Looking forward to Christmas..

This is a long outdated update to my blog. Quite abit happened, but haven't had much motivation or enthusiasm to come online to do some updating.

Ok let's see where to start.

Since Granada, I went to Paris (with phuiyeng) and Freiburg (with aunt nicole who came on a biz trip).

Paris. A beautiful city, full of historic and grand buildings, and metro stations filled with pee smell. The purpose of this visit to Paris is to visit the Sacre Coeur and the Musee d'Orsay specially. 2 of the main places in Paris I have yet to been to.

Sacre Coeur

A magnificent basilica built atop a hill, overlooking the city of Paris.

A walk down the road from Sacre Coeur, along Paris red light district, we came to Moulin Rouge.




Waiting for the metro at a deserted station with huge advertisements.


The Louvre. Historic, yet contemporary.


Musee d'Orsay, housing one of the best collections of Impressionists works.


Monet's Tulip Field with the Rijnsburg Windmill

What's a visit to Paris without going to the Eiffel Tower?




My 2nd time up the tower. Took the steps no less!



A visit to Paris is always nice. To experience the classy feeling of the city, though it is usually quite a challenge to look for lunch places there. Either bread on-the-go, or expensive and not so nice sit-down cafes.

After that, it was a visit to Freiburg, in an attempt to visit a traditional German Chrismas Market. Freiburg because:
1) German city which we've not been to before
2) Cheapest air tix I could find at a short notice
3) Lure of the Black Forrest

This is a relaxed trip, with walks along the lake and cable car up a mountain.

It dawned on me that London is not the only place which is gray and dull and wet in Winter. Paris and Freiburg had been equally gray and dull and wet the days I was there. Should be enough to stop Londoners from complaining about the weather all the time!

With Xmas approaching, shopping in London is always a nightmare. Crowded along Oxford Street, long queues for the toilet at McD, endless waiting for the sales person to bring the pair of boots for you to try.

Its cold on the streets, and hot in the shops since you are all wrapped up for the cold, and shops are all so warmly heated. Such that it makes me detest going shopping during winter some times.

Boxy is here this week for biz trip, so we caught up, did a few meals and went shopping / sightseeing this weekend. Winter Wonderland at night was very good. I went the last time with Ping and Ralph, but its totally different feeling because then, it was daylight and raining :( this time, its dark and dry! perfect weather for a day out.

Christmas is coming. Looking forward to it though I'm not expecting many gifts! Have already received a crabtree shower gel, an advent calendar and expecting an umbrella to come my way too. :)

I've been dragging myself to work recently, even though I thought I had some new-found motivation. But all is dying away, again. One last week at work and I'm going skiing next Sat!! Yay!! Should be enough motivation to keep me going this week. And plus, going to meet up with Boxy for a couple of nice dinners this week. Lobster noodles check. Belgo mussels check (2nd time coz Boxy loves it!). Gold Mine roast duck check.

加油!

Granada trip

Over the weekend, we went to Granada at south of Spain.

The weather was good. Although cold, especially at night. But least when the sky cleared and the sun came out in the afternoon, I could walk around in my t-shirt and jeans. something i haven't in more than a month!

Click here for my Granada photos.

Why why why?

I cannot believe my luck this month! Did not go on any trips, so thought I've saved myself a small amount of £.

But misfortunes befall on me. Was locked in the toilet one monday morning, had to call for locksmith to come and save me. Cost me £109. Stoopid landlord refused to split cost with me, and my flatmate didn't wanna help me to pursue further and asked me not to pursue anymore. FINE.

The contact lens which I had been chasing the Capitol Optical at Jurong Point since I was in SG. Finally, after 1 month (!), they called me and told me the contact lens is ready for collection. but they cannot post it to me coz i need to pay for postage. WTF?! in the beginning, they said they will post it to me. now then said cannot?! the last time, Optical 88 at Jurong East posted it to me! Dear friends, please do not go to Capitol Optical at JP. They have very bad service. Anyways, my sister very kindly helped me to collect it and post it to me. Didn't know why the postage came up to S$46! kaoz... SG is really getting more and more ex.

Nevermind. But guess what's the best thing? I got a mail today "We are holding an international parcel for you at our depot. Delivery of this parcel is subject to payment of charges raised by HM Revenue & Customs. These charges are VAT - £21.33 and Clearance fee of £13.50 total of £34.83" !!

OMG! What have I done? £150 gone in a month just like that. Not to mention the very costly calls i made in london using my SG M1 number. Got my uk vodafone bill. Making a call in sg on my uk number costs so much cheaper to the equivalent length of call made in london using M1 number. WHY?!

got to scrimp next month now. :((

Paddy and his journeys..

