As long as I'm laughing with you.

Letter #72 - Exhaustion.

2010-11-25T20:05:00.003+08:00

Havent really adjusted back to getting up at 6am and ending college around 3pm yet. This past week has been real hectic, along with the mid week gym visit killing my arms.

I wish I could just close my eyes and fall asleep, just like this guy.

Sup Gino?

Let's make The Great Escape.

Letter #71 - Back To December.

2010-11-23T20:56:00.002+08:00

2010 is almost over. Time's been passing real quick this year, thanks to the awesome time I'm having in college along with my friends, both old and new. I'm grateful that I got to meet this bunch of people. Can't imagine myself in another class, with other people.

The workload we get in college is huge, but just know you're not alone in solving the never ending maths questions or scratching your head over Chemistry is good enough for me. Just finished my AS exams last Friday, and college already began yesterday. Amazing isnt it? After a month long period of examinations, we only get a 2 day break.

Anyway, went over to The Curve to watch Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 right after our last paper. Had Nando's for lunch (only my 2nd time), before going for the 2 hour and 40 minute long movie. Thankfully it was good, much better than the Half Blood Prince. Walked around a bit after the movie, before going home.

Saturday. Nothing much happened, except accompanying Sam to his drums competition along with Gazi. Video below, Sam placed first!

Sam's schedule was tight, so we tagged along to his church, somewhere in Klang.

Sunday. Went out for the usual family day outing, ended up spending some money, but I think I'm gonna like what we're getting.

Monday. Back to College in the morning, before rushing out to MidValley for the premier screening of "The Social Network", courtesy of Nuffnang Malaysia. Won 2 tickets, so I invited Kin Hoe while Aly, who also won 2 tickets, invited Kareshma.

Free shirt, along with the movie ticket.

Today. College as usual in the morning, but celebrated "Jian Jian's" birthday as well.

Happy Birthday once again!

Went to the gym in the evening with Gazi, and ran into Donovan's dad. He put us through a rigorous routine, and my arms hurt like a bitch now.

Hey you, I know it's a little early, but dya wanna go Back To December? :)

Letter #70 - Unproductive.

2010-09-17T21:12:00.003+08:00

As the title says, my holidays have been very unproductive. At least in my opinion. Been playing games, watching movies and going out non-stop throughout the entire two weeks of holidays. Next week, it's back to those hectic days in preparation for my finals.

You know what? I actually miss college. My classmates are different from my usual bunch, but are nonetheless awesome. Like Jian Yong who always decides where and what we're gonna eat for lunch, or Kumuta who's really nice to talk to. I even miss my lecturers like Ms Ho, who teaches me Biology and goes "GET READY FOR YOUR QUIZ!" every time she enters the class. Yes, we have a quiz every single day for Biology.

So I guess I'm actually looking forward to college next week, and getting back to the "proper" life of an A-Level student in Taylor's. AS finals are only three weeks away, and I didnt do too well for my trials. I was aiming for at least AABBB, but only got ABBCC, very far off from my target. Need to put more focus into the weaker subjects, and read up the things I didnt get in the trials.

Going back to my hometown in Johor tomorrow and hopefully get a Xbox 360 from there. Another distraction from my preparation for AS I guess, but what I've noticed about myself when I was preparing for my trials is that when I really want to, I can do it. It's just a matter of really getting into it.

1001PM4. See you guys/girls on Monday!

Letter #69 - Holidays.

2010-09-08T20:20:00.002+08:00

Hey everyone!

So holidays have been pretty unproductive thus far. I've only done one past year paper. Everyone else is probably working their butts off and here I am, playing games and watching movies. Here's a list of movies that I've watched since the holidays started.

Hitman.

Salt.

Tekken.

The Expendables.

Step Up 3.

Piranha.

So yeah, that has pretty much taken up most of my time. Currently watching Frozen now, which isnt out in our Malaysian cinema's yet I think.

Aly came by halfway while I was watching to fix her sister's iPod Touch, we she apparently messed up. Plans for Pyramid and 1U on friday have been cancelled, so I'll probably have more time to ~~game and watch more movies~~ start to focus more on my work.

I got a 74 for Physics, 2 marks from an A. It's an improvement from my Semester 1 exam, but I need to buck up a little more in Physics. Still dont understand most of it. Maths has been good though, for Paper 1 at least. Tuition with my fellow classmates really helped.

Oh, and look what came in the mail today. After a week's delay.

More money for me to ~~spend~~ save.

