There are tons of new thigs to check out but I lost touch quite a bit. As far I know, when I visit Singapore once a year I see new bridges, new roads, new high rise buildings and shopping places.
For food, there's no need to tip, the receipt should already include any service fee unless they said so. Wine and alcohol far more expensive than rest of the world I think.
Bar - Zouk, MOS, Power Station etc..Extremely lost touched on this turf of entertainment.
A few worthy food places around:
Sunset Grill and Bar
You need a taxi or ride to go there. It's out of the city buzz, very much nothing else around which is v rare for a tiny Singapore. Go for dinner at around 6pm to watch sunset.
Hawker centres at Newton Circus, East Coast Beach, Marine Parade etc. Highest profile is Newton Circus'
Check out Bah Cho Mee dry with chilli, roti plata (all kinds), dessert ice kachang
Seafood - too many places, try those at East Coast Beach like Red House, Jumbo for Chilli crab, pepper crab.
ZOO and Night Safari - Do check it out. No, you MUST visit it at least once. It's the BEST in the world! :P
29.9.09
I'm no messenger for job opportunities. So recruiters of any jobs most obviously irrelevant to me, please stop taking advantage of my kindness. I respond because I do not want to burn bridges, gosh they aren't even built yet. I try to ask around because yes, sometimes there are jobs people I know may be keen to pursue. Fuckoff and work hard like everyone else. Ask the right questions, make an effort and stop randomly throwing your questions around. Worse, push me again and again to get leads. Please work hard and earn your bloody commisssion deservingly.
Lebanese food
After an afternoon trip to Frensham Common and Ponds, we returned back to Wimbledon to meet friends for Lebanese dinner.
It was more fun choosing and feasting on the small servings. Four of us ordered a total of 13 different dishes. My favourite has to be the garlic mayo and fried chilli & tomato king prawns. The chicken wings were bit overcooked and not a fan of the lemonish green leaves.
It was more fun choosing and feasting on the small servings. Four of us ordered a total of 13 different dishes. My favourite has to be the garlic mayo and fried chilli & tomato king prawns. The chicken wings were bit overcooked and not a fan of the lemonish green leaves.
Frensham Common and Ponds near Farnham, Surrey
The arrival to the place was a surprise. Flat fine sand beach overlooking extremely still waters which was also expectedly chilling cold, like how I used to say and constantly being teased by the Thomas family - a chilly pond.
I couldn't make out the development of the place, how did extremely fine sand and a huge pond go together. The book on Surrey walks explained it was created during Midlands to supply fish for the King living nearby.
We played games and walked around abit. One of the wheels punctured and three of us tried to replace with a spare tire, successfully :)
Frensham ponds will always be a good place to return to, better with a car. The ride was about an hour in the car from Wimbledon.
I couldn't make out the development of the place, how did extremely fine sand and a huge pond go together. The book on Surrey walks explained it was created during Midlands to supply fish for the King living nearby.
We played games and walked around abit. One of the wheels punctured and three of us tried to replace with a spare tire, successfully :)
Frensham ponds will always be a good place to return to, better with a car. The ride was about an hour in the car from Wimbledon.
24.9.09
Pay, pay, pay the bloody biggies but tax just won't drop
So much paying topics lately. To pay online news content. To pay broadband 50p tax. To pay Digital Britain. To pay iplayer for entertainment programmes.
Bloody damn big fat cats. All used to be free, most by government bodies which means our tax went to it. Now we need to pay more. Why is tax not cut down?!
Gawd bloody damn bad spenders.
Bloody damn big fat cats. All used to be free, most by government bodies which means our tax went to it. Now we need to pay more. Why is tax not cut down?!
Gawd bloody damn bad spenders.
21.9.09
Brands in my life
This is like glorifying things I use, I need, probably can do without 30 years ago.
Groceries from Sainsbury's. This largely depends where I live, the nearest supermarkets. In the past, it was Asda. I used to visit Tesco almost everyday during lunch time. Now I just eat whatever was subsidised from the canteen.
News from BBC online and The Guardian newspaper. I like BBC's navigating and structure, especially finding sports updates and iplayer for some great entertainment playbacks. I tried reading other papers before getting stucked with The Guardian - the colours of the images and easy to read formats though the size of the paper could be reduced anytime.
