An Unusual Blogspot Dot Com

徐佳瑩失落沙洲完整版MV 導演：徐筠軒

2009-11-13T07:10:00.001-08:00

NEW Heineken Commercial - verry funny

2009-06-14T07:57:00.001-07:00

双子星 The Ultimatum Theme Song

2009-06-09T08:35:00.001-07:00

New Radicals - You get what you give (live)

2009-06-05T14:26:00.001-07:00

Execellent song

Susan Boyle - Britains Got Talent 2009 Episode 1 - Saturday 11th April

2009-04-20T05:08:00.001-07:00

Awesome performance! She made international headlines for the past 1 week. I wonder what is installed for her next?

My Apple iPhone

2009-03-14T05:21:00.000-07:00

I got my 1st Apple product!! Yes, I got a iPhone 3G. Dropped my M1 line that I carried for the last 10 years. I have joined Singtel as the product was carried there. Neverthess, I paid $578 (after deducting $50 from the IT show) for a 16GB iPhone that is the most expensive one.

I struggled for much long time to find a replacement to my N95. It has been 2 years and i think its time for it to RIP. Unfortunately I can't find anyone that can beat the 5MB pixel camera which I find pretty handy. Since iPhone is the latest in-thing stuff and it boast lots of application in the phone. I made my mind to get my hands on it after discussing with Irene.

The price is reasonable, I would say cheaper than my N95 that I paid close to $1k then. But I need to subscribe a phone plan and includes a 500MB data plan at a cost of $39.00 per month. Its a few bucks above my M1 plan but the idea of surfing on-the-go, makes everything worthwhile. Lao Zhi You Qian!!! Muhahaha!!

Ellenborough Market Cafe

2008-12-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

My 1st DSLR - Canon 450D

2008-11-29T19:10:00.000-08:00

I bought for $1,150 at the AMK's "MS colour service" whereby market price was suppose to be $1,299. My very first SLR (single lens reflex) camera, I can bring it Kuching next month.

Pasir Ris's Theme Park

2008-11-29T18:57:00.000-08:00

Family outing at this Pasir Ris's Theme Park. Business pretty slow since economy downturn. Not much crowds, even the ferris's wheel is empty except for our family usage.

My 1st DSLR - Canon 450D

2008-11-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

An early Christmas present for myself!

I have always wanted to buy a SLR camera, but now I have a Digital-SLR camera! Yep, its Canon. "Can't help ", theme song for Canon, " Just want to play outside"

Punggol Crabs

2008-11-15T21:38:00.000-08:00

I brought my family to Punggol area's coffeshop where there was a 'cze char' stall that sells crab. Theirs are usually Sri Lanka crab (known to be fat) which not many neighbourhood stalls like to sell due to the price. This was introduced to me by Frankie when he brought me and Raymond to have our dinner while Raymond was waiting for his car to be groomed nearby.

I ordered two crabs, one in the soup base and the other in 'salty egg'. The outcome is everyonbe likes to latter than the soup which defy my original intention that was to introduce a place that sells crab soup other than AMK. Honestly I also prefer the salty egg one, the damage per crab is around $40+. Xiong man.

Gears of War 2

2008-11-08T22:23:00.000-08:00

"Gears of War 2" is the latest released from Xbox360. I bought the limited edition version which comes with an art book, bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes, steel box DVD cover and a code to unlock a golden lancer assault rifle. Damage = $79.90.

I am going to be very busy for the next few days........ its war time.

Cold Crab at Singapura restaurant

2008-10-11T23:28:00.000-07:00

I was craving for cold crab since returning back from NZ. I took the whole family, inclusive with Ping's family, to a restaurant called 'Singapura'(星洲冷气大酒店). It is located along Selegie road where I found in the web, boasting about its historical existence and for its well-known cold crabs.

We ordered 3 cold crabs, followed by another 2 more crabs, as Dad was pretty enjoying it. The meat was pretty juicy and I loved the meat that does not stick to the shells, makes peeling of the meat easier. But the best part is the 'crabs eggs' that lifts the flavour and also my cholestrol.

The next best food are the shrimp roll and the coffee roasted ribs, highly recommended for any food tasters. Overall the food experience was good and the ambience was pleasant. The scary part is the bill, total damage is abt $270 for 10 person meal. Burnt my pocket liao.

Our ROM and Wedding Dinner

2008-09-24T23:49:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that we had been looking forward to.

Picked up the DVD from our video-grapher before going down to pick up the wedding gowns. Next we proceeded to the hotel suite in Merchant Court.

Kelly Chan Lover's Concerto

2008-09-23T06:38:00.001-07:00

Finally found this song for our 1st march-in, it was really very last minute. Both of us were so stressed to finalize those little things and the time scheduling today. Going to breakdown very soon.

Chinese Customary Wedding

2008-09-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

Today is my Chinese wedding, which coincide with the 八月十五中秋节 in the Chinese calender. Hot date for most wedding couples. I woke up around 7am. I heard noises outside, guess my Mum was busy preparing some food. I forced myself to get up, and ran through the agenda for the day.

Around 8am, my brothers arrived, Sabby and wife, Xiao Hei and Xiao Wang. Mum cooked some noodles soup for all of us, so that our stomach will not be hungry later. I had no appetite to finish the food.

Last minute I couldn't find the flower that was suppose to be pin onto my jacket's pocket. I remembered placing it in the fridge the night before. I had to dump the flower idea, took the bouquet of flowers to set off for Irene's place at 8.30am. I drove my car, Sabby and Xiao Wang both drove their rides with Sabby's wife and Xiao Hei as their passenger.

When I reached Irene's place, I was greeted by my brother-in-law, Zhi Quan. He had to open my door for me to get down, as part of the traditional way called 'xiao jiu zhi kai men'. I earned a big ang pow when I opened the door for my brother-in-law many years back. Its pay back time.

Gate-crushing time! As usual, eaten some rubbish food stuff and played some stupid games before letting me in, but not before I passed them the Ang Pows. Lucky it was a short one as we were in need to meet the auspicious time.

After unveiling her veil, I picked her up to go back to my place. This round Xiao Hei offered to drive me so I agreed, felt a bit paiseh as I was not thick-skin to ask them to be my driver. When I reached home, we went straight to the room for the dumpling soup, offered by my sister. Its the traditional of 'yuan yuan man man' thing lah.

By then I was already drenched with sweat.

The day before my Chinese Wedding

2008-09-13T23:06:00.000-07:00

Did my car polishing in the morning, was a bit disappointed as it was raining. Luckily the rain stopped before I collect the ride, but the ground was still partially wet. Paid $128 for the polish plus internal cleaning, as I was too stressed to do my own cleaning.

Later in the day, I picked up Irene and drove to our Bridal Studio (J&M) which has closed down business and migrated their customer pool to another shop called 'Yvonne Creative'. Our make-up artist remain to be our contact person as to complete the whole package. But I could fell their unhapiness as they were treated like 3rd party in the new shop.

Other than my car, we do see many cars parked along the Tanjong Pagar road, waiting to be tied up with decoration. Seems like 14th Sept is really a hot date. We had to queue for 10 mins before my turn to park along the roadside for the decoration work to be done. Anyway it was only a 15mins job and we went to collect our suits and gowns for tomorrow before leaving home.

I spend the night doing the ang baos, got to pack according to the list given by Irene, major losses....

An Chuang 安床

2008-09-06T22:14:00.001-07:00

My beloved mattress arrived yesterday before the delivery of my chest of drawers. I really couldn't wait to rest on the bed, but this can only be done after the Chinese customary wedding.

Today, we had to do the traditional An Chuang, also known as Bridal bed, before the the actual wedding day. A propitious hour and a ‘good luck woman’ or ‘good luck man’, that is a man or women with many children and living mates, were selected to install a newly purchased bed. After the bed was in place, children were invited onto the bed as an omen of fertility. For the same reason, the bed was scattered with red dates, oranges, lotus seeds, peanuts, pomegranates and other fruits.

We invited my brother-in-law's sister's youngest child to be the one to scramble on our bed to signify "Tian Ding". We have my parents to help us with the bed arrangement whereby we laid the bed sheet, pillow cases and quilt cover onto the new mattress. After that, the kid starts to jump up and down, roll over the bed, before we placed the food stuff. My sister also instructed us to place many chopsticks into the spitton, to symbolize many offsprings. That is something new...

Betrothal / Guo Da Li (下娉/过大礼/纳彩）

2008-09-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

18 Oranges

2 bottles of Gordon Bleu Martell ($180 each - dutyfree)

3 Ang Baos and 四点金 (Pin Jin 聘金, Hai Xian 海鲜 and Nappy money)

Fa Gao 发糕, Rock sugar 冰糖, Melon sugar 冬瓜糖

18 cans of Pig trotters 猪脚 Western cakes 喜饼 Chinese cakes 喜饼

Heavy Rain

2008-09-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

It was pouring cats and dogs when I left the office at around 8pm. What shocked me was the scene of a collapsed pipe upon a vehicle, whereby water gushed down to its roof, when I entered the basement carpark at my place. I guess no one was hurt and the affected cars were not observed with any damage. The only question left was why the pipes were so fragile?

My Lovely Wife

2008-08-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Finally we got our wedding album and that means we are very close to the wedding date. Counting down to the chinese customary on 14th Sept and the dinner on 22nd Sept. There is so much to do but so little time to do it, so stress.....

超級星光大道 - 賴銘偉 - 我要我們在一起

2008-08-22T18:31:00.001-07:00

Very nice song from the champion of the 2nd season Super Star.

Xbox 360 - Wireless Networking Adaptor

2008-08-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

Just got hands on this wonderful gadget. Had to buy this to connect to my Xbox since my modem was in my Mum's room as she took over my old PC. I had stopped playing my xbox since moving in to the masterbed room, so this was really exciting as I can re-connect my Xbox on-line.

