~ just the two of us ~

It's the second-last-day of 2008 and I still do not have a resolution.. Even if there is.. it's gonna be a long list I guess.. but then again...it's useless.. hehehe.. Coz I do not stick to them.. but there are a few things which are on my mind for the year 2009... which I am not able to put up here due to some personal reasons.. and yes, I have lots of updates and pics to upload.. but the "traffic" has been a bit busy of late.. especially in Facebook.. that it's been totally so slow to upload any pics.. haha.. anyway, can predict that the sms/telco service will also have a "traffic jam" tomorrow... so before I get stuck in that "jam", here's a wish to all of you reading this:

Thanks for reading my blog throughout the year of 2008.. some of you have personally came up to me saying that you're an "avid" reader of my blog.. hahaha.. (must really take precaution in what I write the next time round :) and I appreciate it lots.. hehehe...

Blessed New Year 2009 and may the good Lord's favour & blessings be upon you as you usher in this new year (yes, despite the current economic situation, I believe He is faithful to carry us through this)....:)

cheers....... rach :D

Posted in: chit chat, Life and Living on 31 December 2008 at at 12:23 am 0 kay-pohs  

Just thought of sharing this, as some of you have been asking me how do I usually go to work. I took this pics on the way back from office to home.... yesterday....
So, on the left as you can see is the overhead bridge that I have to use everyday, and I took this pic on AMD side of the bridge.





I took this pic just before going up the steps of the bridge. As you can see, it's rather a big building, and our main office is placed on the 6th floor. On the 7th floor, it has a 300-400 seater auditorium, a cafeteria, a gym (where I usually do my runs) and there is a tennis court above the auditorium. But never seen anyone playing so far. I guess the balls keep on dropping off the building most of the time. Hahaha. The gym is rather impressive. 9/10 times I go there, I'll be the only lady around. It houses an aerobic/floor exercise room, 6 threadmills (my fav), 2 bicycles, and 4 other machines. And also those guy machines where you train your biceps/triceps/forceps :P. Also, they recently bought over another building, it's partially hidden, behind this main building. Another 7-storey building, mainly for lean lines. But at the moment, it's not running full capacity. What a waste of $$!!

This was taken the minute I came down from the bridge, on the other side. I'm standing on the jogging path (tarred road) and also cycling path. The other cement path is most of the time for walking, though some people do jog too. (But then again, the knee will koyak (torn) man).

And so walking further, this is my path/route I take to and fro from work and home. Further down, you can see a playground. What I love about playgrounds here is that it is padded. There's like a padding on the ground, with patterns and bright colors. This is to be like an absorber just in case the kids fall down or something. It's pretty good for us joggers too. At least our knees are not running on hard ground. But usually this kind of padding is only for playgrounds.

This is taken right in front of my block. There's this cute little playground, and I like the landscape. Check out the lush green trees. Do you know that the trees planted at the back row are mostly fruit trees? Jackfruits and mango. All in all, it takes roughly 12 mins (my walking pace), and perhaps, Jason takes 15-20 minutes for his walking pace. :P Anyway, I shall miss walking to work because for my new job, I would have to start taking 2 buses. But thank God work there starts half an hour later, so I just need to wake up about 15 minutes earlier. :)

Posted in: chit chat, Life and Living, me on 26 March 2008 at at 10:34 am 0 kay-pohs  

Came across this last week while we went for a drink near Novena Square. It's written at the back of the menu. It's funny, but at the same time, I think it's nonsense. Haha. In my opinion, don't even start if you know you can't control yourself. :)

Posted in: cell, food, Life and Living, me on 22 February 2008 at at 2:34 pm 0 kay-pohs  

Posted in: cell, chit chat, Life and Living on 21 January 2008 at at 10:44 pm 0 kay-pohs  

Didn't take it properly coz the other hand was holding durians. :P

We had dinner together with L and L at the Bedok Interchange. After a hearty meal, we went to get durians. So we walked over to NTUC, and before we even reached the place, at the bend, we could s-m-e-l-l it. Hmm... Nice smell. I usually don't crave for durians. If it's there, I eat it, if not, it's ok. But it was difficult to resist yesterday's durians and suddenly, had some craving for it. Hehehe...

