Delicious looking soup

Grilled Chicken

Cherlynn is totally (not) camera-shy!

After a hearty lunch, Brenda suggested going to the flea market near by. As I’ve never been to a flea market, I gladly agreed, so did the rest of the girls. The last time I tried to go to a flea market, I spend 2 hours trying to find my way, got lost and never made it there in the end.

Come to think of it, I’ve done a couple of things I’ve never done before that day. I have never withdraw cash from an ATM machine nor have I ever been to a flea market before Saturday. I can explain myself. Let me see, the probability of Dayna losing her wallet is 10% and the probability that she will drop some cash when she opens her wallet is 30% which is about 40% in total and this is considered high risk. To mitigate the financial risk, it’s safer for her to bring lesser cash when she leaves the house. Sounds cool? Since it was my first time, I thought it was normal that I inserted the card in the wrong direction! Ivy helped me on that and Brenda even conducted an interview with me. I feel grown up to have finally used the ATM machine (lol).

We conquered the flea market! - Photo by Brenda & edited by me

Flowery vintage top

The flea market was packed and we had a hard time trying to escape. We went across the road to the other flea market (I’m not sure if it’s suppose to be the same one) beside Cineleisure. It’s quieter and we had a better time shopping if you ignored the hot weather. Everyone bought something and I’m no exception being a hardcore shopaholic myself.

I got myself a brand new vintage flowery top for SGD 18. It was priced at SGD 20 and Brenda manage to bargain to 18 for me. Lesson learn: always try to bargain if the tops are above SGD 15. According to the girls, the top is so me! They practically know my style 101% in an hour. I thought the photo of us above is so “blogger-style”.

We were melting by the time we “conquered” the flea market. Some air-con shopping and Sakura flowers sounds like a good plan? We headed to Takashimaya excitingly to view the exhibition of live Sakura flowers and here’s what we saw…

This fantastic video is taken and edited by Brenda. You should definitely check out her post and Cherlynn’s about our outing. It has an extremely unflattering but cute (according to her) photo of me and I’m definitely not going to post that photo of myself here.

Sakura flowers & a really cool pose - Photo by Brenda

Cherlynn and I look kind of dumb beside Brenda’s awesome pose. It’s kind of funny how all of us did the peace sign in a lot of photographs to piss Brenda off. The awesome pose ended with a bang as well as Brenda fell after a few seconds. I think a few others saw it but we were too busy wondering if Brenda’s okay to bother about the attention. At least her effort was not in vain as Ivy managed to capture this great shot of us. We should all do the star jump pose the next time we meet!

The day ended with more shopping and jokes, of course. I will proudly present the joke of the day award to Cherlynn (I’ve got a feeling she’s going to kill me for this). So what happen exactly? We were trying out some clothes at Fox. Cherlynn tried out this grey superman tank and denim shorts. We thought she look great in it and urge her to grab the top. She thought the denim shorts was a bit too short. It all happened within a few seconds when she asked the big question: Do I look like a hooker in it? And the next moment, this was what we heard over the speaker: And you ain’t nothin’ but a hooker. According to Brenda, this song is titled ‘Hooker’ by Pink. It was so much of a coincident that all of us burst out laughing uncontrollably. I feel bad for exposing her in this entry, how about a little cartoon as compensation?

Cartoon illustration of the awesome photo above

Related posts:

1. A day with Terry and Brenda
2. SingTel INQ mobile event
3. Sing towards your 21st

We arrived at about 9.30am and the place was pretty packed. I had not expected such a big crowd since it wasn’t a weekend or school holiday. I was very impressed with the architectures, buildings and design because they are gorgeous! I don’t feel like I’m in Singapore once I stepped into the park. The friendly staff directed our ways to collect the dining and shopping vouchers and we started our day via taking a picture with my favourite animal in the world – the famous Kungfu panda, Po.

Honestly speaking, I don’t really like this photograph because I’m so tiny in it. I can’t even see my own face clearly. The shot taken by the cameraman of Universal Studios Singapore did a better job and we ended up purchasing the photograph which cost us SGD 10 from the photo studio; The Dark Room. Quite a creative name instead of the usual “Kodak Express” I see in the malls!

