phuket day 4 - songkran has started!

it was also songkran festival the last time i was in phuket for the sister's wedding! today's the first day of the festival and everyone was out on the streets having a wild wet time!thank god we had the car, we managed to stay clean and dry throughout our entire journey to the go-kart place which i wanted to bring the girls. we managed to drive and camwhore at the same time...steer the wheel and pose for pics, no problem!with mel's superb map-reading and navigation skills we finally arrived at the go-kart place. it's still the same dog i saw 2 years back!!cornering at high speed woohoo!i was so glad the girls enjoyed the go-kart experience as i could sense their intial reluctance to go with me haha...what a grreaat way to end off our phuket trip!

phuket day 3 - island hopping

we paid just 1,100 thb for an entire day of island hopping fun all thanks to Boom - our thai colleague. (the regular "ang moh" price was 2,800 thb) i am really impressed with thailand's tourism - so professional, so value for money and i felt so safe in their hands! you get to enjoy free flow of soft drinks and fruits once on the boat. buffet lunch also provided!we went to four islands in total but i only remembered the first one - james bond island.the package came with kayaking at two islands which was still fun despite the low tide.after a an awesome day out in the sun we went back to the resort, showered, picked up the car and drove out for dinner. the food was delicious and costed us 180 thb per person ONLY!! that's only SGD 7.80?? total madness! i hate to say this, but singapore can never win thailand in terms of tourism!!!

phuket day 2 - that's what we're here for!

the wedding! yes, the wedding. all of us arrived late last night so we pretty much stayed within the resort the next morning as we had to get ready for the wedding by afternoon. the girlies had so much fun dolling up each other in the room whilst i just want to look "ok" beside them heh.room 4304 all ready for the wedding!"our side" of the BB gang arriving at the beach wedding EARLY (which is something we need to be proud of as the BB girls are well known late comers)a photo opportunity with the groom before the bride arrives.i think this was the entire BB gang with the newly weds - yup we made up quite a sizeable amount of all the guests who turned up!the dinner ended with the letting of sky lanterns. usually people tell these sky lanterns their wishes and hope that it get to the gods up there. but that day the BB gang said "lets put all our worries on the lanterns and let it fly to the mountains!!"

guess what? - our lanterns refused to move!!! haha.. it capsized so many times... and we joked that we BB folks must have too much worries which wouldn't go away :p

phuket day 1 - private pool access

we stayed at the sugar palm grand hillside resort. me mel and germ were so lucky to be upgraded to a private pool access room for free! woohoo! the pool was RIGHT at our doorstep. how COOL is that?ok but when asked if i will stay here again...- unfortunately the answer is NO. though the rooms were big, beautiful, clean and CHEAP (i paid just 2,750 thb for a 4D3N stay), it was built on a freaking hill. so everyday you've got to climb up and down to go from room to room etc. (totally brought back memories of my mt kinabalu trip) it's just too much hassle really. :(

if you don't mind the steep slopes you have to go through every morning/ afternoon/ night, this place is otherwise cool.

chocolate milk

was talking to IW on the phone and the conversation was super hilarious!

me: so when are you due?
IW: due in may...
me: huh..but 你不是要出国 in july or something？
IW: ... phuket and bali

me: can meh? then 谁照顾 baby?
IW: should be can lah.. 有 maid 也有 confinement nanny 吗...

me: then how you breast feed 那个 baby?
IW: 给她 bottle lor
me: not all babies 喜欢 bottle 的 leh...
IW: then bobian...借 maid 的用用先lor!
me: huh then 不是变成 chocolate milk?!!

*LAUGHSSSS from both sides of the phone*

crossroads

天时、地力、人和。
我到底缺的是什么？

该意气用事，还是从长计议？
坚持到底吗, 还是半途而废？

what about best friends?

recently i've been pondering alot about the topic on "best friends" - it's strange because this seems a little too juvenile for a person my age? one day while sitting on the red chair in my room i tried coming out with a name whom i can call him/her my "best friend"... like my one BEST FRIEND.

then i begin having questions about how do we actually determine if a person is your best friend? say if i think A is my best friend, will this relationship qualify only when the feeling is mutual? can a one way traffic work or must it always take two hands to clap?

it's true that we go to different friends depending on context. like if i get into a traffic accident i'd most likely go to friends who are experienced drivers and car owners as opposed to another who doesn't even own a driving license. but is there that one special friend whom i can always turn to for support and at the same time not be judged by what i say?

the quality of friendship is far more important than its duration - this is what i believe. you can be friends for a lifetime but never close enough to share your inner secrets. yet you might develop a bond so strong with someone you've met just recently simply because you've exchanged so much valuable information about each other within that short span of time... or even experienced certain life changing events together.

agglomeration of people has never been easy and it requires a delicate approach. be it best friends, good friends, just friends.... i know i should cherish everyone i have.

i-squeeze!

时间和女人的胸部一样，挤一挤就有了.

heh.. have a happy friday :)

standard first aid and CPR course

after three days of 9am to 6pm lessons at the red cross training center, mel and i finally completed the standard first aid and CPR course today! it was torturous for mel to stay awake and pay attention to class... but even more torturous for me to listen to him complain every five mins about how he feels so tortured. grr...in any case i'm glad we did this together and got to know some new friends who are also divers as a result. i've finally renewed my long expired certification!!

