Daniel's 21st birthday party

Finally! I found some time to blog about this.

Today I went to work in the morning, then went to Paragon in the late afternoon to get the pair of slippers I insisted on buying (it's $17.90, affordable enough) and then made my way to Hai Sing for band practice with the main band.

The practice was fine la, just hate sharing instruments because....because..............sometimes you just wonder if the 'condensation' that comes out of the instrument is yours or not. And you get pretty grossed out.

Anyway, the best part of today is Daniel's 21st birthday party! It's been donkey years since I last went for a birthday party. So was rather excited about the home-made snacks and of course, the celebration~

That's the birthday boy trying to put on a glamour smile for the camera
I bought this lion for Dan and Cedric as a farewell present...that was in 2001 I think. Wah. So long ago
Dan's cake! Bought by Cedric and company



Make a wish...make a wish..
Huff...and puff...and...
...blow out all the candles!

Concentrated on cutting the cake
That's Dan and his relatives. From left, his Mum, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, himself, Uncle Paul and his wife
Come! Let Mummy and Granny kiss!
And you see that Dan's grandma is too shy that Grandpa has got to nudge her to kiss Dan in front of everyone haha
Besties, Cedric and Daniel since many many years ago
Ced: Come give me a hug~
Dan: I don't want!!!
Dan with his TPJC friends
His church friends
The tuba section! Me, Dan and Ee Yan
Dan and the trombone section. Cedric, Daphne, Sock Leng, Jie Ying and Yi Xin
The ex-drum majors, Dan and Xin Hui
Daniel and the flautists, Xin Hui, Li Hong and Hui Zhen
With the clarinetists, Sheila and Jasmine
The whole Hai Sing crowd that was present
Me with the trombone girls
My share of the fluffy cake
A present for you, from the trombone section
Present presentation ceremony
Heh heh heh
What's that???
Wow, a watch! Held the wrong way though, but who cares
His prized possession
Come I help you
Don't I just look so suave?
Two oily faces in a photo

At the end of the day I dunno why I chose to walk a very dark and quiet way home from Daniel's place in Simei. Which is about a long walk from my place but...it was 11pm plus. Went home safely la, if not I wouldn't be here blogging.

Signed 23062006, 2356hrs

A birthday

Happy 21st birthday Daniel!

You've been a great senior! May all the luck in the world be with you! (And do share some of the luck with me, I'll appreciate it =D)

I'll get your present asap ok! ASAP!

Early celebration for D-Day

D-Day as in Dads' Day.

My family and I went to my sister's workplace, Traders' Hotel, for a buffet dinner which cost us around $123. 50% off because my sister works there.

Ah but I forgot to bring my camera so wasn't that enthu about taking photos for almost everything which is my habit. So took only a few with the camera in-built into my cell phone. 随便啦。

Enjoyed the food, ate till I was extremely bloated. I know it's an unhealthy way to eat...but...I don't go for hotel buffet all the time ma. *consoling myself*

And I'm going to put on weight. A lot a lot a lot of weight and I'm not dieting nor eating healthily. Haha. Die! Gonna be overweight soon. Watch out for the difference people.

I started with the main course instead of some appetiser actually. So took a bit of this and that and this is what I had.


And I saw lobsters and Alaskan crabs there!!! I ate a lot of lobsters lo. Heh. Don't get to try them at most typical buffets ma so I ate them. They were cooked plainly, and you eat it with some cocktail sauce or any other thing of your choice. Because they weren't that tasty. They were tasteless so it'd be better to go with some salad dressing.

Alaskan crab on the left, lobsters on the right

We had a lot of good service because a lot of the chefs knew my sister and they will give us some complimentary food lo. Like 饺子 and the sort. But I didn't taste any of those dumplings, my family ate them up and didn't leave any for me. And the service was ultra good to the extent that they cleared my plates when I haven't even finished the food. Look who's wasting?