Casio watch that allows me to swim with it. If I am rich and the world is safe, I would get a Rolex.
Orange telecoms. I switched with Orange to get better customer service from T-Mobile. I couldn't understand why I had to pay more. Before I signed up I was told the fee was it, but the bills arrived and I had to pay tax which was supposed to be part of the fee. That was what the sales man said in the T-Mobile shop. The customer service officer further pissed me off with her very difficult accent and low empathy. This experience also happened with Orange. The guy on the phone seemed far more patient. He reviewed my usage and lowered my monthly fee with a internet usage on the phone. Not bad. I got a friend's mobile number I could call for free. I got 50% off on Wednesday for two movie tickets.
Samsung mobile phone. I was using Nokia since I first owned a giant mobile phone. I decided to try another brand and Samsung's seemed to have similar usability. I was quite wrong. I'm stucked with it unless I bid well and cheaply at ebay for a new Nokia 3G phone.
Amazon and ebay UK sites. Bought camper shoes, Asics running shoes, novels, Pure One radio and charger, Be.ez laptop case, CDs, DVDs and most of the time, just surfing shopping.
London Transport and National Rail to check train times and planning of journeys. I top up my Oyster card whenever necessary.
Oil of Olay. It went on half-price. I bought enough to last a few years! I gave away a few to my mum.
L'Oréal for my hair. It's cheaper than Kérastase anytime.
Bonds pants. They last.
...my gawd the list can go on and on, no they can change. Blah...stop here.
Groceries from Sainsbury's. This largely depends where I live, the nearest supermarkets. In the past, it was Asda. I used to visit Tesco almost everyday during lunch time. Now I just eat whatever was subsidised from the canteen.
News from BBC online and The Guardian newspaper. I like BBC's navigating and structure, especially finding sports updates and iplayer for some great entertainment playbacks. I tried reading other papers before getting stucked with The Guardian - the colours of the images and easy to read formats though the size of the paper could be reduced anytime.
Casio watch that allows me to swim with it. If I am rich and the world is safe, I would get a Rolex.
Orange telecoms. I switched with Orange to get better customer service from T-Mobile. I couldn't understand why I had to pay more. Before I signed up I was told the fee was it, but the bills arrived and I had to pay tax which was supposed to be part of the fee. That was what the sales man said in the T-Mobile shop. The customer service officer further pissed me off with her very difficult accent and low empathy. This experience also happened with Orange. The guy on the phone seemed far more patient. He reviewed my usage and lowered my monthly fee with a internet usage on the phone. Not bad. I got a friend's mobile number I could call for free. I got 50% off on Wednesday for two movie tickets.
Samsung mobile phone. I was using Nokia since I first owned a giant mobile phone. I decided to try another brand and Samsung's seemed to have similar usability. I was quite wrong. I'm stucked with it unless I bid well and cheaply at ebay for a new Nokia 3G phone.
Amazon and ebay UK sites. Bought camper shoes, Asics running shoes, novels, Pure One radio and charger, Be.ez laptop case, CDs, DVDs and most of the time, just surfing shopping.
London Transport and National Rail to check train times and planning of journeys. I top up my Oyster card whenever necessary.
Oil of Olay. It went on half-price. I bought enough to last a few years! I gave away a few to my mum.
L'Oréal for my hair. It's cheaper than Kérastase anytime.
Bonds pants. They last.
...my gawd the list can go on and on, no they can change. Blah...stop here.
I went shopping again!
Early Birthday and Xmas gifts shopping. I felt like it and a friend would be visiting who can tompang stuff over to my family free :P
Got Linda Eder's CDs from Amazon - Greatest Hits and The Other Side of Me.
I want a digital internet radio with alarm - Wish List
My first digital radio was a gift. The Pure Evoke 1 was my precious. It became a past tense when it kaput on me, though Lucy would argue against that with many other apparent material gains. After returning from South Italy, I just couldn't get it to function. It kept saying "no stations available". The instructions to reset just didn't help and some feedback read on forums seemed to conclude that would be its death. It was a refurbished one but some death happened on brand new ones too.
