Hong Kong

It was a last minute decision to head to HK for a short trip for R&R.

Had a very wonderful trip ... only flaw was that it was toooo short.

But very happy to meet up with a very old friend, someone whom I have not seen in years.  He doesn't seem to have aged.  Still look the same .... only I've seen that he has somehow mellowed.  Not so stubborn, and more diplomatic.  More forgiving of others' opinions.

Had a fantastic time and a great way to relax ...... before another busy busy week at work starting tomorrow.

Some pics to remember the good times by ..... 

Till the next trip ! 

Cameron Highlands & The Strawberry Family

LT, the ringleader, who started planning MONTHS ago rounded up a few of us to join him in the Project Deepavali Makansutra.

And so the four of us boys and girls gathered in Jurong last Friday evening and headed up to M'sia for a long weekend of food, fun and fantastic company.

LT assigned each of us a role, with LT being the leader of the pack. YK, the vehicle controller, AL as the treasurer and me, the slacker. :P I was given a list of the places to jiak and my job was to decide what to eat. Easy job eh ? :P

We rested in KL for the night, but not before a late dinner followed by supper. The next mrn we headed out early for breakfast, but the dimsum that we had was lousy and hence we ended up back in our hotel for their complimentary breakfast which by the way tasted much better.

It took us another few hours before we reached Cameron Highlands. We checked in to our accomo at The Lakehouse. Oh, it was such a quaint and pretty place!! We luv it (ok, at least I do). The place looked like an old English cottage with a cosy lounge, restaurant and 18 rooms. We stayed in one of the suites which was fairly spacious, with all the basic amenities except that there is no TV! Ok, but it really forces one to find other entertainment instead. In fact, think we managed to interact more without the TV to distract us. We watched a movie about marathon (thanks to LT for bringing the DVD!!! So well planned!!!), we chatted over supper around the dining table viewing photos and gathered around our bed to chat late into the night. That was quite fun really. The beauty of the lack of modern distractions like the TV & internet.

It was a really nice & relaxing weekend with the bunch. There were lots of easy banter and laughter. The company was great and everyone was easy-going and very agreeable. We just headed anywhere we felt like going, in very relaxed pace. We whiled away our time in Starbucks, in the night market after dinner and just soaked in the sights (and food) and had tons of laughs at one another.

The only unfortunate thing was that I caught a cold in the 2nd day no thanks to the odd weather in Cameron that started out HOT and turned chilly in the late PM. Thankfully YK had meds with him that he gallantly shared with me, else I would be in worse condition now ...

All in all a very good trip thanks to LT for organising and the very easy and nice company of the group. I couldn't have asked for more :)

PS: And oh, Roentgen, the food pics are from us all to you. WAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *evil luff*

ContentedJazzy

Japan 31 Jul - 10 Aug

Yeah, am back from my holiday to Hokkaido & Tokyo. My first trip to Japan and it was a last minute arranged trip (what's new?) and just glad we made it. :)

I've been plunged back to the realities of working life too quickly and been busy ever since. Didn't have (and still don't) the mood to blog and organising the pics are taking way too much time. Just too physically and mentally lethargic right now.

Realised the pics I took didn't do the place justice ... but anyhow ... some pics here to capture the moments ...




These are some of my key takeaways of Japan ...

1. Children are very well-behaved! These tykes do not make it a habit to run around, scream like their lungs are going to burst, behave rudely to one another and act like spoilt prince and princesses. They behave themselves in public and independent and best of all, they seem to have respect for their elders. As my friend commented, they seem to retain their childhood (tong1 zhen1). Yes indeed. If kids in SG can be so well-behaved, don't think they would repulse me this much.
   
   
2. Place is clean. Their toilets are CLEAN. Its always dry, not reeking of urine, toilet seats are clean and they have toilet seat covers in most of their toilets. Not to mention their toilets that can play a tune to mask the noises one make while answering the call of nature, cleaning after you etc. Its so common its the de facto in any toilet that we visit. So much so the guide was SOO shocked and surprised when we told her no, SG has no such facilities. She thought it was something we would have equipped ourselves with long ago. Ah bummer to us.