Wont disclose how much I actually got, cause according to Aly and Dila, stalkers will appear at my doorstep. It isnt much, but it's the first time I've actually earned(?) money. Looking forward to Project Alpha season 3 from Nuffnang. Hopefully they'll retain the Instant Cash Blogging thing. I actually miss refreshing the Project Alpha page every Monday and Thursday evening, then rushing to complete the week's blog.

Time to continue my movie, then perhaps a game or two before I sleep.

Letter #68 - Update Tomorrow.

2010-09-07T21:45:00.001+08:00

Like the title says, update due tomorrow. Sorry for the long hiatus people.

Letter #67 - Soon.

2010-08-28T21:29:00.003+08:00

Update coming real soon. Last week of exams for me.

New layout. My apologies if it hurts your eyes. I'm ~~obsessed~~ in love with the colour orange right now.

Thanks to Li-Lyen for her help with the layout. For that, you get another hug :D

Letter #66 - Recap.

2010-08-15T21:17:00.004+08:00

So much to do, but so little time. I'll try my best to give you guys a quick recap of what's been going on this past week.

I've been catching up on revision for the most part of this week, with the Chemistry practical exam on Thursday and written tests the following Monday. So yeah, it's been a long and tiring week. Thank god I dont have to drive though (HI ALICIA!).

Recorded Malaysian studies video last Saturday, had lots of fun doing it, except for the greenish swimming pool water that I jumped into. You guys can check out the video here. Nothing much happened on Sunday, just another family day. Monday, more revision and prep for the Maths test, though I'm not sure flipping through a book is counted as preparations.

Maths test on Tuesday, along with individual photoshoots for our class profile page. On to Wednesday, presented our Malaysian Studies video, which went very well I think, and had our class group photoshoots along with the lecturers, along with a new profile picture for me. Thanks Zhi Lynn for editing it!

All 4 of us just randomly decided to climb the tree, and everyone huddled below.

Classic jump shot.

I just love this one :)

Nothing much to say about Thursday, just another regular day at college. Some epic stuff happened on Friday while Alicia was driving back though. It was drizzling, and a lorry just went spinning in front of her. It did a 180º spin, reversed, and went on its way again. Nerve wrecking experience, cause it happened so close to us. Went over to Danny's house at night to play more Band Hero, along with a game of HoN.

Saturday. Dad informed me that I got a speeding ticket, which I later found out that it wasnt me who got it. The ticket said it was at KM44 of the Kesas Highway, which was past the Summit junction and I never used that way at all.

Today, got up early to do some revision before going out to celebrate my brother's birthday. Went to eat at a Japanese restaurant near SJMC, pretty good I suppose.

After lunch, went over to Naza World to check out their promotions. Upon entering, we were greeted by Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces and Aston Martins, most notable the rare Aston Martin DBS.

Saw an Audi R8 at the back, my dream car. I'll be driving one in the future, just you wait. Proceed in further and we were met by some cheaper but still expensive models, namely BMWs, Mercedess, Audis, Mini Coopers, Nissans, Hondas, Peugeots and Mazdas. Dad got interested in two models, the Peugeot 308 Turbo and another which I wont say just yet, cause I want it to be a..... surprise?

The number of cars made my eyes open really really wide.

The Peugeot 308 Turbo we were looking at. You can tell my mum likes the car by the "peace" sign she's putting up.

We'll be trading in two cars for these two if we get them. My Satria Neo for the Peugeot, and my dad's Saab for the other car. Nothing's really confirmed yet, so we'll have to see. If it all goes well, expect reviews of the new cars as soon as I have free time.

Random moment in class, Kumuta and myself doing helium!

Trials start this week, and I feel I'm like I'm only half prepared. Sigh.

Letter #65 - PM4.

2010-08-13T21:02:00.003+08:00

Proper update this weekend, but until then, here's an idea of what's coming up!

Letter #64 - For Biology Students.

2010-08-08T16:33:00.002+08:00

As the title says, something for all the biology students out there. I dont think it may help you in memorizing facts or whatnot, but it's all for the fun and laughs. Enjoy.

Photosynthesis Song.

Cell Respiration Song.

Imagine if your biology lecturer randomly did this in class!

DNA Replication Song.

Trials in two weeks! Somehow I dont feel I'm really prepared or in the mood yet.

Letter #63 - Orange.

2010-08-01T19:02:00.006+08:00

Simply dont have time to update, so here's a short and completely random post.

Storage boxes.

Flower pot.

Pillows.

Pen.

Pencil case.

