The Rabid Hamster Chronicles

A new beginning ...

2007-03-28T02:30:00.000+08:00

... and a new blog address.

Have moved to http://elyxia.wordpress.com, do update your links! :)

Failure

2006-12-08T15:34:00.000+08:00

So, I checked my final results today and found that I got 2 B- for my last 2 papers. Which, of course, brought my average way down.

5 semesters of suffering all ruined by 2 bad exams. And my dreams of finally, at long last, being able to graduate from somewhere with an A average - shattered.

I'm so stunned I can't even cry.

Misery

2006-11-28T01:39:00.000+08:00

Life sucks.

It hurts to be, to feel, unwanted.

I really wish I didn't care. But fact is, I do.

An ex-colleague of mine killed himself a few weeks back.

He was single and in his late thirties. He had his whole life ahead of him, but perhaps he felt that there wasn't anything worth living for.

Being lonely is one of the most miserable feelings in life.

I understand why he did it now.

Rest in peace, B.

Serenity

2006-11-17T12:23:00.000+08:00

I just love Firefly. What a pity the series was pulled after just one measly season.

Niche is dead. Long live the Mass Market.

Firefly Theme Song

Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand

I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me

Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain't comin' back

Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me

There's no place I can be
Since I found Serenity

But you can't take the sky from me...

You can listen to the themesong here.

Goodbye, old girl. I'll miss you.

Uh oh

2006-11-16T20:43:00.000+08:00

Am I so dead or what?

Never Date a Cancer

Clingy, emotional, and very private - it's hard to escape a Cancer's clutches.
And while Cancer will want to know everything about you, they're anything but open in return.

Instead try dating: Leo, Sagittarius, Gemini, or Aquarius

What Sign Shouldn't You Date?

Will the real rabid hamster please stand up?

2006-11-16T15:06:00.000+08:00

It suddenly struck me. All my problems are so "real world" that it scares me.

Oh boy, I'm turning into one of those faceless, nameless, forgotten beings that you see everyday, trudging along Raffles Place and Orchard Road.

All I need now is some smart-ass, elitist R****** kid to tell me what a wretched, sorry creature I am.

I wish I didn't have to deal with all this, haha.

The peril of phone cameras ...

2006-11-09T16:17:00.000+08:00

... is that you get trigger happy and take totally pointless pictures.

Electronic sign at the MRT station. Err, methinks they need a hardware upgrade.

Justice Bao would flip if he saw this.

The stress monster attacks, woe is me!

2006-11-07T23:38:00.000+08:00

I think I have never gone through so much stress in my life. The other day in the office, my head hurt like nothing I'd felt before, I felt sick to my stomach and I couldn't concentrate at all. I'm going nuts, I tell you!

Here are the guilty parties:

Exams: Exams the coming Monday and Saturday, and I've hardly started studying. Can't seem to get into the groove, unlike the past few semesters.

It doesn't help that the exam date was pushed forward by 1 week - AFTER I had booked my leave - and subsequently, I wasn't able to change the leave dates because my colleagues all had prior plans. Sigh.

Work: So many new things to learn! It hurts being the most junior (in terms of years of relevant experience) in the department. It hurts to start all over again, from scratch. It hurts when folks 3 years my junior are 2 grades higher than me.

Why did I choose to start all over again when I could have had a cushy life in my old job?

Job Security: Good news - I've been offered a permanent position at my present company. Not-so-good news - At an "entry level graduate" grade.
Damn bad news - At half my current pay.

Sigh. What am I going to live on?

Loans - I suppose I should announce it now: The S.O. and I put down a deposit for a condo in St. Michael's. (Yes, most people don't know where it is, just look it up lah! :P)

No wedding plans yet. I'm happy to stay single for now and the not-so-distant future.

With a lower pay, how am I going to make the payments for the house?

I suppose I was dumb to make the purchase before my employment issues had been settled, but sometimes your emotions get the better of you and you make impulse decisions, y'know?

Please let me strike Toto real soon! Haha!

Back again

2006-10-29T13:33:00.000+08:00

I forgot to pay the maintenance for my domain elyxia.com, so I figured I'd lost the blog ...

Today, I remembered that I still can use the blogspot addy. Haha ... /bish self

Went to the VI party yesterday! Was great fun though most of the folks there didn't know me. Sad. Should socialise more.

Am now addicted to -> online shopping, plus looking for a corgi puppy! Have written to a couple of breeders in UK and NZ, but none has replied. I read in a forum that overseas breeders don't want to ship their precious brood to Singapore, for fear that (1) we'll chop up the poor darling and use it for food or (2) breed the poor thing in a puppy mill. (I'm sure it was meant tounge in cheek, but that still doesn't solve my problem of not being able to get a puppy from overseas!)

What to do now?

Poop to party poopers

2006-04-12T00:24:00.000+08:00

There are those who build bridges. There are those that painstakingly maintain and repair them.

And there are those that burn and destroy them.

There are those that would help a child strengthen the walls of his sand castle, help him lay the foundation that would make it strong.

And there are those that would cruelly kick the fragile walls down and trample on the ruins.

Why?

Do they find joy in creating misery and causing destruction?

Will they only be happy when that is so?

Perhaps.

But every dog's day will come.

And what goes around, comes around.

