Siloso Beach Outing
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Last week was too busy (and lazy) to write blogs. This is partly because of my preoccupation of watching animes that I just downloaded. Furthermore lots of things happened and needed my attention more. Anyway the past 2 weeks' main happenings was watching Star Wars Episode 3. Yeah I watched it with a couple of friends on the opening night which was 19th of May. The movie was good since the last installment fits in perfectly and smoothly. And more action was seen, especially by Master Yoda!!!
There was opportunity for me to look around and shop for some suits for graduation and upcoming wedding dinners during the Vesak Day long weekend, since many of my cousins will be getting married soon. 2 suits caught my eye, one from Givenchy and the other from Ermenegildo Zegna. Now I just have to look around a little bit more and get my choice since its the Great Singapore Sale right now!
After the long weekend, interesting stuff occured at work. One was that my FYP Prof. brought her daughter to work and it was kinda refreshing to baby-sit her for a day. Toddlers are cute, especially when they are more obedient and do not cry! Hope my prof brings her again to the research centre again. The second thing was that I completed my website, all designed from Macromedia Dreamweaver. It can be accesed at http://www.ntu.edu.sg/BPECluster. The website was to promote the new cluster division for efficient management of research in Bio-engineering in NTU.
Then this weekend was spent on really having fun and I am real tired out after the weekend canoeing and beach session. Yesterday I went to East Coast for canoeing and then had Peranakan Cuisine for lunch. Then Saturday night we had a feast at Enotria, a new Italian resto in China Square. The proprietor was warm and friendly and he is an Engineer at ST Kinetics and ST Marine so it was kind of suprising to get to know him. He's called Roberto by the way, (if any of you wanna get to know some big shot at ST Engineering)
Today was also a fun but tiring day spent at Sentosa. Had a whole day of fun playing beach volleyball and frisbee. It was damn fun and naturally we had the chance to throw some people into the sea too. But it was partly because they kind of agreed to it too! Ok thats all for the updates. Will post the photos soon!
There was opportunity for me to look around and shop for some suits for graduation and upcoming wedding dinners during the Vesak Day long weekend, since many of my cousins will be getting married soon. 2 suits caught my eye, one from Givenchy and the other from Ermenegildo Zegna. Now I just have to look around a little bit more and get my choice since its the Great Singapore Sale right now!
After the long weekend, interesting stuff occured at work. One was that my FYP Prof. brought her daughter to work and it was kinda refreshing to baby-sit her for a day. Toddlers are cute, especially when they are more obedient and do not cry! Hope my prof brings her again to the research centre again. The second thing was that I completed my website, all designed from Macromedia Dreamweaver. It can be accesed at http://www.ntu.edu.sg/BPECluster. The website was to promote the new cluster division for efficient management of research in Bio-engineering in NTU.
Then this weekend was spent on really having fun and I am real tired out after the weekend canoeing and beach session. Yesterday I went to East Coast for canoeing and then had Peranakan Cuisine for lunch. Then Saturday night we had a feast at Enotria, a new Italian resto in China Square. The proprietor was warm and friendly and he is an Engineer at ST Kinetics and ST Marine so it was kind of suprising to get to know him. He's called Roberto by the way, (if any of you wanna get to know some big shot at ST Engineering)
Today was also a fun but tiring day spent at Sentosa. Had a whole day of fun playing beach volleyball and frisbee. It was damn fun and naturally we had the chance to throw some people into the sea too. But it was partly because they kind of agreed to it too! Ok thats all for the updates. Will post the photos soon!
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Now for today, I went to watch 'The Interpreter'. It was actually a good show, and it fits the time at when it was shown. By 'interpreting' the values behind the continuous uprisings in Africa, and Eastern Europe, the movie showcases various ideas behind violence and the call for rebellion to overthrow despots. A highly recommended movie for it really discusses some of the reason behind the continuous struggle in Africa. Seems like everytime a good ruler emerges, he just becomes as corrupt as his predecessors. Somehow, human greed just gets the better of a person and a person on power needs to learn the point that once he is stronger, he has more responsibilities, be it to himself or to the people. (The best morale in any Marvel Comic book from Spiderman perhaps!)
The weekend comes and passes so fast, and tomorrow I shall look forward to playing with Macromedia Dreamweaver. Basically thats what I have been doing so far, trying to help my FYP professor to design a new webpage for the Biomedical Engineering Research Centre (BMERC). By the way thats also my new workplace, and this professor of mine has kept on asking me about doing my Masters or pHD with him. Dunno why he's offering it to me though.