Then my sister asked if we wanted ramen, and I followed her to order from the chef who did the cooking. He was really speedy with the cooking. And there was a live demo too.

This is something called the 刀削面 if I'm not wrong...the chef merely cut strips out of the dough skillfully
If you look at the direction from the dough to the 'sink', you'll see something twirling...it's a strip of dough that was too fast for my camera to capture. Skill eh?
He was just nudging a lump of dough and pull and stretch and ta-daa the noodles are done. All of equal thickness. Pro! And it happened right before my very eyes~!

This is ramen in braised pork gravy
Braised duck
This is my favourite! Just chicken soup and shredded chicken and noodles! The soup is invincible. Damm nice!

And of course other than these I still ate a lot of other things...

Two chefs walked around several times with a skewer that had barbecued meat on it. Sometimes we had sausages, lamb, pork rib, ham...quite special to eat this way since I never try before.

I had hot tea too.

For dessert there was this Durian Fan Cake, omg, it's damm nice!!! Ya la everything is nice la. No except for the lamb 'cos I never liked mutton. But the dessert is really special..this chef made new waffles for us lo..those in the plate are cold already..and he gave us ice-cream on top of it too! Heh. I just ate and ate and ate.

Of course there were fruits but I didn't have enough space for it. Had only a few slices here and there.

And we took a cab home! Happy about that. Traders' Hotel is very far from Orchard MRT station and I was particularly lazy to walk. Hahaha.

Yep. An early Fathers' Day for dear Ah Bean. (Ah Bean, or 阿豆, is what I call my dad at home)

A birthday

Happy 17th birthday Kimberly!

Shocked

I was on the train on my way to Hai Sing in the train when an event gave me a shock of my life.

I was reading a book in the train at the corner between the door and the glass panel separating the seats. And all of a sudden, this ah pek came towards my direction and cornered me!

Shocked the hell out of me la!

It was something like this

And I was staring at the ah pek like what the hell? And his expression can still pretend nothing happen leh. Really can't stand him lo! Then this man in front of me also saw what happened and he was grinning. Then I realised that the uncle must be lose his balance or what when the train was moving that's why he had to pose like that at the door. And I was looking at the man and grinning also cos it became quite funny.

If it was you you'd be startled also what.

The uncle also really good at saving face lo. (-_-")

Just a post

My workspace is a table beside the counter with some cosmeceutical products, this brand called By Terry. Today there were two Taiwanese ladies (in uglier terms I'd call them aunties) who came to the counter and my colleague was serving them pretty well. The part I wanna talk about is, one of them was asking for this shimmering powder. And of course there were, and they had a few colours to choose from.

When my colleague applied some powder on the hand of that lady, she was like, "哇......!!! 好梦幻喔!" And I was like (-_-") and tried not to show my smile too much. It was just some shiny powder (though I know that By Terry's products are really good but expensive) with good effect and she was like lost in dreams and feeling as if she was a princess all over again. Haha ya I know I'm mean to say that. But the way she said it was amusing la. Like those very 撒娇 tone.

Wah sian

There seem to be alot of things bothering me and I can't really handle things well these days. Like I'm not looking forward to a new life in university and is fretting over the costs of this and that. And relationship problems too. Sigh.

I applied for the hostel last night, in this order - Sheares Hall, Prince George's Park Residences, Kent Ridge Hall. I don't seem to be looking forward to anything - yet.

I'm always thinking about how I should handle my finances well.

I'm always thinking if I can make it in university. Can't afford another year's worth of fees to retain also lo. Sigh.

Actually I'm a bit fussing over why my brother of all times had to go overseas to study last year. It's like my parents are left with not much of the funds to pay for my expenses as well as tuition fees and we have to borrow from the bank eventually.