(Great, now on top of being a spatz, I sound like a kook)

A social butterfly I'll never be

2006-04-12T00:19:00.000+08:00

I am such a spatz when it comes to social situations. Haha.

I met my colleague and his wife during dinner today. I knew that she'd been really ill recently, she'd been hospitalized and he had taken almost a week's leave to be at her bedside. (So sweet!)

So I asked her how she was, and I wanted to say a bit about how well she looked now, but what came out was "you look happy now".

Ugh. It was after work, and she was having dinner with hubby dearest. Of course she should look happy lah.

Idiot hamster! :p

For Love of Amélie

2006-03-15T00:37:00.000+08:00

In a fit of madness, the S.O. and I have decided to name our car Amélie.
(Well, it's our baby, and all babies have names, so there!) :p

We had a silly time thinking of possible names. At first, the S.O. kept on suggesting "garang" names like "Black Adder". Ewww.

Then, we went along the line of "foxy girls' names" - like "Elvira". Mistress of the Dark (Oooh, so scary). Actually, I was ok with the name, until we surfed to the official Elvira site and saw "Elvira's breasts'' selling on eBay. Needless to say, it was "NO WAY!!" after that. o.O

So, anyway, we shall be bringing Amélie for a "spa treatment" and buying skincare products for her delecate exterior. My classmate has promised to bring us to the car spa place once exams are over. I can't wait!

To think that I myself have not gone for a spa treatment in all the years of my life. Bah! The good life kids have nowadays ... :p

My New Flame!

2006-03-09T00:12:00.000+08:00

The S.O. and I collected our zoom-zoom today!

It was already ready for collection yesterday, but I persuaded S.O. to delay it till today because (according to the chinese calendar) yesterday was a "xia-xia" (i.e. VERY BAD!) day for those of his zodiac sign. Haha, I am so turning into a superstitous auntie. Save meeeeeee!

Anyway. The collection point was really out of the way @ Pasir Panjang Distripark. When we located the place, we saw lines and lines of cars parked in the open, waiting for their new owners to collect them. Many of the cars were very grimy and I was worried that ours would be too - but lucky for us, our wheels had been stored in a covered warehouse and was spic and span :)

Our sales exec told us certain distributors couldn't afford a covered warehouse and thus had to rent the cheaper outdoor area for storage. Poor outdoor cars - treated like "2nd-class citizens". Haha.

I can't wait to drive around SG in our new baby! But gotta get exams out of the way first. 2 more weeks to end of exam, arggh! Must ... perservere ...

And the shit hits the fan!

2006-02-27T22:51:00.000+08:00

Today was a really bad day. Emails kept coming in, and problems started to pile up. I could almost imagine the shit hitting the fan. LOL. I originally planned to leave work at 6pm on the dot so I could go to school and study, but ended up staying until close to 8pm. Sigh :(

I hope things will be better at my new office. The users there are mostly professionals, so working with them should be a pleasantly different experience. Speaking of which, I'm supposed to go meet their Chief later this week for a work discussion. Wah liew, need to meet with their bigshot one ah. So nerve wracking.

The saving grace of the day was the S.O. He was at his understanding best today :) He waited patiently for me until I got off work, managed to stop my brooding, and cheered me up by bringing me to my favourite place for dinner.

To the S.O. - Thank you for being there for me today. Love you for 5 minutes! :P

Nothing to see here, move along

2006-02-26T15:25:00.000+08:00

Have been really busy this month, which explains the lack of posts. I haven't been meeting up with my friends very much, because everyone is busy (and broke!).

For those that have blogs, I've been reading them regularly - it feels good to keep up with what's happening on their end. Here's quick update on what's up with my life :)

I will be transferred to another department within my organisation from 1st April onwards. Still doing IT stuff, but it's slightly related to my field of study - a small step towards my goal of working in the Finance industry :)

The best part about this transfer is that I FINALLY GET TO WORK NEAR CIVILIZATION!! Wooohooo!! My new office is near City Hall - short walk from MRT, lots of shopping and F&B outlets nearby, and a 5 minute walk from school. And one bus stop away from the uber Lor Mee eating place near Riverwalk.

A clue on the exact location - it's where Justin (Kerr) used to work :P Kerr, transfer back to your old location leh :P Then I have lunch kakis already. Hahaha.

A word (and a phrase) a day

2006-02-01T22:21:00.000+08:00

I was leafing through a vendor's proposal today and came across this word: successfulness

My first thoughts were that this couldn't be an actual word, but dictionary.com soon proved me wrong:

Successfulness - n : the condition of prospering; having good fortune [syn: prosperity]

It seems like quite an auspicious word!

Hmm, learn new word already, must use! So I wish all my friends & relatives "Successfulness in the Year of the Dog" :) Let's share a Successfulness pizza and enjoy our new year! :P

I learnt a new phrase from the S.O. today as well (smart arse that he is): Cogito ergo sum

It translates literally (in Latin) to "I think, therefore I am". The full phrase is actually (warning: LONG!):

"But I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Does it now follow that I too do not exist? No: if I convinced myself of something [or thought anything at all] then I certainly existed. But there is a deceiver of supreme power and cunning who is deliberately and constantly deceiving me. In that case I too undoubtedly exist, if he is deceiving me; and let him deceive me as much as he can, he will never bring it about that I am nothing so long as I think that I am something. So, after considering everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that the proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind."

