Uni Life=Stress

Met up with Kp on friday morning as i offered to teach him the procedures of printing notes in libraries. I have quite a lot of free time before my lecture which starts at 2.30 pm. Coincidentally, my jc classmates ended their lectures soon after and we had lunch together at hall 3 canteen. Clarence and Terence bought laptops at the computer shop at the price of about 2.3k.

After my 2 hr lecture, i went to the library for a while before going for my aerospace inaugural social which starts at 6.30 pm. Most of us were introducing ourselves and shaking hands with each other. Dinner was also provided and the event was a good opportunity to know our course mates and professors. There are 3 other AJCians in the same course as me and i do not have any recollection of their faces except for 1 guy. There are also a number of Malaysian and China students as well. We spent 3 hours 30 mins at the function hall getting to know each other while the professors answered some of our queries as well.

Went back to my hostel room at around 11.15 pm.

It's Saturday and i'm in school due to a make up lecture. After the physics lecture, i went to print some notes again and went back home with the assignments. Been slacking at home until around 11 pm before attempting the maths tutorial.

I took so long to solve a rather simple question involving trigonometric equations. Got stuck at the later questions and gave up as i was too tired already. I have to try again tomorrow. Arggg......... Doing homework since 2 years 9 months ago. It really sucks coz i have forgotten most of the stuff we learnt in JC. I guess i should be spending a bomb on textbooks coz i really need them. :(

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University sucks a lot of $$$ away

10 Reasons why you have to spend a lot
1) Lecture notes are not given (you have to print yourself)
2) Tutorial questions are not given (you have to print yourself)
3) Have to buy files for the various modules.
4) The university textbooks are so expensive.
5) There are so many modules each semester and it is recommended to buy a textbook for each module.
6) Laptop
7) Hostel Bill
8) Meals (no more mummy cooked dishes)
9) Tuition fee
10) Time=Money
Time wasted in lectures & tutorials=Money wasted!

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Slack Week 1

Tuesday, went for a physics lecture early in the morning and coincidentally saw Anthony, my camp mate. He is in the same course as me and we collected our matriculation cards after the lecture. We then went to the library to access STARS for registration of modules but the Studentlink site was down. After many unsuccessful attempts using my laptop, we gave up and had lunch at Jurong Point.

Bought some stationery at Popular before going back home as there are no lessons on wednesday due to flag day. The site was up and running by then and i applied for Effective Communication, a module which i was supposed to take next semester.

Met up with Weiming later in the day to watch Mysterious Skin. Some people might detest the homosexual content but the leads had put up wonderfully sensitive performances which make the story realistic. This movie vividly displays how childhood abuse scar the emotional health of the victims and the serious repercussions.

Wednesday, met up with my supervisor for the last time to return the PDA, bag, notes, charger, spare battery, etc. No more job commitments! No more income as well. :( Studying is my top priority now.

Watched Sin City with Daryl and Liyuan at orchard after that. It is unlike any other movie you have seen before although i won't consider it genre busting. The violence is unstoppable with the gunshots, chopping of limbs and fist fights. The action is stylistically shot as well, a cinematographic achievement. Creative and well-acted, the film is a successful adaptation that is strictly not for the squeamish.

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Hostel Life (1st Day)

Woke up quite early today to move into my hostel. Brought quite a lot of stuff over there on my mother's car. Clarence arrived around the same time as me and we cleaned up the room before unpacking our stuff.

Edwin and Terence dropped by to visit for a short while after their freshmen welcome ceremony. We had lunch before going over to Nanyang Auditorium for the afternoon session of the welcome ceremony.

It was quite a waste of time as expected and i slept through most of the session. There were a number of talks by the various deans, a skit, choir numbers and an oath taking ceremony. It ended around 3.30 pm and i saw a number of long lost friends before heading back to my hostel room. Derrick came by and taught us some valuable lessons using edveNTUre, internet configuration of my laptop and some essential information.

Clarence went back home as he had to bring more stuff to hostel. Derrick then accompanied me to the library to help me print my notes for tomorrow. He left for his campus concert with Jiang Meiqi and Fan Weiqi performing after that and i went for dinner alone at hall 1 canteen.

