Monthly Archive for May, 2008

Happy IMD’08

Published on May 31, 2008 in Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments

In a bid to escape the long taxi queues after some drinks with our friend Jean, Lyn (my boo) and I caught Indiana Jones last night at Plaza Singapura. We figured the taxi queues would be much shorter after the movie since it would be about one in the morning and we can easily catch a cab. Yes as we all have predicted, cab woes have returned to haunt us once again as we pay more only to feed the returning bad habits of cab drivers. Talk about a policy designed to fail..but that is another story.

Rants aside, as Indiana Jones movie goes, we witness many scenes where ancient artifacts are destroyed while Indiana tries to escape the clutches of either the Germans, Indians, Russians, etc, depending on which movie you were catching. Although I know it is just a movie and the props are fake, but as a person who has some interest (just some) in history and archaeology, I have always thought that it is such a shame to destroy all these tangible historical memories.

Coming back to reality, I am really thankful for the efforts of the National Heritage Board to help preserve whatever history we have. True we may not have a vast and endless history compared to other countries like China or Egypt in particular, but that should not stop us from preventing a loss in our culture and heritage, something that makes us what we are today.

Today marks the International Museum Day 2008 (IMD’08) as 46 of Singapore’s museum (yes we have 46), opens its doors (some for free) wider to allow the public to appreciate more of our history and culture. Themed “Museums ALIVE!”, IMD’08 showcases how museums in Singapore can be lively and exciting cultural destinations with something for everyone.

From today till 2 June, IMD’08 features close to 39 exciting events and activities happening across more than 19 museums around Singapore from your heritage trails, workshops, movies and a whole lot more. Although Lyn and I may be a tad bit busy during the weekends, but I am planning to head to either the Peranakan Museum or National Museum this afternoon in support of IMD’08 if time permits.

So if you are are looking for an educational weekend, I highly recommend that you check out their event calendar and pop over to the participating museums to learn more of our heritage and culture…

Still hope for economical food…

Published on May 29, 2008 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 8 Comments Tags: , chicken rice.

Its really nice to know that amid the current increase in food pricing due to reasons that has temporarily escaped my mind, there are some food stalls that are willing to do a little giving. Take this store near Lyn’s (my boo) home for example – a plate of chicken rice at just $1.50. Can I say “Me love you long time”?

Left: Banner outside the coffee shop | Right: My perfect tea break portion

Breakfast at the Singapore Food Expo

Published on May 28, 2008 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 4 Comments Tags: food, food expo, singapore expo.

Thanks to Len, Lyn (my boo) and I popped over to the Singapore Expo last Sunday after learning of the fantastic deals that the Adidas and Taylormade sale has in store for us. After taking advantage of some compelling deals including a loose number 3 and 4 Taylormade r7 CGB MAX irons at a total of $40 (yeah I know…too sweet a deal) and some nice t-shirts, we decided to pop over to the very crowded Singapore Food Expo a few halls down to see what the fuss is about.

There we witnessed a few hundred stalls patronised by a few thousand hungry folks looking for good bargains and dishes. Being the greedy couple we are, our stomachs rumbled following our witness to the mixture of the wonderful culinary aroma and we headed our way in. Pushing our way through the crowd, we finally settled for a bowl of laksa, some putu mayam, potato with melted cheese amongst other really sinful dishes…but worthy to be called one heck of a great breakfast.

I was unable to take the photos of the food we so quickly devoured upon purchase but we managed to capture the ever so crowded expo Hall.

Left and right: People people everywhere

Despite the fact that this is our first food expo experience, I must admit that the crowd didn’t really bother us. I guess we were too focused on the gastronomical delights and those must try samples. As such food expos go, we enjoyed it and sure…we will definitely return or visit a similar one again.

Still a nice car…

Published on May 27, 2008 in Usual Ramblings. 5 Comments

I was reading an entry from Simply Jean and came across an article taken from Stomp’s Motoring Goondus about a woman who chooses to park her $100,000 Honda Type R ‘differently’ from others. So being the bitch that I am, I decided to pop over to Stomp’s article and get the low down. I guess the lady already has her fair share of online bitch slappings so I won’t go futher. So the reason why I have decided to post this?…Its a very nice car man . I know my golf buddy and new colleague Lawrence owns a blue one. iLikes.com

Felicia

Published on May 25, 2008 in Usual Ramblings. 9 Comments

Just adding to our recent frequent trips to Ikea. About two or so weeks ago, Lyn decided to complement her nice personal cushion for our car with a silky cover and while looking through the various options, we decided on this.

Yeah we love my sister Fel that much…

Ikea through the years

Published on May 22, 2008 in Usual Ramblings. 7 Comments

Lyn (my boo) and I have been popping over to Ikea on a weekly basis for the past three or so months now. I guess one would think that we are really crazy and avid Ikea fans…well to tell you the truth…we are…kinda… . But our regular trips there is not so much as we love their furniture but rather bad planning.

When Lyn moved in to her new home a about a good three months back, her room was bare and we needed to fill it up with some nice furniture. After about a month and a half later, we completed our project and that was when we got inspired to do more for my room, leading to another month and a half worth of weekly visits. Our visits there is normally just to buy one furniture, build it and place it before measuring the extra space for more nice furniture…yeap like I said earlier…bad planning.

