A place where I called home of the Aliying!

This entry is way way overdue when the house was first completed in mid June. I must say that it feels quite good to own a home.. (the financial pinch is definitely there, though..but be rest assured that it is all worth it!)

"I want this sofa, I want this tat way, I want this to turn 45 degree....) YOu name it, the contractor does it for you.... No lah, over the period of six months, Min and I had developed a good friendship with Daniel, our contractor. ...Drink beer with him, bargain positively with him, suaning each other to the max....etc...

I am looking beyond the transaction of getting the house done. I had befriended a nice guy called Daniel, his wife Ivy and son Quon...

:)
ALiying
P.S I should not be typing this...Just came back from New Delhi, you know...???

From a special little wedding book

"A wedding is the bridge between romance and lasting love. Till now we have lived for ourselves. Now we are to live for one another."

Pam Brown B. 1928

:)
Aliying

Mac thoughts

The world cup is taking the tolls on my weakening and frailing body..England vs Portugal, Argentina vs Germany, Brazil vs France(I totally totally slept through that match!)

It had been a very good weekend for myself. Details are :

Fri : Flew to Hong Kong, popped by the bar below the hotel to catch the last 20 mins of the Germany vs Argentina match. After which, managed to meet up with Ting Teng for supper...

Sat: Came back to Singapore, straight to Gemma's first month birthday...A total printout of Ah Gong on a baby..Sweetness is in the air! Superman(I would not say it is a must watch, but you know, Superman of the DC comics, how not to miss), more soccer after that...slept at Jaslin and Dave's place

Sun: Cleaning house time, met up with Lip Chee and Maggie..Got myself a new hp after my motorola V3 died on mi...*sign* ANd yes, I had returned back to Nokia after a stint with motorola...

Time does fly, not only planes does that..In a blink of an eye, half of the year had gone by. I do not even have time to do some self consolidation. What had I achieved? What could I had done more? what is more next short term and long term goals? Am I giving myself too much self induced stress? I guess to get the answers to the above mentioned questions, I need to sit back, relax with my kopi-0 (less susu) and think abt it...

Aliying
mac, Bishan Junction 8
feeling: Much rejuveniated after my first night stay at my new house with Min
listening to : repeated mac advertisement...boring!

Kudos to Efung!!

Had a good 2hrs breakfast with Efung. Just a month since we last met, so much things had happened for the both of us!!! Truely amazing! Kudos to Efung for making an effort to get my a** out of the bed before the sun rays shined in to burn my a**. Indeed a good breakfast, lots and lots of catching up, setting individual goals and reinforcing our targets. It is truely comforting to have a listening ear and have a pat of the back by him, saying"I give you my support, onz!!" This is not to be mistaken by any brokeback action. I am a married man with Min, and Efung is engaged to Huiyi.

Not forgetting our 2 X half boiled eggs, coffee and kaya butter bed.

More pics from the beautiful place of Istanbul, courtesy of Mingyun and Jeffrey.















:)
Aliying
Hong Kong in T-7hours

My good brudder, Eizac, had a good entry on the extension of the ZZzzZZz monster..

Check it out...

Talking abt ZzzzZZz monster, it is time for mi to sleep again...

:)
Aliying

Individual Physical Proficiency Test

b4 the IPPT, as the temple of the man aged, IPPT had been harder and harder for mi. The pull up bar seems further away from my chin, the turn around turn for the shuttle run seems longer and longer to turn around. The Standing Board Jump(SBJ) gravity pull is stronger and stronger, hence inhibiting mi to leap to my faith. The sit up , eers... surprising still not so bad.... :)

All in all, this IPPT had been a wake up call for mi. Not saying that I had failed, but I had just scrapped through my minimum requirement for CAT Y. I had achieved what I want, but felt that I could had done better should I done adequate preparation.

The 2.4km is really the final countdown. Even myself, a not so bad runner(think so) got the mild shivers. Wonder if the rest of the NSmen felt the same way too...Trust mi, I really nearly truly blew up my lungs just to finish the run. I started abit fast to break away from the crowd. My objective is simple - pick someone who has a "<10min"look on his face, stick it with him really hard and my <10min should be okie! Breathed really hard through my nose, at times giving in to the temptation of breathing through the "so easy" mouth. NOo!! I must continue to endure the suffering of breathing through the nose, at least till the half way mark, aka 1.2km. Reached the half way mark, only to realise that there is still half way more to go, versus < one third energy to go....The odds are definitely going against mi...Ran and puff and ran and ...saw the finish line....My SGD400, I must work hard on it!!!! With every lump of energy left, I opened up my pace to catch up....yeah! crossed the finishing line....Never felt so wasted, man!

All in all, I do enjoy the mild shivers b4 the chin up, the sprints in the shuttle run...not forgetting my dreadful SBJ. This IPPT had promptly reminded mi - you should not do last min preparation once every year! It is difficult to do the IPPT routine every day, but it is not impossible to do it on a not so regular basis...

All in all, I do enjoy the mild shivers b4 the chin up, the sprints in the shuttle run...not forgetting my dreadful SBJ. This IPPT had promptly reminded mi - you should not do last min preparation once every year! It is difficult to do the IPPT routine every day, but it is not impossible to do it on a not so regular basis...

SBJ - swing once, swing twice, look far, jump!

Staying awake

I realised that I had more and more difficulty staying awake...during work....THe ZZzzzZZZ monster in mi is getting more and more "powderful!"

Help mi, GOd!

:)
Aliying

comments and a run

Dear all, Wondering wanderer and shellfish, saw your comments...replied them under the respective entries...think this is a better method as compared to reply to your non-reply@blogger.com...

just came back from a run and did some routines for the upcoming IPPT next tue... Should had started training donkey years ago instead of "last min carry buddha leg" double edged sword cos at least the SGD400 is there to motivate mi to train up a bit...















To strike gold and get 400bucks, I need 38 Sit up, 230cm Standing Board Jump, 10 chin up, 10.4 sec for shuttle run and <10min for my 2.4km.

Not sure if I can strike gold. SBJ might be a prob for mi, and I would need to dig my lungs deep for the <10min for the 2.4km run.

If I fail to do so, there is still the silver there for mi. No!!! I must aim for gold to raise funds for my upcoming wedding and projects...

:)
Aliying

Holland Argentina 0-0

My first 0300hrs match. With Jeffrey and Mingyun on their way to Segar Kopitiam for yet another round of soccer action, Min and I struggled to open our eyes when the alarm clock rang at 0230hrs. Before I gained sub conscious, I was alreadi settling down for the Holland Argentina match.

I must say that the match was not too bad, even though both teams rested some of their key players..better than the England - Paraguay...that one was boring to the max...can cry one by watching that.

Here is a pic of (L to R): Min, Mingyun and Jeffrey














:)
Aliying

World Cup..

Germany match was quite good actually...watched it with my brudders at AMK S11 kopitiam...and you should know my magical formula : Kopitiam + World Cup + a group of brudders = Kopitiam beer..

