Wooho! My First Overseas Trip since . . . since . . .

I am writing this a month or 2 after going for the trip. It's been a long long time since I went overseas . . . well not that long if you consider going for reservist in Australia in Dec 2006. But then again that wasn't voluntarily so it doesn't count. Checking my passport showed the last date I went out of Singapore was back in Aug 2001, to Malaysia. Darn, I can't even recall why I went there. Oh well, onto my latest trip! A day trip to Tanjung Pengelih aka 4 Turns Island.

There was my honey, JJJ, Mark & Vincent. We headed out early to Changi Jetty for Nasi Lemask. The popular corner store wasn't open so we bought ours at another store. Honestly I can't tell the difference, they are all so good. After breakfast we were off to the boat. It took a good 45 minutes when we finally reach our destination.

Our first stop was to the 'famous' ostrich farm . . . well lets just say my honey and I didn't get to see much of it. Nonetheless a good thing came out of it. I'll explain later. We had the owner's daughter as our guide. As we walked into the farm area, my baby started to shake. You see . . . she has this mortal fear of birds. So the sight of ostriches, chickens and even an emu in such close proximity left her bounded. She literally couldn't walk and she was shivering with such immense fear I thought she was gonna faint the next moment. Her whole body was shaking so badly I knew there was no way we could go on. So just as we walked into the farm several minutes ago, I called for our guide to let us out.

I've never seen anyone so frightened . . . I always thought the phrase "rooted to the spot with fear" was just a figure of speech. I bought drinks and rub her arms to try to calm her down. It didn't matter that I missed the tour. The most important thing is that my baby is in my arms, safe and secured. Well anyways, the rest carried on the tour while we went to the entrance to wait. So to pass the time, we decided to take some pictures. That is where one of my favourite couple pic came about.
Hehe, sometimes good things happen in the weirdest of ways. I'm sure I'll remember this for a long time. My first real look of my meimei in shocking fear and the place where we took one of my fav pics which is sitting pretty on my MSN now.

After the rest came out, we proceeded for lunch at the town center. There wasn't much to see and we didn't really explore. We had seafood dinner, highlight being the butter lobsters. After that we made our way back to the jetty.

Nothing much else happen on our trip back. The rest of the day was spent chit chatting at Starbucks East Coast. It was a fun day, spending quality time with meimei. I like how relaxed Malaysia felt ... no hustle and bustle of city life. Maybe that's there I'll go to retire. Oh well, it's a long long way to go before I need to make that decision.

4th of April

4th of April . . . What a day. And to think there are people who worry about Friday the 13th . . . Phhfff.

It was as though I woke up in the land of darkness.

8.00am-ish - Rushed out of the house, battling traffic frantically to get to the office on time. This can be the everyday norm, except it felt different. Reckless cars diving left and right infront of me, making me jam my brakes several times. Hmmm, maybe there was a grand big sale starting at 9 this morning.

10.00am-ish - Joanna refuses to teach me India, which made me invoke my backup (nasty) plan and pushed India to Weihiong's team. Bah . . . I had to take Vietnam as a trade-in for that.

12noon-ish - Lunch alone again. 4 days since my new job as Accountant. "This is gonna be lonely."

1.30pm-ish - Ouch ouch, tummy ache . . . Siam! Move out of the way! It's gonna blow!!!

1.45pm-ish - Ahhhh, shiok. Limped out of the gents with pins and needles.

2.00pm-ish - Hmmm, wait a sec. Where is my wallet??!!!

2.01pm-ish - Yes, it took me less than a minute to reach the gents, running at full flight . . . Arghhhh!!! It's not there!! *the world just spinned round and round my head*

2.10pm-ish - Back at my desk, covered in cold sweat. Face was pale as I took stock of what I had lost. IC, Driving licence, Debit Card, Credit Card, POSB Card $700 in Cash and many other stuff. Damnit!!! How could I be so careless?? How could I let my work misery cloud my judgement?!