Actually intended to go canoeing on saturday but the bad weather turned us off and headed to mezza9 for lunch. The food was a tad overpriced I think, given that other places can offer similar quality for a cheaper price and there's not much special about the place except that it's a high class food court concept, albeit with waiters. More impressed with the new CentreStage dining concept at Marina Square, where they had a pianist and violinist playing during dinner. Seems cool and the decoration was good too! Had a discussion about our trip to Tokyo/HK after our convocation and we kind of settled on the hotels and airlines. Now for the itinerary. By the way, there is 3 guys and 1 gal going currently but we are looking for more people to join us if possible! Date of travel will be around 21st of July till the 29th of July, and we will be staying 4 nights in Tokyo to visit the Disneyland, Ginza, Shibuya, and Mt Fuji. The other 3 nights will be spent in Hong Kong where we will go to the Peak, Ocean Park and of course see the magnificent HK skyline along the Victoria Harbour promenade. Just speaking of the trip makes me want time to pass by faster to the day of departure!
Actually intended to go canoeing on saturday but the bad weather turned us off and headed to mezza9 for lunch. The food was a tad overpriced I think, given that other places can offer similar quality for a cheaper price and there's not much special about the place except that it's a high class food court concept, albeit with waiters. More impressed with the new CentreStage dining concept at Marina Square, where they had a pianist and violinist playing during dinner. Seems cool and the decoration was good too! Had a discussion about our trip to Tokyo/HK after our convocation and we kind of settled on the hotels and airlines. Now for the itinerary. By the way, there is 3 guys and 1 gal going currently but we are looking for more people to join us if possible! Date of travel will be around 21st of July till the 29th of July, and we will be staying 4 nights in Tokyo to visit the Disneyland, Ginza, Shibuya, and Mt Fuji. The other 3 nights will be spent in Hong Kong where we will go to the Peak, Ocean Park and of course see the magnificent HK skyline along the Victoria Harbour promenade. Just speaking of the trip makes me want time to pass by faster to the day of departure!
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Tired and aching all over as I am writing this blog. Experienced something for the first time yesterday - Night cycling! The route was from East Coast Park to Mount Faber and Sentosa and back there. Total length should be around 35 km, I guess. Of course we didn't cycle non-stop, since we are leisure cyclists not competitive cyclists. First stop was at the Stadium Waterfront, then onwards to the Kallang Bay where we met this family who caught a 20+ kg Stingray. This was followed with a photo shoot at Esplanade and outside Fullerton Hotel before we continued to Lau Pa Sat for supper. From there it was all the way to Mt. Faber, and the cycling upwards was tough but worth it for the night view, and not to metion the downwards slide. Cycling downhill seems to bring me fond memories of Snowboarding down Cypress. After Mt Faber, we proceeded to Sentosa since it was so near, but we decided to turn back soon since everyone was tired out after the travel up and down Mt Faber. Somehow the weather decided to turn bad all of a sudden with a downpour and well that caused us to stop for a break until dawn when we went on to have breakfast at Geylang. And again there was an even heavier downpour in the morning but we just dashed all the way to East Coast Park then, resulting in all of us getting soaked in the process. All n all, 7 people went for the Night Cycling and it will definitely be a memory I will cherish.
Lots of thoughts after the Night cycling too, cause I got to see some parts of Singapore I have yet to venture to before. Since I usually drive from the East to the Downtown area, when comparing the cycling route to the driving route, there is just another perspective out there. It is just different and a unique experience. It shows there isn't just the normal lifestyle that everyone has, since along the way, we met people even in the middle of the night at around 3-4am. There were people fishing, cycling like us, camping, or just sitting down with friends for a chat and how can one miss out the romancing couples in Mt. Faber. It shows how varied life is in the urban context and just truly shows that there is more than to life than just your normal usual habits.
Lots of thoughts after the Night cycling too, cause I got to see some parts of Singapore I have yet to venture to before. Since I usually drive from the East to the Downtown area, when comparing the cycling route to the driving route, there is just another perspective out there. It is just different and a unique experience. It shows there isn't just the normal lifestyle that everyone has, since along the way, we met people even in the middle of the night at around 3-4am. There were people fishing, cycling like us, camping, or just sitting down with friends for a chat and how can one miss out the romancing couples in Mt. Faber. It shows how varied life is in the urban context and just truly shows that there is more than to life than just your normal usual habits.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
For those of my friends interested to see my house in Indonesia, I posted something below for you all to see! This is where I spent my childhood in Indonesia =D
Friday, May 06, 2005
Presentation today, and it didn't go as well as expected. But what's over is over right? So I can just hope for the best now. Oh and I guessed correctly that A/P Alastair Ritchie is gonna be my moderator. Somehow after the presentation is over, there lies just emptiness. It feels like one is wandering about senselessly. Its true, since I have nothing else to do now except to wait for my results and get to convocate. Maybe it has something to do with me being to pampered and comfortable in life with my parents providing me what I need and all. This makes me lazy to pursue something in life, kind of makes it like life is just like that!
