Joo Hing Restaurant

Add: N0.360 Joo Chiat Rd Singapore 427605 Tel: 63451503.

Brought my parents to one of their fave restaurants for steamed fishhead. This is a great place for your folkies coz they serve affordable, traditional chinese food. I dunno about your parents but mine are just those super traditional type who are contented with simple dishes to go with rice and porridge. They are even more health conscious now coz they claim they are getting old with the golden advice that one can afford to die but cannot afford to be hospitalised/sick in Singapore. Anyways, my new year wish every year is that everyone can enjoy good health. Health really dictates your life.


~abit out...but this is the pic buddy ng wanted me to show her. Yep. I bought these 2 pairs of JWEST flats yesterday. Super comfy coz I own a black one. I won't wear anything else now.~

~ dunno why they look so shocked in pics. esp my mamasan. Spent $69 for 3 pax. The killer was the dish below that cost $35. ~

~ the 桂花鱼翅 my dad ordered after he raved about it for like 5min on our way there. It's okay nice but I don't think it's worth $35. It's beansprouts, egg,crabmeat and bits of shark's fin fried together. The lettuce is for you to wrap the stuffings. ~

~ their signature steamed fish head 酱蒸松鱼头. Loads of fish bones! but the fish is really fresh and soft. A must order and pls do take your time to eat it.~

Batam 19-20 Dec 2009

Back from a short batam getaway. Accompanied ES there on his company's family trip. Never really liked batam coz there's really nothing much to do or see. It's a small island, smaller than singapore. Since it was an organised tour, no harm just bobbing in the small touristy mini van, taking in the sights, food and shopping.

I will greatly recommend Holiday Inn Batam though. The service there was amazing. It's newer than Harris too. Me and ES were looking around for an empty sun chair to leave our towels for a swim as all the chairs were occupied. Before we knew it, one of the service staff approached us with a huge wooden chair for us to leave our things. Thumbs up for being so observant and so pro-active!!

Blogger should really make uploading of pics easier. I can only upload 8MB pics at any one time and it's difficult to keep to it since our cams are usually 10 or 12MP now.

~ the very smart trained monkey who was soliciting tips after his performance.~

~ as me and ES opted out of the massage, we had 3 hours to burn in the mall which we spent on ktv-ing! The free drink sucks! But it was cheap though. We paid 60,000RP for 2 pax for 2 hrs. That equates to about $9 for 2 pax in total. ~

~ starking resemblence to this hut.~

~ batam's famous guanyin temple~

Survey

I actually think when I'm jogging. I had this random concern that people of other races are not getting enough exercise.

In my memory recall throughout my years of jogging, I've never seen ma lai rens jogging. No, not even 1 malairen lady. Perhaps 1 or max 2 malai guys.

How do these people exercise then? Neither have I seen many of them in gyms. Skip at home?brisk walk in their bedrooms? I've never really seen malairens in pools too. Too few to be noticeable perhaps.

The ladies I can understand since some of them might be wearing their TDs and hence not suitable to exercise. Religion at the expense of health. Worth it?

Maybe I'm just thinking too much. Mochi....pls worry about your own health.

Btw, I did a little count during my jog today. Out of 3 bus stops I jogged past, I saw about 3 people at each stop. At least 2 people at each of the bus stops were using an iphone.

Wth.

Discovery weekend

Too free so decided to experiment cutting my own fringe. If it works, I can DIY in future. I think it didn't look too bad!

Went to the science centre for bodyworlds exhibition. Impressive exhibits using real bodies of human beings and animals preserved with really cool plastination technology. An educational way to while a day away. FYI, the exhibition ends on 6 Mar and cost $20. $21 if you want to visit the usual science centre as well.

I was kinda bored with the science centre portion though. ES with his discovery character meddled with almost EVERY exhibit. My legs were giving way and I was half the time fighting with uncles and aunties for empty seats. ES said that's exactly how his legs felt everytime he was shopping with me. RUBBISH. Shopping is great exercise.

Guess I've lost the fascination for exploration and discovery.. it seemed more interesting when I was a kiddo. Oh, I felt kinda grossed out actually. All those buttons on the exhibits were great breeding nests for H1N1 and Hand Foot Mouth. eeeks.

Start of a new week. Amen.

simi peng yu are you?

I am so grateful for my bunch of friends. Small bunch but true friends.

Some friends are those whom u can only hang out with as a group.. You drink, eat and talk cock when you are in a group. No chance of any serious conversation coz none of them are serious and they'll make everything you say into a joke and share the laughter. I call them make merry friends.

I'm lucky I don't have these friends. Sure we eat, drink and talk cock but I can also have serious, intelligent conversations with them. It's really gemstone rare that I appreciate intelligent conversations coz my brain doesn't like to process stuff much. But I dun mind listening.

I shall still hang out of obligations but I'll make sure these occasions are kept to an absolute minimum, or spaced far far apart so that I'll not suffer from intoxication of the brain.

My brain doesn't work well but I still treasure it alot.

KOI

I drove to AMK to buy Koi Bubble Tea! Decided to reward myself alittle and to satisfy my craving. The grass jelly bubble tea is the best. The jelly comes in a huge slab and it's so soft that once you poke your straw into it, it dissolves and melts right in your mouth. I prefer it pearls anytime! You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. This medium cup cost 3.50. The large one is 5 bucks! That's like replacing a macs meal with sugar. It's worth it for GOOD milk tea. The $1.20 ones from sweet talk really sucks. Oh, and you can choose less sugar, half sugar, little sugar or no sugar! sugoi! Guess they really know how to negate what puts people off from drinking bubble tea.

