Last night

Finally... the workshop wrapped up! We are going on a half day guided tour organized by the funders who have shown us great hospitality. Meeting the hk usyd lot soon, exciting yet very tired!

Laying on the bed when I am supposed to be dressed for the tour in 15 mins. Tired tired tired!!!

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Hello from hk

Neon lights!!! Ok, it's hk for sure



Bedroom with glass partition, full view of bath area. Reached super late (like at 12a), n this sight totally calm me down!



Morning starts at CUHK






Back at the hotel and checking out the now visible harbour view



Checking out the very nice shower area



Took my only pic in the hotel



And decided to take a break!

Off to land of Cantopop

Everything's like super duper sudden. The discussion started yesterday noon, ticket was bought this morning and tadahhh... off to Hong Kong I go.

Tonight I will feel extremely lonely. Boo.

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矛盾人生

静下来想动，动了却喊累。

是现实生活太平庸无奇， 还是想像中的理想生活与自己所能负荷的差距太大？


这一刻，我自觉是个被爸妈宠坏的小孩。

McDonald's toy pig blunder - stupidity to the max

Singapore snorts over McDonald's toy pig blunder

SINGAPORE, Jan 22 - McDonald's apologised to Singapore on Friday and brought a pig back to its toy menu, after a decision to leave the animal out of its Chinese zodiac collection upset many in the predominantly ethnic Chinese nation. McDonald's this month started selling cartoon character miniatures depicting the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar, but the pig was replaced by love god Cupid as McDonald's said it did not want to offend Muslims.

But the move, just ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and Valentine's Day in February, backfired as many Chinese customers complained in chatrooms and blogs that they would not have a chance to buy the animal sign of their birth year.

"We're sorry, and we're grateful," the fast food chain said in a half-page advertisement in the Straits Times newspaper, saying it never intended to offend anyone.

Multi-racial Singapore has successfully avoided racial tension since deadly riots in the 1960s, though the government sees race as the biggest potential fault line in society.

"I understand that we need to respect our Muslim citizens as Singapore is a multiracial and multicultural society," Pauline Koh, whose daughter was born in the Year of Pig, wrote to the Straits Times.

"However, in this case, the Pig is one of the Chinese zodiac signs -- part of Chinese culture and customs -- and it is just a soft toy, not food," she wrote. Around 75 percent of the nearly 5 million population in Singapore is ethnically Chinese and 15 percent is Malay or Indian Muslim. McDonald's and many other fastfood chains sell food that is halal, or acceptable to Muslims.

Pork and other pig products are not halal food. (Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan and Fabian Ng; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
_____

Did McDonald's think we do not celebrate the Year of Pig in Singapore? Seriously, I don't think anyone would have ever thought of being offended by them selling pig minatures. It never crossed by mind (Ok, I am not a Muslim but I am darn sure that our fellow Muslim friends are more level-headed than that).

This IS stupidity to the max. What exactly are those in McDonald's thinking?

Captured by quad cam

Another uber fun app







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About everything

Was half way through a post when P played with the phone, reinstalled all applications and *dadaaaaa* there went the post. This phone is probably the second possesion of mine that interests him so much (the first being myself!)

'The' day was shifted from 25th to 29th. Till then, it's more jittery moments and more waiting. That's exactly one whole week from now.

One thing about attending classes in the noon, time passes really fast. 3 out of 7 working hours spent in the classroom is a huge investment of time. Nevertheless, I love my Thai classes.

Mdm sees the need to collect recipes and will probably start so tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the many food experiments I would be conducting. P's pretty sure that my enthusiasm will die down soon after we shift in (that I will stop preparing brekkie after the first week). Right now, it doesn't seem like I will be bored of my potential concoctions.

Friday is the day I love most and it's here!