We got the good grade one. L was good at bargaining. Initially it was $15 per packet. The guy wanted to give $20 for 2 packets. In the end we got $20 for 3 packets. Muahaha.. Good eh? Don't play-play. We took it to the food court and "whacked" all three packets. Clean. Finger-licking-good. I took 3 pcs. It's so meaty and fleshy. And the seed I got is super small and thin but lots of meat. Full. Couldn't really walk after that. Satisfied. *burp* *ewww.. stinks* Durians, anyone?

Posted in: chit chat, food, Life and Living, me on 10 January 2008 at at 11:16 am 0 kay-pohs  

continued from How to apply for PR (I)

After getting the approval letter, you will be required to perform another round of formalities they call it.

1. Fill in the forms attached to the letter. For medical report, I put under self-declaration because my medical report which was for my Employment Pass is still valid (2 years).

2. Send the form EP152 to HR again for a verification. Once done, need to go through another round of submission.

3. I reached ICA at about 7.40am. Queue was almost right to the back of the building. However, my queue ticket was number 16. Not bad, eh? And I took the lift this time :P

4. Wait fo your turn. Once called, submit in your forms, hand in THREE pcs of your photos. Then, they will ask you to pay through NETS. (No cash allowed). $100 for entry permit, $50 for re-entry permit (5 years).

5. Once done, go back to your seat and wait the 2nd time round. They will call for your same number again. Once called, go there again (different counters) to take your thumbprints. Both hands, once through the IR, another on black ink.

6. Once done, you have to pay through NETS again, $50 for IC.

7. Wait again for the final formality. The interview. Your number will be called, go to the interview room, basically they just past you your cert, hand back your passport and sign to verify that you have received the items. They will also hand you a slip stating the date you can go collect your IC. Done, you can go off. I finished mine at about 10.45am.

8. Move down straight to 2nd floor if you're planning to do your Access Card. What is it for? It's like a pass, where you can easily just scan and go through the immigration checkpoints without waiting in queue.

9. This was done in less than 5 mins. Go straight to counter on the left, get queue ticket, then wait. They will call you, show them your passport and hand them one more picture. And also, thumbprint. Pay $30 for 3 years validity. Voila! You're done, you get your access card on the spot.

10. A week later, go back to ICA, straight to 2nd floor for the collection of your IC.

So.. yeah,.. that's about it.. hehehe.. :)

Posted in: how to, Life and Living, me on 6 December 2007 at at 11:49 am 0 kay-pohs  

This blog is basically for Msians working in Spore under a work pass and those who are contemplating on becoming a PR and those who are keen to work in Spore. Ignore if you don't fall in the above categories. :)

Today I just went to perform PR formalities. This is basically how the process goes, for those of you who are interested, so be prepared to read a long one. :).
For more details, you may go to the Immigration & Checkpoint Authority webby.

1. Get yourself a job here. After collecting at least 3 months of payslip (actually it's officially 6 months, we gave 4 months payslips), you can start to apply already. You can download the forms here.

2. Fill up form 4A. There is explanatory notes EP4 to which you can find a whole checklist of what forms or documents needed to apply. Note, if you miss one, you have to re-apply again, which is very troublesome. So take time to do it real careful and if possible, do a double, if not a triple check once completed.

3. Once done, you have to pass the Annex A form (last page of form 4A) to your company's HR executive. They will be required to fill in the details as required. For mine, they required us to fill up form 4A for them to check the details. Once the Annex A form is verified and filled up by HR, you are ready to apply!

4. For photographs, I took mine at ICA itself a day before I submitted my application forms. (Practically every floor has one booth). Why ICA? Because they are strict with the measurements. It cost me $5.30 for 4 pcs of photos. Note, better to do one dozen straight away because you'll need it for the second time around. But this time, I took the picture from a nearby photo shop, as I didn't want to wait in queue for a long time. And it went through too. :) Good to have the ICA one as a reference though.

5. We went on a Saturday, reached there at about 6.30am, and there were about 25-30 ppl in front of us. Once the doors are opened at 8am, everyone goes in. Take the lift direct to 5th floor - faster (Unless you are able to run up the escalators for 5 storeys like what I did, then it'll be fine).