Souvenir from Kelly Clarkson's concert.

Cushion cover.

Computer chair.

Chem assignment.
(Notice how it hurts your eyes)

New casing.

With a matching iPhone theme.

If you havent figured out the point of this post yet, I have nothing else to say to you.

Trials in 3 weeks everybody!

Letter #62 - Targets & Goals.

2010-07-25T18:11:00.003+08:00

Hello people, sorry for the lack of updates as compared to a few months ago. College work has really taken up most of my time, and I find myself constantly not able to make time for myself. I'm not complaining cause I guess my time is better filled with more "beneficial" activities now.

Checked out Monash Australia's website over the weekend, for the requirements for Pharmacy. Apparently you can already apply for the 2012 February intake. With the minimum entrance grades for GCE A-Levels being AAB, I guess I've got a long way to go till I get there from my previous grades of BBCDF. So I've set myself a target for next months trials.

AABBB

Yup, I'm trying to meet Monash's minimum entrance requirement by next month. And if possible, already apply for 2012 and (hopefully) get a conditional offer if not a guaranteed place in Monash. Which reminds me, I need to sit for my International English Language Testing System (IELTS) as well. Will try to settle that during my September holidays, after the hospital attachment at Sime Darby Healthcare (SHDC).

I did some thinking last Friday, about what I wanted to do in life and where I waned to do it. I thought about the people I wanted to be with, and the people I wanted to share it with. All that thinking made me realize that time was running out for me, and I had better get started in concentrating on my work.

No more lazing around, no more wasting time. I now know the direction I want to go, and the only wall that's stopping me from getting there is this huge wall of knowledge right in front of me. I need to start picking pieces off this wall, and slowly but surely "pocket" them in my brain. I dont know if this made any sense to you, but it sure did to me.

Chemistry test on Monday (tomorrow) and a Math test on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll be able to do better than my grades during my first semester test, even though these two tests only cover a topic or two. A new week of college begins tomorrow, and I'll start it with new targets, new goals, a new direction, and of course, a new mindset.

tell me that you believe in me,
cause that's all the motivation we really need.

Letter #61 - Singapore Day 3.

2010-07-17T16:38:00.012+08:00

Last day of our trip to Singapore.

We finally got to enter Universal Studios, after breakfast and stuffing our bags into a locker. Cost us SGD 20 for that locker, but thankfully it was huge enough to put all our stuff in. It started to drizzle for a bit as we were queuing up to enter, and got slightly heavier right after we entered.

Nothing could dampen our mood though. We were all too excited about the day of fun ahead. Or maybe just the guys about the roller coasters. Entered into Hollywood, where they had some buildings and decorations lying around.

We even saw Marilyn Monroe!

First attraction we went to was some sort of animation thing, were we watched how movie scenes were made as if we were on the set itself. Pretty interesting, with the loud noises, flames and even some splashing water. No pictures of the inside cause I was too busy enjoying the effects.

The whole thing lasted for about 5 to 10- minutes only, but it was interesting nevertheless. Headed forward to Sci Fi City after that, where we were anticipating the most extreme roller coaster of Universal Studios.

But again, another disappointment as it was closed. So we settled for a "warm up" which came in the form of spinning thingys.

Pretty similar stuff that you see in almost every theme park. You sit inside and spin as fast as you can while the base of the thing revolves round and round. Next area we went to was Ancient Egypt.

We got into our first roller coaster here. Someone didnt wanna sit cause she was afraid of roller coasters. So while we went into the underground tunnel to get to the ride, she waited outside with our bags.

The walk to get to the roller coaster was long mind you. Almost 10 minutes worth of walking in an underground maze. But it was well worth it, as the ride was epic. Fires here and there, unexpected drops, and the roller coaster even went backward at one point. It was much better compared to the lame roller coaster in Sunway Lagoon. They seriously need to upgrade.

Saw this along the way to Jurassic Park.

There, we queued up for the Rapids Adventure ride, but walked out in the end cause the we thought the queue was too long. It said a 35 minute wait at the time. We decided to try the Canopy Flyer first instead, but when we got there, we found out that it was a 45 minute wait. We figured that all the rides would be like that from then on, so we got in line.

The ride gave us a bird's eye view of the entire theme park, which was pretty nice. Didnt expect drops during the entire ride, but it surprised us with two or three. Headed over to Far Far Away next, mainly for to catch Shrek in 4D.

