sentosa revisited

Company outing time! This year we went to Sentosa. Began with cable car ride from Harbourfront. Lasted about 10 mins, I think. Well, not as shaky as I thought it would be. It has been ages since I last took the cable car. Probably since I was like 10 years old? Haha!


cable car ride to sentosa


Then we went to play the 'Luge'. Kinda like go-cart, but less bumpy. Round one, I was going pretty slow. So slow that I thought the game warden will signal me out in no time. Heng never. Luge is like a sleigh ride combined with go-cart minus the engine. It can go up to very fast (to me anything past 60kmph is considered fast!). But got lots of corners to turn, so me being a cautious driver... will slow down one lor.

The luge route will take you to Siloso beach, so if you want to return to the starting point, can take the Skyride. Which we did! Only to take the luge a second time! Muahahaha. Oh, Skyride scarier than cable car! :P

Then we went to 4D Magix. Which is basically a cinema showing 3D movie (short one..about 10-15mins) about pirates. The 4th D came in the form of some plastic strips flapping your legs (colleagues who wore skirt or bermudas complained of being 'assaulted' by these!), some wind gushing out onto your neck and some water splashed onto you plus some movements from your seat. Quite fun, but very very kiddish!

Next stop was the Trapeeze area. For $7, you can pretend you're one part of 'Cirque du Soleil'... haha, I think not. Some of the braver ones defied height (and possibly death) and managed to swung their way to safety! Phew.


trapeeze guy


After all the actions, it was time for dinner at Trapizza. So took some pictures of the scenaries.



scenic seaside view



postcard worthy trees?



idylic



getting dark...



peacock!



yummy food (well, ok la.. can makan..)

feeling sick

Ugh... feeling utterly disgusted...
Was eating my dinner when I thought the chicken yakitori tasted funny. Then I smelt it. Yucks...
Came home.. took my bath... and promptly emptied 20% of my stomach into the toilet bowl... yuck

lunar new year

Was at Bukit Batok the other day, and the atrium was having some exhibition as part of the CNY celebration offerings. Artisans from China were exhibiting their crafts. Have Chinese Calligraphy, Palm Painting, Clay Kneading, Musical Instruments like 'Er hu', Chinese Painting, Seal Engraving and Embroided clothings.

Quite cool, the 'er hu' instrument was prized at $50. Palm painting simply means painting using the palm of the hand. Usually done in black-n-white with sceneries depicting serene lake, mountains, waterfall etc.

I was at the Chinese painting stall, and it was manned by an middle aged artisan from Tianjin, Mr Fan. Some are painted by him, others not. He has framed and non-framed paintings (watercolor). Those framed ones looked quite nice. I can feel my culture points rising a little, just by looking at them haha! Anyway, those non-framed ones are sold at $20 per piece.

Anyway, as I was lingering around at that stall, there was another uncle who was there with his friend. He looks like any ordinary retired people (later know his surname as Mr Ho) and he said he has a hobby of collecting paintings. He quoted a few names, but none that I know of (because no knowledge in this area! Oops, alert! Culture points dropping!). Anyway, his friend bought one framed painting which I think is quite big (its like 3 x 2 A4 size). Mr Ho quietly mentioned that the seller wanted to sell for about $150 initially but they bargained down to $90. Which, sounds alright doesn't it? Mr Ho also said that someone once offered him $5K for one of his collection but I didn't ask what was the initial price he bought it for. :P

So Mr Fan asked if I'm buying anything. He suggested I buy the horizontal painting which can cover half the wall size of a normal bedroom wall. I was aghast, so I said, “我没这么多钱啊！” although I don't know how much that will cost. Probably around less than $100 since its not framed. Anyway, I stood there for about another 10 minutes. Finally Mr Fan said he'll give me a 10% discount. Haha, ok so I bought one as a gift to my soon-to-be-former housemate to congratulate him on his ownership to a HDB flat.



peonies

Well, if ever this painting gonna fetch $5K in future... I'd expect a good treat from him! Haha

half-day

Took time off to attend to some matters and here are some pictures to show the places that I've been...


mama merlion spewing water back to the sea (there's a baby one but didn't capture the pic!)


seaview.. but they're building stuffs so not so nice...


esplanade on bright sunny day~

Are they post-card worthy?

recession is breathing down our necks!