And I hate going shopping nowadays. There seem to be a revolution of smaller sizes in department stores these days. Then where do I get my sizes then? I have huge feet, I have a large waist, a large size for every single part of my body for clothes and shoes to fit. Usually I won't have problems getting my sizes in Giordano, but for some of their pants designs they only come until waist size 27. Which is crazy. Now I'm starting to worry that I can't shop even at shopping centres le. Bugis St and Far East is of course out la. Just now I saw this pair of slippers I quite like at Novo but Yi Xin said she really don't like it and it's too ah-mm at the side of the sole so eventually I didn't buy it. Still thinking about that pair of slippers la. Just a bit frustrated cos it's not all the time that I find shoes my size. Pissed.

Then next Wednesday is the concert and I haven't got my black shoes yet. Didn't see any designs I like and can afford and have my size. All the shoes like damm small and I'm freaking pissed with shopping for things I need. Can I have tailor made shoes? I'm sick of court shoes la.

Why everywhere things are so small-sized one? They don't seem to understand that people are growing bigger. It's just me actually but I'm really unhappy lo. Like now even Giordano like that. U2 also got some designs of skirts available only for a small range. And of course don't have my size la. I wanna go to those European countries or UK or US to look for my stuff. But guess what, the next country I'm predicting to go to is Japan or HK. With MJ they are going there for an exchange next June. One of the countries la. And in these two countries people are even smaller sized. I've got enough of Genting lo, the clothes like meant for tiny people. L size is like the M or even S sizes here. I'm more and more afraid that I'm limited to only some ugly clothes. Or dresses for maternity. Seems like it's not me being picky. It's the businesses that are getting picky about their customers.

Shit you.

Spooky

The picture of this girl spooks me, but I'm still gonna put it here anyway. Hope she doesn't keep you away from my blog though.

Try staring at her. She just gives me the feeling that she's looking back at me.

无聊!

Someone's been spamming my comments. There's like flattery on almost every post here and some also irrelevant like what makes you think I've got a guestbook. And when you click on the link they give you it's just some insurance stuff.

So bo liao!

Spelling (or typo) errors II

I saw a notice on the front of a shop at Tampines Mart wishing that it will pull customers in. But apparently I think it only sets passers-by laughing.

It says something like:


I felt stupid trying to take this picture...but anyway...

付现金 - 肯定高价收购旧手鸡,电脑,手提电脑.

So you see, the notice is trying to tell you that the shop offers a high price for used computers, laptops as well as hand chicken. In Chinese, chicken and machine sounds the same. We call mobile phones 手机, directly translated as hand machine. Or gadget kind of thing. And the shop had to type mobile phones as hand chickens instead.

手鸡.

FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 kicks off

The first match of the World Cup will start tonight, at midnight. A bit thrilled la, since it's the World Cup.

And during my research at youtube.com I realised that this season's theme song, The Time of Our Lives, is sang by Toni Braxton and IL DIVO!!! Hahaha. The song is not as nice as the rest of their numbers but ya...it's the theme song.

A birthday

Happy 31st Birthday Sam!

Il Divo

Il Divo. If it's not clear enough, it's IL DIVO.

It is some sort of a classical male group which performs some pop songs with a classical twist. Yes yes like my first love - Josh Groban. Maybe that's why I like Il Divo too.

I heard of them earlier on but I wasn't interested in any way because I haven't heard their songs or went to find any until I was at the Bata shoe shop at Century Square on Saturday and they were playing Il Divo's Ancora overhead. I was a bit creeped out because I went in and heard the dunno Spanish or Italian version of Unchained Melody (Senza Catene) but when the song got to the climax, oh my, it sounded so great! And after asking the saleslady for my shoe size I asked her for the CD too. After which I went to get it at Gramophone at Capitol Building.



This MV I got from youtube.com is a shorter version of the whole song which lasts for 03:50. This is just two minutes plus but anyway you still can experience Il Divo on Senza Catene. So good! Hahaha.

Another song I like is I Believe In You Feat. Celine Dion.



Which is also a good song.