I found it pretty interesting, mainly because I forgot what a 4D movie would be like. We were brought into a room for a little "intro" to the movie, before entering the theatre for the movie. The whole thing took about 45 mins, which was a little too short in my opinion.

Creepy little things.

Went to catch Waterworld after that, which according to Joel, has a real movie. Which I havent downloaded and watched until now.

We chose to sit in the Splash zone, where the signboard said we might get wet. Kai Xiang went and sat in the Dry zone, cause he didnt bring any extra clothes with him. Edwin Khoo and Jia Huey on the other hand, went down all the way into the Soak zone, and got splashed almost immediately by some actors who were doing some pre-show entertainment.

The show was good overall, with some funny parts, especially when one of the actors went "nobody, nobody but you."

The guy who's drinking sang it.

Yep, he was on fire.

Next up was a musical called Monster Rock, where they had singers dressed up as vampires, werewolves and even Frankenstein. They sang songs like Low, You Give Love A Bad Name and Nobody But You, to name a few. Singing wasnt too great, dancing wasnt either. By then we were all too exhausted, so we just sat back and watched the entire musical.

Before the musical.

Headed back to the Rapids Adventure, but were met with an hour long wait for the ride. We waited it out anyway, since it was our last ride of the day. We were all scared every single time a dinosaur opened it's mouth. We all thought every one of them was gonna spray some water at us. Nothing happened till the end, where a drop caused water to splash over half the ring, getting all of us except Kareshma and Beng Way wet. Kareshma was smiling until a tiny dinosaur at the end sprayed water right onto her face. Highlight of the day. No doubt about it.

After the ride, we went back outside to get our clothes from the locker and changed. Then went shopping for some souvenirs, and got a dogtag for myself. Oh and candy too.

Too bad they didnt have chocolate bars as big as him.

My one and only souvenir.

One last picture before we left.

Had one last meal at a food court before traveling back to Malaysia. We all pretty much slept all the way back after passing immigration, cause we were all tired from the trip. Finally reached home at around 1 am, and got my parents to pick us up.

All in all it was a great trip. My first trip without any parents actually. A trip to New Zealand is already on the cards for next year, anyone up for it?

The 3 main attractions of our trip.

Singapore Zoo, Science Center, Universal Studios.

Letter #60 - Shida.

2010-07-14T17:48:00.001+08:00

Day 3 of Singapore coming this Saturday. Until then, lol at this fail seller on lowyat.net.

Click for enlarged image.

Letter #59 - Singapore Day 2.

2010-07-10T15:10:00.008+08:00

Alright, here's Day 2 of my trip to Singapore during my June holidays.

Got up bright and early at 7, to get ready and meet everyone downstairs at 8. Went for breakfast at another food court, before heading off to the highlight of our trip. Do you guys remember my post for Day 1 in Singapore? At the end of that post, I mentioned something about roller coasters.

Yup, Universal Studios Singapore.

But to our dismay,

It was SOLD OUT!
(We later figured that they had to say they were "sold out" due to long queues for the rides)

Imagine our disappointment. In the end, after much discussion, we bought tickets for the next day. And as if to add salt to our wounds, they had some epic music playing all around the area. You know, the kinds of music you hear before some epic movie starts. We had to walk away from the entrance and go back into the casino area, while the epic music continued to play, as if taunting us.

We moved our visit to the science centre forward, to make space for Universal Studios the next day. Went back to the hotel and changed into jeans, before heading off to the science centre.

My parents told me that I've been there before, but I somehow couldnt remember any of it. Anyway, we had fun with all the stuff they had on display, like...

...these red button things.

and this huge screen thing.

We also watched some demonstration of a Tesla Coil where they zapped a metal cage with a volunteer from the crowd sitting inside.

They then proceeded to blow up hydrogen balloons with the Tesla Coil, which caused the metal railings we were leaning on to vibrate. We had to look away as the heat from the explosion was so intense. No pictures of this though, was busy covering my ears with my hands.

Random camera sitting in a room, which then processed our pictures in various effects.

We had lunch at McDonald's just outside the science centre, and then headed to Snow City nearby.

Waited for about 15 mins for everyone to gather, then paid the entrance fee and got our jackets and gloves.

All ready to hit the snow!

There was this warning sign on the wall before we went in that told us that we werent allowed to bring our cameras, phones or any electronic devices in cause the extreme temperatures would destroy them. What extreme temperatures? Try -6ºC. The temperature was ideal for the polar bears in there to live.