Chio Bu - 香月明美 Akemi

2008-08-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

I usually don't blog on chio bu but this girl really caught my attention when I was watching a Taiwanese entertainment channel. Her irresistible smile makes her so outstanding among all the celebrities. As usual most chio bu are mixed blood, so is she. She is half Brazilian and half Japanese and is around 21 years old model that hits the industry 2 years ago.

Jade Seah says FARK!

2008-08-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

What a national disgrace, whereby our Miss Singapore Universe 2006 said the word "F**K" on national TV when she was reporting the Olympic news in the evening. Apparently she uttered the F word when the view was brought over to a competition and hang for few seconds.

4 Season Durian

2008-08-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

King of the fruits - Durian. Who can resist the temptation of the aromatic fruit like the durian? Irene and I went to this shop called "4 Season" located along Still road. We bought 2 D24 durian as the price for those branded models like "Cat Mountain King" and "Red Shrimp" were too pricey like $20 per kilo. I am not going to be a sucker to be slaughter by those durian vendors. I ordered the 2 D24 durians for $10 each and took it home to enjoy it with my Mum. Like I said, the durain was top quality. I am falling in love with their durians....

More Olympic Pictures

2008-08-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

Momo Gear Knob

2008-08-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

I just purchased a Momo gear knob, better known as Combat EVO carbon fiber gear knob. Someone was selling it in the forum for $100, but I managed to slash it down to $80, whereas a brand new one was priced at $160. However there was some cosmetic wear and tear on the tip of the handle, other than that, the rest were fine.

I love the broader base of the handle as compared to the stock ones, since I can rest my palm on it. Momo stuff never fail to impress me, I guess its 'every penny every quality'.

Olympic 2008 in China - One World One Dream

2008-08-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

Huat Ah!!!!!!!!

8 August 2008 is the day mark for the Olympic 2008, held in China. Seems like they chose a auspicious day on 08/08/08 and the opening ceremony was at 8.08pm to commence the event.

The whole show was pretty well presented, I was much impressed with some of the shows like the 'Movable Box' performance and the 'lighting up the cauldron'. It does prove the capability of China to host such great historical event demonstrating its will and power.

Arrival of my TV and Hi-Fi

2008-07-28T23:54:00.000-07:00

Boxing day for my Philips HTS6100 that arrived one day before the wall-mounting service. Because my Philips TV guys screwed up, changing to a timing that I was not available so I had to force them to come the next day.

The HTS6100 does look more newer and the design was much refine as compared to the HTS8100. Function generally the same except minus the option of iPod adaptor for the lower-end one.

Finally the TV guy arrived and helped us to wall-mount the new Philips ambilight TV, together with the HTS8100 and my HTS6100. They didn't realized that my HTS8100 was not newly bought and didn't charged me a cent for fixing to my wall. Muhahaha, saved another $50.

Check out my TV, isn't it nice to have a surround lights beside the TV? Claimed to make the TV screen wider because of the light effect. Some more this is picture perfect quality TV screen that is Full HD, we are not talking about HD ready here.

The Panasonic LCD TV for both my Dad's and mine were also mounted by another guy in the later evening. The service plus the bracket cost me $240 (2pcs) but it was quite worth it since the bracket allows the TV to be tilted up and down with certain angles. Now all our TV are wall-mounted except my Mum's. Anyway hers is a crappy LCD TV not sure how long it will last, might as well dun waster the mounting $ first.

I even rushed down to Starhub to purchase a HD setup top box at $48plus with a year contract and installed in the living room. I upgraded our current analogue setup top box with a digital one with no extra cost but I had to subscribe more channels in order to meet the minimum requirements of the subscription fees.

Arrival of my Platform Boxes

2008-07-26T02:26:00.000-07:00

Finally the last phase of the renovation. This is coming to an end once the job is complete. I took leave today and was alone to handle the contractors.

They arrived at 9.30am (why these labourers always like to start work at 9.30am?) and brought all the necessary tools.

My table, long and slender. Pretty cool. It is going to be my 'frequent used' furniture in the room.

My cushion for the cozy area, can't wait to see that being assembled. That's where Irene will be spending her time when using her lappy.

The storage boxes that can store many many many things.

The bed's headboard. Lucky we thin it to 5cm from the original proposal of 10cm. Else the bed will be over-protruding the walking path.

The chest of drawers underneath the table. We added this item last minute as we need to have a more easier accessible place to store daily used items.

Finally I get to sleep around 12plus, as I was busy vacuuming the boxes and include mopping it before doing some unpacking. This is the mark of a happy day!

1st Meeting with our JP

2008-07-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

Last week I received a call from the JP, Mr Chan KY. He told me that he had to solemnize a wedding one hour before mine in the city and another wedding a hour after mine also in the city. So therefore he will not be able to make it to my wedding since I plan to held it at my place on 14 Sept.

You cannot imagine my anger and hatred when I hear this. I have already booked his appointment since months ago and now the wedding is only 2 months away then he tells me that. What the heck was he doing all this while? After discussion with Irene, she proposed that we changed the date to 22 Sept instead since we can held in the function room in the Merchant court and we can save some money on the decoration and food if it will to be held in my place. So I called Mr Chan to confirm his schedule for 22 Sept. Fortunately he was book at 5pm and 6pm so he reserved the 7pm slot for me as all the wedding are held in the city area. What luck...

The next problem is to change the date which I had already registered to be on 14 Sept. Another long story to talk about. In the Singapore Laws, application to marriage cannot be cancelled but it shall be void if it is not carried out within 3 months from application. But the thing is that I applied the marriage on 14 Jun and I chose 14 Sept as the wedding day. That means I can only re-apply on the 15 Sept but another rule specify that wedding can only be carried out after 21 days from the date of application. So I had no chance but to travel down to R.O.M. on Monday to appeal since I do have a case. Common, its not entirely my fault, its the JP whom cancel my original date.

While I was at the R.O.M. office, I saw two couples trying to apply their marriage using the computers in the office and they were so-called guided by a staff whom answer their query with "yes, key this lah". Lucky I do not need such assistance since i did it at home on-line, but this made those whom apply there don't look so nice. Anyway, an officer came out to speak with me since I told the desk staff my story. Obviously she cannot make decision so she asked her boss to discuss with me. The officer wanted to know from me why I did not choose to change another JP instead I came here to change the date. I was caught by surprise for his question, but I replied saying some crap bullshit story like how much he mean to us since he solemnize for my family members traditionally and blah, blah, blah. And he took my story in. What luck. He agrees to cancel my current application but I had to re-book again, that means paying the application fee of $26 again!

Today we were suppose to meet up with the JP at the Borders as he need to sign the consent form that declares that he shall solemnize our wedding. We need to exchange this form in R.O.M. for the official documents which we shall present on the actual day for endorsement. When we first met him, we were much disappointed. Why? He was damn short. He was way below my shoulder and it sure looks weird if three of us stood for photo-taking.

"Pls write your names in English and Chinese" He said.

"Ok." I replied.

"Indicate your job title too" He said.

Huh? Whats that got to do with the marriage? So I wrote Staff Engineer and Sales Manager for both of us.

"Staff Engineer? What's that?" He asked.

"Err, its like technical manager..." I just anyhow reply him as I do not know how to explain to him.

"Oh, I know. Do you both work in the same company?" He asked.

Huh? "Nope.." We quickly answered.

"Good, else the marriage will not last." He said.

Huh? Why is he telling us that? "We know that too." I said.

"If you want the marriage to last, you must work in the same place. Living together is ok. During my time in the British reign, no family members can work in the same company as the Boss will not allow this." He said.

Ahhhhh! What is this kind of conversation?

We had our dinner at NYDC and we ordered a pizza, mushroom soup, half-potato and a chocolate mud pie. It was fabulous! All the selection taste great and no regrets!

Buying Guo Da Li's stuff

2008-07-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

Went down to China Town to source for our customary wedding necessity, which are the Guo Da Li (Exchange of Betrothal Gifts) things. We had no idea what are the things that were required, so we decided to seek help those traditional shops that sells those stuff. Knowing that it will be an unavoidable day of 'carrot chopping'.

We were told that there are different things to be purchased by the groom and the bride separately. I vaguely remember the things that we purchased like 1) Bedside table-lamps (Chuang Tuo Teng for the An Chuan); 2) A pair of Dragon and Phoenix candles; 3) Big envelope fro the Ping Jin; 3) A basket to ferry the stuff between my place and hers; 4) Da Yuan and Xiao Yuan (was told to keep these in drawers in order to have good relationship with others); 5) Teapot set (for serving tea to elders during the customary day; 6) Lots of "Shuang Xi" stickers and signs for pasting onto the items; 7) Lots of red packets; 8) toiletries stuff; 9) sewing stuff.

Total damage was about $250 for all the items.

Yi Qie Wan Mei (Perfect Cut) Theme Song

2008-07-19T04:36:00.001-07:00

Currently my favourite show that I never to catch at 10pm. Its pretty similar to the US drama "Nip Tuck" that talks the life revolving two plastic surgeons. "Perfect Cut" is also about a Surgeon whom have different views regards to the "beauty" with a Psychiatrist. My favorite line "In this world there is only poor people, but no ugly people".

Reno Day 3 & 4

2008-07-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

Finally the closing ceremony for the renovation phase1. All the walls and ceilings have been painted. Toilet cabinets and Dad's drawers have been installed. My ceiling down-lights were all done up. Even those items that I purchased were also mounted on the walls accordingly based on F.O.C. Muhahaha...

Overall I was pretty satisifed with their work, however there were still flaws to point at their quality of work. They had to re-do the painting of my wall as the worksmanship after plastering those torn-down areas were done poorly.

Common toilet cabinet

Masterbedroom toilet cabinet

Mirror along the common corridor

Mirror in Masterbedroom

Reno Day 2

2008-07-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

I came back from Irene's place around 9am. Told her to carry on with her job since there were just too much people in this tiny house. This round there were fewer people since no hacking job to be done.