6. Once reach 5th floor, queue for a queue ticket. :P To get a queue ticket, you have to make sure your forms are completed, and photos are with you else, they won't give you a queue ticket. This is like a preliminary check of your documents.

7. We were queue number 18 and 19. If you're applying together, (one person is sponsor, the other, dependant), then you only need one queue ticket. Wait for your turn, submit your forms.

8. We finished at about 8.30am - 8.45am.

Posted in: how to, Life and Living, me on 5 December 2007 at at 10:59 pm 0 kay-pohs  

Wonder what's it like to be preggie. No doubt, the pressure is mounting on. Just over the weekend, had a small so-called-advise (more like a lecture to me) from mum.

And, I actually dread Chinese New Year. It's not that it's because I have to give out angpows.. but because I have to face the fact that everyone will be asking me when will I be settling down? Or when am I planning to have kids? Bla bla bla..

Perhaps I shall record the reasons down in my phone and play it to whoever that ask me. :) Good idea? Kekekeke....

Posted in: family, feelings, Life and Living, me on 4 December 2007 at at 5:20 pm 2 kay-pohs  

Praise the LORD!

Just before we left for the movie, I told Jason that I will call up ICA tomorrow (today) to ask about my application, because he received his about 3 weeks ago. Was a little bit kan-cheong. And yeah.. patience, my friend. Hehehe. Anyway, still need to perform some formalities before I get my IC. In many ways, it kept me thinking and I still know that our permanent residence is not on this earth, but it's up there, with Him, Almighty. All these things are temporary, and will fade away...

**********

Lately, most of our Msian friends here have been watching the exchange market rather closely because the figures keeps on getting bigger and bigger... And sigh... looking at the rate the graph is going, how are we supposed to go back?? :P

Nov 28: SGD 1.0000 = MYR 2.34444

Posted in: Life and Living on 29 November 2007 at at 9:05 am 0 kay-pohs  

Jason got his PR status last Friday. Praise the Lord! His was really fast, even though we applied on the same day; I'm still waiting for mine... Sigh... *waiting anxiously*. Hopefully I do not have to go through of re-applying again. :

Posted in: Life and Living on 19 November 2007 at at 1:39 pm 0 kay-pohs  

Nice white tigers. Love their fur.

The red-butt baboons. They were on heat I think because of the redness of their butts. hehehe.

I like the hedges. It's so well maintained and lovely.

Orang utans in the air

Sea lions at the animal show

Some more sea lions

More pics on my Multiply site

Posted in: how to, Life and Living, zoo on 18 September 2007 at at 10:16 am 2 kay-pohs  

I chanced upon this as I was reading one of the forums in SingaporeBrides.com. Yeah, they actually have this here. I thought it'll be on wedding stuffs, but they even cover the whole range of what happens next after marriange and about finance stuffs. Cool yeah? Actually Jason was reading this and the page was left opened. (For me I guess? *wink*). Apologize for the spelling as I didn't correct any of it at all). The scenarios are based on Spore actual situation, so to speak, as the author said is his/her friends. For me personally, of course, I would choose to be couple 3. But we don't earn as much as them. And, they were investment bankers since they started work. So anyone changing fields? Hehehe. Just a thought though. Can you imagine buying a property with cash and no loan? For those of you who don't know, a typical 4-room flat here can cost to about $250k ++. (For Malaysians, 4 room means 3 rooms + 1 living room. Don't ask me why they count it like that).

***Start Quote****

One life. How do u want to live it?

I have frens who want to live life to the fullest. I have others who prefer to work now, enjoy later

couple 1: Airsteward and stewardess
they fly everywhere together. no matter how long they stay in the job, the pay will remain very much the same in the next 5 years, 10 years. they bought a 4 room in a good location with a $250K loan, they have a car and are a happy go lucky couple.

Couple 2: decided to postphone wedding, went to london to work together and enjoy life as a couple with no serious financial commitments together. both are working in reputable finance houses and love spending their free time touring the UK.

