wah wah wah...

For the past week, it had been thrilling for me.

Last Friday, I got a call from Jetstar Asia to inform me that KS and I were selected for the JetSaver Light Challenge!! Woo hoo ~ ~ ~

So that means a free trip to Kota Kinabalu from 29th Sept - 1st Oct!! It was a good surprise to win this as I suddenly have the urge to fly in a plane.

Then today, I was just trying my luck to call into 987fm for the Mediacorp Subaru Impreza WRX Challenge - The Asian Face-off. As usual, the "line is busy" messages kept popping out. Just as I was about to give up, my call got through. As it rang, I wonder if Ms Vendetta will really really pick up my call!! A little sceptical about it and just before I pressed the "end call" icon, my call was picked up.

Honestly, I really doubt if I can last the whole contest and be the last man standing. I need my sleep. However, I think I will still give it a go!! Wish me luck ~ ~ ~

Breaking NEWS!!!

Print this mailer and present it to enjoy a 1-for-1 offer!!

ICT is coming!!

I gave my unit a call and was glad to have more ideas about the upcoming ICT (11-22 August 2009). I am actually looking forward to it but then, information is lacking. What do I have to bring along, what is the programme going to be????? Tsk tsk... this is definitely something SAF should consider improving on.

ION Orchard is OPENED!!

Today is the day ION Orchard Opens!! We dropped by for lunch and was surprised to see a queue forming up. A nice uncle told me, "Queue up for the free ice cream..." I thought to myself, ""Is it really free?" It turned out that the ice cream is really free and without further hesitation, we joined in the Q at the Gusttimo di Rome!

The green tea and the cheese ice cream were very very good. The tiramisu was so-so only... The whole place is big, bright and nice. It is linked to the Orchard MRT Station, so there is no reason why you will never step into ION Orchard. They do have a lot of shops which are not common in the other malls. But Basement 4, where the food stores should be, was not ready yet. A bit disappointed as we wanted to lunch there. But well, our office is just a stone throw (must use strength) away, we will be back again. For the ice cream and for lunch.

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon

The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon will be held on 6th December 2009 this year and New Balance will be replacing Adidas as the apparel sponsor.

The official lanuch for this marathon will be tomorrow, 16th July 2009 @ the Raffles Place Park; just right above Raffles Place MRT station. It will start at 11.30am all the way till 5.00pm. For the first 500 people who sign up at the launch, they will receive an additional goodies bag. The year before, I signed up during the launch and I got the "special" goodies bag which was pretty good.

Therefore, I am looking forward to signing up tomorrow and be one of the first 500 to do so. For people who didn't run last year, it will costs $65 before 5th August, otherwise 2008 runners need to pay only $45. For more race information, click here!

Stand Chart credit/debit cardholders will enjoy 15% off if they register online with their cards. If you sign up for Stand Chart credit card during this period, $50 will be given to you to offset the registration fee for the run.

And interestingly, the organisers have selected 150 runners who ran during the last few marathons and put their photos on the website. If you are among them, you can run for free this year!!! Isn't that awesome?

JB outing: 1st July 2009

Via Ferrata @ Orchard Central

KFC Waffles!! Yum Yum!!

Yum yum!! I had KFC Waffles for breakfast again. There is a promotion going on, so it costs $2.50 for the waffles and egg which are quite tasty. If only the portion of the egg can be a bit more, it would be better!

Click here for the coupons to enjoy this promo!

Goodbye and Hello!

My Converse shoe has walked miles and miles and it is time to say goodbye! Thank you Converse shoe, you have served me well.

Penang Dragonboat... Part 2

Ooops... I forgot all about the part 2 of the Penang Dragonboat Race.

Anyway, we started Day 2 with some training at the beach. The Thais were already up and running by the time we strolled there. And we passed by the cafe where we were supposed to have our breakfast... ooooo.... the cereals... the breads... the omelettes... I was tempted not to go for training and go for breakfast... But I did not succeed.