I took the mid-day to follow-up with SGH's specialist since it was nearly a month since my surgery. The operation was pretty successful and he told me to watch my diet since this problem is mostly relating to habitual. Lucky I do not have any concern on cancerous...

I drove down to Tampines Ikea to collect my exchanged shoe cabinet which I bought the wrong colour previously. I was so blurred to differentiate oak and birch veneer colour. Luckily they left only 6 stock and I was told that this has stopped production. So that means no more replacement or top-up if I need them.

Today they completed the painting and the lightings in my Masterbed room. Damn bright, shouldn't have installed twin tubes for each of the six points in the room. We had to reply on the controller to enable the switching in order to minize the amount of lights to turn on. Similarly the lights along the corridor towards the toilet was also much brighter with two points.

This will be my bed and TV for the next few days...... wonder how long can I last in this condition...

Reno Day 1

2008-07-14T22:27:00.000-07:00

Finally our long-awaited renovation for our house starts today!

The workers arrived around 9.15am and by 10.30am, they have torn down all those ugly stuff that resides in my house for the last 6 years. Priority 1 was my Dad's new bedroom as I need to ensure he gets to have a shelter for the remaining days of this reno. The last thing I want to see is a grouchy man walking up and down and have non-stop cursing on the dust, the noise and the mess.

The paint colour that was chosen for his room was pretty nice. It was called the white-ice, more towards brighter and lighter green colour. However it does look bluish to me during the day time and more towards greenish in the night time. Strange...

I had to camp in Irene's place since My Dad moved into my room and the Masterbed room was only half done.

Dad's new chest of drawers:

Philips LCD 42PFL9532

2008-07-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

Just paid for my purchase of the high-end Philips LCD TV for my living room. As I said its high-end, same goes for the price too..

I just couldn't take my eyes away from this gorgeous beauty that boast perfect pixel, Full HD display with a 1920x1080p resolution and HD natural motion for ultra smooth motion. How could I bear to buy some cheapo LCD and call them great view after viewing this black beauty?

Anway I was offered $2200 in this shop in Alexander Road whereby Best Denki quoted $2,888 with $500 Philips voucher, that works out to about $2,388. I was simply amazed with the price they are offering, even Audio House (famous for good deal in LCD) also quoted me $3,299 with $1000 Philips voucher. I hated to have those vouchers since they are of little value to me, unless I am a Philips die-hard fans.

The LCD shall be delivered to me the week after next and they included full installation and wall-mounting service for this equipment. Wow, that's around $150 cost saving.

Other than me, Ping also bought a washing machine since hers went ka-booze. She was telling me that her maid over-used the machine as occasionally she used twice a day. Come on, twice a day? Unless you have an army in your house or a 2 litres cc washing machine, else its seldom to use that twice a day with a >6 litres cc washing machine.

Dad's Eye Surgery in SNEC

2008-07-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

This is my first time connecting using Wireless@SG in the SGH. Today I am here with my parents as I am accompanying my Dad for his eye surgery to treat his Glaucoma and Cataract. He has been feeling tense for the past few days since he was arranged for this surgery by his specialist. His sight has been deteriorating and nowadays he finds difficulty to read especially in the night time. Luckily he has stopped driving since I started work, else I won't want to risk my life sitting in his ride.

Hopefully this surgery can help him to improve his sight else at least the deterioration should cease, else this may lead to blindness if not treated properly. I am beginning to fear for myself since this may be inherited by genes as my grandmum was also suffering from this before she passed away. Better start looking more on the greener things.....

Articles extracted from SGH:

WHAT IS CATARACT?
Cataract is a condition in which the clear lens of the eye becomes cloudy, preventing sufficient light rays from entering the eye and impairing vision.

WHAT CAUSES CATARACT?
It is common in the elderly as it normally due to the ageing process. Prolonged UV light exposure, long term use of medication and certain illnesses like diabetes are also risk factors to the development of cataracts. In the young, cataract can be present at birth or develop as a result of injury.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
The first sign is usually blurring of vision that cannot be corrected by glasses. Other symptoms may include frequent change of glasses, colours appearing dull, poor vision in bright light, glare, haloes around lights, difficulty reading or watching television or driving at night.

CATARACT SURGERY
Cataract surgery will usually be advised by your surgeon when your poor vision cannot be improved well with glasses and when it interferes with your daily activities.
Our surgeons are able to perform cataract surgery using the latest techniques, machines and instruments, making cataract surgery nowadays comfortable, safe and quick to recover from.
Cataract surgery is performed as a day/ambulatory surgery. 91.5% of our cataract surgeries are performed by phacoemulsification.
Phacoemulsification involves making a small incision of 1.5 to 3.0mm on the cornea. The vibrating phacoemulsification instrument is introduced into the eye through the small wound. It causes emulsification (softening) of the cataract lens which is aspirated out through the instrument at the same time.The capsule of the lens is left behind which then receives the artificial lens implant. The surgery is complete without any need for stitches.

Introduction to Glaucoma
Glaucoma accounts for 40% of blindness in Singapore. It is an eye disease where the fluid pressure within the eyeball is too high and damages the optic nerve, which carries visual impulses from the eye to the brain. This pressure build-up occurs because of an imbalance between the production and drainage of fluid within the eyeball.
Glaucoma is damaging to sight because the raised pressure can injure the delicate nerve fibres contained in the retina and the optic nerve at the back of the eyeball.
The vast majority of cases develop slowly, and the patient is normally not aware of the gradual loss of sight until very late in the disease when vision is seriously affected.

Different Types Of Glaucoma
Primary Open-Angle GlaucomaThis accounts for the majority of glaucoma cases in most countries. It affects the elderly and middle-aged. Relatives of people with glaucoma have a higher risk of having the disease as it may be inherited. The glaucoma progresses slowly and is often not noticed by the patient, as there are usually no symptoms like pain or redness. Peripheral (ie side) vision and night vision are gradually affected first. Central reading vision is affected only very late.
Acute Angle ClosureThis form of glaucoma usually affects middle-aged and elderly Chinese women in Singapore. Due to a sudden blockage of the fluid outflow channel, there is a rapid, drastic rise in the fluid pressure within the eye. This results in eye pain, redness, headache, nausea and vomiting. Blurred vision and coloured rings around lights are accompanying symptoms.
Chronic Angle-Closure GlaucomaLike Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma, this form of glaucoma progresses gradually, and often goes unnoticed for a long time. It results from progressive blockage of the drainage channels of the eyeball, and a slow prolonged rise in pressure.
Secondary GlaucomaThis is sometimes caused by inflammation of the eyeball or when a cataract becomes too advanced and swollen. Other causes are tumours, injuries and surgery to the eyeball.

Treatment
The earlier glaucoma is diagnosed, the greater the chances of success in preventing visual loss. Assessment for glaucoma is easily carried out in the clinic and is painless. It includes the measurement of eyeball pressure, optic nerve examination, an assessment of the fluid drainage channels of the eyeball, and a test to chart the area of the vision that each eye can see (Visual Fields).
Although glaucoma cannot be cured, in most cases it can be successfully controlled. The treatment depends on the type of glaucoma. It may be in the form of medication (eg eyedrops), laser therapy or surgery. Your doctor will discuss with you the best treatment in your case.
It is important to note that the success of treatment for glaucoma is measured by the stability of the condition, which only your eye doctor can determine. The degree of sharpness of your vision does not indicate how well the glaucoma is controlled. Patients should therefore continue with regular check-ups with your eye specialist to ensure that everything is well, and to detect early worsening of the glaucoma to prevent visual loss.

Frank Sinatra - L.O.V.E.

2008-07-06T07:14:00.001-07:00

Our Wedding Bands

2008-07-06T00:19:00.000-07:00

Our final chosen ones that were collected after customizing the size to our fingers. These are our Wedding bands from Lee Hwa Jewellery, which I paid $2000plus for both. Irene's happen to be more ex as hers is embedded with several small diamond bits on a single side of the ring, whereas mine is just a normal ring with two continuous line along the circumference.

We had a hard time going through all the rings from several jewellery shops like Goldheart, Soo Kee, Poh Heng, etc. Finally our eyes were caught by the Destinee, by the damage was great!

4 Dian Jin

2008-07-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

Dad called me at work today, "There's a big sale in this jewellery shop below my office. They are having a move-out sale and all things must clear. The price is $40 per gram, whereas the market price stands at $46 per gram today."

Both Irene and I metup with my Dad around 6.30pm. Dad was pretty excited over the cheap sale. Wonder why? There was not much crowd in the shop unlike what my Dad told me that it was super crowded in the afternoon. Anyway we began the search and identified the 4 Dian Jin: Necklace, hand-chain, pair of earrings and a ring. Total weight was ~50gram, and they charged me purely based on the gold price plus 7%GST. No inclusion of the design fees, and the bill comes to $2450. That's dirt cheap! But it includes the tax of $160! This is daylight robbery by the government.

Irene also bought another necklace and a braclet on behalf of her Mum as she needs to provide her some form of gift on the actual day.

My Blue Pill

2008-07-02T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is my precious, the legendary blue pill. Yes, I am taking this drug for the next many months to come. That's what the doctor wants me to do.

After the released of my medical report, which I registered last month. The outcome of the report shows that my cholesterol was extremely high. Normal rate is around 100 but I stands at 290. If I do not start taking care of my health, I will be at risk from heart related diseases. That means heart-attack or stroke!

My doctor requested me to start taking medicine to lower my bad cholesterol, beside that, I am suppose to control diet and starts exercising. What to do? I am going to lead a miserable life for the next few months. Good bye KFC, fried kway tiao, goreng pisang, oyster omelette's,
pork lard, fried chicken wings, Jack's place steak, etc...

Kidney: To sell or not to sell

2008-07-01T07:00:00.001-07:00

I caught this news article last week. It was regarding the sales of kidney by two Indonesians to the C K Tang's executive chairman Mr. Tang Wee Sung. Both men were convicted and to stand trial this coming Wednesday.

