World of Jeremiah's Junk

Jeremiah's ASX BUY recommendations to himself 2011Q4

2011-11-22T10:56:00.001+08:00

22 NOV 2011
ASX Code:              Purchase price           Quantity(#shares/$val)
1. TVN                     0.045                         100,000/ $4500
2. BHP                      35.64                          113/$4027.32

Snow on a Summer Day in Melbourne (Melbourne Freak Weather)

2010-03-06T13:39:00.010+08:00

"Ouch"

FYI: That's not really snow, it's golf ball-sized hail.

My 3rd day in lonely Melbourne. I was just off to Aldi Supermarket along Franklin street to get some groceries.. however, it was only after I bought myself a can of tuna did I realise that I lacked a can opener. Aldi, in all its gl$ry did not sell can openers.. at least, not in the city branch. Oh one thing, I never fail to surprise people whenever I tell them that Aldi made Karl Albrecht the RICHEST MAN in GERMANY and one of the richest in the world (cc 2009, Forbes).. Yes, bet you thought all the rich people got there by owning IT software firms or Casinos!

Anyway, since the mighty Aldi didn't stock can openers, I headed to QV shopping mall. The weather was so hot! Thankfully, I was wearing just a T-shirt and my bermudas/shorts. As I headed past the familiar Victoria State Library, my attention was drawn to the church on the right. Cross Culture Church, where a couple was getting married and taking pictures at the entrance.. When i finaly arrived, i headed straight down to the basement where Big W is. After getting lost in the maze of Big W, i finally found my can opener... The cheapest one on offer: AUD15.85 !!! Grrr.. WHY would anyone pay AUD$21 for a simple can opener!?!? I dont care if you included a magnet to pull out the lid.. I wont use it anyway!

Sorry for the lengthy introduction, but after getting my can opener, it was time for me to head back to Arrow on Swanston where I lived. That's when the horror started.. I was just heading out from the basement when I a very deep rumbling sound, i thought there was some construction going on involving heavy machinery. Turns out.. I was wrong!

When I arrived at the street level, I got a shock, the sound was from thousands of solid hard rock smashing against the roof of QV! The sky was completely overcast with the most steady hail shower I ever seen! The entire man-made lawn in QV was white (see picture below) and everyone was just snapping pictures with their mobile phones, specifically, their iPhones hehe..

As the hail hit the ground, it actually bounces back up about 1 metre, before falling back down again

As if that wasn't bad enough, things quickly deteriorated. The hail shower became a hail storm and visibility dropped to a mere 50metres. I could see columns of water rushing off the roof of QV and all of a sudden, we were getting wet! I was just standing outside 'Flight Experience' when water burst through the ceiling. The escalator was getting wet and was turning into a mini water feature.. Almost immediately after, the lights went out! Thank goodness that triggered the emergency blackout lighting..Strangely, flight experience remained well lit. The flight simulator 'pilot' even came out to see what was going on in the real world.

Amidst the deafening roar of ice and wind hitting the roof, police sirens and excited screams, I never felt so cold on a summer day.. it was sheer pandemonium.

"I've never experienced hail like this before in my entire life!', exclaimed an excited 30 odd year old caucasian lady.

I ran across to Melbourne Central hoping to get a tram. Strangely the usually busy roads (namely Swanston Street) were deserted. The view across the road of the Victoria State Library was absolutely stunning (see pics below). The grass lawn which was previously filled with adolescents a moment before was now WHITE WHITE WHITE.. it was covered in 'snow', or rather, half melted hail. I could see frantic people running around in their suits and dresses.. they were from the wedding at cross culture church.

"Why does it have to rain on my parade.. or rather, my wedding day" - Cross Culture Church

We were packed like sardines under the tiny tram shelter when it started to leak.. i guess like the roof of QV, it wasnt designed to handle heavy rain.

"Mummy, the Ice Age is coming!!!" exclaimed an excited 4-5 year old girl.

When the tram finally arrived, I was literally pushed up the tram by the people behind me who were dying to get up. By now the worst of the storm was over, it was just raining regular heavy rain, much like a typical tropical shower in Singapore. The packed tram smelled really bad.. so many people were squeezed in and the dampness just brought out so much odour!! The youth beside me took off comepletely drenched is t-shirt.

"..we were at federation square, when one of the roofs just simply collapsed!.."
the half naked youth explained.

Along the way, the storm left a path of destruction. Tables and chairs were strewn all over the walkways from the Al fresco cafes outside the verve. The weather was so bad that staff just watched dismally (from indoors) as their signs and tables were thrown around by the raging winds.

Finally, i got off the tram and ran to my hotel on Arrows.. Along the way, the drains were spouting water out like blowholes! I guess the city rain drainage systems weren't specifically designed to handle large volumes of freak weather.

Phew I made it!!! When I finally got to my hotel, there were towels strewn all over the lobby.. too much water had gone into building and staff were trying to control the flow in. Thankfully, my room was alright and there was no power outages. I turned on the TV to find Southern Cross Station evacuated everyone due to rising concerns of ice piling on the glass roof.. as a result, all trains were cancelled/delayed. I also heard that in an unprecedented move, super saturday horse race in flemington was cancelled due to freak weather.. instead, it was replaced with a comedy involving sexual themes. Is that channel 7's way of apology? hehe... Anyway..

The model of the story is.. always remember to bring a jacket and a rain coat along when you're in Melbourne.. or else you might find yourself in a 'wet and wild' situation! Which reminded me of a joke.. Why are all the hurricanes named after ladies? Ans: Because they were all 'wet n wild'. *laughs hysterically at own joke*

Updated on 07 Mar 2010: Thank goodness the staff at Southern cross had the sense to evacuate everyone, (part of) the glass roof DID shatter and collapsed due to the weight of the ice!