Luckily, i saw Keng Han and Gan there, and Kh invited me to join his orientation friends for dinner. Went back to my room to rest and surf net after that. Took some pictures of my room.

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Zewen's 21st Birthday

Saturday, my jc gang met up this afternoon to buy a present for Zewen before going to his chalet at Aloha Loyang. We were considering either a sweater or a watch but since we did not see any nice sweaters, we decided on buying a watch. Took some time choosing a nice watch at Tangs and headed to his chalet after purchasing it.

We were the second earliest group to arrive after his relatives and had dinner after the food was prepared. We spent most of the time chatting, playing mahjong and poker cards, and went to the beach for some seabreeze before cutting of the cake. The cake was delicious (ice cream cake from Swensons) Yum!

We were staying over in the chalet for the night and decided to go for a ghost hunting expedition again. We all went to the "Red House" in Pasir Ris in Terence's lorry and were like illegal immigrants at the back compartment with no light inside at all. The distance is not very far from Aloha Loyang and we arrived within 5 minutes.

There were 2 statues by the sides of the closed gate in front of the red house. Barbed wires are also fixed on top of the fence and the gate. We were unable to enter the haunted house and left promptly for Old Changi Hospital. We were rather excited as there are no fences surrounding the haunted hospital and we will be able to enter.

We parked our cars at the carpark opposite the hospital which is very near Hendon Camp. We went to the old building beside the hospital which is closer to the road first. The doors are sealed up and we were only able to roam the surroundings of the building. Took a photo with the old building in the background.

Take a good look at the 2nd photo we took.

Notice something in the photo? This proves that ghosts like to take photos with humans as well. There is a pathway leading to the hospital but it is really dark and the foliage is crowding the narrow pathway. I went up a distance with Huilin and Zewen but it was too inaccessible for so many of us to go. Got entangled in some cobwebs as well.

We went to the main entrance of the hospital and there was another flight of stairs leading up to the hospital. We were hesitating to go up to the hospital and Meibin, Ade and Shirley have already backed out, choosing to wait for us at the opposite bus stop. I wanted to go up as i don't want to go for another wasted ghost hunting trip again. Clarence, Jim and Yh have decided to back out as well and there were only left with 6 people who might be interested to go up. Edwin took a photo of the stairway and the strong flash illuminated a bit of the building on top of the staircase. Notice something white and round near the branch of the tree?

A bigger copy of the spiritual orb. On closer inspection, you can see 2 eyes and a mouth. These objects are evidence of paranormal activity in that area.

There were a lot of mosquitoes biting us and we were all rather irritated by them. A lorry drove past us and the driver shouted "Bu Yao Shang Qu!", or "Don't go up!". I wasn't really bothered by his comment and was still quite enthusiastic about going up as i don't wanna stand there and get bitten by more mosquitoes. However, the rest have decided not to go up and i had no choice but to follow (i'm not so crazy to go up alone). Quite disappointed that we did not even get close to the actual building.

We went to Changi Village for a short while and bought some drinks before heading back to the chalet. There were a number of transvestites in Changi Village on a weekend night as usual and some are really good looking while some looked quite fake.

We watched tv for a while as we did not have any other activities and Derrick was demonstrating some card tricks to us. Heads picture taken by Edwin.

Some of us were very tired and slept in the rooms after bathing. The only few awake are Derrick, Gs, Mb, Ade, Shirley and I. We played a guessing number game and the loser will have to drink a sip of a mixture of Vodka and ice cream soda. We finished the game in 4 rounds as we ran out of Absolute Vodka. We then proceeded to bath before continuing our late night chatting until around 5.30 am.

Slept at 6 am and woke up at 10.20 am as we were going for MacDonalds' breakfast at Downtown East. We watched the repeat telecast of Jue Dui Superstar at 12 noon and played some soccer in the afternoon before heading back home.

Bought quite a lot of groceries for my hostel and spent some time to pack my stuff as i'm moving in tomorrow morning. Hope that hostel life is an enriching and fun-filled experience.