So, if Descartes is to be believed, if I think, if I am aware of my surroundings - I exist. Ah, the power of thought.

Conversely, once I act like a brainless bozo and do things without a second thought and with nary a care about my surroundings - I don't exist? (Actually, this does make sense. e.g. One day, Mr. Someone wanders around aimlessly, walks up a building and saunters off the edge *splat*)

Ah well. I'm getting lost in a haze of confusion so I shall leave you with this Descartes joke (swiped off Wikipedia):

Descartes is sitting in a bar, having a drink. The bartender asks him if he would like another. "I think not," he says, and vanishes in a puff of logic.

Long live smart-arse boyfriends who quote Latin at random and create headaches for their girlfriends :P

The Weird Meme (Not to be confused with the "Weird Me")

2006-01-31T22:53:00.000+08:00

Yes, I haven't updated in ages. Have been feeling really tired and uninspired. I blame it on the job & start of the new school term. Haven't had the mood to do many things lately. I guess I'm just going through the motions until something gets me going again.

Had to go to work this afternoon, great way to spend the last afternoon of the CNY holidays :(

Toyed with the idea of going to the River Hong Bao in the evening, but thought better of it and decided to go for dinner @ Katong instead.

On hindsight, that was probably the best decision I made today. From the bus, I could see that the place was totally packed! You could see heads bobbing everywhere, and all the seats at the performance area looked to be full. Ugh. I suppose the point of going to the River Hong Bao is to soak up some festive spirit - but the crush of bodies and the smell of B.O. doesn't exactly cut it for me.

Moving on to unfinished business. I was tagged by both Davienne and Vincent to draw up a list of 5 weird things about myself. Here's my uninspired attempt:

1. I have a strong fear of sharp items. I feel slightly ill when I come into close contact with needles, knives, razor blades and the like.

My fear of sharp items runs so deep that even the dinky little "test pens" that medical staff use to take a blood sample from your finger make me panicky. Ring-pulls (like those on Pringles cans and Bundaberg root beer bottles) make me nervous too, and more often than not I get a friend to open those for me.

2. Only flying bugs scare me. When they're on the ground, I can catch them with my fingers or swipe at them with a newspaper, but once they start flying that's a different story altogether. I have this fear that they'll fly into my ear or nose or something. LOL.

3. I like fire. I used to be quite a firestarter when I was younger. There was tin container in my room (legitimate purpose: for burning mosquito coils) and I used it for my little campfires. Sometimes, I would swipe raw meat from the freezer and cook it over my campfire.

Erm, of course I didn't end up eating the meat. I just wanted to see how long it would take to cook the stuff. (I probably got this "cookout" idea from the Beano, Beezer and Dandy magazines from my childhood)

4. I lose interest in things really fast. Sometimes, I get it in my head that I want to have something (e.g. an iPod, a camera) and start researching madly on which model to get, the best price, places I can get accessories, etc. But once I get my hands on the item, I get bored with it really quickly and it gets chucked to one forgotten, dusty corner. Months later, when I discover the item again, it's likely that the poor thing is a goner from lack of use.

This applies to collections as well. I have a 20-30 piece Swatch collection, 3-4 boxes of Beanie Babies, 10-20 Disney beanies ... the list goes on.

My latest interest is food blogs. I'm reading http://www.tastingmenu.com/ right now and getting hungrier by the moment!

5. I am a pack rat. I get more and more stuff, but I don't throw the old stuff away. So, my poor wardrobe is packed with old, never-again-going-to-be-worn clothes, my room is cluttered with old papers and trinkets, my dresser is stacked with skincare samples and almost-empty bottles of lotion ... you get the idea. I just don't like to throw stuff out, coz you never know when you might need it :P

A few days before CNY, I spent a few hours trying to tidy up my room. 3 huge bags of rubbish later, there was nary a dent in the mess that is my room :P I guess 10 years of rubbish accumulation can't be reversed in a day. Haha. I pity the person who's going to stay with me next time.

By the way, my current S.O. is also quite a pack rat himself. o.O

Takes one to love one, I guess. :)

Getting the best deal at the CNY bazaar @ Chinatown

2006-01-16T12:08:00.000+08:00

The Sunday Times wrote an article on interesting stalls to look out for at the CNY bazaar @ Chinatown, and how the stallowners had been affected by the incessant rain. Hey, I wrote about that too! See, hamsters are good at sniffing out newsworthy matters :P

Anyway, one thing that caught my eye was a comment by a stallowner, to the effect that "serious buyers" usually came by in the afternoons, and those that came in the evenings were by and large there just to enjoy the festive atmosphere.

In that case, it implies that the best deals are to be had in the evenings, coz the owners know that you're a "non-serious" buyer and will cut their prices a bit more to make you bite.

Conversely, they probably will give you smaller discounts (if at all) if you're an afternoon buyer.

Wonder if my logic holds out. Haha.

Silence

2006-01-15T15:28:00.000+08:00

Here I am, slaving away @ Raffles Place on a beautiful Sunday, trying to earn $ for my HK/TW/SH fund. Haha!

Raffles Place is really a ghost town on Sundays. Few people, Shops closed, ENTIRE BUILDINGS closed (e.g. Clifford Ctr). The escalators at Change Alley/Caltex House aren't in operation. The exit from the MRT to Clifford Ctr is cordoned off. The air-con in the office is off. (HOT!)

