1 Out of 7 Billion
The world is getting smaller everyday but a lifetime is not enough to explore it. My adventure starts in Singapore.
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Weekend in the East, South, & West
February 9, 2009
Saturday
130pm – Eugene and Veria’s hosted lunch with friends at their new place in Bedok. Their “major project” was truly worth the wait. I found their home bright, cozy, and modern — awesome environment for a newly-married couple.
Food was fanstastic — from the baked mushrooms, pasta, and chocolate dessert!
Also met new friends – Daryl, Shu Li, Rodin. Terence and Sze whom I had the chance to meet in December through Eugene and Veria were also there.
Shu Li and Daryl
Terence and Sze
This is really yummy - great food presentation too
I think this is called molten chocolate cake. Hotel quality, even better!
Our wonderful hosts - caught in the act - Eugene and Veria
430pm (ish) – Met up with Julu in Vivo to prepare for the biggest cookout of his life (which I was hosting). In a few hours, he will be sharing his culinary talent with several of our friends through his signature creations. Learned a fair bit though my contribution was limited to ingredient preparation (peeling skin off the garlic and passing plates/bowls etc) haha.
Fun night – drinks, KTV, and boardgames. Ended around midnight.
Believe it or not, Julu didn't like the first shot so needed a re-take!
Posh Pierre - cutting bacon into decent size - with matching blue kitchen scissors
One of the two pasta sauces created by Julu. This one's was made form scratch (tomato base)
L-R : Julu, Pierre, Jeremy, me ; Back L-R: Desmond, Peiru
Gorgeous women at the Caribbean - Peiru and Valerie
With Desmond and Duncan
Chipmunks haha - Ben, Jeremy, Duncan
Sunday
430pm – KTV with my church choir. Always great to be at KTV with friends who not only love to sing but can also sing really well.
Venue was at Marina Country Club which was somewhere near Boon Lay. Selection was good; likely to go back there if I have extra minutes to travel to the west. Stayed for around 3 hrs before taking a one-hour bus journey from Boon Lay to Harbourfront.
A few photos
Kylie Minogue – Live in Singapore
November 30, 2008 — 4 Comments
It’s really awesome that international artists include Singapore as a stop in their concert tours. Why wouldn’t they?
Finally, I get to see Kylie Minogue perform. First time I heard about Kylie was in primary schooland over the past several years, I’ve grown to love her music.
She performed most of the songs I knew except for “Locomotion” and “Especially for You” but that wasn’t a reason for disappointment.
Overall it was a great show with a creative concept over two hours.
I guess the only thing I could suggest is to minimize the 20-30 second blackouts during costume changes — maybe continue playing music or having dancers onstage.
Me, Daryl, Ben, Jeremy, Peiru. We should have done a Kylie spelling for this shot.
Hong Kong
October 28, 2008
I spent the Deepavali long weekend in Hong Kong and what a relaxing weekend it was (my wallet got exhausted though).
This is my 4th visit within a span of two years and I think everytime I feel like going away for a long weekend I will book a flight to Hong Kong (instead of Bangkok).
Why do I love Hong Kong?
- The place gives me a sense of organised chaos which I welcome once in awhile.
- Shopping. I always go to H&M but I feel I’m missing out on a lot more good shops.
- Food
- I like hearing Cantonese.
- I have good friends who are superb hosts and fantastic party buddies.
I stayed at the Cosmo hotel which is one of the boutique hotels in the Wan Chai / Causeway Bay area. The location is not very ideal ; I always needed to take a cab to and from the place. However, the room space is just right for a short stay. Comfy bed too.
Good to sleep on a single bed for a change.
The couch area is where I would dump my shopping bags at the end of each day.
Sat, 25 October
- Got upgraded to Business Class on Singapore Airlines. It’s my 4th time to be upgraded (3rd on holiday). I initially wanted to upgrade my purchased Economy class ticket but was told no seats were available. Thanks SQ!
- Went to H&M shortly after I checked-in. Did some panic buying and shopping for family and friends. The selection was rather disappointing and I guess I can say that for most of the shops. They were selling winter stuff and I could only buy so much. May / June would probably be the best time to go next time, based on previous experience.