Other than these two that I like to repeat on my player another one is Heroe, which is the Spanish and Italian version of the song Hero. It's very very nice too!

A dose of Il Divo a day, chases all my blues away...

No I've not dumped Josh Groban.

The attack of the mosquito

When you spot a mosquito flying in front of you, the reflex action is to wave your hands at it to shoo it away. And then you'll grab hold of a magazine and swat it. Or the better, just clap your hands.

It certainly amazes me when the retail girls at my workplace saw a mosquito, they did try to shoo it away, but shouted ‘那香水来喷它！’ i.e. spray perfume at it!.

O_O

And so during the attack they were using two bottles of expensive eau de parfums and toilette to spray at the little bug and while typing away at my space there was a combination of smells.

Wah.

The mosquito must have died a lucky insect. Died in fragrance. How many insects get that?

Re-names

Have you really wondered why when our country was renamed Singapura (from Temasek) by Sang Nila Utama (If I'm not wrong, forgot my primary school social studies), she was called Singapore, to a more English version. Why can't we just be known as Singapura? Was there a reason I have not heard of? It'd be nice if you could enlighten me.

Are we called Singapore because we're just a dot on the surface of the globe, just like a pore is just a dot on the surface of your nose? Think lion's pore. Yes yes, a pore on a lion's nose. It must be damm clogged.

What for?

I used to complain about MJ band not having enough tubas to go around and everyone can have one.

Now I wanna complain. MJ band now has got more than enough tubas, and many more than needed mouthpieces.

A dozen mouthpieces

Spelling (or typo) errors

Dumb nut.


It got cheated by water. Don't get it? Look closely at the picture above. 不应该是马蹄水了，应该是水骗花生。

This is found (last year actually and they have yet to change the sign) at the Sweetalk outlet in Century Square.

And when you got a sale, please make sure that you look attractive enough. What bazzar? More like bazaar can? Spotted at a shop selling fragrances in CS. Should be called TINS and BOTTLES if I never remember wrongly...



And this bazzar thing is all over the shop.

Philharmonic Winds concert

Went to the Philharmonic Winds concert with Felix, Kai Yan and Hong Wei at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay.

I was quite looking forward to the concert actually...met Aaron (who is a member of PhilWinds) to get the tickets from him on Thursday night, and we sat down at the bus stop around my place and chatted that for an hour plus. Caught up with his life lately, and spring arrived for several of those guys. No wonder we hardly contact liao. Haha. And Aaron told me that the tuba choir thing is nothing much one..that disappointed a bit lo.

And the tuba choir is really nothing one! Wah it's like, the tuba parts didn't even sing! It was just some playing like some other tuba piece lo hahaha nothing much. The piece is Symphony No. 2 by Robert Casteels, the conductor of PhilWinds himself. Got electric guitar (till now I still dunno what part it played), yang qin and pipa and the classical guitar. Also violins and cellos and a double bass.

The best part is this trombonist from the Netherlands. He's good ok! I love his tone, very full, very rich not like the typical trombone tones I hear in Singapore. His own encore is also very impressive, he played this jazzy number all by himself, and he also played those two notes at a time, which is like, master liao la! Hahaa...I forgot what the technique is termed as, but it's really the limit man. Like you can hear a low note and a higher note come out of his trombone at the same time. It's something like you play a note and you sing the other la, which is like almost impossible for dear Erina.

After the concert I met Aaron and Mr. Louis Yeo...so sad! Mr Yeo is going off to Miami for further tuba studies and will be there for a few years...sigh. And on Thursday night Aaron also said after Nafa and NS he'll be seeking some scholarships to study in America too. Everyone's going overseas! Didn't go for dinner with them, and went with Felix they all instead.

Felix suggested to go to Carl's Jr. for supper...I've never tried before, so I'm ok with it.

Ultimately...cannot say that I regret la...but...a bit too much for me hahaha.

