Some good stuff to share

Good things are meant to be shared, except for McDull and his pork.

1) Lots of cheap and good stuff on gmarket.com.sg, esp Korean stuff. A colleague recommended the site to me. I recently bought a long t-shirt from the site. All inclusive of shipment @$8.90 (dirt cheap! - pee ga LS). Will let you know when my order arrives safely…or if there’s a credit card fraud.

It’s addictive like facebook in the beginning – I’ve to browse the site after lunch every day, besides my daily ritual of visiting job sites.

2) Here’s a lip balm from C.O. Bigelow I like very much.

First got it as a x’mas present from my friend in Canada. I also asked a colleague/friend (?) who recently who went to US for a holiday to help buy it for me and she got me 3 (the full range)! I love the pink tint and looking forward to using the (transparent?) peppermint and magenta ones. Glides nicely on my lips and it helps to cover your bad breath if you’re so unlucky to have that… Should be safe cuz not made in China. Most importantly, it's yummy! And it’s only US$7.50 each but if you think it’s too expensive, you can buy used ones which I realized are available on ebay – Friends and esp unfriends, feel free let me know if you want one of these for x’mas, happy to buy if for you.

3) Channel 8 production of the year 《当我们同在一起》- a drama serials about Singaporean from the 30s (I think) – can watch it if you can tahan the accent and storyline.
My mum faithfully watches it every day. 50% of the leading actors are from PRC and spoke weird English and Malay here and there. But like my sis said, it’s totally acceptable cuz our forefathers came to Nanyang at about those times. Er... i categorically say that my grandparents were from Macau, then a colony of Portugal. The PRCs around us may/will be the forefathers to future Singaporeans – if they don’t abandon Singapore for better citizenships or global warming hasn’t killed all earthlings by then.

Let me know if there’re other good ‘lobangs’.

My Daily Life

A few more characters have died in the Taiwanese show, but not fast enough for the show to end anytime soon. Can they please die faster, otherwise I’ll die even hearing (about) the show.

I’ve been invited for mystery dining at Sakae Sushi this week. Even without eating the food and sampling the service, I already can commend them:

Use of organic ingredients: My friend and I found a caterpillar (or maybe just a worm) in our paper pot. So the veggies must be pesticide free!
Earth friendly: the Sentosa outlet refused to switch on the aircon though it so stuffy in the restaurant that the waiter serving us was all wet in sweat, but still said with a smile that the air was ok. Excellent service too!

I might have told the stories before but can’t help repeating them when I am reminded of Sakae Sushi!

Back to my mom and her fishes – we didn’t just have steamed or pan-fried fish last night, we had pan-fried pomfret with lime! Good change (finally) but give me tandoori pomfret anytime. Can’t stand the sight of pomfret if you had eaten steamed for breakfast and fried for dinner…

TV Piggy

I was watching the replay of the travel programme《世界那么大》on tv last weekend. If you don’t already know, gluing my eyeballs to the tv is my favourite pastime. I love anything ranging from HK dramas, Taiwanese variety shows, travel, wine & dine to documentaries. This means I can stay at home the whole day. I hate going to the movies. Besides tv, I also use my eyeballs for reading, mainly the HK tabloids and sometimes magazines like national geographics. Now I’m reading a biography of Warren Buffett. It doesn’t send me to sleep but I do need naps here and there, unlike my most recent read “Angels & Demons” (slightly less than brand new cuz I was the first reader. Now available for loan at $1 a week). I also like to feast my eyes on clothes, shoes, bags, accessories… The bulk of my expenses is on food and travel.

Conclusion: I am a little more than shallow.

Ok, back to the travel programme. It was on a small town in Turkey, near the border with Iran. The Turkish seemed like a warm, rugged and unpretentious lot = 豪迈，大口吃肉、大口喝酒, just like their Muslim counterparts in Xinjiang (which I also learned about from another travel programme). So what drove them to desperation? Anyway, Turkey is one of my destinations. I’m also glad there’re fewer groups leaving McDull’s relatives and friends, leaving more of them for me.

Anyway, I really love 黄子华 in 《绝代商骄》 cuz he's really 贱. Love wicked people! That's why i appreciate my China colleague!

我问天

My mom and are hooked onto this Taiwanese hokkien drama called 《爱》. Apparently, they’re at episode 150 plus already and there’s another 50 dvds of 5 episodes more to go. My mom read from the papers that the show now running on channel 8 will end in 5 years’ time, so she’s glad that with the dvds (which my sister’s friend’s mother lends us), she’ll take only about 2. So time taken is about time McDull moves from kindergarten into primary school, instead of all the way to secondary school.

As an occasional viewer of the drama, my hokkien has improved! McDull has changed from 广东话走天涯to understanding basic hokkien. Don’t know if can converse in it as well. Good for him! And Singapore can’t seem to have enough of the theme song. Everyone’s singing it and watching the MV. Chinatown, Toa Payoh…. No running away from it.

250 more episodes! 我问天！天啊！

10 Things to do in Hong Kong (and Macau)

I just did an 8 day stay in Hong Kong and Macau last week. This week, I was transported back to reality on the same flight with my colleague. He told me he paid $345 for 2. I paid (a discounted price of) $300 for 1 WTF!

Hong Kong

1) Go during autumn (Around August to October) to enjoy the cool weather. BUT I was blasted by the weather in HK! Macau was worst! And with 90% mainland tourists gambling on the tiny island, the puffs were unbearable!!! (and this group of aunties were swearing very loudly, in unison, X你妈 along the hotel’s corridor. Exciting!). And not much shopping since it’s winter wear everywhere. With the freak weather these days, end Nov to early December may be a safer bet.