It's like the entire place just shuts down.

I feel as if I'm in the movies: Walking out of my house one day and realising that I'm the only one around. No bustling crowds, no vehicles. The escaltors and lifts don't work. Just stillness. Emptiness. Fear. Despair.

Ok, I'm being too dramatic. Back to work.

Dinner party at Chow House today, and meeting S.O. to go to Clarke Quay! I've been lemming for oishii okashi from Meidi-ya for a week now, haha, let's hope I don't spend too much there. :P

A bad case of wanderlust

2006-01-14T23:47:00.000+08:00

It's barely a week since I returned from Hong Kong and already I'm planning for my next trip there. Haha. I love travelling too much for my own (bank account's) good.

Hopefully, this summer I can hit Hong Kong and maybe Taiwan. Shanghai is a consideration too (thanks to a recommendation from the GoonFather). If anyone else is interested, let me know! I'll bring you to all the places that sell trendy, inexpensive clothes in HK - Argyle Centre, Fa Yuen Street, the wholesale markets around Sham Shui Po, factory outlets (Esprit, I.T., Adidas, Nike) , cosmetic & skincare shops around Mongkok & Granville, the trendy shops in Island Beverly, Pedder Street ... the list goes on & on! I'm also now researching the potential buying areas in Taiwan. No boring "cookie-cutter" shopping centres & tourist traps (Ladies' market, temple stree) for my travelmates and I! We go where the good stuff is! Hahaha!

Hey, I pride myself on my research, ok? :)

A couple more pics from the HK trip:

This was the first pair of boots I bought in HK, only $30! The material is leather-like.

I couldn't resist this second pair because of the nice suede-like material and the cute fur trimming! The shoes cost just $17. (The pic doesn't do the shoes justice, the color is much nicer than that but I couldn't get a better pic because my room was dark)

Besides these, there was a pair of black chunky boots that I loved, it was what I had been looking for and the height was just nice too! The only problem was the price - it cost around $65 and the material wasn't of the greatest quality. It looked like leather but I suspect it was some synthetic stuff. In the end, I decided not to get them :(

Ok, on to other stuff.

My colleagues and I were commenting on the heavy rainfall this January - usually, the monsoon season ends in December, does it not - and how it would affect the CNY "trade fair" vendors in Chinatown. I think these folks hate the rain 100x more than we do. Each day of rain for them = low sales, no profits, loss in terms of rental & labor costs. And it's not as though they can keep their stock past CNY, coz much of their stuff is "nian huo" (festive stuff) such as CNY cookies, yang liu, potted plants, decorations. They either have to do a firehouse sale in the wee hours of CNY eve or chuck out the stuff.

So, if you're cheapskate and don't want to pay $1 for yang liu or $0.50 for decorations on CNY eve, go to Chinatown on CNY morning and the throwaways are yours for the picking :P

Anyway, the (kinda) good news is that, despite the rain, there still seems to be a crowd at Chinatown. My friend Qiaoyun mentioned she was there yesterday (Friday) and it was packed. So I guess this will be a happy new year for them too :)

Rabid adventures in Hong Kong

2006-01-13T23:56:00.000+08:00

Some pictures from our vacation in Hong Kong!

Ok, you'll notice that the Significant Other's face is pixelated - my lame attempt at granting him a bit of privacy. Aiyah. Most of you know who he is, anyway, so ... :P

A huge LV bag! Susu, make Morte buy you a LV this size ok? Mwahahaha! :D

The S.O. and I decide to play tourist and visit the Mid-Levels escalators in Central. It's 800m long and is the world's longest covered escalator! Travelling the entire length will take around 20 minutes. By the way, HK folks stand on the right side of the escalator to make way for those in a hurry. Ikut kanan kecuali memontong.

In SG, we stand on the left side. Hey, who makes these escalator rules anyway? o.O

These dogs remind us of Erwin's 2 adorable ones! Almost the same colors too!

Warning: after taking the escalator up, you'll realise that it only goes one way: which means you'll have to walk all the way down ... o.O

We take a tram (only $2 HKD!) to Happy Valley racecourse. It really reminds us of the one in Kung Fu Hustle, haha! S.O. and I are tempted to ham it up and act like Stephen Chow/sidekick in the "tram" scene and take pics, but decide not to because we're too thin-skinned :X

It costs $10 HKD to get into the racecourse. Big crowd there. They have beer, hotdogs, McD's, dim sum, noodles, etc ... the atmosphere is really festive!

Urban legend #1 - after each race, you'll see a storm of confetti (torn-up betting slips) floating from the higher bleachers as the punters tear up/throw away their slips in disgust.

I actually saw this happen! :P But there wasn't much, lah. Maybe only 100+ pieces of it.

The S.O. and I try to decipher the betting odds. Got Qin, Tce, etc ... what do those mean? So you win $70.50 per $ you bet or per $10? We give up after a couple of races. I suppose I should be glad that he isn't much of a gambler. LOL.

The board even shows how much the horse won by! I wonder if they let you bet on this.

Here's something you don't get to see on TV. After each race, a bunch of people will come out with sharp prongs to chase away kaypohs who are too near the race track.

Ok, corny, I know. They're actually there to clean up after the horses (i.e. pick up horse shit)

We wouldn't want a flying turd to hit the spectators, or worse, land on your freshly grilled plate of hotdogs, would we?

