Friday, February 29, 2008

I had to submit a post today. Its 29th February for goodness sake. This day happens like just once every 4 years! As frequent as the always eagerly anticipated soccer World Cup!

Happy leap years guys.
Nick reported at 9:09 PM

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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Yup i caught the play with my mum, sis and Kok Bin last Sunday. Although its a re-run of the same play they had last july, the tickets were still very much in demand. It occured to me suddenly one day at work that i wanted to watch it so i asked the rest if they wanted to watch with me. By the time we wanted to get tickets, we realised that there were only the $38 (restricted viewing) seats left. We went ahead and bought them anyway.

If you've been to the esplanade for a play or musical whatsoever, you would probably know where the restricted viewing seats are. They are at the sides of the theatre and it was really weird watching the play from there. We had to stretch our heads and hands over the balcony to watch the whole time. And if you're someone thats afraid of heights, you probably won't want to watch a play from that position.


In my seat


Kok Bin in his seat..yup thats the balcony i'm talking about


Mum as usual reading everywhere she goes


Photowhores sis and I taking pictures with the esplanade as our background during the break


Just outside the theatre


With no time machine invented yet, photographs are the best way you can relive your memories! Never miss a shot!

Despite the uncomfortable position i was in while watching the play, i thoroughly enjoyed the play and laughed quite a lot. The songs were good, the acting was good, the props were good and the jokes were even better! They even poked fun at our very own domineering political party and its founder! No malicious intents of course or we won't be watching it already lol. I think that they'll be having their last run today evening...i would have recommended that you go catch it to laugh and destress yourself after a long day at work, but its all too late now..look forward to the next re-run guys!





My exam is coming up...there'll be no weekends from today onwards till 8th March. Oh speaking of 8th March..my sis booked her wedding night to be 8th March 2009! Just 2 days before my birthday! I can probably be invited on stage for you guys to yum seng me too for a double celebration! Congrats to sis! So looking forward! It should be pretty exciting..my only sibling's wedding!

Found time last Monday after work for a nice dinner at Old Airport Road's Market. Dropped by there before going for my Godmother's father's wake at East Coast. Although i didn't know him personally nor seen him around before, i sincerely hope that he has moved on to a better place.

Yup there's always space on my blog for pictures of food. Here's some food we enjoyed at Old Airport Road! Sis took the pictures of course.


I ordered chicken chop


The grilled sambal stingray i ordered for all of us


An obvious lack of communication, mum had the same exact idea and ordered another one!


Ah Chen Yi's oyster omelette


Ah Kor's fried carrot cake


Sis's prawn mee


And of course..how can you not have some sugarcane juice


Me and my Godfather. Together with his 2 grandchildren little Aaron and Fiona!

Oh i forgot to mention that i caught Juno with Valencia, Sham and Elizabeth last Friday. I got to admit, i fell asleep in the cinema again. Not that the show wasn't good, I was just too tired. Its a good show with witty jokes and conversations. Most of my friends loved it..you should too.


Nick reported at 10:26 PM

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

To heyhey's request for some advice from me, i don't think i can put it all down on the chatbox, which is why i've decided to come out with this post.

Ironically, i've always shudder at the thought of having to serve in the army when i was a kid. I was a tv fanatic and there were war and army training shows every now and then. I never thought i could survive in the army and i never wanted to grow up then and be old enough for army. Look how fast time flew by. Well..to be honest, I've had any regrets signing on. And I don't think i'm lagging behind my peers too either. On the contrary, i think i actually had a better head start and get to live life comfortably at a much younger age. I dare say not many 22 years olds can afford a car of their own and still have enough to go around enjoying other kinds of entertainments and luxuries in life. Moreover, i'm also pursuing my bachelors part time and in 1 year time i'll graduate..putting me almost on par with most of my peers! Of course, all this wouldn't be possible if not for some financial support from Mum and i would like to thank her a lot for it!

I've been part timing in various parts of my life working in factories, offices, lounges and service lines and i didn't like any of them. And that contributed to part of my decision to sign on. I wanted an outdoor job..something that is not monotonous..something that will pay me to keep fit! And that was exactly what the army offered! Its true your experience in the army don't count for anything when you apply for a second job in the future, and you might also add on that you don't learn anything in life there in the army. But i beg to differ especially since i'm in Signals. I have learnt enough networking to probably even set up my own LAN cafe...and that was something i didn't learn in school. Think of signing on as serving an additional 4 years more than the average man. And when you do that..you get to enjoy the privileges that regulars enjoy and of course there's the money. Given the chance to choose again..i will still sign on. I don't see myself doing any better working in the outside world. I just want to save enough and be my very own boss one day. Dare to dream and you'll succeed!