Couple 3: highest combined income i ever came across for couples below 29. $25K per month. bought a simple 4 room flat with cpf and some cash, no loan. they still can afford to go on holidays 2 -3 times a year, save money for their freehold property in a few years time. they have their first child already and are trying for a second one this year. their plan is to retire to enjoy life once their children are in university.

couple 4* typical couple with combined income $9K. they decided to get a 99 year condominum which cost them $550K, take up a $450K 30 year loan, enjoy the condo facilities and a car when they are young. yes, they service their debts every month, and they worry if they will lose their jobs when they are mid 30s but they enjoy every bit of their life now. kids are not in the pipeline at the moment coz its going to be a huge financial burden. but they value the privacy they have now.

I think there is no right or wrong decisions or jobs or lifestyles. The question is what you want out of your life.

***End quote***

Above all, I believe we should still put our trust and faith in God, that He will indeed provide for our needs. Even if that means a simple roof over our heads, bread and water, non-branded clothes. *grins*. We thank God for the blessings that He has upon us so far, and yes, we praise Him for all He has done in our lives. Amen!

Posted in: chit chat, Life and Living on 7 September 2007 at at 10:23 am 2 kay-pohs  

Continuation from How’s Singapore?

The next topics will be on:

6. Getting a phone line – There are mainly three main operators. Singtel, Starhub and M1. After looking at all, we chose Starhub. Why? Because it has one of the cheapest and best offers for calling overseas. We went all the way to the Starhub centre at Orchard. First, when you’re there, you take a look at the phones and choose which phones you want. (Of course, according to your budget). Next, choose and confirm your package plan. Basically, package plan for my phone is $398 (now already $368). Jason’s was $458 (now, $498!). This is because we got the 2-yr contract and not the promotional package that they had. So, ours was $29.90 each. After 30% discount for corporate rates (most companies have corp rates here) $20.93. We get free local calls up to 160 mins (always can’t finish using it), free IDD (overseas call) to 14 countries. And, if we pay through GIRO (auto-deduct from bank account), we get free 100 local sms till the end of the year. For global sms, it’s $0.15/sms. If not, you can pay your bills at any 7-11 stores. All this is more than enough for both of us.
Average cost for phone bills/ mth : ~$30 (inclusive of GST%)

7. Taxes & CPF – Currently everything you buy here has GST (Govt. Service Tax). For income tax, please click here. Currently, we can’t give info on this because we have yet to pay the tax here, but it should be about 5%. As for CPF here, which is equivalent to EPF back in Msia, we also have not experienced it yet as we're only going to apply our PR once Jason gets his birthcert. :P. Though, have heard that you can choose gradual increase, or a straight 20%. However, if you choose 20%, you get more from your employer, but at that amount, it's hard to save or have much $$ left in your bank account. We're still calculating our budget though. :)

8. Groceries, misc. - Basically, for the groceries here, it's equivalent to Msia. If in Msia it's RM11, here, you might pay close to S$5.00. Everything is ok here except for the Cutie Compact Toilet Rolls which sells for a whopping of S$11.00 here! Have no idea why. But we got our supplies from Msia, for perhaps, can last us till June 2008! (Jason's mum brought down for us a few bags). Basically, still able to save on groceries because whatever spent here is "half" of what is spent back in Msia. You can do the math if you're earning 1:1 the same salary in Msia and here. Perhaps that's why people here can get slightly better quality stuffs in terms of clothes,food and etc. :) For more info on this, do email me or pop a question in my Chatbox.

For children's care centre and education here.. perhaps, I will only write about it when I get one. :P.. Till then... chaoz...

Posted in: chit chat, Life and Living on 1 August 2007 at at 6:55 pm 0 kay-pohs  

Have been asked this question so many times, "So how's Singapore?"…
For those close to me, I will explain to them… the rest.. Just a plain , "OK-lah"….
Well, I wasn't actually prepared coming down here at first.. Everything happened so fast. I didn't expect I would get the job that fast after the one & only interview.

After the Taiwan thing got canceled off (for those who do not know the history, click here and here), my mind just shut off… But at the same time, Singapore was still ringing at the back of my mind. In actual fact, wasn't keen on the interview when heard it was from Singapore. All the same, had a slight push from Jason to go for it and do well in the interview (I can purposely ruin things one ya' know).

