...and progre$$ for our nation!

wah lau eh today ATM is sibeh a lot of people lor, and i wonder why...

oh, so..gahmen decided to give us the $$ 2 days in advance. so that we can shop over the weekend and feel very happy about it. then come May 6, hopefully we can recall how happy we were the last weekend and vote...erm, accordingly. hahaha!

i think i'm most likely going to save the $$ to prepare for the after elections fare and price hikes that knn sure will come one.

what's with the accounts?

why can't i simply understand the principles behind accounting?! i cannot imagine i actually went through SIX accounting modules!! (sec 3, sec 4, poly 1, poly 2, ntu 1, ntu 2...) but, i am not shy to say, i still don't know which side is debit and which is credit.

so...when money come in, we debit is it? but why everytime i deposit money into my bank they say it's a credit balance leh?...see, it doesn't make sense.

anyways not important already, i hope today's accounting paper would be the last one i have to see in my entire life!!

it's heavy

sometimes i wake up in the day,
and wish that i was still asleep.

i went to bed on top of the world,
but now the world is on top of me.

i am trying my best,
but it is not working.

can cry...

invigilator: "time is up, please put down your pen and stop writing...remain seated while the invigilators go round to collect your paper."

me: eh eh eh...so how you find the paper?
girl beside me: wah lau not enough time to write leh!!
me: issit? i think ok leh, i finished quite early.
girl beside me: serious?? you damn power lor!!
me: haha no lah...eh btw...what answer did you get for qn 2(d)?
girl beside me: sigh i only did half of it cos i didn't have time for the last qn and it's worth more marks so i went straight to it instead....
me: wat talking you? 2(d) was the last qn liao wat!
girl beside me: err...actually you got read the paper properly or not? still got qn 3 behind.

i turned the page and....to my horror i saw one more question!!!

me: HOLY SHIT FUCKED UP I DIDNT SEE THE BLOODY QN 3!!!
girl beside me: huh?! don't tell me you didn't do at all?! the answers all in the textbook! just have to copy, it's quite a giveaway!
me: thanks ah...

*faint.....

so sad man! to think i was wasting my time twirling my pen away. i even went to the toilet twice lor!! why didn't i suspect anything was wrong when i finished the bloody paper more than 1/2 hour before time's up?!

argh.......
think my honours just flew away. :(

gahmen talk cock, sing song, play mahjong...

Elections Department: Theoretically, it is possible for anyone with access to the ballot papers to identify who cast a particular vote. The link between the ballot paper number and the electoral register through the counterfoil does facilitate tracing from a ballot paper to a voter's identity on the register. [1]

so...if the votes we cast are confidential, then why must print serial numbers on voting slips? can be traced back to IC numbers somemore...damn scary lor! they claim it's for control purposes, ostensibly to prevent fraud. but i think it's cock talk! if they really want to prevent counterfeit votes, can jolly well print watermarks on the slips what! like currencies you know? can put merlion head, or put LKY's face and i don't care. i seriously do not buy their story of VOTING IS SACRED, VOTING IS SECRET. pui!

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has expressed concern that Hougang and Potong Pasir residents will lose out on upgrading if they do not vote for the People's Action Party. [2]

why?...want upgrading = must vote for the PAP?? don't the residents there pay income taxes like everyone else in Singapore? i bet they do right? so why do the money they pay each year goes into building endless covered walkways for tampines, upgraded bus shelters for bedok, a big ass community center that looks more like a shopping mall for marine parade residents while all the opposition ward got was enough money to paint paint here..but not enough to paint paint there?! damn poor thing.

"I do not want the two constituencies to be left behind, especially Potong Pasir, an old estate. Five years down the road, assuming Chiam do win, there will be no upgrading. [2]

why why why???.....opposition win, then no upgrading...where got such thing one?! you win liao lor!