10 of us, 23 bottles of Calsberg beer....I must say that at the end of the 23rd bottle, I am a bit on the high side...luckily I never drive...heng yah!

Kudos to Meng, Ruishan, Yang, Melvin, Sabrina, Sean, Taomin, Bret, Howard and Grace.. It had been my absolute pleasure to drink with them...Chill out, I am!

Today was the third and final photo shoot - the indoor photo shoot...surprising tiring but at the same time, Min and I had a really good time taking photos together...Heard that wedding photos are always taken, framed into a book and slot it under the cabinet...However, I am sure that if we put on our thinking caps, there are others way to present this memorable piece of information....

Eg would be
1. to put it on TOP of the cabinet, making itself visible..
2. Throw away the box that comes with it so that you would not have the excuse that it will not collect dust.
3. Do a montage on it(at the expense of spending more money....:()
4. Put small photo frames around the house to revive the good times during the photo shoot.

:)
Aliying

Istanbul revisited!

The trip to Istanbul had been a very interesting experience for mi. Not the usual shopping, but we are abt to experience a "culture" that had given birth many many years ago...Not a man of good words, so I will just let my photos explain.

On top of that, another main reason why this trip is interesting is because I am able to meet up my good friends, Jeffrey and Mingyun overseas. It may be a bit difficult to meet up, but with just a little bit of effort to meet up together in a foreign land, the results are truly fulfilling and enjoyable!

Here comes the journey...follow through, ladies and gentlemen.













The blue mosque is a HUGE place! Definitely a icon of Istanbul. Located at Sultanahmel, you would not be able to miss it. Strict religious rules applies - no shoes, no revealing of the flesh and no tripod(do not ask mi why, they seems to be very particular abt Jeffrey's tripod). The good thing that it is free for entry..shiok!

We made our way to another Mosque - Mosque Sophia. This time round, we had to pay 10 Lira(approx 1 to 1 with the Singapore dollar). The interiors and the presentation justified the entrance fee as we are presented with ancient mosaic and canvas paintings of the mosque. This is very very good!























Smoke waterpipe - all you can for 6 LIRA...apple tea favour, cappucino favour and strawberry favour to choose for. All these beat those that we had in Singapore Arab street flat down to the max!!! Check out also the master below! Imagine getting paid to smoke for the last 6 years or so...













Makan in Istanbul is spolit for choice - Kebab, Doner, rice, etc. 3 of us actually had 2 lunchs in 1 hour. We had vegetable stew, chicken soup and dishes, doner and yorgurt. shiok!















The cat lazing in the evening sun caught my attention when I was walking along the streets. Cat or mosque? U choose!














Last but not least, the Silican Cristern consists of an undergroung maze with 2 medusa heads at the end of the maze....up to you to imagine, my friends!

All in all, the istanbul experience had been very nice and culturally interesting. Think this is further enhanced by the ever joking Jeffrey and the "xiao-jai-bu"(aka chinese translation of crazy women), Mingyun.

Cheers!

Aliying

Busy

Apologies for the "not so much" entry....THe time now is abt to be 5am in the morning and I just came back from a manjong session...the next thing I am looking for would be to crash into bed

THere will be a window of two hours to blog tomo...stay tuned! The trip to Istanbul entry will be up soon~

:)
Aliying

Exotic Istanbul!

Istanbul had been an interesting an exotic place to visit till now....Turkish tea, turkish smoke waterpipe, Blue Mosque, Sophia mosque, grand bazaar, etc... I will cover this more when I come back to Singapore on the 15th June.

Leaving Istanbul in 12hours time....but prior to that, I will be attempting to watch the Brazil - Croatia match(that is provided that I muster enough strength to watch the whole match)

:)
Aliying

Project Banyan Tree 2006

For those who do not know, Min and I went to Banyan Tree to have our photo shoot for our upcoming Project Wedding 2006. Every girl's dream to don her wedding gown and take some nice photos, Min had waited a good ten years for mi b4 I am able to do the photo shoot with her. Hor yeah!

It had been a two good years since I last proposed to her there in 2004. (What!!! IT took mi 2 freaking years to settle myself down??) Pls do not blame this blogger here because at that point of time, he is working terribly hard to pass his training stage in his new job. Coming back to Banyan Tree Bintan, pretty much the same(which I like it to remain that way). Quiet, Serene, tranquality. Nobody knows who I am, no phone calls to disturb mi, only Min and I in this small island.


3 Things why I know that I am on a holiday trip
1. I need to show passport to the immigration officer(shiok man, this is what I call a holiday maker)

2. need to quene up to get onto the boat(shiok man, all around mi are holiday makers instead of working)

3. somebody over the PA system say "this is your captain speaking"(Very shiok man! cos that means that I am not working on the right hand seat of the captain!!!)

Bintan is 45min on a boat ride down south from Singapore. From the Tanah merah, we headed for our destination - Banyan Tree. This place in particular has significant meaning to our existance because THIS is the place where I proposed to Min. (Though I did not do it in the most traditional way)..Coming back to the same place indeed bring back fond memories of the INDECENT proposal.

The people are basically nice to the max. You want water, you get water. You want buggy, you get buggy. You want DVD to watch, you get DVD to watch.. You want things your way, you get things your way. We were extremely fortunate to have Linda and Sam as our Makeup artist and photographer respectively. Nice work and effort made! We were even more fortunate that the actual day of the photoshoot is the only day it did not rain(act it rained after Sam and Linda left) Other than that, it was raining cats and dogs...Lucky!

Enough abt the talking. Here are just a bit of photos for your viewing pleasures, my dear
friend.

More photos will come - at the actual wedding day!

:)Aliying

The time has come to relax...

Looking forward to relax at Bintan for my 3D2N holiday break with Min. ....The time has come finally!

Some things to note:
1. I will be uncontactable for the next 3 days...
2. If you ever contact mi, it is not mi - it is Aliying speaking instead of Eng Wei, Yingwei, Chong Eng..
3. I am going for my "retreat"....

And.....

Yes, a holiday finally!!!!

Aliying

photos taken at San Franscisco

Top to bottom:
1. Tram driver
2. Hard Rock Cafe
3. Self Made!
4. Seoul Tower
5. Asiana Boeing 747.

:)
Aliying(photos taken by self using a second hand Canon A70 Digital camera, 3.2Megapixel, 3Xoptical zoom)

Time not enough!

Still cannot make time to type blog.

This is really late, but I had just finished the first episode of Singapore idol...hahaahah! Kungfu rapper vs brokeback mountain boy...hahahaah!

I still need more time to catch up the last 3 episodes of Heavenly world comic book, start my season of Bleach animation, prepare for my fri flight ex Singapore to Jakarta, clean up my house, play mj on Fri, overseas photo shoot next tue, arrange to meet up Jeffrey in Istanbul, medical checkup....aargh!!!

And now, I am rushing off to the bridal shop to tie up the knots for the upcoming photo shoot...

I need more time..

