Relax

Yeah man, relax ... take some photos, enjoy spa ... and let's strike some Toto!

Taken with a SE K750i macro mode:



Also, total photos since I bought my dSLR on 2-Oct-2006: 1347
Total disk space: 1.80 GB

The Ultimate Spa

Yes, that's the spa's name but it's anything other than ultimate. The plus point for this particular branch that we went to is that it's located at the new Civil Service Club at Bukit Batok. There's a lot of greenery at this club and it's really soothing to the eyes. It's better than Body Contours at Hill Street though, the room is more spacious. Too bad they never offer us the outdoor spa room, that would have been a more pleasing experience. So again we did not take up any package. Now it seems that the Garden Spa at our park backdoor is the best, according to my dearest; I have yet to try it as it's also the most ex but the most resort-like though.

Halloween @ TCC

It about Halloween time, what exactly it means, I'm not too sure but some retail outlets have started following this tradition by dressing up their stores and staff to the theme. Well, it does add a bit of fun actually. TCC @ Bugis Junction is one of them. Nicely decorated, great costumes!

Get Lost in Vivo City

We went Vivo City last Monday thinking that it was a weekday so there shouldn't be a lot of people there, but we were totally wrong! The place was so fully packed with people that we couldn't find any place to rest our tired feet and had to walk much further to the next door HabourFront Centre before we could find a place (at last) for some snacks.

The mega shopping mall was too huge... there are lots of walking spaces but not enough seating areas. The restaurants and cafes were all scattered and few; we have problem locating them. Some shops were still under renovation making the floor was quite dusty and slippery. The worst part is to find a parking lot! We had to queue for nearly half an hour just to get into the carpark only to find that there are no lots left... did a lot of rounds turn before we managed to secure a parking place.

With this experience, I think it would be a long wait before we want to get into the city again. Even if we have the urge to go there again (maybe after the official launch at 01 Dec), it would be strictly on feet, definitely not on wheels!

Again, we managed to grab some snapshots.

Doc Cheng's at Raffles Hotel

Another gastronomic exploit to round off a stuffed week. Came across a 1-for-1 offer, so why not?

After church in the late afternoon, we headed off to Raffles Hotel. I would say the food and decor looks fusion to me. What do you think? Let the photos speak for themselves ... btw, someone complained my flash was too strong ... oops! Fortunately, I got most of the shots I wanted.

It was the first time any restaurant served naan for appetizer before the meal. I liked naan!


Entree: Soft Shell Crab. Likely salted with a hint of pepper. Nicely done.


Main Course: Tandoori Trout and Stir-fried Asparagus

First time I ever tried trout done the Tandoori way as well. The asparagus is just plain stir-fried, something which anyone could have done at home.

Main course: Drunken Chicken

3 slabs of chicken done with chinese "shao xing" wine.

Dessert: Apple Tatin

Cooked apple slices with bourbon souffle.

Am I writing a foody review? To keep things short, other photos are uploaded here:

Playing Tour Guide for a Day

My sis has been given a task by our grandma to bring our "Yi Ma" around the city today... I went with her. We did some shopping at Chinatown, visited the Thian Hock Keng Temple at Telok Ayer Street after which, we went to the Esplanade for some snacks and took a river cruise.

We realised that there are still a lot of catching up to do where history is concerned! Luckily, our auntie is with us. She's our valuable source of information and translator. :)

Here's our itinery for the day:
Chinatown
Thian Hock Keng Temple
Esplanade
River Cruise

Dinner at Tea House (China Sq)

Hot on the heels of the company town hall dinner is the department dinner. What a deliciously sinful week. My table ordered so much dim sum that we are all choked full in the end ... well stuffed I would say. Again, I was the self-appointed event photographer. Hope my photos don't disappoint too much.

TGIF

It's Friday!

On every Friday, all the colleagues would gather at the pantry where a HR personnel would host the so-called TGIF and update us on on-going and up-coming news and activities. This is also the time where all are encouraged to mingle around and there's wines and liquors to be taken! I have long heard about this and really look forward for a chance to experience this but it's somewhat disappointing as it was not as rowdy and fun as I have thought. Maybe because this time, HR has changed the venue to the smaller pantry instead of the usual bigger meeting place, so that's why only a few people turn up. Anyway, the event lasted only for a while and after the announcements everybody left.

But who cares? It's Friday! No one could spoil our beautiful mood... the party continues, my colleagues and I drank up the last bit of the Black Label and we had our own mini TGIF in the office. Cheers!

Company Town Hall Dinner at Shangri-La

Oh boy oh boy, this was the most expensive and best buffet dinner I went to. Free flow of wine and beer. There are so many varietires of food - dim sum, tandoori, noodles, sushi, sashimi, choco fondue, ice-cream ...

Decor is nicely done, bright and a bit of retro feel. I heard the cost is at $104 per person after taxes!!!

A New Haircut

On Friday the 13th today, I went for a haircut at the Savoir Fair.

What attracted me there was the managing director of the salon, Jonal Chong. He is Nicole Kidman's exclusive hairstylist. Like Shunji Matsuo, he is another one of the celebrity hairstylists that has decided to open a branch here in Singapore. I saw him at the registration counter and he looks just like his photos on magazine! In my 3 hours there, I always see him walking about and talking non-stop...seems like a hyper friendly guy...but of course, my hair wasn't cut by him... I wouldn't spend that much money for a hair cut, at least not now. My hair was done by one of the senior stylists...