So...how about a new precious digital radio, with internet radio and alarm too? At the moment, it's cheaper to get it from amazon.
Be.ez laptop case arrived today
BE.EZ BEZ100776 LArobe Classic Unibody MacBook Pro 15" - Black + Orange. £22.94 from Amazon including delivery cost.
I feel like shopping more for things. I have to figure what to search for. The process of shopping is dangerously fun, utterly so when I click to buy and confirm.
I feel like shopping more for things. I have to figure what to search for. The process of shopping is dangerously fun, utterly so when I click to buy and confirm.
Not exaclty counting down
I'm still asking for work actually, while serving my notice. I do not want to surf in random any longer. It's only nice if I'm terribly busy and using bit of time to relax by surfing randomly. Work have arrived, some cancelled and I continue to ask for more. I'm crazy I know but it's more important for my overall well-being in the company and keeping good will no matter what :P
19.9.09
18.9.09
Walk on the wild side - comedy
I love it! Chanced upon the programme while randomly surfing at iplayer.
From the programme's main page:
THE NATURAL WORLD MEETS COMEDY TALENT
Walk On The Wild Side is a brand new comedy series that seeks to provide a long overdue forum for the views and opinions of the animal kingdom.
It's a world of hip hop-loving badgers, dieting pandas and a marmot called Alan.
They and a whole bunch of other characters come together in a show which combines comedy with jaw-dropping natural history footage.
Walk On The Wild Side features the vocal talents of some of Britain's most promising new comedians and performers - Jason Manford (Live At The Apollo, 8 Out Of 10 Cats), Isy Suttie (Peep Show), Steve Edge (Phoenix Nights, Star Stories), Jon Richardson, Pal Aron, Rhod Gilbert, Sarah Millican, Harriet Carmichael and Harry Peacock - combined with remarkable footage from the BBC's Natural History Unit.
The series also features guest appearances from Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Barbara Windsor, Stephen Fry, Richard E Grant, Rolf Harris and Sir Tom Jones.
Blur like sotong
I have dizzy spells during the South Italy hols and still having many in a day since. Doctor decided it was due to my snorkeling and swimming activities from the trip. It would take a few up to 4 to 5 weeks to get my complete balance back.
Serving notice
While serving my notice of resignation, I still asked for work because it's killing me not doing much. I reckon I could read a novel, I rather work. Silly me?
Work is assigned, pretty reasonable I suppose - no one is free to do stuffs except ME. Stuffs are anything anyone could have done by interns and junior staff. I understand the change in dynamics. I will do it.
What I didn't expect was to get talk-down unreasonable tactics which could obtain bad will.
"In six hours I expect these to be on my wall"
"By 2pm, I expect these to be on wall"
It's pointless to give these feedback during my exit interview. Just whine in blog and move on.
Work is assigned, pretty reasonable I suppose - no one is free to do stuffs except ME. Stuffs are anything anyone could have done by interns and junior staff. I understand the change in dynamics. I will do it.
What I didn't expect was to get talk-down unreasonable tactics which could obtain bad will.
"In six hours I expect these to be on my wall"
"By 2pm, I expect these to be on wall"
It's pointless to give these feedback during my exit interview. Just whine in blog and move on.
Two job offers
Out of 3 different interviews, 7 rounds in total, I got 2 job offers. Both during my lepak-by-the-beach moments last week. It was easy to choose which one. I had one in mind from the start and I didn't get it. I had another but the one I began toying with gave me the hardest journey. I prepared so much for it, made presentation to important people and felt bit of waste when I was offered the job afterall. It would give me a promotion though lower pay increment in a highly recognised and reputable company. It would give me 25 days annual leave and many pertinent albeit small perks. It would most importantly, probably give me a great boss, undesirably spliting my time on 3 to 4 different businesses. I felt pain when I rejected the offer. I accepted my 2nd preferred choice. I went with my intuition after realising the facts weren't too different from the companies.
16.9.09
My top 10 of South Italy
Decaying, dusty and still awfully rich streets
Palermo has probably just too many great historic buildings. Many smaller ones either become simple homes or left alone, therefore looking poor and run down. Broken down vehicles, litter and dog shit practically everywhere on concrete grounds in Palermo, just like in Croatia.
