Getaways & Events 1-21 Aug
Dear Diary,
This month, I finally have my much-awaited reprieve from work as I ended my 3 months long internship with ECO Singapore. I have gone on 2 short getaways in the past few weeks - Genting and Batam.
First of all, I wanna highlight this funky event - Ben & Jerry's Chunky Fest on 12 Sept at Marina Barrage Yes I feel like going for this. Anyone up for ice cream???
Feeling bored
Sometime before i went to Genting, i think it was 5 Aug. Anyway I met with my cousin BL to borrow her Discman player. Yes I know at this era, who still uses Discman or walkman? The reason is I have borrowed an audio book and wanted to listen to it during my journey to Genting. It'd be my first time listening to an audio book, and i'm not sure if I'd enjoy it as much as reading a book. Actually i wanted to meet up with Ivin too but she was with her friends and BL didn't seem comfortable with all of them. In the end, I left with BL first to have dinner. I introduced her to Vietnamese cuisine at Madam Saigon, Liang Seah Street.
BL trying to dodge the camera lens.
I love the food there and if not for my internship, I'd not have ventured this way for food. My clique usually just has Western, Chinese, Japanese and maybe occasionally Korean when we meet up. My intern company had interns not only from overseas, but even those locals also have experience with foreign cultures such as Thai. ^_^ Have i ever mentoned how much I enjoyed trying new food?
Vietnamese Chicken rice with herbs
This looks like roti prata right? But its not! Its Vietnamese pancake with shrimps and vegetables in it. The sauce it came with made the pancake less dry and sour.
On 7 August Fri, I met with Rae for dinner at Tampines Swimming Complex. No we are not eating in the complex, rather outside. There's Nihon Mura restaurant too. It is larger than the outlet at Grand Cathay Basement. We haven't had Japanese cuisine for a while man! Although it was 8pm, it was still bustling with customers and staff. We went for ala carte. Behold our feast below:
The 'troops' of sushi
MM..my favorite- Soft Shell Crab!
Agaeshi Tofu
Grilled baby lobsters - first time trying this! Tasted pretty good too
Grilled chicken cutlet.
Had a wonderful time catching up on our lives, feasting on Japanese food and drinking Hot Chamomile tea.
Genting Trip with Godma & Grandma on 8 - 10 Aug
On 8 Aug, I had dinner with family at 9pm then Uncle drove us to Golden Mile complex to take the coach. Since there were 3 of us, I had to sit by myself (not that I mind). I immediately started listening to the audio book i borrowed - This Full House.
The speaker was pretty clear and expressive but the story was quite mundane which quickly served its purpose of making me fall asleep. In fact, past the customs, I readily fell aslept that when the first stop came and my grandma tried to wake me, I resisted and told her i didn't need to go down. The journey lasted about 6 hours and we reached Genting Highlands at 5.30am. I forgot how cold Genting could be and I packed so lightly that I only had 1 black gym bag with 2 change of clothes, my book, audio book, purse and contacts lens etc, and 1 purple shawl. The cold morning air made me shiver but i stubbornly pretended not to mind the cold as I escorted my Grandma to the First World Hotel lobby with my godma in the lead.
Inside the hotel, the cold wasn't as harsh and we deposited our bags at the luggage storage since the check in time was 12pm. We went to First World Casino and had breakfast. I had a chicken pau with some bee hoon and milo. They showed me around the casino before going to jackpot and started playing. After Godma instructed me, I was able to play on my own. However it was soo early in the morning and I didn't get enough sleep, so i was feeling very sleepy even as I sat there like a statue, hitting the buttons to make the jackpot spin again.
Time felt as if in sand hourglass, the sands fall languidly and silently. Finally at 9am, i couldn't take being stationary and informed my Godma that I was going to take a look around at the shops. I played arcade for a while but the games were so limited and not exciting. I took some photos of the indoor amusement park.
The Ferris Wheel
The view from hotel arcade
Our Lunch:
Chicken rice at Hainan Restuarant
Mango pudding at same place
The model of Genting First World hotel and others.