P.S. : The photo with the long haired "ghost" is actually a set-up from all of us as we wanted to fake a ghost picture. Huilin was the one acting the ghost.

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My Last Week of Freedom!

Why is school starting so soon????????? Why??????? Going to study after such a long break of 2 years 9 months. Stress will be back in my life once again. :( I really don't know how i'm going to cope knowing that i sleep in lectures most of the time and always do last-minute work. My only relief is my timetable. I do not have any lessons on friday and i have half day lessons on wednesday and thursday. Thinking of overloading coz i will have 2 more modules next semester if i don't overload.

Ok, enough about university. A recap of what i did this week.
Monday) Went ktv with Ks as there were a lot of new ktv songs by Penny and David Tao released. Headed to Bugis to accompany him to get a new bag for university.

Tuesday) Went to watch Crash with Daryl at West Mall in the afternoon and headed to Cineleisure to watch War of The Worlds with Stephen at night. Crash is a well-wrought drama on clashes between various races. The cast is great and the director deft in intertwining the different stories to make it an effective ensemble piece. War Of The Worlds by Steven Spielberg's standard is bad. Minority Report and Artificial Intelligence have much better scripts with room for character development unlike WOTW. It is merely a special effects galore with lots of running and chasing.

Wednesday) Went out with my sec sch mates for a gathering as Fuli and i are starting school next week and we won't be able to meet up frequently next time. Spent most of the time chatting at cine food court and Cafe Cartel for dinner and dessert respectively. We also played 2 hours of pool at Le Meridien Hotel.

Thursday) Went out with Stephen and Weilin for ktv at cine K-Box. We sang overtime since nobody chased us out until 2.45 pm. Went Taka to do a bit of shopping and grabbed a bite at Mos burger before leaving. I didn't want to go back home so early and took a direct bus to Dover to work for a short while. Got my jc mates out in the evening to watch The Island at Lido. The Island has a rather interesting premise and there are loads of action to complement the storyline. Although it is preposterous at times, Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson compensate the flaws with their screen presence and chemistry. It also discusses issues like cloning, ethics and morality to certain exent. The Island is an entertaining movie which most people will enjoy.

Friday) Met up with Edwin, Terence and Daryl to go for the NTU engineering orientation talks today. The morning session is really quite useless and i spent half my time sleeping in MLT. I was quite surprised with the number of international students as there were a number of China students sitting in front and behind us, and many students from Indonesia, India and China coming forward to ask questions during the Q&A session. We had free buffet lunch after the morning session ended and we went to Hall 1 after that as i had not collected my hall keys. We went to my hostel room after that and it was bigger than i expected. With air-con, fridge and tv, the room would be perfect. Headed to LT1A for my mechanical and aerospace engineering talk after that and it was more useful with information on the modules we will be studying from year 1 to 4. After the talk, Edwin asked a professor the possiblity of getting from common engineering to aerospace engineering in the 2nd year and i found out the intake of aerospace engineering had increased from 60 to 80 due to overwhelming response. Went back home after that.

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Bangkok (Last Day)

Woke up rather early as we have to gather 9 am at the lobby for transport to the airport. The last day is almost non-existent as we are taking the 11.30 am flight back to Singapore.

We did not have time for breakfast at the hotel and had breakfast at a high class thai restaurant in the airport. Spent some time browsing through the duty free shops before boarding the plane.

There are really quite a lot of movies (over 20 titles) we can watch on Cathay Pacific planes. A picture of Changi Bay minutes before landing.

All of us collected our luggage and headed to buy duty free stuff at the airport. I consulted my father on the liquor he wants and i bought XO Hennessy grande champagne and Martell Cordon Bleu with the help of Jimmy as he need not buy any hard liquor. Helped Stephen get a perfume from Hugo Boss as well.

Went to cck to change back the rest of my thai baht to sgd and found out that the rate is very low for amounts less than S$100.

Looks like it will be some time before i go overseas the next time.