Why doesn’t Singapore have such beautiful newspaper stands (or is it called the papers vending machine)? We headed straight to Madagascar and managed to catch a 15 seconds performance of the penguins. I was so glad I got the chance to take a shot with the super duper adorable penguins. What’s his name again? Skipper? My personal favourite is the short chubby one. I should have asked him for his name (the penguin not the person)!

Our first ride was the King Julien’s Beach Party-Go-Round which is basically just a ordinary Merry-Go-Round without the horses. You will find all kinds of characters in Madagascar on this ride. I love the penguins so I chose to ride with them! The ride was really slow so don’t worry about getting dizzy. The kids are having a really good time on this but for someone who has lived 2 decades on this earth, it was all right. The characters were adorable though.

There was really nothing much at Madagascar but the shops are beautifully designed. I took a picture of the penguins hanging from the ceiling. I applauded the management for taking the time and money to beautify the ceilings. Most wouldn’t even spare a glance at the ceilings. On a random note, you are going to love Sissy’s photographs, she has the most hilarious and coolest pose! And one of the joke of the day?

Mum: Excuse me, may I know where to get to this roller coaster (pointing at the Enchanted Airways ride)?
Staff: Oh, you have to walk to far far away.
Mum: Huh? I still have to walk far far away to get there?
Sissy: LOL! No, no, that place is called “Far Far Away”.
Mum: Oh (laughs), thanks!

I couldn’t get a full view of the castle because of the blue shelter built right in front of it. I remember seeing a photograph of it taken by my friend a few weeks ago and I’m pretty sure the blue shelter wasn’t there at that time. Perhaps it was built to cater to the queue. After taking the Enchanted Airways which is a small family roller coaster, we went to watch the Shrek 4D show. Frankly speaking, the pre-show talk was way too long. We were brought into this empty room with a few big screens right at the top. I had a stiff neck after looking up for 15 minutes during the pre-show talk. The grandma standing behind us was getting tired as well. Seriously, no seats? The screen is way too high up and the speech was terribly long. My anticipation for the show decreased by a fair bit after the long speech. My verdict of the show: it was mediocre. Just rocking seats, splashes of water and maybe some wind. The 3D effect wasn’t fantastic either.

Mum suggested having an early lunch to avoid the lunch crowd. Since she wasn’t a fan of western food, we decided to have lunch at Hollywood China Bistro. On our way back, Sissy spotted this interesting sign and asked me to take a photograph of it. All shopping malls should be using this. Dolls FTW! We had Chinese noodles and dim sum which cost us SGD 30+ after deducting 30 bucks using the complimentary dining vouchers. Lunch was pretty good. The restaurant was beautifully decorated in red and gold (typical colours used in Chinese restaurants). In addition, the friendly and polite staff makes it a good dining experience for us.

Our next stop was at Jurassic Park. We went to watch the WaterWorld show and Sissy nearly fell asleep in there. I thought the show wasn’t too bad. Explosions, lots of water, stuns, rather good storyline and a wee bit of fireworks. The performers can really get the audiences to participate and at the same time, get them soaked as well. Lots of small children were crying halfway through the show. I’m not sure why parents will want to bring their young children to the show when they have been warned that this show involves lots of loud noises, explosions and requires parental guidance due to the use of (fake!) guns and stuff.

We were actually planning to ride the Canopy Flyer but the queue was an hour long. Since the park closes at 6pm, we don’t think there will be enough time so we skipped and proceeded to Dino-Soarin. The sun was blazing that day and I felt like I’m melting into a puddle of goo. Up next is the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure and I got to say this ride was a disappointment! Sissy wanted to get the poncho initially but we didn’t realise that we have to get it in the Jurassic Park merchandise store and not at the ride itself. Mum and I convinced Sissy that it will be fun to get wet because it’s no fun when we get off the ride dry. The lockers were rented at $4 for the first hour and since we were without the protection of the ponchos we rented one to keep our bags dry.

