Movies, Music, Memories, Musing..My Life!

Oscars 2012

2012-02-12T16:34:00.000+08:00

The OSCARS race is on and the results will be out on the 26th February. Normally during this time of the year, I will be busy watching all the Oscars nominated films. This year however, I have only watched a few. Namely, The Artist, The Help and The Descendants. Most of the nominated films this year are still not released in Singapore yet. Kinda killed the fun. Still waiting for The Iron Lady, Moneyball, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Albert Nobbs and Hugo. Here are my predictions:

Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir in "A Better Life"
George Clooney in "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"
Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt in "Moneyball"

Having only watched two of the five nominated performances, I really hope George Clooney will not win. His performance in The Descendants is so mediocre, I am still wondering why he has been winning awards everywhere. Anyway, he will probably win but I hope someone else will upstage him. Jean Dujardin is the dark horse but I don't think he acted fantastically well for his role. I think Leonardo Dicaprio was robbed of his Oscars once again. Personally, I think he acted really well for J. Edgar.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"
Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte in "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Cant really say who had the performance here because I didn't watch any of the movies. But the frontrunner now is Christopher Plummer and the dark horse is Kenneth Branagh.

Actress in a Leading Role

Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis in "The Help"
Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

Oh Best Actress....my favorite actress Meryl Streep is nominated once again! She is finally going to pick up another Oscars after sooo many years. Although I love her to win, I am secretly rooting for Viola Davis. Having watched her performance in The Help, I really thought this could be her year..if not for Meryl Streep.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain in "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

Octavia Spencer stunning performance in The Help will in her the Oscars. Enough said.

Animated Feature Film

"A Cat in Paris" Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
"Chico & Rita" Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
"Kung Fu Panda 2" Jennifer Yuh Nelson
"Puss in Boots" Chris Miller
"Rango" Gore Verbinski

For the first time since this category was created, Pixar did not get a nomination. Then again, Cars 2 wasn't really that great. Cars was already the weakest film in Pixar's amazing record of outstanding films. Now with Cars 2, they have two. With Pixar out of the race, this year best animated film can be any of the five films. I think Kung Fu Panda 2 might win. Rango is the dark horse.

Visual Effects

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
"Hugo" Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning
"Real Steel"
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Harry Potter has an amazing 10 years and this might be Oscars reward for Harry. Its too bad, Harry Potter did not get a best picture nomination, as expected. So this prize will be a consolation for the team. Personally I hope Rise of the Planet of the Apes will win for bringing such lifelike and moving performance out of CGI apes.

Directing

"The Artist" Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants" Alexander Payne
"Hugo" Martin Scorsese
"Midnight in Paris" Woody Allen
"The Tree of Life" Terrence Malick

The front runner of this race is The Artist, having picked up the Best Directing award from the Director's Guild.

Best Picture

"The Artist" Thomas Langmann, Producer
"The Descendants" Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" Scott Rudin, Producer
"The Help" Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
"Hugo" Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
"Midnight in Paris" Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
"Moneyball" Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
"The Tree of Life" Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner and Grant Hill, Producers
"War Horse" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Finally the best picture award. This year, instead of 10 nominees, we have 9. I hope The Help will win even though the chances are slim. The award will most probably go to The Artist or The Descendents which I think are totally undeserving.

Last year, I watched 7 of the 10 nominated films for best picture so it was kinda exciting awaiting the results. This year I only watched 3 of the 9 nominated films so there wasn't as much anticipation.

王菲巡唱2011

2011-07-05T21:23:00.002+08:00

After 7 years, I am finally going to watch Faye Wong concert again! I thought the one in 2004 will be the last but thankfully, she ran out of money and decided to give singing another shot. Damn the tickets are expensive! And I am a sucker! I bought the 280 bucks tickets. And thats the fourth most expensive tics...or should I say the third cheapest tics. I hope she doesnt disappoint! 29 October 2011... 4 more months to go!

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

2011-07-05T20:34:00.002+08:00

Went to watch Transformers over the weekend..the 3D one somemore but it wasnt as good as the trailer promised. Well, its Michael Bay not James Cameron..so I guess its not surprising that the movie is just 2 and a half hr of mindless action and explosion. The timeline has been drawn and redrawn since Revenge of the Fallen until everything just doesnt make sense anymore. What is the deal with the giant octopus thingy that reminds me of the Sentinels in the Matrix. Just upsized version. Why isit called Soundwave? Is it part of Soundwave? Why is Soundwave so powerful? Why is Megatron screen time so short and easily killed by Optimus Prime at the end? So many questions popped up when I was watching the movie and to be honest, I didnt really care until the end. One thing I hate is the cheap and lame humor, whats with the thing about Sam's mum? Its not funny at all and its a waste of time. Sam is bloody irritating in this movie, screaming like a spoilt brat, or should i say a girl, at every instance. Sometimes I wish the robots just step on him. Its amazing he survived all the mayhem without a scratch. Even more amazing is Carly beautiful white shirt which remained so white without a stain after going through the battlefield. Overall, I think its another disappointment, after the totally unnecessary Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Transformers

2011-07-05T20:06:00.002+08:00

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is out. Whenever that happens, it means I will inevitably burn a hole in my pocket. I cant resist collecting some of the key characters and with each release of the movie, I have collected a total of 10 characters!! Optimus Prime, Megatron, The Fallen, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Soundwave, Starscream, Sentinel Prime, Ravage and the Devastator (not seen on this pic cos its too big!!). I hope there will be no more transformers four cos I need to buy a new shelves to house more of them if there is one. Also because the third movie kinda sucked.

Most anticipated movies of 2011

2010-11-17T22:38:00.006+08:00

2010 is coming to an end and the line up of movies in 2011 seems quite interesting.

The first is The Green Hornet starring Jay Chou. Haha..he is not the greatest actor and everyone knows his english is cmi..but its his first hollywood film..so kinda curious to find out how its like.

Smurfs!! My childhood cartoon is coming to life in 3D. Enuff said.
Personally Cars was one of my least favorite Pixar films. Not sure why they decided to make a sequel. Anyway its Pixar, so it cant be that bad.

Another movie that went back on its word. The Pirates trilogy thats supposed to have ended with At World's End is back. At least Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack Sparrow. Pity Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly is not back with him. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides...May 20th.

Transformers 2 sucks..Hopefully, the third one will redeem itself. Megan Fox is gone. Somehow the title doesnt make much sense..Dark of the Moon?

Last but not least..The final..the real end to the Harry Potter series...The Deathly Hallows Part 2. Havent catch part 1 yet..but I think it looks promising.

Avatar special edition

2010-11-16T20:59:00.006+08:00

After months of waiting, the Avatar extended collector's edition will finally be in stores! Whee! Even though its the extended edition, its still quite lacking in special features!! I think they are saving it for the ultimate 3D edition. Damn.

One of my favorite movies in 2010 - Inception. Its DVD will be out in december too. Just in time for the holiday season.

India and Doha Trip

2010-11-14T20:39:00.014+08:00

Went for two business trips in the months of September and October. First was mumbai and then Doha. Coming from the clean and green Singapore, India was quite a culture shock for me. The living conditions, the slums..its really like what was depicted in Slumdog millionaire. I saw kids running around the streets naked. One was poop-ing on the pavement as my car drove by. Heaps of rubbish beside where these people live. Traffic condition was terrible. It takes more than good driving skills to maneuver around in Mumbai.

Then there is Doha. A rich and fast developing country. There is construction going on everywhere. People here are rich. Some filthy rich.

Qatar bid for World Cup 2022. Results of the bid will be out in a few weeks time. Good luck!

The restaurants at the Souq Waqif. A hundred over years old market restored to its former glory. Now it is a tourist hotspot.

Souq Waqif

Las Vegas and Macau has the Venetian and Doha has the Villaggio.

Encountered some heavy fog on my way to the site. I heard Doha has its fair share of sandstorms and its alot worse than this.

The Doha city center skyline. There are lots of skyscrapers with very innovative designs. Personally I think this is something Singapore lacks.

Another cafe at the Souq Waqif

I like their residential buildings. Buidlings made from earth. Kinda cool.

Starscream

2010-11-14T20:35:00.002+08:00

Thank you Juztin and Paul for giving me this new addition to my Transformer collection. Starscream! Now I think I shall get Megatron and a few more autobots when the transformers third series comes out. Heehee

My own Subaru Impreza

2010-11-14T17:48:00.003+08:00

I know I have said it before..I dont need a car. Its much cheaper taking a taxi. A car is a huge liability. In the end, I have to eat my own words because I got myself one last month. I got it on my birthday..it just happened, I didnt plan for it. I guess its a 30th birthday present for myself. Its a second hand car. The main reason I bought it? I guess the price was very reasonable. Maybe I was getting tired of waiting for the ever so crowded trains and buses. I was tired of inconsiderate commuters. Tired of hearing "train is coming..train is coming...train is COMMMINGG!!! " So now to hell with all that. I get to move around in my own car and add to the carbon footprint. lol.

Back again

2010-11-14T17:41:00.003+08:00

Its been so long since I last posted something here. I think the blog is kinda dead already. Its been such a busy time for me the past few months. So busy that I lost abit of weight. I just weighed myself. 55kg. Damn. I need to eat more. Need to go back to the gym. Need to find a purpose in life.

Singapore Youth Olympics Opening Ceremony

2010-08-15T10:51:00.009+08:00

As a Singaporean, I should be very proud that Singapore is hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. But somehow, like most singaporeans, I am not really interested (according to a poll by CNA). Maybe because its not just us, the world seems to be turning a blind eye on the games too. I was looking at Yahoo.com and Yahoo.com.sg, there was no mention of the opening ceremony that happened yesterday. This is a far cry from the attention and praises the media had on the Beijing Olympic games 2 years ago. Was it a failure in our publicity effort? Maybe. Maybe its the lack of a certain thing that we can marvel at and call it a symbol of the olympic games. The Beijing games have the Bird Nest and the Water Cube..we have nothing. We dont even have a proper stadium for the opening ceremony. Its the first day of the games, so its still hard to say if the attention will grow over the next few days. But seriously, Yahoo Singapore dont even have a page dedicated to the olympic games...how sad is that!

