Monday, December 17, 2007

Our Leisure World 'bonding' trip...

Last Saturday, I went on my first ever casino cruise on Leisure World with three of my dear frenz from AHS sports class - Yijia, Daniel & Weimin. Was kinda apprehensive & yet very excited about it the whole week. Haha. Despite catching a mere 3hr sleep the nite before after Jovan's bdae celebration at St James, I managed to wake up at 6plus and arrived on the dot at Bedok inter to meet the guys. Hehe. So sad huimin didn't come in the end, but well, I guess none of the gals are reallie as 'addicted' to gambling and have an itch to check out casinos like I do.

It was quite an experience for me, although I’ve been to several casinos like Genting, Amsterdam, Sydney etc. Firstly, we missed the 8.45am ferry because we happily went to drink kopi after we bought tix but by the time we went to the gates, the officer said it was closed and refused to grant us entry. ARRGGHH. Dat was quite farnie actuallie. Cos the guys all tot we could catch the ferry based on their last experience. Well. Ren suan bu ru tian suan. SO, we had to pay another five bucks each to amend our tix to the 9.45am one. & we had another 45mins for a second round of kopi. Haha. But we ended up sitting down and chatting instead. Which felt really good.

After two ferry rides, we were finally on board Leisure World. We had buffet lunch and dinner!! Not bad right. The dishes ain’t fantastic, but it’s not bad already. Quite a good spread, with desserts like cake, fruits & ice cream to top it off. Haha. Except for our lunch time and dinner time, the rest of our day was spent in the casino. Actually I love to go casinos to observe and watch, but of coz sometimes also quite gian to play. Each of us had $500 worth of house chips. There were the usual games like bacarrat, blackjack, dice, roulette, carribean stub (one of mine and jw’s fav casino game =p), Si Kee Puay (aka SKP), 3-card game (see who add up biggest), jackpot etc. Basically I spent most of my $$ betting on the 3-card game and dice for that day. =) I like to ‘bee’ cards, so was quite excited when I got to sit down and be one of the players at one of the tables. Hee hee. Was also quite thrilled when I guessed the total number correctly for dice, for 3 rounds!! Dat was heng, though my bet only $5. Keke. & I also kept supporting this old auntie, who looked at least 85 years old, and she played the 3-card game. Laying bets on her alone won me over $140. Fwah. Zai auntie. It kind of amazes me to see so many old people here who still seek the thrill in gambling. I wonder if jw and I will be like that when we have grey hair.

I started off as the biggest winner and ended up as the biggest loser of the day. Haha. Cos daniel only lost abit, wm bo lai, and yijia won abit. I think I need more self-control when it comes to gambling. Haha. & I can really feel the adrenaline rush when I played higher stakes at dice, following jw’s theory of double or nothing which is wat we did in amster. Quite scary actuallie. I fully understand why pple can get so hooked on gambling, and why so many precautions must be set in place in anticipation of the IRs.
I think I still prefer playing mj with mum popo and jw, and playing tai tee wif frenz occasionally. & on CNY we will play si kee puay, blackjack, in between etc. Casino trips shouldn’t be a too frequent thing, although I really enjoyed the entire experience.

Well, thinking back about it, I guessed I really enjoyed the company more than the activity. (No, dun get me wrong, I’m not saying this becos I lost $$$, keke). Regardless of whether I won or lost $$, I still gained something else very important to me. Time well spent with cherished friends. Think about it, how many chances will I get to spend so much time alone with these frenz and can chat about anything under the sun. How often will I get to listen to them talking about their lives, their hobbies (like tennis!), as well as update them about my own (like my wedding =p)? How rare is it for me to spend one full day with just 3 of them, a nice no. for a small grp gathering, and listen to their endless gao xiao and suaning? Haha. RARE, indeed. We also spent a long time talking about huimin and how we are gg to help her find her Mr Right. Haha. Good to noe everyone cares so much about her. I guess once again, it’s the emo shuang stirring up in me again. Maybe it’s cos I know I might be gg away for a long time, and I’ll truly really deeply miss all my loved pals, so I’m trying to cherish all the happy moments I have with them. Or maybe I was born like that because since young, I have felt very sentimental about things, about pple. Well, I do hope I’ll stay this way then. & see life beyond the superficial surface, and not be upset by things like losing $$ or losing passports or losing digicams. WAHA. Tata.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Makansutra..

Well, 10 more days till jw comes back to sg for a short break.. am making a list of where he might wanna go and wad food he would wanna eat.. hehe.. although i think we will spend most of the time catching up wif frenz and relatives.. but it's a muz for him to savour the delicacies once again before he heads back to the land of meatballs..

1) Bedok 85 market
Ore Lua, Bah Chor Mee, Hokkien Mee, Chicken wings, Porridge, Sting Ray
Yummy. One of our fav supper hangouts.

2) Katong Laksa
I think this is more of my fav food than jw's, and I guess we will try to go there if we have time. & we can eat an pang yong tau hu too!!

3) Big Prawn Mee + Wu Xiang
Prawn mee wif lotsa chilli powder, and yummy wu xiang to go along. Keke.

4) Boon Lay Nasi Lemak

Jw says he wanna go eat this, keke. Wow. I haven been back there for years too. Guess it will definitely bring back alot of fond memories if we do go back. & maybe we can take a stroll in Hall 6 too. Wahaha.

5) Geylang Lai Huat

Pig's Trotters, Belachan Fish, Cereal Prawn etc
I bet jw misses this place, esp the finger-licking good belachan fish here that we will always order.

6) Steamboat (Marina South/Tiong Bahru/Hougang)
We luv steamboats and I'm sure we will have a good steamboat feast in the short 2 weeks dat he's here.