So that's me leading a student lifestyle for past few days. Having my fave wanton mee (only the one at Hougang green) and bubble tea (koi, each-a-cup or cup walker) and making loads of notes.

Time to get bk to studying. I'm gonna be so dead with the theories in Psychological Research.

Statistics Paper Down!

One paper down. mochi survived another unneccessary ordeal.

It was statistics paper. Rather old school feeling to be using my fave dotmatrix calculator and doing the square root thingy again. But it was good I thought. At least I tried my best.....to spot questions. hahaha. It's a strategy for part-time students coz we simply have NO time. This was not a very mochi strategy as I never felt safe about spotting questions in school. I'm the take the beaten path kind of person, especially when it comes studying. Like I'll keep asking questions like....what if i don't study, then suay suay, that question comes out??? Then what if those I studied never come out? What if the lecturer gave fake tips?

All these What ifs..... prevented mochi from studying smart.. but made mochi studyied very hard. Lucky I'm clever so I didn't go crazy.

Hopefully I can scrape through. Don't make me regret for one of the very few times I venture off the beaten path. Amen!

Dummies guide to Root Canal

I don't have enough time already and my tooth HAD to give me problems like NOW.

It's confirmed. Mochi had gone thru her first root canal. Many more to come since my teeth are weaklings. The ache was unbearable and I approached the dentist early in the bright morning of haji to give him business. I enquired how long the root canal can last and the dentist jokingly but sarcastically asked ," If I tell you 2 years, will you do?" I nodded. "If I tell you 10 years, will you do? " I nodded as well. He said my concerns were inmaterial and told me to choose the obvious solution. wth. got scolded somemore for pondering.

Anyhow, I'm an expert at dental procedures now. There are 2 parts to a root canal procedure with 4 appointments (and dam...coz it's only a procedure and not a surgery, I cannot claim medisave!!! ):

1) A few jabs of anesthetic to numb my gums and he started cleaning the tissues from the dead tooth, tunneling and cleaning deep into the tooth. According to ES, he saw the dentist insert a long pin-like looking thing covered with antibiotics to clean the tooth. He sealed it with a temporary filling and it was done. Next visit to be a month later to give it time to heal. In the meantime, I'm not to chew on that side of my teeth, everything else should be as per normal.

2) 2nd visit would be to remove the temp filling and check if everything is okay. He will then grind to make the teeth smaller and set the mould crown. Remove it and crown it with temp crown.

3) 3rd visit would be to remove the temp crown and replace it with the 'real' crown.

4) Followup check up to ensure the alignment of the crown is fine.

930 bucks. That's where my bonus is going to. ahhhhh.WTH.

And the tooth is achy now that the anethestic is wearing off...how to study like that.tell me how.

I'm going for a nap.

Tomyum Kungfu

happy haji mina san. ask me what am I doing blogging now. Took leave to study but nowhere near to flipping that stack of notes. Maybe I shall try to put them under my pillow when I sleep. I heard that the knowledge will just seep into my memory as I dream. More efficient isn't it?

It's a long long weekend for me as I will try to focus as others play. It's gonna be a huge distraction......

Gonna post on this eating place which I went a week back. It's called Tom Yum Kungfu. It was one of those days where me and ES just roamed about aimlessly near the eateries at clarke quay hoping to chance upon cheap and yummy delicacies. And we did!

The name sounds like kungfu panda so that's already a huge plus point. And to our surprise, the quiet eatery had nice artistic decor and really value for money selection of Thai food. The generous portions and amount of ingredients made it ideal for sharing if you're not too hungry. I'll definitely be back to try other stuff on the menu!

Address: 16 Circular Road (walk along the shophouses opposite central mall, past the Riverwalk building and you'll see it )

~ Assam fried chicken wings was crispy with taste of the thai spices. $6~

~The clear seafood Tom Yum soup had lots of reasonably sized prawns, sotongs, fish, mussels,clams swimming in it. The soup base was also tangy and spicy. $10!~

~ Their house speciality kungfu fried rice had prawns and frenchbeans wrapped in a thin layer of omelette. It's spicy and had a tinge of assam flavor. yummy. $8~

勉強しなければなりませｎ！

It was nice reminiscing the feeling of being rewarded in school days. Our stats lecturer bought us old chang kee curry puffs , my fave curry puffs by the way, to reward us for rating that we have more confidence in passing his stats module than the PR module. haha. PR lecturer is the worst lecturer ever. wondered how he got his PHD.

We tucked into the yummy puffs in the canteen. nostalgia. heh.

As I bit into the piping hot puffs then, I was reminded of the exams which are only 3 weeks away... oh..2 weeks away now. I wish I could be granted the study momentum instantaneously. I need it!!

A huge deterence to me gaining this momentum is my latest addiction to 学警狙击. It's evil and also ingenius how these tvb script writers can make EVERY episode end off with suspense...with a mole pressing the gun onto another fellow mole's head so to prove that they are not moles.

I'll catch juuuuuusssst one more episode to serenade me to sleep. and 9 more episodes to mochi who will be ready to benkyosuru!!

Silence me if I can't talk

Soon, it'd not matter to me anymore. Time will pass and I will adapt to it.