The first half of the ride was so slow and mundane. We were just floating down the river looking at (very) fake dinosaurs that open and close their mouths like robots. The raft entered a dark tunnel with flashing lights, a door opened and we were “flushed out” of the tunnel. The ride ended with a big splash and I was pretty much drenched. Even the raft ride at Sunway Lagoon is way better than this. Is this all they can come up with?

I tweeted that I almost died that day on the Revenge of the Mummy’s ride and it was true. i swear I’m never going to take this ride again. Like I said, I’ve a low threshold for thrilling rides and I’m surprised I still have my voice after screaming the entire time while I was on the ride. Just the walk from the main entrance of the ride to the actual queue took us about 15 minutes. A rather long walk I would say. To top if off, the passage way was really dark with lots of turns and corners. Interestingly, I saw someone in front of me wearing a pair of sunglasses in the dark. I wonder how he sees in the dark. Anyway, is the walk suppose to build up our tension for the ride? People that cut the queues really spoil the fun for me. I do not understand why some people let others cut the queue in front of them without saying a word. I would have told them off but I was too far away at that time.

In the Sci-Fi City, Battlestar Galactica was closed so there wasn’t much to see. Mum and Sissy went onto the Accelerator ride which has the same concept as the Mad Tea Party in Disneyland. Both of them said that it wasn’t much fun because it’s slow even when they control the speed manually. I didn’t take the ride because the last time I rode a similar ride at Escape theme park 10 years ago, I ended up puking really badly. It started to drizzle and we headed to New York because it was sheltered. We spend some time snapping away on our cameras. There was lots to see but nothing much to play.

The only attraction we went at New York was Lights, Camera, Action which actually showcases what happens to a boat house in New York City during a category 5 hurricane. The effect was nice and the sea look very realistic from the fake windows. But again, it wasn’t anything exciting. I was expecting more than just a few broken windows, fire etc.

It’s nearly 5 when we exited Lights, Camera, Action and we decided to go for a quick bite. We wanted to have tea at this princess-looking pink cafe, Hollywood Celebrity’s Cafe but after looking at the menus, we thought we should go for something fuller and cheaper. True to its name, the menus especially the price tags are really celebrities’ class.

We settled for Mel’s Drive-In. They have a shiny looking junk box and the retro interior decorations suits the theme very well! The servings are huge and very fulling. The place was pretty packed, perhaps due to the more economic price of the burgers. I caught the appearance of a few retro dancers right outside the dining place. I love their colourful costumes and how they tried to engage the audiences and get them to dance together as well.

With only an hour left, we went on a shopping spree. I love all the merchandise sold there! They have the best souvenirs such as toys, cushions, mousepads, pins, notepads, caps, t-shirts, towels, mugs and lots of other stuff. Admittedly, the best attraction at Universal Studios Singapore was their merchandises and not exactly the rides. Here’s the other joke of the day:

I was looking at 2 tees which look exactly the same with different price tags.

Me: Excuse me, may I know why these tees are priced differently? The size L tee cost SGD 21.90 while the size S tee cost SGD 23.90.

After pausing for a few seconds, he replied.

Staff: Oh, the smaller the tee, the more expensive is it because it’s more difficult to manufacture.

Me: Huh, okay. Thanks!

After I went home and look at the photos on my computer screen, I realise the size S tee was a men’s tee and hence it’s more expensive then the ladies’ size L tee. The ladies’ tee are priced at SGD 21.90 while the men’s tee are priced at SGD 23.90. So much for “the smaller the tee, the more expensive it gets”! He (the staff) was really friendly though but I just thought the above was hilarious!

With all the self control I had, I only bought 2 tees and a penguin clipboard + notepad. On the other hand, Sissy got a tee, pin and mousepad. I regretted not getting the mousepad. It’s really cute! Sissy’s going again next week so hopefully the stores will be open so that she can grab an extra for me. This concluded our day at Universal Studios Singapore. We didn’t manage to visit all the attractions due to time constraints. I wish the park would extend it’s opening hours till about 8 to 9 at night so that we’ve more time. Although I wasn’t too wow by the attractions, I had a rather enjoyable time. Maybe it’s my first time visiting a theme park, hence I don’t have a very high expectation. For more photographs, check out this album on my Flickr.

