Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Xmas 2007! I went to City Harvest lah!

Got a little more adventurous and spent my Christmas Eve a little differently this year. Guess what? I went to City Harvest Church! I just had to find how what the big hoohah about the church is! Why thousands flock to the church every week or every other day and devote so much of their time there. The service was held at Expo, the environment and surrounding gives you the feeling that you're attending a concert. The notorious overzealous people were ever present, but once you're prepared for it its actually ok. They are really friendly, outgoing and outspoken which are not bad characteristics at all!

The 2 hours service includes praise and worship, a homily and a damn good skit. Nevermind that you're not Christian or don't believe in God, you'll quite impressed by them. They were damn professional, it was interesting, funny and there were hardly any mistakes considering they are volunteers. And of course i had to notice the pretty dancers too...how can i miss them!? That aside, their mediawork was also damn good, its no wonder why they can attract so many youths, the whole thing was bubbly and everyone was so good at what they do...including the pastor himself. No doubt, other than the amazing mediawork, you can actually learn skills from them that you can apply outside, for example their good public speech and confidence! Don't get me wrong, i still won't want to waste my weekends and devote some of my time there, i just find it really interesting and its actually quite ingenious to come out with a church of this concept. Pardon me but i'm not actually thinking of this in a religious sense but rather in a business sense...ingenious...entrepreneurial...bravo....so damn good lah. I'm pretty overwhelmed, not by God himself but the people there...and how good they are at doing their stuff. They actually make people willing part with a percentage of their income every month, enjoy their work, be enthusiastic in everything they do there and even bring in friends week in week out with no promise of a commission or anything...now isn't that what every company will want? So if you have the time, regardless of your religion, forget the fact that this church actually has a bad reputation, cast aside all fears and just go there and see what it is all about. It'll be an eye opener.

After the service, Jit Hwee, Chin Seng, Kheng Siang and myself went to East Coast for a sumptous dinner. All of us had cravings for chilli crabs and that was the place we thought of. We got there at around 11pm and there were already hardly anyone around...yup that was where and how i counted down my xmas this year...quietly and peacefully. After dinner, we had to make the mistake of going down to Orchard Road. We had wanted to watch a movie and Orchard Cineleisure came to mind. Had a scary walk from Centerpoint to Cineleisure with groups of people holding party foam sprays spraying anyone and everything like its damn fun. We had to play dodgeball and avoid this kind of crazy people. I would have picked a fight if anyone sprayed me feeling all clean and all lol...just kidding. In the end, the tickets for the nice shows were sold out leaving us only the not so nice shows so we didn't watch any movie.

Had a family xmas party at Kok Bin's house this year. Sis did most of the organising and preparation, it was good and everyone had fun and lots of food. Received many t-shirts, chocolates, boxer shorts and a book this year..which are things i really need and love haha. Oh and i got myself a Manchester United jersey! Although i've been a Manu fan since primary 5 (1994), i've never owned a Manu jersey before in my life and so this is my first! Although i bought the jersey myself, i managed to persuade mum and sis to share and pay for it as my Xmas present! Lol. I would like to wish everyone that visits my blog a very very Merry Christmas! Fret not, there's 12 days of Xmas...we're only at the beginning..there's still time to buy gifts for your love ones if you haven...and of course..don't forget about me too. ;)

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The Sushi spread sis got from Sakae

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The Jacob's Creek rose wine we had that day

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It won't be a complete Xmas party if you don't serve Turkey! Here's ours!

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The rest of the food

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Our Xmas log cake from Swiss Bakery..it was really good!

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Having a go at the lucky draw

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Sis and Brandon

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Brandon, Kok Bin's Mum and their pet rabbit

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Really nice of my cousin Ah Ling to get me this book! She sees the entrepreneur in me!

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My first Manu jersey!

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Oh i bought myself a nice new wallet from River Island too..i deserve it lol

Somewhere during the week, i also found time to finally catch The Warlords. Its a movie full of actions...but there are scenes that leaves you asking questions...like why the hell they throw bao at Jet Li when they themselves want to eat bao lol. Aiya watch the movie yourself..its worth the weekend price.

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Monday, December 17, 2007

Nick can cook part 2

Yup I'm still on the right track on becoming the boss of my very own steak house. Found time during the week for experiment number 2. Used different sauces and ingredients to marinate the steak this time and it did turn out a little better than the first time...although still not up to standard. I'll definitely keep trying! Have 3 whole years to perfect it! And when i do become a top steak chef in the future, i can read back and reminisce how i got there! Lol.

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The meat

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The sauces and other ingredients

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Then you pose with the meat

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First, you put some sauce on it

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Spread it well

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Wrap it up and marinate it overnight

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I bought a nice new pan for my experiment

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Chef Lim at work

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The finished product 1 - Rib Eye

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The finished product 2 - Flanked steak

Spent my past week watching quite a number of movies. Its weekday off peak price and I've loads of time on my hands! There is really nothing much you can do in Singapore anyway!

Went to Toa Payoh with Puss on Tuesday because i wanted to get my SingPass password which i had forgotten. We ended up exploring the HDB hub where we found a nice small HDB gallery and flats showrooms. The designs of the showrooms were really nice but deceiving considering the new flats nowadays don't come in that size anymore. We then ended up watching The Golden Compass at Toa Payoh Cineplex because it was raining heavily and couldn't venture much. Turned out to be quite a kiddy show, which reminded me slightly of Narnia.

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Posing with a stone heartlander at the HDB Gallery

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A retro household at HDB Gallery

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The stone heartlanders

Somewhere during the week, i also caught Enchanted. Turned out to be quite a funny show with retro style Disney songs and animations that reminded me of my childhood lol.