A cool pic the S.O. took of the horses just coming out of the gates. So colorful!

Every night, at 8pm, there's a light show at the harbour from more than 20 buildings on both sides of HK harbour. Very pretty! :) Pity it was cloudy the night we went so we didn't see the full beauty of the lights.

Yummy! Dessert from Hui Lau Shan. The QQ glutinous balls in my dessert were delicious, and the mango was very sweet and fresh! I wish I could have this everyday :(

This guy is fishing on the ... road?! Actually, he's fishing via a longkang on the roadside. I wonder what he expects to catch. LOL.

We catch the fast ferry from Central Pier No.5 to Cheung Chau island ($21 HKD one-way). It's a small residential island with no motor traffic.

The first thing we see when we get off the ferry is ... McDonald's ...

... not to forget 7-11 and Circle K ... damn, commercialised siah ...

Still, it's a really nice place, quiet, fresh air, idyllic. We don't mind getting aplace there when we retire. And it doesn't hurt that they have cheap internet there too!

Well, time for me to retire for the night too :)

On the contrary, my dear Watson

2006-01-13T23:47:00.000+08:00

My boyfriend is weird.

A few days ago, while shopping, I saw a few things I liked and pointed them out to him. He went something like "Hmmm, $25.00, that's like $100 Hong Kong dollars".

I gave him a funny look. Sure, when we're overseas we usually convert prices to our home currency, but we were in Singapore (duh!) and I couldn't see the logic of his reflecting prices in a foreign currency.

I told him as much.

His reply? "Well, I'm contrary!"

o.O

I think you're weird, dear. But I love you anyway. :P

Everything changes but you

2006-01-11T23:41:00.000+08:00

I returned to Singapore to find out so many things at work had changed.

My job scope had changed.
My supervisor had changed.
I had new colleagues.

I looked at my surroundings, the people around me, my nearest and dearest, and they also seemed different.

I'm disorientated. I feel as if I don't fit in anymore.

Maybe it's time for a change.

Ironic, ain't it, that change is what has caused my present state of confusion. And that change is what I have chosen as a cure.

Freezing my a** off in HK

2006-01-10T13:05:00.000+08:00

I'm back from Hong Kong! The S.O. and I had a wonderful time in HK and we already miss the place. We missed it so much that we headed to Hong Kong Cafe (in SG) the day after we returned home for dinner and to reminisce about our trip. LOL.

The weather in HK was great. Most days, the temperature hovered around 15 degrees and we were perfectly comfortable with some layering, a scarf and a jacket. I love winter fashion! Sweater, knee-length jacket, scarf and boots - sooooo nice - but totally impractical for Singapore's weather :(

The shopping wasn't all that fantastic, because 90% of the clothes on sale were unsuitable for SG's climate. There was a huge variety of boots and bags, though. The number of designs available was mind-boggling. The S.O. had to keep reminding me that the material used (kind of like suede/velvet) wasn't waterproof and would be hard to keep clean in SG, so I (very unwillingly) restricted myself to just 2 pairs of boots and 2 bags.

We had a field day at Esprit Warehouse though. The place was huge (at least twice the size of the Esprit @ Raffles City) and prices were good: $22+ for men's shirts, $25+ for sweaters, $30+ for pants. They also had a few racks of "samples" for really low prices. I managed to get a shirt I was eyeing in SG (retail price - $79) for just $20! My colleague brought us to a Timberland sample sale in SG before, according to him the manufacturers usually make a few pieces of each design as "samples" before the items go for mass production. I guess I was pretty lucky to be able to get a piece in my size! In all, we spent around $175 in Esprit for 4 shirts, 1 jacket, 1 pair of pants & 1 keychain. Not too shabby, I'd say :)

One thing that struck us when we were in HK was the large variety available for almost everything. A typical teahouse (cha2 can1 ting1) in HK has an A3 size menu with hundreds of items available, and we're talking about "normal" teahouses the size of a typical 1-storey shophouse unit in SG. We were really spoilt for choice. The variety is huge even at fast food joints like McDonald's, Fairwood and Yoshinoya. At McD's, they have 3 kinds of foldovers (vs. our miserable 1 grilled chicken foldover), and at Yoshinoya, they have 12 items on their regular menu, not to mention breakfast sets, tea sets, and special items. It might seem silly that we ate at fast food joints while in HK, but the stuff there was too special to resist. For e.g., at Yoshinoya, the S.O. tried their tobiko & salmon rice bowl and I had a mushroom, tofu and beef sukiyaki set. Yes, sukiyaki! The beef was really fresh (you had to cook it yourself) and the set came with a small burner to keep the soup boiling throughout the meal.

The variety didn't stop at the food and clothing. Even their transport choices were pretty impressive. Travelling around, we could choose between their MTR, bus, tram (reminded me of Kung-Fu Hustle, haha) and cross-harbour ferry, mini-buses, taxis and railway. Tram and ferry rides were inexpensive and fun - only around $0.45 per trip! All their public transport was really crowded though - with a population of 6 million, I wasn't really surprised.

I guess the folks in HK demand variety, and the service providers are able to provide it because the population can sustain it - economies of scale and all that.