Related posts:

1. Hong Kong & Macau Trip – Part I
2. My first look at Resort World Sentosa
3. Our DIY cake

We planned to head to the Sentosa island to take our first look at Resort World. All of us haven’t been there and we thought it will be a good idea to tour Huaian around the new sections of Sentosa before he leaves. The place was unusually quiet and empty. I would have expected it to be bursting with activities and music. It wasn’t what I had expected but perhaps with the opening of the Universal Studio, it will be a livelier place. We discovered the Hershey’s chocolate shop beside the entrance to Universal Studios. I love this shop because they sell a huge range of Hershey’s chocolates¹, they even have peanut butter chocolates!

Besides the chocolates, they also carry other things like toys, bags and even ear phones. The first thing I noticed when I entered the store was the trademark silver tear-drop shaped toy of Hershey’s on display. Initially I thought the Bubble Yum ear phones were edible and designed to look like a real one but my buddies have confirmed that it’s a working pair. Looking at the rows and rows of chocolates on display, tell me you aren’t drooling over them?

We snapped a photograph at the famous Universal rotating globe. The photo is taken by Huaian’s girlfriend, Ming Xian. Thanks so much for taking the picture so that I can be in there! I love this couple because they always pose at lighting speed when they see my camera. Huaian is still in training so he might be a bit slower.

We took the escalator down to the basement and I’m actually impressed the designers even took the time and effort to add some music and a few Nemos² specially for the escalator’s ride. The only crowds we saw were at the entrance of the Casino. Is it the only attraction of Sentosa that garner that much attention?

A large section is still under construction so there isn’t much to see but we decided to visit the Hard Rock Hotel and that’s our first step into a maze. We were directed into a corridor by the staff who told us that was a shortcut. Staff always know their way around right? How wrong we were. We entered a rather dark hallway with weird looking spotlights and that began our adventure to find the way out.

I love the ceiling’s star lights so much that I took at least a dozen photographs of them. That’s Hotel Michael by the way. It’s one of those lights that’s perfect for Christmas! Don’t ask me why there’s a huge hole on the wall, it’s like a window overlooking the hallway downstairs. It is gorgeous but I thought it was slightly dangerous too. Along our quest, we asked a few of the constructions and renovation workers for directions. We went from the West lobby to the East lobby, from Basement 2 to Basement 1 and did some exercise on the exit stairs. I really think the design of this hotel is simply breathtaking. Green and woody brown looks perfect together, not to mention the high ceilings! I feel like I was touring a castle.

After what seems like hours, we have finally arrived at the lobby of Hard Rock Hotel. My first reaction was “This is it?” so you can safely assume I wasn’t so impressed with what I was seeing. We can see a modern looking bar with blue lights, lots of chairs and a few artistic looking paintings. That’s about it! I think the concept was suppose to be simple, artistic and modern looking and they had it there but maybe it just wasn’t what I had in mind.

We left after that because there wasn’t much to see anyway. I will be back after Universal Studio opens and hopefully by then, more shops will be open. On a random note, check out the last photo we took at the De-Coder’s Cafe. The red wig looks fabulous, no?

1. I am not a huge fan of chocolates but I’ve to admit, Hershey’s chocolates are good!
2. The orange fish with white strips in the movie, Finding Nemo

Related posts:

1. My first trip to Universal Studios Singapore
2. Missy’s 2008
3. Merry Messy Christmas

Delicious Crepe from Marche - Photo taken by Terry

Mushrooms for Brenda & I, carrots for Terry - Photo taken by Terry

Brownie and vanilla ice cream - Photo taken by Terry

I didn’t tried the steak like the previous time because I didn’t want an overly cooked steak and to avoid chalking up the bill. We had the usual dose of mushrooms and Terry has carrots as well. Coincidentally, both Brenda and I aren’t a fan of vegetables.

I tried the Seabass fillet and I had to say they aren’t really up to my expectation. Even the brownies aren’t as great as the last time. It has almonds in it which taste weird when I’m having it with vanilla ice cream. Almonds and ice cream just doesn’t seem to go well together.