7) Satay
Gotta buy satay sticks for him to devour! Hee. Yummy yummy.

8) Crystal Jade Dim Sum
This is a must for family lunches. Hee. Pi dan shou rou porridge and siew mai are jw's fav, I think. Kekeke.

9) Home-cooked food
I think what he misses the most will be dishes whipped up by his daddy and mummy. Hehe. The best chefs of all. So, it'll be a delight to simply nua at home and savour home made dishes which carries the strong flavour of home & of love that no other hawker dish can ever match. Hee. Wooo, not forgetting to mention, he already specified to my mum dat she muz cook her curry fishhead for him. Hee. One of the best dishes my mum cooks at home.

Dat's it for now! Maybe we should have a huan dao zhui zhui zhui or shi zi lu kou and go all around Singapore indulging in the signature dishes. Hehe.

We shall spend a few nites partying out wif our frenz too!! Maybe you can catch us at St James if you are there. My fav clubbing place still. Hee. I miss partying wif jw and miss having a challenge at playing games. Wahaha. He's so good at drinking games. (I guess I'm not bad either =p) It's so fun when we always try to win each other and neither of us will admit defeat easily. Woohoo. SO, it's high time to fen ge gao di & see who's the winner this time round!! =) If only got darts to play, we can challenge each other again. Hehe.

Can't wait for X'mas to arrive...

~Summer~ 6:32 PM

Thursday, December 06, 2007

My friendship tag

It's Xma's-cum-Friendship week at OMD. Besides having a Secret Santa who will shower me with gifts this week (meaning I will also have to shower my Secret Santee with gifts!), it's also the time where we show appreciation for our friends and fellow colleagues.

To me, X'mas is really the festive time to spread some love around and it should be a joyous occasion rite? So I don't really agree that it's a fuss and it's cumbersome to having to brainstorm what to get for your Secret Santee. It can be really something small, but it's the thought and the sincerity that counts. Keke. We can also write down a wish of our own, for a gift that costs no more than $15. Last year, Elvina was my Santa (so qiao!) and she gave me a doggie bookmark, which was what I wished for, and a mini eye massager. Keke. What should I wish for this year....

Each of us also needs to don a name tag every day, a name tag that reveals something about yourself that others do not know. My first tot was to write "I Don't Eat Durians", but well, sounds a bit passe. So, Ta-Dah! Here's my name tag. Keke. Sounds so familiar doesn't it? When jw went for his navy interview years ago, they asked him why he chose the navy, and he said the exact same words. Woohoo!!

Merry X'mas to everyone in advance and have fun shopping for prezzies!!

~Summer~ 1:18 PM

Monday, December 03, 2007

Superb Show...

Woohoo!! Sat 1 Dec was one of the best days of my life, because I was with 2 of my very best frenz and we went to watch Xiaozhu's concert together!! Perhaps it's because I was already armed with tonnes of enthusiasm and zest before the show even started, so I was pretty much in very high spirits throughout!! This is one of the few concerts that made me stand up and dance and sway, other than the Aaron Kwok one which I watched in 2001 on my birthday. Kudos to Huimin for bringing for the clappers and light sticks!! Gosh, it really helps to make the whole nite even more colourful & lively. Keke.

Xiaozhu was a fantastic performer! Well, we all know he can host and dance better than he sings, but it is really vivid how hard he is trying to improve, and he has. *clap clap clap* I loved it when he played "Zi Wo Cui Mian" on the piano and asked us to sing the front part for him. He also tickled the audience with him trying to speak ang moh and it's plain hilarious. It was also another highlight when he had to choose a fan to go up on stage and he will sing the love song "Ji Fen" to the fan. & guess wad, the jackpot hit the seat number on which a guy fan was sitting on! Xiaozhu was quite amused too, he said for his past concerts, it was always a female fan somehow. Woohoo. Spore is the first then! An 18-year-old guy who looked really shy but was spontaneous enough. Xiaozhu held his hand (and chuckled), Xiaozhu sang to him (and chuckled), Xiaozhu put his hand on the guy's neck and did his best to sing the love song. hehe. But he never failed to display his on-the-spot reflex thinking, where he changed some lyrics to "Wo men shi hao peng you", "Wo men shi hao xiong di" etc. Hilarious. I had a good laugh at that song. Which IS a very romantic song used in Zhuan Jiao Yu Dao Ai.

Well, of coz, Xiaozhu's dance hits didn't fail to stir up the audience, and I guess more than half of everyone in Indoor Stadium stood up at his beckon and danced together as one. Even watching him dance makes me feel tired. Takes so much energy!! Haha.

Thanks to Sisi for lending me her camera when mine ran out of memory. Gosh, I really took alot of videos. But well, it might be once in a lifetime opportunity, and the first is always the most precious isn't it? Hope my two pals had fun too!! We should try to somehow get Jay Chou's tix and go together again in Jan 2008. Keke.

Keep on dancing!! The show never ends!!

~Summer~ 11:28 AM

Sunday, December 02, 2007

My first marathon

Did my first ever 10km run today at the Stanchart SG marathon. Trust me, 10km is alot to me already! =) was really inspired by tis msg on one of the boards, "there are no bad weathers, just weak minds". Woo. I had such a strong determination to finish the run without stopping. Though i clocked 1.5hrs eventually, the proud achievement is dat i really din give up n stop running.

Yeah! So, sometimes, things ain't really as hard as they may seem initially. Congrats to geri, ange, lisan, edwin, binny, steff n myself! Tata. Time to go crystal jade for dim sum now wif my family. Ermm. Whoops. Gg to gain back the calories burnt! Neh. Nvm. Kai xin jiu hao. Bubbye!

~Summer~ 11:10 AM