Maybe, I can make time on the bus to Tampines by falling asleep?

Aliying

Fisherman village

A good 2 years.

Was celebating my 2nd ROM anniversary with Min yesterday. I must say that times flies. In a blink blink, 2 years had passed by since the happening engagaement took place. Good fun, makan, good company, good music and really drink drink till I drop big time time!

Went to fisherman village for the first time yesterday. Located at the end of Elias road at the small town of Pasir Ris, we went there not knowing what to expect. Only had words of mouth from Jeffrey that the place hor eh!

Settled down at an outdoor restaurant next to the small fishing pond. Had a good seafood dinner. Nice place to eat and drink with my fellow brudders. The only drawback ist that it can be quite inacccessible. After which, Min and I proceeded on teh orchard Cineleisure to catch X men III. An okie show only, could had been better. Felt that the effects are great, but the plot is kind of the weaker side.

Then, Jeffrey said he got kinky stuff to pass to us, say Min see confirm high.....

No, it is not Victoria Secret........

No, it is not eskim hard liquor from Eastern Europe.....

No, it is not Heinkein beer....

Yes, truely enough, when Min saw it, her eyes were big.

Yes, it is a manjong table complete with a manjong set, a housewarming gift by Jeffrey and MY.

THank you so so much! Really appreciate that v much.

Now got to place the manjong set in my "money" position so that I can win big money!

A good 2nd ROM anniversay to Min and myself.

Aliying
Engaged 25 May 2004 1045hrs

~San Francisco runaway~

Harlow everyone,

I am currently in San Francisco(SFO). THe flight came from Incheon, flew across the Pacific Ocean b4 I hit the western coast of USA. Came down all the way to SFO. During the flight inbound, saw the grey bridge, golden bridge, Alkatrez(I think so, it is the prison that was shown on the movie the rock) and SFO city...Nice!

The place is surprising cooling. Very good weather of abt 20 deg. Made our way to the accom and straight away even without thinking, I put down my bag and went straight to makan. Makan for lunch was at a Viet noodles joint. Nice with bowls as big as those that you use to wash face.

In a nutshell, SFO seems to be a more liviler place relative to Los ANgeles. More people commuting around, and definitely good news for the ladies, more place for you all to shop. Nice! Lots and lots of starbucks, fashion joints, HMV, Virgin records...Also heard that the factory outlets are dirt cheap, levi's is cheap, bath and body works is nice to get for gifts and self bathing myself...etc...

The only fallback is that with a more urbanised city, more social problem will set in. I had personally seen more poverty at work. Ironic considering the fact the US is one of the high end first world countries in the world. Security is reputated to be in the "not so safe" region. So for those who intend to travel here, be warned!

As I was travelling in SFO, I strongly remembered an American friend of mine - Colin Mark Holmes. He was a lovely friend who I met in my trek to Annapurna Circuit in Nepal back in 2003. He is 2.02m tall, armed with a mega watt smile and superman look alike. It is probably fate that brought him, jeffrey and myself together. The world is so big at large. And to gain a friendship out of it is indeed fortunate.

Believe mi or not, Colin had made 2 hugh efforts to come to Singapore to visit us on 2004 and 2005 respectively. I am always proud to tell others of the tallest friend that I had in this life of mine. And he is also invited to come to my wedding...

It had been a year since I last saw him. And should he be reading this entry, I do sincerely hope that this will shed light to the droughts of months of not communicating to each other. Nobody is at fault - I am busy with my flying, house reno and wedding prep;Jeffrey is busy selling metals and Colin is in his master's program in international development. Though we had not caught up with each other, I am sure that at the back of the head, every individual is looking forward to meet up with each other again - going to wet market with jeffrey mum, eating durian at Geylang, chiong at Sim Lim, chill out at Balaclava, etc...

There is so much things to do in Singapore!

:)Aliying
P.S : I just hit my 100 entries...yeah!

Wala Wala with my classmates

Dear all,

Will be away for a while...Incheon and San Frans. Coming back on next Monday morning, 29th May 2006

This is what I covered over the weekend:
Sat Wala Wala, Sunday Cafe Cartel morning breakfast, car test driving, IKEA shopping, Barbercue Stingray, drinking kopitiam beer (Calsberg and Singha) with Jeffrey, Monday meet KT and Jomson duck, prepare for flight and now going to sleep...

For Wala Wala, Jieru aka Kat had done up a very excellent entry on it...Wala Wala...Thank you, Brogger!

For those who came on sat, many thanks and once again, a great drink!

Many many more to come cos World cup is coming!

ALiying

Mother's day photo

Behind: Sheng, Yao
Front : Min, Mother, Aliying

Will i ever see the prayer flags again?

No time to write much, but just penning down a thought while I am walking my way home from my new house in Bukit Panjang..

Will I ever make my day to see the prayer flags again?

Prayer flags taken at Thorong La (5400m above mean sea level), Annapurna Circuit, 2003

:)
Aliying

Remember my new house no broadband

My next acquisation - which maxonline programme should I choose?

:)
Aliying

The law of conservation by Full Metal Alchemist(FMA)

This is a delayed entry actually. On one of my on-form animation watching day, I finished 17 episodes in one day. All in all, I took 3 months plus to finish 51 episodes of FMA. FMA down, next Animation Bleach coming up!

A good to watch animation. In a nutshell, it is abt two brothers who wants to get back their original body after performing a human transmutation through alchemistry. Alchemist is abt decomposing the material, rearranging and bonding the substance to create something. Ching, right?

Like to highlight the law of conservation - there must be an equivalent trade - for anything you gain, you lose something. Approaching the end of the animation, one was posed with this question? The law of conservation only exists in the ideal world. In reality and the actual world out there - is there really such a thing called equivalent trade? If you work hard, will you get the same return? If every individual is different, does it infer that the gain is different for each and every one of us? Why do some people gain without losing anything? Is losing something necessarily bad?

In my opinion, I do follow the law of conservation to a certain extent. I do believe that with hard work, you can get recognition and reap the benefit from the hard work. I also do believe that the higher hopes that you raise, the further you will fall from your expectations. So in practical life, always be contented with what you have. To gain a bit of the hard work is alreadi job satisfaction. To gain what you "lose" would be a bonus to you...

BTW, I passed my working exam alreadi. Next simulator working exam - mid Aug 2006

:)
Aliying

Bless mi as working exam is today

Critical time period as today will be my working exam

Bless mi good luck and I will be back for more constructive jounrnal entry

Also changed the song to Utada Hikaru - First Love

:)
Aliying

Updates!

Lets review the things that I need to do

New "things to do list when my house is complete
1. Bring my mother to Peach Garden for this year's mother's day(Going this sunday, considered done!!!)
2. Research on the feasibility of getting a dog
3. Visit Thomson Plaza (together with point no 1, considered done!!!)

Yes, I will be in Singapore for the next 12 days. Managed to scrap through the Line check. NOt a very convincing pass, but good enough to pass....now I had completed the half of my training, I must look ahead to complete the even harder second part of the final training. ...Never felt better b4!