Desserts, mostly cold ones
Tatufo ice-cream dessert freshly made and served in Pizzo
Granite ice drinks - melon, mulberry and lemon flavours
Wine dessert called Passito, Moscato, Malvasia and Zibibbo
Huge peaches as snacks and sweet tomatoes being part of salad mix (ok not a dessert)
Charm au natural
The sunset, sunrise and over-passionate kisses and hugs from Italian men
Accommodation surprises upon arrival
1st gave incomplete address
2nd made us waited for the entire afternoon
3rd was double booked
4th was not available because water pipe needed fixing
Strays and working animals
I forget in less developed places, there would always be strays and animals made to work badly hard. I could only feel better whenever I saw pampered pets.
Rough beaches
Beautiful from a distance usually from high cliffs and hills, still breathtaking on the spot as the waves rushed to the shore. Black and coarse sand camouflaging the clear waters. Painful on the soles because of the hot and rough pebbles, sometimes bloody huge rocks. Oh well, it's terribly hard to find fine and sandy beaches like in Thailand.
Cheap serviettes
As reliable as the thinest paper. Just don't use it to wipe your backside.
Rides
We rented a scooter in Vulcano island, probably one of the best thing we did. I handed my car driving license as documentation, Lucy led the way. There were also quark bikes and buggies available for rent, the scooter at 50cc was the cheapest. The vehicle that most intrigued me was the 'scooter-lorry'. It was a scooter with a lorry frame to carry fairly heavy load at the back.
Unusual sights
A huge and rundown door to B&B was heavily guarded by tightly packed street vendors. It was so packed that we wouldn't easy be able to figure the place has any B&B at all
Flat peaches
Cucumber/courgette at least 1m long
Kids taking turns to ride on a poor tiny donkey along mass traffic
Ladies tanning half-naked in the sun by the beach for two solid days without getting burnt at all. My shoulders got slightly pink when I was in the sun for only an hour.
A very (tremendously brutally true) fat and fair (no other fair Italians as far I've observed) girl dosing off on a chair in a shop in Tropea. She didn't need my empathy but I prayed for her
Beautiful islands like Stromboli
Volcano lava spilling out from the top of Stromboli as simply a great watch. Shame I didn't climb up to top of Stromboli like some. It could have been an 2-hour climb and bloody great view.
Palermo has probably just too many great historic buildings. Many smaller ones either become simple homes or left alone, therefore looking poor and run down. Broken down vehicles, litter and dog shit practically everywhere on concrete grounds in Palermo, just like in Croatia.
Desserts, mostly cold ones
Tatufo ice-cream dessert freshly made and served in Pizzo
Granite ice drinks - melon, mulberry and lemon flavours
Wine dessert called Passito, Moscato, Malvasia and Zibibbo
Huge peaches as snacks and sweet tomatoes being part of salad mix (ok not a dessert)
Charm au natural
The sunset, sunrise and over-passionate kisses and hugs from Italian men
Accommodation surprises upon arrival
1st gave incomplete address
2nd made us waited for the entire afternoon
3rd was double booked
4th was not available because water pipe needed fixing
Strays and working animals
I forget in less developed places, there would always be strays and animals made to work badly hard. I could only feel better whenever I saw pampered pets.
Rough beaches
Beautiful from a distance usually from high cliffs and hills, still breathtaking on the spot as the waves rushed to the shore. Black and coarse sand camouflaging the clear waters. Painful on the soles because of the hot and rough pebbles, sometimes bloody huge rocks. Oh well, it's terribly hard to find fine and sandy beaches like in Thailand.
Cheap serviettes
As reliable as the thinest paper. Just don't use it to wipe your backside.
Rides
We rented a scooter in Vulcano island, probably one of the best thing we did. I handed my car driving license as documentation, Lucy led the way. There were also quark bikes and buggies available for rent, the scooter at 50cc was the cheapest. The vehicle that most intrigued me was the 'scooter-lorry'. It was a scooter with a lorry frame to carry fairly heavy load at the back.