Now back to the subject proper, while checking out the Alexandra’s outlet about three or so weeks back, we were pleasantly surprised to discover a wall full of Ikea’s catalogue at the 2nd level, spanning across the decades beginning 1978. A year I believed was when they first started operations here in Singapore (I could be wrong though). Their marketing aim? To celebrate Ikea’s 30th anniversary.

Looking at the past issues, I couldn’t help but relate to the years and the milestones in my life. With that, I took a photos of issues of selected years and paired them to me. It is one of those ‘I want some attention’ moments, so do indulge me as I continue…

Left: 1978 – Ikea’s first issue and my 2nd year in planet Earth | Right: 1983 – Primary 1

Left: 1984 – Michael Jordan got drafted to the NBA. I know I know, nothing to do with me but hey..I am a fan | Right: 1988 – PSLE..Arrggh!!

Left: 1989 – Secondary 1 | Right: 1992 – ‘N’ Levels

Left: 1993 – ‘O’ Levels | Right: 1994 – Repeated ‘O’ Levels..heheh..I is stoopid

Left: 1996 – Called up for national service | Right: Headed to pursue my communications diploma after ORD

Left: 1999 – Moved on to advanced diploma in communications | Right: 2001 – Graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Mass Communications

Left: 2003 – Completed my Master of Arts in Mass Communications (but still as stoopid as ever) | Right: 2006 – Started dating with Lyn (my boo)

Left: 2008 – Changed job after a 5 year stint in my previous organisation | Right: 2009 – I have no freaking idea but what lies ahead better be good

Yeah..I’m 30 something too (wait…why am I grinning?)

Long Weekend Friday – Dragon Fruit Farm

Published on May 21, 2008 in Usual Ramblings. 4 Comments Tags: dragon fruit, farm.

Lyn (my boo) and I popped over to a Dragon Fruit farm just beside Hay’s Dairies after our adventure with goats (somehow this statement sounds wrong ). The farm is pretty small and there we were greeted with rows and rows of Dragon Fruit, most of them showing signs of riping. There wasn’t much to do at the farm so before we knew it, we found ourselves making our way home. Nothing noteworthy about this visit but hey..here are some pictures. I had no time to goof off…yeah the trip was that short.

Long Weekend Friday – Hay’s Dairies

Published on May 20, 2008 in Usual Ramblings. 4 Comments Tags: goat, hay's dairies, milk.

Continuing our long weekend Friday adventure, Lyn (my boo) and I headed to Hay’s Dairies upon learning from the nice people at Bollywood Veggies that there is a goat farm nearby. Coming from a person who gets lost occasionally with his girlfriend/vehicle commander nagging at him to get a proper GPS, I must admit that Hay’s Dairies is pretty easy to locate.

To be honest, I know close to nothing about goats and since our visit to Hay’s Dairies is pretty much impromptu, we didn’t really do any prior research. So with just about zero knowledge, we visited the Bachelor Goats at Barn 2 and were greeted by about a hundred or so..erm…goats…what else?

Left: Barn 2… | Right …to see Bachelor Goats

No goofing off this time round as we weren’t too sure how comfortable or welcoming our (or rather my) odd actions may seem to them. So we just did the touristy thing and just looked at them with the occasional stretching out our hands to touch them. Of course making use of my Nokia N95 8gb, I just fired away. Lyn on the other hand tried to feed a kid (young goat).

Left: Lyn trying her hand at feeding a kid | Right: With positive results

After about a good 20mins or so, we headed back to the main office to purchase some bottles of goats milk. I remembered about a few years back when my colleague Andy passed me a bottle of fresh goats milk and words can’t describe how fresh milk can actually taste.

Why goats milk rocks!!

Without much fuss, the nice guy at the office sold us four bottles in a nice Styrofoam box filled with ice to keep its freshness and we headed off feeeling pretty much fulfilled. Our parting words from the guy who sold us the milk, “Remember cow milk is acidic while goats milk is alkaline”.

Hays_24
Left: Our box of goats milk | Right: This is how a small bottle look like

More photos in my Flickr album.

Mas Salamat and lingerie catwalks

Published on May 14, 2008 in Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments

Its one of those “I don’t normally do this but…” moments. I was chilling at (Hot)Sara’s blog and chanced upon her latest post on what she has been doing. Won’t go into details but its basically a new TV (station?) about to be launched pretty soon. Check out one of their advertisements here…it got me cracking up for a while.

Long Weekend Friday – Bollywood Veggies Part 3

Published on May 13, 2008 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments

After a nice walk around the nursery and the ’shrooms’ incident at Bollywood Veggies, Lyn (my boo) and I headed to the Poison Ivy Bristo for lunch. Our first order was lime juice to quench our thirst. After an exceptionally hot afternoon walk, I can’t tell you how great a welcome the lime juice is.

Left: The counter inside Poison Ivy Bristo | Right: Our glasses of lime juice

No shrooms in the menu but we wanted to try the much talked about curry chicken and of course, one of my favourite vegetables, Kang Kong. As for staples, we both shared rice and two roti prata (the frozen type).

Left: Curry Chicken | Right: Kang Kong

Left: Rice | Right: Our once frozen roti prata

Our verdict? Not bad although we both have been through much better culinary dishes of a similar scale. I guess what makes our lunch enjoyable is the entire experience itself. So if you happen to be near Neo Tiew for some reason, do pop over to Bollywood Veggies. And oh, do take the nursery walk and experience nature of a different kind…