Just came back from the Simulator again. Had a quite okie recurrent. That should set the pace for the coming base check(aka working exams)...Yes I just had an "working exam" 2 days ago and I will be having another " working exam" in 5 days time. Argh!!!!! Can somebody save mi!

Things on the lighter note, my house is going to be hand over to mi from the contractor on the 10th!!! Yes, On the very same day, my TV console, my bed, my sofa, my oven, my fridge, my washing machine, my window grille is also going to come. I am going to be a watchdog and oversee the delivery one by one. Hurray!

There is still so much things to do. Better get it done while time and space is still favourable to mi for the next 12 days or so. Here is a list of things that I would need to achieve b4 I start to fly again on the 16th.

Things to do b4 I start to fly on the 16th
1. Vote for the first time on the 6th May 2006
2. Mother's day DIM SUm on 7th May 2006
3. Repair work done at the house on 8th May 2006
4. " working exam" on 9th May 2006
5. Furniture waitin day on 10th May 2006
6. Free and easy day on 11th May 2006(Finally!)
7. 5 more days in Singapore b4 I start to fly again,....

:)
Aliying

5W1H

Who am I with: Huimin
What am I doing: Preparing for my flight
Where am I: West Coast Mac
When am I there: 2145hrs
Why am I here: to prepare for my flight
How come I am here: So that I will not fall asleep preparing for my flight as this had happened tons of time at home.

:)
Aliying

My PCMCIA slot is working!!!

"No!!! THe second PCMCIA slot which I had purchased is not working for mi!
Had to make a trip down to SIM LIM again...signn....."

Latest update, I had retified the problem alreadi...*signs of relief*
Next course of action - Prepare for my flight

Hue!!!
Aliying

"No!!! THe second PCMCIA slot which I had purchased is not working for mi!
Had to make a trip down to SIM LIM again...signn....."

Latest update, I had retified the problem alreadi...*signs of relief*
Next course of action - Prepare for my flight

Hue!!!
Aliying

Computer idiot I am

No!!! THe second PCMCIA slot which I had purchased is not working for mi! Had to make a trip down to SIM LIM again...signn.....

Critical period now cos Project Home is abt to finish....handover first week of May.
Critical period now cos I had yet to prepare for my line check flight
Critical period now cos I am going down to check on my house for the second conservative day. All the carpentry work are scheduled to finish today.
Critical period now cos I am going to meet my contractor tomo to finalise the window grille design and layout.
Critical period now cos I am not catching up with my projected schedule
Critical period now cos I am still typing this journal and not clearing up my old debts of paperwork and documentation.

Argh!
Aliying

Going to sleep now.

Yes, I am going to sleep now...that means that this journal will be short, straight to the point and unambiguous. Will write more when I come back...

Do you know that we cannot accumulate sleep? So the two hours sleep which I am hoping to get it in bright daylight is not going to help mi in tonite's nite flight to Fukuoka. There is no such thing like sleep two hour now, minus two hour from tonite's sleep....

Scientific it seems, but it seems to mi that if I convince myself with my sheer mental determintation to sleep, I will reap the benefit of resting in the day.... and be ready for the night flight...

Writing once again in my subconscious mind...pls ignore this mail...

Zzzz,,,,"Z monster to your station and prepare Aliying for sleeping"

Aliying

Narita!

3 Things in life (from top to bottom)- capture memories into photos, dare to dream practically and live to eat(or eat to live???)

Aliying

Been a pleasure to meet....Nobel!

Managed to meet up with Lip Chee and Maggie this weekend. So nice to be able to see the both of them cos it had been a good one month plus since we last saw the two of them.

When we popped up at their home, both Min and I were surprised to see the new added family member - Nobel. Here is a portrait of Nobel. So so cute!!! Was happy for Maggie cos Schmuzer was always "somebody" that she wanted. Nobel is very cute, kept on waving its small tail infront of Min and myself...so funny...haahhah! Nobel wasn't really afraid of the two of us. Kept on getting around us to play. Its teeth is not fully grown, so it was not hurting when it lunged its teeth on my fingers.. .Hey doggy, check your teeth got broke or not... :)

Was watching Narnia while having our Sakae Sushi takeaway dinner. Not a too bad show...reminds mi of a combined Harry Potter and the LOTR.. Edmund might be the next generation Darth Vader *give you some sweet and fall to the dark side, kid!*

Was abt to play manjong when I ZZzzzZZZ....on the daybed. Guess the overnight flight fatigue from Brisbane to Singapore is still co-existing in my body....hard to shake it off!

Sunday
Woke up in the morning after a good nite sleep(Thanks alot, Lip Chee and Maggie). We went on to have Sunday Dim Sum Branch. Yes, today I am going to talk abt food!

We went to Peach garden restaurant at Thomson plaza. The exteriors of the building did not look impressive or strike a deep impression. The "built in the same era as the Beauty World and Bukit Timah Plaza" outlook obliged mi to imagine that it would be full of maid agencies inside the building. Man, when I set inside, it was refreshing to see vast amount of human activities. Definitely did not look like Indonesian maids wiping the windows....

Proceeded on to the restaurant. Quite huge on the inside with "more than enough" legroom between tables. Here is what we ordered, do not underestimate what four peope can eat:
1. Roast meat
2. shu mai(x2)
3. Chicken leg
4. egg tarts
5. har kou(x2)
6. beancurd skin(X2)
7. chee cheong fun(x2)
8. polo bun
9. cha siew su1
10. pork with black bean
11. carrot cake
12. some funny looking dim sum (jiu cai, prawn paste,etc)
13. xiao long bao
14. fried dumpling
15. Red bean paste(x2)
16. Cocunut desert (x2)

ahahahah! Overate again. Once in a blue moon, never mind lah! service is good even in the peak sun afternoon. Met Maggie Makeup artist Kenneth there too. First time I met him cos I wasn't around during Lip Chee and Maggie's wedding... A bit like that one lor....really yeah!

Catching some sleep b4 my overnight flight to Narita/Tokyo

:)
Aliying

P.S :
New "things to do list" when my house is complete
1. Bring my mother to Peach Garden for this year's mother's day
2. Research on the feasibility of getting a dog
3. Visit Thomson Plaza

Motivated by Mr Wandering Wonderer

Over my stay at Brisbane, managed to grab my phone, called a no and talked good "talking cock" with my Bro, Mr Wandering Wonderer, Eizac. Was talking abt life, was talking abt the starting season for running in Aust. My bro is going to starting running at the end of the month. Ever over the phone, I was strongly motivated and urged by him to run. I need to run! Relaz and do not be objective orientated. Running is not abt shedding the mins and secs. It is abt life, the "Force" tat flows within you and the rest of the world...

All in all, a really good and short chat(the reality of expensive hand phone call sets in) with Eizac was really refreshing. Now what I really need to do is to kick my heavy ass tomo, pack my running shoes and start running at East Coast...Yeah!