The single decision i regret making in life is to give up studying in JC. I believe my whole life would have been a whole lot more different if i had stayed on. Everything will be different! I wouldn't have signed on if i only held an A-level cert, my group of friends would have been different. I most probably would be studying in NUS, SMU or NTU now! I regret not persevering. But life is not about regrets and we should always look ahead! I found very good friends in poly and i did learn a lot of things from there! Now i shall continue studying hard for my bachelors in management and get at least achieve a 2nd upper honours. Then i can proudly walk out of the army and tell them that i did my part. Its time for me to go and strike in out in the outside world!

Off topic a bit, Singapore won the right to host the first ever 2010 Youth Olympic Games! I don't understand the big hoohah but i can sense a lot of money coming in. There'll probably be more bonuses for civil servants and pocket money from the government for each and everyone of you! So people let's all cheer and be happy together to celebrate this good news!
Nick reported at 7:29 PM

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Monday, February 18, 2008

Sam opened her house to the bunch of us on friday, and what a good move it turned out to be for her! Lol. We had curry chicken and bee hoon for dinner that day and it turned out be a really expensive meal for most of us! I went there with around $67 that day in my wallet but left with only around $10 hahahaha. Yup we gambled. She was banker for the bulk of the time and it was amazing how lucky she was. She ban ban like twice, ban luck and gor leng like countless times. We would panic each time she was on 4 cards with 16 or 17 points because she will non chalently take a 5th card and clear! Resulting in the bunch of us paying double each haha. I've learnt my lesson...not gonna play cards with her next year! Lol. Laverne then joined us and we went to Geylang for some prawn noodles and frog porridge before the end of 1 expensive day haha.

I managed to lie in bed till around 5.30pm the next day before meeting up with Valencia. I was really lucky that day because i wouldn't have had so much fun if i had been mobilised. Valencia got a $200 voucher at ilLido from some company event and she subsidised Sham, Christine and I to a nice dinner. This italian cuisine restaurant is located at Sentosa Golf Club and its really fine dining. Of course nothing is cheap there...the $200 wasn't enough for the 4 of us. The bill came up to around $307 but thats because we couldn't resist ordering their desserts each for one of us hahaha. Valencia had the Creme Brule while the other 3 of us ordered the Chocolate Lava Cake. I think the name itself is enough to make you drool..what a feast it turned out to be.


Sham, myself and Christine just before our dinner


Sham, myself and Valencia waiting for the food to arrive!


Our snack there..some crispy dry bread


I ordered the Veal Chop


Sham's Dory Fillet


Valencia's Creme Brule


Our Chocolate Lava Cake


Check out the chocolate oozing out...oh my


The remains on my plate after 5 mins


Wicked Witch Christine lol


Valen and Christine with our drinks at Timbre

After dinner, we decided to head down to Timbre 1. The band GoodFellas was performing that night and they were not bad at all! I stayed till around after the 2nd set before meeting up with Weijian at Selegie for the FA Cup clash of the titans Manchester United vs Arsenal! And what a night it turned out to be for Man Utd fans, the guys wallopped the Gunners and their smooth flowing football was a joy to watch. It helped sum up the night, great dinner, great music, great result, great night lah!

Had lunch with my family at Casuarina. After lunch, Sis and I went to play golf at Queenstown. Sis got Kok Bin's experienced brother Guo Qiang to teach us the basics that day. And what fun i had that day. I think i'm kinda addicted...i'm definitely going back soon! I even have half a mind to get a golf set of my own soon hahaha! Its a pretty good way to vent your anger if you ask me!


Some yummy champagne pork chop for lunch


Plus curry fish head..yummy yummy


The objects we tried to hit as far as possible that day


Aiming and getting ready to tee off


Keeping my eyes on the ball


A 1 to 10 swing!


Guo Qiang in action


Sis in action

After golf, i went to play soccer and ended up getting trashed by the opposition. We got wallopped 7-0 hahahaha. Yes you didn't read the scoreline wrongly..it was embarassing but yeah we played really badly that day so we deserve it.

I then went home for dinner where there was a second mini reunion dinner with Ah Ling and AUD's family all joining us. Oh and those kids nearly killed me last night. I turned on my Hi-Fi at around 10.30pm intending to listen to some music before sleeping and got the shock of my life because the volume was adjusted to its max and the speakers blasted in front of me giving me a huge shock. I was really tired last night and so i still managed to fall asleep soon after that crazy scare. But that wasn't the end. At 3.30am (yes i saw the clock), the Hi-Fi suddenly turned on by itself and it was again maximum volume. I literally jumped out in front out of my bed onto the floor and frantically tried to turn it off as quickly as i can. Can you imagine that kind of scare in the middle of night? Brandon or Mirah whichever of you did this please don't do it again! I'm getting old and my heart can't take this kind of shock anymore! Lol. And yup i went back to sleep with my heart still pounding like a machine gun. I never want it to happen again...it interrupted my otherwise good night rest!


Suspect number 1 Mirah


Suspect number 2 Brandon. Check out both their cheeky faces!