I had finally done it, snipping off my long hair. The hairstylist gave my hair a very nice red highlight and I thought he did a pretty good job. DC has always prefer me with short hair, so of course he is satisfied with the result. :)

Here's me and the new look.


The overall experience there is good except for the occassional pricks that I got from the hairstylist from his long fingernails. The shampoo boy is soothing to the eyes and the hair massages that he administered was great! The salon was very spick-and-span and the seats are very comfy.

It was really a surprise when I was directed to a cosy room where the salon offers therapeutic massage therapy on one of the big massage chairs it own. That was the most divine treatment I've ever received for a haircut! Oh my, the massages by the rollers feels much better than hands. I so feel like buying one for my home! :P

For more info, visit the Savoir Fair Website.

DC also went for his haircut two days ago... here's him and his barber in the pic! :)

My Yi Ma Arrives

My Yi Ma came for a visit today. Please don't be mistaken... this "Yi Ma" is not my mother's elder sister but actually my grandmother's sister. She is 76 years old and had just arrived Singapore from China yesterday. Today, my parents played host and brought her around going relatives visiting. The last stop is my humble home...and we brought her to dinner after that. Somehow seeing her here in Singapore makes me recall my wonderful memories I had when me and my sister were in China where all of the relatives esp. her granddaughters (my cousins) gave us a very warm welcome and reception. Today, it's our turn to return the favour but my dear Daddy overdone it by ordering more than enough dishes for us to finish and in the end, she (a very small eater) had to repeatedly declare that she could not take it anymore! ;P The rest of us had to finish up her share.

8 years together

Yes, it's been 8 years since we got together. We decided to treat ourselves to a body massage with scrub at Body Contours. After that, its dinner at Pierside Kitchen - One Fullerton.



The food at Pierside Kitchen was rather pleasing to the eye and palate. For appetizer, it's soft shell crab.



Main Course:


Ternderloin, with two slices of foie gras ... yummy!


Grilled trout - lovely.

The finale was dessert, it's simply delicious, maybe because I have not tried this before - Coffee Panna Cotta with Irish Cream ice-cream.



After that, it's over to the Esplanade Bridge for some shots before we wrapped it up for another year!

Family Get-Together

I organised a family mid-autumn get-together yesterday. I was supposed to cook for them but ended up buying dinner from our nearby cookhouse. We had black pepper crab (spicy but yummy), prawn-paste chicken, cereal prawns and vegetables. It was entertainment time after dinner... karaoke songs singing and mooncakes eating. The highlight of yesterday's program was Boy Boy's performance. His 童话 and 老鼠爱大米 earned him great applause from all of us.:) Look at his cheeky face.



Here looking somewhat bored ...


Although we did not carry out our original plan to carry the lanterns to the nearby park, we sure had a great time together! :)

A portrait (A photo a day)

Finally got the effect with my new SLR. It's pretty easy to achieve, something impossible with my old semi-pro camera. I gonna try some more, to get an even blurrer background.

4-Oct-2006


5-Oct-2006 (Maestro at Cineleisure - Level 2)

Kiddy Rides

Happen to drop by Bedok where we saw these kids going happy on the rides. Since I have my D80 with me, thought it is a good chance to snap some.

My last day at work

Haiz... it's finally my final day at work... I can't believe how fast time flies! It seems as if I've just tendered my resignation! On the very last day, I was still busy... heehee... busy housekeeping my unwanted files and emails. I intended to leave office to HQ for clearance at 3pm and so, I asked DC to fetch me at 3. Who knows, I only managed to complete the desk clearing at 3pm... He had a good wait at the carpark while I distribute my small tokens to mi colleagues and bade each one goodbye. However, didn't manage to get the small gifts to those in another building as DC is waiting for me at the carpark! I will definitely miss my days working with them...

It was almost 4 that I set off to HQ for the clearance... DC drove me there... luckily he was patient and understanding enough not to fire at me for being super late! At the HQ, the clearance took faster than expected. Quite disappointed that my RO could not meet me as scheduled at the HQ as he was sick. He was also not at my farewell lunch because he was stuck at his meeting... Anyway, at 5:30pm, I'm all cleared.

Till we meet again, my dear colleagues and good old company!

A photo a day

Continuing the a photo a day project ...

1-Oct-2006 (Taken with Olympus C5060WZ)


2-Oct-2006 (Taken with SE K750i)


3-Oct-2006 (Taken with Nikon D80)

Farewell Gift

I received a farewell gift today, from my MINDEF users. It was a surprise and the gift was exactly what I wanted to get for myself. :) To think that when I first saw the wrapping, I thought it was a paper weight instead of a perfume! Haha... of course I prefer the latter! Thank you so much for the DKNY Red Delicious!

Finally, the Nikon D80!

Oh boy oh boy, finally got my hands on a dSLR - Nikon D80! No more shutter lag. Whoopee!!!

Hehe, guess the amplifier AV receiver set and LCD TV got to wait some more.

With the new carbon fiber tripod, I can't wait for the next fireworks.



Tripod and head