Some people, some things I placed with great importance in my life, might need to be re-prioritised.

With less importance I tag to it, the less I feel emotionally without it. Habits can be changed and I'll chant that thought as I sleep every night. I'll avoid questioning why I have to make the change and make the world a better place.

I am just lamenting at how much things can change. And just like what all humans like to do to make ourselves feel better, I want to put the blame on something, someone, but I can't.

Be indifferent, if that's going to be the solution. Go with the flow.

I think it's remotely working.

Passing by...

Feeling really lethargic today.

Chean told me she went to eat kenny rogers. made me salivate at the thought of the french beans and macaroni cheese. I am going to eat it tomorrow. I must and I will.

Just received some news which made me shake my head and mumble under my breath... everything is transcient.. nothing stays forever.

But life has to go on.

31 Oct - Happy Birthday ES!

Happy Birthday ES! Yup, he's my halloween baby. I get quite excited everytime I think of cooking something new. Yes, lazy but still managed to move my butt to cold storage to get that ribeye for dinner. oh, and that's my fave strawberry shortcake from fourleaves. haha.. it's more to satisfy my craving. But it IS nice. The kitties intro it to me.haha.

Steaks are amazingly easy to cook. The best is if you can marinate it overnight with loads of herbs, black pepper, salt, a dash of sugar and olive oil. I only managed to marinate it for 3 hours but it tasted good too coz I guess anything taste yummy when it's fresh. The honey mustard potato salad to me was yucky. Maybe the boiling and peeling of potatos really irked me too much for me to enjoy it. Trust me, the cook is usually too tired to enjoy the meal.

The carrots were an attempt to smuggle some veggie into ES's meal. Next time, just stick to the safe but boring mayo potato mochi san. ES liked it though. I think he's just hungry. The garlic prawns were done to ES's request. YUMMY.

Why M cannot live without W

There are many reasons why Men cannot live without Women. A typical example happened today.

A bunch of W were out doing a bit of shopping after lunch. We bumped into grumpy looking M. He pointed to his new leather shoes and showed W his gross blistered heels all bandaged in plasters. M was going to the pharmacy to see if there's any medication to treat his blisters. Treat blisters?! There's no such thing as treating blisters. W opened their eyes wide and immediately ordered him to go and get a pair of slippers. M was stubborn and refused and said it's okay, never mind la, no need la, I checked just now but no size, no need check other place la, it's okay, go back office first....... and limped away, gritting his teeth in pain.

W walked him to the nearest watsons and stood there picking out the slippers one by one to check on the sizes, leaving no slippers unturned, 5W dug all the way to those which were hung right behind. Size 12. Bingo.

Who says no size?! M frowned again as he wore back his freaky shoes when he brought the slippers in to pay. W stared in horror and ordered him to wear his slippers immediately and assured him that he just have to inform the cashier.

Minutes later, W witnessed M floating out of the shop, his grin from one ear to the other.

on the go...

blogging on a train to work now.listening to my mp3 with the perodical train messages ringing outside the music in my ears.i like it.just like listening to music in empty buses when the journey is long..blasting music in the car when i'm driving on aye back to my place..okay..driving not as enjoyable as i have to concentrate on the roads at the same time.
simple pleasures in life i enjoy. i'm glad i can still find them.

a reflection of mochi

This pic depicts my mood now. Purrfectly.

Quite tired and squished having to juggle school work, work, exercising, bf and sleep. Seriously, I don't think the course is that bad. It's just difficult to give up the sleep hours which I'm been so used to, getting used to dragging my lazy bum to do my usual jog though I'm half zombie etc...etc.

I've to throw away now, things I've been so used to and be re-conditioned again. The power of re-conditioning.

I feel crappy and cranky even more often now. ES complains that he has been practicing methods of relaxation...like the breathe in breathe out...the world is beautiful...and my gf is NOT being difficult...she's jus cranky...It'll pass...soon.

Thought I needed to grab some fresh air before I explode so went out for some trigger happy therapy. PMS probably exaggerated the condition and knowing I have another paper to submit by next week, is another crucial spark to set off the explosion.

BoOmz.

会痛的石头

歌曲：会痛的石头 歌手：萧敬腾

跑过快红灯的路口

我们大笑着一起回头

不用刻意做些什么

两颗心就会漫出来快乐

想起来怎么像梦

小的美好大的感动

是过了多少个秋冬

沦为夏天的电影只能重播怀旧

我们是两颗会痛的石头

猛烈冲撞后裂了缝

永远都不会懂

什么叫认错

还想爱却调头放手

心疼你是颗会痛的石头

想要抱住却混乱沉默

倔强的表情里

闪过了失落

你的泪让我痛

我的浪漫太不及格

你猜中却还配合没说

想做支歌记录你我

写三句身旁你的眼红了

想起来怎么像梦

小的美好大的感动

是过了多少个秋冬

沦为夏天的电影只能重播怀旧

我们是两颗会痛的石头

猛烈冲撞后裂了缝

永远都不会懂

什么叫认错

还想爱却调头放手

心疼你是颗会痛的石头

想要抱住却混乱沉默

倔强的表情里

闪过了失落

你的泪让我痛

Thank you speech

Finally burrowed myself out of my books. Done. The bloody assignment is D.O.N.E.

Actually I do need to read it through again for a final review. But I got this strong feeling that I'll puke if I read it another time. I'm just so sick of it.

I'll send it to my personal copywriter to do the job. woohoo.