We started with a run, a short run, very very short. Then, we did some kind of telematch, everybody had to do some burpees, pushups, crunches and more pushups. Then, we did some exercises with the elastic bands. Training ain't tough but it was torturous as images of the food kept floating across my mind. I was really glad when the training ended and we could go for breakfast.

Time was short as we needed to rush down to the dam for the opening ceremony. We had 1.5 hrs to wash up and eat our breakfast. So, we "chop chop" showered, changed and rushed to have breakfast which was really really good. Ok lah, I could have been hungry hence the food tasted great to me.

Next up in the schedule was the opening ceremony. We reached the dam early, around 11am and waited for the guest of honour (GOH). We waited. And waited. And waited and waited and waited and waited... By 12.30pm, the GOH was still nowhere near the dam. It was hot, tremendously hot. With nothing much to do but waiting and more waiting... I was impatient. Everybody was.

The local host even suggested to us that it was possible for us to leave and not attend the ceremony. That certainly appealled to a lot of us and we were all for that idea. However, we were representing SAFRA and hence we have to think about her reputation as well. Dilemma? Yes, we were. Some thought that we should go and some thought that we should stay.

And we stayed. At about 1.30pm, there were finally traces of the GOH. We waited 2.5 hours for this GOH and did he apologise? Of course not, he is the GOH mah, Chief Minister for Penang, don't pray pray...

Once the ceremony was over, we evacuated as well. We returned to the hotel and changed; we were all sweaty and stinky and.... Shopping and lunch was next! Hurray!!!

Fast forward a bit... after shopping and dinner, we had to rehearse for our performance. Why did we agree to perform during the closing dinner? WHy?? But it turned out well and I must say, it was good memory!

Penang International Dragon Boat Festival 2009

It was my first overseas race with Safra Dragonboat team and I must say, it was a fantastic one. The trip to Penang started on 22nd May morning. I had dragged myself out of bed at 5.30am so that I won't be late. Yup, the time to meet is 6.30am, it was kind of early for me but I still made it in time.

The bus left Toa Payoh stadium at 7am and from there, we headed off for Senai Airport. Traffic was okay for a Monday morning, but then, we were heading towards the Second Link and hence, maybe that was the reason for the smooth traffic. It took about an hour plus from TPY to get to Senai. The airport was under some renovation, but it still looked pretty much the same as the last time when I was there.

After we checked in, we had Mary Brown for Breakfast. I had the French toast set but it was not fantastic. The toasts were cold and the coffee weak. Luckily for me, Dunkin Donut saved the day. I had the peanut butter jelly which was superb! Yum yum.

After filling up our stomach, we were all ready to go. We were given face masks, an instruction from the management I think. And I think, we were the only group of passengers who wore the masks. Kind of fun though.

The flight was short, too short for me to truly enjoy it. It was great to be at Penang after the travelling in the morning. And our guide was on time, or she could have been there much much earlier. With our bags and stuff transported onto a lorry, we got onto a coach which has comfy seats and cooling aircon.

It took about 45 minutes before we reached our hotel. The journey was pretty rough and traffic was bad. Lots of cars on the roads and there were many winding roads. Hence I was glad when we reached Holiday Inn Penang.

We only had an hour to have lunch and to prepare for training. Time was tight and hence, we walked to a nearby coffee shop to "da bao". We were on time and so was the bus. The scenery of the training ground, Teluk Bahang Dam, was great. But then, some how I still prefer Bedok Reservoir to it.

The water was heavy as it is freshwater. Unlike the saltwater in Kallang, the water did not provide much upthrust force and hence, it was more challenging to paddle in it. I was glad we had the training as it gave us a better idea of the conditions of the water. Longer pulls will definitely worked better than faster stroke rates + short pulls.