Oh, and we found out about this cool MTR promotion known as the "fare saver" scheme. If you're at a shopping centre that has a fare saver machine, just wave your Octopus card (it's like our Transitlink card) on the scanner and you'll save HK$2 (around $0.45) on your next MTR trip! So cool! It's like the shopping centre is giving you a rebate for frequenting their complex. It would be nice if we had that in SG :)

Enough of my trip for now, haha, I'll post some pics when I get the chance. My friend Chong told me about flickr and I'll probably try to use it to post my KL and HK pics.

Oooh my aching head

2006-01-03T04:07:00.000+08:00

Ok so it's 4am and I'm still awake coz I've been busy planning the itinerary for my upcoming vacation.

I've always tended to 'over-plan' and seems like this trip is no exception. There are soooo many things to see, eat and shop during my short 5-day stay there, and it's tough working out a "relaxed" schedule that covers most of the stuff that we want to do.

I can imagine the look of horror on the Significant Other's face when he sees how much shopping time I've factored in. Haha! That's what you get when you allow me to do the planning, dearie. :P

So anyways, we'll be away from Wednesday to Sunday, and I'll see you guys when I get back! Don't miss me too much!

(Yes, I know no one's going to miss me, but I just had to say it anyway. Hamsters are such suckers for punishment. So bite me.)

:P

Things that ruin your mood

2006-01-03T01:04:00.000+08:00

It's been a fun weekend - partying, fun & games with a great bunch of friends, plus an afternoon of cycling with the Significant Other. Pity that I'm now in a reallly bad mood because people have been stepping on my tail all evening, and it didn't help that I've been swamped with office affairs the minute I stepped home (I'm on leave! Don't bother me!! How would you like it if I kept calling you when you were on vacation?).

On a 'happier' note, I surprised myself today by snapping back at the annoying people who tried to get smart with me. Haha. I'm not going to be an easy target anymore, you morons. Just try me. :P

Oh well, busy busy busy these few days. Soooo many things to do. I'm supposed to edit my KL trip photos and make a copy for all my friends, but I haven't the time to do so. Sigh. Sorry, guys. Here's a few pics of our KL weekend to appease you in the meantime. :P

Supper in JB

Our X'mas presents!

Bak Kut Teh!

Crab fried with salted egg

"Tempura" style crayfish

Crab fried with sambal and curry leaf

Chee Cheong Fun + meatballs + tau pok (interesting combo ...)

Spicy chicken @ Nando's (for experts only! gimps stay away! :P)

Man, all this food is really getting me hungry :)

The runup to X'mas

2005-12-20T23:49:00.000+08:00

I really hate shopping for 'mandatory' X'mas presents. Every X'mas, my office goes through this obligatory drill - pick another colleague's name out of a hat, buy him a present up to a value of $15, and surprise him with it during the X'mas party.

What usually happens is:
1. More often than not, you pick a name of a person that you don't know very well and won't know what he really wants
2. You end up looking for a "generic" present like toiletries, towels or X'mas treats
3. The person that receives the gift thanks you and tries to look pleased (and chucks it into a corner of his cubicle/car once he gets the chance)

I think the only people that benefit from this "secret Santa" game are the retailers. Every year, I see ready wrapped "$10 presents", "$20 presents" and such popping up in the stores, no doubt targeted at busy, clueless or simply bochup people who just want to get a gift, ANY gift, for their colleagues and get it over with.

X'mas is really getting commercialized, methinks.

Bah, humbug.

Any xxx for you, miss?

2005-12-14T17:30:00.000+08:00

I read an article in The New Paper about being stopped along Orchard Road every 20 steps of the way. Man, those folks haven't seen anything until they've been to Raffles Place!

In the (extremely and excruciatingly) short distance between Raffles Place MRT and Caltex House, I was stopped (accosted) by no less than:

1. 5 flyer distributors
2. 4 promoters (credit card for you, miss?)
3. 3 ppl trying to do a survey (oh, congratulations, you've won our BIG prize for the day!)
4. 2 ppl soliciting for donations (I feel bad about rejecting these kids, but I see them every day now and frankly, I'm not rich enough to donate each time they stop me)
5. And a partridge in a pear tree :p (Haha, you all saw that coming!)

I really feel sorry about those folks that work in Raffles Place and have to put up with this everyday.

And, woe betide those who choose to take a seat at the "walls" bordering the lawn upstairs of Raffles Place. You've just triggered the *easy victim alert* of these promoters, who will zoom straight in, figuring that since you've nothing better to do than to sit there, you have time to listen to their spiel.

Yes, I know these folks have to make a living too. But it really would be nice to get to/from Raffles Place without being badgered every 5 steps of the way.

Wouldn't it be nice?

To buy or not to buy, that is the question

2005-12-14T17:14:00.000+08:00

I'm going to KL over X'mas and to HK in January, yay! The problem is that my old camera isn't all that great (2 megapixel only - come on, handphone cameras are now 1+ megapixel even!) and I would like to get a better camera to capture those holiday memories. Suvena told me about a Sony Fair @ Suntec this weekend, and I also chanced upon an advertorial for a Canon Fair @ Expo. I guess it's camera shopping time this weekend :) Although I'm not sure whether I WILL end up buying a camera in the end because I am really broke! Haha. Talk about irony.

Besides the camera problem, I am feeling bad because I am going to miss out on yet another of my "gang's" outings because of work/outside commitments. Arrgh! That's the story of my life: when there's fun activities to be had, they all come together and I have to choose which to go. And subsequently, there's a dearth of activities and I'm hard pressed to find stuff to do :p

Being a hamster sucketh.