We had a long chat at Marche and sat all the way from 2 to about 5.30 PM. It’s really nice chatting with people of similar interests. I know they can understand and relate to what I’m saying. It’s always good to hear different opinions from people regarding issues we are all familiar with. There are so many things we can talked about such as our common hatred for Internet Explorer 6, weird floating and margin issues, odd scrolling input fields and of course some private gossips of our own.

It’s also really comforting to know that I’m not alone and there are people who think like me. Speaking of which, we have brought up the topic of how a well designed commenting system on a blog will actually attract and encourage more people to comment. I shall talk about this on a separate post because it’s going to be pretty long but I did make some changes to my comments form because of it¹.

Brenda and Terry also gave me a tip on how to link the site title in the header without splitting the image. The site title is now clickable. Yay! Furthermore, I actually added the previous and next post links to each of my single post page. It’s something I’ve wanted to add in for a long time but I’m too lazy for my own good. All of us agreed it’s more user friendly with the post navigations. I actually got to learn quite a bit of stuff from them that day!

Poking games during our conversation - Photo taken by Terry

We left at about 5+ PM and walked around Orchard Road, snapping away with our cameras. We saw this tiger made from fresh flowers right outside Mandarin Oriental. I wonder what will happened if it rains. I’m also pretty proud of the photographs I took of the flowers. I thought it wasn’t too bad considering the flowers were swaying due to the strong wind.

Both Terry and Brenda were having fun at the water fountains located on the steps outside Ion Orchard. I almost wanted to give Terry a little push right into the fountain and he didn’t realise it while we were there². I didn’t do it in the end because he was carrying his camera and I didn’t wanted to risk it.

Impromptu pose by Brenda and I - Photo taken by Terry

Brenda left to meet her parents for dinner so Terry and I decided to check out Wild Honey cafe at Mandarin Oriental Gallery. It’s a small cosy place to chill out – dim lights, soft relaxing music, comfortable seats, delicious looking sandwiches and tea. What’s not to love? I can spend hours there just enjoying my tea. Have I mentioned how much I love their cube sugars? This is the first cafe I’ve been to that actually has cube sugars and provide colouring pens and papers for kids!

Terry has the honour of testing out what the whitish looking powder in the small plate beside the sugar is. It turns out to be salt and I’m glad I’m not the one trying! The place seems to be popular among Japanese according to Terry. We have seen quite a number of Japanese sitting beside us. I’m getting all excited for our next meet-up already. Wild Honey, here we come!

Cube sugars in a glass - Photo taken by Terry

1. Do you like it?
2. Hope Terry is not reading this!

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2. SingTel INQ mobile event
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It’s the first time we took a family photograph with my uncle’s family. I’m definitely going to print these out and display them in my room. No words can describe how much I love my family. They meant the world to me.

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The construction of the bridge linking Bugis to Iluma has completed and is open to pedestrians. It is a smart move to build a bridge connecting the two malls since they will be killing 2 birds with 1 stone. The constant human congestion at the other traffic junction outside Topshop was absolutely horrible and dangerous. Most of the time, the pedestrian walkway in the middle of the 2 roads would be so packed that I’m afraid someone will fall over. Moreover, it’s bringing a lot more human traffic and business to Iluma. There is a reason why I named it the ghost mall in the past. It’s now buzzing with activities and shoppers. I even saw the God of Fortunate today! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to shake hands with him⁴.

I shall end this post with a perfect shot of Chewy in his “Twist” pose and I am giving 101% of credit to the photographer for this awesome shot⁵.

1. We love to treasure hunt!
2. It didn’t rain in the end due to our inaccurate prediction
3. It was fake plastic grass actually
4. I hope to get some luck for buying 4D and TOTO
5. Are you still guessing? The writer of this post is the the photographer

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2. Chewy is not a good online alias?
3. Twitpic of my busy week

On a side note, I realised I fulfilled a few of my new year resolutions for 2009. Reading back the post I wrote at the end of 2008, I managed to get at least 50 marks for each of my UOL papers in the 2009 examinations and I got myself a new wallet as well. 2 out of 4 accomplished in the last year! I hope I managed to get those for 2010 done as well.