2.30pm-ish - I drove out to the neighbourhood police post. "Hi, I'm here to report the loss of my IC." "Sir, you should wait for 2-3 weeks before making a police report." "Huh?? But I lost my IC, I don't have a single identification on me . . . What if a traffic police stops me while I am driving?" "But, sir, most people will get their IC back in a week or 2. Just make a report in a few weeks time." "No wait . . . What if someone takes my IC and goes to borrow from a loan shark? No, please help me raise a police report right now." *Is it difficult to write up a police report?*

2.45pm-ish - Called up UOB and DBS to cancel all my cards. The 'helpful' policeman gave me the numbers from his handphone. Hmmm, he must do this alot to have Hotlines of banks in his handphone.

3.00pm-ish - Made it back to office. Teresa told me to forget the urgent leave I offered to take when I went to the police. Oh well, not much of a consolation but better than nothing. She told me something in Cantonese, which loosely means : "Lose Money, Avert Disaster."

4.00pm-ish - Meimei came to my rescue again. She had made her way to my office and passed me $50. Phew, at least I have money.

6.00pm-ish - Been stoning for the past 2 hours. My mind couldn't operate. Everything felt numb. Time to leave the office.

6.15pm-ish - Picked up Meimei and made our way to Vivocity.

7.00pm-ish - Walked into a packed Carl's Junior fastfood outlet. As I queued, a couple butted into our table. Ok . . . I already lost my wallet. It can't get worst. I reach the front of the queue and as the counter opened, I walked towards it. Eh, why is this fella coming back to the counter? Damnit, he hasn't even ordered . . . he had gone off to ask his girlfriend what she wanted. I turned to the left counter which is now opened. But the fat uncle behind me bulldozed to it. So there I was, stuck inbetween the counters. Bahhhh! Screw this. I walked off with Meimei in a huff.

7.30pm-ish - Hotdogs at Superdog. Ordered the Chilli fries too. Ewwww . . . those were nasty fries.

8.00pm-ish - Parked ourselves at the corner Starbucks outlet. Another 3 and half hours before movie starts. Crap, there's no aircon here . . . Tried to distract myself with the book.

11.30pm-ish - Finally in the theatre. Hmmm, I can see why Andy Lau is boyfriend No.1 and I'm way behind in 4th.

12midnight - Ding! ding! ding! Ugly day has passed!!

Seriously. The entire day felt so depressing, so gloom and doom that I thought I was put under a curse! My face was as black as charcoal. Good thing the 4th of April only comes once a year.

Welcome to Management

Since the last update on my workplace, many things have changed.

Joanne has been on medical leave since 3rd March. And when she came back on the 17th to submit her 1 month medical leave, she tendered her resignation . . . I was kinda expecting it though. She had msn me on Friday about having lunch with all the supervisors. I was on leave on Monday but came back anyways to join them. That's when she sprung it on me. So with her resignation, the impending transfer between Imela and her was halted.

I forgot to mentioned that I was to be transferred to the US team, with Kim coming to take over the Oceania team. But with Joanne's resignation, that was put on hold as well. I was in limbo for a few days, uncertain of what was going to happen. I had several sleepless nights, worrying about what they were gonna do. My fears were unfounded though . . .

On Thursday 20th March at the fateful hour of 5pm, Teresa called to meet me to a conference room. It was there that she ask me : "Do you think you are up to the challenge to take over as Accountant?" My mind went blanked that instant, though I recover graciously and told her I was definitely ready. Teresa and Weihiong had discussed and determined that rather than employing a new Accountant, they would rather I take over Joanne, which suits me just fine.

So with that I was propelled straight into management! Now now . . . don't go thinking that I'm getting the world . . . there are more nonsense and crap I have to face than the rewards I gonna receive. But still, it's a nice feeling, knowing your abilities and potential have finally been recognised.

They made their official offer on the 28th and wala! I've been installed as the new Accountant on 1st April . . . nono, this is not an April Fool's joke.

The Multi Million Rainport . . .

T3, one of the newest, finest and technologically advanced airport in the world. The latest addition to our Changi Airport, the pride and icon of Singapore. Built at a cost of S$1.75 billion, it displays the grandeur of modern architectural success. A truly distinct icon on its own.

At that price I was expecting every bolt, nut and lever to be working seamlessly. I was expecting to be amazed and swept off my feet, shell-shocked by the greatness that is T3.