As usual, returned to my TVB Hongkong Serial that I bought last week titled Net Deception. This is one really philosophical thriller. It points out how truly the world is - there is no Black or White but shades of gray. Similar to the idea shown in Infernal Affairs. Don't you think these Hongkies are kind of more sophisticated in thinking compared to most Asians? Maybe that is why HK still maintains its status as Asia's Financial Center and liveliest city. The episode I watched today had a discussion on how Man can be God-like when he has the strength. No wonder that powerful men do not need religion, they create one. Weak are those who follow religion with their blind eyes, and gullible are those who listen to religious books fanatically. That's why I chose to be a free-thinker, where the mind has no constraints on what it can think.
So enough about the philosophy part, now for the practical part. Man needs a job after graduation and I got one, albeit a temporary job for only one month. Post = Research Lab Boy (informal) or Research Assistant (formal). Basically my FYP Professor just hired me casually and said he will pay me $8/hour for working on papers and lab research work. Sounds too good to be true? I hope not, but we shall see on next Tuesday to see whether it is according to what he promised!
As usual, returned to my TVB Hongkong Serial that I bought last week titled Net Deception. This is one really philosophical thriller. It points out how truly the world is - there is no Black or White but shades of gray. Similar to the idea shown in Infernal Affairs. Don't you think these Hongkies are kind of more sophisticated in thinking compared to most Asians? Maybe that is why HK still maintains its status as Asia's Financial Center and liveliest city. The episode I watched today had a discussion on how Man can be God-like when he has the strength. No wonder that powerful men do not need religion, they create one. Weak are those who follow religion with their blind eyes, and gullible are those who listen to religious books fanatically. That's why I chose to be a free-thinker, where the mind has no constraints on what it can think.
So enough about the philosophy part, now for the practical part. Man needs a job after graduation and I got one, albeit a temporary job for only one month. Post = Research Lab Boy (informal) or Research Assistant (formal). Basically my FYP Professor just hired me casually and said he will pay me $8/hour for working on papers and lab research work. Sounds too good to be true? I hope not, but we shall see on next Tuesday to see whether it is according to what he promised!
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Completed my last paper on the 3rd (which was yesterday)... But then doesn't feel any sense of joy since there's still my FYP presentation. Discovered a new restaurant, called the Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant at the 5th floor of Takashimaya on Sunday while I was out for lunch with my parents. The food turns out to be good, especially the wide range of desserts! They have a branch below too, called the Imperial Treasure Teochew Restaurant and a LaMian Xiao Long Bao branch at Marina Square! From the menu, it seems that this restaurant is the one opened by the previous owner of Crystal Jade after he sold his shareholdings in Crystal Jade. Somehow the food tastes better as well at the new restaurant, maybe Crystal Jade's quality is going down...
And blogging is currently being marketed by the media as a new form of internet advertising! Channel News Asia in Singapore has some programmes on bloggers and The Straits Times also showcased some popular Singaporean bloggers. Even Business Week highlighted the importance of blogs to business. Well if there's really a way to collate all the various thoughts of people who write these online journals everyday, it isn't really difficult to produce goods and services for people, who knows the level of service and goods produced can satisfy our desires! Just hope that the cost would not go up with that! So hear that all retailers/producers/marketeers - COST is the main factor for us consumers!
Ever since the Singapore government announced the Casino decision, The Business Times seems to have gone hyper-active in showcasing the Integrated Resorts (more sophisticated term to Casino) and how it will revitalize Singapore. But given the price Singaporeans have to pay ($100) to get in there, I am a bit skeptical of the profitability of such ventures. A Singaporean just need to pay $59 to $89 per night to go to Genting Highlands, and this includes transportation, so the Singapore's government decision to put an entrance fee is an absurd decision. Let's just hope the 2 casinos will not end up like Fantasy Island/Asian Village/Haw Par Villa/Tang Dynasty!
And blogging is currently being marketed by the media as a new form of internet advertising! Channel News Asia in Singapore has some programmes on bloggers and The Straits Times also showcased some popular Singaporean bloggers. Even Business Week highlighted the importance of blogs to business. Well if there's really a way to collate all the various thoughts of people who write these online journals everyday, it isn't really difficult to produce goods and services for people, who knows the level of service and goods produced can satisfy our desires! Just hope that the cost would not go up with that! So hear that all retailers/producers/marketeers - COST is the main factor for us consumers!
Ever since the Singapore government announced the Casino decision, The Business Times seems to have gone hyper-active in showcasing the Integrated Resorts (more sophisticated term to Casino) and how it will revitalize Singapore. But given the price Singaporeans have to pay ($100) to get in there, I am a bit skeptical of the profitability of such ventures. A Singaporean just need to pay $59 to $89 per night to go to Genting Highlands, and this includes transportation, so the Singapore's government decision to put an entrance fee is an absurd decision. Let's just hope the 2 casinos will not end up like Fantasy Island/Asian Village/Haw Par Villa/Tang Dynasty!