Oh we Lou Hei last night too. My 2nd of the CNY

Caught P.S I love you with Serene on V-day. Didn't really thought the plot was fantastic although many of my friends commented on how romantic and how sweet the movie was. Not to me...lol...


Nick reported at 7:39 PM

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Monday, February 11, 2008

It has been a longer weekend for me than most of you. The last time i stepped foot into Sungei Gedong Camp was last friday! Lol.

After the NE tour on Monday, my battalion had a dragonboat cohesion event the following day at Kallang sea sports center. The event happened courtesy of my idea but many of them disappointed me by taking MC that day. Most of you don't know this but i actually wanted to join the dragonboat team back when i was in Temasek Polytechnic together with Shawn and Laijin. But when i saw how they were just lifting weights, running and doing other things instead of rowing, i decided against joining. Scary and exhausting dragonboat might sound, but it was really all only fun that day. We were splitted into 3 teams for 3 dragonboats and there was a steerman and instructor on every boat. We rowed leisurely, had some fun rocking the boat and also raced each other. The whole thing lasted 2 hours and i was thankful the weather was cooling and awesome that day. I was pretty sure most of them had as much fun as me..i definitely won't mind going for it again!


Where we had our dragonboat event




Warming up before dragonboating




We were then given a simple introduction




Then it was time to put on our life jackets and get our oars!


Boat 1


My boat!






Awesome surroundings


After an hour of splashing, rocking, rowing and shouting!


The winning team! With me inside of course


One of the other team

After the dragonboat event, a group of us decided to play futsol at East Coast's version of The Cage. Had a great deal of fun before heading down to our battalion's cohesion chalet at Changi Fairy Point 5. Spent the whole night at the chalet playing mahjong before heading home the next day in preparation for reunion dinner. This year's reunion dinner was again held at AUD's house. Had a simple steamboat dinner as of every year before sis and i decided to head down to Yishun 10 together with Annabel and Terence for a movie. You might have guessed it right, we watched Jack Neo's Ah Long Pte Ltd. It turned out to be a very typical Jack Neo's film with a large chuck of local jokes and lousy corny animations..but to be fair to him..me and the rest of the theatre did have a fair deal of laughs.


Our Reunion dinner


The steamboat










Some random uncooked food


Yum yum








How it was like



Then 1st day of CNY arrived. I didn't buy any new clothings this lunar year and so i picked my newest top..which coincidentally happens to be the auspicious red colour...yup thats right...i wore my Manchester United jersey. The sequence of event turned out to be like every other year. First to church for mass, then to Da Yi's house in Queenstown, then to Bedok, East Coast, Marine Parade and finally Kok Bin's house in Alexandra before home.


Myself, Yanqing, Yanping and Sis


And then for the funny faces


Sis and Huishan


Sis and Huimin


Mum and Sis


Huimin, Powzhen with son Basil and Sa Yi


Terence and I in the East Coast house


Sis and Annabelle




We had dinner at Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe in Anchor Point

Day 2 was pretty much as per normal too. Went to my Ah Dio's house in the morning before dropping by my Ah Poh Yi's house. We then went to visit my Ji Yi at Winston's house before finally ending off with the usual visit to the house just beside the botanical gardens.


Ah Dio and his grand-children


In Ah Dio's house


Jaslina, Sis and Annabelle outside Ah Poh Yi's house


Kok Bin, Terence and I joined in the fun


I found some time to practice some kungfu kicks


Then Sis and I had a little fight

After visiting with my family that day, i went to Weijian's house. He opened his house this year because his parents left the country...yup and so i went to bai nian but received no ang bao in return. It was a mini party there with Jonathan, Richard, Puss, Bernerd and Weijian's gf Jiamin all present. We played some boardgame in the form of I'm The Boss before catching CJ7 at Balestier on the stroke of midnight. Turned out to be a super duper boring show. I had high expectations for it..after all...Shaolin Soccer and Kungfu Hustle were all awesomely funny. This show turned out to be not at all funny. Stephen Chow wasn't his usual humourous self and i hardly laughed the whole show.



Played mahjong at Jackie's place on Saturday before heading down to Meiwen's house for our yearly ban luck and gathering session. I gambled till i lost track of whether i won or lost. But based on gut feeling i think i won around $20 this year..a good start to a new year!

Played soccer this morning and we won 5-2! After soccer, my family and Kok Bin's family went for a dim sum brunch at Geylang. I then went home for a good afternoon nap after that before going to Serene's house to bai nian. Yup and so here i am...feeling all sad and demoralised now that the long weekend has comed to an end. I dread going to work..can't wait to leave..its a $3.7 million TOTO draw tomorrow. I bought a hope for myself..please pray for me..






