Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (30 Jan '10)

Went with a few of my cell-group people to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on Saturday. It was quite a hot morning, but thank God got plenty of wind. It was a refreshing walk amongst the jungles and swamps. I haven't been to this part of Kranji before, the furthest I've ever been was to the Kranji park. After the hike, we went to a nearby organic farm to buy some fresh produce. All in all, it was a good time; though I think I may have been out in the sun for too long. Now am having a splitting headache... ow ow ow ow...


Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserves Website
http://www.sbwr.org.sg/

Jon's celebration tea (25 Jan '10)

We celebrated Jonathan's birthday during afternoon tea-time today, as he didn't want a birthday lunch thrown for him. :D Most of the pictures taken turned out to be blurry, because I switched off the flash-light function.

>:P

My friends dubbed my pictures the "shaky hands" album...

Blessed Birthday, Jonathan! Metsu Hadoken!~

P.S. "Gah poh-ed" some pics from my friend, whose hads were steadier than mine. Thanks, Ah Tan!

Dinner at Streets (21 Jan '10)

Last week went to Bukit Panjang PLaza for a get-together dinner with the drama people. Supposed to have more people one, but a lot of people last minute cannot make it. :p So in the end, it was just Yat Sing, Mei-en and myself. Cozy gathering, really get to hear Yat Sing tell more of his stories and jokes. He'll be leaving this Saturday, so we'll won't be hearing from him for a while. :(

P.S. Last picture is taken from Yat Sing's camera. XD

TGIF~ 五月天. [我].

要去练这首歌咯！  TGIF~

Korean rice adventure (19 Jan '10)

Today decided to try out making the korean "kimbap" (korean rice roll) that my friends brought back for me from Korea. Was at a loss on how to make the thing, until two of my colleagues gave me advice. The Korean rice taste different from our Thai rice and the Japanese rice, both in texture and taste. It was delicious enough to go alone the award-winning hot pepper paste ("gochujang"). And the seaweed was fantastic! A very satisfying breakfast overall~ Jal meogeosseumnida!

かもめ食堂/ Kamome shokudô/ Kamome Diner (2006)

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Foreign

Watched this only halfway way while on m,y flight to Taipei. Managed to get a copy of it in Eslite (誠品書店) near Taipei City Hall area. Watched all the way to the end at home. Really a relaxing film. Foodies and bohemians will love this :p Irashai!

Official Site:
http://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/official/kamome-movie/

IMDB Entry:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0483022/

Asian Media Wiki Entry:
http://asianmediawiki.com/Kamome_Diner

築城せよ！ / Chikujo seyo! / Raise the Castle! (2009)

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Foreign

Watched this on SQ while flying to Taipei. Not a bad Japanese film. Building a castle out of cardboard is not as easy as it seems!


Official Site (Japanese)
http://aitech.ac.jp/~tikujo/

IMDB Entry:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1452844/

Asianwiki entry:
http://asianmediawiki.com/Raise_the_Castle!

101 Fireworks

Woohoo! Oh yea!~ Wanna go back again!

忠烈祠 Change of Guard

MAnaged to catch the change of guard ceremony. Oh yea!

Mom's Birthday Dinner (05 Jan '10)

Took the day off to rest at home. At night, our whole family went out for dinner together at Yishun to celebrate my mom's birthday. oh yea~

Day 10 in Taipei (04 Jan '10)

Final day of our 10-days holiday. The morning was unusually bright and good for photo-taking. Alas, we hadn't anymore time to travel out to take shots. I took Mark on a round-about walk to look for breakfast, before I zipped over to the underground mall to buy fresh pineapple pastries from 李儀餅店.

After that, we lugged our lugguage across the metro in order to take a bus to the airport, in order to conserve our NT dollars. Had a good flight back on SIA; somehow the flight stewardess are more chatty and friendly - maybe because they are Taiwanese? Reached Singapore around 6.20pm, but decided not to take dinner. Had a really REALLY good in-flight meal, believe or not :D After that, spent the night unpacking and passing out all the goodies to my family. oh yea~

Day 9 in Taipei (03 Jan '10)

on the 2nd last day, we decided to take a hike over to the zoo in Taipei. We initially wanted to travel out to either Yehliu (野柳), Jiufen (九份) or Shifen (十分). But we didn't buy the Taiwan Railway (臺鐵) train tickets in advanced, and they were all fully sold out. We didn't want to watse the extra time finding out which public bus to take, so in the end, we decided to pop over to the zoo. It cost only about S$3 to visit the zoo! Plus we get to see the cute pandas< Tuantuan ( 團團) and Yuanyuan (圓圓).

