Arts Canteen

The arts canteen deserves two thumbs up for its new design. It is as spacious as it is airy. Because of the extremely high ceiling, ventilation is no longer an issue. Food is good although my trying of two stores is not a good representation of the quality of food for the rest. The Laska is great, the omph is there and it is very spicy! Oh...did I mention Burger King? Gone are the days of suffocating, butts-brushing, perspiration-inducing dining experience at the canteen.

With so many changes, what remains essentially the same is people-watching! Arts canteen is where you find inspiration to your next day's dressing. Make-up, eye-shadows, lipsticks, the chic expensive-looking oversized hangbags are must-haves for the ladies; almost a criteria for eating at the arts canteen. Anything less will be scorned at and visually berated. For guys, well, anything goes! Who really cares what the guys wear?

No Money!!!

Went queensway to get my rackets restrung just only. Bought a dampener and went back hall to play tennis... It seems that besides school, my life revolves ard tennis and tuition. The usual suspects from hall plus Joofee and Alex and two unknowns who happened to be using the court before us played. Got to say it was not much fanfare for today's session although Alex and I partnered to edge out a 6-3 win over the 2 unknowns. Not my credit but Alex's since his serve was on form.

Strange that my life no longer revolves ard my family. Even if I weren't in hall, I hardly get to see my parents and brother. Not that I really have to see them, but it's no longer the same. Anyway, had a simple dinner to celebrate my mum's close-to-sixtieth birthday earlier in the week. Ate at Guan Seng restaurant at Potong Pasir at some ulu void deck. Recommendation? Nah...normal lar...though it was featured as S'pore's top 50 restaurants by some internet food something something which I cannot recall. And tt reminds me tt I haf to pay my bro for the meal...damnit! Really broke...

To add on to my misery, I still hafven thought of what to wear to CheSS DnD which is on 1st Sept. It's abt a week away...taking away the obscenely amount of time spent preparing for lessons, it's more or less no time....plus.....more money to be spent.... somebody pls dial 1800-save-JL to donate...

Food for the soul

Scallops Galore

Everything Pork and Chicken

Muddy Mud Pie, Ben & Jerry

Met up with Tab, Dickson, Dawn and Ket last friday for Dickson's farewell dinner. We indulged ourselves at the Imperial Treasure Teochew Restaurant at Taka Level 4. Setting and ambience were not bad except for the pesty waitress who kept hurrying us for our orders. Food was great albeit too oily. $30 per person was considerably reasonable. After dinner, we adjourned to Ben and Jerry's at Paragon to chill out. My muddy mud pie was a tad too muddy for my likely. Guanting joined us at B&J. A simple get-together is a good way to end the school week.

Poor Poorer Poorerer Poorererer

$4000 and counting....lost....at least paper lost...heartache...but it is part and parcel of taking risk...

Losing Money

Wow lao! These 2 weeks the stock market is totally crap! America's mortage loan crisis has spilled over to the rest of the world. It's making me lose money like nobody's business lar. Hopefully, recession has not arrived earlier than expected. It has been forecasted to be in 2009. Is it the start of something terrible? Hope not...

Anyway, it's been a week since school started. Lessons are alrite so far...quite slack in fact. Alot of bizaars...n milo trucks! yay..shiokadiasy..
Lab is stupid lar...the TA don't even know what we are doing...confused us even more and he just pretended to know when he obviously don't and his smoking skills are terrible. He keeps insisting that we do it next week becoz by then, another TA would have taken over...Slacker!

SomeBody's 21st !

Happy Birthday SomeBody

DKNY copper-brown; a watch of elegance and grandeur

ShanBing turns 21 today, so did Adeline some 4months back. Sherly also turned 21 on the 13th. A significant milestone for all. But why 21? One wonders... So what does turning 21 mean? The transition from adolescence into adulthood. The right to vote in our almost ceremonial elections. The entry into the adult movie industry( i mean as audience and not participant).

LoO00ooOoOoo00oOOoooOOooO00ooOOo0oking back ...

Was outing shopping for SomeBody's birthday prezzie yesterdae with Yimin and Adeline. Bingxiang was supposed to join us but could only join us later as he had something to do. Anyway, we went ahead to pry each and every watch shops around Orchard. There were some restrictions like budget and design.

