop and present my ideas in front of all the big bosses in the company and be indispensible. There is such an opportunity now, a position which ensure lotsa challenges and one which requires me to travel to different parts of Europe and interact with the important people of the company. This is such a tempting chance, just what I had been waiting for. But fear of regrets creeps inside me. What if I find out that I dont exactly look forward to that much challenges as I thought I would? What if I dont like the new environment? Sigh! So many what ifs...

(2) Car. Suddenly feel that I have not been saving much for a person who have been working for 2 over years. Realised that all the money seems to go into the installment for my car. Is it time to change to a smaller 1.6 car? I need to see my bank account GROW! European cars are known to be safer than the Japanese cars but the affordable European cars designs are so boring.. except for.....The Peugeot series. I fell in love with the 307 1.6 hatchback but that is like 10k more that the other common 1.6s. I dont like the Altis, seems like every Tom, Dick or Harry is driving that. Throw a stone on the road and you will most probably hit an Altis. I quite like the Mazda 3. I like the design and their bright colours. :) I think the white looks cool on the road, like a police car. Geez.. But the thing now is, if I change to a 1.6, will I not be able to accustom to the slower pick up and the more inferior road-holding? Sigh!

Those Good Old Times

Browsing through Friendster.com never fails to give me lotsa thoughts. The Childhood Friend has given birth to her 2nd child, the Project Mate has married to the same guy who always picked her up after our projects or lab sessions, the Classmate is getting more "happening" from all her parties. It suddenly dawned on me that many years has past.... I am getting old!

No, I'm not talking about wanting to get married and start a family. In fact, I don't think I am ready. Once you are married, you will automatically branded as an "Auntie". I feel there are still many things which I have missed out on, many things which I still have not experienced. Can't exactly spell out what... just a feeling. Maybe life is getting more of a ritual now... work on the 2nd half of the week. meeting Superboys on my off-days, with the occasional gatherings with his friends, lazing around in the house watching VCDs & reading, picking up Superboy after his work to dine at Holland Village, weekends at Jurong Point... everything is so expected. There seems little I can look forward to during the weekends or on holidays; either I'll be too tired from work on Saturdays or the Monday blues for him will kick in on Sundays. We can't have any concrete travel plans now that his job is always so busy.

I am happy with Superboy of course. He is more than what I can ask for. Perhaps I just missed those days of the incessant SMSes with different friends to arrange suppering at different places every night, playing billiard at Queens & Bukit Timah, the ocassional dolling up to go party, the ICQ chats till dawn, etc. Those were hectic times, with practically no time for myself. Guess humans are greedy creatures, they want the best of both worlds. Think I will just go back on my VCDs and accept the fact that I AM OLD and old people are not wanted at parties or poking the cues at billiard joints.

Year 2006

It's another year gone past.... It's amazing how time whizzes by in a blink. It was just like yesterday when people are flustered by the Y2K bug and now it was already 6 years ago.

A recap of 2005.

(1) Superboy came back from Aussieland and we were adapting to the life permanantly in S'pore. Accomplished a lot of things that we said we wanna do when he returns... managed to regain my exercise regime for a few months until he was too busy to go play ball with me with his national team practice. The commitment with the team finally stopped when...

(2) After many unsuccessful job-hunting, he found a job with "K" company. The real life begins... We are now able to peep into our future...

(3) Marriage is da word this year. Almost all our friends in our clique decided to take the vow. Kym got married to her longtime beau (so happy for her!). Df & Belle walked down the aisle last month (They got together the same time as we did). 2 others got the diamond rings from their man already (Both getting ROM on the 23th but different months). Even my childhood friend Esther (who never talked about guys) got married. My ex work partner's boyfriend proposed to her on X'mas (how sweet..) The government step to encourage families is working.

(4) Overseas shopping/eating trip to Bangkok & Taipei this year. Expenditure was equivalent to my previous 1-month trip to Aussieland. Oooh... how I missed the place and the weather...

(5) Enedfea sure had a good year. Found a job which both of us dream to have i.e non-engineering related. Is half a celebrity now... Still happily hitched onto her man. Think I'll hear wedding bells from her soon.

New Year is always talking about resolutions right? Well, I usually don't have any cos I believe in doing something right away and not wait till the new year. But currently I am hoping that I am able to spend more time catching up with some good old friends. Feeling really guilty about it.