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A rare piece of Singapore

Snapshots of my dad and I doing our first walk together at the nature park








Check out the huge monitor lizard









In Sg, you never get the real stuff



Impressive facility for study groups

Yet another house update

House at it's 80%


This pile of construction materials and leftovers define our garden (which is starting to look small). I kinda imagine a space that we can have BBQ sessions with friends, a little hammock under some big trees or even crazy as it sounds a little treehouse or outdoor tent for our future little one. This big dream is going bust. This space is seriously too small for anything. There goes my "sipping some tea under the afternoon sun" bubble





Side view of our nest

Delayed start

And so Chloe Sevigny was named Best Supporting Actress! Gotta catch Big Love to witness her chic-to-mormon transformation.

Mdm is feeling so much better after my visit to the doc on Sunday. I am not experiencing any form of discomfort and hasn't done any loo run. It's definitely not the big P scare (that for a very brief moment even I myself did suspect that it might be the cause of my pukey-ness and loss of appetite, despite the very regular menses I have had just days before the symptoms occured).

On a related note, one of P's close buddy recently discovered that his wife, N, is expecting. We used to joke about having kids around the same period and few days ago N went "go have one now!". And I knew I wasn't ready because the idea did not excite me a bit but I know the maternal instinct is kicking in. Whatever it is, we seem to have too many items on our "to-do" list at the moment.

Haven't done my resolution list for 2010, partly due to the fact that things may change quite a but for me if everthing turns out well. Whatever it is, I hope I would be able to know the results asap (i.e. after the 25th) and start planning for the rest of 2010 then. I'm still not sure if I can make it back for CNY. I have one pathetic day of annual leave left till June and our pockets are burning at a rapid speed. There are just so much payments due. Plus, I was back less than 3 weeks ago. It's just very bad timing this year round.

Thai class

Mdm the student.



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There goes Sunday

Hadn't been feeling well since last weekend but dragged myself to work every single day anyway. Was having bad cramps, then felt incredibly pukey (which got me up 2 consecutive nights). Felt better mid-week except that I have been losing my appetite and when (Sunday) morning came, I started having bad diaharrea. Been to the loo at least 10 times before deciding to visit the doc. Glad that after taking the pills, my condition stabilized. Infection it is.

So my Sunday was spent in and out of bed/ loo. Very unproductive but at least I had ample of rest and finally saw Bruno.

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3 months before the big move

Round 2 is scheduled to be on the 25th!

We've kinda selected the toiletries, tiles etc. for the 3 loos. Have been making daily trips to the site lately and it's frustrating to see the construction progress coming to a standstill. P assured that the concrete hasn't been set and the slow down also probably means that the work is getting to its last bits.

It probably won't take long till the big move. Now that his sis's family is moving out too, this place is going to be very vacant very soon. As much as I am looking forward to building our own small little nest, I am kinda missing the family interaction (though minimal) already.

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Typical weekday evening

P taking his routine nap after dinner


Grouchy


After my jog!


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Taking form

Now we officially have a roof over our head!!!







Insulation...



Roof tiles being laid




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Buffet dinner in Chiangmai

Our dinner this evening at Holiday Inn, so far the best place to go for buffet in Chiangmai.

At the lounge, waiting for 6 pm to arrive






Mdm's first plate consisted of super fresh oyster and salmon sashimi












They added quite a few new dishes this time round (some really unconventional ones like ostrich meat, rabbit, beef tongue...). As per usual, Mdm can only stomach the usual poultry, pork and seafood.








Super yummy scallop and prawn cooked in Thai style (yum)



At less than 650 baht pp, this is one of the priciest buffet in Chiangmai. I guess u will never find great food like this at less than SGD30 in Sg. But then again, such comparison is flawed.

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Bits and pieces

Last surviving pet in the house






Us at Zen



Our new favourite dish, the uber yummy otoro!


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Travel 101

And so, I am back in CM, back at work, and back to the evenings on our treadmill and nights of tv shows/ movies marathon.