Genting Outdoor theme park before the rain:
Fashion show at the stage (in First World)
Dinner was at this cafe. I shared Century Egg porridge with Godma. It was pathetic bowl of porridge. I barely could find the century egg or the chicken bits. -__-
On 10 Aug Mon, we got up at around 9pm and went for breakfast. My godma wanted to have the roti prata but it was gone when we went to the cafe. In the end, i had blueberry muffin with milo. I loveeee muffins especially big and soft and warm ones. =) i do miss the muffins in Alaska.
Morning scenes of Genting from 10th floor:
Playing Jackpot at the older Monte Carlo Casino:
Have i ever mentioned that I adore the invention of locket necklace? Its soo vintage and yet elegant. Nowadays its not easy to find such necklaces especially not one that's pretty, elegant and still vintage. I'd love to have one such necklace - if its from a certain someone - it'd be even more meaningful right? Imagine having photos of you-know-who always close to your heart. LOL Ok I'm sounding soo wistful. Sigh
Taking the Grassland coach back to Singapore:
Own TV screen - i flipped through several movies. There was this very old and ridiculous movie about pirates and romance. hahaha. And i was having a slight headache as the coach was going down highlands. Maybe because i was watching the movie while the coach wounded down. So i had a nap. The movies available were not updated so i ended up watching ELEKTRA again.
I reached home at 11pm and i was exhausted.
On 15 Aug (Sat), i have finally decided to get another bike. A cheap one but still good. This bike cost me $98 and another $46 for accessories such as basket, rack, lights and chain. I bought it from this bike shop opposite Joo Chiat CC.
I was soo excited that i smsed some of my friends. Haha Then i cycled it to Marine Parade CL, parked it there and proceeded to return and borrow books, before cycling back home. I actually going to meet Miko at Vivocity for free facial when I realised that I didn't have my wallet in my bag!!! -____- I quickly (ok maybe alittle frantic since i was already late) poured out all the contents in my bag but i still didn't see my purse. I tried to retrace my route and knew that i still had my purse when i was borrowing the books. I knew then i must have left it in the library so i quickly smsed Miko that i couldn't meet her and cycle back to library to find it. Fortunately since i got my bike, i don't need to walk all the way there. I was soo anxious that i tink i used too much effort in my pedalling that the right pedal flew off. LOL Hilarious. Anyway I went back to the shop to change a new pair.
Returning to the library, i searched the whole 1st level for any sign of my purse but couldn't find it so i went to the counter but no one has returned it. Dejected, i went to Parkway and cancelled my cards.
Along parkway, i saw this!
Then i went to report loss of item at library again (i forgot about it). Finally i rode my bike home and had lunch. It was 3+pm by then. At abt 5.30pm, i met with Miko at my bus stop and walked to Kallang Tennis n Squash centre. We played an hour of squash while chatting. Before the time was up, Miko hit the ball up to second level and had to get the staff to get it back for us. LOL
We then went to Kallang Leisure Park for dinner and movie. We bought movie tickets for ORPHAN @ 8.35pm (yah Miko had to lend me the money first) and we had dinner at Pastamania. We walked around to kill time.
Spicy fish baked pasta
Giant bunny in cage -A Pet shop
Quite scary movie. Gory too. The female lead - Esther played her role so well that i was deceived too by her childlike looks. The twist was unexpected and the terror was so real. Some scenes Miko and I didn't want to look too.
Batam Spa Trip on 16 Aug, SUn
Unfortunately since i lost my purse, I didn't even have money to take bus so i had to borrow from my tenant. MY agreed to lend me S$100 for Batam trip. We met at 9.30am, Harbourfront centre. We had breakfast (i just had milo) from the hawker centre. We boarded the Penguin Ferry 15 at 10.15am and we chatted during the ferry trip (about 45 mins). She was sharing with me about her HK exchange experiences and i shared some about my internship.
Arriving at Batam Centre at 11.30am SG Time, we were kinda lost searching for the person who'd be receiving us as we didn't know how the person looks like at all. Finally i approached the mall security guard for help even though he couldn't speak much English, he did understand our query and called the agency for us. In a short while later, a chinese lady walked up to us and asked for me - so she was the person! Heck i didn't even see her at all while searching around. LOL
She helped to get our ferry return tickets while we wanted to buy some snacks. In the end, it was too short time so we didn't get anything. The tour guide Minnie led us to the van and drove us to Mustika Spa and recommended the sliced fish soup to us for lunch as we didn't feel like having seafood. We were very early as the spa appointment was 12.30pm SIN time but we were there at 12pm. haha
The massage room the masseur led us to was long and narrow with 3 single beds decorated in Indonesian style, connected to the bathroom (with the bathtub) and the toilet. We stripped down and wrapped ourselves in the 'sarong-like' materials before lying on the beds. The procedures for us were opposite. I was given the body massage first while MY was given the facial.