Oops...hope I am not writing the above mentioned stuff in my sub conscious mind. Just came back from a night flight from Brisbane. Still not rested enough...Argh!!!

One day rest and I will be hitting Narita coming Monday...Yeah! Sake, here I come!!(Just joking, I am a social drinker only)

Aliying

Refer to 再一次拥有 by 龚诗嘉...cos I added the song in for enhanced effort!
Kudos to my bro for helping mi out!

:)
Aliying
P.S : The kids nowadays are getting smarter...must upgrade alreadi lor....

Aliying

NUS days!

Was in NUS today to settle a thesis stuff for a friend of mine. Man, miss the good old study days(not too much of the exam days though)

Coming to 3 years since I last graduate...need to figure how old am I this year?

Aliying

Q and A abt running

Q: I'm psyched to start running - only to quit a few weeks later. How can I maintain my enthusiasm, mentally and physically?

A: Runners get discouraged because they expect too much of themselves when they first start. To result orientated. Research shows that people who start with gentle, every other day running and have a good experience are apt to continue to their training for the next six months. Moral of the story - start slow. It is okie to start slow.

Be conservative: run every other day and at a pace that you find it ridiculously slow. Avoid huffing and puffing even at the end of the run(that sounds like mi, relax lah!)

Walk early and often - four min run, 1 min walk. A min of recovery has an exponential reward.

Keep a log - It is reinforcing to see the miles add up.

Imagine the future - Work towards realistic goals, edge up bit by bit.

(quoted from the runners magazine)
www.runnersworld.com

Aliying

再一次拥有 by 龚诗嘉

我想念去年的冬天
下着雪的那一夜你
给的温柔紧握的双手
温暖整个寒冬

失去了曾经的拥有
在你离开以后
带走了笑容只留下寂寞
忘了幸福是什么

没有你的夜特别的漆黑
只能闭上双眼去感觉
没有我的夜谁在你身边
代替了那个从前

能不能再听一次你说爱我
回到还在你怀里的时候
能不能让我再一次拥有
曾属于我的温柔
能不能让我再一次拥有
曾属于我的温柔

Recently, read alot of blog that everyone was writing an entry abt the song he/she is listening to when he/she is writing the blog. Following the tidal wave, I decided to share with the rest of the readers the song that I am listening to when I am writing this entry...

Particularly like this song cos it always remind mi to take a deep breath, take one step back and look at the big pic, remind mi that I must be patient, and that Min is by my side for yet another day. Refer to to the entry on All abt love

However, I fail to make my mark. Yes, I actually got intervened with my work(to talk abt in the next segment) in to make my fuse shorter. The "miscomm" occur for a while when I snapped at Min. Fortunately, it was resolved in a quick moment. *lucky lucky* Reconsolidating our thoughts, Min and I moved on to finish our objective today..*Work* - if not handled properly, can led to fear, anger, vengence and the dark side.....


**Work**
Very much I like to be a professional, but I am far from perfection. That makes mi a normal human being, but there is definitely room for improvement. Sometimes, I really could not understand myself. Recently did not do well in my work. Too courteous may not be a good cause, thank you once - I take the compliment, thank you twice - I look at you and think why, thank you thrice - I stare at you and ask you to shut up! Too formal make the alreadi steep gradient even bigger - aka bite your own backside...
Thought I am good in speaking, but when I talk, it is mi that people do not understand. What I say is not what I think. What I want to convey is not the message that I am trying to drive across to the audience. Just felt low on my side, the inconfidence is slowly creeping in to consume mi.

"I may be down, but I am not out"
Aliying

Shopping time!!!

Look what Min and I got over the weekend...


















From top left, to right
1. Paper holder to accompany...
2. Hood and Hob - the time has come for mi to display my cooking skill!
3. IKEA bookshelf to store my doc
4. Toiletries holder to be placed in the master bathroom
5. Workstation for mi to study my doc
6. WC to replace the existing blue WC...

There is more....cannot list out everything...

"More will come, I say"

Aliying

The running is starting to burn in my legs

Seriously need to run. Gotten myself a running mag, and still does not have a time to read and inspire self to run.

Was abt to run when the downpour comes. The month of Apr sure have a lot of rain. Guess a short rain is often preferred to cool down the warm temperature of Singapore. Nvm, still got the night to come. Just have to be disciplined in order to run.

The carpentry for the house is coming in... Scheduled to finish reno by end Apr. Stay tuned. Time to hit IKEA to buy "some" outstanding coffee table etc. Not forgetting the basin, tap, paper holder.....argh!!!!

Reno is fun!

:)
Aliying

Manila here I come.

Not sure what to expect over at Manila. Armed myself with my STar waRs Trilogy book and my IPod, that should be able to last mi for the nite...Read a friend's blog abt his recent trip to Manila stating the 3Ps-proverty, poor and pollution...see if it is real or not... nothing beats the actual experience yourself. Going to been there, done that!!

The last 3 days had been fantastic rest for mi. Productive and good quality, rather than sleep my way through, eat and go back to sleep round 2.

:)
Aliying

Taipei LAX

First pic on top was a Boeing 747 1000ft above us making its way to San Frans across the Pacific Ocean.

Aliying

All abt Love

Dear all,

It was a long 14hour flight starting from LA, hugging the coast from Alaska to Russian to Japan to finally Taipei. And believe it or not, my inspiration to write a good entry came after I watched the Chinese Movie "All abt love" by Andy Lau and Charlie Yeung.

"All abt love" or in Chinese translation "say I love you one more time" is abt Gao Yuen(Andy Lau) stars as a doc who neglected his wife(Charlene) due work. Due to his heavy work committment, he lost her during a car accident. He then realised the meaning of "treasure the one you see in front". While his wife is still alive, Gao did not treasure her, often let her "fly kite"(to the 108th time, in fact). Now that she is gone, it is all too late to repent.

His life became monotoneous after switching job to an ambulance assistant. Six years later, Gao yuen met Sam (Charlie Yueng) during an accident on the road. A successful heart transplant patient, Gao Yuen saw patches of her former wife in Sam. As Gao got to know Sam better, he saw the exact repeat of his previous senerio - Sam is neglacted by his husband; Sam is dying too from organ malfunction. Gao knew that he must act to prevent the same consequences from occuring twice.

As I was watching the end of the show, I act cried abit lah. Ha! It was really a long long while since I lasted dropped a tear while watching a movie. Think must be due to a combination of fatigue, imcreasing jet lag, breathin some russian air, etc. Sam eventually passed away. She wrote to Gao that he must learn to love himself again, he must not inhibit himself to live in his past, and that it is not his fault that his former wife perished. Sam was happy to be loved the second time, even though she knew that it wasn't she that Gao loved.

It is so important to learn to appreciate the good things around you right now - your wife, your family, your loved ones, your friends. Sometimes, it is so easy to fall to the dark side and start a quarrel with Min. Sometimes, I just do not have the tolerance that I once had to listen to her problems and "comprains".