Strangely, the withdrawal symptoms dissipated as soon as I landed. Still, Mdm is missing everyone back at home, hoping that I had spent more time with you guys, more time exploring the humongous and maze-like ION (and the huge oh so huge Sephora store), visited Somerset Central, 313 @ Somerset (and Marina Barrage!). Anyhoo, I did (and eat) so much this time round that I guess I shouldn't be complaining. Except for my favourite Boon Tong Kee, I ate almost all the dishes that I have missed so badly here. It was lots of good food down my throat for that 2 weeks.

I know I would be seeing my folks and MM soon, even though I am not quite sure when I would be making a trip back home. But with my new house at it's 75%, it shouldn't be long till I receive my Sg family and friends. Mdm was at a dinner with 2 ladies sitting next to me, both on each side. Miss X was like "Oh, what's there in Chiangmai? Don't you find the place boring? What can you do on weekends?". Miss Y on the other hand was full of praises. "I love Chiangmai" she said, and continued "I love the air... love the scenery...".

Seriously, if you are expecting Chiangmai to be like Bangkok, or Patong then you've got to take a big U-turn. I have had friends visiting this place and totally not enjoy it while I know many others who came, fell in love and stayed on. In short, Chiangmai is not where all the craze is. It's the place to be for the cultural experience, for it's eco-tourism and for its serenity.

Anyway, back to Miss X. I went like, "we watch movies, we shop, we drink coffee". So, what do you do in a cosmopolitan city like Singapore?

My folks and I met a Singaporean family in the hotel at Bangkok. The 30 plus lady started going on and on about her shopping experience. "Have you been to JJ market? Have you been to Suan Lum?". Some time ago, I read on a random Singaporean blog that the apparent best food in Bangkok is found in Fuji - a Japanese restaurant chain (which is equivalent to our Sakae-sushi). These people are missing so much. When you travel, remember not only to burn your pockets, but to open your eyes. See, feel and taste.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Progressing!

Greetings from our new place!











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Hi Thailand, Bye Singapore

This is my last night in Singapore.

The past 2 weeks had been crazy. Chiangmai -- Bangkok -- Melaka -- KL -- Singapore, my schedule was uber pack. The BKK leg kicked off my busy schedule with a tiring 4-day sightseeing/ walking/ shopping/ food trip. My parents haven't been to BKK since 10 odd years ago (when I was 16-17). Guess it was quite an experience for them to be led around by their daughter this time round. They got the opportunity to visit most of the attractions (except Damnoen Saduak Floating Market).

Meeting with All Stars turned out well. Mdm managed to see my friends whom I haven't met for a while now. At this age, I guess we ain't looking forward to getting drunk (though I wouldn't mind) and a cosy dinner had served its purpose in a gathering for old schoolmates.

Trip to Melaka was as usual. I know it sounds weird, but I hate seeing people getting old, and being vulnerable due to their old age. Granny's grey hair, increasingly slow pace at almost everything etc. I have never truly shared an intimate relationship with my Granny, perhaps our geographical distance has always been the barrier, but I treasure the moments I have with her.

And then was my 3 days/ 2 nights KL trip. I'm glad to be able to meet up with the IH folks. It wasn't a sightseeing trip and thanks to Nijon, I got to enjoy myself spending time with the girls. My days in USyd were one of the most memorable and fun times I have had, and seeing these folks again seems like a memory revival. And of course I was glad to have Candice with us again. The last time we saw each other was during my wedding and that was like, 2.5 years ago.

And the gossipy gatherings with all the Chongs/ Chens/ Ngs were the must-haves, something that I miss alot when away from home. Growing up in a huge family with all the uncles/ aunts and fun loving cousins, sometimes the quiet life in Chiangmai does kill me.

Life's going to be quite different this year, and I hope 2010 will be a better one. I'm flying back to my hubby soon and I just want to tell MM, as always, I really enjoyed your company. I am going to miss you dearly. Thanks for arranging for the gathering, thanks for showering me with gifts/ treats, thanks for taking time out from your very very busy schedule. Thanks for everything. I really appreciate it.