My computer of 6years (amazing?) who accompanied me through my uni days, who had survived virus attack for many times, who was reformatted countless times, who had spent the torturous FYP period with me, and who had enabled Superboy & me to develop our friendship into a relationship... finally broke down just before the year ended. The world is developing too fast for my dear computer to continue living.. I have decided to pull the plug. Goodbye my dear computer... Your memory and harddisk will always be with me... Rest in peace.

My Taipei trip

Taipei is not as cooling as I expect for a winter period as compared to 7 years back.... Brought a few jackets there but end up keep wearing an ADIDAS jacket I found there. Happy though but those jackets I brought sure takes up a lot of space in my backpack.

This was purely a shopping and feasting trip with Winnie. 2 ladies combing the streets of Taipei... cool eh? We walked, shopped and eat whenever we see something interesting... Our itinery was just shopping districts and night markets everyday. The 1st day.... reached Taipei around 545pm and the sky was already dark. Reached our cosy Royal Castle hotel around 830pm. Put our bags down and proceed straight to our 1st night market - Gongguan night market. Was a small night market but with a lot of sports shops. There was where I found my ADIDAS jacket... hehe... Really happy for the buy. :) It was there where we stumbled upon the best shaved ice in Taiwan (to us at least). The plate of mango ice was fabulicious! The mango was soooo sweettttt, much much better than Singapore's "Xu Liu San". It was the best of all the shaved ice we tried in Taipei. Ahh.... never forget it....

2nd day was a packed day for us. Woke up early to go Beitou for a hot spring session but ended up realising that the shops don't normally open until about 11am. Went wandering around the area searching for a nice-looking hot spring hotel... Finally decided to settle for one japanese-styled hot spring. The room was small but the amenities were sufficient for the both of us. Soaked in the hot spring water for 20mins and got a bit giddy after sitting up. Lied on the wooden bed and was so relaxed that I wish there was a real bed there for me to sleep for another 2-3 hrs... After our bath, it was time to leave the place for some mountain called Yangmingshan. Had a short trek on the mountain to enjoy the cool weather uphill. It was accompanied with sipping hot tea in this really neat tea house before we went down the hill for Shilin night market. Shilin was huge! There was this eating place with hundreds of shops selling all sorts of Taiwanese 'xiao ci'. Tried the famous Taiwan omelette but i don't like the sauce. My verdict - Not nice. Keep searching for the chix chop stall but couldn't find... only to realise that there was another part of Shilin night market across the road! It was so crowded with people and so many shops selling all kinds of things. Managed to find the famous Shilin chix chop but it was nothing special in my opinion. Don't know what's the craze over it...? Anyway, Winnie and I bought quite a lot of things at the market. We were so tired that we decided to turn in early for that night.... It was only the 2nd day and our legs can't take it already....

The 3rd day was a city tour day. Went to see the Taipei icon Taipei 101 building. Was not really impressed by it though. Reminds me of Petronas Tower in KL. Took a few pictures just to show we've been there, done that. Was in the heart of all the major shopping centres and star sighting! Saw Taiwanese super model Lin Chiling doing catwalk for a jeans company. After snapping lotsa pics of the super model, we went on to the wholesale fashion district Wu Fen Pu. It was something like Bangkok's Chatuchak but a lot more spacious. But the clothes there were a bit too old for my liking and the place is stuffy and hot especially when we got into the inside of the clusters of shops. When night falls, we went to another night market, Raohe night market. The place was awesome! Bought a lot of Minna No Tabo stuffs and they are real cheap as compared to Singapore! ...Was grabbing every Minna No Tabo things in sight. =)

The 4th day itinery was to find Ah Zong Mian Xian (noodle house) in Ximending for our brunch. It was so much talked about that we decided we must try and give our own verdict. It was a very small shop with no sit-in tables available but you can see a throng of people queuing up and standing along the street sipping a small bowl of noodles. There is no chopstick, just a spoon to scoop the noodle. The noodles was quite tasty though but i dont see the fuss over it. Anyway, the small bowl was not enough to fill our stomach and eating another bowl seems to be too over.. so we walked around Ximending and start our daily food-tasting activity again.. When I watched Taiwanese variety shows, they always mention about duck tongue and that day I had a taste of it.. and I LOVE IT!! It about SGD$0.60 for 1 piece of duck tongue.. it doesn't look like a tongue to me at all! It resembles the branch of a tiny plant. Till now I have yet to find out which is the tip of the tongue and which part is connected to the duck throat. I just chew on every part of the "stick" with the tiny meat attached on the side but it was really tasteful! I almost wanted to buy 1 whole box back to Singapore but the thought of bird-flu refrained me from eating too much. Also, managed to find 1 'sai-wei-ma' (chix burger in Taiwan style) stall which Superboy insisted I try before I left for Taiwan. Well, my verdict - the chix burger stall at Keat Hong market taste better.