My topic of discussion here lies with "Can I sell my organ?"

In my opinion, why can't one sell their organ? Since this is my body part why should I seek for permission? Is it illegal to sell your hair, which the market buys it for extending hair? If you want to talk about Chinese culture, our body parts comes from our parents, perhaps let me check with my parents, if they agree does that mean I can sell then?

On the other side of the coin, by allowing the sales of body parts, that will means that the poor people may face tougher chances of getting donated parts. But it is not as if it is easy to get the parts through donation, if the parts are for sale, that will definitely bring up the quantity. With regards to the price, it can be adjusted according to market rate, else the charity organization can help to support those in financial needs. As such, more people can get their organs as long as there are supplies. Money makes world go round.

Check out the below pix, man sells organ. Like it or not, it lives among us. No harsh rule or policies or laws can ban this trade 100%. No matter how well the country enforces the rules, when there is demand, there will always be supply. What will you choose: To live or to die?

My 1st HiFi set - Philips HTS8100

2008-06-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I bought over a 2nd hand HiFi from a Angmoh couple (I think they are expats) that they posted in the web. I have been eyeing on the Philips model HTS8100 for a long while. In the market this set was priced at $1600 but I got it at $600 which was a used set for 7 mths plus. Super good deal I must say!

It was still in good condition and the reason for selling is that the couple wants to move out of their rented apartment as the rent is increasing. On top of the HiFi, they offered to sell me the Philip universal remote controller at $100, which was a tempting offer. The looks won over my heart, without much thoughts, I accepted the offer. Sucker!

QiQi 3 years old Birthday

2008-06-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

Finally our Qi Qi is 3 years old, not much changes since last year. Talks little, always stick to the maid and refuse to let me carry her. Nevertheless, she is still my favourite niece.

We went to Plaza Singapura to shop for her present in the afternoon. I bought her a jigsaw puzzle of 'Pokemon' design and a frame which goes along with the puzzle, while Irene bought her a panda soft-toy, hoping she will likes it since the show 'Kungfu Panda' is pretty hot now.

I picked my Mum from her work place and joined Dad and my sister's family at Novena Square's Iciban restaurant. It was pretty rowdy since we were a big group, sorry to those angmohs whom babies were sleeping in the prams. After dinner, it was the all-time favourite birthday cake. My sister bought a chocolate cake from Chocs just downstair and we were allowed to eat in the restaurant.

The cake tastes awfully devilish and sinful, generous portion of coco in the cake, icing, fudge and decoration. Every mouthful tastes -----------------chocolate!

Total damage for my brother-in-law = $250 plus.

Food tasting session

2008-06-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

Morning we went to Systemind in Millenia Walk to sign the deal for our platform bedroom. We couldn't resist the lure of the looks and design of such platforms. Our designer-in-charge, Jenny, was kind enough to give some light discount and threw in freebies like bed-side tables and drawer into the deal without us asking. Total damage is $6121.

In the evening, my family had to meet-up with Irene's family for the food tasting session in Merchant Courts. From my side, Dad, Mum, Sis and hubby, plus 2 kids to lighten the situation. For Irene's side, Dad, Mum and her only brother. We had to reach there at around 6pm while waiting for her family arriving at 6.30pm since it is our 1st official meeting after the marriage proposal.

It was kinda weird as our family do not engage much connection for the last many years since we started courtship. It sure makes things difficult since Irene's parents do not speaks much. We did not even mention much about the details of the wedding's stuff like 'Guo Da Li' or 'Ping Jin / Ping Li' as our parents agree that the details will be conveyed through both of us. All the requested items shall be agreed upon, by default.

The first dish was the cold plate that comprises of Sharkfin's omelette, Jellyfish, Fried moneybag, Fried spring roll and seafood roll. Second dish was the Shark's fins, followed by the fried chicken in Szechuan sauce. Fourth dish was the prawn in yam basket, fifth was the steamed seabass and last dish was the abalone mushroom with vegetables.

Bottomline, there was much complain on the salty dishes, lack of substance for the shark's fin, unfresh seabass and poor chicken presentation. Looks like we have to make some changes in our dishes in order to please our parents and guests. We were little surprised on the good comments that were read in thr forum, doesn't seem to be true to our case.

After the dinner, we left for our home seperately.

Kungfu Panda

2008-06-17T23:07:00.000-07:00

Since we had two redemption movie voucher that was expiring today, we went to Balestier Shaw movie theatre to catch the show - Kungfu Panda. Damn regret watching at that place, why? It was less than 5% filled and the worst was that many families brought their kids. You can expect the kids unable to keep their mouth shout for the whole show duration.

I quite like this show but I know Irene was just going through the show with me. Life is so stressed, watching such brain-less movie do help to forget some unhappy moments like work.

My 1st Laptop - Asus G1Sn

2008-06-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

Finally I have made my purchase for an Asus laptop which was priced at $2898 during the PC 2008 show held at Suntec. It was a tough decision to make and I took more than a year to shop for notebook. I have been jumping from Asus G1s to Dell Inspirion to Asus F8Sn to Dell XPS and the stop, Asus G1Sn. I could have sworn that I heard Irene's whisper to herself, cursing me for bringing her walk through the past IT/ PC shows for the past one year without any purchase.

My desktop is getting more problematic and the plan of moving into my new bedroom is not going to work with my huge old desktop as things are going to shrink no matter what. Since the next IT show is going to be held around Oct but my marriage is in Sep, therefore I told myself, its now or never. After few rounds of debating with Irene, we finalized with Asus G1Sn, all because I pulled her into a dark alley for wallop.

The current Asus sales comes with a free Canon photo printer, a 8Gb thumb drive, gaming backpack and a Optical mouse. I traded-in the printer and asked for discount, the final offer came as $2705. Too bad I couldn't get rid of the thumb drive as it seems useless to me since I have portable hard disk. As compared with the previous selling price for Asus G1S 3 months ago this is defintely a better deal, check out the below table. Isn't it a wise decision to delay the purchase? Muhahaha!

Unboxing Day

My next list of purchase:
1) Microsoft Office (Student)
2) Norton Antivirus
3) Screen protector
4) Keyboard protector screen
5) new PC games!!

10th Year Dating Anniversary

2008-06-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

Today is our 10th year anniversary (I still can't believe it) and I was instigated to celebrate after being reminded. Honestly I had forgotten about it as work was overwhelming. Imagine we started dating since 1998 when we were in our 3rd year at NTU, and much have gone through between us. Guess this will be our last celebration for our dating anniversary since we are tying the knots in 3 months time.

She made a point to doll up and we had our dinner in Ang Mo Kio's Jack's Place. The steak has never failed to lure my attention as I am absolutely endulged in the tender meat-eating. Pity she ordered the spagetti which was not to her taste, unfortunately I had to help her finish the food.

Fish Leong - Xiao Shou La Da Shou

2008-06-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

Cute song. Talks about the romancing feeling from a young girl.

Hmm, I have lost so much touch on the feel of courtship. It has been so far away...

Way back into Love

2008-06-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

I am growing to love this duet love song.

If I am not wrong the love was originally sang by Hugh Grant and Haley Bennett. But I still prefer the song by Fish Leong and Victor, so romantic feel.

Lyrics:
I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past
I just can't seem to move on

I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need them again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
Oh oh oh

I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I've been searching but I just don't see the signs
I know that it's out there
There's got to be something for my soul somewhere

I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not somebody just to get me through the night
I could use some direction
And I'm open to your suggestions

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end

Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end

Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

Dinner at 海京楼

2008-06-08T23:15:00.000-07:00

This was introduced by Irene as it was recently relocated from Kallang river to Toa Payoh park. Oasis has been a popular eating place for its Taiwan porridge and to add-on its 24hr. We had to queue for about 30min before we were shown to our table.

We ordered lots of stuff but they were pretty much normal dishes like fish, veggies, omelet and meat. Personally the food taste reasonably good and so is the porridge but I cannot understand why so many people are crazy for the food. One good thing about this restaurant is that the food served in fast paced where the waiting time was less than 10min.

The total bill came to about $130 and for 7 adults + two kids, that is considered reasonable.

American Idol 7 Top 7 - David Cook -

2008-06-06T18:53:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe that this song won over my heart so easily. Especially it was sang by Mariah Carey a couple of years back. But David Cook use the same song but gives a totally new feeling or perspective. The way he sings catches everyone's breath away. By the way, David Cook is the winner of the American Idol this year.

To listen the song in better quality (studio version) than the youtube, click here.

Wedding Photo Shoot

2008-05-30T23:20:00.000-07:00

GSS 2008

2008-05-24T22:25:00.000-07:00

Finally its the Great Singapore Sales that we have been waiting for. Yep, its time to get those stuff that we wanted to buy for our wedding preparation.

Things that we have bought:
1) Serta mattress - Before $3300 and After $2970, freebies: 4 pillows, 2 mattress protectors, 1 Bench and 1 Serta lamb.
2) Lee Hwa wedding bands - Before $2856 and After $2238, freebies: wedding pillow, polishing card and scope.
3) Garcia bedlinen - $256.50 inclusive of 1 quilt cover, 1 fitted sheet and 4 pillow shams.
4) 2x Braun Buffel handbags - $99 each, for Irene and my Mum.
5) Toscano handbag - $100
6) Crocodile shirt - $89.90
7) 2x Givenchy towels - $19 each
8) Valentio shoe - $149

It sure felt exciting and enjoyable to spend money without much thoughts on "how much money I still left in the bank". Kinda like spending money without second thoughts or like no tomorrow. Hope I don't get heart attack when the credit card bill arrives.

My Dying Plant

2008-05-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

Came back from Malacca and saw this horrific sight on my desk. What the shit? Not enough water or sunlight? This was really sad, as I was growing to like the plant everyday. Checked out the before looks.