"After that, we got to ask ourselves whether the estate is worthwhile upgrading. I'm talking about Lorong 8. By then, the estate would be around 35 years old and the lease is only 99 years, so economically, is it worthwhile? [2]

ie: vote for me NOW if you want your lifts to stop at every floor...and not 5 yrs later...cos 5 yrs later..lim bei buay gian liao!!

Residents had mixed feelings about upgrading. "It's 50-50, because if you upgrade, then our rentals will go up as well."

SM Goh in response: "While rent may go up, businesses will also increase and customers too will welcome the move" [2]

yah right...i bet by the time they finish upgrading the area, making it look nice nice like the rest of the country...a big ass NTUC will find its way there, setting up their business, selling food, electronics, pots n' pans to cheapo tee shirts...basically sell anything and everything...forcing small mama shops and minimarts out of business lor!! i already can foresee that! KNS!

sources:
[1]
www.elections.gov.sg/secrecy.htm
[2]
www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/199982/1/.html

ps: if one day i kena caught and thrown into the jail by the govt...oh or kena sued until bankrupt (heng i don't have $$)...please tell all your 子子孙孙 that 我是为人民牺牲的！ must set up Courage Fund for me ok?...oh yah, talking about Courage Fund...now that SARS is over...where is the MONEY?! see lah...ask us to donate donate, then now money where?

google video & youtube

shit! i'm absolutely hooked on online video streaming! why is it that everytime when my exams are near, distractions will start to come!! argh! i'm watching HK dramas on google video...and the funniest thing is, all the videos that are uploaded there are dubbed in Vietnamese! hahaha...damn strange lor...and i managed to understand the story cos there's chinese subtitles.

then there's also a whole lot of very nice documentary shows that i managed to find...it's almost 6am now and i'm still watching the videos!

cannot lah...i need to focus!~ :(

eh, my new boyfriend

let me introduce my new boyfriend! i love him so much and i simply cannot live without him. i wish we can be together forever and ever and that he never leaves me...pleassse....

IVP 2006 We are the Champions

NTU TKD was the overall champion for this year's IVP...again. heh. but TP team did their school proud too, coming in 2nd. i am so happy for them!! 8 cool gold medals! just 2 short of NTU. impressive.

This Raven, he is like my puke bucket...i will complain to him about my sufferings in NTC and of course curse and swear about the people i hate all the time. haha... he is a damn cool guy lor, everytime offer me cool advices which, very often i fail to heed. :P

*blush*...so old already still participating in IVP. my first IVP was 6 yrs ago? i was still representing TP then, gosh, how time flies! now that IVP is over, i look forward to the Nationals. i want to win! after that...can retire!

some are good old friends...some are new found friends...

our group is so damn big! it is so ironic that i am part of them now. i still remember how i used to laugh at their long-winded team cheers. HAHA....but i must say that NTU TKD is definitely one of the most disciplined and determined bunch of school athletes! (altho some very yaya-papaya but ok lah...other people also say i yaya so i guess i belong to their gang?!)

ivp celebration dinner

vegetarian wannabe

having heard so many interesting stories about EC's colleagues from India, i finally got to meet them today. Amit and Manu came from India to work on a project in Singapore, Amit is a vegetarian (by choice) and Manu only goes on vegetarian meals for two days in a week. we brought them to the Original Cheese Prata Shop at Fong Seng this afternoon, i felt quite weird going there in the day though, cos for all the times i've been there it was never earlier than mid-night!

the conversation we had mainly surrounded the topic of being a vegetarian. Amit thinks that it's quite difficult to be a strict vegetarian in Singapore as vegetarian food is not really readily available all the time, unlike in India where vegetarian food comes in a whole lot of variety and they're every where you go. i was telling him how i tried to turn full-vegetarian once some years back only to give up after 3 months. that was the furthest i went, but till now i still maintain that i will not eat meat for at least 1-2 days of a week.