After that, we visited the famous tourist attraction Longshan Temple. A lot of devotees there; comparable to our very own Waterloo St Temple on CNY. Huaxi night market was nearby and it was really a disappointment. It was a short street selling all the wild animal food which did not appeal to us. Thought we would have spent the whole night there at first. Made a quick plan B to go Shida night market which is next to the Shida University hostels. It was a great choice! The crowd was more like our age and we saw the Taiwan actor He Ren Dong there. Haha! Star-spotting number 2. The night market was not as crowded as the rest... and there were a lot of good food and... shuai ge & mei mei around. The most unforgettable of the snacks we tried was munching lean meat sandwiches in the cool night... the 'liu ding' (looks like orange) juice was an excellant thirst-quencher too.

The past 4 days were very tiring for us as we did a lot of walking and navigating on our own.... hence we pamper ourselves by sleeping until check-out time... but Winnie woke up earlier cos she missed the Ah Zong Mian Xian so much that she went Ximending to grab a bowl before leaving Taipei. I tried to finish all my TWD $ by searching frantically for things to buy... bought a couple of sports apparels for Superboy as well as myself.. .their sports stores are aplenty and many varieties too.

Did I mention that Taiwaneses will never be bored? They have 100+ TV channels! Of cos there are some very boring channels like political news and stock exchange studies... but then they have some very interesting channels that are not seen in Singapore... adult movies.. haha! It makes downloading porn on the internet "excite-less". Oh well, to sum up. Taipei was a fun place. I may consider going there again with Superboy if the airfare is as cheap as this time's. Maybe after our Hongkong trip in June... ;)

The things I bought from Taipei. (my fave ADIDAS jacket not in pic :)

Prayers answered

My hope came true!!! It had caused me sleepless nights just hoping for it... Those nights were painful... swollen eyes and unstable state of mind. I am thankful that my prayers are answered. Sometimes, it pays to have a faith of your own. True faith.. it used to be my favourite Mambo Night song.

My friend, the Superhost

I am very proud to have a very good friend who got into the finals of the Superhost Contest. Still remember when the advertisement on TV was announcing this contest and how I encouraged her to join cos I know she has the calibre to be an ultimate superhost. I was not wrong... Amongst thousands of contestants, she emerged the top 8 female contestants! She is really a cool babe. She went for all her auditions alone, mind you! She did not ask for anyone to accompany her. I would have love to go support her but all her timings were just so coincidently clashed with my working days. But I did not fret cos I know she will go far.

She has been sacrificing a lot for this competition. As she just join a renowned beer company, she was only allowed to take no-pay leave. She was hesitating to continue this competition when they informed her that she was selected to the finals. To her, this is an experience. She is one who loves adventure and thrills. She even gave up our Taiwan trip, which so coincidently (damn it!) falls on the same week as her first round of competition. As a result, I was again not able to render my support at the studio. But I believe she will go far and even made plans to attend the 2nd round of the contest.

Set my alarm at 8pm to watch the show on TV. She looked pretty on screen and her delivery was calm and steady. There were some contestants who sux. Great I thought! Continue to sux big time. True enough, she was ranked 4th out of the 8 contestants in terms of the marks given by the judges. The last 3 girls were fighting it out to see who will get voted out. Haha i thought, and sent a sms to her to reserve some tickets for me next week.

When I got home and on the TV to see who was out of the 1st round, I was shocked to see that there was a 2nd round of voting going on. "What the hell is going on? Why is Enedfea on the podium with this other girl who was voted last by the judges?!" Then I realised that there were 2 parts to this competition. The 1st round is to choose the one with lowest score given by the judges and the one with the least public votes to fight it out. WTF! Isn't it unfair? During the judges round, the last 3 girls were called out and they were given a chance to "impress" the judges (just by standing there and acting pathetic to gain sympathy points) and then the rearrangement of the last girl begins. 2nd part of this contest is to choose out the girl with the least public votes. But hey! Can you see the unfairness of this competition?

