I guess I should update after such a long while, since december it seems. Haha. Life is getting boring nowadays. Games probably don't interest me much already. I have only been playing facebook games so far. I guess I should probably get into the studying mood to prepare for my university studies. So, it's time for me to ask for notes to read through! Haha. As for work, I actually enjoy it and I am pretty fortunate to be able to work there. My job gives me the opportunity to interact with the public too although it is not often. Haha. However, I have to cut down on my spendings if not I would hardly save any money at all. I guess that's all I shall update today then. In addition, here's a song that is rather addictive. If you have heard nobody by wondergirls, take a look at gee by girls' generation. Haha.
That's all for now, hellmos signing off...
My mind's unweaving/ 10:37 pm
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Warning: Wall of text 999x damage below, read only if you are interested to find out about my trip to genting. Thank you :)
Okay, I think it's time to write about my trip to genting last week! So my mom, brother and I set off for malaysia on wed afternoon together with my uncle's family to meet with our relatives in kota tinggi first. In the end, we had to take a bus from city square to kota tinggi which took one and a half hour to reach. By then, it was time for dinner. So after dinner, we spent some time at our uncle's house chatting before leaving to board the bus at close to midnight. Before that, I was wondering whether it was safe to travel at midnight but everything turned out fine. So a total of 15, comprising six adults and nine kids (oldest me, youngest seven) boarded the bus together with some other families. So, the bus departed from kota tinggi at midnight and arrived at genting highlands close to seven. Throughout the journey, everyone just fell asleep on the bus (haha if not how to play for the whole of next day). Fortunately, it was some sort of packaged tour, so there was a tour guide to help us arrange for accommodation and other stuff. So, we went off for breakfast first before gathering back at the hotel lobby at 8 for a briefing by the tour guide. However, since it was very early in the morning, not a lot of shops were opened and only mcdonalds was available. At the briefing, the tour guide said that we could only collect our room keys at 3, which was supposedly the protocol of the hotel. So, in the meantime, he helped us to lock our luggages in a cage so that we could collect them later. Then he helped us obtain tickets to the themepark! It was so good to have a tour guide. We did not have to settle all the miscellaneous stuff ourselves. So, we got tickets that allowed us to play both the indoor and outdoor amusement parks for the whole day till midnight.
So, it was time to step into the themepark! Upon entry, we immediately rushed for the nearest attraction which turned out to be the pirate ship. The pirate ship was smaller in comparison to that at the escape themepark but nothing could beat the cool weather up in the highlands. So after a few rounds of stomach-tickling (as my cousins put it) pirate ship experience, we moved on to the jumbo elephant rides to cool down. Then we proceeded to the bumper boats where we got our jeans and bottoms wet. Next up was the four-seater roller coaster which most of my cousins had not taken before. So, they had a thrill of their time as the roller coaster rode up, turned and suddenly zoomed down and up and turned again for another two times before ending. Haha. Then they decided to play some sort of a downhill slide which I sadly did not qualify due to my weight, so I joined the adults as they made their way up to the ferris wheel. It turned out to be a very long wait for them. By the time we had turned a few rounds on the ferris wheel, the kids just started to arrive at the queue. So while they took their turn on the ferris wheel, I decided to queue up for the go-kart course right beside the ferris wheel. There were seriously a lot of students up there at this period of time, probably their end-of-year trip or something. So for the go-kart course, we were required to sign some declaration form which everyone seriously did not bother to read at all. All everyone did was just to write their name, ic number, signature and date on the form. Initially we thought they wanted to check our identification but the guy just turned a blind eye so we just moved on. For some reason, we were required to wrap up our hair, regardless of male or female, with bath caps. Then, we moved into the adjacent room to wait for our turn. When it was finally our turn, we rushed forward, hoping to get the best positions to start with. One by one, the go-karts moved off. Actually, the go-kart was very simple to drive. Just step on the accelerator with your right foot, the brake with your left and turn the steering wheel. When it was my turn to drive off, I stepped hard on the accelerator, the engine of the go-kart revved up but the go-kart did not budge! I kept trying until the guy came over to give my go-kart a push and off I went. Haha. By then there were around five go-karts in front of me, including two of my cousins. So I just stepped on the accelerator and sped forward. I overtook two people, leaving my cousins in front as we rounded the bend. Although we were supposed to slow down around the bend, I realised that as long as we could control the steering wheel steadily, we could keep to the bend rather well. At the second lap, my brother caught up with me. Then I realised I was being sandwiched by two go-karts, with my brother on my right. Then we were approaching some narrow part of the race track, so I had to brake and slow down since the other two were slightly ahead of me. In the end, my brother overtook me and eventually overtook everyone to lead the race. I did not give up though and maintained my speed. Then I felt as if my go-kart was increasing speed and soon I came within reach of my brother and cousins. I recalled there was this guy ahead of me where his friends were cheering for him on the overhead bridge, then I just overtook him. LOL. Soon, I overtook my cousins as well, leaving my brother leading the pack. After trying desperately to catch up with my brother (I almost felt the go-kart flying when I did a sharp turn), I could only settle for second position as we came in after racing for four to five laps. It was a fun and thrilling first time experience for all of us.