B4 you know it, it is time now to treasure the people you had around you. How abt you?

Aliying

Updates

Aplogies for not updating the blog. I am currently at work, reaching Taipei Monday morning.

Will be back for more. Looking forward to come back home.

Currently in LA, never know that I was that close to my American Friend (Colin Holmes) hometown in Merced.

A good journey, so far.

:)
Aliying

Marriage Attitude

Heard this over the radio (they are turning 70 soon, you know???)
FOod for thoughts, maybe???

"When she is your girlfriend - you call her Love, Darling, etc
When she is your wife - you call her laopo, wife
When she gave birth to a first child - you call her Mummy
When she is with you for years - you call her ooh!"

Are you such a person? If yes, are you going to do something abt it?

Aliying

When good and bad collide

Good : Won Manjong

Bad : lose data storage in the portable hard disk that is not even bought for half a year&*(*^&&$%^%$*&(*
Cost : to be ascertained by oneself

Aliying

A nice wedding of Caiming and Reuben

Just attended the wedding of Caiming and Reuben, my warmest congrats to the both of them.

Caiming is a very good friend of Huimin. Just so nice of her to extend the invitation to mi. Felt really appreciated.

Time really flies..the next thing you know, after two overnite manjong session and a wedding dinner, I do not have time to even blog.... Time must be managed, I tell myself

Some things to look forward for the coming week:
1. Gene and Renee wedding on sat
2. Meet Daniel, my contractor, on Fri
3. Format my hard disk. (Yes, I bought it a few days alreadi and still yet to format it...)
4. Type a good blog entry!
5. Spend time with my family cos my mother birthday coming.

Going for a run now at East Coast.....
:)
Aliying

Major computer fair at Suntec city

Yeah,

bought a 250gb 3.5" 7200rpm portable hard disk for slightly over 200 dollars. Also got my long delayed PCMCIA 2.0 USB slot. Much awaited, it is.

The computer fair is huge and bigger than ever!!! Two storey - 4th floor for notebook, camera, desktop and printers. 6th floor for portable hard disk, accessories, cartridges, etc. Nearly wanted to buy another 80gb 2.5" 5400rpm portable hard disk. Think I made a good decision to hold back, cos I would be overspending if I commit myself. Heng!

Then, Min and I saw our latest acquisation - to - be - the Samsung L32R51 32" LCD TV.... the price had dropped again to a verbal price of $2X99. Very unresistive, but I tell myself, the price shall drop further if I use more of the force.

Aliying

Sillypore action!

Dear all,

Yes, I am back in Singapore for more than 24hours alreadi. My next flight would be coming Fri to Manila and that gives mi 3 off days. Hurray!!!Really must make full use of it b4 my next flight...It had been 3 full weeks of madness since the mid of Feb. 1 off day inbetween is not something loving to have. And you know, I survived!!!

All the things that I mentioned in the earlier entry had been achieved. 100%!!! After I had crashed to sleep in the day, I proceeded to meet up with Min to meet up with our contractor, Daniel. We met at the new house and went through some of the finer details - the lightings, the false wall and L box, the kitchen cabinet and the outstanding skirting. THis is it - the next phase of renovation is about to commence alreadi! And that means spending more money on my extra feature wall and sourcing around for our seete(optional), TV console, raising a wooden platform, bedside table etc.... Bring it on!

Just read the papers that the two year old girl had passed away. When I just left for Shanghai, she was missing in action. When I came back to Singapore two days later, she was declared dead. Things sure changed rapidly if left unnoticed. My condolesence.

Read the Mr Brown blog that he had his first sponsered podcast by a condom company - in conjuction with the Brokeback mountain winning the Oscars for the best director. Heaths of congrats!!

So many things had happened. Better secure myself and plan for the rest of the week.
Tue : Graveyard shift
Wed : Meet up with my fellow Abang, Fuhan and Keng Fei
Thu: Computer IT fair at Suntec city
Fri : Manila turn around
Sat : Huimin gf Chinese Tea ceremony cum takan session to the bridegroom(store karma store karma)
Sun : Huimin gf wedding dinner

Will be getting some serious purchase for the upcoming computer fair. And once again, that means more money to spend....Oh no!!!!

1. 250gb 3.5" portable hard disk
2. 60gb 2.5" (7200rpm preferred) portable hard disk
3. PCMCIA 2.0 USB port
4. USB wireless adaptor
5. More CDR
6. IPOD accessories

Good day, ladies and gentleman
Aliying

A muffin and 38000ft view about mean sea level

Blueberry Muffins made by Huimin to Aliying














My office at 38000ft above mean sea level


Good day, ladies and gentlemen
Aliying

One more week of hard work

Had not been writing much. Had been caught up with flying for the last two weeks. Really needed the rest that is coming at the end of the week. This week is tough though..

Tue : Brisbane
Wed : night flight back to Singapore
Thu : Reach Singapore by 0530hrs so that I can qualify for the inbound cab. Meeting up with Sandy for the first time to discuss the wedding package. If time permits, Huimin and I might rush down to Gone Fishing cafe to join Efung for his photo exhibit launch.
Fri: Rest day. Meeting Daniel, our contractor to finalise the details for Project Home
Sat : Afternoon flight to Shanghai
Sun : Night flight back to Singapore

One more week, I tell myself!!

Now trying out on my first downloaded podcast into my IPOD nano. Will listen to it when I reach Brisbane.

:)
Aliying

P.S: Hopefully I can get some inspiration to blog when I am over at Brisbane.

Shanghai

I am back!

The next thing you know, I am off again... grggg...

Good that work is coming in, so no complains from my side. Just have to do my best in whatever things that I do.

Still missing out a few birthday presents, so need to work on it when I am up on my next few trips - Brisbane and Shanghai.. In addition, need to catch up with Fuhan and KengFei, Ben and coy, and bro Vincent. I need to better manage my time. 24hours a day is what all of us have only~

Shanghai is a very modern place, certainly impressed by it. As I flew into the approach, I can see a total contrast on two sides. On my left are all the modern infrastructres and modernised skyscrapers. On my right, I can see rows of worn down houses with broken bridges and waiting to be harvested fields. What a place this is, Shanghai.

Got a rest and took the opportunity to walk around Shanghai. Quite a different contrast to Beijing. This is quite modern. 3things that I observe:

1. People seems to be delibrately knocking into mi left right center. There is such a broad walkway but they must knock you. Call it a simple gesture to say hi to you in the bodily manner!

2. People are still spitting everywhere. Not that I cannot take it. My margin to this is huge, but wait till you are inches away from the projectary. Wicked!

3. Taxi driver seems to be "smoking" mi that the highway is closed, hence bringing us sort of a one big round..what to do?

Guess this is what we have - Shanghai. I cannot change it, and it takes time to change it unlike a instantenous on off switch. I will not join them if I cannot beat them. Just kind of enjoying the culture shock. I like travelling because u get to see so many different aspects and formalities of lives.