From The Office of the Prize Award Administrator

2009-07-16T10:46:00.008+08:00

If you've chanced upon this article, it probably means you typed in "UOB cardmembers", "99% disqualified", "Reader's Digest", or "guaranteed chance of winning S$200 000".

Recently, my friend's father received a letter from UOB (in an official UOB letter). In the letter, it's stated that he has 'made it'. Whilst 99% of other UOB cardmembers have been disqualified, he is still game to receive an 'important envelope' in the next 3-5 days and within it contains a 'guaranteed winning chance' to receive S$200 000.

My immediate instinct screamed "SCAM!!" So I've called up the UOB office. The lady whom I spoke with told me that it's a LEGITIMATE promotional tie-in with the Reader's Digest here in Singapore, but they cannot give me further details. I was instead directed to 62581111 (Reader's digest enquiries number).

I've called reader's digest the staff member gave me the impression that I was not the first to call. Anyway, to save her and her colleagues the trouble, I shall do the service of explaining what the whole thing is all about.

Basically, she told me that this was a promotion/advertisement for their services. The tie-in with UOB means UOB cardmembers will be given a discount when signing up for a minimum year long subscription. Only then will you be eligible to be in the running for the s$2000 000 'sweepstakes', as dictated by the 'Michelle Zee, the Prize Award Administrator'.

In a few days, that lucky 1% of UOB cardmembers will be receiving that all-important 'yellow envelope' - as described by Michelle Zee et al. I expect that yellow envelope to contain a tick box to ask you if you're interested in taking part in the $200 000 draw, but in the process of agreeing, you inadvertantly signed-up for a year long subscription of the Reader's digest.

So if you're thinking your big day has come... dreaming of the limousine picking you up from your place to the 'Office of the Prize' (as dictated by Michelle Zee), just remember.. it's a promotion which requires a subscription.

Now why such a reputable magazine like the Reader's Digest would follow a scam-like marketing method eludes me.. the fact that UOB gives out our card details, full name and home address makes me question their professional ethics.

In tough times like these.. capitalizing on the GFC seems to be the direction many advertising firms seem to heading toward..

A Duplicitous Affair

2009-07-09T23:41:00.004+08:00

A Duplicitous Affair

Du*plic"i*ty\, n.; pl. Duplicities. [F. duplicit['e], L. duplicitas, fr. duplex double. See Duplex.]

2. Doubleness of heart or speech; insincerity; a sustained form of deception which consists in entertaining or pretending to entertain one of feelings, and acting as if influenced by another; bad faith.

(Dictionary.com)

Our 23rd Bday

2008-11-25T18:51:00.006+08:00

Carolyn's Belated 23rd

2008-07-03T22:57:00.013+08:00

Carolyn's 23rd Bday Party

@ Party World

Melbourne Central

211 LaTrobe StreetMelbourne VIC 3000

Happy Belated Bday Carolyn!!

The Canadians turn 21 (again) !!!

2008-07-02T11:55:00.006+08:00

The Canadians turn 21 (again!)

@ Soft Belly

367 Little Bourke Street Melbourne VIC 3000

Doomsday Special 2

2008-04-12T20:56:00.003+08:00

Nebiru (Planet X): Pole Shift and the End of the World?

What is Nebiru?

Breakthrough in LASIK Therapy!

2008-04-03T21:10:00.011+08:00

LASIK

I'm sick of patients asking me if they should go for LASIK. More often that not, I'll reply with a non-chalant, "No.".... Why not? They ask.. Well with all surgeries, come the very real risk of permanent.. (YES, IRREVERSIBLE) eye damage. LASIK complications have been well documented*.

What is LASIK?

Laser -Assisted in situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) is a type of refractive laser surgery to correct your vision to a reasonably good standard (not necessarily 6/6 aka 20/20). Patients who go in with the lowest expectations (i.e. As long as vision is better than without spects), achieve the most satisfaction.

In a Nutshell:

The procedure involves cutting a thin flap of cornea (the front most part of the eye) using a microkeratome (a small blade) or 'bladeless' (using lasers). The flap is lifted and the excimer lasers are used to obliterate a certain thickness of the central cornea. YES, you are awake the whole time! It makes your money really worth it.. you can appreciate the full experience of it... listening to the wondrous melody of the Lasers working on your eye.. while smelling wisps of your burnt cornea in the air. ..Thickness goes down, so does your ocular refractive power and viola! You can see better (I stress again not necessarily as well as with your spects /contact lenses on) now.

Potential Problems:

Having something seriously go wrong during LASIK is rare.. 1%? But Other proven problems include:

(Adapted from Wikipedia.Org: Click here to learn more)
Surgery induced dry eyes (this is bad, I have px coming in and spending $15 a week on Tear Supps - for life), probably because they've blasted away lots of corneal nerves, decreasing tears secretion.
Overcorrection or undercorrection (rare, due to minimal scarring, healing)
Halos or starbursts around light sources at night (Very common )
Light sensitivity (common)
Debris or growth under flap (rarer.. but it may happen)
Epithelium erosion (related to corneal health issues - may happen)
(Adapted from Wikipedia.Org: Click here to learn more)

Noticed that I EXCLUDED things that could go horribly wrong and damage your eyes permanently; this is to give you an idea of things you'll be living with if you do go for LASIK. Doesn't really matter though, most patients (92%-98%) surveyed are extremely pleased with LASIK results (regardles of permanently poorer vision and contrast sensitivity or haloes or dry eyes etc..)

So do I go for LASIK?... NO.