The opening ceremony last nights has some high and low points. There were no spectacularly choreographed stunts or performances. Perhaps its unfair to compare it to the Beijing Games but pole dancing for the olympic games? Seriously? There were some cringe-worthy moments like when they welcome the athletes with "客人来看爸爸，爸爸不在家.." ..what were they thinking? and I know the wonder girls are hot and korean culture is the IN thing now but glorifying "Nobody , nobody but chu..." in the opening ceremony? And the familiar children day song "Sama Sama..." and "There are five stars arising..out on the stormy sea"..I thought I was watching some children's day celebration or the retelecast of last week National Day Parade. Then the flag bearers nearly screwed the ceremony up when many of them look lost after they appeared on the stage. Some turned left when they supposed to go right while some just stood right at the center only to realised that they are not supposed to be there. This is not supposed to happen, considering its just a simple matter of communication. Just follow the damn person holding the card in front of you! How difficult is that? The flagbearers cannot be blamed as they genuinely looked lost. The organiser should be blamed for not briefing them properly on what they were supposed to do.

Anyway, it was not all bad. There were some great moments during the ceremony. The fireworks display was amazing. The best I have seen since the opening of the Esplanade theater. The water stage called the reflecting pool is kinda cool as well.

The Olympic rings formed on the reflecting pool is really beautiful.

They really brought out the big guns for the fireworks display.

This is a really beautiful picture with MBS as the backdrop.

Its the moment that everyone , at least those who cared, was waiting for.. the olympic flag raised on singapore soil for the very first time. Tan Howe Liang, our first olympic medalist is one of the flag bearer. I was hoping he will be the final torch bearer.

I liked the idea of the pheonix delivering the olympic flame.

And the final torch bearer goes to...Darren Choy..who? That was my first reaction when I heard his name. A quick google search revealed he is the world champion for sailing. His parents must be really proud of him being able to light the olympic flame.

The olympic flame blazing above Darren Choy. The tornado effect is a nice touch. The light house design is rather cool too.

So relieved

2010-08-13T22:01:00.001+08:00

I passed my examination. Yeah! At least I did not go USA for nothing. So relieved.

Day 8: Last day in New York

2010-08-11T23:02:00.010+08:00

I decided the last day shall be the day I spent touring New York leisurely. But it turned out to be rather crazy. I practically walked the entire stretch of manhattan from 103th street to brooklyn bridge.

I started the morning back where I started a week ago on a saturday morning - Central Park. This time, I went to the east side to explore areas which I didnt see the last time.

Its weird to find an obelisk in the middle of Central Park. This obelisk was erected in Egypt and then removed to Alexandria by the Roman. It was presented to the city of New York in 1881 by Egypt.

The Ramble at Central Park.
At the center of the park is the Bethesda Fountain.

The wollman rink reopened by Donald Trump. Its an ice skating rink during winter and a amusement park during summer.

The Apple store just at the border of Central Park. It was packed with people queuing up to get their ipad and iphone 4.

A few streets down is the Abercrombie and Fitch Store. As usual they have their models standing in front of the store to attract customers.

The Washington Square Arch.

Everyone having fun at the fountain. The heat was unbearable that day. I think it was at least 36 degrees.

My second visit to the Brooklyn Bridge.

My final stop was at Ground Zero. I was there in 2007 and it was a construction site. 3 years later, its still a construction site. I wonder when it will finally be completed.

Day 7: Shopping Time!!

2010-08-11T22:54:00.002+08:00

The 2nd last day of my trip was where I spent the most money. Woodbury common outlet stores. They have so many branded stuff at really cheap prices. I went crazy over there. I think I never bought so much stuff at one go.

Final tally : SGD 580. Two belts, one watch, two polo tshirt, one t shirt, one shorts, one pair of shoes, one pair of underwear, one shirt.

Day 6: Boston

2010-08-11T22:39:00.011+08:00

The final day of the tour started with an early morning tour of Harvard. I guess this would be my only time stepping on the premise of Harvard..haha. Wish I was smart enough to actually study here.

After Harvard was the equally famous MIT college.

All the parents were so excited about the two colleges. For me, I guess its too late.
The one hour ferry ride around Boston was more interesting. You get to see the entire bay area of Boston.

Boston City Center.

Our last stop was the very old Quincy Market.

Its a market place where you find all sorts of food.

But the most famous in Boston is lobster and clam chowder and thats exactly what I had for lunch.

After lunch, my tour officially ended. The bus took me back to New York City where it all began.

Back to New York.

Day 5: Niagara Falls

2010-08-11T22:23:00.010+08:00

Next day, we woke up really early..5am to go to the Niagara Falls. We caught the imax show which was about the history and the legends of Niagara Falls followed by a ride on the famous Maid of the Mist.

The raging water that will eventually flow down the American Falls.

The view is so beautiful with the rainbow and the massive amount of flowing water.
This is the Rainbow Bridge that connects America to Canada.

On board the Maid of the Mist that brings you right next to the action.

The horseshoe falls

After the boat ride, I was totally wet..here together with Amanda, a friend I made during the trip.

How to resist taking a photo against such a beautiful landscape.

After that, its nearing the end of our tour. We had to endure a 8 hour bus ride to Boston. A lobster dinner was what awaits us.

Boston Chinatown.

My own lobster. It was my first time having lobster. Personally I dont think its anything great. Just taste like prawn..a huge prawn. Lol

Day 4: Bus ride to Niagara Falls

2010-08-11T21:45:00.013+08:00

The third day of the tour was rather uneventful. The highlight of the trip was Niagara Falls and the entire day was spent getting there. On route, we made two stops - Hersheys Chocolate Factory and Corning Museum of Glass.

Hersheys Chocolate factory. I was rather excited at first but was kinda disappointed in the end. I thought the factory would be the real deal..but it turned out to be a "theme park" for the kids. I would be very excited if I were 20 yrs younger. The chocolate factory tour is too cutesy for me. Oh well, at least I got a free chocolate bar.

There were other stuff to do..like watching a show, learning to make chocolate..but we did not have enough time for that. So after lunch, off we go to Corning Museum of Glass.
Corning Museum of Glass. Yes, first thing came to my mind was the glass pots my mum called Corning ware. And yes it came from here. But I was not interested in cooking pots, there were many beautiful glass exhibits in the museum such as this one..

Looks like an aquarium encased in glass.

The glass chess set was another intricate masterpiece as well.

A giant standing glass chandelier.

The highlight was a 20min show demonstrating how the glass vases were hand crafted. A simple vase took many rounds of painstaking work by the lady here to form. It took repeated heating, forming, heating and spinning to form the shape you desire.

At the end of the session, there was a lucky draw and two lucky winners went home with vases. Unfortunately, its not me.

Then it was anothe 4 hours ride to reach niagara falls. Its a pity we were late and we couldnt get better lighting to view the magnificent horseshoe falls.

Nevertheless, it was amazing seeing the falls right before me.

My attempt to capture the falls in night mode. I was very happy to be able to get the waterfall effect with my camera. hehee

Beside the horseshoe falls is the american falls which we would eventually visit the next morning.

Day 3: Washington DC

2010-08-09T20:18:00.023+08:00

Day 2 of my tour began with a two hour bus ride to Philadephia. Just a brief stop at the Independence Hall to see the Liberty Bell.

Its interesting that a bell with a huge crack is of such huge significance in the history of the US. The bell was ordered in 1751 for use in the Pennsylvania State Housenow known as Indedepence Hall in Philadelphia. The bell cracked during testing. There is a long story to why the bell eventually is honored so I shant elaborate here. Hehe

The Independence Hall is right beside where the Liberty Bell is housed now. It is where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Next was another 2 hours bus ride before we reached Washington DC. Our first stop was the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. This museum was also featured in Night at the Museum 2 together with Lincoln Memorial which I also visited during this trip.

The Space sector with all the space rockets and space vehicles.

The lunar landing vehicle.

The rover used to land on Mars. Again, the stay was too short. I especially liked the space section of the museum where you get to see lots of space vehicles and also learned about the apollo missions.

Less than 5 min walk from the museum is the Capitol Building.

Unfortunately, we can only view this beautiful piece of architecture from afar.

Same thing for the white house. We had to view the White House from far as the road was closed to public. I managed to get this photo thanks to my camera 10x zoom.

Washington DC is a place with lots of memorials. This is the Jefferson Memorial dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, the third president of US.

Washington Monument on the left and Jefferson Memorial on the right. The Washington Monument was built to commemorate the first president - George Washington. The obselisk structure was referenced in Dan Brown' s Lost Symbol. I was quite excited to see it right before my eyes. It is the tallest structure in Washington DC.

Another memorial. This time is the Korean War Memorial.

The ghostly carving on the wall represents the people who perished during the war.

Scupltures of soldiers who fought during the war.

The Lincoln Memorial.

This scene was featured in so many movies and here I was looking at it from the same point of view. Its amazing and surreal.

The day ended with a leisurely boat ride touring the city.

View of the Washington Monument from the river.

Day 2: New York Tour

2010-08-09T19:17:00.024+08:00

Early morning, I rushed down to Bowery Street (Chinatown) to board the bus for my 5 day tour. I was surprised and a little disappointed to find out that the tour i signed up for was actually organised by a Chinese company and hence I had a chinese tour guide. Not that its bad to have a chinese tour guide, they were really nice people in fact. However due to their proficiency in English, it was hard to understand what they were trying to say when they tried to explain the history of the various places of interest. Nevertheless, the tour was a pleasant one even though alot of time was spent on the bus, moving from one place to another.

The first day was a day tour around New York beginning with Empire State Building Observatory.

From the tallest building in New York, I was able to get a bird's eye view of the entire city.
Lower manhatton. If the World Trade Center Twin Towers were still around, they would be at the right corner of the photograph.
Next stop was a brief stopover at Rockefeller center for photo session.

A new york tour would not be complete without going to Times Square!!

The next place of interest was a place I would never have thought of going on my own - The USS Intrepid Museum. I got to go onboard this aircraft carrier built during World War II period. Cool! Wish I had more time to view all the exhibit in the museum though.

Inside the control room of the Intrepid.

Military Band performance.

After that was a tour along the Hudson river. The one hour boat ride on a hot afternoon was sleep inducing. Most of the people fell asleep during the ride, including me. lol.

However, if you were awake, you get to see the New York City Skyline from the river and most importantly...

The statue of liberty. The circle line ferry ride doesnt allow you to go on liberty island. It didnt bother me as I had been on the island before back in 2007.

The next place they brought me to was a place I had visited before too - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This place is a must if you are visiting New York City. The museum is huge and has a huge collection of art work and artefacts.

One of the exhibition halls.

A beautifully crafted artefact.

I am a big fan of scupltures. Here is Perseus holding the head of Medusa.

Exquisite artefacts on display.

I was allowed one and a half hour in the museum which is totally not enough!! Thats the sad part of following a tour.