i was pretty interested to know why Amit had decided to turn vegetarian, especially since it was by choice, and not by birth or religion. in the end, i found out that he turned vegetarian four years ago when he saw a chicken cry.... hmm, although it wasn't quite an answer i was expecting, but i didn't think it was very funny. ( i know for many people, they would have lauged out loudly and thinks Amit is a lame ass man)

seriously, i salute him, for his discipline and determination to stay vegetarian for so long. people who knows me well enough will probably know the reason why i tried to become a vegetarian was because i saw how the animals had to suffer in order for humans to have the delicacies they want. i really really hope i have the strength and the same discipline as Amit to turn a full-veg one day.

i'm out of my mind, pls leave a msg.

stupid people makes me sick.
stupid people who acts smart, makes me sick.
stupid people who thinks they are smarter than me, makes me sick.
stupid people are everywhere in NTU.
therefore, NTU makes me sick.

cheat me

auntie, why you cheat my money?
you know, 10 dollars very important to me...

auntie, why you cheat my feelings?
just when i start to have faith in charity...

why of all people, you must come to me?

you say until so convincing,
i hear until so happy,
i gave you my trust,
and yet you betray me!

you told me to donate to These Abled Hands,
and told me how my humble 10 dollars can help them,
when bloody hell!
the money i donated, wasn't actually going to their abled hands,
instead, it went to YOUR inethical hands!

not funny at all

M and i have been friends for 11 years, we've gone through so much shit together and basically grew from fucked up teenagers to fucked up adults. we had breakfast this morning, caught up with each other's lives. mine was pretty much the same, hers had more ups and downs, in a sense. we walked together to the hospital after eating, she was going for her psychiatric session.

i could see the scars on her hand, i know she cuts herself. it can be hard to understand why people cut themselves on purpose. cutting is what experts call an unhealthy coping mechanism. i cannot comprehend her actions, claiming that it transfers her emotional pain to a physical one. but i realise you don't need to understand everything, or more likely, she doesn't want me to understand her in the first place...in case i start judging.

she is clearly suicidal.

i know, cos we've been talking about it for a long time. she told me she applied to join the Police Force, and i asked her why? her reply was shocking, she wants to get hold of a gun so that she could kill herself. i laughed, but in my heart, i didn't think it was funny at all cos i know she wasn't exactly joking. i told her in a cheeky tone, there are many ways to die, you don't need to die at gunpoint, but she said she has a fetish for it. i tried to convince myself i heard wrongly.

while walking to the hospital, she said: "my days are numbered..." i knew she was implying that she is going to kill herself, just don't know when. i reacted nonchalantly to her statement. i said: "so i should cherish my time with you now yeah?"

i bade her goodbye at the hospital's door step and i started to wonder if this will be my last time seeing her.

i turned around, tears dropped as i walked away.

super cock up!

i cannot believe it...i cocked up big time at the PA interview today! this is the bloody first time i walked out from an interview...feeling like i could almost slap myself!!! argh...

know what? everything went on well initially; i managed to get into a cab...found the right office and arrived 15 mins before my scheduled time. i was feeling fresh and excited and had all the 'model answers' to the standard interview questions in my head...ready to shoot back when they fire me me with their questions.

then i was told to wait...cos the person interviewing me is in the middle of a conference call...and i didnt expect the wait to be ONE HOUR!! by the time she was ready to speak to me, in my heart i was already ready to leave!

i lost all my focus during the long wait, and became really restless. finally when i got to my interview, i wasn't even thinking anymore! damn it. and they asked really silly questions...like: "if you were to use an animal to describe yourself, what would it be and why?..." i was like...HAR??

then i gave silly answers.

excuse me, i want to complain

i had a terrible flight last year when i was flying home from Auckland after the end of my Aussie/Kiwi trip. basically it took me 16 hours, 3 different aircrafts and 2 airports before i finally arrived in Changi! hence, i decided that the first thing i have got to do, apart from removing my shoes the moment i arrived home was to WRITE A COMPLAIN LETTER.

excerpts of my complain letter to qantas:

Lack of Transparency
It was never presented to me at any time that I had to make a stopover in Bali, Indonesia, after the transit in Sydney......