Ex-Process Gathering

2008-05-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

Today its our gathering with the ex-process engineers. This round we have, Serene, Julie, Lyn, YK, Lini, Soon Heng, CS, Kelvin + wife. It was a rare sight to see CS, since he hardly join our outing. He is currently working in SMRT as an auditor caring for the road safety of the bus drivers. Wonder when he will change job again.

We had our dinner at this Thai restaurant whereby we paid about $12 to enjoy their buffet which was not very spectacular. Lousy choice of food again. We then went to TCC for coffee session to bitch about our latest activities.

Platform boxes

2008-05-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

We are in discussion on the renovation of the master bedroom. Its too big of an topic since both of us have different ideas. Suddenly we when approached a designer introduced by Xiao Wang, he shared with us a brilliant idea. Using platforms in order to resolve our problem on lack of storage space and yet providing much space within the bedroom. Wonderful idea!

We went to visit some companies that specialize in doing such platform beds. One of the shop, Designtray that carry the brand 'systemind' platform boxes. We approached one of the designer and she used toy bricks to assemble a model of our layout. All the boxes can be used for storage except those under the bed, as we fear the structure may not bear the mattress weight. She quoted the price of $5000, which was twice as high from the original quote from Xiao Wang's designer.

Surgery at Eastshore

2008-04-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

Today I checked her into the hospital for her operation around 10am. It was not easy to find parking lot in this place since slots are limited. This was recommended by her specialist doctor whose office reside here, based on the following reasons: 1) Small place with lesser doctor, thus lesser patient, more attention will be provided; 2) Better service from the staff since they are less due to less people (again); 3) Easier to find parking space as compared to those branded places like Mount Elizabeth (not so true today); 4) Away from the busy city so that less stress from the crowd (again about people).

Anyway I must comment that the staff there was pretty much better as compared to my experience with the government hospitals like SGH and Changi. Even the doorman extended his skills like a professional door opener like those you meet at those posh hotels. I was pretty impressed with their service quality especially after going through with those people in the government hospital.

Checking in was of no hassle since less queue time. The best part is, they have porter to escort us to the ward! He even offered to help with the bag but we kindly rejected his offer. Hey this should serve as good example to those lousy service provider (then they will talk about the pricing lah). Anyway she checked into a two bedded ward whereby she will be sleeping alone since the occupancy was low. Imagine living in a single ward which comes with two beds but paying the price of two bedded room. Good deal isn't it?

They pushed her into the operating theatre at 11.15am, leaving me alone in the ward playing with her notebook. It was quite boring since no internet connection. I can see from her eyes that she was pretty worried, eversince she was informed of her condition during the checks last week, she was in depression mood. Luckily the specialist doctor gave her some assurance that it is not likely not be cancerous but it will be safer to remove it for analysis. She felt more relax and was much happier in choosing the specialist over the goverment doctor since the queuing and waiting time usually takes months.

When she arrived back to the ward around 1pm, I found her partially dazing, and shivering. She was in tears but couldn't move to wipe those tears away. I helped her with that but she was too weak to speak. I got worried that was she informed of something bad when she was out? Luckily she told me later that she merely felt uncomfortable as the anesthetic wears off and the pain slowly creep in as she get conscious. What a relief for me...

Her Mum and brother came in the afternoon to visit after she informed them only one day before the surgery about her condition. They hand around till evening before leaving both of us in the ward. I actually plan to sleep in the other bed but was too afrais that nurse might complain so I left home around 9pm since I need to report back to camp tomorrow afternoon for my MOB briefing. The doctor did not visit her today so we guess he may only be coming tomorrow to share his views of her condition.

Pasta de Waraku

2008-04-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

After our exercise at McRitchie reservoir, we went to Novena Square 2. This was pretty new building that was constructed between Novena Square and Tan Tock Seng hospital.

I arranged my Dad to meet up with us there during evening time as he was on his way back home from work. So we took him for dinner at this Japanese restaurant "Pasta de Waraku" that shows promising food quality. Dad had the scallop fried rice whereas both Irene and I had spaghetti. We also ordered some side dishes like soup, garlic bread, cheesy potato, salad, fried calamari and a glass of soda float.

Overall the food quality was good, even my Dad also gave good comments. But the bill burnt my pocket by $70.

Second trial of Wedding Gowns Wedding

2008-04-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

Dirty Mazda 3

2008-04-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

This is the worst look of my car since my purchase. As you can see that my writings are clearly visible. To add things worst, this was written bu you know who. Obvioulsy I do not write my alphabets in this manner. Took my ride to a petrol kiosk washing station for a snow wash. Heart-pain, but no choice since I had no time to clean the car over the weekend.

Holy Crab!

2008-04-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

We had our dinner at this Crab Shack located along Upper Thomson road. We had wanted to try this out for a long time but had no chance. Finally we walked into this wornout coffeeshop lookalike place and sat down waiting for service.

A heavy-makeup lady came to us to show us the menu. We ordered a Crab Baked rice, a fired mushroom and three flower crabs. I must say, the food is pretty good, especially the crabs taste sweet and nice. For the price wise, it was excellent. The 3 flower crab cost me $9

Xin Wang - Hongkong cafe

2008-04-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Visit to Sentosa

2008-03-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

We had the chance to visit Sentosa today, I lost track when was the last time I visited here. There were Dad, Irene, my sister, brother-in-law, her mother-in-law, the two kids and the maid. My Mum had to work as usual at Sake Sushi during weekend so she was not able to join us. I bet she must have felt pretty bad for not able to join the family outing since she started working.

Some part Sentosa was still undergoing renovation, like the monorail and some theme parks. Instead of relying on the monorails, it had been replace by trams and buses to ferry visitors around the island. Queues were unavoidable then. Lucky we drove our cars here so we were still able to reach some part of the island using our own transport.

The beach was pretty boring as we do not see much crowd but there were occasion babes walking on the beach in bikinis. Should come here often to enjoy such heavenly scenery. I took a shot of the below two "babes", sigh, they are so far away from those real babes.

We went to the Amphitheatre to catch an animal show around 1pm. While we were waiting for the show I caught the below pix to illustrate how to spot an Auntie.... They like to wear 3 quarters pants, trying to hold on to their large bags that contain their surviving stuff in this cruel world, the remaining hand hold onto the umbrella for shielding from the glaring sun. They will try to find seats in order to rest their aching legs after going their shopping. "Hello Auntie! Smile at the camera!"

I find that YQ looks very cute as the color of her cap does match with her skin color. She was so engrossed reading the brochure while I was taking this shot. Then she proceed to analyze the walking anatomy of an ant which happened to crawl on her seat. She was pretty amazed to see the ant walking alongside of the seat which defy the law of gravity.

I took the below shotof JR at the foot of Merlion. Don't he looks much matured than a 5 year old kid? As usual he was in his no-so-good mood with much wines and complaints throughout the whole day. Lucky he was still co-operative to let me take this pix.

Outside the Underwater World, we saw some monkeys being fed by visitors. Hmm, I thought we are not suppose to encouraging feeding? Anyway the kids were excited to see the monkey licking the cream out from the sandwich biscuits. JR nearly walk over to pat on the monkey if not for us shouting to him to stop.

Bintan trip - Part 2

2008-03-24T23:38:00.000-07:00

We had our breakfast early in the morning. Kinda crappy I must say. The sad part is they do not serve 'pork' bacon since we are in a Muslim country. Sigh....my favorite.
Swimming was the only lazy stuff that we can do since we do not want to sweat. We hang around the pool for the whole morning and had lunch by the pool. Ordered a nice beef burger that seemed to be a hot item for tourists. Well not so bad but a bit pricey.

Since it was our last day before we go back to Singapore tomorrow, we decided to have a good last meal in Bintan. We chose the restaurant in the hotel and ordered the special set which was shared between two of us. There was the bread basket which all the bread taste BAD! I get the feeling that they belongs to the breakfast leftover. That really make the expectation of the meal to be extremely low.

The next dish was the appetizer, Nacho. Even worst than the bread. It basically taste like Nacho exposed long duration in the air and than sent for re-baking. Every bite feels terrible, we couldn't lasted for more than 4 pieces each. When the waitress collected the plates before serving the main course, I gave her the stern look that I do not want to see those dishes again.

Surprisingly the Oxtail soup that comes with a bread, was definitely a god improvement. We were glad that thing was improving. The next was the main course, a steak. It was great! Luckily we do not need to bear with the food any longer. Lucky for them and us, else I would be having a word with the manager over this stupid food that cost me $70 bucks.

Bintan trip - Part 1

2008-03-23T22:39:00.000-07:00

I picked up Irene from my cab to head towards Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal as we were having our first holiday for the year in Bintan. We were going to spend 3 day 3 nights there since Diners Club offered a great deal for birthday month. The package cost me $199 for the room and inclusive of 2 breakfast for each of us. But I had to book the ferry tickets myself and that cost me about $100 for the two of us.

Anyway we had Killiney for breakfast before we took the ferry to Bintan which was about 45 mins ride.

Upon reaching Bintan's ferry terminal, we were processed pretty fast since there were not much crowd since it was a Sunday. We gathered to board the coach to our resort, Nirwana Gardens Resort which was our third visit. Not much major change as I could still remember how this place looks like when we came for the first time.

We came too early and as a result we had to wait till 3pm to have our room ready. Pretty boring so I took a nap since I woke up very early in the morning. The evil woman took a shot of me while I was dozing off. Despicable.

Finally around 3pm, we checked into our room. Exactly what I remembered it to be. But I recalled a long couch previously but they replaced with two sitting chairs instead. After resting a while in the room, we went around the compound the look around in the evening. The place was still very much occupied by the Ang mohs and Japaneses tourists.

We took a hotel provided bus down to the seafood restaurant for our first dinner. Ordered a special set menu that is about SGD65 for both of us. The menu includes Shark's fin soup, crab, prawns, squids, veggies and chicken. It was too much for both of us to finish when the desert was served.