JB Adventures

2005-12-12T18:34:00.000+08:00

A few of coursemates/friends (John, Toto, Allen & Peter) and I made a day trip into JB over the weekend. It was good to see them again, I kind of missed my "study group" coursemates after the exams ended. I was really surprised when some of them told me they felt the same way! I guess we've all gotten (too) used to each other :)

My Uni coursemates and I were never this close. I guess that's because we weren't "allocated" a fixed set of modules, and so we usually saw a different bunch of people during each class and didn't get the chance to know each other better. Well, hopefully my MAF class of 2005/2006 will stay close and keep in touch even after the course has ended :)

Ok, I digressed. Back to topic. Though I've been into JB countless times, this trip was a real eye-opener for me because it was the first time I took public transport into JB! We took bus 160 from Kranji MRT to the Woodlands checkpoint, where we joined the (long) immigration queue. There were 5 of us and we split up to join 3 separate queues. John and I were in the same queue and we chatted about our respective "queue curses":

1. The person in front of you has a problem with his/her passport
2. The immigration officers change shift while you are in that queue
3. You realise the queue you're in acually merges with another queue as you near the immigration counter

Of course, Murphy's Law prevailed and we were struck by Curse #2 and #3. Arggh! The other 3 were luckier and cleared customs fairly quickly. Of course, that didn't help them much because they still had to wait for both of us to clear anyway. Haha!

We then spent more than 1 hour waiting for SBS Bus 160/170 to bring us across the Causeway. $*@&#*@!! There were 3 buses you could have taken to Woodlands - TIBS 950, Causeway Link & SBS 160/170, and only ours took ages to arrive!

(Tip 1: Take 950 or the Causeway Link bus to JB next time. The frequency is much better!)

Anyway, when the bus finally arrived, 2 of my friends started clapping and cheering and making a big hoo-haa about it. The funny part was that some others in the queue followed suit and started joining in the commotion. Haha. I guess everyone was equally peeved and had to let off steam.

When we reached the JB checkpoint, we found out (to our horror) that the queue for Singapore passports was extremely long, so much so that it snaked out of the building. 3 of my friends (being foreigners) were able to join a much shorter queue for Foreign passports. I think our queue was at least 20 times longer than theirs, not to mention that our queue seemed to be 2 to 3 deep (refer to Curse #3 above). We estimated that the queueing alone would take us around 1.5 hours! Luckily, we met a friend who took us through an alternative route past the border :)

(Tip 2: Don't take the bus into JB! Noooo! It's much better to go to Queen St. and take one of the "yellow" M'sian cabs)

(Tip 3: If you're changing $ in JB, make sure you exchange big notes - at least SG$50 - and not SG$10 notes, because you get an inferior rate if you use "loose change")

Well, after all that "adventure", the rest of our trip was pretty sedate. We went to City Plaza to cool down, had lunch at a duck restaurant, took a bus down to Holiday Plaza (where Allen bought RM$30+++ worth of Ricola!!) and had KFC for dinner before heading back to SG.

Thanks for a fun trip, guys! :)

Feeling Vile and Vulnerable

2005-12-07T00:07:00.000+08:00

After 4 weeks of mental torture, the exams are finally over. Strangely enough, I now find myself feeling empty, confused, at a loss. The freedom I craved so much during the past month I can now enjoy in abundance - but how come freedom feels alien, unfamiliar and discomfiting?

During the exam period, I had so many ideas floating around in my mind - so many grand plans, so many things to do, but totally no mood nor inclination to pursue them now. Sigh. I hope this shell-shocked stage passes through because it's making me totally depressed.

It doesn't help that the Significant Other hasn't been having a good week either. He's up to his ears in work and can only get away close to 8pm these days. After dinner, he ends up logging in too late, misses out on raids & XP, and goes to bed moody and feeling as if the evening's been wasted. I feel bad for him, but what's making it worse is that there is nothing I can do to help. Paying $25 for a month's subscription and close to $75 for a game expansion that I'm only going to touch for a month just isn't an option for me, especially since I'm totally, absoultely broke this month.

Bleah. Enough of feeling sorry for myself. I shall comfort myself with a root beer and come back to re-open my blog properly when I'm in a better mood :P

Having fun with candy bar dolls

2005-10-24T01:45:00.000+08:00

I was taking a break today and remembered that my friend Minou posted a link to this candybar doll maker website. Decided to give it a go, it was really fun picking out all the clothes, accessories and hair I liked! This was the end result:

It was only after I had saved the image that I realised the dress I had chosen was identical to that of one of Minou's dolls. Ooops! At least the shoes and hair weren't the same ;-)

By the way, the website says it's going to come out with a male doll avatar soon, so I can make dolls of my male friends and immortalise (tease) them by posting their dolls on my blog. Hahaha! Now that's something to look forward to! /evilgrin

Vain hamster, all spaced out

2005-10-20T23:24:00.000+08:00

After much nagging from the Significant Other, I caved in and went to see the doctor for an MC this morning. Diagnosis: Flu & cough, as expected. The medicine he prescribed had funny names: A pink cough syrup labelled 'Coughlax Forte', Blue antibiotics (like Viagra! haha), and something for runny noses labelled 'Became'. So corny ...