The United Nation building was the next stop. It was sunday so all the flags were not up flying which is quite disappointing. We didnt get to go inside, just allowed to take photographs outside..quite lame. I would love to go in.

Our last stop for the day is Wall Street and here I am posing in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

Standing on Wall Street.

Thats it for the first day. We headed to New Jersey for the overnight stay and next morning will be straight to Washington DC.

New York Day 1

2010-08-09T14:51:00.019+08:00

Day 1. I reached New York via an overnight flight from San Francisco. Went straight from the airport to my hostel at Amsterdam Avenue and 103th Street. I have stayed at Hostelling International several times, once in LA, once in San Francisco and now in New York. The hostel here is clean and cheap and you get a good mix of people from all over the world. It was too early to check in so I left my luggage in the locker and head out to explore New York City. Armed with only a Eyewitness travel guidebook, I navigate along the streets and reached my first destination - Central Park. It was 930 on a saturday morning and Central park is packed with people. Joggers, bikers, strollers. Everyone just enjoying the peace and quiet and the greens. Its a rather good feeling, walking around the park except that the weather is really hot. Hotter than Singapore.

Beside Central Park is the American Museum of Natural History. I always wanted to visit this museum. Partly due to the movie Night at the Museum.
The outer facade of the Museum is currently under renovation. If you intend to be there, try to be early. I reached there at 11 and its already packed but I could get in rather easily. When I left at 1pm, the queue to get in was freaking long. Not nice to queue for hours under the hot sun. Well I was glad I went there early. The museum is massive and there are lots of exhibits to go through. I spent 2 hours there and I didnt finish seeing everything. Of course one of the main attraction is the prehistoric dinosaurs exhibit and here is the famous T-rex.

The Milstein Hall of Ocean Life. The entire hall dedicated to ocean life. The giant 94-foot-long model of a blue whale is the main attraction right at the center of the hall. This hall displays creatures and environments from across the globe. It underwent a major renovation and was reopened in May, 2003. The 29,000-square-foot hall was transformed through current scientific research and cutting-edge exhibition technology into a fully immersive marine environment with video projection screens and interactive computer stations.

Akeley Hall of African Mammals. The hall is named after Carl Akeley (1864-1926), the explorer, conservationist, taxidermist, sculptor, and photographer who conceived of, designed, and collected for the hall. The hall was opened in 1936 and the elephants exhibit is the main attraction.

Beside the museum there is the Rose center for air and space. I watched a 20 mins show called "Journey to the Stars" narrated by Whoopi Goldberg in the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater. As the theater goes out, you are fully immersed in space filled with stars. The 360 degree screen right above you makes you feel you are flying right through space. Awesome experience. After the show, the center has numerous exhibits for visitors to browse through. One of which is the Willamette Meteorite. This meteorite crashed onto Earth thousands of years ago and was slowly weathered by rain creating the huge craters as seen in the photograph.

After an educational tour, I walked along the streets, passing the Lincoln Center for the performing arts. I guess its like our Esplanade center. Didnt get a chance to go in.

Further down on 59th street is a very busy stretch called columbus circle, named after Christopher Columbus. Around that area is the Trump International Hotel and the Time Warner Building. Its a major transportation hub where most of the subway lines converged at this station. The golden statue in the photograph is the Maine Monument which is dedicated to the 260 "valiant seamen who perished in the American battleship Maine by fate unwarned in death unafraid" in 1898.

Radio City Music Hall at Rockefeller Center.

Right beside the rockefeller center on 5th Avenue is the beautiful St Patrick's Cathedral. The cathedral was completed in 1878 and dedicated on May 25, 1879

There was a ceremony going on when I was inside. The interior of the cathedral is absolutely beautiful and majestic.

A walk down 5th Avenue leads me to Grand Central Station on 42nd street and Lexington Avenue.
The Grand Central narrowly escaped demolition and was restored and rededicated to become one of New York City finest landmark.

The main hall in grand central.

A few blocks down is the New York Public Library. The New York Public Library is the second largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research library.

The grand Rose Main Reading room.

After a whole day of walking. I head back to my hostel to prepare for my 5 day Washington DC, Niagara falls and Boston tour the next morning.

Back from the states

2010-08-09T14:16:00.002+08:00

Been back from the united states for two weeks. Finally I have finished editing my photographs. The trip was rather eventful. First I got food poisoning during my course which freaked me out a little. I missed part of my lessons and at the same time I have to prepare for the examination. Worried I might not recover for the examination, I decided to go to the hospital. The hospital visit made me realised how fortunate I am to live in Singapore. I went to the emergency department dizzy, nauseous and seriously sick. They put me on a wheelchair and asked me to wait. There I sat waiting, from 6 to 9pm and all they did was asking me for my particulars again and again and taking my vitals. In the end, I decided not to wait any more and I left without treatment hoping that the pain will go away by itself. Sadly it didnt. So reluctantly I went to another hospital for treatment the next day. This time I didnt wait that long but I didnt get to see the doctor either. I only saw the nurse. He took my vitals and then took my blood sample and gave me a jab of morphine and send me back. Final bill? USD 250. I have to go to the pharmacy to buy my own medicine. The US has a really screwed up medical system and unfortunately I have to experience it.

Then my flight got delayed on my way back. United airlines is quite a terrible airline compared to the other airlines I have taken so far. Even continental airlines is better. I wasnt expecting SQ kind of service since the american airlines are known for the lack of it but there wasnt even a personal entertainment system on a 10 hrs flight. Everyone has to watch movies from the big screen and you have no control over what you want to watch. Anyway my stupid flight was delayed due to a mechanical fault which was discovered only after everyone boarded. So everyone has to deplane and wait for further instructions. The situation was chaotic and I have to queue 1 hr to speak to a gate officer about my connecting flight.

Oh well, enough complaining. I will upload my travel photos in a while.

Inception

2010-08-09T13:56:00.002+08:00

This is the summer movie I have been waiting for. Two reasons - Leonardo Dicaprio and Christopher Nolan. I am a huge Dicaprio fan. His movies seldom disappoint. And Christopher Nolan, its exciting to find out what his follow up to the Dark Knight will be. And after watching Inception, I say he has outdone himself. The Dark Knight success was more due to Heath Ledger remarkable protrayal of the Joker. This one is absolutely Chris own brainchild. He came up with the idea and wrote the script. The concept itself was intriguing. What if you can extract information from someone's dream and what happens if you plant an idea into someone's mind. I love how the story is essentially about Dicaprio's character. His journey to redeem himself. At the end of the day, we are left with questions...is he still in limbo or is he back to the real world?

The action sequences are incredible as well. The climactic scenes leaves you at the edge of your seat. Its surreal watching the van falls in slow motion and everything blows up in sequence knocking the main characters out from one dream state to the next. The zero gravity sequence with Joseph Gordon Levitt is beautifully choreographed. Its the most innovative scene since the matrix bullet time scene.

Watch this, if you have not.

Its National Day and I am rotting at home.

2010-08-09T13:31:00.006+08:00

Its National Day..and I am rotting at home..yeah. Been out for the past two days. Watched two movies - Salt and Au revoir Taipei.

Love Salt. Angelina Jolie is absolutely amazing in that movie. The plot is a little outrageous but the action just keep you going leaving you breathless. The ending is unexpected and seems like a setup for a sequel. Pure popcorn movie, just enjoy the ride.

She is sexy, hot and fierce. Love her eyes....and those lips.

Au Revoir Taipei is a film about taiwanese guy attempting to go to Paris to salvage a broken relationship and ends up finding someone else back home. The story bears a slight resemblance to Burn After Reading. A few funny moments but seemed a little forced at times. Not really my cup of tea but its enjoyable.

Happy 45TH Birthday Singapore!

Guy walks across America

2010-07-28T11:19:00.002+08:00

Having just came back from New York, Washington and San Francisco, I find this video absolutely amazing. The editing was great. Check out the "making of" video and the final product.

Preparing for my US trip

2010-06-20T22:13:00.002+08:00

Will be attending a course in San Bernardino next month. With only 3 weeks to go, I am kinda freaking out. The course material is tough stuff. I hope I can come back with a pass. My fourth trip to the United States, this time I will be travelling alone again. After my course, I will be flying from the west coast to the east coast to revisit New York City. I missed New York. I will be spending a little time there and then I will travel to Washington, Niagara's Falls and Boston. Will update again once I am back with photos!

Toy Story 3

2010-06-20T22:01:00.002+08:00

Pixar did it again. Toy Story 3 is a funny, warm and thrilling addition to the Toy Story franchise. I guess it completes the Toy Story Trilogy story arc and the ending was really touching. I love Mr. Potato and the new character Ken, in case you do not know, he is the ultra metrosexual partner of Barbie. Both of them are hilarious.

I remember watching Toy Story 1 at the age of 15 back in 1995...gosh that was almost 15 years ago. Back then, they were the pioneer of computer animation in contrast to the hand-drawn animation by Disney. 15 years later, they still stand tall among all the other computer animated movies that followed.

In celebration of Pixar's 20 years of animation, they are having an exhibition at the Singapore Science Centre from now till 27th June. Yes, the exhibition closes next weekend! I will be heading down to catch it before it ends. For details check out. http://www.pixar.com.sg/

Catching up with friends

2010-05-30T20:38:00.002+08:00

It was great catching up with Eileen, Lifen and Chiew Boon again last week. Its good to know that everyone is doing well. Its been a long time since we last met. Coincidentally, I had a gathering with my NUS classmates a week earlier as well. Ahh..reunions..makes you feel like you have grown so much older when you start talking about old times.

New Look

2010-05-30T20:14:00.002+08:00

Havent been updating my blog for some time. I guess I am getting lazy. Is blogging still "IN"? Or I should be twittering instead? Will I have a following if I tweet? Hmm. Anyway, just got bored of the old blog..so I decided to change it.

I passed!!

2010-05-02T09:24:00.000+08:00

I finally got my driving license! 12 demerit points..phew!

This is crazy!

2010-04-22T19:45:00.002+08:00

I couldnt get the tickets to Jay Chou Concert last week. Tickets were sold out within 2 hours. Today, I had it all thought out. Two computers, numerous pages set on sistic before 9am. In the end? I still couldnt get any tickets..Argghh..Both concerts are totally sold out now. Damn.

A photo diary of my recent US trip

2010-04-21T21:25:00.023+08:00

Outside the convention center where I attended my conference.

Sneaking to the most famous tourist attraction in San Antonio during my lunch break - The Alamo
My first destination at San Francisco - The City Hall. Its within walking distance from my Hostel.

Enjoying the sunset at Pier 39.

San Francisco Bay

The famous Fisherman's wharf.