Just kidding.
(No real polar bears were hurt taking this picture)

It took some time adjusting to the cold temperature, but we did in the end. We just took in the atmosphere for a bit before getting our air tubes and going up some stairs to a slope, where we could slide down. We only went down in pairs or threes the first time, but the more times we went, the larger the group became. Until...

I'm pretty sure we broke a record here. (10 people)
(Picture taken from their monitors, cause it was 18 SGD per printed picture)

We each got a picture of ourselves though, at 50 SGD for 5 pictures. Left not long after that, and went back to our hotel to shower. Uncle Andy brought us to another food court for dinner, then to Orchard Road for some window shopping.

We separated into 4 groups to search for our own stuff, with her and I heading to Takashimaya to get something for her mum. The staff there were very helpful, though we didnt manage to get what we were looking for. Some pictures from Orchard Road.

Entrance to Ion.

Some huge ass screen with advertisements.

Coloured water! Yes, I was fascinated.

Worship the Giant Nutmeg.

Headed back to the hotel after that, showered and gathered in Beng Way and Kai Xiang's room, to watch the Spain and Honduras match, while playing some card games and having some titbits. Went back to our respective rooms at around 12 midnight, to catch up on some sleep and prepare ourselves for GUARANTEED roller coasters the next day.

Day 3 coming up! As soon as I have more time.

Letter #58 - Paul, The Psychic Octopus.

2010-07-06T20:44:00.006+08:00

Paul, the psychic octopus chooses Spain over Germany in their upcoming semi-final match.

Germany fans still have hope, as Paul was proven wrong during the Euro 2008, during the match between Germany and Spain. Paul chose Germany to win that match, but Spain ended up moving forward and becoming Euro 2008 champions.

Could Paul be wrong again this time? We'll know soon enough.

Update : Paul was right! Spain are through to the finals of the Fifa World Cup where they will meet Netherlands.

Letter #57 - My Water Moments.

2010-07-03T15:50:00.005+08:00

Sometime last year, I had a sudden interest in learning how to dive. No, not the kind you see in the Olympics where you jump off a 10 meter high platform. The lessons I took were for diving into the sea, with all the necessary equipment, meaning flippers and all. The lessons were held at UCSI, once a week, for a period of 3 months.

Why did I take these lessons you ask? Well, for one, no one can truly say they've seen the beauty of the ocean until they actually dive down and experience it. I thought it would be nice to be able to experience the beauty of the ocean for myself. Who wouldnt want to, right?

Nah, I'm just kidding. I simply thought it was "cool" to have a diving license at the time. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and it was a great experience for me. The only thing I regret was not being able to get pictures and videos of my friends and I underwater.

Hence, the purpose of this blog post, which is to win the new....

....Sony Cyber-shot TX5 Camera.

This is My Water Moment.

This picture was taken to point out errors made by my friends, who were about to swim into each other's paths.

This picture could have been better if I had a water-proof camera like the Sony Cyber-shot TX5 in my possession at the time. I could have taken the picture underwater, to show my friends and family how we looked like with our equipment whilst going through our lessons. It would've also been nice to be able to take pictures of my friends while they were being put through their paces. After all, nothing like having a good laugh at a friend's epic expression while he's swimming.

With a water-proof camera like the Sony Cyber-shot TX5 in my possession, we could have taken pictures and videos of our lessons. These pictures and videos would've been useful to use in pointing out errors that we made while underwater. We noticed that it was hard to grab a fellow swimmer's attention while underwater, thus making the option of pointing out errors to each other while underwater unachievable.

It was difficult for us, as we had to constantly resurface to listen to the comments of our instructor, as seen in the picture above. We then had to get out of the pool, and reenter the water using the proper procedures. This continuous process drained most of our energy and we found ourselves exhausted after only an hour of lessons, not to mention consuming a lot of time in the process as well.

Thus, with a water-proof camera like the Sony Cyber-shot TX5, our instructor would've have been able to take pictures and videos of our lessons, and then point them out to us at a later time when we were out of the water. Those pictures and videos could also be useful for future students who wish to take diving lessons.

Here are the many features of the Sony Cyber-shot TX5.

10.2 Mega Pixel T Series 4x Optical Zoom Cyber-shot

The compact Cyber-shot TX5 is built to be water-, shock-, dust- and temperature-proof! With features like Intelligent Sweep Panorama, Handheld Twilight and Anti-motion blur, TX5 gives you the photographic power to shoot in style whenever, wherever.