Hydrobath with spurting jets
The masseur lady gave me such a relaxing and great massage that i felt like i was floating. Though there were some pains, it was nothing that i couldn't endure. However i was surprised when she really gave me a total body massage (almost every part of my body was massaged except very private area of course). When she drawn the bath for me, I felt my body and skin soo soft. haha I had a short shower before wearing another short robe that barely covers my ass (>_<) and gave me the facial. Altogether the session took 2.5 hours and we enjoyed it totally.
We were kinda behind time so we quickly searched for the recommendedplace and had lunch. I changed S$50 first and had sweet n sour fish with rice for lunch. MY had seafood soup with rice which wasn't that fantastic. The prices also weren't not that cheap. -__-
After lunch, Winnie brought us to the shopping mall across from Batam Centre. We walked from 2nd level to 4th level and i bought 2 LV purses. Then we went to the emporium style and tried on clothes. I bought a checkered shirt dress and a small comb. By the time we finished shopping, it was 7pm and we went to A & W for dinner.
Mix bowl with chicken, A & W root beer float
Close up
Me with my A & W Root Beer
A & W logo
Cute A & W bear with me
Bear with MY
Although our ferry scheduled to leave at 7.20pm, the check in was slow so we went to buy some snacks. We had ice cream before boarding the ferry. It only started to move at 7.30pm or so. By the time we reached harbourfront it was 10pm and we were so exhausted that we napped on the ferry. By the time i reached home, it was almost 11am.
This month, I finally have my much-awaited reprieve from work as I ended my 3 months long internship with ECO Singapore. I have gone on 2 short getaways in the past few weeks - Genting and Batam.
First of all, I wanna highlight this funky event - Ben & Jerry's Chunky Fest on 12 Sept at Marina Barrage Yes I feel like going for this. Anyone up for ice cream???
Feeling bored
Sometime before i went to Genting, i think it was 5 Aug. Anyway I met with my cousin BL to borrow her Discman player. Yes I know at this era, who still uses Discman or walkman? The reason is I have borrowed an audio book and wanted to listen to it during my journey to Genting. It'd be my first time listening to an audio book, and i'm not sure if I'd enjoy it as much as reading a book. Actually i wanted to meet up with Ivin too but she was with her friends and BL didn't seem comfortable with all of them. In the end, I left with BL first to have dinner. I introduced her to Vietnamese cuisine at Madam Saigon, Liang Seah Street.
BL trying to dodge the camera lens.
I love the food there and if not for my internship, I'd not have ventured this way for food. My clique usually just has Western, Chinese, Japanese and maybe occasionally Korean when we meet up. My intern company had interns not only from overseas, but even those locals also have experience with foreign cultures such as Thai. ^_^ Have i ever mentoned how much I enjoyed trying new food?
Vietnamese Chicken rice with herbs
This looks like roti prata right? But its not! Its Vietnamese pancake with shrimps and vegetables in it. The sauce it came with made the pancake less dry and sour.
On 7 August Fri, I met with Rae for dinner at Tampines Swimming Complex. No we are not eating in the complex, rather outside. There's Nihon Mura restaurant too. It is larger than the outlet at Grand Cathay Basement. We haven't had Japanese cuisine for a while man! Although it was 8pm, it was still bustling with customers and staff. We went for ala carte. Behold our feast below:
The 'troops' of sushi
MM..my favorite- Soft Shell Crab!
Agaeshi Tofu
Grilled baby lobsters - first time trying this! Tasted pretty good too
Grilled chicken cutlet.
Had a wonderful time catching up on our lives, feasting on Japanese food and drinking Hot Chamomile tea.
Genting Trip with Godma & Grandma on 8 - 10 Aug
On 8 Aug, I had dinner with family at 9pm then Uncle drove us to Golden Mile complex to take the coach. Since there were 3 of us, I had to sit by myself (not that I mind). I immediately started listening to the audio book i borrowed - This Full House.