So far so good!

Aliying

reading the papers....

Not sure if I am biased, but I thought that our Straits Times is quite a nice piece of newspaper to read. At 80cents, this is quite a competitive price relative to newspapers from the rest of the world. Maybe I myself is a heartlander, so I am able to relate more of the news articles wrote abt Singapore. Throw it to a non Singaporean, he or she might be wondering, "nothing special wat! Just an ordinary piece of newspaper"

A lot of people "comprain" that our newspapers should n0t had the price increment from 60 cent to 80 cents then 2 years back.. I thought so too, considering that the company is still profiting in a reasonable fashion. However, if I put myself in the shoes of the editors, it is not easy to write a column. I know that editors are experts in writing craps, but credit should be given to them for putting up excellent articles or "good craps".

Today, I read an article that talked abt the fact that there is a little of "brokeback" in everything that we do. Brokeback Office Ladies(OL), Brokeback Olyumpic(I think I spelt it wrongly) where two men "bent" down together in close contact to ski around a circuit in record time. There is brokeback NSF, brokeback discipline, brokeback Counterstrike....okie, just kidding...

Director Lee did not direct this "brokeback" to express his view on gays. He is not gay too... He does not need to be gay in order to produce a gay show. My good friend Jeffrey told mi that Mingyun cried while watching the movie. Had feedback from him that the movie is quite good. A go item to catch!!! In this way, "Brokeback Mountain" has just been added in to my list of things to do in Singapore.

I am not Carrie Bradshaw, neither an I Sumiko Tan. I am the humble Owner of this blog, Aliying.

:)
Aliying

Back to Sillypore from Brisbane

Felt good to make my way back to Sillypore. Not saying that Brisbane is not to my likings, but I still believe that my home in Singapore is still the best!

Brisbane is a nice crossover between Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Perth is too quiet(no shops open after 5) and Melbourne is too urban. Brisbane, right smack in the centre of the Sunshine coast, is somewhere inbetween. Nice!

I managed to take some photos but to my disappointment, the photos are not to standard. Guess need to relearn my ropes abt urban photography. No good, no good! As of now, my best photos are the ones that I took in Nepal back in 2003. Not world standards, but good enough for my viewing pleasure.

In a nutshell, I reached Brisbane in the morning, caught a nap, do some walkaround in Queen St mall, had fish and chips at Pigs and whistle just outside the hotel which I am staying. Watched animation till I slept. Woke up the next day, swam, had lunch at the food court b4 I hit my way back to Sillypore.

I love Sillypore! (Sillypore is coined by my friend that we do not know how fortunate we are in Singapore. Hence the word Sillypore and Sillyporean)

Will be enjoying my much needed off day today...got to view my drawings of my new house with Daniel, my contractor.

Aliying

The last piece of the jigsaw..the flowers are for...

Recently, I had a friend who thought that I held the wedding alreadi...You are not wrong. The truer truth is I had registered the marriage with Min back in May 2004. The actual wedding is coming this year though..

So to make sure that I do not get any more surprises,here are more info for you all to enjoy..

This is Min / Huimin / Hwee Bing / Mrs Chong by my side. Make sure nobody, I mean, NOBODY, gets this wrong!!! In-depth stats, unfortunately are unavailable to you. Can try making mi drunk to spill out any info, but you must be a strong drinker first. Can try putting a knife by my throat, but I will preserve in my endurance to reveal any info.ahahahahaha!

Facts and figures abt our relationship
1. We first met in JJC in 1995.
2. I outdoor, She indoor then
3. I outdoor, She semi outdoor now
4. She does what a normal girl does
5. I can be extreme at times (by my own standards)
6. She aims to climb Kota Kinabula by end 2006
7. I aim to climb Mt XXX by end 2016
8. Both of us graduated from NUS (She - B.Sci I - B.Eng)
9. She is a teacher
10. I am an aviator.
11. We exchanged vows on 29th May 2004.
12. She is teaching now.
13. I am preparing for a flight tomo to Brisbane now, sidetracking with typing the blog at the same time, aka multi tasking
14. We are meeting up tonite after running with Jeffrey.

Aliying

Valentine Day round 2

Dear all,

How was your Valentine day spent? Be it with a friend, gf, spouse, or having a workout, I am sure that all of us had a well spent day.

Came back from my Bangkok Turnaround flight (FYI - a turnaround is defined as coming back from a destination within a same day. Aka Singapore - Bangkok - Singapore within a day) When I reached Singapore, I saw Min waiting for mi at the airport. From the tired soul came a rejuveniated Aliying.

Had a good dinner with the rest of my family. Had Scallop(yum yum!), fried prawn +sotong paste+ potato strings, brewed Chicken Soup with Bak ku Teh meat. (Die die must have soup in my diet!) My youngest brother, Sheng is preparing to catch a madness late nite movie at 11pm at Orchard Cineleisure while my second brother, Yao, was preparing to have dinner round 2 with his friends at Tiong Bahru. With a sudden instinct, I took the initiative to give Yao a ride to Dover MRT as I was enroute to Holland V. (FYI, Min and I used to meet up over there often for our regular dosage of coffee and chat). Yao gladly obliged.

Finally, to the main topic(look above for the title - Valentine day round 2)! Min and I managed to find a pathetic slot for the car in the newly constructed Holland v carpark. Making our way past Parissilk and Holland v hawker centre on our left, Coffee Bean on the right, I was visual with so many many couples. That is sweet, totally. Couples were everywhere - god that there is still love found in Singapore. Everyone was engaged in their sweet nothings, wearing tip top smart casuals with the die die must have rose bonquets on their hands. Then I stopped and looked at myself - Nike running T shirt with sleeves and berm and my fav $3.99 construction slippers. I looked damn ohbique! But come to think of it, I had spent my valentine day round 1 earlier last sunday. So the pressure was not on mi to impress the rest of the world that I am in love with Min. Ha! Been there done that! Kind of strange, but I felt relaxed when I was strolling our way down Wala Wala dir with Min by my side. Guess that we were enjoying the post Valentine day, to be exact. No rush to queue for food, no rush to pluck any flowers or roses by the stores and roadside, no pressure to say sweet nothings continuously to my other half. Just Min and myself.

Made our way to Essential Brews. It is a 2 storey dining restaurant which I had good impressions of the freezes and drinks. Ordered an earl grey and Min ordered a Chai latte (I think). There were so many couples inside! But I can feel the tension growing as the staff were unable to cope with the evergrowing crowd inside the restaurant. People were starving and getting the wrong food delivered to their table. Can imagine if I was in their shoes.

I am not crossing out the fact that we should celebrate Valentine day on 14.02.06. I am not crossing out the fact that we should celebrate Valentine day anyday except 14.02.06. We should celebrate Valentine day as the day where you renew the relationship between you and the other half. A day where we reflect upon the things that we had done together over the past year (or the past 10 years for mi, ahahahah!). A day where we have something to look forward in this coming year (Our new house???). A day where ...... (to be filled up by yourself)


Aliying

Happy Valentine day to all of us out there

Dear all,

Valentine's day tomo. Wish all the couples out there a very happy valentine day.