In view of the recent horrifying Bali bombings and global terrorist threats, I have been very cautious with the choice of destinations I travel to. I have made a very personal conscious decision to avoid entering the country of Indonesia, and least to say Bali. (fact is: i've always wanted to go Bali...) On New Year’s Day, however, I was made to enter Bali without prior consent, and without a choice.

I travelled alone, and thus was left to my own in the airport at Bali for almost two hours, waiting to re-board the aircraft. It was a nervous and traumatic experience. (fact is: i was having a neck and shoulder massage, ate nasi goreng with satays and bought a sarong there...) Moreover, my travel insurance only covered me in two countries as I had no prior knowledge of having to enter any other country. This meant I would not have been protected if I had met with any mishaps in Bali. If such vital information had been presented to me during the booking of the ticket, I would definitely have not purchased this ticket. (fact is: boh bian, i'd still buy the ticket cos it was the cheapest liao...)

Poor Customer Service
On 3rd January 9:50 am, I contacted your office for customer service assistance. I explained my experience, and was what can only be described as rebuked by a grumpy, rude and uncaring staff...... and promptly hung up on me before I could get her name. (this part is true though! 他妈的, that 印度婆 scolded me on the phone lor! XYZ!)

I trust you will look into this matter, and provide me with a satisfactory response, as well as reasonable compensation. (ie: give me some freebies or i will keep bugging you)________________________________________________________________

i think if i submit this as my biz comm letter writing assignment, sure damn A+ one lor. haha... so if anyone needs to write a complain letter of a similar fashion can use mine k?

in the end, qantas wrote back to me...basically to say sorry, and promised to ask their customer service officers to wake up their ideas. they also included a $200 travel voucher for me to use when purchasing my next air ticket with them. although not alot but it's still money right??

hmm...which country should i go this time?...Bali sounds good to me!

just time...

the visit to NN's house that night was both interesting and strange.

first, there was a group of NN's current batch TP students - whom i've never met. it was their last day of school and they had their FYP presentation earlier. seeing them somehow reminded me of my own FYP presentation. all the sights and sounds of that day came back to mind. we were almost totally clueless about our project (since it wasn't really done by us) but managed to pull the wool over the lecturers. (or did we not?) time flies indeed, 4 years have passed.

then there were her kids, the last time i saw them was 3 years ago? i remembered how a baby girl was so tiny in her mother's arms. now she's grown so tall that i am hardly convinced she's only a 3 year old. her name is Frada, which i thought was quite amusing. i immediately can imagine myself calling her RADAR RADAR non stop to piss her off if i were her classmate. oh i forgot that her mum has a funny name herself too, which, i never fail to constantly make fun of.

then there was IV, i was pleasantly surprised that she'd go there with me. afterall the misunderstanding some years back cost us our friendship, setting us apart. we hardly kept in contact after, only to see each other during our poly class gatherings...which, were rare occasions anyway. we used to be such close friends in school, with so much to talk about. it would've been so good if we kept it that way. the conversations we had that night seemed to have propelled us back to the time before we fell out with each other and i enjoyed every moment of it...i don't know what she thinks of it now, but i will cherish this re-found friendship in the best way i can.

so much time has passed and so many things have happened.......but everything feels like it was just yesterday.

