In my previous blog entries, you would have realised that I've been rather 'happening', visiting several bars and chill-out places. And now I'm thrusted into another frenzy... The Travel Bugger. Yes, starting this weekend, I'll be venturing outta our dear little red dot to places beyond.. this weekend will see me visitng bangkok (with my fren KK) for the 5th time, making BKK the most visited tourist city for me.
Next weekend will transport me to ancient England... well, it's the Phantom of the Opera show as the highlight of the weekend. 2nd week of May will be my breather, and my only free time to try baking my nex cake creation, Green Forest... (wait for my Green Forest Cake entry in due time).
3rd week will see me travelling with my colleagues to nearby Bintan for a nite's out, and enjoying the spa facilities at the Agro Bintan Resort.. and finally the 4th week will be reserved for PF and her birthday.. Oh dear, I still haben reserve the chalet in Ubin (also kinda overseas).. Hope still have chalets when i return from Bkk to book..
Kinda scarely.. cos June seems bare now.. will be the best time to submerge into a deep depression after all these partyings.. hehe.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
chocolate cheese cream cake
The Triple C Cake, this is a simple chocolate i made over the weekend. Normal Chocolate cake with cream cheese sandwiched in between. the smaller cake is home consumption, and ran out of cream after decorating for the bigger cake below..
Thursday, April 19, 2007
birthday by del mar
Last Saturday, my usual Yuppies gang went to Sentosa's Cafe Delma for a dinner gathering to celebrate my birthday in advance. And that visit marked my 3rd trip down to the Mexican-inspired beachside cafe. However, it was a different feel this time round. I'm having my first evening visit, and I got to taste the skills of the chief for the 1st time.
We ordered some really simple dishes at exhorbitant prices, the details can be reviewed via KK's Blog.
The many birthday presents I've received... Thank you guys for the wonderful gifts!!
We ordered some really simple dishes at exhorbitant prices, the details can be reviewed via KK's Blog.
The many birthday presents I've received... Thank you guys for the wonderful gifts!!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
sweating it out
today was the day i took my IPPT, admist my recovering from my 1st ever serious flu. I was still coughing phelgm and sneezing when i took my test. It was quite an unnerving test since it was supposed to be my first one. Last year's was taken within my ICT, so the feeling was entirely different. And my flu was making things worse.
Upon registrating, I pulled out my letter of exemption, which states that I were to be excused 2 stations: chin up and sit up. However, I was told that I will still be given a FAIL grade since the system was not updated. Oh bother! Talk about inefficiencies. It's been a year since I've put this case up for complaint, and still nothing much was done. Well, at least my medical docket is on its way to the medical review board to get my excuses updated from the hard copy to the computer system.
Predictably, my shutter run scored a full 5 points, clocking a 9.6 seconds speed. My weakness in standing board jump still stucked like a sore thumb, maintaining at 216cm as with my previous IPPT session last year. My biggest surprise of the day was my 2.4km run. I was expecting a slower timing mainly due to my flu. But I've surpassed my previous IPPT time of 11.16min to clock a timing of 10.40min, eventually getting a maximum 5 points for this station. Guess I was spurred by the fact that there were quite a few slow runners just waiting for a KS me to take over. And the more I took over, the more I wanted to take over... I know, i know, super KS.. haha
Well, whether I pass or fail will have to depend on the speed of the medical board to key in those few letters into the system. I wont bet on that happenin soon, especially it took them a year before they actually started to do something.
Upon registrating, I pulled out my letter of exemption, which states that I were to be excused 2 stations: chin up and sit up. However, I was told that I will still be given a FAIL grade since the system was not updated. Oh bother! Talk about inefficiencies. It's been a year since I've put this case up for complaint, and still nothing much was done. Well, at least my medical docket is on its way to the medical review board to get my excuses updated from the hard copy to the computer system.
Predictably, my shutter run scored a full 5 points, clocking a 9.6 seconds speed. My weakness in standing board jump still stucked like a sore thumb, maintaining at 216cm as with my previous IPPT session last year. My biggest surprise of the day was my 2.4km run. I was expecting a slower timing mainly due to my flu. But I've surpassed my previous IPPT time of 11.16min to clock a timing of 10.40min, eventually getting a maximum 5 points for this station. Guess I was spurred by the fact that there were quite a few slow runners just waiting for a KS me to take over. And the more I took over, the more I wanted to take over... I know, i know, super KS.. haha
Well, whether I pass or fail will have to depend on the speed of the medical board to key in those few letters into the system. I wont bet on that happenin soon, especially it took them a year before they actually started to do something.