When we returned to the hotel, I was brought with a cake and a gift for my birthday celebration as part of the promotion package. Honestly the cake was not a great deal and the gift was even a major let down.

Son's letter to Dad

2008-03-18T23:21:00.000-07:00

Saw this letter from another blog, was laughing my head off when I read it. The key message is "Look at the positive side of things".............

Me and the Smoking Buddies

2008-03-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

I was having my usual smoke break when Delwin took my handie to video our chatting moments. Very funny clip, got to remember this experience.

Lunch at Xing Yu

2008-03-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

We were brought to this place by Irene's Dad, located in the area of Joo Chiat. The restaurant looks newly renovated and business seems promising. All the food that we ordered were great! There were steamed baby squids, veggies, beansprouts, stirred-fried pig's liver and kidney, and two fish-heads. All for $100, pretty good deal for such great taste. Looks like I can bring my parents to here for lunch the next round.

Replica 3M car mat

2008-03-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

BeforeAfter

Bought this replica 3M car met for $60 from a guy whom advertised in the forum. He came over to my place to cut the mat in accordance to my car specs. I paid $60 for 3 mats (2 front and 1 rear) since I was getting fed up with the stock mat which always slip out of place and prone to get dirty easily. Anyway this $60 mat is just cheapo stuff but at least it solved my two major concerns.

Movie: 10,000 B.C.

2008-03-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

Met up with Irene and we went to Marina Square to catch a show, since it was ages when we last watch movie. We chose the latest screening movie, 10,000 B.C. that is F.O.C. as I used my complimentary tickets from UOB.

Synopsis

A sweeping odyssey into a mythical age of prophesies and gods, when spirits rule the land and mighty mammoths shake the earth. In a remote mountain tribe, the young hunter D’Leh has found his heart’s passion – the beautiful Evolet. But when a band of mysterious warlords raid his village and kidnap Evolet, D’Leh leads a small group of hunters to pursue the warlords to the end of the world to save her. As they venture into unknown lands for the first time, the group discovers there are civilizations beyond their own and that mankind’s reach is far greater than they ever knew. At each encounter the group is joined by other tribes who have been attacked by the slave raiders, turning D’Leh’s once-small band into an army.

Driven by destiny, the unlikely warriors must battle prehistoric predators while braving the harshest elements. At their heroic journey’s end, they uncover a lost civilization and learn their ultimate fate lies in an empire beyond imagination, where great pyramids reach into the skies.
Here they will take their stand against a tyrannical god who has brutally enslaved their own. And it is here that D’Leh finally comes to understand that he has been called to save not only Evolet but all of civilization.

William's Wedding

2008-03-09T23:49:00.000-07:00

Attended William's wedding dinner held at Laguna National Country Club (close to Singapore Expo). Met up with our old army friends like Desmond, Aw, Boon Poh, David and Ah Sui. Considered very small group since those old friends like Ah Ho, Wei Hao, Vincent and Yin Kah Moon did not attend.

The next upcoming wedding shall be from Aw, which is scheduled on 9 Jun 08. We still laughed over the 69 thingy. So the 6 of us had to finish the 8 course dinner meant for ten person, it was really a killer meal to our stomach. Lucky it ended around 10.30pm unlike the Fullerton experience that I had last month.

My Birthday

2008-03-08T21:11:00.000-08:00

My sister treat me to a Birthday dinner at the new aiport, Terminal 3's Fish & Co. Just nice I sent Irene to the airport as she was flying to KL for business trip. The whole family celebrated with me, minus Irene. Sigh...

My sister bought a ice-cream cake from Swenson and we took it to her place to celebrate. The kids were fascinated with the dry ice effect when Dad place in the sink and added water. They enjoyed the moment of playing with the smoke. Pity I didn't take video on this scene.

IT show 2008

2008-03-08T18:16:00.000-08:00

Was at the IT show organized at Suntec exhibition this year. Was actually keen to buy one Asus lappy (model: F8Sn) that was priced at $2598. After asking for best price, I was quoted $2458 and include some freebies like external HDD and laptop bag. However Irene was pretty against me buying so as usual we had some quarrel over this yesterday. In fit of anger, I decided not to buy this round.

Since I save a big sum from the laptop, I bought a Samsung MP3 player for Mum. I long heard from her that that her FM receiver was not working well and was looking for a replacement. I guess this should work well for her. I paid $60 for this 1GB player and the touch-button works similar to the concept from Ipod.

I took this chance to renew my Broadband contract with Singnet. However the freebies were not attracted to me so I decided to take up the most basic package that provides no freebies except a Ethernet modem. I upgraded to a 8Mbps from my old 3.5Mbps at a cost of $50 per month and under 24 months contract. For this deal, I get to enjoy 50% discount for the first 12 months. This is much worth it than my current plan that cost me $47 per month.

We had lunch at 'Gelare' and ordered a Ribs with spaghetti, soup of the day, a mango fizz and a Macademia cake. Pretty decent food stuff.

Neighbour's Car

2008-03-03T19:38:00.000-08:00

Must applaud to his/her courage to drive this ride. I will never allow my car to be decorated in that manner.

Another Polish Day

2008-03-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

Look at the quality of my polishing work. The water droplets look so rounded, must be the high energy surface!

Breakfast at IKEA

2008-03-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

Today my Mum is not working so we had to arrange some program for her. Morning, we went to IKEA to have our breakfast. As usual, our meal time was exceptionally long with the two kids. It took longer time to ensure they sit down to finish their food. After that, we proceeded for our window shopping at IKEA.

I bought this plant for $3.90 which will be placed on my office table. Got to have some green, and perhaps it may bring better luck to me.

Cindy's Wedding @ Fullerton

2008-02-29T23:55:00.000-08:00

Today is my cousin, Cindy's wedding. Our whole family was suppose to attend the function, but due to unforeseen circumstances only Dad, Mum and I made it. My sister's school mate, "Ah Fatt" passed away early this week due to some complication of his diabetes. My brother-in-law and sister had to help out with his funeral so they skip the wedding in fear that it clash with the joyous occasion. Irene had to fly to meet some customer so another one down. Thought we might have a chance to have the whole table to ourself, too bad this round we had to squeeze with others.

Dinner at Fullerton was pretty boring, I had no one to chit-chat with, except my Dad. You can imagine how I wish the time can fly faster. The serving was terribly slow since each dish was slowly portion by the waiters before presenting to us. My goodness, each dish is like 25min apart and we had to finish 8 courses. By the time we finish the food, it was around 11.30pm, and this was one of the longest wedding function I ever attend to.

Anyway well wishes to my cousin, Cindy Tan and her husband, Elvis Tan, may their marriage last forever. Hmmm, a Tan marrying another Tan.......

Paramount Dinner

2008-02-28T23:27:00.000-08:00

Our boss treat us to this ala carte buffet at The Paramount, under the group of Tung Luk. I helped to organize the event since the invitation is only to those leaders in our community. This place was pretty well recommended by many people for its good food and affordable pricing, best part is unlimited dishes. However the only limitation is the 'Buddha jump over the wall', 'fresh prawns' and 'peking duck' where each customer can only consume once.

Personally I do not fancy the food but I must give some credits to the ambiance. Perhaps it was due to presence of our bosses that makes the food pretty difficulty to swallow.

JI Terror Leader - Mas Selamat escaped

2008-02-27T21:22:00.000-08:00

From AsiaOne:

THE leader of the Singapore terrorist Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network, Mas Selamat Kastari, escaped from the Whitley Road detention centre at about 4.05 pm on Wednesday, said the Ministry of Home Affairs in a statement.

A massive manhunt involving the police, Gurkhas and Special Operations Command forces, is underway to track down the escaped detainee, who walks with a limp.

'He is not known to be armed. Extensive police resources have been deployed to track him down,' said the ministry statement.

The forces have fanned out to areas in Beauty World in Upper Bukit Timah, Goldhill Avenue near Barker Road, and the men are knocking on homes asking residents if they have seen the escapee. Undercover police officers are also questioning staff of petrol stations, convenience stores and checking their CCTV footage in case the terrorist leader had entered their premises earlier.

At Malcolm Park, near the Singapore Chinese Girls School, scores of forces have formed a formidable blockade around the park. The public is asked to contact the police at 999 if they know of his whereabouts.

Background
Mas Selamat, 45, and four other members of the terrorist organisation which has regional links and ties to Al-Qaeda, were served detention orders under the Internal Security Act between March and May 2006.

Tagged as Singapore's most wanted militant and linked to a sensational plot to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport, the JI leader of the Singapore network, was arrested on the Riau island of Bintan while on the run after fleeing the Republic in December 2001.

He was eventually deported to Singapore in February 2006 after serving time in two Indonesian jails for immigration offences.

Mas Selamat, a father of four, was involved in JI's plans to mount attacks against foreign and local establishments here, which included the US Embassy and American Club, the Defence Ministry headquarters at Bukit Gombak and the Education Ministry building at North Buona Vista Drive.

His role included directing Singapore JI members to undertake reconnaissance of these establishments and handing over reconnaissance material to JI operational leaders based in Malaysia. After he fled Singapore, he continued to target the country - specifically plotting to hijack an aircraft to crash into Changi Airport.

The Government said that when his initial attempt was thwarted, he continued to believe in the feasibility of the plan and intended to pursue it in the future when the opportunity presented itself.

When he was finally captured in Malang, some 40 km south of Pasuruan on Jan 20 2006, after about five months on the run, Mas Selamat was found to be carrying false identification - an offence similar to previous charges that arose from his first arrest in February 2003.

That earlier arrest ended his 14-month run from the law, which began when he fled Singapore in December 2001 after the Republic's crackdown on terrorists had netted about a dozen of his JI comrades.

What he did, or whom he met, during his five-month freedom is still a mystery. His involvement in JI began in 1990. According to a 2003 report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) on the JI, he joined Darul Islam (DI), a movement considered to be the parent of JI, that year.