Presents for myself - Slingbag and wallet

Here’s the delicious looking dinner we had:

Sausages and bacon

A sumptuous dinner

Instant pizza!

Black forest cake

Benjamin is definitely enjoying the food

Sharon and her signature scarf

Related posts:

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2. Memories of 2009
3. Missy’s 2008

Memories of 2009

New year resolution

• Graduate with first class honours in my final UOL exams
• Start saving to have about SGD 3000 in my bank
• Shop less, study more
• Good health and improved complexion (less acne and pimples!)
• Spend more time with Chewy
• Go Taiwan and Hong Kong for holidays

See you in 2010!

Related posts:

1. Happy New Year 2009
2. A brand new year with lots of new memories
3. I love Mr Chewy

On a side note, I actually drew the above illustration for my own Christmas cards but couldn’t find a inexpensive place to print it. There’s usually a minimum quantity of 100 to 200 and I don’t need that much. I only got to know of a shop at Bras Plaza that does printing for $1 per card with minimum spending of $30 from Ivy when we meet up for lunch last week. Hence, I will just leave the handmade cards for this year since it’s a bit too late to do that now.

I spent Christmas eve at home with my friends and family. We didn’t want to hang out at the parties due to the crowd. So Dad cooked steak and we had Christmas dinner at home. Michelle joined us for dinner and mahjong session as well. No turkeys on the table though.

We had a small gift exchange session and here’s Francis, Michelle and my sister with their presents. The panda Michelle’s hugging is from Chewy. He bought it in Hong Kong and she’s utterly soft and adorable. Definitely the cutest panda on earth.

My sister showing off her new iphone. She’s been waving it in front of me these past few days! I’m super envy because I’m dying to get my hands on an iphone. I’ll wait and get it next year.

It’s our custom to get a Christmas cake every year. Ta-da! This is our log mango mousse cake from The Icing Room. We couldn’t find a small log cake for 6 so we decided to get this instead. I was surprised when the cashier asked me if I want any candles. Does anyone put candles on Christmas cakes?

Joke of the day:
Mum: Is there cheese in the cake?
Dad: Yes, there is cheese in basement 1 of the cake.
Me: LOL! Our cake has basement 1, 3, 5 – mango mousse and basement 2, 4, 6 – chocolate sponge.

The cake is delicious though. Everyone gave the thumbs up for it.

I received this card from Huaian today. I was really touched. It has a photo of us taken 6 years back and he still has it sent all way from Australia. I love it Huaian! Thanks so much for the awesome card. I hope to see you back in Singapore in Feburary.

This is from my sister and her boyfriend, Francis. My sister gave me a beautiful necklace from Gold Heart which matches all the tank tops in my wardrobe.

That’s it for today. Hope you have fun on Christmas eve as well and have a great Christmas!

Related posts:

1. Happy Merry Christmas
2. Christmas Gathering 2008
3. Happy New Year 2009

Anyway, I met up with Terry and Ivy yesterday for lunch at Marché and the three of us practically camwhore-ed for 3 hours! It was really fun though. You can check out Terry’s post for more details on what happened that day. Guys, we have to do this again some day. I mean camwhoring is no fun when you are doing it alone. It has to be in a group! If you haven’t try it, perhaps it’s time to start. Here’s a step by step instructions on how to camwhore:

Step by step instructions on camwhoring

Step 1: You will need a web cam, mobile with camera or any digital cameras.
Step 2: Look into the camera and smile. Please check the photos to make sure you are in it just in case the angle is incorrect and you ended up taking a photograph of the tree beside you.
Step 3: Click on the shutter button.
Step 4: Adjust the angle or change your facial expression.
Step 5: Click on the shutter button again.
Step 6: Repeat step 4 and 5 for another hundred times.

Congratulations, you have just learnt how to camwhore and have fun!

Photographs courtesy of Terry

On a side note, I know this post is pretty lame. I wrote it at 2 in the morning.

Related posts:

1. A day with Terry and Brenda
2. What happens when 4 girls are put together?
3. Sing towards your 21st