"excuse me sir, your left...

... headlight has blown."

i heard that as i drove past the gate slightly after 9pm on the first night of my ict.

and so i went to autobacs to have it changed this morning after my ict ippt.

guy: do you want the white light or yellow light?
me: the same as the previous headlight, i think its yellow.
guy: do you want those extra bright ones?
me: no, i think it will be very distracting on other drivers.
guy: ... ... (he must be thinking: this guy must be a weirdo)

and so i got it fixed for $48, inclusive of labour.

还是妈妈做的粽子好吃

its the time of the year again.
a tradition that dies with the person who knows it.
i am thankful that i still get to taste it again.
妈妈做的就是有妈妈的味道。
超好吃！ 

basilico & 55

i took my parents to basilico at the regent for a dinner last night for a father's day treat when my mum showed me a cpf letter belonging to my dad. he will be 55 in august and hence, will be eligible to withdraw his cpf monies. of course the issue of what to do with the amount came up and naturally it evolved into getting a new home, especially when they had just visited my aunt's new home at the pinnacle last week.

i have no intention to get a hdb and get myself tied up for the rest of my life over a hdb flat. i think many singaporeans are just to anxious to get a flat, especially the newly weds. they do not consider the implications of getting a public housing in singapore. on the surface, hdb claims that its primary objective is to provide a roof for singaporeans (attractive grants) and they make it very explicit that foreigners are not eligible for such preferential treatment. so this group of people can either opt for resale flats (no grants) or private property (commercial interests rates).

it really seems that hdb is taking care of singaporeans in this sense but really, if one bothers to analyze the situation, it is obvious that the ones who stand to gain are the foreigners when they dispose off their property and leave the country. i find it appalling that hdb flats are often the first and only (4 in 5 people) choice made by singaporeans. im really not sure if hdb has done well in their claim to provide a roof over every singaporean but i think their success comes from brain washing the locals to make them their first choice when it comes to getting a new home.

sunrise

when the world is still in slumber...

lover undercover

13 March 2010

11th Hour - Melody Gardot

Esplanade Concert Hall

update:

her singing was flawless but she didnt sing lady undercover.

IT Show 2010

first time at the IT show.

2mbps for only $14.52/mth.

鸡同鸭讲 / 啼笑皆非

Dear 君,

Thank you for your reservation.
Triple room is 20,212yen for 3 parsons for one night.
How would you like your it?
We wait for a reply.

Hotel Osaka
Room reservations




Dear Hotel Osaka,

Thank you for your reply.

Please see my reservation as attached.

(the underlined part reads: "a standard twin room for three parsons is 2 beds and extra bed." (a standard twin room is JPY13,000, without tax.)

I do not need a triple room.
I need the standard twin for three parsons with 2 beds and extra bed.

Thank you.




Dear 君,

The point having you point it out guides a room of the standard twin.
It can use this room to three people.
In addition, the bed becomes two of them because it is two people that a visitor has you make reservations.
It become the rate that guided three beds in the case of the hope the other day.
Triple room is 20,212yen for 3 parsons for one night.
We wait for a reply.

Hotel Osaka
Room reservations

christmas in tokyo

uniquely singapore

this is really classic example of not knowing what they are queuing for. obviously the promotion (not even a sale) is meant for employees and their family / friends holding on to the vouchers. yet people are willing to stand in the queue just to get into the shop. happy birthday singapore. you have done well in your education!

1st day of school

towards a firmer and perkier butt. (note that at what seems to be the ending lies another 5 more segments of steeper steps)

its a deal...

... and sold for $60K

shock absorbers

"your front shock absorbers are leaking gas"


so off comes the old pair...


... and in comes the new pair @ $180 each. the final bill for this servicing: $661.40
happy birthday to me!

i broke my toenail again

about 10 years ago, a same accident happened to me. it caused my entire 4th toenail to be ripped off.

it happened again last week and i could only cut off half the toenail one week later:

and this time when i caught my toe underneath the door, it didnt stop bleeding until 4hours later.