Behind me is the Ferry Building.

Walking the streets of Chinatown.

My first time at Golden Gate Bridge.

On the bridge.

My day trip to Yosemite.

Bridalveil Falls

Half dome.

Yosemite Falls

Lower Yosemite Falls. An old couple took this photo for me. They are such a nice couple. They saw me taking photo of myself and came over offering to help. Then they walked me to the falls, telling me that they would come to Yosemite every year just to enjoy the scenery. Watching them holding each other hands at such a ripe old age makes me feel so envious.

On the way to Alcatraz

Standing on Alcatraz Island

At the Japanese Tea Garden. A nice spot within the Golden Gate Park to chill. The garden is lovely with all the flowers and sakura. I went at the right time.

The Baker Beach. Great view of the Golden Gate Bridge from here. Its a nudist beach as well.

My second time at the Golden Gate Bridge just to catch the evening scenery.

29th April 2010

2010-04-21T21:09:00.001+08:00

Finally, it all comes down to this. 29 April ..my driving test. Hope I can pass and get my license on the first trial.

My year end holiday

2010-01-03T18:41:00.032+08:00

Finally had the chance to take a break from my work. Went for a short trip to Malaysia before the year ended. A trip to relax and destress...

Malacca was not in our planned itinerary but we needed a place for lunch. I been to Malacca 2 years ago but did not have the chance to visit its historic site.

I believed this should be its famous tourist site - Jonker Street. Its like Chinatown in the 70- 80s. Lots of Chicken Rice shops here.
I havent seen these stuff in Singapore for a long time. Those red colored clogs, I used to have them at home too.
Me at one of the chicken rice shop. The shophouse looks very much like the ones in The Little Nonya. It was filled with people at the time we were there.

This is the "famous" chicken rice balls in Malacca. Honestly, after eating it, I think it is not fantastic. The rice is too sticky and the chicken is just normal. I think I tasted better in Singapore. Lol. National pride.

Opposite the Jonker Street is the famous historical site - Christ Church Melaka

This red building was built by the Dutch when they colonised Melaka, taking over from the Portuguese.

A touch of Holland. There was a windmill near the church.

Venturing up the hill behind the Church, we reached the St Paul's Church. Built before the Christ Church by the Portuguese, the Church became a graveyard after the Dutch took over.

Slabs of tombstone sits in the interior of the church ruin.

From the top of the hill, you get a spectacular view of Malacca.

After filling our stomachs, we continue our way up Port Dickson, about an hour plus journey from Malacca. Got a little lost along the way but eventually we managed to reach safely.

The Avillion Resort at Port Dickson turned out to be a really nice place. A good getaway from the busy citylife. Just relax and enjoy the sun, the sea and the peace and quiet.

The water chalets, sit just along the coastline are really great. Fitted with a small balcony facing the sea, the view is incredible. The rooms are cosy and the outdoor shower is just great value for money. A night stay cost only about SGD 90 and it comes with a 30min neck and back massage.

The resort have a small area where you can get close to pigeons, dove, chicken, rabbits, turtle and guinea pigs. It was great fun, feeding, holding these animals, or simply watching them hurtling around the area.

The beach during low tide. The full view of the resort.
I cant resist doing this. Haha.

A surprise during the low tide. Tonnes of small crabs filled the beach, making it red. As we approached, they will burrow themselves into the seamud.

Close up of the crabs.

The resort have a nice pool which is big enough for some decent swimming. At night, it looks even better. Just lying there enjoying the view makes you feel so relaxed.

From the balcony, you can view the sunset. Its a pity it was overcast and we didnt manage to get a good view of the sunset.

It was a good place to chill out. About 4 hours drive from Singapore. Great value of money.

Surprise

2010-01-02T00:15:00.002+08:00

Got a surprise email ...

:: Schmap Los Angeles Ninth Edition: Photo Inclusion

Hi Vincent,I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photohas been selected for inclusion in the newly released ninthedition of our Schmap Los Angeles Guide:

Schindler House http://www.schmap.com/losangeles/sights_westhollywood/p=8033/i=8033_15.jpg

Cant believe someone actually looked at my flickr photographs and selected my photo to be included in their street guide. Hehe

Singapore Flyer Revisited

2010-01-01T23:47:00.004+08:00

This is my second time up on the Singapore Flyer. This time round, the integrated resort is nearly complete.

Got a nice view of the new Singapore Skyline.

A walk down memory lane ...ACJC

2010-01-01T23:08:00.008+08:00

After almost 11 years, I finally took a trip down to my alma mater - ACJC. I had a lot of fond memories there and the trip back brought me back in time. The building have gone through a lot of major renovation since I graduated. Stairwell have been relocated, new blocks, airconditioned classrooms and covered walkways.

The main block at the center is new. It wasnt there 11 years ago. It was just a carpark where we assembled every morning. The iconic smiley there has been relocated. See below..

ACJC Smiley
The canteen is no longer the dark, smelly canteen with long rows of wooden tables and benches. Now it looks so bright and clean with those nice colorful chairs.

The assembly hall. The only place that looks almost the same as what it was 11 years ago.

The ACJC swimming pool. I can still remember my swimming classes there.

I am so happy I was able to sneak into my old classroom. Everything has changed. Our wooden tables have been replaced. I am sitting at the place I used to sit.

I was there with Ken. We were in the same school but not the same class. The building in the foreground is our secondary school - Fairfield Methodist. What a great day. Brings back so much memories.

2000 - 2009

2010-01-01T21:13:00.002+08:00

Ten years, so many things have changed. From a 20 year old NS boy to a 29 year old working adult. During these 10 years, 4 years of tertiary education and 4 years of working life, I have grown in many ways...for better or worse, I do not know. Still learning to adapt, to fit in, to be more capable, more independent, and to be a better person.

So many things changed around us..

From owning a simple nokia phone to getting the cool iphone. Zoe Tay / Fann Wong era have passed, replaced by the so called 7 princesses era. Faye Wong /Sammi Cheng are no longer popular..replaced by Jay Chou, Jolin and Stefanie Sun. The park beside Orchard Mrt have become a mall. The Star Wars prequel came to an end, thankfully. Spiderman, Transformers took the world by storm. I watched the three kids grow up in the Harry Potter movies. I bought my last Harry Potter novel. From Friendster to Facebook to Twitter. Singapore River is now a fresh water lake. Gambling in a casino in Singapore will soon become a reality. From a CRT Television to Plasma, to LCD to LED Tvs. My Discman gave way to the ipod. I no longer needs to develop the photographs I took.

So many things have happened these 10 years, some have a direct impact on me, some not that much...looking back, these are the things that made an impression..

January 15 2001.. I moved from my home of 20 years in Clementi to my new apartment in Boon Lay.

September 11 2001..I dont think anyone can forget this day. I remembered watching it on TV as it unfolds.

October 12 2002.. My birthday. I remember sitting alone at the esplanade, anxiously waiting for the official opening fireworks performance. It was a great show, perhaps the best fireworks display Singaporean will ever witness. On this very day, in Bali, 20 people were killed by suicide bombing.

February 29 2004.. The year Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Swept all 11 Oscars it was nominated for. I like the series and was happy it was honored.

December 26 2004..Asian Tsunami. I learnt about tsunami when I was in school but I only fully understand the power of it on this day. The fury of nature unleashed in an instant..250,000 lives lost.

July 12 2005..My graduation. After four years of hardwork, I finally got my degree. The start of my working life.

June 16 2007..My first USA trip. Stepping out of Singapore, flew to the other side of the world to see places I have been seeing only on television. Las Vegas, Hollywood, Statue of Liberty..all came to life in front of my eyes.

July 4 2007 ..Transformers, The Movie. Watching my favorite childhood cartoon characters come to life on this day was an exciting experience for me.

January 22 2008.. Death of a great talent..Heath Ledger. Was shocked to learn about his death. So young, so sudden. Totally blown away by his performance in The Dark Knight later in the year. He totally deserved the Oscar.

February 27 2008.. Escape of Mas Selamat..Made a joke out of the Singapore internal security force.

August 8 2008.. Beijing Olympics. The most anticipated sporting event in 2008. Beijing put up a fantastic show during the opening ceremony. Singapore got their second olympic medal in 48 years..woohoo!

January 20 2009.. First black American president assumed office. A milestone in the history of America.

June 25 2009.. Michael Jackson departed. Never been a fan of him. Always thought of him as a weirdo. However, he is still undeniably the King of Pop and his achievements cannot be ignored.

December 18 2009.. Avatar, the most anticipated movie of 2009. From one of my favorite director, James Cameron, this movie is the IT movie. It totally lived up to the expectations.

2010..Looking forward to the opening of the integrated resorts and the circle line, World Cup 2010 and Singapore Youth Olympics Games.

2010

2010-01-01T20:53:00.002+08:00

2009 passed in a flash. It was a busy year for me. Increased workload and responsibilities made last year a particularly stressful year for me. Today is the first day of 2010, a new start, hopefully this year will be better. Happy New Year everyone!

Skinny Pizza at Wheelock

2009-12-06T20:28:00.002+08:00

Chance upon this new place at wheelock place called "Skinny Pizza". Was quite skeptical at first as they look like indian prata with topping at quite steep prices. After trying, I thought they taste really good. The crust is crispy and the ingredients are very fresh.

Pumpkin pizza

Mushroom pizza. I love this one. It taste sooo good! Must try!

My first driving lesson

2009-12-06T20:25:00.002+08:00

Took my first practical lesson yesterday. It was damn fun! Driving a manual car is not as tough as I thought. Hehe

Twilight: New Moon

2009-12-06T20:16:00.002+08:00

I cant believe I paid $8 to watch this piece of crap. New Moon is one big piece of over-rated trash. I couldnt keep myself awake for the most part of the movie because it was soooo bad. The screenplay was unbelieveably cheesy. The effects are terrible...the wolves looked so cartoonish. And the romance part..what romance? All we got for 2 hours is a horny teenage girl who cant get over the fact that her vampire bf just dumped her. Get a life! Her constant whining throughout the movie really put me off. Watching three people who are only in their teens trying to act so serious and behave like this is their love of their lives is so laughable. Anyone who intend to watch this, please stay away. Its seriously not worth it.

This is more entertaining...

Random Events in October

2009-11-01T16:48:00.019+08:00

Random photos of things in October..

Went for a make-over photoshoot. My first makeover shoot. Its much harder than I thought. How to smile, how to pose...there are so much to think about before each take.