All the same, got the job and had to prepare myself mentally to come down here.
The 2 trips up and down here to find for a place to stay, sort of prepared me of what's to come.
And also, hearsay from here and there.. Helped me to "relax".. Hahahha…

Overall, at this point of time writing this blog, I am happy that I made the decision of not ruining my interview. Life here has been great… Didn't take long for me to adjust to life here. Some of the reasons are mentioned below, and the rest, I hope this might be a good reference for those of you who are contemplating to work here. :)

1. Transportation - I don't feel it's such a pain NOT to have a car to move around when the public transport here is good. Have heard of some people who packed their bags and went home in 3 days because they can't stand using public transport. Of course, except if we want to buy big things, it can be a problem for us. Either to go by taxi or call for a home-remover. So far, there isn't a need to because the room we're renting has everything we need. Also, owning a car here can be very expensive!! Basically, if you take a bus, and if it's in the same zone, min. charge is $0.65. The next zone will be $0.87 and so on. All these you can know from the little book or at every bus stop, they will have this whole big list of which bus number goes to which place and the charges and so on. Superbly convenient. Why can't some countries just follow this? :P In short, am OK with this arrangement.

Average cost/ month for transportation : $50 - $80
First time user : Buy the EZ-link card worth $10/card (with $7 for usage) Subsequent top up, min. $2.

2. Accomodation - With the high rental prices going up, up, up, it can be such a pain at times.. Pain in the pocket. :P For us, we were fortunate to get a master - room which is fully furnished (with air-cond, bed, 4-door cupboard, dressing-table, attached bathroom) and most importantly about 10 - 15 minutes walk to work, and about 2 minutes walk to the nearest bus-stop which can take you to town, direct with one bus only. All these, we managed to find through the internet before we came here. For some websites for flat hunting, click here, here, here or simply type "room/hdb flat for rent" in google.com.sg. In short, am also OK with the room. :) comfy & cozy.

Cost/ month for rental : $500 (inclusive of utility bills) + $30 (broadband access, split half with the landlady - only started June)
For first month: We suffered, because we had to fork out 2 months rental & deposit and also half a month for agent fees and remaining days for that month, totaling up to $500 + $500 + $250 + $167 = $1417

3. Bank account - To open an account, you need a minimum deposit of $500. Pengsan. Subsequently, you need to maintain of an average $500/ month, else they will minus off $2 from your account.

4. Employment pass (EP) - This was done for us by the job agency. First, 3 weeks before reporting for work, we came down to do our medical check-up. Went to the panel clinic and get it done. Done quite fast. A day before report for work, went down to Ministry of Manpower to collect the EP. Together with us, we brought our application form (given by the agency), award of degree cert (ori & photocopy), passport-size pic, passport (ori & copy). For more info on procedures, click here. Everything was fast. Don't be weary if you see many people at the office. It's just a matter of minutes before it's your turn. This is what we call efficient! Take note that the EP is valid for 2 yrs, thereafter, needs to be renewed. Also, an EP only allows you to work for that particular company stated in the pass. If you quit and job, you need to re-apply for a new EP.

Cost of Employment Pass: $100/ pass (which was refunded to us by the company after that)

All in all, for first-timers, you need to have cash in hand per-pax of about:
Rental : $708.50
Bank acc : $500.00
EP : $100.00
Misc : $200.00 (to last you till your first pay-cheque)

Total : $1508.50 (or RM 3469.55 @ex.rate of 2.3)

Basically, the only variable here is the rental. If you managed to find a place cheaper than this, total sum will be lower.