3. Eco-friendly. In addition to being clean, they have good civic responsibility towards the environment. You don't often spot litter in Hokkaido. There are few (if any) trashbins along the streets and according to the guide, their kids are taught in school to bring a trashbag with them whenever they leave the house so that they can keep all the rubbish in the bag. They would only dispose of the rubbish when they are home, and they would SORT through the garbage and separate into different categories (they have gone so fine grained as to separate the bottles from the caps etc.). When I see trashbins, its always separated into 2 (combustibles, non-combustibles) or 4 sections (magazines/newspapers, PET bottles, others etc.). Its amazing how eco-friendly they are.
   


4. They walk a lot. The subway stations can be huge. Switching between trains can mean a very long walk including climbs up flights of stairs (and no, they don't pair every staircase with an escalator. They climb. Period)

Oh, and what's with Jap women ?? Why are they all so slender and petite ?? Even the many mothers that I see with babies/toddlers in prams still managed to maintain a very good figure. My friend's theory was that the fat ones stayed at home and wouldn't be out shopping or strolling in the crowded areas :P True. I'm seldom seen at Orchard. haha

Now back to the reality of life ...

KL 7-9 Mar

I just came back from my department retreat in KL.

Initially was concerned about the possible massive jams at the checkpoint no thanks to that JI fugitive, and the M'sia elections added to the concerns. Safety was of utmost concern in many of our minds ... but everything had been paid for and the big boss decided to go ahead ... so everything went ahead as planned.

Thankfully the jam at Tuas wasn't as bad as I imagined. It took a while for the coach to reach the checkpoint, but other than that, everything went smoothly and all was fine & dandy.

Talking about the coach, everyone was embarrassed about the quality of the coach we were in. While stuck in the jam at the customs, we were all comparing the other coaches lined up behind us and we could only laughed at our own "predicament" and the lack of class in our mode of transport :P We even joked about tearing away the tag pasted in front of our coach identifying our organisation to avoid further humiliation! Ok lah, it was fun just laughing at ourselves.

The retreat wasn't exciting ... there really wasn't much to do there (shopping was atrociously boring & the food sux big time - talk about spending loads on their restaurants, I think I rather have our own hawker food or cze char :P). But it was good to spend some time with colleagues and chat about stuff other than work. And good to use the opportunity to know some of the newer colleagues. Imagine there are some whom I don't even know their names!

The trip also brought back fond memories about the last time i was in KL - Pacesetters 2007. I still remember fondly the evening we were stuck in a massive downpour that came unannounced and got us drenched. We had to seek shelter in this little hut right outside a construction site! And guess what, I was just recounting this very funny incident to one of my colleagues (who is also a very dear friend) that i realised that this construction site is now a brand new shopping mall which opened like just 3 months ago! My hotel is very near to this mall so everytime I passed by this mall on my way back to the hotel, I will always smile to myself and recall the fond memories I had with this gang of good friends then. How time flies ....

We flew back on jetstar / tiger airways (yes, budget air some more!!!! *roll eyes*) and its my first time on one. It is truly no frills and the air craft seems a tad old but still ok lah ... nothing that got me very worried except when taking off when the plane rocked from side to side. It got one of my younger colleagues worried and my friend and I just laughed it off. As my friend said, if anything were to happen, it would be quick. hahahahah

Oh, and my group won the first prize in one of those games which earned us a $300 dining voucher! Yippeee! Can grow more bui! :P

All in all, a good break. Thankfully the streets in KL were safe (pretty quiet actually, we figured many have returned to their hometowns for voting?) and we didn't encounter any issues or scares there.

鼠年行大运！

KJ wishes everyone ....

新年快乐
事事顺利
财源滚滚

To those studying .... 学业进步

To those slogging ... 步步高升

and most important of all ... 身体健康!

I Want To Go!!!!

there!!!

88 Mins Spin Challenge

CNY Day 2
After a very sinful brunch with the gang at Jalan Kayu (filled with egg & kosong prata, chicken murtabak & ice milo), BOP & myself headed to the gym for a special CNY class - 88 mins spin challenge. I wasn't confident in completing 88 mins with my current state of fitness but since BOP is game to try, I thought just do what I can and leave anytime my legs give way leaving her to complete the 88 mins while I wait at the lounge for her. We failed in our attempt to convince cool dude to join us at the gym despite our endless cajoling, enticement (of cool babes at the gym -__-").