*** Went to watch a dance performance at the esplanade recommended by Kenneth. My first time watching a show there. Re- Part I,II & III by Shen Wei. Honestly, before I went, I had no idea who he is and I have absolutely no appreciation for modern dance. But its a good experience. The dancers were amazing, the way they move their body, so fluid and so beautiful. Maybe I should go watch more of such performances in the future.

***

Went to a place called Tea Bone Zen Mind at Seah Street to chill. Great place...cosy and quiet. Great to spend an afternoon there just relaxing..chatting. The tea and snacks are pretty good though I think they are a little expensive.

Tea egg...unlike the other "Cha ye dan", this one is especially soft and smooth and the yolk is not fully cooked. yumm

I tried their iced longan tea...its very refreshing with a few longans inside..Loved it.

Grilled cuttlesfish..crunchy and salty...a bite of it goes really well with a sip of tea...
Their chinese tea. They have quite a good selection of tea...will try them next time.

The interior of the tea house.

Relaxing...

***

Went to a irish restaurant at Marina Square recommended by Juztin. Durty Nellys Irish Pub. They have one for one lunch promotion. The food is great and because of the promotion, it is absolutely value for money!

Roast chicken wrapped with bacon...omg..it tastes sooo good.

I like this too. Its very sweet but its damn nice. Bread and butter pudding.

***

Haven been to east coast to cycle for a long while. Had a great time there recently. We cycled all the way from east coast to changi and back....

Me and Paul racing...

***

My first time to Wild Wild Wet. Cant believe its been opened for nearly 10 years and this was my first time there.

***

Birthday celebration for Paul. Another october baby..29 years old too.

October came and went.....

2009-11-01T16:24:00.003+08:00

It seemed to me that the year is passing by extremely fast. Two more months and it will be 2010. Ten years ago, we were still buzzing about the new millennium and now its 2010...amazing. I was 19 then, now just reached 29 reaching 30...another chapter of my life in 11 months time. 30...seemed so far away then, but now just another step away. Feeling a little lost about what the future might hold for me..where would I be in another 10 years time? 21 to 30 seemed to be the usual rite of passage like everyone else...completed my NS, got my degree, found a job..looking back, I felt a little sense of regret that I didnt do anything different, anything that I can call my personal achievement. Well, I did get a decent degree and eventually found a decent job..got a decent pay..but sometimes I just wonder of the many "what if"s, what if I did something out of the box?

***

After nearly four years into my job, things started to get a little boring. I start to wonder if I have anything more to learn, any room for progress. I am lucky to be able to be at where I am now...3 years, assistant manager..I cant say I am not happy...but at the same time I think of the many other possibilities and opportunities I could have gotten if I have taken the step to venture out when I had the chance. I wish to believe I got here based on my abilities and not by chance. I hope I am right.

***

October came and went...I had my 29th birthday. My best friend came back from New York. This is the first time in years that he celebrated my birthday with me. haha. I am thankful for that. I am thankful to Juztin and Paul too..my two dear friends who are such nice people...caring and unassuming. To my other friends who sent me their well wishes..thank you guys too :)

29 years...made numerous friends along the way...new ones came...old ones gone...but only a few I can truely call my treasured friends. I am glad I got to them especially Kenneth..been friends for 15 years already. We knew each other for half our lives! He opened my eyes to alot of things..in many ways..I wished I can be like him. Free spirited, adventurous and eloquent. He is like the person I wanted to be but did not end up being. I still remember when we were young, we were both good in Art, he is the better one..I am the follower who hope to outdo him...haha..childish when I think of it now. But, talent is someting you cant learn no matter how hard you try. That is why now I am an engineer and he is the architect. Ha..

***

3 days in Australia

2009-09-30T21:34:00.025+08:00

Went to Australia for a site job. Everything was such a rush, one day in Perth, two days at site and back. Too bad I cant stay longer but I think there are two more trips coming up...hehe. Thanks to Andy, my australian "tour guide", I was able to visit a few places during my very very short trip. I am very grateful for his hospitality and his help during the three days.

This is the view from my hotel for my one night stay in Perth. Great view of the swan river. After checking in, its straight to sightseeing. I only have 3 hours. First stop, Andy drove me to King's Park. I really love that place. Great view of Perth City and its such a great place to relax, picnic, or just take a walk.

View of Perth City from King's Park.

Perth City
The King's Park War Memorial. Look at the green space...lovely place. Next is a quick visit to the Fremantle Port Beach.

Lots of people fishing here. Beautiful place to watch the sunset.

Last is Fremantle Market and Wharf. Sadly, its the long weekend and most of the shops are closed. No shopping for me. But the wharf was bustling with people there for dinner. There are many restaurants selling fish and chips. Heard its rather famous. I must try it the next time!

People actually park their yacht there just to have fish and chips.

Sunset at Fremantle. Next is off to Andy's place for dinner. Its so gracious of him to invite me to his place for dinner. I get to experience suburban life in Perth. After dinner, its back to the hotel for a good night sleep. Next day, I woke up at 4:30am to catch the flight to Karratha. 2 hrs flight north of Perth. Thats where I will be going.

Thats me! I am on the newly built jetty. Behind me is a jackup rig.

Thats the jetty I was on. Its about 20 m above sea level. After a hard day work, Andy drove me around Karratha for a little sightseeing.

This place is like Jurong Island in a desert.

The red rocks are rocks broken by exfoliation in situ due to years of expansion of contraction due to the desert heat. Its an amazing sight. There are so many of them around the area.

This beach is very usual as its not made of sand...but ...

Shells....Millions of them.

As the sun sets, we went back to our accomodation at Pilbara Holiday Park. Thats our bungalow for the night. I love this place. Its so much better than our chalets in Singapore. I was sitting at the porch area chatting with Andy and looking at the stars...no lights...only lights from the moon and the stars...absolutely amazing.

There are many other families in the park. Some in their caravan enjoying the peace and quiet.

The next morning, it was like a mini road trip. 200 km drive into the wilderness towards Port Hedland.

At the halfway mark, there is a famous resting place called the Whim Creek Pub. Its a Pub/Hotel in the middle of nowhere.

The vastness of the desert.

A short break along the way.

Finally after two years, we reached Port Hedland. Its an industrial area, iron ore mining, salt mining. You can smell the iron dust in the air. All the vehicles there are covered with a layer of red dust. Lol...After having a quick lunch, its another 2 hrs drive back to the airport. Such a short trip but I had such a great time.

Sunset

2009-07-14T19:30:00.003+08:00

Was attending an event at Jurong East when I noticed this beautiful scene behind me...

Sports Climbing

2009-07-14T19:22:00.002+08:00

After many years of procrastination, I finally went for a one day sports climbing course last month. The course was conducted at Toa Payoh Safra. It was great fun! I thought I wouldnt be able to climb but I actually managed 5 climbs ..i think. lol. It was really tough but its a great workout for the body. After the course, you can really feel that all your energy was drained from every part of your body.

After the course, I got my certificate to certify that I have understood the basics of sports climbing and the technique of belaying. I think I want to continue this, maybe find a group to do this on a routine basis. Anyone interested?

The Bellagio

2009-07-14T19:07:00.003+08:00

Found two videos I took 2 years back in Las Vegas while I was organising my files...The musical fountain of the Bellagio. Its really an amazing experience standing there watching this. Hope I got another chance to go there again.

Stefanie Sun Concert

2009-07-13T22:26:00.013+08:00

Went to Stefanie Sun concert last saturday. Its her first concert in 3 years and its my first time attending her concert...was so excited about it.

The stadium was almost fully occupied. She performed so many of her songs that night..and was especially witty and funny. Really enjoyed her performance, she is sooo good. The costumes, the stage and the effects are really great. Below are some pics and videos i took.

台北最后一天

2009-07-13T20:08:00.016+08:00

在台北最后一天，一定要去泡温泉。早上我们先去了淡水。淡水给我的感觉好像是一个纯朴的小镇。人们生活节奏比较慢。很悠闲，很舒服。

淡水的小巷
淡水的菜市场。挤满了买菜的人。。

George Leslie Mackay的肖像

淡水渔人码头

离开淡水前，我们到了著名的红毛城。这是殖民地时代的建筑。

最后我们到了北投温泉博物馆

这是很久以前的温泉池。现在只是个展览区

地热谷aka Hell's Valley

在北投享受完泡温泉的滋味，也为我的台湾之旅画下句点。真的很喜欢台湾，不论是风景，文化，食物还有台湾人的热情都让我留下深刻的影像。有机会一定再回来。

台北

2009-07-13T16:43:00.026+08:00

在台北好像处了逛街就是去夜市，看纪念馆。所以我们在台北的第二天就是如此。在我们的饭店的后面就是二二八和平公园。二二八和平公园建於清光绪25年，是台北市历史最悠久的公园。2月28日，民众齐聚台北公园，随后进占台湾广播电台向全台广播，乱事乃逐渐蔓延全台，而惩凶要求也升高为政治抗争行动。国民政府调集军队镇压，除武力扫荡外，在乱事平息后并进行清乡。清乡执行手段偏激，或罗织入罪，或藉端报复，使本省籍人士人人自危。为纪念二二八事件中死伤的无辜百姓，特於二二八和平公园内设置二二八纪念碑。

国立台湾博物馆. 可惜我们去得太早，无法进去参观。
二二八和平公园

二二八纪念馆

总统俯就在公园的旁边。原来每一天早上都能进去参观。里面有导游为我们解说总统俯的历史，让我对这座建筑物有更深一层的了解。原来总统俯是日本人建的。从高空往下看，整栋大楼形成一个＂日＂字。

从总统俯可以步行到忠正纪念堂。现在已改名为自由广场。

国家戏剧院

在忠正纪念堂前留影

左边是国家戏剧院，右边是国家音乐厅

蒋阶石的铜像

我终于看到１０１大楼了！真的百闻不如一见！

四只可爱的Damper Baby

从１０１看台北

１０１的露天观景台

靠在１０１

１０１真的是鹤立鸡群

台北国父纪念馆

纪念馆里的交接仪式。他们的步伐超整齐！真屌！

无意间看到了我们的李资政的一句＂孙中山一个改变中国命运的人＂

挥别日月潭，前进台北!