- Met up with Ron at Causeway Bay and walked over to William’s place. William, Grace, and Louis hosted an awesome dinner with hairy crab as the main dish. Met a few new friends as well. Struggled in eating the crab with my bare hands (havent done that in ages) but I can say it was worth the cracking and scooping effort.
Causeway Bay, one of my fave areas in HK
With Ron and William, my great buddies in HK
Hairy hairy crab
- Decided to have an early night after waking up for an early flight but managed to stay awake for an hour listening to a few singers in the bar at Cosmo hotel. I knew most of the songs so I was singing softly in my little corner. Ha.
Day 2 – Sun, 26 October
- I had to make another trip to H&M to see if any new stocks came in but since I arrived slightly earlier than opening time, I walked around to explore the central area.
Why dont we have H&M in Singapore?!
- Ros invited me to have lunch with her and her husband Blums over at Taikoo then went around the mall for any interesting stuff.
Catching up with Blums and Ros at Simply Life Bakery/Cafe
- I was supposed to meet with Ron and William but they were fairly busy until late afternoon so I decided to go back to Causeway Bay. There were two events happening. One at Sogo which had a brief show that featured Eunice Chen, one of the popular models in HK. The other event was a promotion for Minute Maid orange juice which had official endorser Eason Chan, a pop artist/singer, making a special appearance.
Eunice Chen - took me some time to figure out her English name from the people I asked in Sogo
Eason Chan
- Met up with Ron and William near my hotel and went to a revolving resto for a drink before going to Lin Heung bakery/ tea house at Central for dinner. Peiru suggested that I try the BBQ pork while in HK so I requested them to include this in our meal. One thing that struck me is that customers soak the bowls in hot water before using them. Never seen that in previous trips. William told me that it’s the usual practice in HK. He did the honor of doing that before our meal…
William's fingers in their first-ever close-up appearance in my blog
- Lyn (my friend from Malaysia who happened to be there for work+holiday) and Dorothy (friend of Ron) joined us for dinner as well. We then went to Peel Fresco Music Lounge a few blocks away for some jazz music.
William, Lyn, Ron, Dorothy, me
Day 3 – Mon, 27 October
- No set plan but to pack neatly and reach Kowloon island for the first time in 20 years (yes, only because my previous visits were all in HK island).
Not teary eyed but quite a nice feeling being back in this part of HK.
- Had lunch at Harbour City. I officially ended my shopping in that place.
- Headed to the airport via airport (train) express, bought a few boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts for Pierre, Peiru and the SQ cabin crew, then boarded the flight. I arranged for an upgrade to Business Class previously so had a comfortable evening journey back to Singapore.
Small Sunday BBQ Gathering
September 8, 2008
I organised a small BBQ gathering at my place and invited new friends over. By ”new friends” I mean friends I’ve known for less than 6 months.
I’m able to host a maximum of 20 people (bordering on the chaotic due to space limitation). However, the ideal number would be 10-12 so everyone can find a comfortable spot.
If I remember correctly, this is only the 3rd time I’m holding a BBQ party where there were stuff grilled in the BBQ pit. However, I’ve hosted several lunches/ dinners over the past 2 years.
This BBQ was different from the previous two in that I hired a BBQ Assistant. For a certain fee, this guy would take care of setting the fire, grilling the ordered food, and reheating the food if necessary. This was a huge relief.
Thanks to Alex the BBQ Assistant
Dinner started slightly after 730pm. Good food (according to my guests) which was followed by a moderate amount of alcohol. Finally, I have friends to help consume a few bottles I had purchased at Changi Airport during my recent trips. And we drank in a rather “sophisticated” fashion via drinking games I’ve never played before. Immensely crazy but these games kept everyone alive and kicking.
I don't think we've even started drinking when this shot was taken. Photo courtesy of Peiru.
Me, John, Daryl, Ben. Photo courtesy of Peiru.
After dinner, we then went up to my place to chillout and play boardgames.
Jeremy, Peiru, Rex heading up to my unit.
Daryl, Peiru, Ben, Pierre (zzzz)
Jeremy, Valerie, Daryl, and John preparing for their 30-sec dance number for their team
What could have been a quiet / boring Sunday night became an outrageous one filled with animated (good) conversation that ended close to midnight. Thanks guys for coming over. Catch up again next time.
Some useful info
Hamley’s London (where I got “The Big Taboo” boardgame)