Monday, April 09, 2007
pulut hitam cake
Over the Good Friday weekend, I created another new exotic flavour: Pulut Hitam Cake. Basically, it's black glutinous rice with coconut cream mousse sandwiched with dense chocolate walnut cake.
Some of my friends got a chance to try this new creation, but unfortunately, the hot sun melted the cream before the cake was even visible to them. As such, the taste flater. Well, they still gave me their fair share of comments: that is was innovative and actually tasted not too bad.. jus that I shd use a lighter and fufflier sponge cake..
Nonetheless, I brought my other cake to the office today. I was surprised that my boss came over to praise the taste of the cake (as well as some colleagues). It's not an easy cake by any standards cos not many ppl can accept coconut cream and pulut itam.. but well, it still tasted like a cake in the end, so kinda successful in some way bah.. haha
Some of my friends got a chance to try this new creation, but unfortunately, the hot sun melted the cream before the cake was even visible to them. As such, the taste flater. Well, they still gave me their fair share of comments: that is was innovative and actually tasted not too bad.. jus that I shd use a lighter and fufflier sponge cake..
Nonetheless, I brought my other cake to the office today. I was surprised that my boss came over to praise the taste of the cake (as well as some colleagues). It's not an easy cake by any standards cos not many ppl can accept coconut cream and pulut itam.. but well, it still tasted like a cake in the end, so kinda successful in some way bah.. haha
Sunday, April 08, 2007
sleeping alone??
It's not very often that I write a review of movies I've watched. But I've decided to write a review for this particular arthouse movie I've watched recently. I Don't Want To Sleep Alone was directed by Tsai Ming Liang, was based in our neighbouring city of KL during the haze-attack days. Hsiao Kang was a homeless guy with no penny to his name. He was attacked by some swindlers in a back alley, and managed to lingered some distances before he fainted by the road side. Rawang, a Bangladeshi worker, found him lying in injuries and took him in to nurse his wounds. As Hsiao Kang was greatly injured, Rawang did everything for him, including helping him to pee and cleansing his body with a damp towel. Rawang also allowed Hsaio Kang to share his precious mattress (which he found at a not so nearby garbage area).
As Hsiao Kang recovered slowly, he began to wonder around in the nearby vicinity. He meet this girl by the name of Chyi. Chyi was almost a silent servant to her lady boss. She waits her boss at her coffee shop daily, took care of everything details of her paralysed son, and slept on this make-shift attic jus above her boss' room. Her dark and rubbish-filled sleeping quarters was a distinct contrast to the bright and airy room of her boss' below.
As Hsiao Kang tried to get close to Chyi, he found himself liking her and u can sense the rising expectations for a sexual encounter. They finally decided to settle their lust on the mattresss Rawang had pain-stalking carried. However, the haze was just too strong, and they stole the mattress up to Chyi's quarters. Rawang, upon finding out about his stolen mattress, was furious. Or rather, he was heart-broken. He sought to find Hsiao Kang and even threathened to kill him. But it seemed that his feelings for Hsiao Kang was far greater than his angst.
In the end, it seemed that the 3 of them jus shared the mattress.
I loved the way the director managed to create a sense of waiting. There were a few scenes where there was not much movements, just a camera pointing at the same angle for about 2-3 minutes. I felt the mood it was trying to capture: the not-wanting-to-do-anything feeling and just wanna see the sun rise mood, the I'm-tired-so-i-jus-wanna sit and do nothing mood. There was a particular haunting scene where the paralysed son was being cleaned by Chyi. It was a very silent scene, no dialouge at all. The camera was focused only on the son's face. But you can actually feel the intensity and the helplessness of the son, his not being able to clean himself. His eyes turned from white to red to teary, from sad to feeling humiliating to angst to self pity.
Overall, I've not seen an arthouse movie that created an impact of fun, intensity, emotional and funny for a long time... However, it's not meant for the faint hearted, mainly due to the too silent theme of the movie.
As Hsiao Kang recovered slowly, he began to wonder around in the nearby vicinity. He meet this girl by the name of Chyi. Chyi was almost a silent servant to her lady boss. She waits her boss at her coffee shop daily, took care of everything details of her paralysed son, and slept on this make-shift attic jus above her boss' room. Her dark and rubbish-filled sleeping quarters was a distinct contrast to the bright and airy room of her boss' below.