If I really REALLY wanna??? Go:

1. If your power is between +3.00D to -5.50D

2. If you're young (21-35* yr old) *Why do LASIK at 35 if you're gonna need reading glasses in 5 years time? The surgeon probably will do a compromise by giving you 'mono vision', allowing you to delay readers for another few years... giving you permanent Anisometropia (large diff in power between eyes... how are u gonna get spects for reading when that happens huh..)

3. If you're older...50 years old or older.. might as well wait a little while more before going for a Cataract Removal Op (Phacoemulsification).. the good ol' surgeon will probably insert a well corrected intra ocular lens (a 'contact lens' directly into the eye, where the remaining lens in your eye is). It's as good as LASIK! (well depends..) and it's reversible (as opposed to permanent LASIK changes).

--------For serious readers... Info on LASIK stops here--------

4... OR YOU COULD ALWAYS GET THE LATEST PRODUCT in the MARKET.

INTRODUCING THE LASIK @ HOME SET

Scal-Pal™ Scanning Adjusting Laparascopic Personal Laser

How it works: (Instructions directly from Lasik-at-Home.com)

Four Easy Steps
LASIK@Home couldn't be easier. Just follow these four easy steps and you'll be seeing clearly before you know it!

(images and text from lasikathome.com)

It's really amazing! And very affordable: only going at $99.95!!! - comparable to 1 year supply of (low oxygen) soft disposable content lenses!! Thanks to Dr. Amir Khadim, M.D., Ph.D.!!

About Dr Khadim: A pioneer in the field of LASIK surgery, Dr. Khadim performed more than two thousand LASIK procedures at the prestigious Bennett Eye Care Institute in New York City before leaving to develop LASIK @ Home.

Hehe.. Nice glasses Dr Khadim... (see his pic)

I highly recommend this radical new procedure to all patients who wish to try LASIK more cost effectively. Satisfaction guaranteed!!! (92-98% remember...with cheese)

Testimonials:

My LASIK@Home kit came in the mail just a few days after I ordered it. I was so excited that I used it that same night! My boyfriend helped me do it. It was all done in an hour and I didn’t feel a thing!
- Jennifer Douma, Attorney, Washington, DCFormerly nearsighted -3.25, -4.0 prescription (LASIKATHOME.COM)

Kyle Perry (Michigan State University) wrote at 4:01am on August 21st, 2007
I used the Do-it-yourself LASIK Scap-pal at home... twice... this morning!! It wokrked pevrcletly!!! (Facebook)

Still need convincing?? Click here to Join the Group on Facebook.

Maybe you wanna have a Coffee and Cream Soda while you're at it?

*hint: only one of the above products is a hoax (LASIKatHome vs Coffee Soda)

HIGHLIGHT THE FOLLOWING TEXT TO SEE THE ANSWER:

Yes, you guessed it.. it's the... LASIK @ HOME SET!
Yep.. the Coffee and Cream Soda is UNbelievable but it's a real and legitimate product!! I bought it from Dolphin Asian Supermarket at QV.

How do I know that it's a hoax.. Well.. at least I PRAY THAT IT's a HOAX.. Such a tacky product would definitely disgrace and cheapen the image of Opthalmology and Optometry and I sincerely hope that such a product would NEVER exist... at least in the next 15-20 years.

For those who, upon reading the above article AND truly wanted to buy the product..

DON'T Be a FOOL!!! Firstly, eye care should NEVER be treated as a Cosmetic Health Service.. This includes contact lenses and refractive eye surgery - they should also be treated as medical solutions for a given eye condition (in this case, ametropia).

How Do I know it's a Hoax?

Before I begin, let's revel in the fact that it's a hoax, not a SCAM. So no worries folks, noone is gonna lose real money over this crappy 'product'. But I must admit.. now that I know it's fake, I really begin to admire the work of the hoax-er haha. It's really brilliant, getting in a picture of a 'Dr Khadim' and making the prototype shell of a realistically looking medical device (looks like a tonometer). I hope they sell the T-shirts and Mugs for real hehe..

1. Most importantly: You cant order the set. I tried purchasing the set online but it simply doesnt work! You can't purchase it. They need you to fill in your refractive power before allowing you to buy the product (could be a hidden market survey, conducted to determine what are the most common powers interested in LASIK; so as to focus their marketing on this specific target group of potential customers.)

2. Secondly, the cartoon's really cute! (Dog and all).. LASIK is a surgical procedure and due consideration should be taken before undergoing such a major decision.

3. In the bottom left slide, the sentence *to be reviewed by FDA is a classic! Really funny one.. you don't need to conduct an FDA trial to know that it IS GONNA HURT if your eye is being burnt by excimer lasers... even that weak diazepam is gonna do you no good when your eyes are being burnt. You probably need a good local anasthetic.

4. FDA would NEVER APPROVE of allowing sucha dangerous product into the market.. what if children start running round with lasers in their hands?

5. Dr Khadim wears glasses?!? Well it's true that many ophthalmologists who do LASIK have not undergone the procedure themselves. As surgeons, its VERY important that they manage to maintain the best possible eyesight and the risk outweighs the benefits for them in this case.

6. This hoax is a good thing! It really increases awareness of LASIK..

My take home message to all:

LASIK is all about weighing the risk of eye health complications against potential cosmetic benefits. The risk is low but side effects are real. If you really want to do it, look for a reputable eye surgeon (although it's almost foolproof now, surgery is still.. well, surgeon dependent) and not some cheap over the counter / obscure internet website product.

Mat Selamat found?? ....