2009-07-13T15:41:00.021+08:00

今天天气特别好，日月潭在阳光的照耀下显得格外美丽。可惜，今天我们得离开，前往台北。不要浪费美景，离开前先多拍几张照！

从日月潭搭巴士到台北需要大约４个小时。途中经过浦里。
浦里市

４个小时后，终于到达台北！我们的饭店就在台北火车站附近。。非常方便。对面就是新光三越。

把行李卸下后，我们就马上到西门町逛街！

从红楼里窥探西门町

街头表演。那两只松鼠是真的哦！

来到台湾好像一定要吃阿宗面线。我不觉得特别好吃。可是就是有这么多人吃。

既然来了，就来一碗

著名的西门红楼剧场

站在西门町的人潮中. 我手里那着我的战利品－Onizuka Tiger 鞋

晚餐就在士林夜市边走边吃解决掉。

那里真的超热闹，超多东西吃！有爆浆泡芙。。

很香的葱油饼

一定要吃的炸鸡排
和烤香肠

我们还看到一间卖新加坡美食的店。可是好像没什么人光顾。。哈哈

日月潭一日游

2009-07-13T12:16:00.027+08:00

这一天我们几乎走遍了整个日月潭。走到我的脚都快断了。最惨的是还下起倾盆大雨。。把我给冷死了。

早上骑着脚车沿着湖绕了一圈，享受湖旁的风景和新鲜空气。。真是轻松自在。

回到民宿，吃了阿胰准备的简单的早餐－有稀饭，菜捕蛋，青菜。。我超喜欢！

填饱了肚子，我们就开始我们的旅程。第一站是在海拔１０００公尺的猫囒山。站在那里，整个日月潭的景色一览无余

猫囒山气象台

清晨的日月潭

在茶叶园里

从猫囒山一路往下走，可以看到好多茶叶种植园。还可以看到采茶过程。

要来到慈恩塔还真不容易。慈恩塔位於海拔954公尺的沙巴囒山上,塔高46公尺，塔頂正好為海拔1000公尺。我们爬了700多公尺长的石階才来到这里。慈恩塔是蔣公為感念母親王太夫人而建。在９２１地震中严重损坏，但是现在已经完全修复了。

慈恩塔上的景观

来到塔顶，一定要敲一下塔上的钟。

玄奘寺

我和三只很奇怪的青蛙石像

由于下起了大雨，文武庙变成我们的最后景点。

挂着多人的愿望

金壁辉煌

金色的屋顶，看似紫禁城

阿里山－日月潭

2009-07-12T19:53:00.034+08:00

为了看日出，我早上四点就爬起来。。跟着旅行车到日出观景点。早晨的气候特别冷。。我被冻的连话都说不出来。

沿路我们经过玉山国家公圆。

还有著名的＂夫妻＂树。

大家都在等待日出

可惜，因为天气不好，我们无法看到阿里山的日出与云海。只好自我安慰，摆个胜利的手势拍张照留念。

穿过云层的曙光

阿里山火车模型

阿里山森林乐园区

阿里山火车站

在离开阿里山之前，我们有机会观赏到阿里山原著民的表演。之后，我们乘坐专车下山前往下一站－日月潭！

沿途的美景。。

乡村的美丽风光

搞怪1...

搞怪2

路程比我想象的短。两个小时我们就到了日月潭。路程比我想象的短。两个小时我们就到了日月潭。我们在日月潭的住宿是＂碧水山居＂民宿。我超喜欢那个地方。。。很有家的感觉。我的房间能眺望日月潭。。超漂亮！

我房间窗外的景色

日月潭全景

似人间仙境

本人到日月潭水社码头一游

涵碧步道

来到日月潭，一定要乘渡轮游湖。可惜天气不好，起了大雾，把整个日月潭的景色给破坏了。

我和我的旅伴，他也叫vincent

渡轮把我们带到对岸的伊达邵部落。邵族是住在日月潭的原住民

伊达邵部落

另一站是玄光寺。在山下先买个阿嬷茶叶蛋。听导游说这位阿嬷是从年轻卖到老。

从玄光寺眺望日月潭

游完湖，我们到民宿安排的餐馆用餐。这是一家卖道地邵族美食的餐馆。

别看这三道菜普普通通，其实还蛮好吃的。又清淡又健康。

水社码头的夜景

阿里山

2009-06-07T21:43:00.036+08:00

隔天，我们起了个大早，从台中赶到嘉義.通过旅行社的安排，我们有专车接送到嘉義火车站。从嘉義火车站，

我们搭乘阿里山小火车直达阿里山森林乐园区。车程长达四个小时，沿路风光明媚。火车从海拔30公尺的嘉義火车站一路开往海拔2200公尺的阿里山森林乐园区。车程长达四个小时，沿路风光明媚。途中我了解到铁路是日军为了运送檜木而在二十世纪初建造的，如今是世界闻名的三条登山铁路之一。
等待启程

中途，由于部分铁路在地震损坏，我们得徒步行走５００公尺。

损坏的铁路正在修复中

阿里山小火车的火车头。

檜木林

阿里山著名的神木

终于到达饭店。我蛮喜欢这间饭店－高峰大饭店。地点很好，干净又漂亮。

我住的檜木房。

阿里山的樱花. 可惜，今年的樱花开的太早。我们错过了樱花盛开的美景。这是剩下的几朵没凋谢的。。

开始我的阿里山森林之旅

姐妹潭

姐妹潭.水中倒影。。我超喜欢这张照片。

心。。你看的出吗？

站在原始森林里，我显得特别渺小

无法形容的震撼..对于城市人的我。。这景色实在是太美了

由于天色在６点就变暗，我们不得不赶快离开。我不想迷失在森林里。我们的晚餐就在一家火锅店解决。

这里的火锅分量超大，食物种类也很多。最重要的是，东西都很新鲜！这一锅我们两吃到超饱！

阿里山的夜市

台湾。。两种不一样的体验

2009-04-23T20:39:00.018+08:00

期盼了好久，终于等到这一天。不知道是什么时候。。心里一直很想到台湾走一走。。可是一直没机会。４月４日。。愿望实现！

来到台湾碰到的第一个问题就是语言。习惯了把英语和华语混着说的我，一时之间要我说一口流利的华语真的有点别扭。到达桃园机场的第一个挑战就是问路。我竟然把一句简单的＂请问，从这里怎么到桃园高铁站？＂我都问得好辛苦。自己都忍不住笑了。。

从桃园机场到桃园高铁站只是２０分钟的车程。我们第一个目的地就是台中。到达台中已经是傍晚，我们把行李卸下，马上就到台中的逢甲夜市。台湾的夜市文化真是让我大开眼界。

不知道是不是因为是星期六，夜市的人潮特别汹涌。还不到７点，天色已暗，街上的招牌更显得绚烂夺目。来夜市，主要的目的就是吃。那里的小吃真是特别多。我们沿路走着走着，边走，边买，边吃，不知不觉就把肚子给填饱了。串烧，鸡排，炸金珍菇，烤鱿鱼，猪宝，肉丸，面线。。一次过吃个够。

最左边的是猪宝。。其实是炸猪排里面加了火腿和起司。外面再加特制浆料。吃起来真是又香又脆。。超好吃。老板还上过电视呢！来台湾怎么可以不吃面线和肉丸。肉丸外皮软软的，入口即化。

吃得好饱，我们沿街逛了一会。经过了一家宠物店，我看到了一只超可爱的小狗！我好想抱它回家！

My Taiwan Trip

2009-04-19T12:11:00.002+08:00

Havent got time to really blog about my taiwan trip. But I managed to upload some photos on my flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vinz_ong/

Thinking about work

2009-04-19T11:58:00.002+08:00

Wow, its been more than a month since my last post. Been thinking about work alot lately..not feeling very good about it. I know now is the time when everyone is saying .."oh you should be thankful you still have a job" ..moreover, I just got promoted lately, I should not be feeling like this. But work has been very frustrating lately...I shant elaborate here. Not sure how long I can tolerate all the shit but I dont know where I can go during this time. argghh...

I thought everything will be fine after my break from work. Well I did enjoy myself in taiwan..i had a great time in fact. But good times never last and is always so short...now I am back again and work is still as suffocating. I been working here for 3 years, this is the first time I felt so bad. Oh well...

****

Watched two very good movies recently...Knowing and Taken. Knowing totally freaked me out man. I thought the visual effects were great. The plane crash and the train crash scene blew me away. The ending was unlike any other disaster movies where human always survive and triumph..this time everyone get toasted! Haha. Taken was a non-stop thrill ride from the beginning to the end. It was great watching 50 over years old Liam Neeson kicking ass and man he is one awesome fighting machine. He is totally believeable and has the "Dont F**king mess with me" look throughout. Throughout the movie, he went around hunting down those guys who kidnapped his daughter, killing each and everyone of them without any hesitation just to get his daughter back. A little unbelieveable but still a thrilling ride throughout. Love it!

Slumdog millionaire

2009-03-07T09:23:00.002+08:00

I caught Slumdog Millionaire last night. To be honest, if not for the Oscar best picture, I probably wouldnt watch it. Two reasons...its a movie about indian...which I am really not a fan...and secondly, its directed by Danny Boyle...the director of the ultra crappy 28 days later. Anyway, after beating the films that I have watched at the Oscars for best picture, I was interested to find out if its really that good. This is the first time I watched 4 out of 5 oscar nominated films. Milk was good because of Sean Penn. He totally deserve the best actor award. The Reader was good because of the ever so fantastic Kate Winslet. I am so glad she finally won the oscar. But the movie was a little too slow and heavy. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a nice fantasy film but a little too long at 3 hours. So I went in thinking, how did a low budget independent film about Indians beat all the big boys, and I came out surprised that its actually a really engaging movie. For the first time, there were no ridiculous song and dance segments during the movie - only at the end..Although I enjoyed the movie, it made me so not want to visit India. LOL. I never thought of visiting there in the first place but after watching this...its like NEVER!! The conditions of the slums featured in the movie was appalling. Those kids were so pitiful and so badly abused you cant help feel sorry for them. So, at the end, I could see why the oscar picked this movie as their best picture. Its a beautiful love story and a amazing tale of a boy who went from slumdog to a millionaire overnight but all he ever wanted is love. If you havent watched it, go catch it now before its too late. Its not a typical Bollywood movie, cos its directed by a British, but its a really entertaining show.

Penang

2009-03-07T09:05:00.010+08:00

Went to Penang on thursday for an inspection trip. It was really short trip, I flew there in the morning and came back in the evening. Didnt have much time to go sightseeing but I did manage to cross from Penang island to the mainland...not on the penang bridge but on the ferry.

On the vehicle ferry to mainland. Its really cool and to my surprise it is quite a nice way to get across instead of using the Penang bridge which I heard is always jammed up in the morning.

A similar ferry passing by in the other direction.

Penang island

The Penang bridge at the left side....very blur due to the morning fog.

From this view, it reminds me of Hongkong victoria harbour though not as beautiful.