5. Food - Basically, this will be the portion that will eat up most of your $$. For normal economy rice of 2 vege + 1 meat it will cost in the range of $2.00 - $2.50 (depending on what kind of meat / fish). For 1 vege + 2 meat the most it will cost is $3.00. (So far, Jason has never gone above $3.00 for this arrangement). Drinks, for teh-si hot, gelas is about $0.90 per cup. (They have very nice ones). Soup (those boiled in the pressure cooker) is between $2.00 - $6.00. The ones we take is like the itik tim soup, sze-chuan soup, water-cress/ lotus root soup is all $2.00 - $3.00. Something we noticed here is that Indian/ Mamak food here is quite expensive. For fried maggi-mee, it's $3.00 (plain). Roti prata (eq. to roti canai) can count 1:1. So for this, we usually will eat back home :) Indian rice is quite eq. to Msia ones too. Bubble-tea here costs $1.00 and above. The usual red milk tea is $1.30. And it's available practically everywhere. And, the pearls are sweet. Of course,, eating better food means more $$. Just like the food that I've listed in my previous posts (check out under label : food), they don't cost the normal $2-$3. However, still able to afford this once in a while. Be prepared to spend >$10 per person if eat at nice restaurants here. However, if consider 1:1 it's slightly cheaper than restaurants in Msia. That also depends on which restaurants. :)

Average cost per day for lunch & dinner with economy rice : $8.00 per pax.

I hope that I'm not being too detailed in this. Anyway, most of you may see this "troublesome" to go through all this.... but for me, I see it as just a one-time thing. Also, from a different perspective, seeing this as a challenge and an opportunity to gain experience, not only career-wise, but also in life. Being in Malacca for all my life has made me sort of stagnant in where I was. It was a great big step for me to come over here, and I hope, this is a stepping stone for me to experience life in other parts of the world too. Ultimately, God plans my next stepping stone. :)

Posted in: chit chat, Life and Living on 30 July 2007 at at 7:24 pm 0 kay-pohs  

Yep, it's the wet season now..Woke up at 10am this morning. Went for a jog abt 20-30 mins, just behind where we're staying.. Yeah... it should be hot.. but it was not.. it was cool, and cloudy...After that went for brunch at the food court nearby, with my famous teh-si (tea with evaporated milk) and my two half boiled eggs. Yummy. Then went back home to take our baths before we plan what to do for the rest of the day. As soon as we reached home.. not quite long after that, it rained, thundered, and there were multiple lightnings. At the point of writing this blog, it has subsided, but still heavy drizzle... and getting heavier.. The weather has been like this the past whole week. We hardly saw the sun :( Kinda sets everyone in a gloomy and sleepy mood. Hehehe....And of course, also makes waking up in the mornings to go to work even harder. Am sure all of you have experienced this situation.

Thank God we went for our jog this morning... The reason being is that because we want to catch the fireworks display at the Esplanade at 8pm tonight, for the National Day Parade rehearsal. Since we won't be here for the fireworks competition held on 17th & 18th August, this will do. :)
Anyway, waiting for the rain to subside a little so that we can head for Ikea, as they're having the annual clearance sale up to 12th August.

Updates: We didn't go for the fireworks display. Was held up in Ikea for a while, thus, scrapped the idea because we bought quite a few stuffs. However, not sure if it's still on coz the weather was gloomy whole day. Raining, then stop, then rain again... Bah.

Last night, we met up with LY at Orchard Road. It was the last Friday of the month, thus, the midnight sale was ongoing. He bought two pair of pants at G2k for S$58. Cheap. Then we met up at this place in Paragon called Spaggeddies. It's an Italian restaurant and yeah... After that, we went for more window shopping. Lots of stuffs that I felt i could not see it more because I know, I have spent enough. hehehe...
Some pics...

At the entrance

My minestrone soup

Mine : Spaghetti Aglio E Olio
Garlic & olive oil with hint of parsley & chilli flakes.

Jason's : Spaghetti Carbonara
A favourite with chopped garlic, onions, mushrooms & prosciutto ham in a white cream sauce.

LY's : Grilled Chicken Primavera
Tossed with wood-grilled sliced chicken, broccoli, peas, mushrooms & carrrots in garlic & olive oil with hint of chilli flakes.

