Hey peeps, I am back...at last managed to find some time to update this blog eh. Sorry to peep you peeps waiting and anticipating :P

Just some random updates :

- Realised somebody has been 'publicising' my blog without my knowledge. On a certain day early this month, I realised there was a sudden surge of visitors to my blog and upon some investigations, I found out that someone was posting my blog URL on a certain chatroom. This was damn disgusting and irritating. Oh please, I don't need you to help me to publicise my blog for it is strictly for myself, friends and relatives. Thanks.

- Realised I have been down on my luck recently. Time to go to the temple and pray.

- Was queueing up for my bus at the airport interchange when this mother and her son, who came much later, decided to stand next to the queue which was already quite long. The bus came and we started to board. Instead of waiting for the queue to board first (out of courtesy), the mother decided to board before the queue. Her son who was about 12 years old tapped her shoulders and hinted her to allow the queue to board first before her. Instead the mother gave her son a 'pissed off' look and boarded the bus. The son, instead of following his mother, stood near the door and looked embarrassed. What impressed me was the manners of the son and he was the last one to board the bus. Although he is only about 12 years old, I must admit that he has the very basic courtesy and possessed very good manners. Something lacking in youngsters nowadays. Well done boy!

Just some random photos on my recent activities.

Friends' Outing

Met up with Fion, Mac & CF for dinner at the Riverside Indonesian Restaurant @ Clarke Quay. It's been a couple of months since I met up with this bestie of mine. We used to meet regularly but due to work and personal commitments, we only managed to meet once in every few weeks. Initially there were more people joining but they backed out last minute due to 'commitments' or shall I say lame excuses. WTH. Anyway, a simple delicious dinner for the 4 of us were just nice. Hahaha. Good catching up with one another.

A Simple dinner fare @ Lian Lian's House. Really appreciate Darrian for whipping up some delicious Sphagetti for us. Lian Lian, if you are reading this, time to pick up cooking eh. It's also the day both Lian Lian & I were overjoyed when we realised we will be heading to San Francisco in early April :D

Faith brought Melissa & I to the Crepe cafe at the basement of Raffles City. Actually I was there once with Shervil and got to say that their crepes were nice. Since I had the Peking Duck Crepe the last time, I decided to try the seafood one...oh man, it was delicious...drools.

And yeah, we decided to find a good location after our crepe lunch where we can have a nice group picture. Walked around aimlessly and ended up in Raffles Hotel. And so after several shots with different angles and locations, we managed to have a nice one...hahaha.

Met up with Olive again before I head for Seoul and Vancouver. Had our desserts at Secret Recipe....got to say that their cakes were oiishi. Lian Lian was saying that those in JB were half the price...wahahaha...I wanna go JB soon for my eating spree. Mee Rebus, Nasi Lemak, Dim Sum, Wanton Mee, Ban Mien, Seafood and so on.........Koh Lian Lian, when are we going to your hometown ???

Overseas

Osaka ( 09 - 11 Mar )

And yes coincidentally, I went to Osaka with Jasmine and Melvyn. So as usual, we went to Namba for our shopping spree. Initially, I thought that I will just buy some Japanese cup noodles and titbits from the 100 yen shop. Who knows, I was 'persuaded' by both of them to buy the Agnes B bag. I was hesitating for a long time for I was thinking what I can do with the bag...as you know, I seldom use a bag and I wouldn't want to end up buying things impulsively. Well, decided to buy one since it's much cheaper in Japan and that I guess I be using it often to travel around.

Beijing ( 15-16 Mar)

Was in Beijing for a night. Went out with my other colleagues ( Juliette, Faith and Ethan ) to some interesting places where we had our shopping and dinner. Shopping was done at Yaxiu...be honest, I wasn't interested in buying anything from there....firstly, most of the goods were counterfeit and secondly, quality was a problem. After which, we headed to Hou Hai as recommended by Juliette ( she stayed in Beijing for half a year to study Chinese prior to her present job ) for our dinner. It's like our Clarke Quay and I have to admit that the place was really very nice and romantic. Lots of modern day restaurants lined along the 'river' and the way the place was renovated ( as you can see in the above pic ) make you feel like you have travelled back in time to the Qing Dynasty. Hahaha...I really like that place and the feelings it gave me. Nice.

One of the very common food u will find in China - sugar coated Haw. Guess it's a favourite among children especially during the ancient times in China. Of course, nowadays, besides the haw, other fruits were also available.

Dinner was at this restaurant which Juliette brought us to. Service wasu't up to standard as usual in China. Food was nice but some of the dishes were a little bit too salty and oily....again this is very common and normal in China. The best dish I got to say will the fish in some sweet n sour sauce. Ooooo...it's really nice eh. And one thing I like about eating in China is that it is very cheap especially if you go with a few people. For less than S$15 per person, you can eat like what you had in a banquet or even more. Hahaha.

Seoul and Vancouver ( 18-24 Mar )

Dongdaemun...My first time there and it's really a night shopping and food paradise. As Chiang and I were there quite late, we only managed to roam for awhile before catching one of the last few trains back to our hotel. I told myself that I will be there again to buy my clothes and eat my Korean roadside dish when I will be in Seoul again early April.

Since Chiang wanted to have something light for brunch, we decided to try the Korean Porridge. Oh, it's really nice...thick and very tasty. Should give it a try if you have a chance to.