Founded in 1948, DI fought for an Islamic state in Indonesia in the 1950s and spawned several key JI leaders, including its founders, the late Abdullah Sungkar and jailed militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

Mas Selamat joined DI after he heard Indonesian cleric Abu Jibril preach in Johor.

Abu Jibril, who was detained in Malaysia in 2001 for militant work, had also apparently held religious talks in Singapore at the homes of JI members. He was deported to Indonesia in 2004, and now heads the Majlis Mujahidin Indonesia, an outfit founded by Abu Bakar.

By 1992, Mas Selamat had joined the religious council of the Singapore JI cell. In 1993, he went a step further, undergoing military training in Afghanistan.

At that time, the Afghan training was supervised by another Indonesian cleric, Zulkarnaen - said to be a member of JI's central command as well as the leader of its military wing. Zulkarnaen is still at large.

In 1998, JI paid for Mas Selamat and another Singaporean, Jaafar Mistooki, to visit Afghanistan again for a month to look at the Taleban system of government.

Jaafar, who has been detained since December 2001, was one of several JI detainees in Singapore and Malaysia who testified against Abu Bakar during the cleric's 2003 trial in Indonesia.

By 1999, Mas Selamat had been chosen by alleged JI operations chief Hambali to take over as Singapore JI leader from Ibrahim Maidin - the Singapore cell founder who has been detained since December 2001.

ICG's report said he met Hambali, who has been in US custody since 2003, at around the same time in Bangkok to discuss a plane hijack, and was in the Thai capital and Pattaya to select personnel.

In 2002, Singapore's then-premier Goh Chok Tong said that Mas Selamat had planned to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport to avenge the arrests of JI members.

Our JP - Mr Chan KY

2008-02-24T16:50:00.000-08:00

One more item strike off from our 'Things-to-do for Wedding' list. I managed to contact Justice of Peace (JP), Mr. Chan Kai Yau, whom is one of most popular JP in Singapore. Don't ask me why, but that's the review from most forum. It's a surprise that he was once a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education. Perhaps our offspring will be genius in their studies. I always wanted someone in our family to receive government scholarships or at least graduate from those posh branded schools like Raffles Institute, Hwa Chong JC or National JC.

Below photo are the side-view of how Mr. Chan looks like. I had to protect the innocent so their eyes were sprayed to protect their identity. I have yet to find any photo of Mr. Chan full face looks.

Mr Chan told me that he can help to solemnize my wedding but he needs someone to pick him up since he is not familiar with Sengkang. I told him I will arrange for someone to pick him up and the ceremony will start at 1pm. He told me to call him again on 14 June to finalize the arrangement. When I broke the news to Irene, she was very delighted. Cannot understand why she felt the excitement over this elderly man.

Polish using Duraglos product

2008-02-24T13:31:00.000-08:00

After sending Irene to the airport in the morning, I went straight home to start my polishing project. Because I just bought some polishing stuff from a guy called Benny, whom is pretty popular in the detailing forum and much credits were given to his product that he carries.

I spent $90 to purchase a shampoo, a detailer, a quick detailer, two buffing cloths, one waffle cloth and one applicator. Really can't wait to start the project since yesterday.

Reading the shampoo instruction indicated on the bottle, pour 3 caps into 1 gallon of water, I decided to reduce that to 2 caps. As a results I celebrated post-Christmas with my new car. This was like foam party at Sentosa, can't imagine what happens if I use 3 caps. The shampoo smells like strawberry and sure feels soapy.

I love the waffle cleaning cloth, big and super sucky. Unlike my chamois cloth that is smaller than A4 size and the amount of water it drew was limited. After an hpur of wasing and drying the car, the next step is the polishing. Goodbye to those antique way of circulating motion polishing, this round I merely use up and down motion. This really saves much energy. The buffing cloth sure makes the polishing much easier, wipe and done deal. To prove the effectiveness, please see the following photos:

Step to unlock Fuel computer

2008-02-24T09:20:00.000-08:00

This is cool! I managed to trip the ECU to display the fuel consumption information on the audio display screen. It provides the view of the followings from my car:

1) Avg Fuel Consumption - 11.3litres/100km (from day 1)
2) Real time Fuel Consumption - (only when car is moving)
3) Average speed - 27km/hr (from day 1)
4) Estimated mileage with remaining fuel in tank - 23km (better go and pump later)

This is terrible, my FC is only 8.85km/litre and this is not very accurate as what I had calculated. Better go and reset it so that I can start afresh.

To unlock the display, I did what was mentioned in the forum:
1) Hold 'FM1/2' and 'CD' button with key inserted at OFF position
2) Turn key to ACC and you will see 'Hello' and 'DISC ON' display
3) Turn off the key and start the engine
4) Press 'SET' toggle between the functions
5) Press 'CLOCK' to switch back to the clock display

For thos people whom changed their HU (head unit) may not be able to use this function.

Irene's Mum's Birthday

2008-02-23T23:06:00.000-08:00

Today Irene nearly forgotten her Mum's birthday. Luckily her brother reminded her when we were at Xiao Wnag's place for our meet-up with our university friends in the afternoon. We went home to pick up her Mum to this restaurant beside Yio Chu Kang MRT, Atlantis. We were then joined by her Dad and her Brother whom came later. Irene's Mum was nearly in tears when she received the bouquet of flowers that was prepared by her brother's girlfriend. Woman....

This round, we over ordered, and the amount of food choked all of us to death. The bill followed with another death note. The bill came to $260 plus for 7 adults. That is super pricey, I will never step into this restaurant again.

My New Pedal

2008-02-21T20:52:00.000-08:00

Just got my new foot pedal, my first mod for the year. This is the OEM foot pedal with rubber studs on the surface that helps to promote contacts. The parts were actually screwed on top of the existing pedals. It comes with a foot rest plate, for the drive to rest his idling left foot. I paid $76 for this cool stuff. What am I going to do next?

Breakfast at Redstar

2008-02-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

We made a point to wake up early so that we can enjoy our breakfast at the famous Redstar restaurant that is known to serve good Tim Sum. Surprisingly, the crowd size was not something that we were expecting. Only less than 1/3 of the tables were occupied despite we were later than the expected time.

Anyway we quickly start ordering the food as Mum need to work at 11am and my sister's family was going to another friend's place for Chinese new year greetings, while I need to pick Irene at the airport around 12pm. One recommended dish to order is their steam carrot cake that was served in a bowl with sauce poured on top. Taste great.

For 7 adults and 2 kids, the bill came about $95, super cheap man.

Dinner at Serangoon Road

2008-02-08T22:29:00.000-08:00

Happy CNY 2008

2008-02-07T17:40:00.000-08:00

This year is Rat's year.

Mazda Fuel Consumption

2008-02-07T07:40:00.001-08:00

My first tank lasted for 360km (fuel warning light) using SPC 95 with no top-ups after auto stop. Surprisingly my second tank was much better, giving me about 400km with the same petrol. That is equivalent to 9.2km/l which is much better than my Subaru that range between 8-8.5km/l.

Eve of CNY 2008

2008-02-06T23:22:00.000-08:00

This year we booked our reunion dinner at Serangoon, Jumbo seafood restaurant. Good choice since most of us are sicked of Yan Palace, which we had it for at least three times. Last year we chose the neighborhood's coffee-shop and it was definitely a bad choice. No aircon, poor service, lousy food quality and cigarette smell.

Dinner was set at 1730hrs which was the first session, followed by 1930hrs for the second session. Due to Mum was late as she was stuck at work at Sake Sushi, our family arrived at 1815hrs. The place was very packed, they have squeezed more tables within their floor plan and that makes the walkway pretty narrow.

First dish was none other than "Salmon Yu Sheng", the traditional dish where one toss for good health, good fortune and prosperity. The higher you toss the greater will be the effect as said. The dishes we had were the steam prawns, scallop with leek, shark's fin soup, steam fish, braised chicken (the herb-smell chicken taste yucks), fish maw cum sea cucumber cum veggies, rice wrapped in lotus leaf and lastly was the sea coconut dessert. All at a cost of $490, this is steep.

First trial of Wedding Gowns

2008-02-03T21:21:00.000-08:00

We have booked our first appointment with J&M for the trial of the wedding gowns. There was no other customer, my guess would be CNY was round the corner or that the sky was dark. Anyway good for us, as I do not wish to stand with other groom-to-be outside the changing rooms where everyone helps to stare at each other's wives. The ladies in the shop were pretty friendly to bring us the dresses and even offered to tied up Irene's hair. Perhaps they couldn't stand her messy hair.

Of course I made myself useful by walking over to Maxwell market to buy some refreshments for all of us. Take it as bribery to the helpers so that they may be more helpful to Irene. It was pretty boring to hang in the shop and taking those shots, I wonder how many more times am I suppose to go though this. Hopefully she finds that right dress soon so that I can save myself from this misery.

My 1st Visit to MM Service Center

2008-01-29T20:56:00.000-08:00

Sent in my ride at 8plus to service my door problem that was found during the weekend.

The story is like this: Saturday, Irene and I bought some food stuff from the nearby pasar malam for dinner. My hands were pretty much tied up so I took longer time to reach for the keys. Before I was able to pull my keys out of my pocket, I saw Irene opening the front passenger door and enters into the car. My jaws nearly fell when I saw that. I tried to manually lock the door from inside but the mechanism knob refused to budge. Imagine this problem has been residing in my car since day 1 and goodness nothing was stolen.

Back to the service center story. Parked my ride and stand-by-car for less than 5 min and was promptly served. He asked "For servicing?" and I replied "For complaint". He was a bit surprised, but I told him about the door problem and showed to him. He said they need few hours to resolve this and would let me know once it is ready. So I walked back to my office (no joke, I walked for about 10min). Before lunch, the service guy called and told me that the lock mechanism is spoil and they are finding for replacement in their warehouse. After lunch he called again to follow-up and said that they can't find the stock. So? What am I going to do? Leave my car door open till you get the parts? He got my sarcasm and said will call back again.