We met up with Balasing, the distinguished guest of BOP, at FF Raffles Quay. There were some minor glitches with the class, it seemed to be over-booked with more attendees than available bikes. Thankfully for the two chivalorous guys (Ali - one of the FF trainers, and Eddie - the former RL guy) who gave up their seats (although Eddie was the FIRST to sign in - I know coz I registered and saw his name there) so that two other ladies who didn't manage to register (but subtly insisted on joining the class) could attend the class.

The trainer (Faye) briefed us about the spin challenge and reassured us that there will be sufficient breaks and we could pull back anytime we feel tired. Knowing that I sometimes couldn't even last more than 30mins before panting like a someone who just ran up 88 floors, I didn't dare to turn up my resistance too much nor push myself too hard. Really have to kow tow to Faye for leading the class, shouting instructions while spinning and keeping the energy level of the class up. It surely is a feat! She reminded me of this trainer (Sun) back in my Planet days, who would conduct 2 spin classes back to back every Wednesday. These gals are just amazingly fit!

The last 10 to 15 mins of the class was really something. Faye let us have a taste of what it was like that the trainers had to go through during their "spin clinics". They would go through rounds of hard spin peppered with short rest breaks - basically to challenge the body and to push it over its limit. I don't really know how to describe the programme, so I wouldn't even attempt to. Anyway, by then my legs were almost jelly and I could just try to do what I can to finish up the spin challenge. Both BOP & Balasing seem none the worse for wear (kow tow) and if I was not mistaken this was Bala's first spin class *eyes popped out from sockets*

The class started at 1pm and hence ended at 2:28pm. What an auspicious number yeah? 228, that should mean yi-yi-fatt in cantonese which loosely translates to easy to strike it rich ? HUAT ah! :P

I replenished with 100+ right after the class. Its one of the rare times that I would quench my thirst with 100+ rather than plain water right after exercise coz I always think drinking water is more than enough for me, considering I don't exercise much. But I just thought 88 mins of spin does allow me a little reward and oh boy, 100+ never tasted this good :P

The three of us rested and nuah-ed a while at the lounge, chit chatting away before we showered and left the gym. Our plan of going for a swim went out the window as it started raining during the spin class. Aw just as well coz I don't think I'll be able to swim either haha :P

We headed to Cityhall for some drinks & food and more chit chat. Seldom get to talk to Bala much, so all thanks to BOP that I got to catch up with him a little over tea. Good to see Bala again and hopefully we will get to catch up over some other spin sessions in the near future. haha

Happy 大年初一 = GOOD !! (Part II)

While still waiting for DOP to join us for the movie at 5:08pm in The Cathay, we decided to head there to hunt for any open KPJ (kopi-joint) to hang out and nuah some more.

We went floor to floor to check out which shops were open but sadly most of the shops weren't and the only kpj that was open was Starbucks but it was packed! We didn't think such a noisy place is conducive for nuah-ing. Right beside Starbucks was this Billy Bombers and by stark contrast, that place was EMPTY. Though we saw the staff preparing salad or something, we just couldn't be sure whether it was even open for business yet ! Anyway, ended up it was and we were like their only patrons around, I wanted to order some dessert but nothing there entices me so ended up we just ordered a basket of onion rings and some drinks to again pig out and nuah. Had a good chat with NOO at Billy Bombers over onion rings about travel, families and anything under the sun. We were getting worried that DOP might fly us aeroplane and was just about to sms her when I spotted her with a hunk crossing the road *raised eyebrow* :P *wolf whistle*

Just Follow Law
We wanted to catch this movie since watching the trailers many weeks back. Think all Singaporeans will be able to assimilate with this movie, especially those formerly from the public sector (yours sincerely being one of them haha). Movie was alright. Agree with DOP that this isn't the best of Jack Neo's production (come to think of it I don't really watch his movies :P). But all in all, an ok show and interestingly the movie made me laugh over many of their silly little antics. And for someone who didn't like Fann Wong, I have to give her some credit for her role in this movie. I wouldn't say excellent acting, but have to commend her for daring to deviate from her usual glamorous portrayals and play the part of a men in a woman's body and acting that part semi-convincingly.