Had a well spent 10th Valentine day with Huimin. :) Details shall be closed, not to be revealed. But the flowers given to Min are acceptable.

(Photograph copyrighted of Aliying)
Aliying

A productive off day

What do I do typically on an off day?
1. Go to STC
2. Go to T2
3. Go to East Coast Mac to finish up the book titled "No dreams too high" given to me personally by Efung
4. Go to find Arcade in Bukit Timah "I had conveniently summarised that there is no more arcade in the big 3 shopping centres of Bukit Timah"
5. Meet Min for lunch
6. Set up a DBS joint account
7. Went to my new house to look at the progress of the laying of the tiles
8. Fetched my father
9. Had dinner with my mother auntie
10. Lost 6 dollars in a round of manjong (2hrs)
11. Typing my blog entry
12. Bath
13. Watch Full Metal Alchemist animation (if I am still going strong)
14. Sleep and prepare for the next day.

Aliying

May I present you, the inside of an unfinished house!

Had initally just wanted a 90sqm 4 room flat so that it would be easier to maintain. But circumstances decided for us to take this 128sqm EA flat due to the following reasons:

1. Cheap cheap bought from HDB
2. close proximity from the Min's parents place(approx 5min walk).
3. close proximity to my parent's place in Woodlands (approx 12km)
4. I am happy with the size. Got so much space to play around with.
5. This is my house!

:)
Aliying

P.S : Had not caught any CNY movie - Fearless or I not stupid II? Will be catching one with Min at LIDO tomo...

Looking at the MRT

This photo was taken by self when I took part in the first Canon Digital Photo marathon.


For your viewing pleasure

Aliying

The class outing was shiok!

It had been two good years since I last attended the class lao yu sheng. Was kind of anxious abt it. Min and I met at 1830hrs LMT b4 we took a short stroll to the famous and hao leng Holland V XO fishhead noodles.

Thanks to the rest of the class for making the class outing possible. In no order of sequence, they are - Mark, Julie, Cherlene, David Chew, Chin Chew, Weimin, Zhaoyong,Jamson, Elsen, Yingrui, Efung , Huiyi, Huimin and myself. We had the lucky combo meal - the Holland V XO fishhead noodles famous five, preceded by the Lao yu sheng.

My wish for the lao yu sheng is to wish that my training will be smooth to the transition to my first officerhood. On top of that, I wish that the preparation for the house, the wedding and the honeymoon will be smooth. The process will be rough to go, but it is to be savoured well.

So nice to be able to see my class again. And I am proud to say that we are indeed one of the stronger class to come about. At least once every quarterly will a class outing be initiated. The class is unique by itself. Every individual is there to put in his, or her effort to make the class outing a successful one.

After the class outing which ended at 0100hrs, Efung and I proceeded to Jaslin place for yet another round of nite manjong. We had different modes of transport(Efung is by cycling while I am on the cab). When we met up, the rest were alreadi engrossed in the fercious fight of the manjong clan. In the green piece of battlefield, tiles were thrown left right centre and all 4 had the common objective - to win the money with as much token as possible. Efung and I soaked back in the smooth music and lounge sofa. Chilled totally.

Efung had a surprise gift for mi - no dreams too high by the NUS centennial Everest Expedition. It strongly retriggered my desire to climb Everest. Still remember my Project Everest b4 38? I was thinking - am I determined enough to climb Everest? How much is my desire to climb that? Or am I setting Everest so that should I not climb it, I would be able to climb something lower than that, same Cho Oyu? So many queries, so one thing at the time. I am definitely keen to climb Everest. With some discussion with Efung, he advised mi to start preparation at 2010. Okie. 2010 shall be my ball parked figure. When 2010 comes, I must commence the route up to the highest point of the world. It may not realise, but I hope that I can come close to it. Someday, somehow, somewhat. The money will not be easy to earn, the time will not be enough to spare, the liabilities and other committment will be too overwhelming for mi, the job may not permit mi to realise this and last but not least, my leg may not be able to take my 65kg frame.

One day, I will

ALiying

Overdue pic from last year

(L-R)Myself, jeffrey, Eizac, Kapor
Above:Jeffrey, Huimin, myself
Seated:Kapor, Eizac

Should had posted this last year. Added a new feature under my fav entry, wala. The entry is linked over there.

THanks to Eizac for burning the photos to mi. If you are reading this, dude, thanks a million!

Going for my class lao yu sheng outing later in the evening. Had missed for the last two years. Yes, I can make it~

Aliying

It had been a few days since I input an entry. The crux of falling sick b4 every CNY always happen to mi due to an overdosage of bwa kua and not drinking enough water. The next thing you know, I am on my way to Osaka and now I am back a "recovered" man!

It is so nice to have a reunion dinner after being away from the previous one due training. This time round, my uncle and the rest of my family got together to eat dinner. It had been very heartwarming. Not much words mentioned, but I can sense that my mother was very happy to have mi eating reunion dinner. Next year, there will be a new family member joining the reunion dinner - that is of course, my wife, Huimin.

Chu yi : Played Manjong with my 2 brothers - 2 rounds...shiok! Had been a while since we brothers got together to play manjong. With my constant travelling, it is important to find time to catch up with my two younger brothers. Had a wonderful streamboat with my nephews. Nice! As a kid, you always looked forward to get Hong bao, play and eat delicious bwa kua(Yes, this is the third time that I had mentioned it) Had manjong(again!!!) with Jaslin, Dave, Jeffrey and Mingyun. Felt sick, prepared for my Osaka flight b4 I fell asleep. I hope to recover b4 my flight to Osaka on chu er. Popped a few panadols and tried to catch some quality sleep.

Chu er: Was at Huimin's place. Huimin side had the tradition to gather together at her place. Had buffet and lots of interaction with her relatives. Tried to catch an hour sleep with all the rattling outside the room b4 I made my way to the airport. Destination - Osaka

Chu san: Reached Osaka in the morning. Caught some sleep b4 having sushi lunch with my Capt and first officer (FO). The sushi set was.....Original! Definitely not the ones that we had tasted at Sushi tei and Sake Sushi. Man, seeing the master chef prepare and serve it entree to mi as a set meal was definitely a joy. Not forgetting the aquarium full of puffer fish and see urchins infront of mi. :)

Did some walking around with my FO. Really enjoyed the walk cos I had the privilage of the FO to show mi around so willingly, so selflessly. Thanks! Went to Namba and ...mashi. Did some light shopping b4 having a Katsu don for dinner. Things in general, are still very expensive. With careful searching, you can still get good lobang for food and shopping.

Chu si: Preparing for my inbound flight back to Sing. Next thing, you know I am back in Singapore :) Let mi try to catch some CNY mood in the air while it is still around. Gtg now, meeting Lip Chee for lunch. :)



:)Aliying