Posted in: chit chat, food, Life and Living on 27 July 2007 at at 2:41 pm 0 kay-pohs  

*phew* What a weekend. Was quite an ok-one. On Friday night, we went to Siglap to meet up with Jason's friend, LY for dinner. We ended up ordering Canadian Pizza and ate his place nearby. It was a buy one free one. We couldn't finish it. Obviously.... me being a small-eater.
The next day, we woke up rather late. Since we were not going back to Melaka, we thougt of sleeping-in on weekends. And this is actually to catch up with all the late nights during the weekdays. Hehehe. We woke up close to 11am. Took our time, and bath then went out for lunch. We were such in a lazy mood that day. Just didn't know where to go. Singapore is so boring on weekends. We didn't want to end up in shopping malls as we're basically bored of it. So after lunch nearby (at the market), we went home...and we stayed home till evening. Basically I was compiling my wedding pics, and Jason, as usual, with his games. After that, I continued on watching my Korean drama, Jewel in the Palace. Getting more and more exciting and also anxious.

After that, it was rather boring. Supposed to go to East Coast Park for a jog, but was just too lazy. In the end, we went out for early dinner nearby, then we proceeded to the MRT. And I turned and asked Jason, where are we going. Hahaha... He was mentioning Clarke Quay, I thought we're going there, he said not. And we wanted to go to Chinatown, but towards late night, was abit weary coz during that time, it's not a "clean" place. In the end, ended up in Orchard Road, and I ended up buying some clothes from Esprit as they were having sales. :) Have been spending quite a lot over the weekend with the sales going on.

We were walking through Takashimaya, and there was a food fair going on. We walked around and came across the Hokkaido Ice Cream stall. Was a little thrilled because Jason's mum kept on telling us that the Hokkaido ice cream is nice. She was there last year, just before our wedding. hahaha.We bought, 2 flavours, green tea and mango. It's something very unique. The green tea we tasted other places were not nice. Usually the after-taste is yucky. But not this. It's very smooth, fresh-taste. And the mango, you can taste that it's not the cordial type, but the real mango you usually eat. And it's not very sweet. Which is nice because you don't get bored of it fast. And it costs us $5.80. Worth the buy. And there is a stall in the food-court there. Too bad they didn't have lavender flavour as his mum recommended.

Superb Hokkaido ice-cream (green tea & mango)

After church, we went to Tampines Mall and Century Square. Shopped again as Metro was having moving out sales. Then we went to Jack's Place for lunch. With JW. It's her first time there and our second time there after LY brought us the first time we stepped in Spore. We had set lunch. Quite reasonable. Main course + soup of the day + dessert + tea/coffee. And if you order drinks, it's buy one, free one.

Part of the set : Minestrone soup and garlic bread

Jason's steak

My grilled boneless chicken in BBQ sauce

Our dessert.... nice!

Later in the evening, we went to East Coast Park (Finally). Rented a tandem bike. Hehe.. Cycled for about and hour until our legs were numb.... Then met up again with Jason's friend and decided to have dinner there. We went to a Hongkong Restaurant. Newly opened, and wanted to compare it with Kim Gary. :) Food was not bad. Something different. But the milk tea tastes the same everywhere I guess. :) And so, this was basically how we spent our weekend. I think we should go back to M'sia more often. Spending a lot during weekends here.

Jason on the tandem bike we rented

The water sport that they have at the park. It's cool. But pretty scary.

The walkway along the park... lots of restaurants & pubs & cafes

Entering the HK restaurant

Deep fried tao po with spicy sauce

Posted in: food, Happenings, Life and Living on 16 July 2007 at at 12:23 am 0 kay-pohs  

Last weekend we were back in Segamat. Also, it coincided with one of Jason's friend's wedding. It was a simple occasion. First was the church ceremony, followed by a small reception. After that, there was a break, and everyone went home to rest. After that, was the dinner in Jason's old primary school hall. A modern one of course. It's air-cond was cold!


In the afternoon, we visited his grandmother. And she gave us this imported grapes from Japan, which costs RM140. His grandma calculated there were about 97 grapes in the package. This comes roughly to about RM1.40 per grape! Isn't so ridiculous? So, we tried, and tasted. Wow. The grape really tastes like wine. Sweet, slightly fermented. Not sure what kind of grapes were these.. but it was good! If only we weren't having cough and flu, we would have whacked more. I took 2 grapes, and I could feel the heat through my throat. Haha.