清明时节雨纷纷

i went home on saturday morning to pick my parents up for our annual trip to the cemetery and as i was walking towards the lift, i saw miss kok kok shoes waiting for the bus:

definitely not going to the lim chu kang cemetery i thought. giggles :)

the traffic was ok and the navigator surprisingly made me take a earlier turn and we ended up having to cut across 2 plots of graves on foot before reaching my grandma's.

this year's affair seemed a hasty one. not sure if its the scorching sun and ironically, my mum had such a good time at the new annex at jurong point. we had our lunch at 鼎泰丰 which she was very pleased with their 拉面 and of course the famous 小笼包.

we toured the entire jurong point after lunch and headed for a hk style dessert shop call 记得吃 (gei dak sek). again my mom raved about the desserts and she simply adored the 炖蛋撞姜, something which we missed when we were in macau last year.

essentially, food prevailed the entire afternoon.

170, jam, kim gary, padini & strawberry yogurt

i woke up this morning and decided to buy some new shirts for work next week. the first thing that came into my mind was padini.

hence i left house at 9:45am and waited for the bus to come. the journey to the causeway was quite fast but i met with an unexpected at the causeway. it took 1hr 30mins to clear both customs and i reached city square slightly past 12.

by then i was already growling but i went to padini to have a preview first. the first thing i saw was a red sign that says: SALE

im so thrilled and fastened my pace to see the percentage of discounts: 20% to 50%

amazing. i came at the right time!

after a preliminary round of scanning, i decided not to buy new pants for the time being and quickly walked out the store to look for kim gary.

it wasnt crowded when i got there and was quickly ushered to a table. i ordered mark 6 curry with rice and wrongly ordered an iced coffee which turned out to suit my taste. the curry, baked with cheese, is spicy hot. yummy! and for only rm 15, it comes with a vegetable soup, service charge and taxes. i doubt the singapore outlet will be even close this price.

after lunch, i headed back to padini fully charged. i zoomed straight to the shirts and bought 3 at 50% off. come to think of it, its less than sgd 70 for the 3 shirts. i should have just bought more. maybe i can go again tomorrow. ha ha!

after that i headed back home and made fresh strawberry yogurt for mummy. she is 6yrs old today. such an adorable mummy. love her, love her, love her.

pandora's box

stressed!
stressed!
stressed!

the letter which i have been waiting for has just arrived.
i opened it excitedly and am now feeling ambivalent after opening it.

the stakes have just been raised.

new toy for 2009

presenting...

the nintendo wii
yippie!!!

&

the rayman raving rabbids series

loads of fun in front of the tv!

reunion dinner (reprise)

omg!

omg!

omg!

its was a mistake on both sides.
me, for being trusting that they'd live up to their reputation.
them, for failing miserably on their tasks:

20mins of clueless waiting after the yu sheng,

only to find out that our shark's fins had swam to another table.
all of a sudden, 3 dishes squeezed their way to the dining table at once.
for whatever reason, the red grouper was not red at all.
and all the food served was cold.

in the end, the ordeal lasted 2.5hours.
total embarrassment to host dinner at min jiang @ one rochester.
and of course it became the sizzling hot gossip the following day among my relatives.

好事不出门，坏事传千里.

but...


the ultimate award still goes to st regis:

already fuming half way through my dinner, i received a call from them, asking if i'd still be going down for dinner. apparently they didnt even bother to send me their cny menu which i have requested for and they took it that i have reserved a table.


how dare you!
i screamed over the phone.


i really cant figure what these people are thinking.

how do i know its cny?

pineapple tarts, bak gua... and this is:

a little night music

i caught this play when i was in london.
i remember it was freezing when i was waiting for the bus after the play had ended, to the extent to shaking even after boarding the bus.
i hate songs which keeps repeating and particularly find a few songs irritating.
the plot, i consider SCANDALOUS...