Right after the movie, we decided to work off a little bit of our guilt (from all the non-stop pigging out on sinful food) with a walk to Esplanade Park to catch the fireworks. Didn't really enjoy the place, it was like a massive food fare with all the little stalls selling everything that you normally see at Pasar Malams, including 2 stalls selling Ramley burgers! They even have a built-up area selling steamboat! Not one who like jostling with the crowd, I'm just glad that we left the place shortly after without waiting for the fireworks. As it was about 8+pm by then, we thought it was auspicious time for a good dinner :P So we walked back to Clarke Quay (for NOO and I, that was like the 3rd time we were walking past that stretch that day! :P) to hunt for an eatery that will attract us.

We reached the end of the stretch of eateries available and hence settled on this thai restaurant. Shortly after settling down at their outdoor dining area, we heard the loud blasts of fireworks from the Esplanade park. I feel very lucky that we were able to enjoy the fireworks in comfort, without having to squeeze with the rest of the crowd. Though parts of the view were blocked by the museum across from the river, we were still able to marvel at the spectacular view from where we were. Its interesting how things turn out sometimes, you never know what you gonna get :P We thought we wouldn't get to see any fireworks and look how lucky we were! Another GOOD sign to a GREAT year ahead! (hahaha, yes lah, me just being very silly, trying to find little things to symbolise a good year ahead. But nevermind lah, for the fun of it, and to keep our spirits up mah! No harm anyway :D)

We finished our dinner (which by the way was really lousy), walked back to the car to collect our stuff before bading farewell to go back to our respective home sweet homes. By then I was sooooo beat but yet extremely happy and contented with a well-spent lunar day 1 doing interesting stuff and having great company with friends who don't mind my company.
THANKS so much to NOO & DOP for the nice, warm company! :D

To many more great days in the year of the oink :)

BlessedJazzy

Happy 大年初一 = GOOD !!

I had a FANTASTIC & really enjoyable 大年初一!

As I don't need to do any CNY visiting nor have to stay at home to wait for relatives to visit, I always have the whole CNY to myself. Interestingly this year I found two other friends who share the same luckury :P (CNY lah, everything also must be lucky lucky haha :D). We didn't think anyone else would be free to join us on 初一 and hence we decided to spend this joyous day together to just visit, nuah, jiak, workout (yes yes, workout! to dispel at least 8% of the guilt of CNY bingeing :P), and more nuah & jiak.

Due to some pressing matters that cropped up at the very last minute on CNY eve, DOP was not able to join us for the morning activities that were initially planned. So some changes were made and NOO & I decided to carry on with our morning plans before DOP were to meet up with us.

8:28:58am. Met up with NOO for a short run. After my long stretching (nowadays I try to stretch more before starting any runs), we started our slow jog. Just few steps after we started the run, I saw this spanking new school building that turned out to be my primary school! I got really excited and trotted up the little slope to get a closer look at my school. Wow, the school is now so big ! Seeing the big school logo really evokes so many old memories of my life back in primary school!

We ran and even managed to run past the site of my old primary school. The buildings were still there and didn't look any older than what my impression of it was. What a treat to be able to see both the old and new school buildings all in a morning! Both NOO & I had fun just reminiscing about the good old school days ... funny how the school looked so much smaller, how the road leading from the school gate to the assembly area seemed so much shorter than what I remembered it to be :)

I am soooooo glad to be doing a road run on CNY day 1! Hopefully this run symbolises more good & painfree & injury-free runs for the whole year. :) A BIG BIG THANK YOU to NOO for running with me at my slow-slow & short-short distance!! *big big bow* And THANKS for reminding me to slow down my pace at some point, and to allow me to extend my run a little to reach 5km in all! Yippeee! Finally cross 5km!! Can strike off one of my wish-list for Feb liao! *super broad smile*

10:18:08am. Next up, our first visit to the new spanking Fitness First club at One Raffles Quay. DOP was originally suppose to join us at the club for some workout and had made prior arrangements for NOO to visit as a guest.

Wow! The club ...
is ....
AWESOME!!!