Today my colleague was asking whether anything major happened to the world. It's about after lunch and he mumbled something which I couldn't catch. But I guessed that it must've had something to do with shares and stocks as I know he's quite an investor. Didn't put too much thought in it after that, as I was rather busy today.

Reached home at about 9pm and noticed that my adviser for the BRIC fund tried to call me. Then after dinner, my housemate asked how am I affected by the market plunge. Frankly speaking, I don't know. Makes you anxious, I suppose. Is it time to cut the losses? No one knows. He says China will be cooling down the stock market to prevent inflation. Quite true I suppose, as quoted from him "...since market plunge will affect those that plays it while inflation affects EVERYONE". How true.

If China, India are not doing well, then I should contemplate cutting my losses and recover whatever's left of the money. Likely be losing 10% of the total value. So sad right! And angry! and whatever emotions that you can insert #@%&$*!

But who am I to blame. Myself bah... since I never bothered about these kinda things... tsk tsk...

Read about today's stock tumble here.

sit beside me

Come sit down beside me
I said to myself
And although it doesn't make sense,
I held my own hand as a small sign of trust
And together I sat on the fence


-- by Leunig

mobtv

Muahahhaa! Recently mobtv got some promo so they're letting me watch 2 weeks worth of stuffs for free.

So far managed to watch 1 episode of "A Taste of Love" and 1 episode of "Folk Jumps Over the Wall". "A Taste of Love" is starring Dawn Yeoh, Michelle Chia, Zheng Ge Ping and the late MC King. Still downloading the next 2 episodes.

I think I do quite like "Folk Jumps Over the Wall". It is reuniting Kym Ng with Bryan Wong. Bryan as usual is very himself, very drama and quite OTT. I missed their partnership since their City Beat days. *sigh*
It took them this l o o o o o o n g to get back together again? Haiya...

Of course, now Kym looks very 'aunty' while Bryan is still very baby-faced! :P

maki horikita

Seen quite a lot of her shows. Young actress, only 20 years old this year. First noticed her (accidentally), in Teppan Shoujo Akane! A cute show about food.. teppan-ryori to be precise, in which she's Akane, who's looking for her missing dad.

Next, my brother introduced another of her drama Nobuta no produce, which I think he caught while he was in Tokyo. In this one which she played an autistic kid (in here, she was able to flex abit more of her acting skills, whereas usually, it'll all be kinda cute and fluffy :P) and befriended these two guys who somewhat became her playmate cum protector. The two guys who acted as Nobuta's friends are Kamenashi Kazuya who acted as Shuji and Yamashita Tomohisa who played Akira. Both of them belong to some Jpop group. Among the guys, I like Yamapi better! Then came another of her show, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e with Oguri Shun.

Anyway, recently watched Deru Toko Demasho. In this one, she played a school kid whose dad owed huge debts and thus, her family became bankrupt and she had to go get a job to earn money. Then came a cocky lawyer with loads of money, and she decided that she too wanted to become a lawyer to earn lots of $$$! Haha, so far, quite interesting as the lawyer had a 'school uniform' fetish and thus, she was able to get a job in his law firm. She'll be this righteous kid, while the lawyer guy acted as if he doesn't care (but deep down, he does!) and so their adventures begins!

ma'am president?

It is interesting that Hillary Clinton survived New Hampshire, though observers were quietly expecting a defeat for her. It is also fascinating that campaigning for US Presidential bid are very very expensive and it's a long process. Election won't be held till Nov 2008.

identity

Saw this gameshow on Channel 5 yesterday. Kinda like Deal or No Deal, a guessing game but instead of just briefcases, you'd have to guess the identity of the strangers standing on stage.

I suppose it's workable in the USA but in Singappore? Hmm... probably everyone will look the same and do we have cool jobs like in the US? For example, 'ufologist', bull rider etc?

If interested, you can play the game online.

unease

A feeling of unease has quietly crept in...
It is a little unsettling... makes you edgy..
Maybe it's because of all the changes...
I don't know...

move office

New year, new office. Finished moving today. Relocated to Cendex Centre. Haven't figure out how to walk there, so likely will be taking bus or something from Tiong Bahru MRT.

Already started aching. Tomorrow should be worse...

welcome 2008

very sleepy now.. cheers to a new year!