Unusual sights
A huge and rundown door to B&B was heavily guarded by tightly packed street vendors. It was so packed that we wouldn't easy be able to figure the place has any B&B at all
Flat peaches
Cucumber/courgette at least 1m long
Kids taking turns to ride on a poor tiny donkey along mass traffic
Ladies tanning half-naked in the sun by the beach for two solid days without getting burnt at all. My shoulders got slightly pink when I was in the sun for only an hour.
A very (tremendously brutally true) fat and fair (no other fair Italians as far I've observed) girl dosing off on a chair in a shop in Tropea. She didn't need my empathy but I prayed for her
Beautiful islands like Stromboli
Volcano lava spilling out from the top of Stromboli as simply a great watch. Shame I didn't climb up to top of Stromboli like some. It could have been an 2-hour climb and bloody great view.
Hello there and there, expect surprise for accommodation plans in South Italy
WAAAAAAAAAAH! I felt like it's been ages since I blogged. I have visited a few places in South Italy - mainly parts of North Sicily and Calabria. Lucy and I definitely had a good time besides winding each other up, erm more like me winding her up because of my culture shock. I read about the south side running the states quite differently from the north. I just didn't expect all our hotel and bed and breakfast bookings to be part of the deal.
The first one didn't provide the complete address. The second one didn't think we would arrive early and turned up 3 hours later. It was near the beach, so we opened our luggage, changed at the porch and went for a dip. I had carelessly misplaced my passport but landlord managed to kept it till we returned from the beach.
The third one was pretty surreal - bed & breakfast landlord turned up in 10 minutes, told us he didn't received our bookings. We showed the print out and he was on the phone next and got us another accommodation pretty quickly. He also ran a tour business so he offered the tour trip to Pizzo and Tropea at the cost of the deposit, which was 20% of the trip cost. It was always about who we knew, not really what we knew innit :P
The final one was a hotel. We couldn't be wrong about hotel bookings, could we. It's established, larger and more facilities. The room was indeed, again, NOT available. The water pipe needed repair! We ended in their chalet, called residence in their turf. It has no air-condition, no apparent clean towels and lots of mosquitoes! I dread finding another place, even prepared to pay more but... ah yaaaaa! LPPL siah! The fan and clean towels arrived after we had dinner at the restaurant nearby.
Next morning we were served pretty lavishly by our standards, at the same restaurant. I was quite delighted with the salami slices, jug of juice, strong coffee and freshly made bread from the giant stove. We were offered the hotel room after water pipe was fixed but we decided to stay on at the chalet, at hotel price. Owner of the restaurant also owned the chalet. His brother owned the hotel that needed water pipe fixing. He was really nice to us. He offered to take us around. We were happy to accept his free ride in the morning around Capo Vaticano - to the peak of the hill to view most beaches, smaller villages and fresh natural chilled water in the hot day. He also did the typical Italian way, hugged and kissed us quite tightly and I cringed - a peach has suddenly wrinkled and dried up. Buay tahan man. We didn't accept his offer to have gelato at his friend's place after dinner, more like after 11pm when he closed his restaurant. He got the drift and stayed friendly at a distance.
This was the beginning of better accommodation experience. We returned back to the main land where we would need to take Easy-jet back to London days later. We returned back to the first incomplete address bed and breakfast place. The landlord was generous and offered the suite for the same price of the standard room. Suite was beautiful, boldly painted in red with giant golden flowers in all walls. It's larger and has a mini fridge, just no TV.
If there's anything else unreliable during our holidays, it would be the free shuttle bus. It arrived either 50 minutes later or just shuttled off elsewhere bypassing the lamp post acting as a bus stop stand too.
I liked to think the rest of the holidays were lovely. Great icy drinks called Granite and sweet wine called Malvasiah, Moscato, Passito and Zibibbo. Every waiter and waitress were very precious about the order of enjoying the sweet wine. I must only enjoy it after dinner, I couldn't even order it before hand to expect it to be served after dinner. The ice creams, ooh la la to flavours water melon (anguria) and pistachio. All time ice cream dessert called Tatufo freshly prepared all the way at Pizzo. I tried it in different nearby places but just not the same at all. Of course, not to mention the fresh seafood like octopus salad, swordfish, yummy tomato & onion pizza and pasta.