Okay..I would like to thank my mum and dad who bought food for me while I close door meditate over the weekend. I want to thank my bro who didn't chut any pattern to irritate me. Last but not least, I want to thank ES for motivating me quickly mop up the pieces in my assignment although I was so super tempted to watch The Proposal which I just downloaded. He did not allow me to do anything else besides staring at my comp and he monitored closely that I did not wander into my Facebook account subconsciously.

Thank you everyone for your support and of coz, apologies to maria and babu whom I cancelled out for the ktv session.

Thank you...Thank you...

Now on to the next assignment. AHHHH.

Jason Mraz- Try Try Try

Amazing song..Jason is such a genius... he's working on his new album.. can't wait.


Try Try Try - Jason Mraz

T-R-Y
Oh baby we can fight like dogs we can fight like cats
A dirty laundry needs a laundry man
Maybe the king and the queen should lay off the caffeine
Baby breathe before you react

Sometimes we do forget to behave
And we regret what we say
Cause words are too weapons
If we don't choose'em carefully
Ladies and gentlemen this is instrumental
If life's to be a bed of roses

I know i gave you everything you like
Because you still give me butterflies

If we just try try try
Just to be ni-ni-nice
Then the world would be a better place for you and I
If we just live our lives
Putting our differences aside
Oh that would be so beautiful to me

Are we just dangling in the middle of a galaxy
Well i'm stoked on gravity
To be stuck with you like flowers on the dew drops
Now let it in my direction
My direction is up when everybody's down
Cause i don't mind being anybody's clown
I love a little lift cause i'm an optimistic
In an altruistic way

Cause basically this place is needing instruments of harmony
Spreading my philosophy of love and inspiration
Oh these words I speak I commit to like a crime
With a rhythm i deliver i'm giving them a picture
Of the reasons why

We should just try try try
Just to be ni-ni-nice
So the world could be a better place for you and I
If we just live our lives
Putting our differences aside
Oh that would be so beautiful to me

Well it wouldn't cost a penny but could save so many lonely lives
From teary eyes
If we just try try try
To open up a can of understanding open up your heart
I'm just planting seeds
Cause i believe

We could just try try try
Just to be ni-ni-nice
So the world would be a better place for you and I
If we just live our lives
Putting our differences aside
Oh that would be so beautiful to me

If we could try, just to be nice
That could be so beautiful to me
I believe,
Oh that could be so beautiful to me

Sean, get set, GO!

Nothing much recently except that I've been trying to dedicate some time aside to start on my assignment.Trying is a good word. Coz I only managed to write like a few paragraphs and scan through a few journals for ideas. I hope that Deepavali can give me more inspiration coz that's like the only weekend left before it's due on Tue.

And speaking of Deepavali. I had this exciting thought that Friday was Deepavali and kept grinning to myself over the weekend that it's gonna be a long weekend again. My colleague confirmed that I was hallucinating. It's sat not fri!!! Thunder. Nan De!!!

Sigh. There goes another motivation to get past the week.

Oh. On a lighter note, the week started with a good jog and a resetted phone with little (as in age not size) sean as my new phone wallpaper. drools. He's my new idol from now on... I need to learn how to be chubby yet so unresistably cute at the same time. I need to master that invincible skill.

the art of farting

Today, ES smsed me in reply to one of my smses.. "oh...okay. can. missing your farting honey. hur hur."

How cool is that. My honey misses my farting! that's like the sweetest thing ever. EVER.

You might be glad to know the feeling is mutual....I miss farting at you too baby... woohoo. :*

One resolution down.

1 Oct...exactly 2 months before we bid 2009 goodbye. I can just so imagine myself saying gong xi fa cai and munching on those pineapple tarts while watching Jackie Chan's old movie on channel 8.

I thought it has been a good 2009 for me. so far. There are happy stuff and of coz unhappy events. Let's just focus on the good ones today. Well, I've managed to keep to my exercise regime, one of my many new year resolutions. Click on mochi's heartbeat calendar on the right menu..so dam proud of myself. I hope it'll motivate u too! woohoo!

Jan - 17 days
Feb - 8 days
Mar - 12 days of exercise
Apr - 6 days of exercise (the most unhealthy month of mochi.. buried in work everyday)
May - 10 days of exercise
Jun - 8 days of exercise
Jul - 7 days of exercise
Aug - 10 days of exercise
Sep - 11 days of exercise

Roughly an average of 45min of exercise/day x 89days = 4005min
= 66hrs 45min !

Yay. 2 more months to go!

It's Friday! yippee. TGIF peeps.

Sentosa MegaZip Adventure 26 Sep 09

It's a sunday! Wondering why I'm up so early on a lazy sunday morning.

Whatever it is, I had a rejuvenating sleep. Rejuvenated from the the tiring Sentosa Megazip activities yesterday. It's a new attraction about 1-2 months old. Fun though for an adventure geek like me.

Directions: Take the monorail to beach station. Alight to take the blue line bus to Imbiah Lookout. Walk 10mins to Megazip.

Price: We paid $30 each for 3 activities. Climbmax, ParaJump and the Flying Fox. $30 is cheap coz we went in a big group of about 30pax. Think normal price is about $50-$60. Thanks Chean for the lobang to tag along with her colleagues. heh.

Looking forward to tapas and more adventure next week at the Dairy Farm!