2) Visit the revamped Hyatt Hotel (if u have time). Photo opportunities!

3) Food - Drink the HK milk tea! I love the one from Lan Xiang Yuan (Central, HK island). Also, the egg tarts from Tai Cheong at Lyndhurst Terrace, Central. BIG and nice sushi at Yuen Long. The salmon sashimi is as big as my face! But don’t know where now. Just blindly followed my friend. The famous B-zai liang fen in Yuen Long was huge but so-so. not worth the trip unless u r staying in Yuen Long like me. Drinks at Lan Kwai Fong! I happened to bump into the Halloween countdown party. Fun!

4) Catch horseracing at Sha Tin or Happy Valley racecourse. So exciting cheering though I didn’t place any bet. But my horse came in 3rd! could have won myself an egg tart or meal or something.

5) Visit the outlying islands. This time, I went to the Tai-O fishing village, yes with McDull. Great place!

6) Take the tram on HK island. Anywhere for just HK$2. hop on to the ferry from tsim shat sui to central. Take the upper deck.

7) Shop like the locals at Kwai Fong. Great stuff at under S$20 but looks like S$200. forget about tsim sha tsui, Mongkok or causeway bay.

8) Last but not least, visit McQuarter! Lots of McDull stuff. Felt like paradise! I bought a kiddy umbrella, tote bag and thermal flask (at a discount!) See no touch, no buy! Had wanted to buy a long sleeve t-shirt but no size for me. Some girl said in the shop when she saw McDull in a graduation gown "how come pigs can graduate?". What was her problem? Did she have an issue with pigs?

I was very touched that my friends came fetch me from the airport with McDull. And I stepped into my room, there were balloons and my bed was covered with mcdull’s bedsheet, his limited edition shower gel on the bed. They even got me his latest movie! Don’t be envious.

Macau

大三巴was great and obligatory, but I was more interested in the old buildings on the sides.

9) Visit the black sand beach. Yes, the beach is black by nature, not result of pollution.

10) Go to the Venetian. Beautiful! Grand Canal is indoor! Though the Cotai Strip is a far cry from the populated, exciting The Strip in Las Vegas. Better than Singapore. Look out for the half-completed/abandoned project by Sands opposite Venetian and Four Seasons. BTW, I don’t understand why we can’t take pictures in the casinos. I took to my fill in Vegas.

Bonus: Eat pork chop bun at Da Li Lai coffee shop (I think) on Taipa island, Macau! Guide book says the buns are out at 3pm. Don’t be taken in! They’re out at 2.45pm sharp! The Q starts to form at 2.30pm and the buns are sold out in less than an hour.

and i need to share this interesting window display!

Ok, intelligence journal, here I come!

Good morling! Doujiang, Youtiao

My craving for a second breakfast with doujiang and youtiao was immediately satisfied when I got them at the suntec food republic yesterday. I managed to save on the other meals for the rest of the day, cuz I lost all my appetite. The youtiao tasted of tons of recycled oil. Thankfully, mom made me herbal soup at night, so after I vomited, the herbal aftertaste wasn’t gross. I was developing the vomit while watching a tv programme on bak chang and that really helped in purging out the toxic in my stomach. After my puking, the same siow bak chang actually looked delicious. Interesting!

For breakfast this morning, I managed to get chicken porridge. However, I’m given a choice of fish porridge or fish soup for dinner this evening.

I’m also glad to know that more people are reading my blog. Ms ‘good morling’ has started saying ‘good morling, XX speaking’! And today, she made an effort to correct ‘ilitially’ to ‘initially’. Good for her!!! So, people, please stop wondering why it's 'good morling'. Hello, ‘good morling’!

This weekend, Mcdull's going back to his hometown!

Professional in every possible way

Besides the challenging task of skimming all newspapers for all sorts of news – political, social, economic (but no entertainment) and summarizing relevant articles – the task which the company assigned us to mould us into potential research analyst and broaden our career opportunities, we now have another minor tasks in which we have to diligently capture our daily activities, including Saturday and Sunday. Before I go into that, I need to substantiate that we don’t only summarise news. It all goes into a weekly intelligence journal which goes to the ‘who’s who’ in the company. Woohoo!!! The distribution list is divided into:

1. Unclassified

2. Classified
Confidential – limited circulation
Restricted – news that will damage the company
Secret – news that will BADLY damage the company but pardon me that I can’t go into the details b’cos it’s secret.

Here’s my list of activities and status:-

Monday
*Felt blue but still turned up for work - Completed
*Intelligence journal - No end

Tuesday
*Intelligence journal - no end
*Sent out job applications - WIP (Importance: very very HIGH)

Wednesday
*Intelligence journal - No end

Thursday

*Intelligence journal - No end
*Blog - Working on it now

Friday

*Intelligence journal...No end
*To watch my favourite cartoon – Monster, 11pm on okto


Saturday
*To become more intelligent.
*To reluctantly turn up at company’s sports event to show superficial support cover it for the internal newsletter. F***!


Sunday
To sleep like a log.

Note: only the key tasks are mentioned too many nitty gritty like collecting crumbs of info for some important stuff (secret).

To further illustrate how professional i am:

I met this ang moh ladyat the security counter. She heard where i'm going and stretched out her hand and introduced herself "Hi, I'm xxx from the Australia office" and you are?"

Without hesitation, I shook her hand and replied "I'm Kris, i'm here for an interview."

Awkward silence for a few seconds b4 she regained her composure and said "Oh, good luck..."