Free-flow drink
Criss-cut fries
My burger - it's huge - the Charboiled Chicken Club
I merely asked for more veggies and this is what I got...

And this whole meal cost me a hefty $11.60!

T_T

My pay is very little already...

But I had fun la really, like won't get to go out with the guys anymore soon since they gonna prep for their A levels. Sigh. After that they going NS. Band won't be as fun anymore lo. Like how many more years gotta pass before we can all really sit down and play together again.

What I really remember about tonight is when Felix asks Hong Wei 'You don't love me anymore is it?' Maybe it doesn't tickle you but I find it very funny. Ha. Dunno la.

Took some hilarious videos with Felix in it...hahaha really damm funny! I thought of putting it here...but scared later on youtube.com someone else finds the video then like very what you know so I think better not. Haha.

Must be feeling relieved right Felix? Hahhaa....just hope that we can come out again and have fun...

How colourful

Ah..this award is familiar. I think I took this before when I graduated from Hai Sing with achievements from band and Sports Leaders...but then in JC I don't seem to be doing a lot of activities except band lo.

And I received this letter and I wonder if all other band members of my cohort got this letter too. Haha. It's like, what did I do? Section leader lo. Achieve gold medal for band lo. Take part in the Genting competition after I finished A levels lo. I wonder how they choose people to receive such awards sia. Still got 'blah blah blah in College Band' like so personalised haha.

Then I dunno if I should go for the College Day to receive the award (I think it's some kind of bursary, I can get around $100+ if I'm not wrong). I won't go if I'm going to be the only one there. But I never go take such awards in MJ before ma...so wanna go and experience.

Aiya, dunno la. Think so much for what. Zzz.

Consequence of cheating the vending machine

Saw this funny warning when I was at Hai Sing for band practice today.

See la, cheat some more!

'Cos actually if you put your hand into the dispenser side of the vending machine and find the correct spot you can actually stop the bottle of drink coming out and the machine, being a machine, will think that there's no stock left for that drink and hence you can select another drink without adding any extra coins. I once paid only 50 cents for this bottle of Minute Maid. Shared among friends ma.

Deaths

As many of you know, Indonesia met with another tragedy, just a year plus after the tsunami. An earthquake tipping 6.3 on the Ritcher scale shook Yogyakarta, toppling buildings and houses and of course, inevitably taking away the lives of the innocent.

How many of you will want to live in a place you call home but is so vulnerable to natural disasters? I'm pampered and live in safety because it's Singapore we're talking about, and I feel bad about this because I do not have to suffer. Kids as young as four are going out to the streets in the Indonesian city begging for money. I'm here spending and trying to refrain from being too superficial and buy all sorts of branded products.

Erina is not really a very generous person. I won't go to the extent of donating my coins and get a flag or buy 3 packets of tissue for a dollar, which Yi Xin will. I have enough money to spare I think, but being paid little always comes into my mind and make myself just want to have enough to save. And spend of course.

It aches me to know that there are a lot of children and the elderly exposed to the elements by an accident no one wished to happen, and I am of no help here, only know how to earn as much money as possible and to blog.

At least 6,234 people were killed, 46,000 injured and more than 139,000 homes destroyed in the temblor, which devastated large swathes of Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces. - CNA 2 June 2006 1311 hrs

There are 46 000 people who needs food and shelter. Obviously hospitals do not have enough space and people do not want to stay indoors. How long more will they take before their homes will be built again and their lives are totally normal again?

The tsunami already gave Indonesia a big blow, the President, Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono has got a lot of things to do. Now, we have the earthquake. Mount Merapi is threatening enough. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. I really admire the President to be able to tide through all these with his country, along with aids from several different countries. But it is his spirit that kept many of his people going too, as what I read from the papers.