After crossing to the mainland, I went straight to work. Then after lunch, I did abit of shopping but not at Georgetown. Its a pity I didnt get to go there...oh well. After that, went straight back to the airport to wait for my flight. Everytime I visit parts of Malaysia, I always feel that these places seemed stuck in time. The buildings, the people...they seemed so 70s...living such simple kampung/small town life. I wonder if its a good thing sometimes...not living in a city ...but enjoy life at a much slower pace...hmm

OSCAR 2009!!

2009-01-25T17:51:00.002+08:00

The nominations for this year oscar are out!! Woohoo, the Dark Knight got 8 nominations and expectedly one of them goes to Heath Ledger. I really hope he will win the oscar eventually...his performance as the Joker was one of the most shocking and memorable last year. The rest of the 7 nominations are in the technical categories and not as expected, it was denied the Best picture and best director nomination. Well, its afterall a commercial flick...a comic book adaption.

I am quite excited about this year award..not just becos of heath ledger nomination, but becos 3 of my favorites actresses are nominated in the best actress category - Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep and Angelina Jolie. Any of the three getting the Oscar will be great but I really hope Kate Winslet wins it this year. Reason? She havent won for so long already!! Sadly, Leonardo Dicaprio didnt get a nomination this year for Revolutionary Road. I thought it would be perfect if both of them can get a nomination for that film.

I am waiting for a few films to be out in Singapore. Revolutionary Road is one of them, Milk, The Reader and lastly, the most nominated film this year - The curious case of benjamin button. The concept is great, guy ages backwards. Love to see how they pull that off..and there's Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt. Cool!

Happy New Year!! Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

2009-01-25T17:40:00.003+08:00

Wish all my friends out there, a happy and prosperous year of the ox! I know this year is not exactly a bullish year...everyday we hear of people getting retrenched, companies closing down, people getting paycut...but I hope we will get out of this recession or depression soon. Hopefully with our government 20.5 billion resilience package, we can see the light in this time of darkness soon. Anyway, Chinese New Year is coming in a few hours...enjoy the holiday and best wishes to you all. Gong Xi Fa Cai...Huat ah!

Brazilian model who lost hands and feet dies

2009-01-25T17:28:00.003+08:00

Came across this piece of sad and shocking news a few days back. A 20 year old Brazilian model, Mariana Bridi, had her hands and her feet amputated in order to save life. She was initially diagnosed with kidney stones but it turned out that she was infected by a bacteria known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is known to be drug resistant. The bacteria spread in her veins from head to toe and doctors had no choice but to amputate her hands and feet to save her. I was shocked by the damage the bacteria can do to one's body and felt really sad for her that she lost her limbs. Today, the worst happened. She lost the fight and died. I am not sure if this might be the best outcome for her...I cant imagine how she can live on ..without her limbs. Life is so unpredictable...you can have anything now and then lose everything so quickly. I guess we should treasure whatever we have now as we duno when they will be gone.

Me - 1986 to 2005

2009-01-25T17:14:00.005+08:00

1986................. 1992................... 1997 ...............2005
Recently my friend sent me a photo of myself during my jc time...thats 1997. 12 years ago..gosh!! And I managed to dig out even older photos of myself and I realised i changed quite a bit...lol

Looking back...moving forward....

2009-01-01T10:14:00.002+08:00

Today is the first day of 2009...the start of a year which everyone has already labelled as gloomy and troubled. Well, it may truely be a troubled year...depending on what my boss tells me later this month. lol. Things are not looking good and bonus and increment are definitely not going to be as good as 2008. Hence...no more unneccessary spending in 2009....which I did alot in 2008. Bought lots of stuff last year...from clothings to accessories to ...I dont know what.

If not for the onset of recession, 2008 could have been a great year. I been to a few new places..Tokyo, New Orleans and Perak, made some really good frens...Juztin, Paul, Gabriel and Robin...passed my Basic and Final Theory...though I am not really keen to go for the practical lessons...lol.

Moving forward...I hope 2009 will not be as bad as everyone made it out to be. I am not going to set new resolutions as I know I seldom fulfill them. Just feel that I should do things that are more meaningful....and stop wasting precious time. 28 turning 29 already, getting old and life is short....especially after hearing about Chew Chor Meng's illness....you feel helpless and uncertain about what is going to happen to you a few days or a few years down the road. Hopefully, by the end of 2009, when I look back at the things I did, I can proudly say I have done things that are fruitful and enriching.

With that...I wish everyone a Happy New Year..All the bests for 2009! Despite the bad times...lets hope for good health for us and for our frens and family.

Cute cat

2008-12-24T17:02:00.000+08:00

Saw this adorable cat taking her afternoon nap at the void deck.....damn cute....look at her fur....like carpet...lol

Juzteen's Cafe

2008-12-24T16:55:00.007+08:00

Finally after many months of preparation, Juztin and Paul finally opened their cafe at Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 Blk 548 #01-2012. The place is named Juzteen's Cafe...a combi of Juztin name and their target audience - teens. This is my Christmas gift to them....and I drew it...hehe. I thought it looks kinda good. lol

The main dining area....

The cozy corner...
Their menu board...lol. Nice and simple. I took those beautiful pictures!! lol.

Come try their food, its cheap and good. Take bus 88 from Ang Mo Kio and alight at the fourth bus-stop.

Marina Barrage Revisited

2008-12-24T16:47:00.009+08:00

Cant believe this is the third time I am going to the Marina Barrage. At least this time round I get to see the night view and enjoy the sea breeze. If only I have a car...I can drive here at night and relax.

This time I brought Juztin, Paul and Brandon there. They havent been there and they wanted to take a look. Good thing Brandon drives if not we wont be able to go there at such a late hour.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

2008-12-24T15:57:00.004+08:00

Merry Christmas to everyone or anyone who reads my blog! Its been a long time since I put up something. Luckily today is half day and I get to be home at 4pm...going out to watch Australia later. Had the usual company buffet lunch and gift exchange. I got a cute massager from Tony...lol. Thanks! Sadly one of my colleague got a terrible gift.. I think its not even worth $1. So terrible. Anyway, enjoy your holidays people!

Been a while...

2008-12-17T20:27:00.002+08:00

Its been awhile since I updated this blog...Had a 12 days vacation...in Singapore. lol Had to clear my leave anyway. Been hanging out with Juztin and Paul while they prepare for the opening of their cafe and then got a bad cold ...since last wed till now. Seen the doctor twice n still coughing like crazy. Leaving it like this for now...update more soon.

Sharon's birthday!

2008-11-24T23:37:00.006+08:00

Friday was Sharon's birthday..so we had a mini celebration for her. Had our dinner at Maggie Thai Restaurant at Liang Seah Street. Juztin introduced me to this place and it seems like I have been eating there ever since. Think its the fifth time I was there. But the food is really good and affordable. I was afraid that they wouldnt like it cos its not a very posh place but luckily they did. Its been a while since I met Sharon, Ying and Patrick...all my ex colleagues. All went on to greener pastures...lol. Listening to their stories about their new jobs and new endeavours makes me kinda envious. haha. After dinner, we walked a few shops down to Ah Chew Desserts to have part 2 of our celebration.

The birthday girl with her teenie weenie birthday cake. So sorry couldnt get you a bigger one...We thought only 4 of us...plus after our dinner...a bigger cake would kill us.

Ying, Sharon and me.

The three of us plus Patrick. We kept switching position and took so many photos, those people queuing were staring at us...seriously the desserts are not that nice lor...duno why there are so many people queuing. lol. Nevertheless it was nice catching up and we had fun.

Meet up again soon!

New Clothes....again!

2008-11-21T00:11:00.002+08:00

I cant believe I actually went window shopping after work today and end up spending 200 bucks on clothes. argh..what is happening to me...Anyway since I bought it, went back home and took a few photos to see how i look in them..hehe.

Peizhen's wedding

2008-11-19T18:07:00.002+08:00

Its Peizhen's big day last saturday...Her wedding dinner was held at Sheraton Towers...quite a classy place. How time flies, during the wedding I found out most of our secondary school frens are either married or getting married...some even got kids already! We knew each other when we were 15 - 16 and now its like 12 years already. It was great catching up with Geraldyn, Mengtat, Weihan, Shweeyee, Daching and Xiao Juan ...going to have an official class reunion soon..yeah!

Class photo with bride and groom.

Marina Barrage

2008-11-17T21:20:00.015+08:00

Went with Nelson to the Marina Barrage on saturday. Its a great place to relax and enjoy the scenery and the sea breeze. Its quite easy to get there - there is a free shuttle bus service from Marina Bay MRT every 30 mins..really convenient.

The Marina Barrage main building. It has a cafe, a huge pump room and a really beautiful exhibition gallery.

The fountain area. The place has lots of water features, complimenting its theme of converting the Singapore River into a reservoir.

Its amazing what MM Lee said in 1987 has become a reality and its nearly exactly 20 years like he said.
The exhibition gallery is unexpectedly beautiful and thought provoking. The art pieces and the setups are so nicely done.

A sculpture made of thousands of mineral water bottles. Cool!

Fragmented reflections.

The theme of the gallery - Sustainable. Singapore.

From the walkway/dam, you get a perfect view of the esplanade.

The rooftop garden...where you can sit down relax...picnic...fly kites...and probably catch the fireworks next national day.
Really like the place, will definitely go there again.

Christmas

2008-11-17T21:07:00.004+08:00

Its the time of the year again. Although its not going to be a merry christmas for some due to the looming recession, i have a feeling it will be a special one for me. Seeing the lightings on orchard road cheers me up. It looked especially pretty this year. Countdown to christmas begins...38 days to go!

Club21 Bazaar

2008-11-13T21:18:00.006+08:00

Met up with Juztin for some furniture shopping for his new cafe last sunday and also popped by the F1 pitstop to see if there were any good bargains at the Club21 Bazaar.

This is the second time I went to the Singapore Flyer but this time I didnt get on it. They still have their Halloween decorations at the garden beneath the flyer. .. so its time for some camera whoring..

Gosh, I really look old...Damn juztin is one year older than me and yet I look older beside him...life is sooo unfair!

This is my first time at the F1 pitstop. I think its brillant to convert the place to hold such events instead of leaving it empty. Sadly, the early bird catches the early worm and we are very late birds...there were nothing left to buy...We went through the racks and we couldnt find a single piece that is worth buying. Oh well...at least can save money. Those people there were grabbing stuff like they were free...totally no sign of an upcoming recession. Seriously, those pieces were not even nice but they were so happy buying them...lol.

We got a sneak peek at the Marina Barrage from the pitstop. I am going there this saturday...woohoo!