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Bangkok (Day 3)

Saturday, Jim and Gs heard drawers opening and closing repeatedly in the opposite room. These occurances should be considered normal for Asia Hotel which has rumours of ghost hauntings.

We woke up at around 8 am and headed to Chatuchak weekend market after our breakfast. Each of us bought an unlimited train ride for 1 day for only 90 baht. We then took the BTS to Chatuchak station and walked a short distance to the gigantic market. There are really a lot of shops inside and we split into 2 groups for more effective shopping. The shops seem to be endless and we were walking along rows and rows of shops. We spent most of our time in the clothing section and did not go over to the furniture, books and pets section. The weather was super hot as usual and inside the buildings were rather stuffy as well.

Bought several t-shirts and slippers at rather cheap prices. We got rather sick of shopping there and left after 3-4 hours.

Some photos at Chatuchak weekend market

We passed by Chatuchak Monument on the way to the BTS station and took some pictures as well.

On top of the BTS station, we can see from the number of cars that many people like to go Chatuchak market for the huge variety of goods available there and their economical price tags.

A picture of the train station.

We headed back to our hotel rooms to unload the things we just bought and headed to Chit Lom for lunch. Decided on Burger King as we wanted to eat something cheaper to save up for a more expensive dinner. Spent some time later at a few high class shopping centres nearby before heading over to Pratunam. We walked for around 15 minutes from World Trade Center to Pratunam Complex. There wasn't a lot of shops there and we crossed the road to Pratunam Market.

It was another big pasa malam and we browsed through the shops hoping to see anything nice to buy. We did not buy anything since we have bought most of what we wanted in Chatuchak. Clarence was not feeling too well as Jim accompanied him back to the hotel to rest. Derrick, Gs and I walked back to World Trade Center and walked along Skybridge to go to the shopping belt near Siam Station.

There were a lot of people there and we shopped until our legs were really tired. Went back our hotel so that we can meet up with Clarence and Jim for dinner. We decided on a nearby Thai restaurant as it is more convenient for all of us. The dishes are rather cheap but the servings are not a lot.

The three of us took BTS to Sala Daeng Station that is nearest to Pat Pong night market. Took several photos while waiting for Terence and Peiying to arrive.

There were quite a lot of stalls selling fake branded handbags and wallets. I was "forced" to purchase a fake Gucci bag after harassment from an aunty who kept pulling my hands after i asked the price.

We walked over to Silom and ended up at Silom Village, a food and beverages area, which we thought was another night market. Took cabs to Yaowarat again as it was the only area with the most shops or stalls open. Had seafood supper for our last good meal before leaving Bangkok the next day.

A really tiring day for all of us.

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Bangkok (Day 2)

Friday, woke up at 7 am as the half day city tour starts at 8 am. Took a picture of the cityscape from our hotel.

Had our breakfast buffet before embarking on our city tour which comprises of trip to the imitation floating market, a temple and a gem factory. We reached Chao Phraya River in 45 mins time and boarded a ferry which several tour guides introducing the history of Bangkok, the river and the monuments along the river.

Our first stop is the floating market and there were several vendors on small boats selling thai souvenirs to us. We were then brought to a place near a temple where there were a lot of catfish. Bread were also sold to us to feed the catfishes. There were really a lot of fish and they were fighting to grab every piece of bread.

A picture of a nice temple we passed by along the river.

We then headed to a famous temple and were free to roam the area for 45 minutes. Our tour guide gave us an introduction of the various kings that once ruled Thailand as well. We did not enter the temple as there is an entrance fee of 100 baht. Took several photos outside the temple.

Some of us bought coconuts as the weather is really very hot. A group photo facing Chao Phraya River.

After leaving the temple, we alighted at a jetty and headed to a gem factory via minibus. No one is not allowed to take photos inside the factory which is rather small. It is connected to the jewellery shop selling a lot of assorted jewellery. Derrick bought a pearl necklace for his friend and we left after admiring the gemstones and jewellery. This concludes the end of the half day city tour.

We requested going Mah Boon Kong, a big shopping centre selling many clothes, electronics and food. Had lunch there at the big food court which requires people to purchase their food using vouchers that can be bought at a counter. I ordered 2 dishes and 1 drink for only 100 baht.