Being the self-proclaimed 'good-taste' person, I had to QC what the 2 girls chose. Some watches were nice but 'below' budget. While we had to work within our budget, we also did not want to appear han suan. Finally, after combing every watch shops in Orchard, a copper-brown classic-looking watch caught my attention. It sat inconspicuously between 2 loud time-tellers. I knew immediately that we looked no further. THAT was the one! The sales lady placed it next to our previous shortlisted watches and we did not hesitate to eliminate all the rest.

Yimin and Adeline were dumbfounded by the style and uniqueness exuding from the watch. I could tell that they wanted one themselves but were too shy to admit. However, hips don't lie....so they started to shake their hips ala Ricky Martin's Shake your Bon Bon, strongly betraying their desires. hahaha---> all these weren't true lar.

What really happened was that they too agreed that it was the most beautiful and suitable watch that we have came across. We waited for Bingxiang to pick up the tab of $8752 before splitting.

My Celebrities Look-alikes

http://www.myheritage.com

Sad Ending

After aftermath of the head-on crash with the wall at Keppel Club. Recap; last week, a mentally unsound guy carjacked a cab and crashed into a wall along Telok Blangah and Henderson Road at speeds in excess of 120kph!

Injuries include broken spine, mutiple skull fractures and open fractures at the knees. He had to be 'peeled' off from the dashboard and his seat. Imagine smashing a mosquito with your palms and removing it! The comparison is similar. Of course, to a medical certainty that it would have not been so bad had he applied the BRAKES!!! I cannot over-empathise the state at which he left this world. Again, the victim is mentally unstable.

Note that there is a break in the wall-clinging grass patch and the littered darkened patch on the walkway directly in front of the wall. The break was caused by the impact of the crash and the littered darkened patch was caused by his relatives burning offerings to applease his soul.

On the issue of motor-vehicular fatalities, come 31st August marks the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death. She died tragically after her Mercedes S600 struck a wall in a tunnel in Paris at 160kph. Her driver did applied the brakes but it was insufficient as she did not buckle up. She was 36.

In accidents involving speeds in excess of 100kph, the chances of survival are remote. We do not need any experts to tell us that. Again, live another day by staying within the speed limits. However, there are other accidental deaths of no fault of ours, like gas leaks in HDB flats...A 73yr old man was burnt to death after an explosion originally from a gas leak.

Giving and Receiving

To love or to be loved? To love someone can be frustrating. Time, effort, perserverance and sacrifices are amongst others things necessary to love someone. So what is the outcome of all these sacrifices? To be loved one may say? Life has it that things are never smooth-sailing; a few misunderstandings, a few characters entering and exiting the picture, a few crisis, quarelling matches, cold wars and what have you. Even so, no amount of sacrifices will get you your goal once the other party utters the ultimatium,'We are not meant for each other'. It is absolute, only black or white, no grey area.

All these are necessary to make our lives interesting and eventful. Without sounding too perverse, such ups and downs should be welcomed if not applauded for if they weren't there, we will not appreciate and cherish the result(provided it is the desired outcome). Also, it makes us fall sick and hence render the health-care industry viable. Okie, I am digressing.

On the other hand, to be loved is much easier. All one has to do is to sit back and hop on the ride. One pretty much do not have to do anything. You get attention, concern and most importantly unparalleled love. However, it's a double-edged sword. While sweet, on the other side of the blade, you get pierced twice as deep when you fall off the ride. Things are taken for granted and appreciation is less forthcoming from your side. Your insatible need for attention and almost zero contribution lead to frustration from the ride giver. THe latter may just give you a prop and off you go. Making things black and white is easier for both sides.

After blabbering with my not-so accurate analysis, I guess ususally, the ride giver and ride receiver live together happily ever after if and only if both sides contribute and work towards a common goal. Make no mistake, there are exceptions, some end up incarcerated while others end up dismembered.

PS: The author is obviously incoherent and morbid.

Hilarious

I don't usually post 2 posts on the same day but after checking my email, I think this picture deserves some mention... Champion!