Almost everyday I had the joy of watching the sunsets, best watching it live than reviewing them again on video and pictures.
Happy ending. I got a nice tan, so nice that it's wasted after returning to good old grey London.
Some important words to say in Italian:
Buongiorno - Good day
Buonasera - Good evening/afternoon - it is customary to use one of these greetings when entering small shops
Arrivederci - Goodbye
Per favore - Please
Grazie - Thank you
Scusi - Excuse me
Parla inglese? - Do you speak English?
Non parlo italiano - I don't speak Italian
Dov'è il bagno? - Where's the bathroom?
The first one didn't provide the complete address. The second one didn't think we would arrive early and turned up 3 hours later. It was near the beach, so we opened our luggage, changed at the porch and went for a dip. I had carelessly misplaced my passport but landlord managed to kept it till we returned from the beach.
The third one was pretty surreal - bed & breakfast landlord turned up in 10 minutes, told us he didn't received our bookings. We showed the print out and he was on the phone next and got us another accommodation pretty quickly. He also ran a tour business so he offered the tour trip to Pizzo and Tropea at the cost of the deposit, which was 20% of the trip cost. It was always about who we knew, not really what we knew innit :P
The final one was a hotel. We couldn't be wrong about hotel bookings, could we. It's established, larger and more facilities. The room was indeed, again, NOT available. The water pipe needed repair! We ended in their chalet, called residence in their turf. It has no air-condition, no apparent clean towels and lots of mosquitoes! I dread finding another place, even prepared to pay more but... ah yaaaaa! LPPL siah! The fan and clean towels arrived after we had dinner at the restaurant nearby.
Next morning we were served pretty lavishly by our standards, at the same restaurant. I was quite delighted with the salami slices, jug of juice, strong coffee and freshly made bread from the giant stove. We were offered the hotel room after water pipe was fixed but we decided to stay on at the chalet, at hotel price. Owner of the restaurant also owned the chalet. His brother owned the hotel that needed water pipe fixing. He was really nice to us. He offered to take us around. We were happy to accept his free ride in the morning around Capo Vaticano - to the peak of the hill to view most beaches, smaller villages and fresh natural chilled water in the hot day. He also did the typical Italian way, hugged and kissed us quite tightly and I cringed - a peach has suddenly wrinkled and dried up. Buay tahan man. We didn't accept his offer to have gelato at his friend's place after dinner, more like after 11pm when he closed his restaurant. He got the drift and stayed friendly at a distance. This was the beginning of better accommodation experience. We returned back to the main land where we would need to take Easy-jet back to London days later. We returned back to the first incomplete address bed and breakfast place. The landlord was generous and offered the suite for the same price of the standard room. Suite was beautiful, boldly painted in red with giant golden flowers in all walls. It's larger and has a mini fridge, just no TV.If there's anything else unreliable during our holidays, it would be the free shuttle bus. It arrived either 50 minutes later or just shuttled off elsewhere bypassing the lamp post acting as a bus stop stand too.
I liked to think the rest of the holidays were lovely. Great icy drinks called Granite and sweet wine called Malvasiah, Moscato, Passito and Zibibbo. Every waiter and waitress were very precious about the order of enjoying the sweet wine. I must only enjoy it after dinner, I couldn't even order it before hand to expect it to be served after dinner. The ice creams, ooh la la to flavours water melon (anguria) and pistachio. All time ice cream dessert called Tatufo freshly prepared all the way at Pizzo. I tried it in different nearby places but just not the same at all. Of course, not to mention the fresh seafood like octopus salad, swordfish, yummy tomato & onion pizza and pasta.Almost everyday I had the joy of watching the sunsets, best watching it live than reviewing them again on video and pictures.
Happy ending. I got a nice tan, so nice that it's wasted after returning to good old grey London.
Some important words to say in Italian:
Buongiorno - Good day
Buonasera - Good evening/afternoon - it is customary to use one of these greetings when entering small shops
Arrivederci - Goodbye
Per favore - Please
Grazie - Thank you
Scusi - Excuse me
Parla inglese? - Do you speak English?
Non parlo italiano - I don't speak Italian
Dov'è il bagno? - Where's the bathroom?
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