2008-03-22T08:34:00.005+08:00

An introduction to 2 great sources of

Local (Singaporean) News

I was just reading the news on ChannelNewsAsia today and came across something interesting.. Read the article here.
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2 entreprising youths decided to manufacture T-shirts with Mat's face.. for a good cause! Yeah.. it's not just some quick money making scheme whereby they just order cheap printed tees from Beach Road 'Army Market' at SGD 5.00 and sell them for SGD 16.00 per piece.
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It's for the greater good. All should look beyond the tiny sum of 16 bucks for the sake of national security.. It's good that we are all doing our part to aid in the recapture of Mas Selamat..
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As usual, talkingcock.com , has reported new 'gahmen' initiative as part of Total Defense - The new Toilet Defense, which activates civilians to take up roles as counter terror agents. And formation of a new crack team, to hunt down the escaped terrorist. As part of total defense.. a hand held terrorist spotter kit is also readily available for download by the website.
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Recaptured?

I also read with interest and surprise.. UNCONFIRMED reports of Mas Alamak's capture.

Some say that he was caught in the CBD due to the ingenious taxi stand scheme by the gahmen . Others believe that increased security (and delay) in crossing the Causeways was key in the recapture of the fugitive.

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The ever creative and generous cock crew of talkingcock.com has also released a new game: PAC MAT (modelled after PAC MAN) to curb boredom over the Easter Holidays. PAC MAT is a nice, good ol' fashion 2D arcade style game whereby you control Mat Selamat and try to escape the 'gahmen' while amassing arms and cash.

Courtesy of TalkingCock.com :

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For game info/download, click here.

You start of as Mat, who escapes from Whitely Road Detention Centre. As the game progresses (from lvl 1 -5 ) , he takes on various disguises. Initially, the 'patented toilet break' escape technique is useful in confusing the policemen. However, towards the end, this trick isn't as useful in confusing the ministers, who personally appear to aid in the capture of the fugitive. Have Fun!

An Interlude

2008-03-15T21:39:00.002+08:00

A hauntingly beautiful piece Ryuichi Sakamoto..

If you're wondering.. this song was used in the recent Singapore film , The Leap Years, starring Wong Li Lin.

Postcard from Melbourne: Life with the Lensmen

2008-03-10T20:18:00.003+08:00

Yay! The prevous write up I did on the Lensmen caught the eye of Marketing Manager, Desiree. I was then invited to contribute an article to their e-newsletter. The article can also be found on their website: http://www.thelensmen.com/promotions/viewfull.asp?c=185226

Moomba 080308

2008-03-09T11:30:00.010+08:00

MOOMBA

08-100308

Moomba aka Moomba Waterfest, has been established in Melbourne since 1955. Like all festivals, it comes in the form of a Carnival (like Royal Melbourne Show). Like all Water Festivals... it involves *gasp* WATER. Situated along the Yarra River, from games to rides to water skiing, outdoor movie screening, river fireworks display... they have it all!

Abstract from Melbourne City's Official Website:

One of the largest and longest running festivals in Australia, Moomba has survived in spite of its critics, and it commands a strong place in the social history of the city.
Moomba has always sought community involvement. In early festivals, post-war migrants typically displayed their ethnicity through traditional costume and performance and in the mid 60s, with a turn towards a more arts-orientated program, Aboriginal, Jewish, Italian and Latvian arts featured prominently. Multiculturalism has been widely accepted since the early 1990s, and from this period particularly cultural diversity has been well represented in Moomba.

More info on Moomba can be downloaded/found here.

Before moving out...

LUNCH @ Yiwen's Place

It really pays throwing a house party!!! First, we got invited to Yiwen's place for Lunch. We had delicious Mee Siam (Prima Deli.. lah) and ... Laksa-flavoured Mee Tai Mak. It was really good for an instant, I thought I was in Singapore again!

Thanks Yiwen and HaoNa for the Yummy Meal!

Gosh! I got a photo with the Chef!
After that.. we stayed on @ her place until it's time for... Dinner.

As I was saying, it really paid to invite so many people over for our House Warming. The next day, Carolyn invited us over to her place for Dinner too.. Yay. Anyway, we met up with our seniors, 5th year Optom students Lynette and Corinne. We decided to have dinner @ Shanghai Village, in China Town.

Cheap.. and good.

Pic below:

Back Row: Jasmine and YiWen

Front Row: Rachel, Lynette and Corinne

It doesnt HURT to be the only guy sometimes.

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We couldnt finish our meal.

Next we took a stroll down to the Yarra River.. beside Federation Square. It was packed. The crowd was steadily streaming in for the Fireworks display at 9.30 pm.

A reminiscence of the Royal Melbourne Show:

Look at the all the crazy rides!

My hair is on Fire.

Next we found a spot just on the bank of the Yarra River.. where we promptly sat our behinds or the next 30 min or so in anticipation of what's to come. We were lucky enough to be seated directly in front of a firework launching platform (or whatever you call that), which was floating in the river.. just 50 m or so in front of us!!!
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As a result.. the fireworks were VERY close to us and... VERY VERY LOUD!! W00t!

As I sat there gazing at the lights/sound display.. I suddenly realised.. erm.. what's all this fascination about fireworks? I mean.. its just.. explosions in the air.. shouldnt we be scared and hide? Is this really productive? So there I sat, completely lost in the enchantment of the moment..

Soon after, we joined up with another senior, Diana - a bubbly girl with a sunny disposition. She was proud to tell me that she and her twin sister (dizygotic - they don't look alike) where the first pair of IVF twins (aka test tube babies) in Singapore history! Their parents must be real proud of them

After getting ripped off AUD 10 bucks from a *cheating/lying/scum- of - Carnival games store operator, we decided we had enough and headed home.

* Rach and I shared 5 bucks each on 6 balls. The aim was to throw the ball into these HUGE buckets.. any 2 balls that successfully got in, we win a prize.. (HUGE soft toy of our choosing). It looked so SIMPLE.. yet somehow.. the balls we threw in never failed to bounce out.. Yiwen managed to get one in though. And yet the BIG signboard on top says... 1 out of 2 players WIN... Yeah right.