Water-proof (up to 3 meters)
Handheld Twilight
Intelligent Sweep Panorama
“Exmor R” CMOS Sensor
BIONZ Image Processor
25mm wide angle Carl Zeiss® Vario-Tessar lens

Image³ - Sony Redefines Your Camera
Together with the "Exmor R" CMOS sensor, BIONZ imaging processor, and Carl Zeiss® Lens, the Cyber-shot TX5 opens up a world of photographic possibilities.

Beautiful images—even in low light

For low-light environments, the back-illuminated "Exmor R" CMOS sensor delivers stunning performance and increases sensitivity by 2x to reduce noise.

Natural and vibrant image

BIONZ Image Processing Engine drastically lowers noise level and achieves high accuracy in auto-focusing, exposure auto-correction and auto white balancing; creating a more natural and vibrant image in different shooting environments.

Realistic photos with excellent contrast

The Carl Zeiss® Vario-Tessar Lens delivers uncompromised, accurately detailed and realistic photos with excellent contrast.

Capture perfect twilight shots

With Handheld Twilight mode, your images boast 50% less noise because the high sensitivity “Exmor R” CMOS sensor coupled with BIONZ imaging processor allows the camera to superimpose six visual frames to create a single optimised image.

Even when taking a picture at a high ISO setting or without using a tripod, you still enjoy cleaner, sharper images with Handheld Twilight.

Bring Out The Style in Any Situation
The compact and durable Cyber-shot TX5 gives you the photographic power whenever, wherever.

Water-proof
Dive in with the water-proof Cyber-shot TX5. Capture beautiful underwater shots up to 3m deep for up to 60 minutes*.

Temperature-proof
Keep on shooting even below freezing point up to –10ºC** with this tough camera in harsh weather conditions.

Dust-proof
With the superb dust-resistance of the Cyber-shot TX5, you can be assured to always get spotless images whatever the environment is!

Shock-proof
The shock-proof design of the Cyber-shot TX5 allows drops of up to a height of 1.5m*, the usual height we hold the camera for photo-taking.

* Demonstrates operability under test conditions determined by Sony.
It does not guarantee against damage, breakage or leakage in all environments.
** In low temperatures, the maximum number of available shots decreases.

Power and Precision

Effortless panoramic photos

Enjoy beautiful panoramic shots by sweeping your camera horizontally to create stunning landscape shots, or vertically to capture tall objects. Intelligent Sweep Panorama also recognises faces or subject movement automatically and cleverly stitches the photos together to create a natural-looking panoramic shot.

Clear and sharp images in low-light environment

Anti-motion Blur mode uses six superimposed frames to create one single optimized image with 50% less noise. This means you are able to shoot with high ISO settings in low-light environments, reducing noise and subject blur, giving you clear and sharp images.

Takes 10 photos in 1 second

Capture capture fast actions or a moving subject in a sequence of 10 continuous frames per second. This sequence of continuous shots are also grouped to simplify playback as the camera analyzes each group in order to locate and display the best shot automatically.

Letter #56

2010-07-01T19:03:00.005+08:00

Hello readers, sorry for the delay in updates for Day 2 and Day 3 for my trip to Singapore. College has really taken up most of my time thus far this week. My next post will be for Nuffnang's "My Water Moments" competition, which will then be followed by the updates on Singapore.

Oh, and Google Adsense seems to pay very well.

Expect an update this Saturday.

Letter #55 - Singapore Day 1.

2010-06-28T17:22:00.012+08:00

Here it is, Day 1 of my trip to Singapore.

Got up at 5 am in the morning, cause Uncle Andy our driver for the trip, wanted to leave early to avoid jams and such. Got ready, double checked everything, and met up with the others at McDonalds at 6. Put the bags into the back of the van, and filled out forms for immigration purposes. Everyone was already at McDonalds by then, except for Beng Way, who apparently "forgot" that we're leaving for Singapore so early. When he finally showed up, it was already 6.30. Half an hour later than we originally planned, but all seemed good.

The guys had to take turns sitting in front accompanying Uncle Andy throughout the trip, and I figured since everyone would be sleeping this early in the morning anyway, why not take the opportunity to sit in front first? Talked for a bit with Uncle Andy, and witnessed a poor bird flying into the path of our van and get rammed with a loud thud. Poor thing. Ended up not sleeping all the way to the first stop, a rest area. Had a toilet break, then swapped places with someone from the back, cant remember who it was now though. Finally managed to get some sleep in the van, and someone took advantage of that to take this.