The group of us


Check out the feast


Egg tarts


Hah Gao


Some dumplings


Char Siew Su


Char Siew Bao


Chee Cheong Fun with char siew


Zi bao ji


Wanton Mee
Nick reported at 12:35 AM

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Monday, February 04, 2008

The last movie i caught happened to be the very lousy Cloverfield. And that was like 2 weeks ago. Considered quite long ago already for me. I was longing to watch a movie and i managed to catch one last friday. Met up with Puss and we went to watch Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber From Fleet Street at Vivo City. What a mistake it turned out to be because i uncontrollably slept for almost half the movie. I was so damn tired i couldn't help but fall asleep on the comfortable chair of Vivo Max Theater. But i did manage to catch the gruesome throat slitting scenes and wonderful singing of Johnny Depp. You really can't help but admire what a talent he is. Not only is he able to take up and excel in every role that he acts in, he amazed everyone by showing us how well he sings too. My favourite Hollywood actor to date..bravo!



Before the movie, we had a late dinner at Shin Kushinya before we some ice cream at Haagen Daz. And guess what..both the bill came up to almost the same amount. Yes thats what exorbidant prices Haagen Daz charges for their ice cream. We could very well have settled for Bens & Jerrys and feel much happier...just that they were already closed by the time we were done with dinner. Oh and don't expect to have something to do at Vivo City before a midnight show there. There were practically nothing to do with most of the shops closed. We only managed to kill some time by hanging around in their lousy arcade.


My cookie crunch

It was Benny's birthday on Saturday and we went to MOS for a small party. Somehow i just didn't learn from past bad experiences...yes MOS is still bad...super boring. I was at Smoove's crowded dance floor and i had this fat woman behind me grinding me. There was also a guy that came so close i could feel his heavy breathing down my neck. Not only that..there were many other crazy insane high guys surrounding me...i felt super disgusted and i walked out soon after lol. I doubt i would ever step into MOS again for a party!

Arranged for mahjong with Freddy and Jackie last night but was unable to find a 4th leg. In the end, Freddy's gf Sara decided that she will be the 4th player although it would be her first time playing. We spent half the time teaching her how to play and ended up playing only half a round because i would have to wake up early the next morning. Before mahjong, i settled dinner via AMK's Macs' drive-thru. I ordered their prosperity burger but it didn't help me in the end coz i lost money in mahjong..yeah right prosperity burger lol. Oh and i changed my green tea in the meal to a limeade and they charged me an extra $2.55 for that! How ridiculous does that sound? I didn't make a fuss though because i was already rushing for the mahjong session. Damn you MacDonalds! No wonder they say the rich are getting richer and the poor like me are getting poorer!

On the drive to Jackie's house, i decided that i was too hungry to wait. So i took out the packet of fries and started eating. Then a sudden crazy thought came to my mind. I was wondering what would have happened if the police had caught me eating my fries while driving..would they have stopped me and fined me for dangerous driving? I can't imagine what a funny incident that will turn out to be. What if it was a camera that caught me in the act? That would have been way funnier. I must have been insane or something because i was laughing to myself in the car while thinking of that lol. I won't want that to happen though of course...the joke would have been on me having to pay a hefty fine and probably have some points deducted too.

My battalion had a National Education tour today. It was a no work day for all of us. We met up at East Coast Park early in the morning and had a short run before we proceeded for our tour. The first place they brought us to was the Singapore Crocodile Farm just off Serangoon Road. Although i do know of the place's existence having past by it many times, i've never been inside. And what an interesting place it turned out to be. There were really crocodiles, canines and alligators inside. And they fed them in front of us too! They then proceeded to describe to us how they were killed, skinned and processed for their leather products and also crocodile meat. I do however have doubts as to who at our age will still fancy crocodile leather products?






Crocodile feeding


They were pretty huge

They then brought us to the temple just opposite the crocodile farm. The temple is apparently more than 80 years old already with a little bit of history behind it.


The temple whose name i don't exactly know


The burner?

After the temple, we were brought to the Japanese cemetery located within those private housings inside Kovan. I never knew such a place existed but what a nice place it turned out to be. It was neither eerie nor spooky like what most cemeteries are. It was clean and green..just like a nice park. The guide then proceeded and told us many stories..most of them WW2 stories.


The shrine in the middle of the cemetery








It don't look like a cemetery doesn't it? Looks pretty much like the enchanted garden

The last stop of the tour was a sand farm. Yes you didn't read wrongly...its a sand farm just off Lor Halus. I've never known how precious sand is to Singapore till this very day. What an enriching tour it turned out to be. And you guys thought Singapore is small..there's so many places that you haven been to!


Hell lot of sand


Sand farm offices


Trucks used for sand transportation



The day didn't end there of course. How can i resist when i have colleagues jioing me for mahjong? Ended up playing mahjong at Nelson's place till around 8.30pm before i met up with my family for some groceries shopping at AMK Hub NTUC Xtra. And hella we spent $245 there. Yes...$245...my mum told me we broke the record...you can imagine how much groceries we bought...thats way a lot for a small family of 4 like mine. Haha and i felt guilty seeing the amount of plastic bags we're using. Yes the save the environment campaign did have an impact on me.
Nick reported at 11:19 PM

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Friday, February 29, 2008

I had to submit a post today. Its 29th February for goodness sake. This day happens like just once every 4 years! As frequent as the always eagerly anticipated soccer World Cup!