Rachel, Jasmine, Yiwen, Lynette and Diana.

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The following Monday (2 days later). Moomba took the streets!!

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I just came home from school and had luck has i that I made it in time for the Moomba parade. Its VERY VERY similar to our Chingay Parade.. but nonetheless, it was fun to watch.

Nice view from my living room eh?

I really loved the Fire Works.

Till next year.

My New Home + House Warming Party!

2008-03-07T17:21:00.002+08:00

WELCOME TO UNILODGE

on Swanston

Hey everyone, this is my new home in Melbourne!! After being evicted from College Square due to the absurd increase in rent. Yes.. to protect me from the increase in rent, I was simply kicked out.

Anyway, this new place is really convenient! Situated just beside Melbourne Central and across the road from Victoria State Library and QV Mall, it's like a stone's throw away from..EVERYTHING.

The building's about 30 years plus old now.. so conditions arent exactly pristine, but at least we have a habitable room, after much help from the cleaning and maintenance department.

I'm sharing the same 3 BEDROOM apartment with 2 of my friends, Rachel and Jasmine to keep down costs. Things are definitely more lively than living alone back in College Square.

Even the area is more noisy at night, compared to College Square on Lygon (with the cemetery as your neighbour.. I'm pretty sure you'll WANT it to STAY quiet at night).

*gasp* UNVEILING THE APARTMENT *gasp*

The Kitchenette

Jasmine's Bedroom

(with Qoo Doona!?)

Rachel's Room

My Room: Err.. I mean the toilet.

My Room:

Our Living Room/Lounge:

House Warming Party!!!

Nothing better than making your new house/apartment look 20 years older than it really is by throwing a house warming party!!

There was FOOD.

Notice how bright it is outside at 8p.m.
On the menu: Roast Chicken, Salmon, Mixed Vege and... Minced Meat vege?
We also engaged the services of live performer, Choy Haozhen - Our resident professional singer.

Chhheeerrs *hic*
Let's sit here and look pretty while the rest clean up and do the dishes! Tee-heeeee..

That's a drumstick in my hand..
Excluding me: From left: Carolyn, Rachel, Jasmine, Yiwen, Haozhen
No, the girl on the right is NOT a clown. It's Jasmine. Door Gift collection: Each guest was given an Easter Bunny on their way out (all sponsored by Schweetie Jasmine)
Yay! Our house is sufficiently warmed up now!
It's a roaring success!! - Many people took turns to sit on our dirty sofa (the one WITHOUT the bedsheet over it)! It's now clean enough for us to use it =)

DOOMS Day SPECIAL =p

2008-02-29T17:22:00.009+08:00

Dooms Day 2012

21 12 2012

Here we come!

If you're thinking that this is another Singapore Government initiative e.g GOAL 2010 - World Cup here we come!... sorry to disappoint you with cheese.. because it's not.

Recently, there has been much hype throughout the internet community about the End of the World, known also as DOOMSDAY, THE END OF DAYS, APOCALYPSE, and other religious connotations such as RAPTURE and ARMAGEDDON etc..

Increasingly, it has become more mainstream.. making appearances in mainstream media such as Radio and Television. I was listening to the radio that day (in Melbourne) on Mix 101 and I heard the DJ remarking about how his daughter raves on and on about how the world will end in 2012, more specifically 21st Dec, 2012 (21.12.12)

Abstract from Wikipedia:

2012 is sometimes claimed to be a great year of spiritual transformation (or apocalypse). Many esoteric sources interpret the completion of the thirteenth B'ak'tun cycle in the Long Count of the Maya calendar (which occurs on December 21 by the most widely held correlation) to mean there will be a major change in world order.

Accordingly, several eclectic authors claim that a major, world-changing event will take place in 2012:..
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I first heard about it from my buddy Nigel, who became the modern equivalent of prophet Jeremiah amongst us. Intrigued, I asked him for the links to the video he watched.. Apparently, it was rather compelling and made in such a documentary-like style that it is almost... *gasp* believable! (a little bit of skepticism here.. hehe..)
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For those who still DON'T know what I'm talking about.. please watch the 2 Videos below.. it's a 40 min 'Documentary'! Best enjoyed with popcorn and a pinch of light heartedness.
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The End of Days Part 1:

The End of Days Part 2:

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OMG!! You actually clicked the link and WATCHED the entire video??!?!? NoOoOOoooOoo... Scream together now with me, "Give me the 40 min of my life back (excluding the time wasted on streaming)!!! "

My Take on this video:

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Ok, now that we have got it and done with the video.. My take on it is..

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The video definitely sent a chill down my mortal spine. Although I wholly agree with the show's skeptic, Dr ..... , watching the video somehow makes me feel uneasy. With the impending Oil Peak and Global Warming... I suspect that the 'End of Days' would be a slow, gradual (probably painful) process rather than a sudden Wham!-Bam!-You're All Dead! kinda thing..

Firstly, the video reminds us of the fragile nature of human life... take home message is.. once in a while, it pays to comtemplate your own mortality. Whenever you are feeling stressed, low or pathetic.. just imagine.. your own death. If you would just die tomorrow, would the thing bothering you now (e.g. brooding over something stupid you did, or having to work particularly hard just to meet a deadline) be worth it beating youself up over instead of seeking true happiness?

For my buddhist readers and friends, I recommend the book titled: Buddhism for Busy People by David Michie

Also.. as an Optometrist. Predictions and prophecies made by a bunch of old hermits seems rather lacking in scientific basis. I'm very sure that in the 'I-Ching', the prediction of the fall of Rome was not seen as an International World wide crisis at that point of time.. I mean.. one man's defeat is another's victory eh? I'm also quite certain that in the 'high' points of human history (spikes in the graph) as predicted by I-Ching, certain disasters or calamities must have occured as well in the same time frame.