The speaker was pretty clear and expressive but the story was quite mundane which quickly served its purpose of making me fall asleep. In fact, past the customs, I readily fell aslept that when the first stop came and my grandma tried to wake me, I resisted and told her i didn't need to go down. The journey lasted about 6 hours and we reached Genting Highlands at 5.30am. I forgot how cold Genting could be and I packed so lightly that I only had 1 black gym bag with 2 change of clothes, my book, audio book, purse and contacts lens etc, and 1 purple shawl. The cold morning air made me shiver but i stubbornly pretended not to mind the cold as I escorted my Grandma to the First World Hotel lobby with my godma in the lead.
Inside the hotel, the cold wasn't as harsh and we deposited our bags at the luggage storage since the check in time was 12pm. We went to First World Casino and had breakfast. I had a chicken pau with some bee hoon and milo. They showed me around the casino before going to jackpot and started playing. After Godma instructed me, I was able to play on my own. However it was soo early in the morning and I didn't get enough sleep, so i was feeling very sleepy even as I sat there like a statue, hitting the buttons to make the jackpot spin again.
Time felt as if in sand hourglass, the sands fall languidly and silently. Finally at 9am, i couldn't take being stationary and informed my Godma that I was going to take a look around at the shops. I played arcade for a while but the games were so limited and not exciting. I took some photos of the indoor amusement park.
The Ferris Wheel
The view from hotel arcade
Our Lunch:
Chicken rice at Hainan Restuarant
Mango pudding at same place
The model of Genting First World hotel and others.
Genting Outdoor theme park before the rain:
Fashion show at the stage (in First World)
Dinner was at this cafe. I shared Century Egg porridge with Godma. It was pathetic bowl of porridge. I barely could find the century egg or the chicken bits. -__-
On 10 Aug Mon, we got up at around 9pm and went for breakfast. My godma wanted to have the roti prata but it was gone when we went to the cafe. In the end, i had blueberry muffin with milo. I loveeee muffins especially big and soft and warm ones. =) i do miss the muffins in Alaska.
Morning scenes of Genting from 10th floor:
Playing Jackpot at the older Monte Carlo Casino:
Have i ever mentioned that I adore the invention of locket necklace? Its soo vintage and yet elegant. Nowadays its not easy to find such necklaces especially not one that's pretty, elegant and still vintage. I'd love to have one such necklace - if its from a certain someone - it'd be even more meaningful right? Imagine having photos of you-know-who always close to your heart. LOL Ok I'm sounding soo wistful. Sigh
Taking the Grassland coach back to Singapore:
Own TV screen - i flipped through several movies. There was this very old and ridiculous movie about pirates and romance. hahaha. And i was having a slight headache as the coach was going down highlands. Maybe because i was watching the movie while the coach wounded down. So i had a nap. The movies available were not updated so i ended up watching ELEKTRA again.
I reached home at 11pm and i was exhausted.
On 15 Aug (Sat), i have finally decided to get another bike. A cheap one but still good. This bike cost me $98 and another $46 for accessories such as basket, rack, lights and chain. I bought it from this bike shop opposite Joo Chiat CC.
I was soo excited that i smsed some of my friends. Haha Then i cycled it to Marine Parade CL, parked it there and proceeded to return and borrow books, before cycling back home. I actually going to meet Miko at Vivocity for free facial when I realised that I didn't have my wallet in my bag!!! -____- I quickly (ok maybe alittle frantic since i was already late) poured out all the contents in my bag but i still didn't see my purse. I tried to retrace my route and knew that i still had my purse when i was borrowing the books. I knew then i must have left it in the library so i quickly smsed Miko that i couldn't meet her and cycle back to library to find it. Fortunately since i got my bike, i don't need to walk all the way there. I was soo anxious that i tink i used too much effort in my pedalling that the right pedal flew off. LOL Hilarious. Anyway I went back to the shop to change a new pair.
Returning to the library, i searched the whole 1st level for any sign of my purse but couldn't find it so i went to the counter but no one has returned it. Dejected, i went to Parkway and cancelled my cards.
Along parkway, i saw this!