Happy leap years guys.
Nick reported at 9:09 PM

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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Yup i caught the play with my mum, sis and Kok Bin last Sunday. Although its a re-run of the same play they had last july, the tickets were still very much in demand. It occured to me suddenly one day at work that i wanted to watch it so i asked the rest if they wanted to watch with me. By the time we wanted to get tickets, we realised that there were only the $38 (restricted viewing) seats left. We went ahead and bought them anyway.

If you've been to the esplanade for a play or musical whatsoever, you would probably know where the restricted viewing seats are. They are at the sides of the theatre and it was really weird watching the play from there. We had to stretch our heads and hands over the balcony to watch the whole time. And if you're someone thats afraid of heights, you probably won't want to watch a play from that position.


In my seat


Kok Bin in his seat..yup thats the balcony i'm talking about


Mum as usual reading everywhere she goes


Photowhores sis and I taking pictures with the esplanade as our background during the break


Just outside the theatre


With no time machine invented yet, photographs are the best way you can relive your memories! Never miss a shot!

Despite the uncomfortable position i was in while watching the play, i thoroughly enjoyed the play and laughed quite a lot. The songs were good, the acting was good, the props were good and the jokes were even better! They even poked fun at our very own domineering political party and its founder! No malicious intents of course or we won't be watching it already lol. I think that they'll be having their last run today evening...i would have recommended that you go catch it to laugh and destress yourself after a long day at work, but its all too late now..look forward to the next re-run guys!





My exam is coming up...there'll be no weekends from today onwards till 8th March. Oh speaking of 8th March..my sis booked her wedding night to be 8th March 2009! Just 2 days before my birthday! I can probably be invited on stage for you guys to yum seng me too for a double celebration! Congrats to sis! So looking forward! It should be pretty exciting..my only sibling's wedding!

Found time last Monday after work for a nice dinner at Old Airport Road's Market. Dropped by there before going for my Godmother's father's wake at East Coast. Although i didn't know him personally nor seen him around before, i sincerely hope that he has moved on to a better place.

Yup there's always space on my blog for pictures of food. Here's some food we enjoyed at Old Airport Road! Sis took the pictures of course.


I ordered chicken chop


The grilled sambal stingray i ordered for all of us


An obvious lack of communication, mum had the same exact idea and ordered another one!


Ah Chen Yi's oyster omelette


Ah Kor's fried carrot cake


Sis's prawn mee


And of course..how can you not have some sugarcane juice


Me and my Godfather. Together with his 2 grandchildren little Aaron and Fiona!

Oh i forgot to mention that i caught Juno with Valencia, Sham and Elizabeth last Friday. I got to admit, i fell asleep in the cinema again. Not that the show wasn't good, I was just too tired. Its a good show with witty jokes and conversations. Most of my friends loved it..you should too.


Nick reported at 10:26 PM

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

To heyhey's request for some advice from me, i don't think i can put it all down on the chatbox, which is why i've decided to come out with this post.

Ironically, i've always shudder at the thought of having to serve in the army when i was a kid. I was a tv fanatic and there were war and army training shows every now and then. I never thought i could survive in the army and i never wanted to grow up then and be old enough for army. Look how fast time flew by. Well..to be honest, I've had any regrets signing on. And I don't think i'm lagging behind my peers too either. On the contrary, i think i actually had a better head start and get to live life comfortably at a much younger age. I dare say not many 22 years olds can afford a car of their own and still have enough to go around enjoying other kinds of entertainments and luxuries in life. Moreover, i'm also pursuing my bachelors part time and in 1 year time i'll graduate..putting me almost on par with most of my peers! Of course, all this wouldn't be possible if not for some financial support from Mum and i would like to thank her a lot for it!

I've been part timing in various parts of my life working in factories, offices, lounges and service lines and i didn't like any of them. And that contributed to part of my decision to sign on. I wanted an outdoor job..something that is not monotonous..something that will pay me to keep fit! And that was exactly what the army offered! Its true your experience in the army don't count for anything when you apply for a second job in the future, and you might also add on that you don't learn anything in life there in the army. But i beg to differ especially since i'm in Signals. I have learnt enough networking to probably even set up my own LAN cafe...and that was something i didn't learn in school. Think of signing on as serving an additional 4 years more than the average man. And when you do that..you get to enjoy the privileges that regulars enjoy and of course there's the money. Given the chance to choose again..i will still sign on. I don't see myself doing any better working in the outside world. I just want to save enough and be my very own boss one day. Dare to dream and you'll succeed!