The Energy Crisis and Global Warming

Yes.. this is the REAL problem we face. For those who have not watched the Movie: An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore.. it's about time you did! Our world IS facing serious problems now.. as in RIGHT NOW.. today.. we could possibly be the second last- last generation of humans (chey.. just saying that to intrigue you, hope it did haha) around if we do not act now.

Peak Oil Theory and the Last Oil Shock

People who know me well, know that I've been going on for some time now about Peak oil and the energy crisis. It ALL started when I chanced upon theis book titled: The Last Oil Shock: The imminent extinction of Petroleum Man . My life has changed ever since then. It's very easy to read and explains in layman terms the consequences of oil shortage, how it would indirectly lead to famine and why 'Alternative Fuels like biofuels or hydrogen' just DO NOT MAKE THE cut. Coupled with films by AL Gore and the world wide SOS movement.. and the rather recent initiative by the Singapore Government to the building of Dykes in Singapore and establishment of the Climate Change Strategy, I understand that my concerns have been caught up in the mainstream too. Very proud of what the Singapore Government is doing, to take the necessary steps to ensure a sustainable future for us.

Enough said.. In summary, I feel that we should invest our resources and strength into seeking ways to tackle the real life problems that we face, instead of the so called impending End-of-Days (which cant be helped.. right? =p)

Hehe... cant wait for the Doomsday 2012 movie to arrive..

The LensMen and the Eye Site

2008-02-29T17:17:00.012+08:00

The Lens Men and THE EYESITE

ANNUAL ROCK N' ROLL

DINNER and DANCE '08

It has been a great 3 months for me this summer break! WHY? You may ask.. well... Because I totally abstained from studying. However, bumming and living off my parents seemed completely unethical and makes me look like the freeloader I already am.. so.. I decided to WORK. Yes.. WWWorkkkk...*sniff sniff*..

Working with ' The Lens Men and the EyeSite'

Working with the Lens Men has been an EYE-opening experience. Although my stay there was a short one.. I enjoyed every single day of it. I believe that, it was possible because of the family-like working environment, which encourages openess and staff cohesion.

I learnt A LOT from the optometrists.. Roger and Allain , and the Opticians too, namely Andrew, Andy and Collin, whom I worked closely with in The Eye Site. The shops were pretty well- equipped, with Binocular Vision Testing/Colour Vision Testing equipment and Hand held contact tonometers (without need for any form of anaesthesia) on top of the usual slit lamp/K. We optoms generally got lots of freedom and space to perform clinical examinations here.. safe to say.. this place is an optom's wonderland!

In Roger's and Andy's combined WORDS of WISDOM (loosely translated from Mandarin and Hokkien):
"We generally spend more time in our lives working than with our families.
When we get home, our family have gone to sleep.
When we wake up, they've either gone to work or to school.
We spend more time with the people in our shop than with our kin,
that's why we're family."
... and that is why, we work together and we play together.. The way I see it.. a family that works together.. STAYS together!

I got to see quite a number of different cases and in general gained more confidence as an optometrist.. (hey.. got 'shirt' (Andy Voice) one hor..).

Apart from being able to develop myself professionally..

http://www.thelensmen.com/promotions/viewfull.asp?c=184796

I also learnt.. *gasp* Retail Optometry. Retail Optometry is currently not offered as a full credit subject in our syllabus. However, I managed to learn some of it through The Eye Site Institute.

'Retail Optometry' is about finding the right product to satisfy the most basic or minimum need(s) of the patient, followed by informing them of better options, add-ons and healthier or more comfortable alternatives; and in the process educating the patient on the latest developments in the profession.

Most of which I picked up from the experienced Opticians whom I have worked with. Cool huh..

Work aside, we also had FUN!

Click the link below or here for more photos.

http://www.thelensmen.com/promotions/viewfull.asp?c=185074

I'd like to thank the LensMen and The Eye Site in particular for the wonderful experience we shared during this short period. Thanks for being so willing to teach and guide me.. and coming to my rescue especially when it comes to spectacle adjustments and Progressives!!!

Special Thanks:

I'd also like to thank OOB member, Mr Peter Koh and Dion Koh - for obvious reasons, Desiree - for allowing me to participate in so many eye screenings for the less fortunate and other charitable events (my Karma definitely benefitted immensely from this); Kenny, Priscilla and Meng Sin for their $upport; and Jass - for showing me exactly what a 'Purchasing Manager' does and always entertaining me with the troubles she faces in Maple Story.

Once again, a BIG THANK YOU (especially those I missed out.. cant list everyone ok?) and good bye to everyone .. TILL WE MEET AGAIN!

(which i believe would be soon.. not so easy to get rid of me ok! hehe.. )
Disclaimer (Dear Desiree Corner): The opinions expressed herein, are the writer's own. They do not present as fact and is purely for the entertainment of the writer and a productive means to combat boredom in Australia... topped with lots of cheese.

Andy's Corner:

ANDY TAN - English translation dictionary 1.0 (under construction)

1. 'shirt' - cert ; certificate e.g. Eh, I got 'shirt' one hor

(please submit more 'definitions' so that I can edit this space soon!)

Farewell Dinner 17-190208

2008-02-19T23:53:00.004+08:00

Farewell Dinner 17-190208

As usual, I love to go out with a BURP rather than a BANG. So we headed down to Purvis st.