Today will be a day of chores and will be attending a cousin's wedding dinner in the evening. I still have not satisfied my craving for KTV and I want to go soon! It's easier said than done since I'm having classes 2 nights a week now. Tiring but it's good that such things break the momentum of my usual routine. We experienced new things in the process and meet new people.

Oh, met an ex st nicks gal in my class who is a teacher in Hwa Chung now. wwaaaaa. I mean she could roughly remember my name. She thought I was Sharon....?! but close enough la with the initial "S" correct and there was some connection to Sharon san. I know her face but not her name. I couldn't really confirm it was her partly coz she looked really older than what I remembered.

Bimbotic it might sound but I think everyone needs to do her part to maintain her looks or ensures she looks good. Skincare is essential and exercise really makes a difference to your skin. It's the worst if you're earning huge bucks as a teacher and you scrimp on facial care. I freaked out at the spots which appeared on my cheeks and am fervently applying my sunblock!!

okay..enough of bimbotic talk. back to the remains of the weekend.

Voomz...!

There were those days when I feel restless. This long weekend was one of them.

It's like everything doesn't seem to be going how I would like them to be. I want to go somewhere, do something. But the weather threatened me with its scorching heat and I chose in the end, to take a step back and stay home instead.

I want to go out. But yet, I don't. Dilemma is me. And I'm the bloody cause of this nagging, irritating restless feeling that's erupting within me. And I cannot blame anyone as I AM the cause of this. Sad right, can't even shift the blame to make myself feel better!! grrrr.

I get this attack once in a blue moon. I'm the happiest when I'm doing stuff with the usual gang like exploring nature, cycling, checking out new food places etc. Surprisingly, my shopping spell has subsided (ES shouts "yay!!") and I really hope it would not relapse in a long long time so that I have time to build up a healthy piggy bank.

Etcetra! That's how the long form of etc is spelt! Saw the subtitles in a sucky movie I watched. At least something useful apart from the lame storyline. So lame that I don't even want to spell out the movie name to save more people.

Perhaps I should look to 烈火雄心3 to end my weekend with a boOmz. Voomz. Oh...that reminds me of Ris Low, our Miss Singapore. I'm sorry to laugh but this vid really brightened up my weekend abit.

Check out the funniest video of 2009.

back to where we all started

heard about a friend's mum who did a biopsy and did not even know where her wound was till her wound itched. She even contemplated on removing the stitches on her own. I mean...a MUM doing this sounds absurb to me. Mums are supposed to be wisest people in the world, or at least when I was young, I looked to my mama san for anything. She was the magic pill to all my problems.

Somehow, that role is reversed now. She's not as quick anymore. She forgets stuff and comes to me with requests and to help her with stuff. She wants to be dependent on me and her pleading look of a kid was something I never saw before when I was younger.

She had been busy all her life looking out for me and I hope that I can do the same for her now, though I know it'll never match what she had done.

The nagging never stops though. heh. mama san! aishiteru!

Back to school

decided to post something before I go for a jog.. if I can still move my butt by the end of this post.

Busy weeks ahead as I'll head back to school for an advanced diploma in psychology. This will take up a good 2 days of the precious week. Wish me luck. As it is, I'm always complaining of lack of sleep. I really cannot imagine what will happen to my favourite hobby for the next year of my studies.

Ganbatteeeeee...*chanting*

Cycled my guts out yesterday with the usual cycling gang. ECP to Changi Village and back. It was real good exercise. Cycling is really a conducive sport for large groups of 6 or 7. It doesn't take too much cardio and we can still manage some conversation while paddling. Finished off the exercise with Carls junior. muahahaha.

I have 4 HK dramas awaiting me. Guess this will be my only feasible hobby once my lessons start.

It's monday. Don't complain and make the best of it!

off for a jog!

3 cheers

7 Sep. It's shocking how time ticks away. Wondered what I was doing exactly 1 year ago... I could be looking forward to my South Africa trip in Oct. That was a great trip.

This year was hokkaido. Planning where to go next year. Will lie low for this year - says my piggy bank.

I should be sleeping but I hate to wake up to a monday. But it's gonna be a short week for me since I'll be on course on thurs and fri. Cycling awaits me on sat.

Cheers to a healthy lifestyle. Cheers to a brand new week. Cheers to the long weekend coming up!

Bingo! You scored a Jam!

wahaha. I won a $100 travel voucher from Dynasty! hmm...where shall I go next? Keeping my fingers crossed that this prize doesn't come with some minimum spending of $1000 on a travel package or something. xxx

Guess I'm just lucky. Could be they only received like 10 pics for this contest so my chance was high. I think my pic should get first though! coz there are 2 people in the pic which symbolises duality, strength and even-ness. *everyone agrees with mochi*

Just back from a half day JB pig out trip. Supposed to be a pigout but I had my great aunt looking for me in JB and matt had a headache. Only ashley was in the right mood to fully exhibit the theme of our trip.

It was fun though, enclosed in the car with 2 other mad people while enjoying the 1 hour jam in to JB.

Next trip would be to visit becca san and little sean. woohoo.

Think I'm fainting from blood loss. zzz.

some tech advice from a tech idiot....

It's scary how we are at the mercy of technology.

I welcomed Monday with a mini heart attack at 12plus midnight when I realised that 7000 over pics from last year I was trying to transfer into my new portable hard disk, did not get copied over. I accidentally cancelled the transfer halfway and by right, the original folder should remain intact. But by left, the folder disappeared. I had another outdated back up on another disk but I was too quick to delete it thinking I would not need that anymore. CRY!