(1) During the 1st part, the last 3 girls with the lowest score have a chance to let the judges change their mind but why didn't they pick out the last 3 girls with the lowest public votes and let the viewers change their mind?

(2) During the fight-out between Enedfea & this whiny woman, they were each supposed to answer a question posted by one viewer. After the answering of the question, why was there no re-voting by the viewers based on their answers? What is the Q&A for then? For the fellow contestants and Xu Nai Lin to place their vote? (The bitches will vote for the bitch.)

(3) Xu Nai Lin commented that the whiny woman answered better than Enedfea cos she really poured out her feelings about her personal life. (Qns was regarding Xiao S's premarital preganancy & the whiny woman talked about her abortion.) C'mon Xu Nai Lin, she is NOT answering the qns! She is crying away since she was announced last by the judges. How can a superhost be losing her feet when she is met with such a situation? How can she handle tougher situations if she should be a host? Look at Enedfea, she remained poised and composed even when she was voted last by the public but she stood there and answered the qns to the point and most importantly, she DID NOT sob for gooodness sake.

I am disappointed with the result and the way the contest goes. There is no fairness! I am not going to watch Superhost anymore. Waste time.

Hope

Have you ever hope for something so much that if you don't have it, your world will start collapsing? Well, I am hoping for something right now......

Superboy out of luck

Superboy recently took up a new mission. I hate his task. It's too much time consuming and the payoff is unreasonable! Speaking of benefits from BIG local organisation. I feel so sad for him... He wanted to achieve a lot but the chances given to him are slim. Superboy wanted to use it as a stepping stone but is this stone a little too uneven to land your feet on? I know Superboy is able to undertake any amount of hardship in order to fulfill the mission. But I hate to see him spending more than 12hrs at his work place. I know I sound like I'm whining. Perhaps the librian side of me surfaced... I feel unjustified for Superboy! He is spending more time than I am at work but the pay is peanuts! Fresh grads... what can we expect? We can expect LUCK! I am lucky and I believe Superboy will be too! I just hope he can find (much!) greener pastures elsewhere. We all work to survive, not work till no life! I hope an angel will come and bring him away from the horrible place soon.....

A quarter of a century old

Reflecting on the past 25 years of my life...

Primary school
---------------
A street-smart girl for my age. Loves pretty frocks and Chomel hairbands but sporting a short crop hairstyle and was always mistaken as a young lad. Likes to collect Barbie dolls and play with paper dolls just like a typical little girl. Also likes to meddle with bows & arrows, swords, guns, cars like the boys. Love to read and developed an interest in writing since then. Abundant energy and full of zest, I played all possible sports in school. Was in the school's squad for atheletics, basketball & badminton. A well-known pupil among the principal, teachers, bookshop uncle, canteen aunties & the school dentist as a result of the many activites involved - the annual class play, inter-class quizzes, prefectorial board since Pri. 3, appointed to raise the Singapore flag during the National antemn everyday. Full of expectations by the teachers, but was greatly disappointed when the PSLE result was only good enough to land me in an average neighbourhood school....

Secondary School
-------------------
My teenage years were pathetic. I hated everything about the school since day 1. The school building was shabby and dilapidated. The school location was near Jurong port, for goodness sake! The uniform was a dull and uninteresting grey. The principal and teachers couldn't even speak proper English. The classrooms tables & chairs were made of wood (!) and had deteriorated. The library has a weird smell and its floor is carpetted in an old-fashioned red carpet. It has limited books and they were almost of a century old. The squeezy music room is located at a quiet corner of the building and was rumoured to be haunted. I wondered how could one's musical creativity be cultivated in a ramshackled shed like this.

Decided to seek some solace in my favourite sports. Went to their basketball training (The school is super proud of this sport) only to realise that it had been dominated by all the main players from a rival primary school team, who had been training since the holidays. The first time I felt left out and unimportant. Wanted very much to play a sport and go to competitions. Went for their badminton try-outs and was selected as a vice-captain but so what? After half a year, I realised the school had no budget for the necessary equipment for trainings and the school has no intention to send any team for badminton tournaments. In short, it is a Badminton (Recreation) Club. The school had no proper channels to do things. You can be selected for an individual event on Sports Day and you even had your name registered but the minute before the competition, your name can be replaced by either the volleyball or basketball player. The whole Sports Day is a day for the basketballers & volleyballers to compete among themselves only. I decided not to attend Sports Day the year after that.