Politicking

Channel 5 recently has been broadcasting interesting American dramas. A fine example is Brothers and Sisters. It is aired on Mondays, 11pm after Desperate Housewives.

The plot revolves around a wealthy family who is coping with the death of the matriarch. The business started by the matriarch slipped into finanical difficulties after his death. The family is left to pick up the 'broken' pieces while juggling with sibling relationships. What is different about this drama is that it explores a theme religiously shunned by producers; homosexuality and sex. I am quite surprised that MDA actually gave the go-ahead with this drama. So far, nothing randy or raunchy. Don't expect too much because definitely there will be certain level of censorship.

Another issue... In light of the rising GST, bus companies are jumping on the bandwagon of money squeezing. Reasons? Rising fuel prices. It is laughable if it is not ridiculous to justify rising bus fares with rising GST? Subsidies? Bus fares will remain the same for children and senior citizens for the first 3.2km.

Did you know that bus operators can apply to increase their bus fares once every 2 years. They have a complicated way of computing bus fares using indicators like inflation, economic growth, etc etc etc. Hail the person upstairs, this means bus fares can go both ways. However, it has been heading north and never south. It seems now that besides our age, bus fares can go up but not down.

So does the increase in bus fares means better service? Apparently it seems to be heading in that direction with the "Iris" system. Bus drivers will be penalised for arriving late. This is a tricky issue. While it is imperative for bus drivers to get to their destinations in a given time, will road safety be compromised as a result?

Recently crowned Ms Hong Kong is uhemm....

Vietnam Pics V

wE hAd a tyRe prOblEm On oUr wAy bAcK frOm Ha Long Bay tO Hanoi...

'sOmEbOdy' caMe tO OuR resCuE bUt wE diD nOt haVe a miLk proBleM. AnYwaY, wE ofFerEd a tUrF of gRaSs to ShoW oUr gratiTuDe...

oUr fRieNd glaDlY pOseD foR uS

lOoK wHaT oUr frIeNd leFt Us!!!

phOtOWhoRiNg wiTh KriStL...

phOtOwhoRing wiTh aNNa...

sAme SaMe bUt diFfeReNt; befOre yOu stiR it (left) and after you have stirred it (right)

hmm...the tongue is usually inside her mouth...

Sunshine Hotel, hotel which we stayed in at Hanoi. It comes with air-conditioned rooms, hot shower, a bathtub complete with internet! USD35 per room...

budgEt tErMinAl

Last series of pictures. Overall, the trip was pretty enjoyable minus the heat. Ideal place to set up a business. Electronics are more expensive to get at Vietnam while houses are a steal by Singapore standards. USD100 grand will get you a 3 storey semi-detached house and USD80grand will get you a 10-room wooden boat. So if you want to relocate, you might want to give Vietnam a try.

Vietnam Pics IV

THE BOAT at Ha Long Bay

tHe BoAt, a clOsEr vIew fRom tHe ReAr...

tHe deCk wiTh beAch chAirs n aLl...

iNtEriOr oF tHe bOaT...

AgaiNst tHe sUnSet bAcKdRoP...tHe bOats lOOK loVeLY!!!

BeaUtiiiiiFuuuuLLLL

PiCtUreqUe

Wow...actUalLi all tHe caVes loOk tHe sAmE tO mE...haha

InSiDe tHe cAvEs at Ha Long Bay...soMeoNe wAs tHerE in 1907!!!

fLoAtiNg 'mama' shop...tHeiR padDliNg skIlls R DAMN goOd!!!

sUnkIsSeD aT tHe deCK...

CliMbiNg uP 400 steps to loOk at thIS? iT loOks niCeR whEn u r tHeRe!!!

HaLfwAy Up thE pEAk...

Installment Four...Located 170km east of Hanoi, Ha Long Bay is a famous tourist attraction. It has a few thousand caves of which the government opened 3 for tourists to visit. The water is very calm but salty though. You can book a 1nite or 2nites stay over in one of the wooden boats. Prices range from USD35 to US100 depending on the length of the stay and the type of stay you want; air-conditioned rooms or natural air? Choose the air-con ones pls!!! It's damn warm at night! Meals are included and the travel companies will pick you up from your hotel in Hanoi to the bay at no extra charges.