Oh yes I was shocked . . . Not by how magnificent T3 is, but how a 1.7 billion piece of mastery fell through on the most basic of designs. It had a leaking roof . . .

In the few times we have been to T3, there were buckets and buckets of damp cloth on the floor, soaking up the rain as they fall through the roof. There were as much as 10 buckets at one of our trips there.

How this is happening is beyond me. At 1.75 billion, they could at least built a roof that doesn't leak. Where did all that money go?

I hope they repair it soon. The sight of all these buckets are becoming a big joke, especially when we pride ourselves on having one of the best airports in the world. For me, I've already christened T3 as "The Rainport". . .

People are leaving . . . Sigh . . .

It's been months since my last update. It is hardly surprising considering the chaos at the office.

I used to have so much free time at work that I could spend an afternoon just writing blog posts. Now it seems I'm fighting for time to finish my chores so I can go fetch my girlfriend for a quiet dinner. How a few months can change things . . .

Since the last update, many things have happened, both in the office and at home.

Chinese New Year came and went in a breeze like every other year. The only difference is that we are going to less places each year as the granduncles and aunties pass on. It gave me a serene sense that life is too short to be wasting away.

At the office, people are starting to leave one by one. First my accountant was being swapped, against her will, with another department's accountant. With her impending transfer, YB - the Singapore Supervisor, tendered her resignation, whether in protest or otherwise, I would never know. Then there was Alice, my Assistant, who finally tendered after the turmoil of not receiving any bonus at all for 2007.

I'm sure there are more to come in the coming months. With our fearless leader J replaced, her loyal subjects are falling over their heels to get away. As for me, I'm just sitting and waiting for the mess to end before thinking about my future. I've only been here for 7 months and now is not the right time to leave, yet . . .

Changing Times

Times have really changed. Or should I say, are changing.

When I was growing up, I used to believe that if you work hard, your company will appreciate your contributions and reward you, either by keeping you around or promoting you. But it seems that's no longer the practice. Gone are the good days where bosses appreciate your time and dedication. Now the only thing bosses care about is the bottomline. It doesn't matter if your boss is basking in the rewards due to your contribution. They take it as if it was due to them, and then throw you to the lions.

My current frustration comes from the nonsense I'm getting at work. They're planning to cut staff numbers . . . They have already cut overtime pay and it's not helping with morale.

Bah . . . I don't even have the mood to write about it right now . . . Maybe another time.

2008 : A New Year, a New Set of Resolutions

Only 3 more days to the New Year. And here I go again making a list of stuff I need to accomplish in the coming year, and most probably not completing them all. Hahaha, I think it's pretty much the same for everyone else. So let us go ahead now and make a list.

1) Quit Smoking

This has to be the most important and urgent one of all, bar none. 2008 would already be the best year even if this is the only one I accomplish. There are just so much good that would come about if I complete this.

2) Exercise more

I really need to tone up my body. No one likes a lumpy "old" man with a big tummy. Just need to start doing more push ups and crunches.

3) Wake up earlier for work

I am making a stand against Pillow and Blankey! The every morning cuddle-fest has to stop!

Short list, but then it's easier to get something done. I can't understand people who have a hundred items on their list . . . then grumble that they didn't complete any of them. I prefer to keep it short and simple.

My Little Quirks

Everyone has their little thing they do which may not be 'normal'. Some like to dig their nose while on a bus ride. Others like to eat all the vegetables on their plate before touching anything else. Small things that go unnoticed most of the time.

We do it out of habit, comfort or just plain ignorance. I have a few of my own. There may be more, but I've not catch on to them yet.

Rubbing the in-steps of my toes while putting on my socks
This is a hard one to describe. For as long as I can remember, I would rub my sock along the contours of my toes before I pull it in. Hmmm, that's as best as I can word it. You have to see it to really know how it goes.

I've always tried to do it while others are not looking, fearing their laughter at how silly it looked. I get this sense of comfort whenever I do it and when I don't, I feel uneasy in my toes . . . like as if there are piles of dirt stuck inbetween my toes. I guess it's one of those habitual comfort thing that kids do, but I've not outgrown it to this day.