Finally, I decided to upload the photos of my little paddington bear. :)



Click here for the photos I've taken of Paddy.

2nd work trip to Milford Haven, Wales

Went on my 2nd work trip to Pembrokeshire, Wales, to a client's place at Milford Haven. Hope it will be my last time there.

Click here for some photos to share.

again, the weather was gorgeous when I got there on Wed :)

Good food, good hotel. But work was so so. Nothing exciting this time round since I've been on the refinery tour last year. Client brought us to a couple of new sights this time. Love it there at the castle with the lake.

I have a choice

I have a choice to make myself happy. I have a choice to make my life as an Auditor easier. I have a choice to lead the life I want to.

So I shall try and do it from tomorrow onwards! After I finish reviewing this set of accounts, which I started from 11pm on a sunday night! :(

梁静茹 ~ 情歌

I'm pretty amazed by myself. I actually finished watching 敗犬女王 in 1 week. Maybe I'm too free? maybe I have nothing better to do? Maybe the show is just too nice?

Anyways, this song is really very nice, especially as u watch the show with it. And Fish leong made a cameo appearance in the last episode!

梁静茹 ~ 情歌KTV

敗犬女王

Am chasing this Taiwan 偶像剧 now - 敗犬女王
Totally fell in love with this song. Hope I dun fall into the 敗犬女王 category.

2 weeks on..

Sitting infront of my tv, feels slightly weird to see Mr Lee Hsien Loong being interviewed on BBC1 channel as he is doing a walk around the F1 pits. Haha.. but again, I'm proud that SG is holding an F1 race, and not to mention, in the dark!

OMG! Why is Taufik singing Majullah in a jazzy version?! aiyoh.

Being 2 weeks in since my return. Still no action on my part. Wonders what is still holding me back? Uncertainty of what's going to happen next? I guess so. No-job prospect? I guess so. So, still thinking what I should do now. 加油!!

Back to London

I'm now transiting at Dubai again. This time on my way back to London. Somehow, this time i'm not looking to go back unlike the last time. Maybe it's due to the fact I'm away for 3 weeks and so, totally no mood to start work? Or I know there is alot of work waiting for me and I'm really dreading to go back? Or the weather back home is so much nicer that last yr apr/may when I went back? Or simply, I just dun wanna leave sg....

Mixture of reasons.

Anyway, today was the first time I see a desert! As the plane was descending onto Dubai, I noted a sea of red below, only to realize it's the desert below! Really quite impressive coz it's just a sea of desert with random settlements, man-made green fields and lots of scattered desert shrubs/ plants.

Home trip to SG

During this trip back home to SG, I did many things, and thought about many things.

First, I went to Hong Kong and Macau - Click here for the photos taken on this trip.

I've spent more time with ah ma, ah gong, and wai po and wai gong.

Also took little James to take his favourite Duck tour. He is so excited before the embarking on the trip. but once we got onto the duck, he was so quiet... not quite sure if he enjoyed himself, or if he was just stunned by the sun shining right into his little face.




That's little James trying hard to smile for the camera. Think he is tired from the sun shining at him.. haha.. poor boy!

On the same day, there's also Mayday's concert which I went with Jianyi. Although we sat so high above (cheapest tix mah!), we totally enjoyed ourselves, especially towards the 2nd half of the concert. Thought Ah Xin sang below his standard in the beginning. Maybe he was tired from the concert the night before? But he really improved suddenly towards the 2nd half. Thank goodness for that! If not I'll be so disappointed.


Ah Xin at the drumset.


Oh, did I mention that they also sang till 1215am for the concert? Yeah.. they did not 亏待 us who are the 忠实歌迷 who bought the tix to their original first show before they decided to hold a second show on the night before ours.

Met up with a couple of friends, had ktv sessions, numerous lunches and dinners, and even Breakfast this coming sat!!

And then there's the highly anticipated first ever Hens trip to Ho Chi Minh City with my old old friends of 13 years from the days of 南中 中 4/6 班. Thanks to my dear friends for the wonderful trip. The endless discussions about constipation, menstruation, 姐妹 challenges for shuxian and huimin's grooms, tai tai enjoyments of endless eating (I'm really amazed by how much we can all eat!) and of course, Ah Teh's suay happenings.







And not forgetting, I got my perfectly good condition Sketches shoes damaged by a street shoe-man who was trying to act smart and offering to "repair" my shoe when he was the one who pulled the front part off?!

The trip was full of laughter and fun. Right up to the last minute, where we had to use 猜拳 to get rid of the last can of pepsi we bought with whatever common fund we had left.