DINNER #1 @ YET CON

Yet Con Chicken Rice & Rest

25 Purvis St

11am to 9.30pm

63376819

It's REALLY HARD to find steamboat restaurants like these in Melbourne.. As an ardent Steamboat and Mala Huo Huo fan.. this is definitely a treat for me!!! The food is great and goes really well with the chicken rice. I especially loved the pork chop! To know more about Yet Con, check it out on Leslie Tay's food blog (ieatishootipost.com).

Dinner #2 @ Sushi Kikuzawa

International Building #02-13

360 Orchard Road (S)238869
Opening Hours:
Lunch: 12noon - 3pm

Dinner: 6pm - 10pm
Telephone: 67383833

This hidden treasure of a sushi bar serves really great sushi. One of the very best I've tried. It's tucked right under our very noses in International building, beside Shaw Centre (LIDO @ Orchard lah).

For only $50 per head.. trust me.. its WORTH the money! You get to enjoy delicacies like.. Sea Urchin, Fugu, unlimited Sashimi, Salmon roe sushi, blow-torched squid and other delights!

It's simply cosy little bar.. servng premium grade sushi @ affordable prices (once in a while.. lah)

See, we're so happy!

Left to Right: Ron, Jonathan, Marc, Me n Xiaoping

Below, you see Xiaoping's delighted expression as she chomps down the lovely sea urchin sushi.

So nice and cosy, you can relax at the corner table whereby they provide free japanese manga (comics) for you to browse at your leisure.
They're always busy so be sure to make reservations!
We went there on a weekday and they were full.

Look how delicious this sashimi is!!
Oops sorry folks.. cant remember what I ate.. but the one on the right is blow-torched Ika Sushi.

Me n my maki

This DA' BOMB dude:

The harmless looking pic below shows Fugu Fish Sushi (Puffer fish).

The fact that this is on my blog shows that I ate.. and survived Fugu. Yay..

This shows Shirauo Sushi (Silver Fish Sushi)

Xiaoping finally happy masticating her Unagi Sushi.

Ack.. Katsuo (Bonito Fish) Sushi didnt go well with me.

Yay! We survived the whole course!!

Next up, the Singapore-Japan Hour Show: (feat. Marc Lim)

We truly enjoyed our time here!

Here's a glimpse of their menu.

We asked for their ' Full Course'.. Xiaoping gave up halfway through.. I barely did..

Never too full for Konyaku Jelly though!!

Pineapple, Lychee, Grape and Strawberry

I can stuff the shole jelly into my mouth at once!
I can stuff the bowl in too!
All in all, we had a Swell Time! (as in.. swollen). Yummy!

35th BTACC Annual CNY Gathering '08

2008-02-18T11:46:00.011+08:00

2nd 35th BTACC Annual CNY Gathering '08

It's here again!!! Yes! The much anticipated 35th Basic Target Acquisition Commander Course (a specialised Artillery Commander Course) Annual Chinese New Year Gathering.

Hey Guys! I've uploaded the photos of our event on Facebook. For those who have a Facebook account already, go to:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=19879&id=590478201&ref=mf

For those who DO NOT, please crawl down from the mountain/crawl out of the well/ or crawl out of whatever hole you've been hiding in.. ok?

We gathered at Eugene Fu's place as usual. But this year.. it was much different... we had Barbeque (BBQ aka 'Barbie'). There were chicken wings, shrimps etc.. and HOT DOGS (in Joel's hand)..

Joel with his Hot friend, Zach.Hmm.. is my name Zack or Zach?
Hehe.. ensuring Zach/Zack has his water parade.

As usual, I waited for the food to be ready as I'm almost hopeless at BBQs.. save for EATING and drinking.

After satisfying our hunger, we had some time for male + animal bonding:

Clockwise: Daxuan (in blue), Joel, Galvin, Eugene Fu, Samuel (with dog), Collin and Wee Hian.

Not shown: Captain Ong Wan Keong and Wife, who also graced the event.

Finally, my dear BUDDY, LTA Ray Tay has arrived... in Style!

Chef Weehian, with the help of Charlene prepares the traditional CNY 'Yu Sheng'.

Just look at the different ingredients in our Yu Sheng.

Guess we're bound to 'HUAT' (fa, or get lucky) this year.

Before the 'Lou Hei' (traditional tossing of the Yu Sheng)

*click* LOU HEI VIDEO *click*

The Aftermath of Lou Hei:

Everyone was in high spirits...

Check out the Instant Reminescence Function of the modern video cam:

After the excitement, we went up to Eugene's place:

C'mon boy'..

"Play Laid"

And it was time for soccer.. Man U vs Arsenal... In which Man U won by 4-0.

After that, we played Indian Poker and finished an Absolut Vodka Bottle. No no footage/photograph available due to nature of the activity and graphic content which may be deemed offensive to certain people.

Cant wait to return to Singapore next CNY for our Gathering again. Till then guys!

Valentine's Day Special!.. (Psst.. not mine though)

2008-02-15T23:47:00.010+08:00

Valentine's Day Special Release Issue!!

If you have not heard of MOCCA by now.. you must live in a hole... either that or... you've not taken a TV Mobile equipped bus (public buses in Singapore, which come equipped with free-to-air TV) in a LONG LONG time!
For those who STILL don't know, MOCCA, stands for MediaCorp Online Communities and Classified Advertising. Basically, it's an online classifieds.. with a *gasp* SEARCH function! Which gives it an edge over it's newspaper counterpart.

Recently, they began an online competition to promote their website. The competition is for the coming Valentines Day, to see who's online love declaration is better. And I'm proud to say, my army buddy, none other than Eugene Fu .. came in 4th place!!! He won a pair of ODM watches.
Big thank you to all who voted for him!!! See his video here! :

For those suckers, whose (obviously outdated) Internet browsers fail to load the above video, or for those mentally challenged individuals (LIKE ME!!!) who failed to notice that there was a STORYLINE behind Eugene's Video.. Here it goes.. *SPOILER WARNING*.. I recommend watching the clip first.