Came across this makeshift stall selling grilled sausages in Myeongdong. What attracted me was this device which they used to grill their sausages. The round metallic plate will rotate with the sausages rotating individually as well with the flame was burning constantly under the cover as seen on the left side of the device. Well, not sure how to descibe, but ya, that's how it works. Go visualise. Hahaha.

Haven't have Bibimbap ( I think I have got the spelling wrong here but I guess you guys know what I am saying right ) for such a long time and managed to try it once again when I met up with Alan for lunch in Seoul. Oh man, this was the second time I managed to see my batchboy overseas. Must say that this mixed vegetables rice was really delicious....oh man :P

Welcome to Granville Island in Vancouver. Since I have been to Vancouver 1.5 yrs back and have visited most of attractions, I decided to just visit a few places this time especially when I have only a day in Vancouver. So David brought me to this Granville Island where you will find many shops and a market specially catered for tourist. Hmmm, not really that interesting as I thought it would be but still worth a visit if you have time to spare.

All the different types and colours of berries. Berrylicious

Some views of the City taken from Grandville Island. The snow mountains really make a good background.

Queen Elizabeth Park....A really nice place where you can take a stroll, admire the breathtaking scenary or have a bird-eye view of the City and let your mind relax. In the second photo, if you look carefully behind the 2 trees, you will see Grouse Mountain...a quite popular snow mountain in Vancouver. Ya...I have been there when I was in Vancouver the last time....only the foot of the mountain...thanks to SF who thought that we should not spent so much money going up since there wasn't much things to see up there....:(

Well, who's real here ? Hahahaha

This building was in the Guinness World of Records for being the 'slimest' building in the World...You can see how slim the building is from the second pic. Amazing eh.

Bangkok ( 25-27 Mar )

Decided at the very last minute ( only booked my air ticket and my hotel hours before the plane depart ) to go Bangkok for a short holiday during my 3 off days. Since both Y and R were there, I decided to join them for some shopping spree. Of course, my main motive is to go there and relax and have my authentic Thai food.

If you guys intend to go Bangkok for a short holiday...here's some of my recommendation on accommodation :

Legacy Suites

This hotel was located at Sukhumvit soi 29. Location wise was ok, a 10 minute walk will bring u to the nearest BTS station and a very big Emporium Shopping Mall. The thing I like about this hotel is the suite like room plus the decor was very simple and modern. Very comfortable. Of cos, you would like to save, you can squeeze about 4-5 people in a room comfortably. Oh yes, there is a kitchenette with microwave, electric stove, sink plus some crockery for your convenience. Really Nice...just like a studio apartment. Oh I paid only about S$130 for a night. Considered very cheap le.

Le Fenix Sukhumvit Hotel

This hotel room was really simple and nice. It costs me only S$80 per night and was located at Soi 11. Nearest BTS station is Nana. The design was simple and funky and nearby there were lots of pubs and eateries...quite convenient I must say.

I was put on standby on the way back to Singapore. According to the ground staff, the load was very full and so I decided to just purchase a Business Class ticket on Thai Airways and depart the next day since every flight was full on the day of my intended departure.

What pissed me off was the attitude of one of the ground staff. Most of them were nice but this particular soft guy really have some attitude problem. The check-in counter will close about 40 minutes before departure and then you will know if you have have a seat on that aircraft. So another ground staff took my e-ticket and told me to return at 2:30 pm ( plane departs at 3:40 pm) and so I waited till 2:30 pm and return to the counter. So this particular attitude problem guy ( called him A ) took my e-ticket from another staff and put my name on the standby list and asked me to return to the counter again about 10 minutes later. So I waited and returned to the counter about 2:45 pm. When he saw me approaching him, he gave a damn pissed off look and straight away raised his hand and asked me to wait. I was a few foot steps away from him when he did this stupid hand gesture. I was damn pissed off by his attitude. He then told me to wait for another 5 minutes and so I decided to head over to the Thai Airways ticketing counter and enquire about the availability of flights back to Singapore. This took me more than 5 minutes and when I returned to find A again, he gave me that piss off look again and asked me to wait again. Now you were the one who gave me a timing to come back and I deliberately came back later knowing that you were busy and this was the fucking attitude u gave me. I was merely following your instructions and I don't see why I should endure your f. attitude ! If you are so damn busy, can you ask another person to handle or give me a timing you deem suitable. Damn you. And oh yes, I was already quite kan cheong for the plane is gonna depart in 40 minutes time and that the immigration queue was damn long plus the fact that bangkok airport was that small either. So another ground staff approached me and told me that the plane was full and asked politely if I would wish to put on standby for the next flight. I straight away rejected and decided to go back the next day on Thai Airways. I was damn pissed off by the stupid A attitude. To think he is in the customer service line...Poor customers.

Thai Airways Business Class Lounge

So I decided to checked out early the next day and proceed to the airport so that I could enjoy the Thai Airways Business Class Lounge. The lounge ambience was nice and quiet. In my opinion, I feel that the lounge has only the basic amenities and nothing special. What's really disappointing is the pathetic food selection in its flagship lounge. During lunch hours, only Pad Thai and fried rice were available plus a small selection of deserts and hot savoury pies. Not that fantastic afterall. However, I managed to spend quite a few hours in the lounge surfing the Internet...Thanks to the free wifi. :D

Onboard TG409 to Singapore

Very Nice and comfortable seats and the service was good. May travel with them again if I have the chance to go somewhere further. Hahaha.

Enough of ranting, this shall sum up my March activities and more to come in April. Looking forward to my San Francisco trip where I will spent most of my moolas on my clothings. Time to Stock up !!!!