Training was short and shopping was next. YEAH!!! We headed for Northam Beach Cafe (诺登美食坊) for dinner and it was SHIOK! We ordered a lot of food, and it was really good. We had Fried oysters, German sausages, Char Kuay Tiao, Apom, Dim sum, Rojak, Po Piah, Prawn noodle and more... Although these are items we can find in Singapore but some how, they tasted much better. Either we were really hungry or the food was really good.

Then we headed for a shopping mall but as it was late, most shops were closed. The Giant supermarket was the only exciting choice we had. We stocked up water and tibits!! Chips, biscuits and more chips. Then, we returned to the hotel to rest.

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day

Long time no blog. Seriously, there are so many things that I would like to blog... but some how... my fingers just would not type them out.

Anyway, something to cheer about, tomorrow is Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day! I think I might be there... it's free, it's nice, i will be there...


http://www.benjerry.com.sg/freeconeday09/

@ Changi Airport T2

I woke up at about 5am to get ready to go to the airport with my mom and sis. The night before, I had booked the flight to Xiamen for them. Everything seems so rush and as a matter of fact, it was a rush.

I struggled with the SIA/Silkair Customer Service Officer (CSO) on the phone for 40 minutes. My hand was cramping from holding onto the phone for that long. It cost $50 more per passenger to book a flight via the phone, seriously I think they should pay passengers $50 to book via the phone. It was torturous.

From getting the correct name to payment, I have to repeat myself again and again. "Yup, Alpha, India, New, York, United, Kingdom..." Honestly, I think the problem lies with the CSO. Most of the time, she repeated the wrong details that I told her. And then, I have to repeat and repeat myself.

After enduring the "effective communication" with her, she put me on hold for 10 minutes and I have to tolerate the "wonderful" music that was played. "Singapore Air.... A Great Way to Fly..." sang the music player. A great way to fly? Maybe not.

Then the funniest thing happened - the CSO overcharged the amount to my card. I almost cried. After 30 plus minutes on the phone and this shit had to occur? I can't believe my luck.

And so, we reached Terminal 2 at about 6.50am. It was pretty crowded over at the Silkair's counters. They made everybody queue in a line leading to many counters; in a way, this is faster than having many queues at the counters. And we saw a Mediacorp artiste in the queue. Not excited just surprised to see her. Guess guess guess: She is a host from Taiwan and recently, got divorced. Easy huh...

Nike Expo Sales

Nike Expo Sale
05 February 2009 - 08 February 2009

Event type : Retailer & Sales
Venue : Hall 6B
Admission : Public - Free Admission
Event Schedules :

5 - 7 Feb 09: 10am to 7pm

8 Feb 09: 10am to 6pm

Got buy got Hope!

I don't usually buy 4D nor Toto. However, this year I think i shall make an exception and try my luck on this Hong Bao Draw.

The economic downturn is here and most "experts" portrayed the worst scenario. This year of the Ox definitely looks too gloomy for comfort.

As what my Dad always says: "If we buy, there is a possibility that we might win. If we buy, we will never win."

So I guess, I shall buy myself a hope to win the prize!

HUAT AR ~ ~ ~

新年新习惯

"播下一个行动，收获一种习惯；播下一种习惯，收获一种性格；播下一种性格，收获一种命运。"

Saw this from Mypaper(28th Jan 09), it was quoted from William James, a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher trained as a medical doctor.Somehow, I can relate to this phrase; it is easier to do something than to give up something.

If a person wants to quit smoking, it will be easier for him to jog or swim or other types of sports than asking him to stop smoking all of a sudden. With other activities to distract him from the "seductive" cigarette, he will not be tempted to light up one.

Ripple from next door brushes her teeth everyday after lunch; I think it is a good habit and I have since bought another set of toothbrush and toothpaste. Not that I want to quit anything, I just want to start this Year of the Ox with new habits and hopefully things will turn out good.

Happy 牛 Year: 大年初四, 事事顺心!