The single decision i regret making in life is to give up studying in JC. I believe my whole life would have been a whole lot more different if i had stayed on. Everything will be different! I wouldn't have signed on if i only held an A-level cert, my group of friends would have been different. I most probably would be studying in NUS, SMU or NTU now! I regret not persevering. But life is not about regrets and we should always look ahead! I found very good friends in poly and i did learn a lot of things from there! Now i shall continue studying hard for my bachelors in management and get at least achieve a 2nd upper honours. Then i can proudly walk out of the army and tell them that i did my part. Its time for me to go and strike in out in the outside world!

Off topic a bit, Singapore won the right to host the first ever 2010 Youth Olympic Games! I don't understand the big hoohah but i can sense a lot of money coming in. There'll probably be more bonuses for civil servants and pocket money from the government for each and everyone of you! So people let's all cheer and be happy together to celebrate this good news!
Nick reported at 7:29 PM

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Monday, February 18, 2008

Sam opened her house to the bunch of us on friday, and what a good move it turned out to be for her! Lol. We had curry chicken and bee hoon for dinner that day and it turned out be a really expensive meal for most of us! I went there with around $67 that day in my wallet but left with only around $10 hahahaha. Yup we gambled. She was banker for the bulk of the time and it was amazing how lucky she was. She ban ban like twice, ban luck and gor leng like countless times. We would panic each time she was on 4 cards with 16 or 17 points because she will non chalently take a 5th card and clear! Resulting in the bunch of us paying double each haha. I've learnt my lesson...not gonna play cards with her next year! Lol. Laverne then joined us and we went to Geylang for some prawn noodles and frog porridge before the end of 1 expensive day haha.

I managed to lie in bed till around 5.30pm the next day before meeting up with Valencia. I was really lucky that day because i wouldn't have had so much fun if i had been mobilised. Valencia got a $200 voucher at ilLido from some company event and she subsidised Sham, Christine and I to a nice dinner. This italian cuisine restaurant is located at Sentosa Golf Club and its really fine dining. Of course nothing is cheap there...the $200 wasn't enough for the 4 of us. The bill came up to around $307 but thats because we couldn't resist ordering their desserts each for one of us hahaha. Valencia had the Creme Brule while the other 3 of us ordered the Chocolate Lava Cake. I think the name itself is enough to make you drool..what a feast it turned out to be.


Sham, myself and Christine just before our dinner


Sham, myself and Valencia waiting for the food to arrive!


Our snack there..some crispy dry bread


I ordered the Veal Chop


Sham's Dory Fillet


Valencia's Creme Brule


Our Chocolate Lava Cake


Check out the chocolate oozing out...oh my


The remains on my plate after 5 mins


Wicked Witch Christine lol


Valen and Christine with our drinks at Timbre

After dinner, we decided to head down to Timbre 1. The band GoodFellas was performing that night and they were not bad at all! I stayed till around after the 2nd set before meeting up with Weijian at Selegie for the FA Cup clash of the titans Manchester United vs Arsenal! And what a night it turned out to be for Man Utd fans, the guys wallopped the Gunners and their smooth flowing football was a joy to watch. It helped sum up the night, great dinner, great music, great result, great night lah!

Had lunch with my family at Casuarina. After lunch, Sis and I went to play golf at Queenstown. Sis got Kok Bin's experienced brother Guo Qiang to teach us the basics that day. And what fun i had that day. I think i'm kinda addicted...i'm definitely going back soon! I even have half a mind to get a golf set of my own soon hahaha! Its a pretty good way to vent your anger if you ask me!


Some yummy champagne pork chop for lunch


Plus curry fish head..yummy yummy


The objects we tried to hit as far as possible that day


Aiming and getting ready to tee off


Keeping my eyes on the ball


A 1 to 10 swing!


Guo Qiang in action


Sis in action

After golf, i went to play soccer and ended up getting trashed by the opposition. We got wallopped 7-0 hahahaha. Yes you didn't read the scoreline wrongly..it was embarassing but yeah we played really badly that day so we deserve it.

I then went home for dinner where there was a second mini reunion dinner with Ah Ling and AUD's family all joining us. Oh and those kids nearly killed me last night. I turned on my Hi-Fi at around 10.30pm intending to listen to some music before sleeping and got the shock of my life because the volume was adjusted to its max and the speakers blasted in front of me giving me a huge shock. I was really tired last night and so i still managed to fall asleep soon after that crazy scare. But that wasn't the end. At 3.30am (yes i saw the clock), the Hi-Fi suddenly turned on by itself and it was again maximum volume. I literally jumped out in front out of my bed onto the floor and frantically tried to turn it off as quickly as i can. Can you imagine that kind of scare in the middle of night? Brandon or Mirah whichever of you did this please don't do it again! I'm getting old and my heart can't take this kind of shock anymore! Lol. And yup i went back to sleep with my heart still pounding like a machine gun. I never want it to happen again...it interrupted my otherwise good night rest!


Suspect number 1 Mirah


Suspect number 2 Brandon. Check out both their cheeky faces!