Rubbing my mini bolster's string end in my ear
Bolster cases have strings at its end so you can tie it close and keep the cushion in it. I would curl the string up into a nice bundle and rub it into my ear. It felt so comfortable and puts me in such an entranced state that I'll fall soundly to sleep.

It went on forever till the day my Mum took that bolster away. The day I 'lost' my comfort bolster was a total shock to me. I felt so lost, so irritated that I couldn't sleep the entire night. It was like losing an addiction and going cold turkey. I'm sure I had shed a few tears for my beloved bolster.

It has been many years since I lost that bolster. But till today, I can still remember that sense of calmness and tranquility of rubbing my ears. Oh bolster . . . I miss you so . . .

Squat Toilets
Yes. You read it right. Squat Toilets.

For 20 over years, I have only known to use squat toilets. Whenever I tried a sitting bowl, my 'load' just refuses to come out. Whenever I went to a toilet that didn't have squatting cubicles, I'll climb onto a sitting bowl and squat on it instead of sitting. My body just reacts to my position when I tried to 'pass motion'. It's so pronounced that my decision to take up a job or not depended on whether the office toilet had a squatting cubicle or not.

It was only recently that I've 'learned' to use a sitting cubicle. I was forced into it actually, because my current office doesn't have squats. Imagine learning how to wipe your butt while sitting, for the first time, at my age . . .

This has to be one of my most embarrassing and awkward quirks. Something which I've told no one before now. Laugh all you want, at least I dare to admit it.

Hmmm, these are the 3 I can remember off the top of my head now. There may be more as I chance upon them.

So . . . what's your little quirks?

The place I discovered Maki

I've actually forgetten the place I discovered the goodness of Maki-s. It's only a month or two ago that I tried my first one and fell in love with it.

We went to Sushi Teh again on Friday. Huge meal with a Seafood Ramen special for two, the staple Sashimi Salad, a Ebi (Eel) Maki and a Mackerel. This was the 3rd time I've had Maki and boy it was good. But something was missing. It doesn't have that oomph which I felt the first time I tried one. Hmmm, was I being picky?

Then yesterday we went to the Shinkushiya outlet at Vivocity. We had a salad with some small dried fish (the exotic name eludes me), Curry Fried Rice, 6 types of Barbecue sticks, a Blowfish (damn small for its price), and a Smoked Salmon with Tempura Prawn Maki.

There . . . Found it!! That taste, that texture, that smell. Ahhhh amazing! The rainbow of tastes that follow as you put a Maki into your mouth. Heavenly! It's like Remy (the rat from Ratatouille) getting a taste of French cuisine . . . fireworks in your heart! You have to try it to know how good it is. And only try the one at Shinkushiya. You won't regret it. The thing I'm guessing that makes their Maki so good is the rice. It's more fragrant and compact, like getting a ocean in a bite rather than a pond.

Well we are definitely going back for more Maki-goodness hehehehe.

P.S. I kinda prefer the outlet at Far East Square. It's more cosy and comfortable with ample booth seats. Plus lesser crowds haha (I'm anti-social if you didn't know yet). I have to compliment the scenic view at the Vivocity one though, but you have to be lucky and get a window seat to enjoy it.

Where has Poetical Pokpok gone?

Poetical Pokpok has been hijacked. I haven't seen him for the last month. I wondered who would do such a cruel thing.

Words just stopped popping into my head. Nothing rhymes at all. Is this what they call, a "writer's block"? It used to be that words freely come into my head, in beautiful lyrical verses and I'll just pick and choose the ones I like to use.

Now, zip, nothing, nada. Only thing that comes to my mind is, "Buy my car yah, buy my car, la~la~la~, buy my car and go far far. See this rims ah, they're so shining, don't worry cause we'll throw them in for free!"

Damn silly radio commercial keeps ringing in my head. Bah! It's been a month since they stopped this advertisement on radio but I still remember it. Curse the creative directors that came up with that jingle!

Hopefully, Pokpok's poetic hiatus does not last too long.

Arghhh . . . I'm like a secondary school boy now . . .

Darn it . . . this is what happens when you nap on a saloon chair.

I went to the neighbourhood saloon on Sunday. Vincent Daniel. Classy name yeah? Not your typical barber. I told the lady, "Short on the side", while brushing my hand through the side of my head. And then I made the mistake of dozing off. . .