After our lunch, we started our shopping spree from the top level all the way down to the 2nd level. There were a lot of shops selling clothes in the upper levels and electronics at the lower levels. The average price of a t-shirt there cost 180 baht ($7.50). We had dessert at Swensons and 3 scoops of ice cream costs only 59 baht! We left after spending hours there and headed to the small shopping centre beside it that looks like bugis village.

Next up is Siam Discovery Center and Siam Center, a new shopping centre, and there are many shops that are not opened yet. We then went to the other side of the road with many shops and spent some time browsing through the numerous shops before heading back to Asia Hotel as the driver is picking us up at 6 pm for our traditional Thai massage. A woman greeted us and brought us to a massage palour near our hotel. We were then brought to the area upstairs and changed to an attire like pajamas. We spent 2 hours in there while the women massaged, kneaded, pressed and cracked several joints in our body. Almost fell asleep during the session as we all woke up very early today. The fee was 400 baht per pax and we each gave a tip of 100 baht to them. Actually i didn't have much feelings or satisfaction afterward but most of my friends complimented the massage.

We headed to Suan Lum Night Bazaar after that and had dinner at the huge dining area which some people performing songs on the stage. Soccer was also shown on the huge projection screen which is a rather weird combination of songs, soccer and food. There are a lot of stalls and we ordered 2 huge pizzas and 2 plates of "guo tie".

We then shopped at the night bazaar and it is really quite big (at least 5 times the size of a big pasa malam in Singapore). Bought 2 packs of aromatic incense sticks for my sister and a few tees. There were several shops selling creatively designed furniture and accessories, and the shops selling clothing generally have a more alternative taste.

We toured most of the bazaar before heading back to the hotel. I had a severe stomachache on the way back to the hotel and i guess i might have drunk contaminated water. Luckily i brought diarrhoea pills and the pain was over within an hour.

Going to Chatuchak weekend market the next day!

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Bangkok (1st Day)

Thursday, woke up rather early to meet my jc friends at the airport. All of us have arrived except for Derrick who was still having his breakfast. Since we cannot collect our boarding passes yet, we had our lunch at the staff canteen at Terminal 2.

Collected our boarding passes after Derrick arrived at 12.30 pm. Guess what, the economy class seats are mostly taken up and they provided 2 business class tickets for 2 people. Terence and his gf took the 2 business class seats while the 5 of us settled for economy class. Took a picture at the waiting area.

Above the clouds after take-off

A view of the rather delicious airline food with Haagen Dazs ice cream (courtesy of Cathay Pacific)

After we touched down at Bangkok, a tour guide brought us to Asia Hotel where we had booked 3 rooms. Jim unfortunately sprained his ankle when he entered the minibus. There was quite a bad traffic jam en route to the hotel and i took several pictures along the way.

After we settled and unpacked some of our stuff at our allocated rooms, we took the BTS (Bangkok Mass Transit System) to Chit Lom station as Jimmy wanted to bring us to a Japanese Restaurant near World Trade Centre for dinner. A view of the cityscape from the BTS.

We arrived at the shopping centre after a few stops and saw several shopping centres in the area.

Having dinner at the Japanese restaurant.

The meal was not very expensive compared to Singapore (each person paid around $10). Walked around the shopping centre and Jim bought a pair of ankle guards for only 60 baht ($2.50). We then headed back to the hotel at 7 pm as the tour guide was waiting for us to bring us to the infamous Thai Girl show (some people call it the Tiger show). The ticket was 600 baht per pax and the tour guide arranged transport to a club/bar. The show is actually illegal in Thailand but the clubs paid the police money so that the infamous show can continue operating (info from tour guide). We were brought into a club with loud music and there were quite a lot of caucasians inside. The venue was not as big as i expected and there were a number of people smoking inside.