Oh we Lou Hei last night too. My 2nd of the CNY

Caught P.S I love you with Serene on V-day. Didn't really thought the plot was fantastic although many of my friends commented on how romantic and how sweet the movie was. Not to me...lol...


Nick reported at 7:39 PM

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Monday, February 11, 2008

It has been a longer weekend for me than most of you. The last time i stepped foot into Sungei Gedong Camp was last friday! Lol.

After the NE tour on Monday, my battalion had a dragonboat cohesion event the following day at Kallang sea sports center. The event happened courtesy of my idea but many of them disappointed me by taking MC that day. Most of you don't know this but i actually wanted to join the dragonboat team back when i was in Temasek Polytechnic together with Shawn and Laijin. But when i saw how they were just lifting weights, running and doing other things instead of rowing, i decided against joining. Scary and exhausting dragonboat might sound, but it was really all only fun that day. We were splitted into 3 teams for 3 dragonboats and there was a steerman and instructor on every boat. We rowed leisurely, had some fun rocking the boat and also raced each other. The whole thing lasted 2 hours and i was thankful the weather was cooling and awesome that day. I was pretty sure most of them had as much fun as me..i definitely won't mind going for it again!


Where we had our dragonboat event




Warming up before dragonboating




We were then given a simple introduction




Then it was time to put on our life jackets and get our oars!


Boat 1


My boat!






Awesome surroundings


After an hour of splashing, rocking, rowing and shouting!


The winning team! With me inside of course


One of the other team

After the dragonboat event, a group of us decided to play futsol at East Coast's version of The Cage. Had a great deal of fun before heading down to our battalion's cohesion chalet at Changi Fairy Point 5. Spent the whole night at the chalet playing mahjong before heading home the next day in preparation for reunion dinner. This year's reunion dinner was again held at AUD's house. Had a simple steamboat dinner as of every year before sis and i decided to head down to Yishun 10 together with Annabel and Terence for a movie. You might have guessed it right, we watched Jack Neo's Ah Long Pte Ltd. It turned out to be a very typical Jack Neo's film with a large chuck of local jokes and lousy corny animations..but to be fair to him..me and the rest of the theatre did have a fair deal of laughs.


Our Reunion dinner


The steamboat










Some random uncooked food


Yum yum








How it was like



Then 1st day of CNY arrived. I didn't buy any new clothings this lunar year and so i picked my newest top..which coincidentally happens to be the auspicious red colour...yup thats right...i wore my Manchester United jersey. The sequence of event turned out to be like every other year. First to church for mass, then to Da Yi's house in Queenstown, then to Bedok, East Coast, Marine Parade and finally Kok Bin's house in Alexandra before home.


Myself, Yanqing, Yanping and Sis


And then for the funny faces


Sis and Huishan


Sis and Huimin


Mum and Sis


Huimin, Powzhen with son Basil and Sa Yi


Terence and I in the East Coast house


Sis and Annabelle




We had dinner at Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe in Anchor Point

Day 2 was pretty much as per normal too. Went to my Ah Dio's house in the morning before dropping by my Ah Poh Yi's house. We then went to visit my Ji Yi at Winston's house before finally ending off with the usual visit to the house just beside the botanical gardens.


Ah Dio and his grand-children


In Ah Dio's house


Jaslina, Sis and Annabelle outside Ah Poh Yi's house


Kok Bin, Terence and I joined in the fun


I found some time to practice some kungfu kicks


Then Sis and I had a little fight

After visiting with my family that day, i went to Weijian's house. He opened his house this year because his parents left the country...yup and so i went to bai nian but received no ang bao in return. It was a mini party there with Jonathan, Richard, Puss, Bernerd and Weijian's gf Jiamin all present. We played some boardgame in the form of I'm The Boss before catching CJ7 at Balestier on the stroke of midnight. Turned out to be a super duper boring show. I had high expectations for it..after all...Shaolin Soccer and Kungfu Hustle were all awesomely funny. This show turned out to be not at all funny. Stephen Chow wasn't his usual humourous self and i hardly laughed the whole show.



Played mahjong at Jackie's place on Saturday before heading down to Meiwen's house for our yearly ban luck and gathering session. I gambled till i lost track of whether i won or lost. But based on gut feeling i think i won around $20 this year..a good start to a new year!

Played soccer this morning and we won 5-2! After soccer, my family and Kok Bin's family went for a dim sum brunch at Geylang. I then went home for a good afternoon nap after that before going to Serene's house to bai nian. Yup and so here i am...feeling all sad and demoralised now that the long weekend has comed to an end. I dread going to work..can't wait to leave..its a $3.7 million TOTO draw tomorrow. I bought a hope for myself..please pray for me..