Somehow I wonder why when the Earth was formed it couldn't be perfect enough to not have natural disasters. I wonder why they had to exist in the first place. I wonder why those people die and not others, do the victims really deserve it? What if among those killed are young people with huge aspirations for their future? Why do they die? People lose their loved ones because they are not lucky enough to escape nature's wrath. Whereas in Singapore, deaths may be a consequence of illnesses like diabetes, heart attacks, etc. This may sound cruel, but they did not keep themselves healthy enough to live longer and spare their family members the agony of losing someone they love.

A recent picture of Mt Merapi, with lava trickling down its slopes. How safe can this be?

One thing I have to understand is that, no one asked for such things to happen. Everyone will die eventually, we can't have people from the years Before Christ living till today, we'd have a population problem. As well as environmental problems.

I went for a relative's wake yesterday (I didn't go to work) and she was to be cremated. It was my first time at Mandai Crematorium, and I really hate to be there. Who will like to go watch coffins being sent into the furnace anyway.

The sai-gong did some rituals at the Service Hall, and after that we were shuffled to the Viewing Hall (sounds like the airport) to see the coffin being transferred into the furnace. As in, you really see the fire light up and the coffin being carried there by machine and the door closes. It was really...really scary. I don't know what vocab to use, but the cries of the children and grandchildren and relatives and friends of the dead left a deep impression in my mind. I really regretted going, decided to go since I thought it was respectful if I'd just go. Moreover I've never seen a cremation before, so might as well not work. I was imagining and thinking a lot during the service, and I was so scared. It's like...not just burning paper or anything but of your loved ones and it's very...very cruel.

I thought about it, since I'm so big sized and occupy such big space throughout my life, I'd get cremated after I die. Gives me a chance to save space.

But really la. When you die you won't feel a thing, so when you get burnt it won't hurt. The ones who are hurt are those who see the coffin being sent in and feel the pain. Sigh..it's just so scary.

Too scary for a first time.

A birthday

(Sorry this came late.)

Happy 19th Birthday Jia Qi!

Whahahahaha....was too busy fretting over other stuff and I realised I wished her only thru SMS but didn't 'announce' on my blog. So there goes.

This is blogged on the June 9.

Sorry la lokaki!

Dating Purity

Just some test that took me less than a minute to complete.

Your Dating Purity Score: 72%

You are an under-experienced dater. This doesn't mean you're unexperienced - far from it. It just means that there's a lot of romance left to discover!

Dating Purity Test

How's yours? I don't really want to be that experienced though.

R.S.V.P.

What does it exactly stand for?

French for reply please, yes yes we all know that.

What is it again?

Repondez S'il Vous Plait.

Something new to learn today. Don't enquire about the pronounciation though. Can't help for that.

Links

I thought I ought to introduce the sites I linked in this blog. Lest you see some names you don't recognise. Not a lot of people that I linked, so it's easy. Here goes.

Candice Ong - A junior in MJCSB, also a tuba player. The current SL, in fact.

Daniel - Daniel Kang, a senior in HSCCB, also a tuba player. Was my SL! ORD soon, will be entering NUS at the same time as him! We'll join band, and be in the same section! All right!

Erina - Man, I forgot who she is.

Jia Qi - Lokaki, an ex-classmate in MJC. Also nicknamed cello-er, because she played the cello in MJCCO.

Jie Ying - A junior in HSCCB as well as MJCSB, a trombonist. She's an eloquent Chinese writer, you should drop by her blog to experience blogging in Chinese.

Jing Yi - A good friend of mine in HSC and MJC.

Parking Idiots in Singapore - Just a website to see how people can park with evidences from photos.

Pei Wen - An ex-classmate from MJC too, in Lokaki's clique.

Tsz Ching - Knew her from i-mode training, haven't been contacting her lately.

Wei Wen - An ex-classmate from MJC, in Lokaki and PW's clique. It's always Pei Wen Wei Wen Jia Qi to us.

Wei Xiong - A junior from HSCCB. Long time no see.

Yi Xin - My best friend, knew her from HSCCB and ever since!