As Hsiao Kang tried to get close to Chyi, he found himself liking her and u can sense the rising expectations for a sexual encounter. They finally decided to settle their lust on the mattresss Rawang had pain-stalking carried. However, the haze was just too strong, and they stole the mattress up to Chyi's quarters. Rawang, upon finding out about his stolen mattress, was furious. Or rather, he was heart-broken. He sought to find Hsiao Kang and even threathened to kill him. But it seemed that his feelings for Hsiao Kang was far greater than his angst.
In the end, it seemed that the 3 of them jus shared the mattress.
I loved the way the director managed to create a sense of waiting. There were a few scenes where there was not much movements, just a camera pointing at the same angle for about 2-3 minutes. I felt the mood it was trying to capture: the not-wanting-to-do-anything feeling and just wanna see the sun rise mood, the I'm-tired-so-i-jus-wanna sit and do nothing mood. There was a particular haunting scene where the paralysed son was being cleaned by Chyi. It was a very silent scene, no dialouge at all. The camera was focused only on the son's face. But you can actually feel the intensity and the helplessness of the son, his not being able to clean himself. His eyes turned from white to red to teary, from sad to feeling humiliating to angst to self pity.
Overall, I've not seen an arthouse movie that created an impact of fun, intensity, emotional and funny for a long time... However, it's not meant for the faint hearted, mainly due to the too silent theme of the movie.
loof-a-lot
While, I found myself back at Loof again in exactly 1 week's time. This time, I've reserved a bed-table with my usual gang , The Yuppies group. Kinda think about it, Our Yuppies Gang first got this name way back almost 10 years ago... It was due to our so called expensive taste in our meals and meeting location, which to most of us now seems just normal. While, I guess my Yuppies gang has evolved from restaurants in those sec/jc/poly days to the home visits of the uni days to currently the bar and club hopping sessions to present day. hahaa.
back to our Loof session. I think we were a bit crazy that nite. We had lots of self-taken photo sessions it seemed like we were in a neo-print palour! Alas, it was a short-lived session due to the setting: we were not really comfy with the bed arrangements but the rest of the tables were fully reserved. The nice open air chill out area was fully packed with people standing and chatting it felt like another world altogether.
IN the end, we left after having only 1 cocktail for The Wine Company at Dempsey road. Drinks and chatting took the order of the session till the wee hours before we headed home.
of crabs and loffed
Crab!!The day after the fun beach bar session at Sentosa, we went out with Carol's bunch of international frens for a superlicious crab session at AMK. It was as delicious as I've remembered it to be, but for a smaller sized crab. Too bad my ex-colleagues was not there cos he and the big boss quite good terms.. hehe.
crabby
group photoAfter the crab session, we went to Loof, a roof-top bar at Odens Tower. It was like a nice oasis in the middle of the buzz of the city. 
More pics available at my Shutterfly album (link on the right)
Saturday, April 07, 2007
seaside fun
Last weekend, my uni fren Edward flew down town to visit the lovely tiny red dot. And the first few places I though of bringing him to visit was Cafe Del Mar at Sentosa. It was the latest beach bar to open in Sentosa at that time. (currently, the latest to open is Barnacles, which opens yesterday).
the beach beds 
the poolside bar
view from Cafe Del MarThe rain lashed its fiery upon us when we finally reached the beach bar. All the guests were forced to seek shelter in the tiny indoors area. But due to a stroke of luck, the clouds subsided and we trio (Ed, Carol and me) immediately went out to 'ka-po' (Singlish meaning snatch or steal) a beach bed. Our steal turned out to be a really nice locale as we were at the front row seat of a fashion show paraded schedule that same day. The models struted on 3 sides of our bed as we enjoyed the best seats of the show.
models strutting down the make shift runwayLater on as we were chilling out in the cool and breezy after shower weather, we saw some 'ang-mos' fooling around near the beach. Apparently, one of them actually put on this borat swim suit and started posing in the shallow seawater!! It was a comical end to our chill out session at Cafe Del Mar.
Borat visits Singapore!!After cleaning up and changing clothes, we strolled towards Palawan Beach with great anticipations. We were about to watched the greatly hyped musical fountain show. Unfortunately, the plot was still as silly and lame and the old one. However, I would give credit to the effects and fireworks. For $6, I think it's only worth 1/2 the ticket price just because of the silly story plot.
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