CNY blah blahs...

i cannot believe how busy i was throughout the chinese new year! endless projects and presentations to prepare for! adding to my agony was some irresponsible project mates who just so cannot be bothered. sigh, guess it's retribution, i free rided too much during poly days, so now kena free ride back lah. heh.

but chinese new year wasn't without fun! i was alone (cos pa and ma went for a holiday) and i invited lots of friends home to chill out.

i was really thankful...that my poly mates came. we hardly get together, usually only once a year. and i'm glad for this year's quota, it happened in my house. :) they told me that it was really hard to imagine that i can cook, and the food was edible and actually NICE. you guys just have to get over the fact that i am Champion Chen in many aspects in life :P:P...

it was interesting that despite being 24 years old already, we all still spoke to each other like as if we were still 18, 19! heh. still childish..in a way, and i really like that. the only difference was perhaps, some topics of discussion revolved around jobs, salaries and which car you own...

oh, then came tkd friends on another day...then came secondary school friends...it was really fun to host all my good old friends in my house.

my sec school mates! too bad i didn't get to take any photos with my poly mates this time :(

there's something about bus 179

when the pain hit me, I could only let out a yelp. i was lost in my own thoughts, and so had only a delayed, stunted reaction to my pinkie toe being stepped on. we were in a long tight queue, shuffling along to board bus 179.

there must be at least 6-700 young aspiring undergraduates queuing for the bus this morning. having been struck suddenly by how many of us there were, i wondered: "will we all get on the bus? we obviously won’t all get onto this bus – in fact, most of us won’t get onto a bus as quickly as we want. what if we run out of buses?"

i see NIE students in the same queue. why are they here? don't they already have their own designated buses? aren't they supposed to take bus 199? The System had already planned it all out for them, why don’t they just follow the rules? why do they have to compete with me in my queue? as unhappy as i was, i realised there was nothing to be done, because what i have, they have it too. afterall, to the bus captain, one EZlink card does not look too different to the other.

on the bus, some were contented to be able to secure a seat quickly on the lower deck. others charge for the stairs, hoping to find a seat at the top. invariably, some of them will be disappointed to find that, after scrambling to climb up, there are yet others who are already seated comfortably up there. the 'climbers' look enviously and forlornly at them, as they realise the 'chair-people' are likely to stay in their seats till the very last stop. they wonder what the 'chair-people' did better to deserve a seat upstairs, but suspect they simply had advantage of time. still, some were persistent, and patiently hope for someone to leave their seat.

this whole cycle repeats itself seemingly perpetually. no matter how many students rush onto a bus, more will always come to take their place. queuing, waiting, for their turn to get on a bus. if you miss your bus, you just have to queue again.

rheumatism

my rheumatism is acting up again, thanks to the rainy weather. for some reason, my condition was exceptionally bad today. hmm...maybe because i was carrying a heavy bag to school? mum always say to me: "now you so young like that already, next time old already how?" ...i also don't know leh...

i suspect i'll probably won't be able to walk when i'm 50 years old, considering that i have to stop and sit down every 15 minutes when shopping at orchard road and that i cannot stand in one position for more than 10 minutes without feeling my back breaking. sigh.

i desperately need some sleep tonight but my knees and ankles are killing me! argh...i feel so old already. sigh.

if only i could turn back time...

H asked me (again) when do i want to meet the President of the Karate Federation. apparently they (the Karate people) have been asking him quite a few times if i'm interested to join their national team although i cannot understand why they think i may be good enough to represent them in the 2007 Bangkok SEA Games. i don't mind picking up the sport from scratch...but being a national athlete all over again requires some serious consideration. the amount of time and effort i'd have to put in...the discipline, stamina, concentration, energy...argh, i really don't know.

perhaps i'm just trying to find excuses, because i know that TKD is still my number one passion and nothing can replace it. i went for my 3rd dan grading over the weekend, it was tiring and nerve wrecking, nevertheless very enjoyable. my sparring partners were mostly guys and i think i did well against them. i was watching my competition videos in my room and it made me so depressed, cos i know i'm still good and i've what it takes to continue competing internationally...but somehow i had given up on the chance to do so.

i was really tired...tired of all the other things that came with the sport.

if only i was more principled. if only i had a stronger mind. if only i had perservered. i'm sure i can make history (in a small way) one day. now it's too late. (or not?) if only i could turn back time...i wonder if the ending would still be the same? guess i'll never know now.

people try to put you down, because they know that you are good. the only person who can tell you, you are not good enough is yourself.