Then i went to report loss of item at library again (i forgot about it). Finally i rode my bike home and had lunch. It was 3+pm by then. At abt 5.30pm, i met with Miko at my bus stop and walked to Kallang Tennis n Squash centre. We played an hour of squash while chatting. Before the time was up, Miko hit the ball up to second level and had to get the staff to get it back for us. LOL
We then went to Kallang Leisure Park for dinner and movie. We bought movie tickets for ORPHAN @ 8.35pm (yah Miko had to lend me the money first) and we had dinner at Pastamania. We walked around to kill time.
Spicy fish baked pasta
Giant bunny in cage -A Pet shop
Quite scary movie. Gory too. The female lead - Esther played her role so well that i was deceived too by her childlike looks. The twist was unexpected and the terror was so real. Some scenes Miko and I didn't want to look too.
Batam Spa Trip on 16 Aug, SUn
Unfortunately since i lost my purse, I didn't even have money to take bus so i had to borrow from my tenant. MY agreed to lend me S$100 for Batam trip. We met at 9.30am, Harbourfront centre. We had breakfast (i just had milo) from the hawker centre. We boarded the Penguin Ferry 15 at 10.15am and we chatted during the ferry trip (about 45 mins). She was sharing with me about her HK exchange experiences and i shared some about my internship.
Arriving at Batam Centre at 11.30am SG Time, we were kinda lost searching for the person who'd be receiving us as we didn't know how the person looks like at all. Finally i approached the mall security guard for help even though he couldn't speak much English, he did understand our query and called the agency for us. In a short while later, a chinese lady walked up to us and asked for me - so she was the person! Heck i didn't even see her at all while searching around. LOL
She helped to get our ferry return tickets while we wanted to buy some snacks. In the end, it was too short time so we didn't get anything. The tour guide Minnie led us to the van and drove us to Mustika Spa and recommended the sliced fish soup to us for lunch as we didn't feel like having seafood. We were very early as the spa appointment was 12.30pm SIN time but we were there at 12pm. haha
The massage room the masseur led us to was long and narrow with 3 single beds decorated in Indonesian style, connected to the bathroom (with the bathtub) and the toilet. We stripped down and wrapped ourselves in the 'sarong-like' materials before lying on the beds. The procedures for us were opposite. I was given the body massage first while MY was given the facial.
Hydrobath with spurting jets
The masseur lady gave me such a relaxing and great massage that i felt like i was floating. Though there were some pains, it was nothing that i couldn't endure. However i was surprised when she really gave me a total body massage (almost every part of my body was massaged except very private area of course). When she drawn the bath for me, I felt my body and skin soo soft. haha I had a short shower before wearing another short robe that barely covers my ass (>_<) and gave me the facial. Altogether the session took 2.5 hours and we enjoyed it totally.
We were kinda behind time so we quickly searched for the recommendedplace and had lunch. I changed S$50 first and had sweet n sour fish with rice for lunch. MY had seafood soup with rice which wasn't that fantastic. The prices also weren't not that cheap. -__-
After lunch, Winnie brought us to the shopping mall across from Batam Centre. We walked from 2nd level to 4th level and i bought 2 LV purses. Then we went to the emporium style and tried on clothes. I bought a checkered shirt dress and a small comb. By the time we finished shopping, it was 7pm and we went to A & W for dinner.
Mix bowl with chicken, A & W root beer float
Close up
Me with my A & W Root Beer
A & W logo
Cute A & W bear with me
Bear with MY
Although our ferry scheduled to leave at 7.20pm, the check in was slow so we went to buy some snacks. We had ice cream before boarding the ferry. It only started to move at 7.30pm or so. By the time we reached harbourfront it was 10pm and we were so exhausted that we napped on the ferry. By the time i reached home, it was almost 11am.
Blessed be, Jezebel86
Saturday, August 22 12:23 am
Give Kitty a pet
Mid -August 2009
Dear Diary,
I have just reformatted my laptop on tuesday. Thankful that my laptop is running slightly faster, and it is 'lighter' now in terms of its burdens, but i can't help to feel that I'd have to let this laptop of 3 years to find its resting place. I just pray that it can last for another half a year or so.
My dear diary, I know i have neglected you much these few weeks and I do feel kinda bad about it. There are so many things i want to say yet so little time to write them down. The photos that i still have been taking of my food, my clothings etc are still in my handphone - all these while i have been keeping track of my lives with my little handphone camera. Yet the very prospect of going through the motions of uploading them to Photobucket or Facebook and posting them here makes me feel unmotivated.