Batman

2008-11-12T20:58:00.002+08:00

Had a busy week and I stumbled on a piece of news that totally cracked me up

"The mayor of an oil-producing city in southeastern Turkey, which has the same name as the Caped Crusader, is suing helmer Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. for royalties from mega-grosser "The Dark Knight."

Huseyin Kalkan, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party mayor of Batman, has accused "The Dark Knight" producers of using the city's name without permission.

"There is only one Batman in the world," Kalkan said. "The American producers used the name of our city without informing us."

Come on, how stupid is this? The mayor doesnt realise how ridiculous his claims are. LOL

Busy busy weekend

2008-10-28T22:37:00.024+08:00

Woke up really early last saturday to go gym with Gabriel. He wanted to go to Fitness First at FusionPolis. We thought it was beside Buona Vista Mrt only to find out that thats Bio Polis not Fusion Polis. Fusion Polis is another 15 mins walk from there. Anyhow, we managed to find out way there quite easily ..but we were already covered in sweat ..lol

The twin towers look very beautiful on the outside. It would be nice to be able to work there. The view inside the gym is even better. You get a nice paranomic view of Singapore while jogging on the thread mill.

They have a swimming pool at the top floor, with a nice roof design that resembled the Bird Nest stadium in Beijing. Sadly, the pool was freaking cold that day it was hard to swim longer.

I got a good view of my secondary school and my jc from the gym. I didnt realise that so much have changed since I graduated. So many new extensions and new facilities. Brings back so much memories...gosh its been 10 years already!! Feel like going back one day...

The skybridge linking the two towers. Its a great place to take a photo!

View from the roof garden.

After gym, Gabriel brought me to this very nice Indonesian restaurant at Lucky Plaza - Ayam Penyet. First time there and I loved it already.

I ordered the fried chicken which is really good...not oily at all. I love the crumbs on top of the chicken.

Gado-gado. The crackers with the sauce...what a great combination.

Soto. Mee soto without the mee. Taste different from what I normally get from malay stalls. I would love to go back there to try more of the food...its really nice. Yummy!

Then we met Paul, Juztin Dawson and Colby to go to the Mint Museum of toys. I always wanted to go there. Entry fee is $15 per person but we got one for one deal with different credit cards and also our birthday month offer.

The museum is made up of four levels of gallery each with a different theme. The exhibit floor area is smaller than expected which is kinda disappointing cos I expected a larger collection of toys. Moreover the toys are very vintage, some are much older than I am.

Me posing with Popeye!

... and Tin Tin

A very old King Kong Movie poster...not the Peter Jackson Version.

The original matchbox cars...cool!

Snow white and the seven dwarf collection

Mickey mouse through the ages....I didnt noe Mickey looks so freaky in the past.

Very old Batman toys.

After that we went to esplanade to hang out...and I got a nice photo of Singapore River

Sunday. Met up with my colleagues for Kbox session. This ill fated gathering was postponed for so many times and in the end, only 6 turned up out of the original 10 over people. lol Nevertheless we had a great time.

Monday, another karaoke session to celebrate Paul's birthday.

Our birthday boy with his cake. 28 years old oreadi!

Had so much fun during the weekend. My throat still abit sore from all the singing.

Lunch at Raffles Marina

2008-10-28T21:48:00.004+08:00

Last friday, we had a farewell lunch for Ying at Raffles Marina.

The marina is quite beautiful. Pity the sky was overcast that day..if it was a clear blue sky it would have been really nice.

Barry, Christiana, Jesse and me! Our CP team photo.

Ying, the only girl in the picture. Been a year since she joined the company and ever since things got so much livelier. She is always so chatty, funny and happy. We will miss her presence definitely. Hope she do well in her new company! Jia you!

My new sofa

2008-10-20T21:57:00.001+08:00

I got my new sofa set and gosh its huge. Its totally filling up my living room. I think i can sleep on it..woohoo!!

Britney is back!

2008-10-15T22:00:00.001+08:00

Britney is back and looking hotter and bitchier than ever! Her new single Womanizer and new mtv is smoking hot. Looks like she is coming back with a bang!

魔杰座

2008-10-15T21:34:00.002+08:00

Time of the year for Jay chou new album. This year the album comes with so many freebies...even he needs to boost sales with freebies. Got rubik cube and poker cards...to compliment the theme of the album. But sadly, the cover was not what I expected, it looks like some final fantasy rip-off.

A funny thing I found is that the songs list on the CD is different from the song list displayed when I insert the disc into my computer. They really changed everything after the songs got leaked out.

Overall I think this album is not really that nice. Only a few good ones but those are not even his best...compared to the last one this is rather disappointing.

Happy Birthday to ME!

2008-10-14T20:27:00.022+08:00

I had a fabulous 28th birthday! Had a gathering with a group of great frens. I totally enjoyed myself and felt so good to have this bunch of frens celebrating with me. We had dinner at Magma - a german restaurant at Bukit Pasoh Road recommended by Mike.

Paul, Me, Mike, Robin

Yospeh, Nelson, Gabriel and Juztin. Gabriel was holding a very one of a kind birthday card made by Robin. I thought it was really cute and nice. LOL. Love the card, its damn original.

Group photo time!

The restaurant serves authentic german food and have a wide selection of wine. For people who love meat and sausages, this is the best place for you. For starters, we had pretzel and potato salad...

saurkraut.. not really a big fan of this.

Here comes the meat! There were meat loaves, fish and the meter long sausage. Doesnt really look like a meter long to me...

Then there is the roast chicken, beef and pork knuckles. The pork knuckles or "sio bak" is very delicious ...crispy skin taste damn good.
We had so much meat.. everyone felt so bloated after the dinner. After dinner, we retreat to a room at Gallery hotel to play cards.

Gallery Hotel at robertson quay.

The room is rather small but over its clean and comfortable.

The breakfast area...breakfast was okay...nothing special. Just the usual bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs stuff...

The swimming pool. I love the pool. Did a little swimming there. Its quite cool to swim there. You can swim to the edge and look over to the roads below.

Having fun at the hotel..with a game of Dai Di..
What a great birthday I had...thank you guys for making my birthday a memorable one and also the fantastic gifts. I feel like I am taken care of from head to toe with all these gifts.

Mike gave me a bag...really nice one. Always wanted one of these big bag where I can put a lot of stuff..can use it for short overseas trip too.

Nelson got me a Massimo Dutti leather bracelet. He always say I need to wear more accessories and I thought its a great gift! Shall wear it next time I am out...

This soft toy is also from Nelson...so cute. lol.

Robin and Yoseph got me Ferragamo F. Robin cheated by asking me what I wanted and I told him my cologne is finishing! Haha. I like this cologne, everyone says it smells nice. Now I got a big bottle! Yeah!!

Juztin and Paul got me a Dockers wallet. The unique part is the inside of the wallet, but I didnt take a nice picture of it...

They also got me this T shirt...lol. A little loud. I nvr had a loud printed T. Not sure if I dare to wear something that say "Is it me you re looking for?" out.

Garbriel got me a guide to Taipei which is really thoughtful. I told him I want to go Taiwan and he gave me this. Now I can start to do my planning. hehe

Lastly, Robin also gave me a bottle of hair clay for me to style my hair after I complained that my hair cant stand..

Thanks alot for all the meaningful presents!

A very big surprise!

2008-10-10T22:53:00.021+08:00

What was supposed to be a gathering turned out to be a surprise birthday celebration for me. I am so happy and touched. Really didnt expect it ...Thank you Ying, Myo, Barry, Ivan and Sharon for this...its really memorable and a real good early birthday gift for me. Really appreciate it. Love u guys!

Barry, Sharon, Ying and me...Myo was taking the photo.

We had our dinner at a indonesian restaurant at Clarke Quay - Bayang Balinese Cuisine.

I kinda like the place...the decor and the ambience..its really nice.

We ordered so much food and we kept forcing the waiter to take photos for us. lol..

I love this. I forgot whats the name but it taste like fish cracker just a little bitter. But once you start you cant stop...

Pandan chicken or maybe its called something else in Indonesia. Really good.

But this is my fav. Beef rendang. Sedap!!

This was quite normal. LOL..I picked it..lousy choice

This plate with sotong, fish and prawn...what a treat! A must try

After eating the food I am already like super full ..then all of a sudden..the waiter brought out a cake!! So surprised! I am 28 already

Yeah...we force the waiter to take photo for us again.

Me and my birthday card and birthday present. Ying made the card herself! So sweet...and the watch...

Thank you so much! The watch is very nice...

We were so full after the food and the cake...we went around Clarke Quay. Its the first time I was there at night and I realised that its a pretty nice place to be.

The night scene was great...with the lights and all..Beautiful place.

Had fun and enjoyed myself that night. 2 more days to go to my actual birthday but I already had a great celebration.

Friends, Food and Films

2008-10-07T21:57:00.010+08:00

Had a great weekend...great food and saw two movies that were surprisingly good.

After watching the oscaring winning but absolutely terrible (imho) "No country for old men" I was skeptical about watching the latest film by the Coen Brothers "Burn after reading". Well, a movie that says burn after reading..how good can it be. Turn out it was a fun ride. It was interesting watching A lister like George Clooney and Brad Pitt act like total idiots. In fact the movie was much ado about nothing. Just a bunch of people screwing up each other lives. It was fun and I had a good laugh.

Mike intro me to this famous western food stall at Toa Payoh called Uno Beef House. The chicken is very good...nicely cooked ...tender and tasty. Only complaint is the portion a little too small. The mash potato is very nice... crispy on the outside but soft and moist on the inside...Yummy!

My black pepper chicken chop

Mike's pork chop fried rice

The stall. Its packed and most of the people at the coffee shop are eating from there.

Mike, Juztin, Paul and me at Ichiban Boshi restaurant at Centrepoint. We waited for about 20mins to get a table. The food was rather cheap for its portion. Taste wise..not fantastic but definitely better than Sakae sushi.

I ordered a Business Gozen set...all these for 15.90.

After dinner, we went to watch Painted Skin. I thought it was going to be those lame chinese ghost story but the focus was on love and the result was a very touching movie. Very impressed with Vicky Zhao...never expect her to be that good.

The movie I am looking forward to..Revolutionary Road

2008-10-07T21:51:00.002+08:00

Finally, Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet are getting together for a movie again! woohoo! Love their chemistry when they were in Titanic and after such a long wait...here comes a dramatic picture featuring both of them this december. After ten years, a number of oscar nominations for both of them...I bet they will be great in this movie. Cant wait. Kate winslet never look better.