You are beautiful no matter what they say
Words can't bring you down
You are beautiful in every single way
Yes, words can't bring you down
Don't you bring me down today...

si beh sian

i am finally back...and i'm feeling si beh sian. sigh. feeling damn depressed, don't really know why. school has already started today, but i overslept (what's new)...so went to JB in the afternoon to lend my support to Malaysia's pirated DVD trade.

excerpts from MSN chat:

qix si beh sian says:
ruoying...how? i si beh sian

ruoying~done! says:
KNS! you had more than a month of holiday leh!

qix si beh sian says:
still...i si beh sian
i want to go back to NZ and become a retired teenager

ruoying~done! says:
...we are not teenagers anymore. get your age right...

qix si beh sian says:
I KNOW! let me fantasize!! you just broke my dream
i don't want to talk to you liao

maybe cos now i'm broke and fat, so kena depression. and the weather here...si beh hot, made my depression worse. fortunately, not everything is bad here...at least i get to see ah siao. but he's making me worried, cos he grew fatter again. he's 7.4kg now, he gained 0.7kg since i left Singapore. mum said the cat was quite happy that i wasn't around to bother him, so he ate alot. after hearing this, i si beh sian again. anyways...i better make him go on a diet, don't want to see him die of heart attack next time. sigh......

ok, i better go now. cos i need to d w e l l . SI BEH SIAN AH!!!.... :O(

horse riding

what a great way to end my New Zealand trip! sis and i went horse riding today - something EC and i wanted to do when we were in Australia last month, but hadn't got a chance.

the horse that i'm riding on is cheetah, he's 9 years old. cheetah took a dump immediately after i sat on him, i assume that's the horses' way of welcoming people. heh.

sis' horse is called randy. he has a really beautiful brown coat.

i remember the last time i ever sat on a horse, sorry, it was a pony - was when i was 4 years old at Mandai Zoo. the zoo keeper brought me round and round a tiny fenced up area. damn lame. this one's totally different, i get to ride the horse and control it on my own, around an 800 acres piece of farm property! how cool is that?

piha beach

it's my 2nd last day in New Zealand, sure i'll miss this place. but i miss ah siao too...i found an ah siao-lookalike! although it was more interested in his nap than in me. :(

today we took a drive down to piha beach, it was cool. the amount of space and nature this country has, makes me green with envy. if only i grew up in this country, with heaps of fresh air and land.


champion chen left her traces on the ground for her worshippers.

home in 3 days

almost time to go home. i miss my ah siao...and sambal sotong. sucks to be on a 0630 flight on new years day! (which means check in at 0430?!) damn it. i envision my lonely self loitering the sydney airport - awaiting my connecting flight - with only the humidity and lethargic heat of the late singapore afternoon sun to reward me for a long day of travel. i will join the taxi queue, moving forward 7cm at a time, until i get to tell an unlucky taxi uncle who has been queueing himself for the last 3 hours, that i'm going to Tampines. his look of dread and 'sian' will make my already slightly melancholic day marginally more dramatically sian.

such thoughts could easily cause a normal person seizures, and i probably should be at the A&E by now... if not for the email from SY. she said the TP gang is picking me up from the airport, then taking me to a seafood feast to celebrate my return. it was at this moment, i became so convinced that i've made the right friends!....that is until i continued to read on. it comes with a price:- they want me to bring krispy kreme back for them, and she happily typed out their orders. i counted and counted...counted three times, and realise that we're talking about 50 doughnuts here. hmm...now, when did i start thinking again that the whole lonely cab ride thing sounds like a nice idea?

their orders are SO complicated that the krispy kreme lady at the counter is going to stare at me right through the hole in the silly doughnut and curse under her breath: 'stupid asian, never tasted doughnuts before in your life is it?!' guess the seafood feast the TP gang promised me shall be my only consolation...