No pictures are allowed to be taken inside and using of handphones are prohibited as well. I shall avoid mentioning the R(21) content and skip to the next part of our tour. The show lasted for around 1 hour and we requested going to Yaowarat for supper instead of going back to the hotel. Walked along Bangkok's chinatown which many roadside stalls and we decided to eat bird nest at a chinese restaurant. The lowest grade bird nest soup costs 200 baht and all of us ordered it except Derrick who got a premium grade coconut bird nest soup.

Headed back to our hotel in cabs and the taxi fare is only 50 baht (cheaper than Malaysia cabs). Got to wake up at 7 am the next day for the half day city tour.

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Late King

Got up at 10 am when i was supposed to get up at 8.45 am. As a result, i joined my jc mates later by 1.5 hours at MacRitchie as they wanted to go for the treetop walk. By the time i reached, they had already gone to the treetop walk and met up with them at the ranger station. Walked to Jelutong Tower since most of them have not been before. Took several photos on top and below.


Notice 3 people on top of the tower? One of them is Zewen who is getting ready to throw his bag down as he wants to see the bag flying down. Wanted to capture the shot of the bag in midair but the angle was not right and didn't manage to do so.

We then made our way towards the exit along Singapore Island Country Club road. After travelling for a short while, a kind transportation driver offered to bring us to the main road and we lept into the back compartment of the van immediately.

We were very appreciative of his kind gesture and thanked him before heading via bus to upper thomson road for lunch.

Derrick joined us as his house was just behind the place we were eating. I left to meet my supervisor at Singtel Call Centre after that and the rest went to chill out at Derrick's house. I was late for 1 hour 15 minutes as well.

My mum and sister were supposed to meet me at 3 pm at Bugis as we were going to the "Si Ma Lu" temple to pray but i arrived at 4.20 pm instead due to some PDA synchronization problems and the snowballed timings.

Sorry for all the people who had waited for me in the past as well.

Will be in Bangkok from Thursday to Sunday. My last overseas trip before studying once again.....

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Army Outing @ Johor

Quite a lot of people can't make it today as they are either working or in orientation camps. Too bad they can't make it coz the trip is rather fun despite the fact that most of us walked until our legs were tired. The 5 of us Ks, Jianyu, Daryl, Liyuan and i met up at Kranji mrt this morning to take 170 to Johor.

After all the administrative procedures, we were in Johor. A view from Jalan Wong Ah Fook along the way to City Square (Johor biggest shopping centre).

We spent some time in FOS before having lunch at MacDonalds. I ordered the upsized fillet meal at the price of RM 7.62 which is equivalent to S$3.40 according to current exchange rate at S$1 to RM 2.23 The taste is generally better with softer fries and tender chicken.

We then naturally split into the faster group and slower group. I was with Liyuan and Daryl leisurely taking our time to see the clothes and i bought a dry fit nike tee for RM 65. We quickened our pace when the time to meet draws closer and we have areas of the shopping centre that are not covered.

Left City Square for Holiday Plaza in 2 cabs as Ks had planned to go the 3 biggest shopping centres in JB. We were rather disappointed when we entered the shopping centre as it looked like a bigger Queensway Shopping centre, old but with many shops (there are many shops selling pirated games, movies and music albums). Upon touring the centre, it was not as bad as we expected and we spent around 2 hours there. All of us bought some clothes in Parkson Grand with the exception of Jianyu.

We left for Pelangi Plaza and we were quite pleased when we saw the newly furbished shopping centre with Coffee Bean and Cold Storage at the entrance. However, there is nothing much to shop there except Metrojaya which has more higher end products than Parkson Grand. We left the shopping centre after spending around 40 minutes there.

As we had earlier enquired about the route to Da Ma Hua Yuan, we know that the famous eating place is not very far from our current location and it is within walking distance. Confirmed the direction with a local and we got there in 20 minutes. Took a few pictures along the way.


I was not too sure where my classmates and i ate the previous time (there are many stalls there) but luckily i recognised some features of the place and brought them to the right seafood stall. Ordered beggar chicken, chicken essence frog legs, kang kong, butter prawns, stingray and la3 la4. The food is as tasty as before and we all devoured the food within a short period of time. Got ourselves the incredibly huge glasses of surgarcane juice again.