Since then, I had come to a point where I am down right disappointed. And I decided to stop all involvement with the school. My ECA grade was a D in my leaving cert. (Haha!) Since I was not able to create a reputation in terms of a sportswoman, I began to focus my attention to my academic, determined to leave my name among the list of top students. I always bear this vengeance inside me. I want to prove what I'd got. I got 2nd in class during my 1st year and went on to the top class every year.

People may think that I must be a nerd then since I had above-average results. Although I may looked like one beside the "Ah Lian" with her Chantel Thomass bag and her Guess paperbag plus her Ferragamo hairband, I don't bury myself in textbooks everyday. I don't mug, I just enjoy doing the assignments and learning about new Maths formulaes. I can have my dinner, yak on the phone and complete a tutorial at the same time. I was not a good-looking teenager at that time, so I had less distraction regarding guys. All my friends started talking about their previous night conversation with the Ah Beng from another school, holding hands with a guy, their awkward first kiss, etc. Well, I had none of those experience. I was just the plain jane who keeps "falling in love" with guys whom I'd never spoken to.

It was until my sweet sixteen when things started to look a little better. I began to get recognised in a way. I was selected to represent my class in the various inter-class quizzes and I had made a few good friends in the school. I think i started to grow up. I stopped all my silly fantasies of having a boyfriend or be the Ah Lian who is much sought after by Ah Bengs.

College
--------
Wanted a different environment so I decided to opt for this ang-mo-pai school in Dover Road. It painted a much better picture than my secondary school. There were no Ah Lians or Ah Bengs in sight. Fights among gangsters were unheard of. Everyone looked so neat and tidy. The convent girls were pretty and the ACS guys were good-looking. Everyone looked so happy. I was even nicknamed "Ah Lian" by my classmates because I was wearing a frosty hairclip?! My classmates were from single-sex school except me. They had never sat in a class with the opposite sex before and you can see the class is splitted out distinctively by the gender. All the girls had no boyfriend before, just like me. I was actually engaged in lengthy conversation every night with an ACS guy and it was the 1st time a decent-looking guy ever showed an interest in me. That was the turning point of my life. I was still not the most popular person in school but I was living a life that is full of excitment. There were countless class parties at the garden of the home, group movies, dinners at Billy Bombers, etc. I wanted to try a go at basketball again. Joined their basketball team but the school culture was not into this sport. After a friendly game with a neighbouring college and was thrashed badly, I decided to switch college after the 'O' level result release.

The school exterior resembles a chalet. A very good environment for studying. The lecture theatres were more comfy than the previous. I was a little skeptical at first when I went to my class. The people did not look as interesting and fun. The teachers were all very devoted and patient. Although it was also a mission school. there were no teachers chasing after you for donation. In my 1st month into the school, I was shortlisted for the prestigious Temasek Seminar, nominated as a counsillor and selected for an inter-class story-telling competition. I was honoured to be appreciated by my civic tutor but somehow I was not keen to take up the tasks. Got into the basketball team but I realised I was already lack behind by 4 years in term of experience and skills as compared to those who had been training throughout their secondary school life. Despite not being the superstar in the team, I know all is fair here. I was actively involved again in the 2 years in college. I joined all the inter-class, inter-faculty games possible. I had great fun with my class during the annual Sport Day, College day, Heritage Day, etc. It was fun-filled. When it was time to study, we got down to study and when it was time to play, even the teachers were crazy!

Each day was an interesting day for me. I still remembered how I looked forward to seeing this gorgeous tall guy in between lectures/tutorials along the corridor just to exchange smiles, after the day he approached me in the basketball court. I was skipping the introductory lectures and was shooting some baskets in the court. It was then when I started my 1st relationship... It was a short relationship that lasted not more than 2 months. I was ignorant then. I know nothing about guys. Nevertheless, it was an unforgettable experience during my college days....

University
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Surprisingly, nothing much to mention for my 4 years in uni. Guess there were nothing new to learn about life except maybe getting into more nightlife partying & relationships. Haha! Friends I made in uni came and go. Met some interesting people as well as some weirdos thou'. I was not involved in any activities purely b'cos I see no interest in doing so. I did however, took part in the ocassional faculty basketball games). What I remembered was most of the time spent was sleeping! I did not study much in uni and that prolly explains my not so glorious results. :) Academic-wise to me was not of utmost importance as well as I managed to advance to the next year "peacefully". Your career in life does not depends on your results, but it's about opportunity. Once you get into a reputable uni and course, you'll be safe. That's my viewpoint.