Only when i have installed the new Internet Explorer and used it to access my blog, then i realised that there's something wrong with my blog. The background image i admired is gone - probably forever. It is my own mistake to let myself be so lazy and careless in not saving the image and uploading it under my own hosting site. For a quick replacement, I have used this adorable Hello Kitty skin. If you have not known me in real life, you may think that I am a serious and oh-so-dull girl from my long and seemingly endless entries. Well at heart, I'm still a little girl. A little girl who wishes for freedom and carefreeness. =)
I'm sorry to say this, dear diary. You have been my dearest confidante since the passing of my mom and I truly cherish every moment, word, photo, video and comment i have painstakingly written here. No wonder how reluctant and lazy I am to stay in my 'comfort', Diary, I am leaving you. I will find ways to save all these memories i have in here FOREVER.
The truth is, I am quite tired of the extra steps required to resize my pics linked from FAceBOOK and sometimes the resizing didn't even work correctly. I'm tired of trying to make my blog entries more aesthetically appealing, more images and less words. I know that writing a diary entry is not supposed to be fast or even painless. It is the fact of keeping a diary and I know that all my life. I just gonna have to move on, my dear diary. Just like my university studies is coming to an end in a few months' time. Just as I will be facing another crossroad in the months to come. A struggle that i'd not want to be complicated with trifle affairs like writing a diary.
Who am I kidding anyway? Words rule my mind. Phrases fill my mind. Even as solitary my existence is most of the time, the words in my mind, in the novels i read, the movies i watch are my companions. My Diary is an extension of me - filled with words, phrases and sentences. Of course i adore taking photographs and showing them off, but to be frank, while a picture may say a thousand words, nothing less do i demand from my own than words.
So I will be starting a new diary soon. When I have the time. When it happens, I will post the link here. Nevertheless, I will miss you.
School has started this week. I have dropped Marketing INfo systems as I am not interested and it is so difficult and profound. I will graduate next semester and its a relief too. Since i'm still conflicted about my plans after graduation - further studies or work?
Here is my latest class schedule for this semester. I'm bidding for another module Enterpreneurial Management but I'm not sure if i can get it. If i didn't, no biggie as i can still take another module under this section next semester.
Meanwhile I'll be continuing my role as Research Assistant for Prof Harrigan on Heterophily. Honestly, there are so much readings to do and I'm still in the midst of research only. There are still the writing, the sythesizing etc to do. It seem so overwhelming but my Prof is so nice to ask me to take my own pace and allow me to work only one and a half days per week.
Now with the latest change to our basic library membership, I have been borrowing 6 books at a time. So excited to have Christine Feehan's novels in library to borrow, i have been pursuing her series - Dark carpathian, etc. Her stories always grip me in a swirl of emotions and adventure. Here i present her novels i have been reading and finished:
I still have a few more to go before i complete this. I do admire her readings and even though all her stories are fantasy, but i think she touched on the primitive mating of men and women. Men as strong, harsh and relentless predators while women as beautiful, compassionate, and nurturing. Light against darkness. Has it always that darkness is always attracted to light?
The concept of 'lifemates' is quite common in most fantasy novels. Are there really such 'lifemates' or are they only for certain people? Is there ONLY ONE for each and every of us? How do we recognize someone as our other half?
Nevermind, I always feel melancholy after reading a good novel. Someone i just known said that I'm sensitive and empathetic. And I'm usually trying to stop myself from being pulled into someone else's pain and problem. I wonder if I am really suited for a career as counseling psychologist? Sigh. I Hate this indecisiveness...
I just want to go wherever i want...to do whatever i want. Is that so hard to ask for?
Blessed be, Jezebel86
Friday, August 21 02:50 am
Give Kitty a pet
Bored...
I miss doing cute and fun quizzes...so here i am posting about my quiz results.
I know i haven't been updating my blog. Fact is, i don't feel like blogging esp since i have so much to blog and photos to upload.
Blogdrive is beginning to drive me nuts about the linking of pics. I wish there's a quicker and easy way to do this.
Blessed be, Jezebel86
Wednesday, August 19 12:07 am