Imagine the shock when I woke up to find my new hairdo. She must have used a razor to run through the entire side and back of my head. Even the hair on top have been thinned till you can see the skin at some angles . . .

One of my collegue was saying, "You must have been nodding in your sleep when she ask if you want it shorter." . . . Ouch, salt on my wounds.

Oh well, I'll just have to tough it out till my hair grows to a respectable length again.

"It is my Destiny . . . !!"

I have just finished season 1 of Heros. It's this 'new' TV serial about "ordinary people with extraordinary powers". The next evolution of mankind. Think X-men and you'll kinda get an idea of what these series is about.

I borrowed season 1 from a friend sometime last week, but only found time to start last Friday night. Once I started though, bam! I was hooked. Welcome Marathon Session! I started at about 10pm and only stopped at 4am when my eyelids refused to open. Then woke up at 11am and continued till about 4pm Saturday. Hahahaha, this is one of the most addictive and intriguing tv show I've watched in a long long time.

I especially like Hiro Nakamura. He is this quirky non-conformist Japanese character who has the power to bend space time equilibrium to stop time or teleport. Unlike those invincible X-men that goes about saving the world at every turn, Hiro is just a simple person. He trys to find out the meaning of his powers, his purpose, his mission. His character feels so . . . . human.

Maybe it's our nature to want to be special. To be adored, loved, noticed. Everything that the many protagonist in the show are feeling. They have such wonderful and amazing powers, yet they are so vulnerable and weak. They are like the everyday person, yet their lives are 'special'. And I guess that's why we get addicted to it, because we associate our fears, our needs, our dreams with the characters. They show us that no matter how mundane our lives are, we can dream to be the special ones.

Of all places . . .

Hmmm, how to I put this . . . Well you see . . . Ummm . . . Eh . . . I had a shot of immense pain at a place near my crotch . . .

Ouch ouch ouch! What the hell! Where is that pain coming from! My head went straight to the source. It's dark down there so I couldn't really see it. As I turned about to get the light there, I found this patch of skin, or should I say, lack of skin.

Huh? How did I get an abrasion there . . . Hmmm . . . only logical reason must be that I didn't wore my briefs properly. Must have caught 'it' somehow haha. Oh well, another few more days of jumping about in the shower and it'll be back to normal.

Smooth . . .

I was getting a drink during the break from classes on Sunday and decided to check out Mc Cafe. Everytime I would just go straight for the reliable Latte. However I wanted something cold this time as there wasn't any aircon in the classroom. So I ordered their Mango Smoothie.

I was expecting a mango flavoured soft drink, so it caught me by surprised when I took my first sip. The first thought that came to me was "Hey, isn't this the same texture as the old Mac Donald's milkshake back in the early nighties?"

For those that were not fortunate enough to try the milkshake back in the 90s before they took it off the menu, milkshake back then tasted so much better than it is now. Now, it's like drinking cream. Soft and smooth but its texture is like melted icecream, Yuck . . . Milkshake of the 90s were a little different. It was icy-er, where you can feel and bite tiny minute bits of ice with every sip, and it was not as sweet as it is now. Seriously, you have never tasted a good milkshake till you tried the one they sold back then. Period.

So it seemed they haven't forgotten how to make the icy-er milkshake. Hmmm, oh well I'll just have it now in mango flavour then. I'm already delighted that I could get a drink with the 90s milkshake feeling so I'm not complaining.

For any Mac Donalds staff that happens to read this : Bring back the 90s Milkshake! The milkshake that you sell now just doesn't cut it! Plain and simple. Too sweet, too soft, too much like whipped cream, basically . . . yucky! You haven't lost the 'touch' to make it. So just bring it back, I'll be glad to pay a dollar more just to get my 90s Milkshake again. *wink wink

I love Japanese food

I love it. Don't really know why. Maybe it's the asian palate. We have more inclination to less meaty foods, prefering rice, fish and greens. I do like my meats but not where an entire meal consist solely of red meats. I am a nut for salads though. Sometimes, judging the difference between a good and a bad japanese restaurant rest solely on your selection of salads. Not a very impartial criteria considering salads are not what japanese are known for, but well I like my salads and it's all that matters. Heheh.