We spent the last afternoon in Taipei underground malls doing frenetic shopping. I used up almost all of my NT dollars buying stuff for myself, family and friends. Of course, we made sure we have enough left over to go for a good dinner of the famous Taiwanese food. Oh yea~~

Day 8 in Taipei (02 Jan '10)

Went to Taipei Main station to try their bento (便当). I found mine to be pretty delicious. After that, we went for an intensive round of shopping, before heading out to Raohejie Night market (饒河街夜市). We wanted to cover another 2 night markets, but the weather was drizzly, and the winds were quite strong. In the end, we stayed back at the hotel to chill and catch more TV, oh yea~

Day 7 in Taipei (01 Jan '10)

Slept till late morning to recover from the long walk the previous night. Went to Ximengding for a scrumptious lunch at Tamago Ya. Headed over to Guang Hua Shang Chang (光华商场), and had a great time shopping for PC games. Headed back to hotel early to continue resting before watching the 4 hour long Christmas special on Music Station on television. Watched all my favorite J-pop bands and artistes, like SMAP, L'arc-en-ciel and Ayumi Hamasaki. Really loved Taiwanese cable TV programming, oh yea!

Day 6 in Taipei (31 Dec '09)

Morning decided to head over to the museum inside the 228 Peace Memorial Park for a spin. As I was there too early, went to hunt for breakfast first. Thoroughly enjoyed the dough snack and hot soya bean drink. Went to the Taipei car show, as Mark wanna look at fast car and pretty car booth babes.

After that, went to Eslite tearoom for a quick snack, before heading out to the Taipei City hall area to catch the cound-town concert. That was pretty much the highlight of my 10 days there, especially during the S.H.E. and the May Day performances. Screamed my lungs out like a teeny-bopper fan-girl. OH YEA!

The 101 fireworks was pretty impressive too - after all these years of listening to people brag, I can join in their ranks :P. After that had to walk over 1 hour plus to get back to hotel, as the crowd leaving the area was horrendous! :D Thank God the crowd is orderly and the police and MRT staff were helpful.

Day 5 in Taipei (30 Dec '09)

Went to Beitou in the morning to walk-walk-see-see the famous hotspring town. Wanted to go to a public open-air hotspring; but my friend Mark was feeling shy. So instead chose a closed-door hotspring soak, for about 40 minutes.

Had a good lunch before headed out to Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園). Went at the wrong season, as most of the flowering shrubs are still waiting for spring to blossom and bloom. :p Only had enough time to climb a small hill. Then headed out to Danshui (淡水) to meet our Taiwanese colleague who took us around to eat all the good food~

Day 4 in Taipei (29 Dec '09)

Fantastic morning for photo taking! Thoroughly enjoyed myself taking photos at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. After that went to the Grand Hotel at Yuan Shan (圓山), as it's one of the more iconic hotels in Taiwan. The weather took a turn for the worse though, so couldn't get nice pics on my digital point and shoot camera.

Zhong Lie Ci (忠烈祠) was 15 minutes walk away, after we enquire from the helpful concierge's office, so we walked over there in time for the change of guard ceremony. Had a nice teabreak at Yuan Shan MRT, before heading over to Xi Men Ding (西門町) for dinner. We went to the Xi men Hong lou (西門红楼), where we bought a lot of cute cartoon kitty stuff. To end the night, we tried one of the cosplay cafes for a night-cap. Din quite enjoy the alst one, as the cafe was pretty deserted, so dun have the feel... :P

Day 3 in Taipei (28 Dec '09)

Day 3, monday! Went to office to look for our Taiwanese colleagues and 交流交流~ Even though we're not there for work, they took us out for lunch! XD So moved! After that we went to Sun Yet-san Memorial Hall. We went to the Hello Kitty cafe on a whim just to take photos for a "孙悟空到此一游“. Then came teh hightlight of the day - Shi Lin Night market makan! oh YEA!!

Day 2 in Taipei (27 Dec '09)

Woke up late one the second day. Teh sun was pretty good. We went to recce around nearby our hotel. Went to the 228 Peace Memorial Park, which is like 10 minutes walk away.

After that went to Taipei City Hall area. Went to Eslite (誠品書店), sugoi!!! Loved the place. If had more time would hang out longer. After that walked over to Taipei 101 - didn't go to the observatory area ,as was hoping to get free admission on New Year's Eve. :p Went back to hotel in the evening for a nice supper~ oh yea!

Day 1 in Taipei (26 Dec '09)

Flew out to Taipei for a 10-day holiday during the alst week of 2009. Used both my handphone and digital camera to take pics to keep a photolog~ Day 1 was pretty boring, as we flew out in the afternoon, and reached Taipei city after 6pm. Just checked in and had a quick walk around the underground mall.

My first time taking Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight (yes, i am a mountain tortoise :p). Am quite fascinated by the inflight entertainment system. The SIA stewardesses were pretty, though not as warm as those serving us on the return flight...

Office Christmas Luncheon (24 Dec '09)

Didn't take much pictures, as I was busy eating my fill :p Great time of partying and fellowship with our volunteers and staff! XD