*snore*

Had lunch at a hawker stall in Melaka before going through immigration and crossing over into Singapore. Upon arrival, we made our first stop at a food court somewhere in Singapore, but right next to my aunt's apartment. Singapore has tons of food courts I tell you. Throughout the entire trip, we only ate at food courts, but never in the same one. After lunch, we visited the Singapore Zoo, as planned.

Saw lots of interesting animals there, but roughly half of those animals were monkeys. There were a few memorable ones though, like...

the "flasher" and "mooner" baboons,

the "angry" hippo,

the "weird" spider,

the "lazy" polar bear,

and of course, the "blue chicken".

There was also this giant alligator, which was about triple my height in length.

Yeah, that long fella.

Which made me wonder what it would feel like to have your head in between it's jaws. So I thought, why not give it a try? And so I did.

Just kidding.

The weather was hot as hell, with all of us sweating away whilst trying to navigate through the whole zoo with Joel as our guide. Finally made one full circle throughout the zoo, and I resorted to my usual "cooling down" habit. Ice. This time, however, I took it one step further.

That's the stuff.

Met up again with everyone after that, and left the zoo for our hotel, a cheap but comfortable hotel called Value Hotel Thomson. Checked in, and went up to my room, only to find the door wide open and the TV on. It didnt help that my room number was 911 either. Went down to check, and was told that they were "airing" the room to allow some fresh air in as the room's window couldnt be opened. Took a shower, and then gathered downstairs to go for dinner at another food court.

Visited the famous Merlion after dinner, taking lots of pictures and just enjoying the view.

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel, or as we call it, "The Boat Building.

Got this picture from a website, we didnt have the chance to go up and see for ourselves.

Kai Xiang's so happy to be in Singapore!

Went shopping at Bugis Junction after that, it's something like Vietnam's Ben Thanh market or our regular pasar malams here in Malaysia.

We didnt buy anything, except stopping at a nearby 7-11 to get a refreshing slurpee. Went back to the hotel not long after that, around 10.30 to watch a football match and then fall into a deep slumber, to prepare for the roller coasters the next day! Or so we thought. More on this in the next blog post!

Day 2 coming right up!

College starts tomorrow, signaling the end of a two week break :(

Letter #54

2010-06-25T18:57:00.005+08:00

Friday

Went for lunch with some high school friends and current college classmates at Bread Basket in Kota Kemuning. Cant remember what I had already, it's already been a week. Left early with her to go watch Toy Story 3 at Sunway Pyramid. The movie was awesome. Go watch it if you havent, cause we all grew up alongside Andy in the movie, and some of us might truly understand what it's like to give all your old toys away.

We had an early dinner at Fullhouse, a fancy looking shop in Sunway Pyramid.

I ordered curry mee, one of my favourites, while she had some fish and chips.

The food was above average, though not too expensive for its quality as well. Would I go back again? I highly doubt so, unless there was some special occasion of some sort. The whole place reminded me of one of Barbie's houses. More pictures below.

We left pyramid after that to pick up Yao Hsiang from Inti College in Subang, to go to McDonalds in Kota Kemuning to watch the game between Germany and Serbia with Alicia and Chun Yeen. The match ended 1-0 in favour of Serbia, with Podolski missing a bunch of chances.

Next update will be about my trip to Singapore, so stay tuned.

Letter #53

2010-06-24T12:49:00.010+08:00

Alright people, I'm back from my trip to Singapore, and will update on that as soon as I get the pictures and my memories collected properly. Remember that teaser picture I posted in my previous post? Well here's what it's all about.

But more on that later. First, got up early in the morning around 10, to head over to her house for a haircut. Yes, you read it right, a haircut. Got my first ever haircut in the back alley of a housing estate, courtesy of her cousin. It felt kinda weird staring into the back of another person's house while getting my hair cut. And the breeze that was blowing didnt help at all with the hair flying about. Had a shower once at her house to get rid of some of the hair on my neck, then headed home to have another shower. Then picked her up and drove to Sunway Pyramid for lunch at Canton-I.

Little pig paus.
(she made me take this).

Had some of that delicious honey-glazed pork rice that I've been craving for a while now. It was orgasmic I tell you. Went to get my modem and router set up after lunch while she went to buy tickets for Toy Story 3 on Friday. My old modem overheated and died apparently, after a year of not turning it off. My bad. Left my details with the computer shop when she returned and told me that the queue was too long. So we left pyramid and headed for her cousin's house in PJ.