And yes, to side-track a bit, I would like to introduce to you, BaoBao. Our landlady's dog. (By the way, yes, we're staying with the landlady and her family). I'm not exactly sure what breed is this, but it looks like a terrier. Smart dog, lazy at times, and stubborn, and tam-chiak (greedy). The last one most probably it's because they don't simply feed her with nonsense. All dog food. No such thing as chicken bones, or rice or that stuffs. In a way, it's cleaner that way, and not messy. Not sure how old is she, but herr fur is absolutely smooth and nice. It's just like some well-kept hair. Hahaha.. Cute dog, and she always never fails to greet us at the door when we unlock the grill. She can "smell" us from afar. Hehe. Well, Jason's dreams came true of having a dog in the house, minus the commitment. :P
(To take the pictures, we had to lure her with food. So difficult to get her pics as she was afraid of the flash).

Posted in: chit chat, Happenings, Life and Living on 14 July 2007 at at 2:05 pm 0 kay-pohs  

On Saturday morning, we woke up about 8.45am, met up with L & L at the Eunos MRT station, and headed for City Hall MRT station. There, we met up with the rest of ex-Infineon/Qimonda colleagues. So you can say, that quite a few of us who have left, have chosen Spore to work. All in all, there were 9 of us, out of which, 4 of us (L,Jason & I, GSP) are in AMD, 1 in Chartered (LTY), 1 in UTAC (TPK), another one, on the way here already (at the moment, still P&C).. and the other one, who was here for a visit (L), but also an ex-colleague. Another one is TPK’s hubby, attached to HP. LMF, YRS (GSP’s bf), AS couldn’t meet up with us that day. Heard there’s another one also on the way….. Hehehe… that makes it total of about 12 of us who are working in Spore. Wow! We chatted over a cups of coffee and tea, toasts, eggs at Coffee & Toast.

After that we left the group as Jason’s family were reaching soon, and we had to guide them through to the hotel that we’ve booked for them. The Paramount Hotel, at Marine Parade Rd, just opposite Parkway Parade shopping complex. Next, we walked over to fill out tummies, and proceeded to the Spore Discovery Centre, but too bad it was closed as they had a corporate event there. And it was so far, that it’s almost reaching Tuas area. So in the end, we went to the Jurong Bird Park to see penguins.
Here were some of the pics taken while we were there… Not many, as we didn’t have enough time to go around.. and when we went, we just missed all of the feeding times… too bad… But it was worthwhile as we got to see the penguins. Jason’s family managed to pay the entrance fee in RM, but we couldn’t, so we had to pay in S$. So sad… After that, we went to VivoCity for dinner, and back home.. the next day, we went to City Harvest at the Spore Expo. His dad wanted to experience the church service there. It was great. Ps. Kong Hee was sharing the Sermon on the Mount. A powerful msg, that really got into our brains and heart. It’s a 28-series of sermon. You can get live sermons from church's link.
After that, we had lunch in the Tanah Merah Golf Country Resort. A close friend of Jason’s mum are members of the club, and they have one of the finest golf courses in Spore (excluding those in Sentosa island). And the food was good!
After that, we brought them to the Tampines Mall, to have light dessert and to taste the famous xiao long bao at the Taiwanese Restaurant, Din Tai Fung.

At the entrance of the bird park

At the entrance of the penguin expedition

Super fat penguins. The ones with a yellowish bip is the Emperor Penguins

Swimming gracefully in the water. Didn't managed to get pics of the Rockhopper Penguins. The ones we saw in Happy Feet.

If not mistaken, this should be the barn owl.

Pink flamingos

A funny looking tree. The tree stump looks like a pot/vase by itself. And it's huge.

Lory feeding. They have striking and beautiful feathers. Didn't dare to feed, scared they will peck the hands. Hehehe.

Of course, there were others such as the largest sea eagle.. It's so huge. Almost half the size of me. And also the famous vultures. The ones we always see in cartoons. Hehehe. It was a very humid afternoon, we sweat, and sweat.. But it was a good trip to the bird park. Adios...

Posted in: food, Happenings, Life and Living, travel on 25 June 2007 at at 11:34 pm 0 kay-pohs