I opened the half copied stuff on my new disk thinking at least I would have some pics if not all. But when I clicked into them, there were 0 pictures in ALL the folders! CRY!

ES tried to remote rescue me over the phone but I was too exasperated to try anything properly. I googled "how to restore cut files" and out came entries which were too technical for me understand.

The biggest problem was I fiddled with alot of other functions and cutting and repasting some stuff after the blunder.

WORD OF ADVICE: When you accidentally deleted something, dun try to be funny and perform other actions or disconnect your portable disk or thumbdrive. Press CTL-Z to undo it. It should work.

If not, try looking for it in the recycle bin and restore it. Do not CUT from the recycle bin and Paste as this will only restore a portion of the files. I have no idea why, I tried it yesterday. Choose "Restore" instead and they will put it back into the original drive.

Well, I fiddled with my comp for a good half hour and finally got it restored from the recycle bin. I had used "cut" instead of "restore" which doesn't work. So...pls use RESTORE.

Remembered the times we developed all our pictures. There's not much chance of them lost unless you burn them or chuck them at one corner. Even if you lose the pictures, you have the good ole negatives which there's not much chance of it being lost at the same time.

Of coz, there's a lifespan expiry on the ancient way of developing and storing photos. Photos turn yellow and colors become less vibrant. Negatives can turn mouldy and usually doesn't last long. However, you take greater care of them as they have an expiry date.

They give a nostalgic feel too when you physically feel and flip the pictures. The worn off color adds on to the nostalgia.

Friends are necessary bumps in our lives..

Bumped into a few friends whom I haven't seen for a long time. Weird but familiar feeling, bringing back a sense of nostalgia.

First up. I bumped into Jene, my ex OC colleague who happens to be doing a similar portfolio as me now. We exchanged contacts and hope to arrange an exchange session. cool stuff. ha.

Then, my induction mate, wee thong, whom I haven't dinnered with for a long time. Besides being in the same company, we share a common interest, travelling. to more exotic places that is. We met up over ayam penyet dinner at Lucky Plaza. He shared his experience to silkroad and dug some info from me for his upcoming trip to JiuZhaiGou. I bleh about hokkaido and basic updates on work followed. Well, we're not always so lucky to have someone who shares the same travelling interest, not even the ones closest to you. We talked about possible trip to tibet next year. yep, allow me time to save okane.

Just as I was about to leave town, I bumped into Timothy who is now working as a management trainee with Swatch. It was kinda ominous as I remembered the first time he asked me out, it was to Mayday concert. haha. That was a good 5 years ago at least. And tomorrow I'm going for Mayday! heh. He said he wanted to see guan you's drumming skills. Tim's a real good drummer. Hope he's still playing drums.

It was a nice friday for mochi san.

函馆の夜景

Okaerinasai mochi san.

Okay. It's been 3 days since I was back from romantic Hokkaido. Just as I bid sayonara to Hokkaido, the 2nd part of my holidays started, sorting of photos.

It's an extension of my holidays. I enjoy looking through the pics and sorting them, trashing the rubbish shots and salvaging some of the gonecase ones.

My deepest impression of the whole trip was Hakodate (函馆). The night view was awesome and breathtaking. Never seen anything like this before.

More photos will be up soon. Once I sort the 1600 pics..which will take some time as I'm pretty unproductive after holidays.

my new buddy..

finally upgraded from a single to a queen sized bed after 17 years. Both the mattress and bedframe is from Sealy which was highly recommended by ahmad. Impetus was the chiropractor's advice to change my bed which could be the cause of my muscle aches.

I sat on it to watch movie, drama and play bejeweled. Wondering if the life span would be cut by half.haha. It's comfy. The sheets are from Aussino and the quilt cover is from Ikea. Love the sleepy color, makes me sleepy. zzz. Hello sleeping buddy!

dermatological experience

I WANT TO SHOUT....OUT .....LOUD. AHHHHHHH.

Eh..money not easy to earn, can my stupid upper lip be more tame anot?! I can't help to become instantaneously lian2-ni-fied in my language.

All because of a mildly peeling upper lip. It's mild and kinda red but not rotten. However, it IS irritating. I can't stop licking it and picking at the chapped skin. After trying a few balms and the internet recommended rosehip oil, I gave up and decided to seek medical attention.

Went to a Dermatologist located just outside Hg mall whom I visited 10 years ago in secondary school for my oily skin. Then, my mum bombed a few thousand on the treatments. A few grand then was a hefty sum. The treatments worked and my face cleared up but I did not continue coz it was simply unaffordable.

10 years later, I visited her again and got fleeced once more. I withdrew $100 thinking that it's like the max she can charge for a chapped lip. But I paid.....BREATHE IN...BREATHE OUT.... $299.

She commented it was food that's causing the allergy and particles stuck in my already dry lips causing the chapped lips. She suggested a jab that would cost $50 but I rejected it. If not, my bill would have been $350.

So what comes with this $299:

• a Milk Cleanser for face and lips - $95 (confirmed)
• A 20cent coin sized container worth of lip balm - $89 (confirmed)
• 4 types of allergy pills - $30 (my guess)
• a bottle of "plant mineral" extracts to be mixed and drank with water - $25 (my guess)
• Consultation - $60 (confirmed)

I nearly lost my footing when I made my way out to withdraw more cash and felt my heart aching when I paid. I thought I felt hot tears in my eyes.