Writing all these really made me recall numerous things... I realised so many years had passed.... The schoolmate whom you were not familiar with 10 years ago, may be the father of your children in future. Your best friend 20 years ago may be the person who sat beside you in the bus this morning but without recognition.

I want to thank Superboy for the wonderful birthday surprise he had given me. A BIG bouquet of champagne roses & lilies, the choc moose cheesecake and the beautiful night at Scarlet boutique Hotel! :)

Enigma

Dunno what to write... but just wanna create an entry to remind me of how free i am now. Took a 3 days leave which amount to 10 days off. For those who knows what my working pattern is will understand this theory. A bit wasted thou' since I am not going overseas this time. Taiwan trip is going to be in end Nov. "I AM GOING TAIWAN!" Gonna savour all the local delicacies & get lost in the busy streets of the night markets. :)

When one is free, he will begin to think of many things, things which he has no time to deeply ponder and rationalise in his life - the past the present & the future. I am of no exception. In this journey of reminiscence, many "what if"s will begin to appear in one's mind. The past will consist of questions like "What if our paths had never crossed? What if I had not given away my precious necklace? What if I had not said those words?". Questions you might ask regarding the present will be "Shall I continue in this job? Shall I sell my car" Shall I sign up this policy?" The unknown future will comprise of "Will I strike toto next month? How will my kids look like? What will happen if I take this path home?" Life is full of uncertainty, ambiguity & vulnerbility. Hence, we must always make contingency plans for ourselves if we want a hopefully-secured future.

It's like a gamble. When you placed a bet, say in roulette (my fave game)... If you place a bet on #13 straight up for example and it came out #13, you win 35 to 1 the highest payout in the game. However, the possibility of striking is only 2.63%. So lets say you bet on #13 again plus additional bets on RED & EVEN, if the result is again #13, you win 35 times your stake but lost the stakes on RED & EVEN. So you still win 33 times your stakes (provided the stakes remain constant for all bets). But if the wheel turns out #14, you lost the stake on #13 but you win on RED & EVEN. Overall, you still win 1 time your stake! By placing #13 is like a hope, a very tiny hope of 2.63% but placing stakes on RED & EVEN is like a safeguard method if case your hope is destroyed. Of course the worst may happen when all your stakes are lost i.e when the roulette wheel stops at #15. At that time, it's up to you if you want to continue in this game or forgo the loss and treat it as an experience to the casino.

Money is the Root of all Evil

How much do you agree with this statement? For me, I swear by it. Everything in this world talks about money. Money makes the world goes around. Most of the crimes in the world are caused by this money shit. Little kids who become pickpockets at the age of 5, young girls in the 3rd world country sell their chasity at the tender age of 12, siblings who grew up together fight for the will of the deceased parents, traffickers who consume plastics of heroin into their stomach to avoid custom checks, and countless cases that broke up relationships, friendships and kinships.. Money KILL!

Who do you think gets the babes? Money plays a bigger factor than looks alone. Men with flashy cars usually score in the dating games nowadays. Take a look at the million-dollars soccer players... they are dating either the Hollywood actress or the Milan top runway models. Why do you think so many towkays are always surrounded by a pool of women when they are already balding and have a beer belly and a face full of oil? Why do you think Anna Nicole Smith marry a dying man aged 80+? Bullocks to the things she said about falling in love with the old man because he came to support her strip shows every night. Can he really give her the love she needs? Yes, her love for money perhaps. And erm... the sexual satisfaction? Imagine making love to an old man who barely can take off his own clothes? What, Viagra? Must as well make love a a tree branch!

As you grow older, you will realise that every topics you discuss have a thing to do with money. This is especially true when you attend a class gathering. First thing people ask is definitely "What are you doing now (reads: "How much are you earning now"?) Money can be a sensitive issue. Money is widely used as a comparison scale. Money can change a person. You may be your best friend's enemy one day if you are earning more than her and she is not happy about it because she feels she deserves more than you.