The group of us


Check out the feast


Egg tarts


Hah Gao


Some dumplings


Char Siew Su


Char Siew Bao


Chee Cheong Fun with char siew


Zi bao ji


Wanton Mee
Nick reported at 12:35 AM

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Monday, February 04, 2008

The last movie i caught happened to be the very lousy Cloverfield. And that was like 2 weeks ago. Considered quite long ago already for me. I was longing to watch a movie and i managed to catch one last friday. Met up with Puss and we went to watch Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber From Fleet Street at Vivo City. What a mistake it turned out to be because i uncontrollably slept for almost half the movie. I was so damn tired i couldn't help but fall asleep on the comfortable chair of Vivo Max Theater. But i did manage to catch the gruesome throat slitting scenes and wonderful singing of Johnny Depp. You really can't help but admire what a talent he is. Not only is he able to take up and excel in every role that he acts in, he amazed everyone by showing us how well he sings too. My favourite Hollywood actor to date..bravo!



Before the movie, we had a late dinner at Shin Kushinya before we some ice cream at Haagen Daz. And guess what..both the bill came up to almost the same amount. Yes thats what exorbidant prices Haagen Daz charges for their ice cream. We could very well have settled for Bens & Jerrys and feel much happier...just that they were already closed by the time we were done with dinner. Oh and don't expect to have something to do at Vivo City before a midnight show there. There were practically nothing to do with most of the shops closed. We only managed to kill some time by hanging around in their lousy arcade.


My cookie crunch

It was Benny's birthday on Saturday and we went to MOS for a small party. Somehow i just didn't learn from past bad experiences...yes MOS is still bad...super boring. I was at Smoove's crowded dance floor and i had this fat woman behind me grinding me. There was also a guy that came so close i could feel his heavy breathing down my neck. Not only that..there were many other crazy insane high guys surrounding me...i felt super disgusted and i walked out soon after lol. I doubt i would ever step into MOS again for a party!

Arranged for mahjong with Freddy and Jackie last night but was unable to find a 4th leg. In the end, Freddy's gf Sara decided that she will be the 4th player although it would be her first time playing. We spent half the time teaching her how to play and ended up playing only half a round because i would have to wake up early the next morning. Before mahjong, i settled dinner via AMK's Macs' drive-thru. I ordered their prosperity burger but it didn't help me in the end coz i lost money in mahjong..yeah right prosperity burger lol. Oh and i changed my green tea in the meal to a limeade and they charged me an extra $2.55 for that! How ridiculous does that sound? I didn't make a fuss though because i was already rushing for the mahjong session. Damn you MacDonalds! No wonder they say the rich are getting richer and the poor like me are getting poorer!

On the drive to Jackie's house, i decided that i was too hungry to wait. So i took out the packet of fries and started eating. Then a sudden crazy thought came to my mind. I was wondering what would have happened if the police had caught me eating my fries while driving..would they have stopped me and fined me for dangerous driving? I can't imagine what a funny incident that will turn out to be. What if it was a camera that caught me in the act? That would have been way funnier. I must have been insane or something because i was laughing to myself in the car while thinking of that lol. I won't want that to happen though of course...the joke would have been on me having to pay a hefty fine and probably have some points deducted too.

My battalion had a National Education tour today. It was a no work day for all of us. We met up at East Coast Park early in the morning and had a short run before we proceeded for our tour. The first place they brought us to was the Singapore Crocodile Farm just off Serangoon Road. Although i do know of the place's existence having past by it many times, i've never been inside. And what an interesting place it turned out to be. There were really crocodiles, canines and alligators inside. And they fed them in front of us too! They then proceeded to describe to us how they were killed, skinned and processed for their leather products and also crocodile meat. I do however have doubts as to who at our age will still fancy crocodile leather products?






Crocodile feeding


They were pretty huge

They then brought us to the temple just opposite the crocodile farm. The temple is apparently more than 80 years old already with a little bit of history behind it.


The temple whose name i don't exactly know


The burner?

After the temple, we were brought to the Japanese cemetery located within those private housings inside Kovan. I never knew such a place existed but what a nice place it turned out to be. It was neither eerie nor spooky like what most cemeteries are. It was clean and green..just like a nice park. The guide then proceeded and told us many stories..most of them WW2 stories.


The shrine in the middle of the cemetery








It don't look like a cemetery doesn't it? Looks pretty much like the enchanted garden

The last stop of the tour was a sand farm. Yes you didn't read wrongly...its a sand farm just off Lor Halus. I've never known how precious sand is to Singapore till this very day. What an enriching tour it turned out to be. And you guys thought Singapore is small..there's so many places that you haven been to!


Hell lot of sand


Sand farm offices


Trucks used for sand transportation



The day didn't end there of course. How can i resist when i have colleagues jioing me for mahjong? Ended up playing mahjong at Nelson's place till around 8.30pm before i met up with my family for some groceries shopping at AMK Hub NTUC Xtra. And hella we spent $245 there. Yes...$245...my mum told me we broke the record...you can imagine how much groceries we bought...thats way a lot for a small family of 4 like mine. Haha and i felt guilty seeing the amount of plastic bags we're using. Yes the save the environment campaign did have an impact on me.
Nick reported at 11:19 PM

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