Merry Christmas 2008

We put up our Christmas tree at home since end Oct! Used the same ornaments as last year since I didn't have much time to do shopping unlike last year.
Christmas Eve - Lunch at TCC
Met Sharon at the Airport for X'mas gift exchange. Took the opportunity to have coffee at Terminal 3, one of my fav coffee chillout place. Was updating my travel blog, slipping coffee & enjoying a slice of Chocolate X'mas log cake while waiting for Gerald to knock off from work & join me for lunch. Taking pics with my iBook.
Christmas Eve - Potluck @ Leong's House.
Had our usual potluck, played Bingo followed by X'mas present exchange with newbies to the group.
Christmas Day - Overnight Camping @ ECP
Gerald & I went camping and yes, we did stay throughout the night till sunrise.
We checked out 3 locations before settling down at a nice grass patch near Area G carpark. It was breezy and nice. The 4-men tent I got from Carrefour at about $25 was spacious & easy to setup. We started for small BBQ dinner around 11pm. Bacon & Cheese, Chicken & Beef steak, hotdog, peanut pancake & sweet potato... yummy!

Jes is in LOVE again...
Was relaxing in the garden when Lynn Lynn bounce & hop over from afar. She looked like her old self, young, playful & active. How I missed staying with her!

Went to Pet Safari @ Vivocity on Christmas Day and saw a "Ham Ham lookalike" i.e. Shih Tzu.
I miss him too!
My doggie dream list:
(1) Wire Fox Terrier(2) Miniature Schnauzer

Merry Christmas 2008

After the Batam trip, I resolved to do more good & therefore volunteered to man the Christmas Kettle for the Salvation Army. It was really hassle free and simple. Just sacrifice 2 hours of your time, choose your preferred date, time & venue and if it's available, the Salvation Army would allocate the slot to you. Chingway & I therefore manned the kettle outside Wisma Atria on Saturday afternoon from 3 - 5pm.
We were amazed & happy that many has come forward to donate. Many doners were also very encouraging with their smiles. This boy & his mum came to take over the kettle after our 2 hours stint. So heartwarming to see some parents teaching their young kids the goodness of sharing.

Believe you can, and you will..

Completed my first 42KM marathon this morning and I'm truly happy. The weather was good, my pace & morale all the way till about 38km was great. I was on track for my 5h target with no cramp at all. I was also jogging throughout, nil walking except for walking through all the water point as recommended by experienced runners.
Most painful stretch was at the F1 pitstop which seems never ending and the sun was blazing. Jennifer & Gerald were there to share my glorious moment at the finishing line. =)
Finisher T-shirt & souvenir medal, in exchange for the sweat, blisters & lactic acid.
Feeling fresh after changing into dry clothes.

F1 (28 Sep 2008) - First night race

Super belated posting on my first F1 experience...

Despite the fact that I never had the patience to watch through a complete race where the cars just went round & round until I lost count, I emptied my pocket to get 3 three day passes to bring my dear Daddy who was soooo excited that the F1 is finally coming to SG.

Started getting into the F1 craze with a close encounter with Lewis Hamilton & Heikki Kovalainen when they came to my office on Wed & Thurs prior to the race. Lewis is cute & more approachable in person. I'm proud he eventually won the F1 title. =)
Cool Daddy with the Ferrari flag.
Dear dear who also enjoyed the action.Our seats were at the grandstand facing the floating platform. Nice & cooling.
Everyone was so shock when there's a crash at the Bayfront just below where we were sitted.
Our tickets also allow us to walk-around various areas along the circuit so we explored various "elevated platforms" near turns & along straight stretches. Rather worth it as there were also many live telecast screens so we would stay connected while "experiencing" all the action. Despite being an "F1 idiot", I actually enjoyed the 3 days of action. =)

http://i-love-travelling.blogspot.com

Finally updated my travel blog. 1 full day to complete the part on Greece so guess I'll need much more time before I complete Italy & Switzerland. Enjoyed the vacation & loved the Greek Islands! =)

Working in Tokyo..

It's my first time travelling alone. Luckily, so far so good. =) Flight was comfortable and I was in Tokyo after a short nap & Haagen Dazs ice-cream.

It's extremely easy to navigate in Tokyo because they're so systematic and there's lots of signages & colour-coding. Enjoying the cool weather while waiting for the Limo bus to transfer to the hotel. Impossible to take a cab as it'll cost SGD $350... ooh!

Here's my office building, Roppongi First Building.

Hotel is about 5 minutes away from office. Nearest train station is Tameiko-sanno Metro Station (Exit 13). About 5 stations away from Shibuya via Metro. Nice and cosy so I enjoyed the stay. =)

There's an open area is just beside my hotel. Always enjoy passing by this area on my way to work. Weather is sooo nice. Sunrise is very early at about 4.30am and sunset is similar to S'pore s the day feels very long.
Stalls are setup every Wednesday morning at the open area, selling fruits & veggie. Good place to buy fruits. Fruits can be sooo expensive here. Saw grapes & cherries that cost SGD $100++! Even bananas sold at 7-11 cost me $1.50 each.
Went to Shibuya for shopping & dinner right after check-in to hotel. As usual, the crossing was so full of buzz. Yoshinoya is very unpopular here in Tokyo. Heard from my colleague that no one will eat there and the shop looks very cheapo too.

After work on weekdays is usually dinner or shopping followed by dinner. Went to Shunjuku 2 consecutive nights and Roppongi on Friday.

Was looking forward to the weekend... no need to work. =) Woke up early than the weekdays so to head to Tsukiji for sashimi breakfast. Some of the shops had sooo long queue.. about 30-40 people waiting in the line.Very delicious and it's so fresh! Premium chirashi @ SGD $45. It comes with 2 slices of Torro (Tuna belly) which is soo expensive in S'pore.
Very interesting to walk around Tsukiji. The different grades of Tuna & Salmon.
The debone the fishes so it makes grilled fish so easy.
This is the transport used by the locals working in the Tsukiji market.
This is edamame.

My favourite, Wasabi! They grind this and mix with water to form the green wasabi paste.

Sea Urchin

Didn't know that Bonito (the flakely thing that is served with fried tofu) is actually fish flakes. The locals buy them in big paper bags.

The different variety of Tamago.

Their desserts looks sooo pretty. Can't resist to buy them. Unfortunately they've to be eaten fresh so can't huy them back.

This is taken in a shrine near to Tsukiji market.

We walked from Tsukiji to Ginza. Lotsa shopping. =)

Met up with Renhao who's studying music here in Tokyo. He bought us to Asakusa after Ueno. My second visit to this shrine and I still like this place. Highly recommended for first timers to Tokyo.

They're making the rice crackers on the spot.. using CHARCOAL.


My colleague and I had Kobe beef sukiyi & grilled beef on Sat night @ Roppongi. It started raining on Sat so it was comforting to have something soupy. My most expensive meal in Tokyo so far... Cost us SGD $180 / person. It's worth every cent though we gotta start eating bread next week liao...



Sun was rainy the whole day so we went shopping. Didn't take any pictures because hands were already very full. =)