my first ang moh christmas

christmas to them is very much like chinese new year to us. everyone starts stocking up food the day before cos all the shops and restaurants would be closed on christmas day. on christmas day, the entire family gathers in the house with lots of food and wine. the kiddies got up early in the morning to open their presents.

tiana is brother B's niece. sweet as she looks, but has a weird temper.

keanu is tiana's elder brother, an expert in PS2.

the feast begins after saying grace. christmas lunch was full of ham, turkey, beef steaks, salads, bread, cheese, crackers, fruits, puddings, trifles, cakes, wine, champagne and more wine.

this is the trifle that brother B made, it's like a custardy-spongecake-pudding thingy. although it's too sweet for my own good but...yummy.


the oldies chilling at the yard making small talk after lunch.

the kids and their uncles playing PS2.

really happy to be here this christmas, especially it's been years since i last spent christmas with sis. so how was your christmas, my friends? tell me all about it! heard it was raining heavily back home on christmas eve...

一种米养百种鸡

食神在世 之: stir fried chicken with spring onions (姜葱鸡肉)


...when i first saw the spring onions here, i thought it was leek. the diameter of each spring onion must be at least 1.5cm! so damn big ok. then when we went for dim sum and ordered steamed chicken feet (claws), the feet was...was almost the size of my palm! (ok to be fair, i've really small hands) but still... 吓死我！ the chicken parts that are sold in the supermarkets here must be the biggest chicken parts i've ever seen. people say 一种米养百种人, i guess it applies to chickens as well?

so much space, so little people

i realise i've not stepped into a single elevator for almost a month now. (ever since i'm in New Zealand) unlike many of us at home, people here do not live in high rise apartments. shopping malls are built on a huge land area so no need for escalators as well. you'll only find high rise buildings in the city where the land is much more expensive.

that day i was in the car with brother B on our way to play squash. it was around 5pm when he exclaimed: "look at that hedious traffic! everyone's rushing home after work." i looked left, right, center...and i asked: "huh what traffic??"...i swear i saw at most 15 cars waiting at the lights, and he thinks that's a traffic congestion. hmm....

we were at the mall another day and he said: "it's crowded aye? everyone's rushing to get christmas presents." i looked around and said: "huh what crowd??"...the 'crowd' he was referring to was something like 25 shoppers. (the store size is similar to Isetan) hmm....

New Zealand's total land area is about 270000 sq km with 4,035,461 in population. Singapore's land area is barely 682.7 sq km (after reclaimation), has 4,425,720 people (still counting). their country is almost 400 times bigger than ours, yet has lesser people. sometimes i really cannot understand why Singapore government still thinks that there are not enough people in Singapore and wants us to give birth to more. sigh.

oh by the way, it's true that 纽西兰的乳牛比新加坡的人口还要多...

食神在世 之: sweet & sour pork

the pork they sell here has a very strong taste/smell, which i don't really like. but look at this dish...lovely or what?
salivate my dear...salivate! marry me, bring me home...i want to be a tai tai!
help me...i think i a bit siao liao after the bungy. oh, and talking about siao, i miss my ah siao! wonder what's he up to? hmm...

rotorua day 2: the day i became 小龙女

continued from rotorua day 1 (see previous blog)

the sky began to clear up a little today so we went to The Luge (it's a downhill go-kart thing) it was good fun! in your 1st attempt, they'll make u do a scenic track which is easy and not too fast. when it's your 2nd try, you can hop onto the intermediate track, then the advanced track.

after my 1st attempt, i went straight to the advanced track and i crashed! haha...it was alright, i only knocked into a barrier and managed to jump out of the kart in time. i wasn't convinced so i went for a 3rd try...this time, I CRASHED BIG TIME! i was thrown out of the kart, i had one hand in front of me preparing to break fall, another on my head to protect myself. the bloody kart flipped and landed on me and i rolled down the hill!! wah lau eh...really like some Jackie Chan's movie! and the first thing that i was concerned about when i got up was: 我的头发有没有乱?!