The stall attendant had earlier asked for our budget (RM 25) and the total bill is RM 120 which is only RM 24 per pax. It is cheaper than the last time my classmates and i ate there as we had ordered crabs.

We headed back to City Square and most of time bought some local food products before heading back to Singapore. All of us had quite a fun time shopping and eating in JB.

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Birthday Chalet

Went shopping with Jieli and Weiting for Shilei's present today. We met up at Orchard and Jieli & I were both around 40 mins late, causing Weiting to wait for quite long. Sorry ah ;) We went to Taka's cosmetics section, then to the Swarovski section, then to the jewellery section, then to the watches section, then to sports section and finally decided on a white Mizuno jacket for her. But after Weiting tried the jacket, it was not really comfortable as the sleeves were tapered. Thus, the search for a nice present continues.

We headed to Stadium as i know of a white Adidas sweater which is quite nice. However, the only size available is too small for her and we headed to Adidas retail shops in Taka and Heeren. Both shops are not selling the sweater and we were caught in a fix again. Went to the watch shops in heeren level 1 and finally found a few nice Swatch watches. Decided on a white and blue ladies watch after spending some time choosing.

We had spent a lot of time shopping and it is already 5 pm when SL had actually asked us to go to her chalet at 4 pm! Oops, we all didn't expect to meet up with so many situations. Took express 518 from Orchard to Pasir Ris and it wasn't express at all. Reached Pasir Ris in 45 mins as the bus spent some time touring Tampines.

Finally reached Downtown East at 6.45 pm. As most of the food weren't ready yet, we secretly went off to grab a bite at the food court as some of us including me haven't had lunch yet. Headed back later and continued our feast for barbequed food.

While eating and chatting, we took some pictures as well. Met up with a long lost sec sch friend Lijun as well.

After cutting the cake at around 10.30 pm, we took some group shots as well.

Headed back home at 11 pm as most of us had to catch our last bus or train. Got onto the 2nd last train departing from Pasir Ris after a 300 metres sprint from the bus interchange to the mrt.

Have to wake up very early tomorrow for army outing to Johor. Arggg....... I'm going to be deprived of sleep again.

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The Long Walk Home

Met up with my jc classmates today as there are some problems with our airline tickets. We have not provided the exact full name (forgot about his chinese name) for one of my classmates when we booked the tickets. We realised the mistake when we collected the tickets and had a double check. Thus, we went back to the travel agency to rectify the problem. Unfortunately, Cathay Pacific office is not open during weekends and the agency can only amend the error next mon. That means someone have to go back to collect the amended tickets again.

Had lunch there and headed to Orchard since we had nothing else to do in Chinatown. Took a bus to Furama Hotel in the evening for a nutrition talk as Wenyuan had been bugging me to go. I was quite bored with the introduction but when the main speaker came up, my attention never wavered. It was an insightful and informative talk on nutrition and his experiences. Although he was not very modest about his achievements, he had the right to do so as his accomplishments were numerous and he does his work for greater good.

They were promoting various health products like vitamins and protein drinks and i decided to get a protein mixture since my friend strongly recommended it to me. The talk ended at around 11.20 pm and we spent some time chatting before going back home.

Guess what? I missed my last bus again. Very suay coz i would have boarded the bus if i was 5 minutes earlier. I checked another bus stop for other buses but none were heading to where i stay. Sianz....... I really don't wanna waste my money on taxi fare as it was midnight already. So i walked, walked and walked all the way to Orchard. Walked a big round as i don't really know the shortest route there. Passed by Havelock Road, Chin Swee Road, Robertson Quay, Mohammed Sultan and finally after 40 minutes of really brisk walk, i reached Istana Park. So happy to see some place i recognise. I was originally intending to walk to Newton Circus where my direct buses 170 and 67 were still available but i was really tired and took a night rider from Somerset to Bukit Panjang. Wanted to take a cab back home from bk panjang but considering the amount of money i'm going to spend in Bangkok, i decided not to and spent another 40 minutes walking back home. Walked at least 6 km!

Home Sweet Home @ 2 am! Super duper tired man. Got a slight fever as well. Sianz......