Also thought about many things during this trip back home. Mostly about where I'm heading from now onwards. Have to make a decision soon..... Travelling, I think I have done enough for now. Just need to complete 1 more ski trip and a couple of small trips which I've booked.

US trip - New York

Ok I realised I can probably never be able to upload all my photos onto this blog timely because its quite tedious to upload photos here. only 5 a time!

so i've decided to try something else.
Click here for my New York photos



And click here for my Maine photos.



Hope this works! :)

SG @ wireless

Am I sua ku or something? Sg @ wireless is so cool!
Wireless almost everywhere.. At city hall starbucks now. :)

US trip - Niagara Falls and Toronto

From Boston, we signed up for a 3 days 2 nights trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto. As me being the budget conscious one, we got a very good deal, but had to take bus for around 10hrs each way to get to Niagara Falls and back. haha... 10 hours on a mini van some more, not the luxurious coach you're imagining.


10 hrs drive from Boston to Niagara Falls. Enroute, we stopped at Thousand Islands region for the islands tour.


This is an archipelago of islands that straddle the U.S.-Canada border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario.


One of the smallest islands. One of the key definitions for an island to be counted as an island is there must be at least 1 tree growing on the island.








This is an interesting one. These islands are owned by the same man, and below the bridge is the international border between Canada and the United States. The guide told us a joke which the owner of the island said "Whenever we have a family argument like all family do, I pack up my bag, cross the bridge, leave the country for a while and let the others cool down before I return home".


Finally we got to Niagara Falls at around 930pm, when we set off early at 8am.




This is the view of the American Falls.








Getting ready to board the Maid of the Mist.


Going towards the Horseshoe Falls.






Canadian side of Niagara Falls.


View of the Horseshoe Falls from the Skylon Tower.


American Falls and the very small Bride's veil Falls just on the right of the American Falls.


That's Goat Island which splits the course of the Niagara River, resulting in the separation of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls to the west from the American and Bridal Veil Falls to the east.


Rainbow bridge linking state of New York to Ontario in Canada.


Lunch at Skylon Tower restaurant. Its a revolving restaurant which gives very good view of the falls and the town itself.


City of Toronto - 1.5hrs drive from Niagara Falls.


Skyline of Toronto, with CN Tower, once the tallest free-standing structure on land in the world for 31 years.

10 hours each way, but its all worth it. Niagara Falls is really pretty.

Okies will upload Philadelphia and NY pics another day. going to look for some food now and will prepare to board the plane back home! seeya all!

US trip Jul 2009 - Boston

Currently transiting in Dubai now. The time is 925pm Dubai time. Flight is at 245am. so 5 more hrs to go. Plan to upload my US photos, and then watch a few HK series if can. watching Forensics Heroes II now. Can gain alot of knowledge from watching the show. The Dubai airport is so big, and quiet, ie not very quiet. which is good i guess.

As Aunt nic was visiting me 2 weeks before I went to US, i managed to psycho her to join me for the US trip at the last minute. haha.. so at least I had a companion for the trip! and I'm glad she joined me coz we had alot of fun! :)

We flew in to New York City, and from there, the first place we went was Boston, to spend Independence Day with biaojie and zhongji.


At the Massachusetts State House, waiting to start our Freedom Trail walk


One of the celebrations for Independence Day


Bunker Hill Monument


What is a trip to US w/o a visit to Cheesecake Factory?


Godiva cheesecake! Heavenly!


Our dear hosts..


Me and Nic enjoying a cuppa


Shopping at Newbury Street


The John Hancock Tower, designed by I.M. Pei - Tallest building in Boston and New England.



The highlights for Independence Day celebrations is usually the fireworks display. So of course, we joined in the celebrations by parking at a strategic location just outside their apartment along the river to catch the wonder fireworks display.










This is one of the best fireworks display that I've ever seen. Its very long. almost for 30min? and its accompanied live by the Boston Pops Orchestra. According to aunt nic who saw the ndp display this year, this is better than ndp! haha so at least i didn't miss much i hope!









The following day, biaojie and ck took us around Boston to see Harvard, MIT etc..


Sun brunch - still rem we were watching the Wimbledon finals between Federer and Roddick while eating!


Visit to Harvard Uni


Memorial Church


Mr John Harvard - a young British clergyman who bequeathed the College his library of four hundred books and £779 (which was half of his estate), assuring its continued operation


Charles River


Harvard Business School - This is the Baker Library, the world's largest business library








Massachusetts Institute of Technology




Green Building, Center for Earth Sciences - designed by I.M. Pei for MIT






Sunset at the harbour