Made one wrong turn on the way there, cause SHE told me to stay in the right lane, but it ended up being a U-turn. Waited downstairs in her cousin's house while she went upstairs to talk to him. And of course, her uncle and aunt just had to come home at the exact moment to see a stranger (me) sitting awkwardly in their living room. Luckily, she came down a few seconds later to introduce me as her friend. We left not long after, cause the computer shop called and told me that my modem was ready, but we headed for Wondermilk first, which was nearby.

The entire place didnt look like any ordinary cafe. The atmosphere felt somewhat more "ang moh" compared to the other cafes that you see everywhere. I guess it had something to do with all the decorations that they had.

Bambi.

The decorations didnt just stop there. They even had the most amazingly decorated cupcakes that I have ever seen.

Om-nom-nom.

One thing to note, they do have other stuff on sale other than just the cupcakes, including Lomo cameras and tons of other merchandise.

Headed back to pyramid after that to collect my modem and router from the shop. Then, we went back to the cinema and stood in line to buy tickets for Toy Story 3 on Friday cause the queue was much shorter than before. Managed to get decent seats, and went home not long after that.

More updates coming, so stay tuned.

Letter #52

2010-06-19T10:33:00.010+08:00

Here's the update I promised.

Tuesday

Drove all the way down to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) to pick her up. Left a little later than I wanted to, and had to turn back cause I forgot to bring the GPS. Yes, I dont know the way there properly yet. Took me about 45 mins to get there, and got lucky with parking. A family was kind enough to direct me to their car which was parked near the entrance.

Got down and headed straight for the International Arrivals door, and was relieved to see that her plane only landed 5 mins ago. Waited around for her to appear, but ended up standing for a whole hour cause the airport staff took a long time to unload the luggage from the plane. Around 2.30, she finally got out with her 26kg load of luggage, and we headed for lunch at McD. Her first McD in months. Had another Coke meal, the one that comes with those collectible glass cups.

Headed back to the car after lunch, to fit her 3 bags into my tiny car, but with...

lots of space with the back chairs folded down.

Managed to stuff everything into the car, then left for her house for her to freshen up and get ready for tonight. I had some fun playing with her little nephew, Edwin, while waiting. He's so adorable. Went back to my house around 4.30 for me to get ready, then left to pick up Alicia at 5. My mum sent us to the train station near Carrefour, cause I didnt want to leave my car overnight in Subang. More on that later.

Waited at KL Central for Theresa to come, then we walked to the monorail station to somewhere near Pavilion. Walked for another 10 minutes to Pavilion, and headed straight for the cinema to collect the tickets Alicia won from Fly FM.

Yes, the movie is what you see on the tickets.

Had some time left before the movie started, so we all went to grab something to eat. Theresa and Lilyen got Subway sandwiches, I had a Hot & Roll (Fold?) and Alicia went to look for her fried oysters but couldnt find them, so she settled for some yam balls. Went back to the cinema not long after, and the funny thing was this. There was a cocktail party, and everyone there was dressed formally, except us. So we just stood oddly to the side, while taking some pictures.

Alicia and her blue-haired friend.

We didnt have the best seats in the cinema, cause we collected the tickets late. We got our seats somewhere near the front, but the seats were comfy anyway. The movie was good, though I got kinda lost at some parts cause I've never watched Sex And The City before, neither the series nor the first movie. One funny part of the movie was when one of the characters said "you're the prince of my labia," and everyone laughed except for Alicia, who didnt know what she meant. Time to brush up Alicia!

Movie ended around 11.30, and we had to rush out to meet Alicia's mum who had been waiting for us outside Pavilion since 11. Got into the car, and headed for home. Took one wrong turn, but finally managed to get onto familiar roads. We decided to go for supper, so we dropped Alicia's mum and sister off at her house before having supper at Ameer Ehsan (?) in Aranda. Stayed till around 1, before heading back home.

I'll continue with further updates on Wednesday when I get back from Singapore. Gonna be there from Sunday to Tuesday. But here's a sneak peak of what's coming.

I'll be back on Wednesday!

Letter #51

2010-06-17T14:11:00.013+08:00

Will update properly this Saturday.

Letter #50

2010-06-13T17:00:00.003+08:00

Internet's still down. Cant do a proper update till it's back on.

Letter #49

2010-06-10T23:11:00.003+08:00

Season 1 of Glee ended.

Why do all series have to come to an end just as my holidays begin?

Letter #48

2010-06-09T14:01:00.003+08:00

Project O&O!

Like my facebook status please. Click here to do so.

Or search for me on Facebook if the hyperlink above doesnt work.

Thank you :)