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On Thursday, Puss text me on my handphone and asked if i wanted to go shopping at Orchard. I said yes and what an expensive day it turned out to be. I spent a total of nearly $200 on shopping, parking and food. A bulk of the expenditure went to the Christmas presents meant for friends and my family. Every year, i tell myself not to spend so much, but it just happens.

Then on Friday, I met up with Samantha and Puss for lunch, movie and Xmas gift exchange among ourselves. We had lunch at Apollo Banana Leaf just off Race Course Road. Didn't really like the food there, didn't even finished my rice..probably because we didn't order my favourite Fish Head Curry lol. After lunch, yes you guessed it...we went to watch a movie. This time, we watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium and what a mistake it turned out to be. It was a super lousy show, i fell asleep midway through the show. The cast, the storyline and everything else was bad. Don't watch it if you read this lol. Tried persuading them to watch Warlords instead but both of them weren't interested! I bet they are regretting now lol.

Guess what i bought Samantha this year, a nice retro toy in the form of a Tamagotchi! Saw it behind the cashier at Takashimaya and thought it will be fun buying it for her considering she still behaves like a child and i did! In return, i received 2 pairs of Top Man's boxer shorts from her which i really do need because most of mine are torn and tattered now! lol.

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It was the annual Xmas gathering among my poly mates yesterday. This year, we held it at Meiwen's house. As for the gift exchange, i bought a mini cooper remote control car from Takashimaya! I just realised that they are selling it all over Singapore now. Lol. And fortunately, a guy got it. I'm sure the girls will be complaining non-stop if they were the one that received it..and complain somemore for the next few xmas too! Quite a fun gift mah..i wouldn't mind having one too!

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Henry got Meiwen's SIA plane models

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Ah Buck with the Mini Cooper remote control car i bought!

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I got Sham's Starbucks mug this year!

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Meiwen got Ah Buck's poker cards!

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Sham got Valencia's Brands Essence of Chicken! Lol

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Valencia got Henry's Kinky Big breasts woman Mug lol

Saturday, December 08, 2007

A day in Johor!

Met up with Jit Hwee, Kheng Siang and Chin Seng on Wednesday to celebrate the latter's birthday. Them being my good friends in the unit, 2 has ORDed and 1 is posting out. I'll be left alone there soon! No worries! Because of course i have other good friends there who will hopefully be there even longer than i! Anyway we had dinner at Plaza Singapura's Cafe Cartel and dessert at Gelare. After dinner, i went to meet Henry at Zouk for my 2nd consecutive Mambo night in a row. There was a significant increase in the number of girls and people that night as compared to the previous week. More of the University students has probably finished their exams and came out to play. I didn't get drunk or high that night again because i had to drive! I can't say the same for many others that night. There was even this girl wearing skirt lying flat on the curb just outside Zouk...now how ugly is that?

Recently, i found out from Facebook that someone thinks that i'm not adventurous! I've no idea why he/she thinks that way because that is so not true! I do a lot of things that you guys don't know about k! And i rock climb, dive, travel, club, got myself a class 2 license, cook, signed on etc etc and that is way super adventurous! Haha.

Anyway went to Johor with Weijian, Puss, Bernerd and Remy yesterday. And what a trip it was! We ate, we shopped, we sang, we joked, we shouted and we ate some more! We all met somewhere before noon at Boon Keng MRT before setting off for our trip. We first visited City Square where we had lunch at this Chinese restaurant similar to Crystal Jade Kitchen style. The good thing about Malaysia is that almost all its good food is half price as compared to Singapore! So you can enjoy the Kenny Rogers, Secret Recipe, Auntie Annes, Manhattan Fish Market, Genki Sushi etc etc and not worry about the bill! All of us also ended up buying lots of clothings and other stuffs, its the Malaysian Great Sale after all and we were all in shopping mood.

After City Square, we went to Holiday Inn for awhile to buy DVDs, games etc before we continued our journey to Pengereng-Renjit, our original destination, for our sumptuous seafood dinner. Its almost a 2 hours drive from Johor Bahru and i slept 3/4 throughout the journey leaving Bernerd with all the driving haha. The place that we had seafood called Jade Garden is apparently famous for their cheap lobsters and we just had to order some. Adrian Pang and Michelle Chia from Yummy King apparently traveled all the way there to feature this store too. The seafood turned out to be delicious but the whole meal didn't turn out cheap no thanks to the lobsters which already accounted for exactly half the bill. But compared to other places, the lobsters are really comparably cheaper. So if you're a lobster fan, you should really try out this place. Just a 2 hours drive or a 1 hour boat ride from Changi Village and you're there!

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An idea of how Renjit looks like

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Walking towards Jade Garden

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The lobster tanks

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Gong Gong

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Drunken Prawns

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The delicious fish. Its apparently called underwater chicken fish when directly translated

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Doufu

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150RM worth of lobsters

After dinner, we rushed back to Johor Bahru because we wanted to check out their new Giant Mall before they close. We managed to get there at around 9.15pm and the place was still buzzling with life. And when Puss asked one of the shop assistant of Jusco their hypermarket, we were pleasantly surprised when she told us that the place will close at 12am. We shopped out heart out and Weijian even bought one whole set of office wear preparing for his internship at Hong Leong Finance coming Monday. We also went to their groceries section where i decided to buy a few steaks to cook and try out at home.

And i did cook this afternoon. 1 for my mum and 1 for myself with 2 more still in the fridge. It didn't turn out too nice though, it was kinda tasteless. Its probably because i didn't season it long enough for the taste to get in. Shall try my 2 other steaks again either tonight or tomorrow. You never know! I might become a top chef someday somewhere! Start placing your orders now!

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My pan

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My working area

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The marinated steak

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The sauces i used. BBQ and Black Pepper

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Cooking in progress

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Finished product 1

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Finished product 2

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After mess i created

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More mess