"hello hello, are you okay? i am a first aider."
"no response. can someone please call ambulance 995!"

if death is really the only solution...

was heading home with JY from Raffles MRT station after work yesterday when we heard announcements that our train journey might be delayed by 60 mins due to "track faults". JY remarked in a joking manner that maybe "someone had jumped onto the tracks again"... when we were finally at Tanah Merah station, we realised her remarks turned out to be TRUE.JY called up her reporter friend asking if she knew what happened, but ended up giving the scoop to the reporter who had no idea. Ms Reporter was truly professional and quick enough to do a phone recorded interview right away! there were a few policemen at the scene and coincidentally one of them was my friend, A. i asked A if someone had commited suicide and his reply was: "you said it, i didn't" heh...

i hope everyone will cherish their lives. but if one REALLY thinks that death is the only solution to their problems then please do it in a way which will not cause danger/inconveniences to the rest. sorry if i sound morbid/heartless here but i could have imagined that the train driver applied E-brake in an attempt to stop the accident - this might have killed an innocent old man who was standing in the train if he had lost his balance and fell. also imagine the kind of traumatic experience the train driver and the rest of the passengers who were waiting at the platform had to go through by witnessing the accident.

难听点说: "要死自己死"

penang day 2 - pinang peranakan museum

and it's ..... The Little Nyonya reloaded. heh.. so this is the place where part of the TLN show was shot - the house of 陈希!this is the courtyard area where Pierre Png and the guests were doing the joget (the malay traditional dance)this photo looks kindof scary!woah i tried like 10 times before getting a shot like this. hee hee! LONG LEGS!act busy...i really like the crystal chandelier behind me.ok so we not only visited the house which the show was shot in, we also had lunch at the restaurant which was responsible for all the dishes you see on the show! (the Penang part, Kim Choo was the restaurant which cooked the dishes for the scenes shot in Singapore)the food was so-so to be honest but the hospitality of the boss and lady boss made up for everything. they happily shared with us how they had to wake up at 3am every morning to cook all the dishes so that the crew can come and pick her up along with the food. the lady boss was with the crew for 21 days (that's how long they took to shoot all the scenes in the Pinang Peranakan Museum)ooh but they DEFINITELY serve the best otak otak i have ever eaten before!!

three cats in the house

there were a total of three cats in the mansion which roams around freely. this first one is called ginger and it reminds me of how ah siao used to look like before he expanded beyond control.i caught poor zara LS-ing one morning when i was on the way to the courtyard for breakfast. it must have hurt because all i saw was green crap on the floor....i forgot the name to this last cat but it looks like a grumpy evil cat we'd usually see on cartoon networks. for some reason it reminds me of "brain" the mouse in pinky and the brain.. although they are essentially two very different animals heh..

penang day 1 - cheung fatt tze mansion

all thanks to LL, i came to know about this place. it's a famous heritage house turned hotel/inn for tourists in Penang.this mansion was formerly owned by a chinese businessman by the name of Cheung Fatt Tze. there are only 16 rooms available for rent and each room has an unique name associated with the man himself. i chose to stay in the Taipu room which was the hometown of Cheung. i was told later that most Hakkas who settled in Penang came from that place anyway.in case you are wondering, yes, these are the keys (and keychains!) to our rooms! it's sooo big and heavy that there's no way you'd bring them out with you. you just have to trust that no one's going to break into your room as all their room keys were all hung to a hook which was pretty much left unattended.not an easy task opening those antique doors with the antique key!the room was spacious and yes it comes with aircon if that's what you're concerned about. i think people must be able to differentiate between OLD and DIRTY. this house is OLD.. but it is NOT DIRTY.bedsheets, toilet, towels, floors, everything were clean. but if you're thinking of in-room dining services, large LCD TVs and an elevator to serve you, then it's time manage your own expectations!they do not have the best hot showers, do not serve the best buffet breakfast, not the friendliest hotel staff on earth, no olympic sized swimming pool with sauna facilities... but i'll have to say this is one of the best places i've ever stayed in because it's DIFFERENT. i feel like i'm part of history, heritage, the nostaligia, the indigo blue walls, the broken tile on the floor...everything is a piece of art. i love it.and no... i do not think it's haunted :)

bangkok day 4 - going home with a peace of mind

went to pray to the four-faced-buddha after breakfast. my wish was simple i hope.. just health and happiness for my family and friends ... + a smooth sailing career ahead. :) ... what did you guys wish for?finally time to go home and cannot wait to get on the plane back to singapore!another trip accomplished by the four friends :)

bangkok day 3 - lebua!

tonight we went for drinks at the skybar in Lebua.. we sort of forced LL to give us a treat which she generously agreed hee... so we abandoned the shorts and flip flops.. slipped into something "more presentable". :)

it actually sucks to be the only 160+ cm person in the entire group...tonight we once again took our friendship to "another level" literally... at the 63rd floor of the hotel heh...another toast to our friendship!!