ES called me at the kodak moment when I just stepped out of the clinic and it was just plain swearing time after that.

I told the nurse that the medication better make my lips ooze shine and gloss and smooth like beancurd.

I should have studied harder to become a dermatologist.

haPPy 2nd year aNNiversary 8 Aug 2009

Happy Anniversary ES! It's unimaginable that we've both tolerated each other's shit for 2 years. It so happens that we had to make our hokkaido final payment on our anniversary date 8 Aug. yay..it's the 1st real far trip I'm going with him, not counting genting, batam, m'sia and thailand.

His gift was a horrendous ugly cake he did. haha. okay, he DIY the icing. Loved it anyways. It's really not easy to draw something legible using icing. Trust me.

The cake tasted amazingly oishii. The cream was fresh and the sponge was light and fluffy. Read up on the shop and it's @ http://www.icingroom.com/. It's actually under breadtalk. wow. They are making huge money with breadtalk, toastbox, food republic and now the icing room.

Happy Anniversary honey. Thanks for always being there for me and so tolerant of my nonsense.

Love you and hope you lose weight soon.

horrific thurs

No more movies at EW Suntec onegaishimasu.

ES had a meeting at cityhall and took the liberty to book movie tickets at EW suntec. I could make it of coz since I was supposed to meet him anyways.

I scurried off at 6pm on the dot and managed to reach cityhall at 6.25pm. When I reached EW suntec which is really, to me, the end of the other world, it was 6.45pm. I actually walked for 20min to reach there. My soles were hurting from the excessive walking and I was getting irritable coz EW doesn't seem to get nearer as I walked, but the stinging pain in my soles got stronger. My walk there was a movie in itself. A horror movie in fact where I see humongous blisters forming on my feet and ES & EW still nowhere in sight.

My 1st question I posed to ES: Why didn't you book Marina Square GV? We both prefer GV and it's definitely not as kampong location as EW.

He quickly replied that GV marina only had 9.30pm timing which was too late. I stared at him in the eye hard and long before threatening him with,"Dun bluff!". and he immediately laughed and I knew he was lying! You can never bluff LS. Your evilness shines through your eyes.

I don't know why I had to type this really brain racking post at this time of the night. But I really felt the need to shout to everyone out there and hopefully the management of EW to remove Suntec EW so that other bfs have less chances of making similar mistakes.

I officially declare myself PMSal.

Swam like a fish

Beginning to enjoy swimming. Maybe it's the new complex that is located in the heart of huge plain fields that enticed me to visit that place so regularly.

The new SSC at anchorvale is so dam cool. They have a few pools in the complex. I huge outdoor adult pool, 2 pools for kiddos, a few long slides, and an indoor pool in case it rains. How cool is that. and it's very new.

There's a macs and 7-11 with a mac's drive thru counter. cools.

making swimming my new exercise regime so that I can tone my upper body as well.

Well, havent really attained my objective as I've been eating non-stop these 2 weeks. It's that time of the month la. Who can help it?! i down bags of chips and simply can't resist popping Pringles into my mouth. Actually anything that's high carbo or starch can do the trick as well. Urgh.

Counting down to my sealy bed and holiday!! woohoo.

Tanjoubi Omedeto Otosan!

Doc says to do stuff to distract myself from thinking about work. Been taking some pills to help me sleep better and relax from the anxiety attacks.

I think I need someone to talk to me constantly so that I am always occupied. When left alone, my mind wanders into the work mode subconsciously. Spent yesterday and today with ES. Took my dad out for birthday lunch at the Joaquim Porridge Buffet which was really sucky. Think the chef is suffering from some kind of cooking disorder as well. I remember that I liked the weekday lunch buffet there. 5 of us all agreed that kopitiam mixed veg rice stall tastes better than the $12.80 /pax buffet. Eeeks. Disappointed coz I thought it'll be nice to let them try out something new.

anyways, booked a trip to hokkaido!! woohooo..in 2 wks time. Actually planned to go in Nov but alas, with some changes in my work, I'm not sure if I can still go in Nov.

It might be good distraction for me and I hope I would not need medication to sleep after the trip. Wish me luck!

Punishment

I like how chean puts it very aptly, those who just do the bare minimum are rewarded by less work. Ironically, those who have proven that they are able to perform are being punished by having more work and shit to clear.

wth.

The more you try hard not to inconvenience people, the more people try to push the boundaries.

Suddenly lost all motivation again and the surge of feelings of injustice, the thought that I am just a tool to plug holes as and when the ceiling is leaking.

I am very tired and my body is nodding in unison. Insomnia is my best companion. Gimme a break.

Long awaited rest..redeemed!

I love running errands on week days. It seemed like the malls and streets belonged to me.Me and ES spent the Sun and Mon at Pan Pac Orchard. We became town kids for that 2 days. Quite fun as we know that we can watch late night movies without having to worry missing the last train back.

The hotel pool was virtually empty except for a gay couple who were just loitering at the edges of the pool with only their toes in the water. The other one basically posed along the sides of the pool showing off his steel pac bod. We had some good exercise and the indoor jacuzzi, sauna, steam room were all ours...for the 2 days!! cools.

Caught Harry Potter too, nothing fantastic as I always tell friends that I watch Harry coz the whole world is watching it and also coz ES loves fantasy films. Not really my movie genre though. Looking forward to Sandra Bullock's "The Proposal" and Ashton Kutcher's "Personal Effects".