Late afternoon, he called again and said the problem has been fixed, but he did not elaborate on where he got the part. I took Yee's car over to the service center around 6 and took over the car after queuing for about 15 mins. I wonder why do I need to wait behind those people whom need to pay for their service, where mine is FOC. After double confirming the lock works, I left for home.

First Polish

2008-01-28T23:55:00.000-08:00

I booked an appointment with Magnus aka Collagious in My Car Forum. He is one of the well-known free-lance polisher that provides mobile service. CNY is round the corner so its pretty difficult to get someone to help you to polish your car. Luckily he was available today so I meet him at my place to do the work while I shake legs at home waiting the completion. I took some time-off to allow him to do the job.

Basically he took about 2 hours (from 1 - 3 O'clock) to wash my car and applied two coat of sealant to protect the paint work. I bought his service as I do not wish to see my ride turning yellow so soon. The S100 plus job was pretty well-done and I just love the feel when I run my fingers across the body.

Day 2 with Zoom Zoom

2008-01-24T22:39:00.000-08:00

Day 2 with my new white ride, I might as well call it 'White Knight' or WK for short. The photo shows the additional body kit that I installed at JDM, visor and side light indicator. Makes it look more fierce isn't it? I must resist all the temptation of adding more stuff onto the car. But there is the MoMo gear knob, front lip, carbon fiber bonnet and gauges...

This is my first night drive with car. I just love the interior when I switched on the headlights. The red lights run along the instruments giving a soothing feeling. The cluster instruments on the dashboard is even more 'jio' where the background of the red light is the blue light. Makes my heart melt whenever I see the meters.

My Zoom Zoom

2008-01-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

I arrived at the Pasir Panjang Distripark at 0930hrs and as usual my SE was late. I promised myself that this will be the last time I will be seeing her. The place is actually near the PSA port and the collection is in a warehouse belonging to Mazda. So I guess the cars are dropped off from the wharves and into this warehouse where the accessories are installed. I glanced around the place and saw mostly M3 models and there were 3 whites which includes mine.

Shortly my SE arrived and as usual she looks completely sotong and blurred after rushing all the way down. She had to think pretty hard before answering any of my questions, I really wonder is she a full-time SE. While she busy with her paper works, we were trying to offload some of my stuff from the old car into this new ride. There was this friendly uncle who was trying to wax my car constantly despite I saw many corners and edge of fixtures are not completely touch-up. Irene did most of the talking with him while I was busy moving the stuff while checking around the exterior and interior.

Irene came over to tell me that the uncle says my car was not installed with the solar film. I was very shocked and quickly looked hard through the windows and it was true. I went up to my SE telling her that and as usual, the sotong looks again. They quickly arranged for the solar film guy to install but I have to wait for 2 hours since this was last minute request. With the end of his statement, I quickly added, "it is not last minutes request from me". No one speaks further, since I guess they do not wish to anger me further.

The car agent whom bought over my Subaru arrived. I showed him the car, and he quickly glanced around the exterior, surveying the boot area, the front bonnet, beneath the bonnet and the sides of the car. He only commented about the back encountering accident and I said yes but the bumper was changed with a new original one. Lucky he did not mention about the sides nor the front bonnet, which was banged before too. Without further notice he asked me to sign the transfer papers and did some calculation before issuing me a cheque of about $1150 which was the balance from the Subaru sale after paying the deposit, the 1st installment and insurance. Wow, I didn't expect to be getting so much......

Since I do not wish to hang inside the stupid warehouse for the next two hours, the car dealer proposed that he drives me to Vivio City to kill time but he can't drive me back though. I agreed to him and we left with him. He was going to drive my Subaru! Shit! When he started the engine, he asked me did I touched the exhaust? I told him yes as I sold my SS in exchange for the stock exhaust. He said that the exhaust guys did not reset my airflow sensor so the CEL (car engine light) lights up. He did not mention further so I also kept quiet, my heart felt a complete relief as he drove on.

At Vivio City, we had 'Wang Jiao' for breakfast since both of us left home with a empty stomach. Then I dropped off the cheque into my bank, as I am $1000 richer. Hahaha! I even called up the NTUC insurer to cancel away the remaining portion of my policy for the Subaru and they said I can get back about $300 plus! Muhahaha! How am I going to spend these extra cash? Body kits? Around 12 plus, the solar film guy called and said my car was ready, so we took a cab down again.

I took the keys and starts the engine. While idling, I do hear some weird noise but I was unsure if the noise comes from outside or the car. So I start to drive, but more funny noise surface. I quickly stopped the car and approached one of the staff to take a look. As we towards the car, I pointed to him that the noise is particularly loud even when we are just outside the car. So I asked him is this normal? Luckily he said no and ask me to open the boot. When the boot was opened, we noticed that the battery cover was not secured and lies inside the compartment loosely. The staff glared at the solar film boss, whom was nearby, quickly went over to cover back. KNN, what a piece of shit!

Without futher delay, I stepped on the pedal and proceed to start our new day with the Zoom zoom. First stop was SGH where Irene collected some medicine for her Mum, then we proceed to Orchard where she collects her reserved clothings. Lastly we went to this Mazda authorized workshop, "JDM" to install some of the items that the SE promised me. Met the guy named "CY" whom help to install the visor (cool, with the word M3) and the side light indicator. That two mod already made my car looks sportier. Good choice.

The night before getting the new car

2008-01-22T22:24:00.000-08:00

So excited tonight as I will be getting my new ride tomorrow! However some worries also creep into my brain, resulting nausea feeling. I was worried about the white car that I will be getting, did I made the right choice? My Subaru's faulty O2 sensor still resides in the car, will the dealer kill me for it? This so painful experience.

Irene stayed with me for the night as both of us are on leave tomorrow for our new car collection. Didn't get to sleep much so I post some of the memories photos of my first car, Subaru TS, handling excellency. I really miss the 'vroom vroom' sound from my supersprint exhaust, AWD handling, my MoMo steering wheel with leather-wrapped, my MoMo gear knob which is touched for 2 times per trip and my 16" WRX rims.

I recalled my first experience when collecting my Subaru. It was with Irene and Dad which I drove in the Mitsubishi Lancer (Blue) in exchange for the new ride. I was so determined that I will be driving it for the rest of the 10 years before I will get another new car. Look what happen now? I am not going to comment anything when I get my new Mazda 3, that is for sure.

Good Luck to me!

Promotion to Staff

2008-01-21T22:17:00.000-08:00

I am so happy today. I just received my letter of promotion from the hands of my HOD and GM. I guess they want to do this formally since I am stepping aboard onto the rank of managerial position. The increment is pretty decent but the consequence is 3 months instead of 2 months of notice period. Anyway they beginning chanting me with the as-expected sutra-thing on the expectation and my future progress. Not forgetting the all-time famous last words that implies "With great power comes with great responsibility". Yawn.......

Bugis Junction

2008-01-20T20:18:00.000-08:00

I had to drag my feet to join Irene and her Mum for CNY shopping at Bugis Junction today. The women needs new year clothings so I drove them over. We had our dinner at this eatery place (cannot remember the name) and the food taste good. Price was affordable and ambiance is nice.

An Unusual Blogspot Dot Com

徐佳瑩 失落沙洲 完整版MV 導演：徐筠軒

NEW Heineken Commercial - verry funny

双子星 The Ultimatum Theme Song

New Radicals - You get what you give (live)

Susan Boyle - Britains Got Talent 2009 Episode 1 - Saturday 11th April

My Apple iPhone

Ellenborough Market Cafe

My 1st DSLR - Canon 450D

Pasir Ris's Theme Park

My 1st DSLR - Canon 450D

Punggol Crabs

Gears of War 2

Cold Crab at Singapura restaurant

Our ROM and Wedding Dinner

Kelly Chan Lover's Concerto

Chinese Customary Wedding

The day before my Chinese Wedding

An Chuang 安床

Betrothal / Guo Da Li (下娉/过大礼/纳彩）

Heavy Rain

My Lovely Wife

超級星光大道 - 賴銘偉 - 我要我們在一起

Xbox 360 - Wireless Networking Adaptor

Chio Bu - 香月明美 Akemi

Jade Seah says FARK!

4 Season Durian

More Olympic Pictures

Momo Gear Knob

Olympic 2008 in China - One World One Dream

Arrival of my TV and Hi-Fi

Arrival of my Platform Boxes

1st Meeting with our JP

Buying Guo Da Li's stuff

Yi Qie Wan Mei (Perfect Cut) Theme Song

Reno Day 3 & 4

Reno Day 2

Reno Day 1

Philips LCD 42PFL9532

Dad's Eye Surgery in SNEC

Frank Sinatra - L.O.V.E.

Our Wedding Bands

4 Dian Jin

My Blue Pill

Kidney: To sell or not to sell

My 1st HiFi set - Philips HTS8100

QiQi 3 years old Birthday

Food tasting session

Kungfu Panda

My 1st Laptop - Asus G1Sn

10th Year Dating Anniversary

Fish Leong - Xiao Shou La Da Shou

Way back into Love

Dinner at 海京楼

American Idol 7 Top 7 - David Cook -

Wedding Photo Shoot

GSS 2008

My Dying Plant

Ex-Process Gathering

Platform boxes

Surgery at Eastshore

Pasta de Waraku

Second trial of Wedding Gowns Wedding

Dirty Mazda 3

Holy Crab!

Xin Wang - Hongkong cafe

Visit to Sentosa

Bintan trip - Part 2

Bintan trip - Part 1

Son's letter to Dad

Me and the Smoking Buddies

Lunch at Xing Yu

Replica 3M car mat

Movie: 10,000 B.C.

William's Wedding

My Birthday

IT show 2008

Neighbour's Car

Another Polish Day

Breakfast at IKEA

徐佳瑩失落沙洲完整版MV 導演：徐筠軒