Is money the way you measure a person's worth? Our hospitals for example, why must they categorise into 'A', 'B' & 'C' wards? The 'A' wards have the best and probably most nutritious food, better medical attention and most likely the best doctors. Does it mean that those who are not so well-off do not deserve the same grade of medical care? So, does it mean that the poor are not worthy of living in this world?

The world is bias and this is a fact that we cannot deny nor try to change. The truth hurts. It's a sick world.

Bangkok shopping trip

Back last week from Bangkok... aim of this trip is just to shop, eat, massage and chill. Was a hase decision to go on this trip... Saw Superboy's 4 missed calls when I took out my phone as I was starting my engine...

Me: Darling, wassup?
Superboy: Got Tiger Air promo to BKK at $20 only. Want to go?
Me: So cheap ah? Ok, onz. (hangs up)

On the way back, I suddenly remembered that I'd promised Enedfea to go BKK at year-end. Oops! Aiya hack, go again lor... called her anyway. Luckily, she being the understanding one... has no qualm about it and we decided to go Taiwan together with Winnie at year-end instead. Looking forward to that... hehe... gonna visit the famous streets & food mentioned in the Shi Zhi Lu Kou!

Before I sidetrack, a recap of my days in BKK.
===============================================
Day 1:
1st time onto budget airlines in Asia. It's a 1st come 1st serve manner of boarding the plane. Omigosh! How unruly it was! Why the hell can't they just allocate seats? Thou' budget but will there be cost incurred by allocating seats and prevent unhappy customers or an ugly sight for the tourists? Wanted to feedback my unsatisfaction in their suggestion forms but couldn't find any! Seats are so cramp.. I wonder how do the big sized men take their seat? Almost impossible! Yes, you may say budget airlines should expect so much.. but Virgin Blues was much much better when I took it in Aussieland. Perhaps they took into account that Westerners are bigger sized.. ok ok.. i'll buy that....

First thing we did when we arrived in BKK was to board a cab to Chatuchuk Weekend Market since we reached in the Sunday afternoon. It was raining.. damn! Don't care... bashed thru the pools of water and the uneven grounds. Superboy and me walked damn fast.... browsed thru the shops at a super speed. Stopped only if anything caught our fancy. Bought a few tee shirts for ourselves.. only 100baht per piece! Oh boy... it was cheap. Before we knew it, 2 hrs past.. didn't buy much cos it was too crowded.. and we only go into shops that are not so infested with people. Despite my 2nd time in Chatuchuk, we still took almost 45mins to find our way to the meeting point!

Went to have some bird nests tonic before heading back our hotel - Indra Regent @ Pratunum. The lobby that greeted us was beautiful and the room was better than my expectation. The only thing that had been better is a stronger water pressure from the showerhead. Took a quick bath and off we go for dinner. Impressive pictures of Japanese Prime Minister lined the stairways.. the food must be nice to serve such VIPs i thought. The Beijing duck & tom yam soup was not bad.. but the chilli crab was pathetic. I miss Singapore chilli crabs! Ordered a roasted pig to compensate our disappointment.... The head was facing me.. it's a small pig.. maybe about a few weeks old... everyone dug in. Nah, I don't like it. Not meaty enuff.

After dinner, we went to Suan Lum night market. A pretty new market.. hadn't been there the last time in BKK. The Net mentioned that it is comparable to Chatuchak and I was rather excited as I hadn't got the time to comb Chatuchak in the afternoon. The market was more airy and the shops are arranged in a neater manner as compared to its counterpart. Shops are small thou but the things looks pretty new. Not much time to shop there also as it closes at midnite. Shall come back again the next day.
Day 2:
Next stop MBK - the biggest shopping centre in BKK. Hailed a cab and this young lad keep talking in a mixture of broken English & Thai and Superboy just smiled and patronised him thinking he is just being the friendly Thai... unless i heard the words "gems", "fast", "you work for me" and we came to our realisation that he wanted us to help him get the 5litres of free petrol if we pose as 1st timers to the gems factory. I was pissed off at being made use of but Superboy kept laughing.. He was amused that by this joker at how he actually told us his plot; told us to tell the person that it was our 1st time here (althou' both of us visited the place before many yrs back). The place was infested with tourists. We drank the free cola and started to pretend awhile and then head for the exit. Got on the lad's cab and finally reach MBK after a detour to the gem factory. I was not happy lor as it wasted my 1hr of shopping!! And he still charge us money. Should be free ride right? But we are too nice people to demand that from him.