Its HUGE & so new, with all the new gym equipments, rows and rows of treadmills facing the waters, rows of LCD TVs, a cool corner with sofas and chairs and magazines to nuah & relax (with a wonderful view to boot). We were both in awe!

After our own conducted tour of the club, we started our respective workouts with NOO trying to build up his muscles with some rowing, while I gamely hopped on this Cardio Wave elliptical trainer thingy. I first tried out such a machine during the Mizuno Wave Run last year. Even had a pic of me doing that back then. That elliptical training takes a little getting used to. Instead of going forward like in a running motion, this one goes sideways, so it exercises a different part of your muscles. I was feeling the lethargy on my adductors very early into the workout (GREAT!) and managed to up the speed bit by bit. NOO saw how I was enjoying myself and joined me after completing bulking up his upper body (haha). I called it quits after 20 mins feeling that I have warmed up sufficiently to go for my resistance training.

I was just soooo impressed with the weights machines! They are all brand new and they even have this panel attached to each of the machines to show the number of reps you do. Later DOP told me that these machines also allow you to record your training and to customise the training accordingly ? Not sure how that is possible since it only has an (+) & (-) button only. Nevermind, I'm sure we will find out more in due course.

We were expecting the gym to be peppered more with Ang Mos out on their workouts and less of chinese (since most should be out visiting?). But what surprises us was that majority of the gym rats were chinese and only saw a handful of ang mos out pumping iron.

I finished my workout with my typical HIP strengthening exercises. Wow, even the mats are brand new and I didn't have to suffer smelling all the sweat that had soaked right into the mat when I lie face down to do some of my strengthening work. Shiok!!!

Haha, can tell NOO was just as excited as I was at the gym! He said he almost felt like a boy in a toystore with all these new gadgets to play with. I couldn't agree more! I was having loads of fun exploring the equipment too! Later NOO came over excitedly, while I was doing my strengthening exercises, to tell me about the cool Kinesis equipment that the club has. I saw those machines but had no clues what they were until NOO explained to me how they worked. Its really cool! A quick google explained what the Kinesis Equipment does:

• This revolutionary new system is constructed of four panels with unique cables, grips and weight stacks that allow movements to be easy, natural and without restrictions


• Kinesis is a unique human-centric, resistance-based training system. It is not a machine but four panels of grips, cables and weight stacks that allow for 360-degree, three-dimensional resistance-based motions


• The objective of Kinesis is to re-establish the correct balance between mind and body resulting in a better quality of life

Again another new thing that I wasn't familiar with!!! (think we very suaku because later DOP told us that FF is one of the last clubs in SG to have this equipment! -__-")

We then just nuah-ed at the club "lounge" to enjoy the beautiful sights & sky while waiting for DOP to contact us and also to plan what to do next before our movie at 5pm. We nuah-ed till our stomachs protested and guided by our growing hunger, we washed up and left our newfound toyland in search for jiak.

Not knowing what or where to eat, we decided to just walk til we find some place with food that calls out to us. Sadly, most of the shops along Clarke Quay were closed and those that were open seemed either too upmarket or not something our bak tors (though churning like a busy washing machine by then) were interested in. So our stroll for food turned into a trek and we finally found this quiet little restaurant in Robertson Quay that serves Turkish cuisine. It was quiet enough (with only 2 patrons) & neither of us had tried Turkish food so we were game to try. Our bak tors both hoorayed in unison as our food came and we finally tucked into a good relaxing lunch close to 1:08pm.

Next up .....

Onion Rings & Just Follow Law ....

Blessings from the Temple

This is the scene outside the Guan1 Yin1 temple at Waterloo Street minutes before the arrival of the Year of the Boar. This is the second year in a row I was at the temple with my sis and family to celebrate the cross over to the lunar new year, to pray to the Goddess of Mercy (Guan1 Yin1) for good health and happiness for the entire family.

Somehow we didn't think it was as crowded as the previous year (probably the result of many people celebrating their CNY overseas ?) Everyone was jostling (some order was in place due to the many policemen controlling the crowd) and waiting for the clock to strike 12 to place their burning joss-sticks into the urn.

We counted down to 12, offered our prayers and left. To a wonderful year ahead!

:)