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Work + Scary Bits

Been working these 2 days but i still got a lot of cases to complete. The last batch of households has been passed to us and i will be ending my work as a survey officer in 1 to 2 weeks time. Should be ending just in time for my Bangkok trip. Will be there from 14 - 17 july. Hope to get tons of fashionable and cheap clothes there.

Inform me if anyone of you wanna buy anything in Bangkok ya? I'm broke man, spent more than 1k in the past 1 month alone. I estimate that i'll spend at least $350 per month for total expenses in hostel as well.

Had some scary encounters when i was working today. Was heading towards several blocks of apartments that look deserted and went to confirm if there are people staying there. I was walking towards the flight of stairs when i decided to check the letterbox as i normally do for units that i presume is vacant. Something is blocking the notice board and i went closer to see if the letterbox is beside the notice board. Suddenly, i noticed 2 pairs of shoes. I looked up and saw pants on top of the shoes. I was like SHIT, what's that?

I looked at the 2 human sized puppets which gave me a shock as i had not noticed them with plastic bags covering their heads. What are two huge puppets doing at a deserted block of apartments? Also, they are not lying down but standing up! They freaked me out for some time and i left the place promptly after confirming that the unit assigned to me was under renovation.

Some of the condos that i visited today are rather scary as well. I was knocking on a door when i heard some weird but soft sounds coming out from the apartment. It's like people have not lived in there for a long time and insects and some other "things" are residing there instead.

That's not all. When i was passing by an empty apartment with windows fully closed and virtually no light in there, i heard a soft but audible knock sound on the window nearer to me. The origin of the knock is up to you guys to imagine.

Exciting huh? Never mind, this is my last batch of households although i got still quite a few to complete.

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Zapped off most energy

Woke up at 7.15 am today to go for a treetop walk and a Japanese Shrine visit in MacRitchie area with my platoon mates. Met up at Novena mrt to take a bus to Venus Drive (the nearer entrance to HSBC treetop walk). We walked some distance before reaching the ranger station and had some close encounters with some monkeys.


We continued our stroll and we reached the treetop walk within a short period of time. The scenery is great and the walkway is indeed rather high at around 4-7 storeys high. Took some pictures as well.

After the rather short treetop walk, we headed back to the ranger station walking along the wooden steps and stairs.

Ks had planned the entire route for us and we were all following his directions to Syonan Jinja, a Japanese shrine built during World War 2 which was destroyed subsequent to the war. The remnants are as photographed.

However, these are only the concrete remnants at the corner of the once extensive shrine. Thus, we followed a trail, then a narrow trail, then a narrow trail with many obstructions towards Syonan Jinja. The journey was rather unpleasant as we were all sweating profusely, had cobwebs sticking to our skin, had to cross streams which have muddy banks and the journey is long and tiring. Got quite irritated by the ocassional mosquito bites, trips nearly caused by roots, thorns we have to avoid and the whole outfield experience which we had suffered so often in NS.

After the long outfield hike, we finally reached the foot of Syonan Jinya. Climbed several flights of stairs before reaching the Purification Basin. I was quite disappointed to find no buildings at the location which was rumoured to be haunted. Felt quite stupid as we had trekked so far to find just one basin and several big concrete coins.


We decided to go back through the other side and it was a bad choice as the journey was tougher and the path narrower. We took some time to navigate the correct route of advance using the markings on trees and plastic bags tied around branches and sticks as markings. After a looooong time, we finally got out of the forest. Walked 400 metres to Jelutong Tower and the scenery on top is great as well.

Walked quite a distance to get out of MacRitchie passing by the reservoir and Singapore Island Country Club golf course. Saw several monitor lizards along the way.

Fed some tortoises as well.

Ks and daryl came to my house later and i helped to dye Ks's hair using his Gatsby gold ash but it turned out neither gold or ash in colour. The colour is not really obvious and it is dark brownish maroon in colour under sunlight. Played several rounds of pool before they headed back home for dinner.

A really tiring day for me as i did not have enough rest and the trekking was exhausting.

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