Next, we stopped for lunch. After that, we decided to play on this swinging attraction called the spinner which was highly recommended by me, having sat on it the previous time I came to genting. It was basically many many seats dangling by metal chains. Once everyone was secured on their seats, the thing would start spinning, lifting everyone into the air in continuous spins. As expected, due to popular demand, the queue was very long but fortunately, many people were allowed on it every time so it was our turn pretty quickly. For some reason or whatsoever, we named the spinner as the "sotong". Maybe the name just felt fitting. Haha. Somehow after turning numerous rounds on the spinner, we did not feel giddy at all when we came down. So, we decided to go for the teacup! What do you imagine of teacups at an amusement park? More spinning of course. Just that this time round, we had to do the turning ourselves. We divided ourselves into three adjacent cups. The girls did not want their cup to spin but we just teased them and kept turning their cup. Needless to say, all of us became giddy afterwards. In addition, it started raining suddenly while we were in our teacups. Luckily, we were sheltered as we looked at those who were caught in the sudden downpour running for shelters. Thus this ended our first half of the day as the rain prevented us from playing any of the outdoor attractions and it was almost time to return to collect our room keys. I was feeling a little uncomfortable but it did not affect my mood the least, especially when it was the eve of my special day. Haha.
That should be all for the first part then. I shall be back with the remaining parts tomorrow! =D
That's all for now, hellmos signing off...
My mind's unweaving/ 12:02 am
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Yesterday, karthi, nik, gerald and I headed to greenwood fish market & bistro to try out the western food after hearing about the place from mark in the past and from jason recently. The lunch outing was initially planned by jason but due to some of his overspending spree at timbre on thurs night (we believed that he probably treated the girls hehe), he informed us that he was not able to make it (I could have just said he "pangseh-ed" us). So, it was down to the four of us. The restaurant was located at greenwood avenue, just a few minutes' walk away from njc! I, being a six-year dweller in the bukit timah area, had not heard of this place right behind njc at all. Haha. We met up with nik opposite the hwa chong bus stop while gerald was joining us later as he was driving there. It was a short walk past the usual left turn into njc into where I had ran for the annual around-the-neighbourhood run when I was in jc. A row of shophouses soon came into view as we turned into greenwood avenue. Almost all the shops there were restaurants and cafes. There was also an indian restaurant called "chat masala" which karthi said was owned by former singapore soccer player sundramoorthy.
Anyway, greenwood fish market & bistro was located towards the end of the row of shophouses. I had made a reservation earlier (under karthi's name hehe) for fear of the lack of seats when we reached. A waitress saw us at the entrance and greeted us. We said we had made reservations so she ushered us towards the counter. Something smelled fishy the moment we stepped in. Of course it smelled fishy because they were selling fresh imported fish right at the front! There were both outdoor and indoor dining areas but we chose to sit indoors because the weather was humid and hot. At the counter, we checked our reservation and the waitress led us into a small dining area in the back. We were presented with the menus so we spent a considerable amount of time debating over which to pick. Eventually, gerald arrived as well. Karthi was tempted by the seafood platter but we decided against it. In the end, karthi ordered the smoked king salmon, two oysters cooked with thai chilli and egg sauce respectively, fish and chips and chocolate fondant for dessert. Nik ordered the fried calamari and crab meat spaghetti with shellfish while gerald and I ordered fish and chips as well. We initially wanted the house fish and chips but the waitress recommended better fishes for the dishes despite all the fish names sounding so foreign to us. So I got the barramundi, karthi got the black cod and gerald got the red coral trout. There are all fish names. Haha.
The smoked king salmon came first, decorated with caviar on each rolled-up piece of salmon and dressed salad. Two bowls of tartar sauce and thai chilli sauce were provided. The calamari came next, followed by the oysters. All of us agreed that the thai chilli sauce was "shiok". Even gerald, who did not like seafood other than fish, took the calamari and dipped it with the thai chilli sauce to try. Soon, everyone's orders came. Nik's spaghetti came first. So as he started to eat, he noticed one of the shellfish unopened. He placed it on a small plate beside where he would be discarding his shells later. When he took notice of that particular shellfish again, it had popped open. One thing to note about nik's dish was that they were not stingy with the shellfish, there were at least ten shells left on the small plate after nik finished eating. Our fishes and chips then arrived together. The fries were so freshly fried and soft while the fish was nicely battered. We decided to go with the thai chilli sauce because it was irresistable. Haha. After our dishes were cleared, karthi requested for the dessert to be served. Nik decided to order the dessert as well although the waitress said we had to wait up to 20 mins. So karthi's set was served first while nik's one was served later with a slightly different arrangement. The fondant with melted dark chocolate inside was served with a cup of vanilla ice cream and two small strawberry pieces. In the end, after requesting for the bill more than once before they remembered, we settled the bill and left the restaurant. On our way out, I took a look to identify the fishes that we had ordered earlier. Anyway the total damage was 180 dollars for the four of us with karthi paying the most. Then gerald gave us a lift to the bus stop and karthi suggested going for the chat masala on the next food outing.