The Luge is actually quite safe if you observe the 'speed limit'...it was because i ignored the huge warning signs telling us to slow down and went full speed at the sharp bends instead. in return, i ate some dirt, soiled my favourite jacket and now have difficulty walking cos i've this huge bruise on my thigh! ...well fortunately at the end of the thing, a chairlift transports you back up the hill cos i'm pretty sure i cannot walk anymore!

the bungy in Rotorua was a whack! it costs NZ$135 and it wasn't even any good. brother B drove 1 hour out of Rotorua to Lake Taupo so that i can bungy there. the bungy masters were having their lunch break when i signed up. i was told i could only jump 15mins later so i decided to go to the toilet first. but when i came out, they were already calling out for me! cos apparently there were many other tourists there and wants to see someone jump. guess what? i was the only one who signed up! so i had to 'perform' for the rest. how helpful is that?!

i took one last look at Lake Taupo, which i'm going to jump into later... i've been waiting for this for so long!
MOMENT OF TRUTH
bungy master: look at the camera over there and say cheese
me: nah beh cheese your head
bungy master: look forward, jump head down
bungy master: ok...and i say...3...2...1...and BUNGY!
me: eh wait wait wait...
bungy master: err...ok (and starts whistling away)
me: my insurance doesn't cover self inflicted fatalities
bungy master: it's too hard to die here today

me: zhun boh? wish me luck (and took a deep breath)
bungy master: i say 3...2...1...and BUNGY!!!
AND I TOOK THE PLUNGE
bloody hell! it's ultimate adrenaline pumping i tell ya! i imagined myself as 小龙女 flying gracefully through the cliffs chasing after my lover 杨过!


don't play play...i'm a certified suicider

there goes my maiden bungy plunge. i'm sure i want to do this again. :) but for now...i need to let my blood pressure go back to normal first...heh. we went to the Huka Falls and the view was awesome.

i looked at the gushing water and started to think how nice it'd be if i can white water raft here! :P i am an adrenalin seeking bitch! no shit about that!

everyone should try bungy i tell ya...it's the anticipation that's scary but the actual jump itself is exhilarating! if it's free i can do it 100 times! there's no better place to do it other than New Zealand itself. afterall it's a kiwi invention yeah? brother B told me about a 150m plunge over at Cherry Islands and i am thinking about it already. hehehe...

rotorua day 1: whakarewarewa

the weather was bad at Rotorua. the sky was overcast. undaunted by the rain, we went to Whakarewarewa. (it's in Maori language and pronounced as Fakarewarewa)

this place is a living Maori geothermal village, which means the Maori people actually live there and they opened up the land for the tourists to visit.

the Maori villagers will just walk to the concert hall from their houses to perform for the tourists. interesting eh? cos they literally work from home...

the underground water is naturally heated and steam rises from the cracks on the ground. the Maoris use the heated water for cooking, bathing and washing. the smell of sulphur fills the air as the water has a high content of sulphur and other minerals.

there used to be 65 geysers in the area, but now there are only 5 that are still active and this is one of them.

食神在世 之: som tam & curry chicken

som tam - thai green papaya salad. they don't have green papayas here so i used fancy lettuce as a substitute and it tastes just as good! fish sauce, lemon juice, garlic, chilli...they complement one another perfectly!

had curry chicken with rice and instant pratas! heh... brother B was licking his plate clean at the end of dinner. how to resist qix's cooking? :D

going to Rotorua this weekend. this place is a must go here in the north islands of New Zealand. it's 3hrs drive out of Auckland, heaps of activities to do there. from heritage tours to jet boating, white water rafting and bungy jumping! man i really hope to bungy! it's like...suicide yet you won't need to actually die. :P

食神在世 之: tomato beef stew

not only do i love to eat, i love to cook! and you'll be surprised at the kind of dishes i can whip up too. mai siao siao...i will make a 贤妻良母 next time.