My girlfriend and I have been trying out several restaurants recently. Here is a sample of those we have tried:

1) Tampopo
Located in the basement of Liang Court Shopping Centre, this is our favourite restaurant at the moment. We have been to this restaurant maybe 4-5 times in the last few months. This is a regular japanese restaurants with your usual staple of sashimi, bentos, udon, ramen, sushi, maki etc. We usually come here for the Black Pork Ramen, which is the house speciality. It has a nice cozy atmosphere which always sits well with guests. Salads here are pretty non-existant but the ramen more than makes up for it. Prices for a meal are pretty reasonable, our meals usually costing about 40-50 dollars. Special note: The green tea might taste like fish tank water on some occasions. =P

2) Shinkushiya
We discovered this restaurant in the past month and already ate there twice. This comes a very close second (think paper thin) to Tampopo in my opinion, losing out only because they do not have one of my favourite dish, Ramen. However, this place specialises in grilled foods served in bite size sticks. There is an ample selection of chicken, pork, beef, seafood and vegetable variants, enough to have you taking 20-30 minutes to decide which ones you want. We've only been to the outlet at Far East Square, but we have been impressed enough to give it our vote even though we have not tried the one at Vivocity. It has a very nice, cozy ambience, with the most booth seats we've seen compared to other restaurants. There is also a decent salad menu, though we've only had the chance to try one. Pretty good I would say. Meals cost an average 40-50 as well, though we did spent about 80 last night because we ordered a sashimi platel for 2. Special note: Service here is pretty good. Staffs are friendly, attentive and refill your tea cups constantly.

3) Sushi Teh
I fell in love with this restaurant because of one dish, the Sashimi salad. Priced only at $8, it comes in a good portion enough for 2. It is littered with enough sashimi slices that you could almost taste a piece every bite. Well worth the money. If I was working anywhere near a Sushi Teh, I might just go there everyday and order the salad for lunch. We always go to the outlet at Far East Square. It's tucked away in the CBD area, so you don't get the crowds like you would in a normal shopping district. Meals cost between 30-40 here. Special Note: S-a-s-h-i-m-i S-a-l-a-d. Enough said.

4) Akashi
This is the outlet at Orchard. Touted to be a traditional japanese restaurant with reasonable price by our Japanese sensei. So we went and tried it. My honey ordered a prime cut sashimi bento set and I had a mixed cut sashimi and seafood bento set. My baby was pretty happy with her sashimi as it was very fresh. However overall I felt our meals weren't anything terrific. Plus the cost of the meal came up to 75, which was atrocious considering we only ordered 2 set meals. I have kinda mentally banned the place, due to the normal food to price ratio, poor service, crowds . . . it's in Orchard . . . can't expect much. Then again we have only been there once. There might have been a house special that we didn't get to try, but we'll never know. Special Note: They will charge 4 dollars for the little plate of beans, even if you didn't even touch them.

5) Sun and Moon
Outlet at Wheelock Place. Their speciality is the 'claypot' rice if I'm not mistaken. Well that's what we tried, ordering a chicken and a pork variant. They were pretty good and tasty. The meats were tender and succulant. However our meal was spoiled by a plate of foul weeds they tried to pass off as an edible salad . . . pure nastiness. I have banned this place as well hahahahah. Special Note: A cow or horse might like the vegetables they serve here. Are you a cow or a horse?

6) Waraku
We have been to the outlet at Marina Square a few times. Nice big booths enough to seat 6. I would say their hot pots are pretty tasty. Sadly they don't have ramen, only soba and udon . . . both of which does not appeal to me at all. Prices here are pretty reasonable though. I remember ordering a salad, tuna sashimi, prawn in cheese, sushi set and a udon set and it only came up to 40. I don't mind coming here again though I would try to avoid the weekends due to the crowds. Special Note: Waraku outlets have become very popular dining spots for couples and families, thus expect a long queue especially on the weekends.
Well that's as many as I could remember trying, or should I say . . . remember the name of the restaurant. There are other noteworthy places that are not restaurants, like the sushi bar at the Liang Court basement supermarket. But well, I'll leave that for another post.