Walked around and did a lil' shopping. Nothing much to eat there thou'. When I went into a palour for manicures & massages, 80% of the people inside are Singaporeans. Superboy did foot massage while waiting for me. Oops, almost late for the Thai massage appointment at 6pm. We quickly took a train to Asia Hotel to get Naraya gifts for friends. Couldn't find the blue beetle designed bags that the girls wanted so bought the yellow beetle instead.
Wait for a cab to bring us back to our hotel when Superboy saw his friend outside Asia Hotel. (Wah lau, everywhere also got friends) This stupid taxi driver wanted to charge us 150baht from Asia Hotel to Pratunum! Are you nuts! Scram! Hailed another taxi.. wanted to charge us 100baht. No thank you. Asked us how much we wanted and i quoted 40baht. He said go by meter then. Great. When reach our hotel, it was 45baht but Superboy gave him 55baht anyway. We are such nice people.

The massage was within walking distance to our hotel. Was thinking of trying this recommended by the tour guide and tmr we'll go to the one recommended by Enedfea in Suthumvit. The massage palour looked rather big but it kind of sleazy. All the masseurs (some of them putting on makeup) are in this room with a big glass window which resembles the "fish tank" in Geylang. Each of them has a number tagged onto their shirt. The masseur who served me not too bad-looking but the one who served Superboy was a plucky woman. Haha! 1st time doing massage with Superboy and i feel rather uncomfy to have a woman touching him everywhere! Argh! But good thing is that the masseur is not some young lil' thing. (Meow!) I was suffering in the massage process. Don't know if it's cos I became weaker since 3yrs back but I remembered the experience in Phuket was relaxing... This time round, I was refraining from pain when i was massaged on my back. After the whole thing, my back hurts and it's like being hammered on my back! Still got to give 100baht tips to the masseurs on top of the 400baht/2hrs. We are just too nice.

Tried to hail a cab to bring us to Chinatown for seafood but all the cabs that stopped were not willing to go there. Oh well, too bad then. We strolled in the busy streets of BKK back to our hotel and went to "ta-bao" some food at the roadside stalls. Actually I dare not try roadside stalls before but seeing the enthusiasm in Superboy's to try their local delights, I went along. Luckily did not suffer from stomach upset and shortened my shopping time. hee...
Since nothing much to do at nite in BKK and I did not bring my dancing shoes so can't go clubbing also.. we went Suan Lum again. Bought a vase, a Minna No Tabo big plastic bag, a mug for Superboy & myself, a bag along with a girly skirt. The after-effect from the Thai massage was still aching my back. Went to the Suan Lum market's food stall to chill and watch performances. It was like our Lau Pa Sat. A nice place to rest your weary legs/body after a whole night of shopping.

Day 3:
My body is still aching from the massage that I decided to give the Suthumvit massage place a miss. We started our daily shopping spree at Pratunum wholesale centre which was just next to our hotel. Should have started our shopping at Pratunum on the 1st day! The things here are so much so much cheaper than MBK and Suan Lum! A tee which I bargained from 200baht to 175baht cost only 150baht (before discount)!!! The bag which I bought at 200baht at Suan Lum cost only 150baht (before discount)! Argh!!! I STRONGLY RECOMMEND PRATUNUM BEFORE MBK/SUAN LUM! Bags & clothings buy in Pratunum but for home decors & stuffs, you can buy in Suan Lum. Go MBK for the experience & the air-con maybe.
We decided to walk from Pratunum to Siam to feel the busy city. That's what Superboy & me like to do... just like how we combed central Sydney & Melbourne 2yrs back.. take photos as we walked from attractions to attractions. In this way, you can really know where you'd been on the roadmap and soak into the local's culture. We conquered Indra Square, Pratunum Market, Pratunum Centre, Central World Plaza, Siam Square, Discovery Centre, Siam Centre, MBK (for intimates) before we settled for COCA Steamboat for dinner. We ordered quite a lot of dishes and it cost us only about S$15 each. On the way back to the hotel, we pasted by the 4-faced Buddha. Superboy went thru' the short ritual of prayers. Hopefully it'll bring us good luck in the years ahead. There are some small roadside stalls outside Big C departmental store and the things there are pretty interesting. Getting late... headed back to the hotel to pack up for the noon flight the next day.

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It was a purely shopping trip. The only disappointment was not able to eat as much as we intended to.. and also not buying enough Naraya products!!