This summed up the food outing yesterday. I will see when I can update again then.
I nicked this from my friend's blog. It is supposed to be for LJ users but I don't think it matters anyway. So here goes...
The Big Read reckons that the average adult has read only 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. 1) Look at the list and bold those that you've read. 2.) Italicize those you intend to read. 3.) Underline the books you LOVE. 4.) Reprint this list in LJ so we can try and track down these people who have read 6 and force books upon them ;-)
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott 12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy 13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare 15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien 17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks 18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger 19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger 20 Middlemarch - George Eliot 21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald 23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens 24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy 25 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams(I have the book, just wondering why I never touch it at all...) 26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh 27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky 28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll 30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame 31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy 32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens 33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (read the books, then maybe go watch the movies) 34 Emma - Jane Austen 35 Persuasion - Jane Austen 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (hmm this book should be inside the chronicles right...) 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini 38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres 39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden (saw the movie, why not read the book?) 40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne 41 Animal Farm - George Orwell 42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving 45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins 46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery 47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy 48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding 50 Atonement - Ian McEwan 51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel 52 Dune - Frank Herbert 53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons 54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen 55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth 56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon 57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens 58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck 62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov(navjote still has not lent me the book...) 63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold 65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas 66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac 67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy 68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding 69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie 70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville 71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (I saw chang reading it that day!) 72 Dracula - Bram Stoker 73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett 74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson 75 Ulysses - James Joyce 76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome 78 Germinal - Emile Zola 79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray 80 Possession - AS Byatt 81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens 82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell 83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker 84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro 85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert 86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry 87 Charlotte's Web - EB White 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton (haha enid blyton was my childhood favorite) 91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad 92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (same reason as the hitchhiker's guide haha) 93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks 94 Watership Down - Richard Adams 95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole 96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute 97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas 98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl 100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
In conclusion, I have read more than six of the books here! If you happen to have some of the books that I intend to read, please lend them to me if possible. Thank you!! =D
It had been a month since I last blogged. I am slowly edging towards the end of another year. Life has been normal and routine, apart from the occasional outings. I happened to catch two movies last month which were both about superheroes, hellboy 2 and the dark knight. I went to watch both movies with fiona and huiling after work. Hellboy 2 was nice and mythical with a bit of humour in between. The computer generated images were just as brilliant as expected. However, in comparison and in my own opinion, the dark knight was much better. It could be partially due to the influence of superhero cartoons like batman and spiderman which I had watched since young. Batman was an admirable figure because despite his lack of superpowers, he was on par with other superheroes with superpowers. His great wealth and intelligence contributed greatly to his crime-fighting. And furthermore, his arch-enemies left a deep impression as well. So this time round, with the dark knight against one of his greatest enemies, the joker, it was simply breath-taking to see them outwitting each other. The character of joker was played so well by the late heath ledger that the whole movie seemed to focus more on the joker instead of the batman himself. The joker was eccentric and wanted chaos in the world. The batman was the dark knight, the vigilante in the shadows of gotham city. Batman was always on the losing end. The joker was always one step ahead of him at every attempt of capturing him. Although the joker was seen captured in the end, his fate remained unknown. In addition, I was unfortunate to miss the initial parts of the movie because I went to the wrong theatre! Haha. I was so blur. I walked in and saw the movie name shown on the panel and just opened the door and went in. The girls went to the toilet, so I just went in first. In the end after watching the show for like ten minutes, I received a message telling me I am in the wrong place! Zzz...Never mind there is always a first for everything. It was partly because we were late in the first place due to someone's biological clock. Hehe. If we had been in time, this probably would not have occurred. So I must dedicate my first such experience to my dear friend. =p
The time has reached for me to end my entry here. I shall touch on my cycling trip at east coast another day then. Take care everyone. Stay happy always. =D
cheeyen
pcs tchs njc ica
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anime/manga!
bleach
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prince of tennis
full metal alchemist
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gundam seed destiny
gundam 00
fairy tail
d.gray-man
tsubasa reservoir chronicles
nodame cantabile
air gear
vampire knight
team medical dragon
double arts
mahou shoujo negima!
doubt
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HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR
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