Stole some time to visit Ikea and Courts too and broke my piggy bank on a Sealy Queen sized mattress and bed frame. Woohoooo. The sudden decision to buy a new bed was coz of the chiropractor's advice, time to put away my 17 years mattress and pillow away to make way for a better one like Sealy, Simmons or King Koil.

Hearing that the doc is encouraging me to spend money, my mum defended that my mattress is branded. I didn't even knew I had a branded mattress. She proclaimed with gusto that it is....... Rabbit Brand. Like LV, it's RB. You should see the doc's amused face. I told the doc to ignore her.

Anyway, I'm so awaiting the arrival of the bed. My back and shoulder ache is really getting on my nerves. It's either due to age or poor quality mattress. I'd rather believe it's the latter. Back to work tomorrow. oooh. Department Prawning & seafood dinner at Bottle Tree Park tomorrow! A good reason to embrace Thursday.

~nice room but the view is nothing compared to Pan Pac Marina. Oh, for UOB card members, you can get the premium deluxe room (or above) at $100 off the price for weekend staycation. So we paid $150 per night instead of usual $250. Also, dining at 10claymore restaurant in the hotel is at a 30% off for all days and meals with any credit card! amazing. We had our lunch buffet for $24 bucks each. Not too bad for pan pac. Food is not that fantastic though I must say. Service is superb. heh.~

~ my getaway theme: Pink. everything was in shades of pink, including my hello kitty bag which I won in hello kitty land in japan. ~

~ ES made these oatmeal choc chip cookies. The heart shaped ones failed according to him. The shape gave way to become normal round cookies. hah. ok la...good effort! i'm still trying to finish them...burp.~

~ the sucky view from outside my room... no view actually.haha.~

2nd Mini SteamBoat @ Opp Novena Church

Ahmad is my steamboat kaki. I'm a sucker for steamboats. Tom Yum especially. But only for GOOD tom yum steamboats. The Parkway Parade Roxy Square steamboat has opened a branch at the row of eateries opposite Novena Church.

I was just waiting to satisfy my craving and at the same time met up with ahmad. So sad that babu and maria couldn't join.

We paid about $25 each. It's ex for steamboat actually coz I don't think we ordered alot. But we are at the age that we are willing to pay for quality coz we definitely can't stomach quantity anymore.

Must-orders: Shrimp Dumplings, Seafood Tofu, fish glue.

They have a variety of signature cooked dishes as well, though we did not order that. Great for big gatherings.

~ the art of scraping fish glue~

~ wooohooo....I swear they have the BEST tom yum steamboat. seriously, i've never found a place comparable so far.~

~ the chicken soup was good at this branch. better than the one at roxy I feel.~

Awaiting the next steamboat outing with the gals. Hopefully...soon!

ION & NYDC @ Wheelock

Visited the new ION . It was an amazing new mall. They have a variety of shops, both mainstream and non-mainstream. Think you name it, they should have it.

As the new food restaurants are all flooded with curious peeps, me and jy decided to be boring and head to wheelock NYDC instead. It was a surprisingly nice dinner as the food was real yummy.

Mochi is really stuffing herself after her peak as you can see from my blog. Maybe was too deprived. Food is the meaning to my life.

~ Fowl Play. The batter is salty and oishii. never tasted something like this before. $7.50. Must-try!~

~ Those are dory fish fillet! One of the newbies in the meu..yep...rolled into cute little balls. the cream sauce was of the right creamy taste and consistency. thumbs up! I liked it so much that I koped 2 out of the 5 balls, and it wasn't even my order! ha~

More food posts coming up!

5 million dollar home

Sharon san.... pls look at this bag... model MD0508A. This bag is called "5 Million Dollar Home." Wasurenai yo!

Get this from vietnam for me k! Arigatou...then chean n gang will not luff at my pink panther again... poor panther.




Can't wait for my leave next week! 3 key words. N.U.A.

Calm my nerves and really take a good good rest.

Xin Wang Taiwan Cafe @ Citylink Mall

Recce-d this place for dinner today. Wasn't too hungry and great choice since I can just order the taiwan finger food or snacks to share with ES. I think Xin Wang is making big bucks. First, HK cafes scattered around the island, now their Taiwan themed cafe trying to get a cut of the pie as well.

I mean if you have tried their HK Cafe finger food, you'll know that they are making mega profits. Their siew mais and dim sum dishes taste pretty cheapo like those from supermarts and just heated up and they charge like 3-4 bucks for it. But guess their winning formula is that though their food aren't finger licking good, but their prices are pretty competitive for cafes with a targeted audience who will fervently patronise them for cheap HK food.

Kim Gary is better in terms of quality.

Anyways, back to Taiwan food. Well, similar comments as above, making the right move to cater to HK and taiwanese food fans.

~ES loves this Oyster omelette. Maybe I've tasted better ones in taiwan..so i'm pretty immuned~

~ the salty chic pieces are good. They use chicken thigh meat which is more tender and palatable and also more fattening than breast meat. ~

~ would not recommend this taiwan style Yong Tau Foo. It's made up of different kinds of fish paste yong tau foo, though they all taste the same to me. plain and not worth the bucks.~

Prices are steeper for the taiwan cafe as compared to the HK one. Maybe their main courses would be more value for money.

Mochi would give them a 2nd chance.