Anyway the medicine is VERY POTENT and it is making me feel funny ...

My forehead feels as though its being compressed and seems elongated ...
My head feels heavy but I'm not exactly drowsy ...
I feel hungry all the time ...
I can't concentrate, random thoughts are floating around my head ... like ...

Do you know the flu spreads easily during cold weather because people tend to stay in, and are thus more frequently in close contact?

I need to lose weight. Must make time to go cycling ... I love cycling ...

Now that I have a new laptop, I shall be vain and get a new crumper computer bag to accompany it. Must decide which style/color I want, and how I'm going to scrounge up the cash to pay for it :P Anyone up for a spot of shopping this weekend? :P

I think the cough medicine makes me cough more. My throat is dying ...

I love Fridays because they're casual days! I hate office attire ... so stifling ... and I can't ever seem to look 'professional' enough ... sigh

My friends and I are thinking of a KL trip this Nov/Dec and a HK trip this Jan! So exciting!!! I really hope it works out :) I love travelling, taking in the sights, experiencing new culture, shopping, enjoying the cool weather ... and it's even better when those you love and enjoy being with come along :)

I really need to work on my project again ... I have 3 chapters to touch up before bedtime today. Guess it's my cue to go!

/bite

The flu bug strikes again

2005-10-19T22:39:00.000+08:00

I've been nursing a cold, cough and sore throat since Monday. Actually, it started from a sore throat and fever, then mutated into a cough, sore throat and fever, before culmulating into its present incarnation of cold, cough, sore throat and fever - also known as THE FLU.

I hate being sick. I feel tired, useless and cranky. And right now, it doesn't help that my work and school schedule is such that I daren't go on medical leave.

Speaking of school, I've been trying to complete my project report these few days but just can't bring myself to do it. I'm just too tired and don't have the mood to do it. Looks like a major case of slack-itosis. I really need to remind myself that I WANT to do this course and I WANT to do well in it ... but I'm just feeling so lazy ... help!

On the bright side, it wasn't too bad a day, though most of my colleagues had a bad case of the crankies a good half of the day. A long lunch at East Coast Food Village managed to cure that though. The food was good, though the wantan mee store I wanted to try wasn't open in the afternoon. I'll just have to drag my friends there some other time ;-)

I received my new notebook today! Nothing fancy, just an ol' Fujitsu Lifebook 6240 with 13" screen (/squint), Intel GMA 900 (can't play games!) and standard peripherals. At least it has a decent 512MB of RAM. Oh well, I shouldn't be too picky, right? ;-) At least now I have something to use when I'm in school. Right now, almost everyone has a notebook except me!

The Significant Other and I had dinner at Geylang Serai today, I managed (finally) to satisfy my Nasi Goreng Kampung & Putu Piring craving. Sinfully yummy => fat fat tummy! The S.O. succumbed to his Ramly Burger craving while we were walking through the night market there. He does love his Ramly Burger :-p The ones in SG can't compare to those in KL though. Our favourite Ramly Burger place in KL does a mean double beef istimewa - 2 all beef patties, special sauce lettuce cheese wrapped in egg with a warm greasy bun.

Mmmm mmmm mmmm!

Makes me want to rush there right now to get one. "The $100 Ramly Burger!" ... LOL

I am a boring hamster! Are j00?

2005-10-17T01:13:00.000+08:00

It's now officially certified that I, the rabid hamster, suffer from an acute lack of imagination. Joining the ranks of boring and geeky, unimaginative will hereon be added to the list of adjectives that describe yours truly. Huzzah!

My gaming friends and I played a party game "Naughty Improv" during one of our regular outings, the point of the game being to craft a wild story based on a series of illustrations. The group would vote after each contender told his/her story, the person with the most votes each round winning. Of course, boring and unimaginative ol' me kept on telling stale ol' stories which the group, in the most charitable way possible, shot down again and again.

Of course, it doesn't help that I, a true-blue product of the staunch ol' SG education system, besides working in the IT line (boring!) servicing a government agency (boring!), am now also studying for my CFA in December (Zzzz!) and enjoy curling up in bed with a good book. Is that a ten-alarm-alert for boresville or what? LOL.

Let's hope that hanging out with my very-imaginative bunch of friends will soon serve to negate my inherent boring gene. Or perhaps some of it will rub off on them as well? /cackles

Oh well, on to more pleasant business. I visited the Settlers Cafe website a few minutes ago and found that I had won a board game in their 2nd anniversary celebration draw. Talk about lucky! :) The game is 'Typo' and I've never played it before, but it's listed as one of the most popular word games in Settlers so I'm hoping that it will be really fun!

My friends have also organised a trip to Ben & Jerry's for dessert later today, which I'm really looking forward to! I've wanted to visit the B&J scoop shop at the Zoo since it opened, but never got around to it, no thanks to it's less-than-accessible location in Mandai. I hope they have some of the more interesting flavors listed in their American website, like Apple-y Ever After™ and Dublin Mudslide™. Arggh! I'm so going to have a hard time deciding on which flavour I'm going to try! Oh, they have a flavour known as The Gobfather™ too. LOL. So very suitable for my friend Shawn, who's also known as The Goonfather.

I guess I'd better get back to the books, have a Fixed Income quiz tomorrow (Tuesday) that the course instructor informed us of on Saturday. Instructors are usually considerate that way :)

/bite

Ely