1. Boy wakes up on Valentine's Day

2. Boy realises that he hasn't got a present for his girlfriend.. so he decides to get her a puppy.. only to realise that he does not have enough cash..

3. He goes back to the 'thinking chair'.. while defecating, he decides to fold her little origami stars.. only to find that he sucks at it and after wasting the whole afternoon on it.. he realises that he does not have anymore time.

4. Boy rushes off to meet Girl.. supposedly empty handed..

5. However.. he manages to produce a gift, hidden in his mouth..hehe... (watch vid to find out what)

The silly thing was.. I didnt realise that there was a storyline until the 3rd time I watched it and my mum commented on the story haha...

Sadly, I did not vote for him.. cause by the time I knew about the video.. VOTING WAS CLOSED!!! *cry* .. It was only thanks to Daxuan and Collin Yeo's Blog that I knew about this. Anyway Eugene, I hope you make more videos like this!!! Btw.. maybe you can get Samuel Soh to teach you how to fold those girly origami stars next time.

Macau 17-191207

2008-01-29T23:41:00.002+08:00

Macau

171207 - 191207

Hong Kong 14 - 161207

2008-01-27T00:27:00.000+08:00

Hong Kong

14 - 16/12/07

The rest of my HK trip was a blur.. Due to the innoculation of my Gram Negative friends in last night's Salmonella surprise, I wasnt feeling too well. At first, I was still feeling alright... So I thoroughly enjoyed my Dim Sum feast at this restaurant here. Cant remember the name of the restaurant or the street name. The food was VERY GOOD though, despite feeling a little queasy after that.. most probably due to the food poisoning.

After re-charging.. Xiaoping, Marc and I decided to split from the pack (we missed Times Square @ Central) and decided to head for Lantau Peak. Which was like the last MTR stop, like our Jurong.

The train ride, coupled with the bus ride to Lantau peak too us about 1 1/2 Hrs.. The bus ride was really scary and death defying! The bus was like drifting UP the mountain.. even faster than the way Jay Chou drifted DOWN the mountain in Initial D!
.
Upon reaching the Lantau Peak.. we were greeted by the magnificent sight of Buddha.. This is so cool.. comparable to the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) Statue in Rio de Janeiro.

Now.. to complete the Pilgrim's path... The only thing between us and Buddha.. are some small pathetic steps..

*Huff Huff* Erm.. not so pathetic steps..

Buddha Voice: Can you keep up, baby boy, make you lose your breath.. with cheese.

The view from the half way mark.

Phew.. we're finally THERE! Yipee!!!

A group of Singaporean students took this shot for us:

The statue in the pic shows... some heavenly maidens kneeling in awe of Gautama Buddha's presence. Notice the hand sticking out.. As if offering something to Lord Buddha? Instead.. people misintrepreted the hand gesture and mistook the statue as begging/demanding things instead.

So, u see a great number of coins all over the floor as people try to throw stuff to see if it lands on the palm. (maybe they wanna offer Buddha their money.. which Buddha doesnt even need because he has escaped Samsara.. DUH!!) The authorities even had to erect signboards telling the public not to ruin the statues by casting coins on to them.

A beautiful tribute to Lord Buddha, the Great Teacher.

In the wise words of Siddartha Gautama:

The thought manifests as the word;

the word manifests as the deed;

the deeds develops into habit;

and habit hardens the character;

So watch the thought and its ways with care;

and let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings...

As the shadow follows the body, as we think, so we become.

Ok! Nuff ' said.. time to head back DOWN.

The journey down was much less tiring and the view was terrific. Next we headed to the temple.

After oaying our respect to the Bodhis, we had.. Fresh Soybean and BeanCurd! Supposedly made from the mountain spring water. But I still kinda like our own Rocher Beancurd more.

After our refreshments.. we were ready to head back down. Our bus almost had an accident with another bus and almost knocked it off the side of the mountain.. but apart from that, rest of the bus journey was relatively uneventful.

A sad little girl.. Not because she was about to leave the presence of Buddha but rather, because it was so damn hot!!! HK winters arent really big on the snow and low temps.. probably cause its not in fashion yet..

Back to the MTR! We survived the horrific bus journey!!! Yipee!!! Now time for some shopping at City Gate, the factory outlet mall of HK. Everything was so cheap here! But I didnt buy anything.. due to time constraints.. A must go for all students and price savvy shoppers!!

We also made a shocking discovery here.. there was a FOOD REPUBLIC in there... YES!! Singapore Grown FOOD REPUBLIC has established a beachhead on HK island shores hehe.. So next time you get bored of Singapore food, just head to and FOOD REPUBLIC in singapore and order the original HK DIM Sum there... be sure top it up with cheese.

After that, we met back with the rest of the gang for dinner.. By then I was feeling like zombie. I have food poisoning.. remember??

After a simple dinner of Wan Tan Mee @ Central, we headed for Tsim Sha Tsui. I wanted to go back to the hotel but.. I didnt want to miss the opportunity to see HK Island at night.

Next thing I knew.. I was at the Arena of Stars. A very long beautiful, cold and windy stretch.. like our Clarke Quay/Esplanade.

HK looks much more beautiful at night..

Next Morning.. We gathered at a Dim Sum restaurant to meet my relatives from HK. My relatives are actually my Paternal Grandfather's Mother's sibling's (not sure bro or sis) son (my grand uncle, his Wife and his Son.

The food looked great.. but I couldn't eat due to my condition, which had deteriated rapidly over night.
Ah.. That's how I look after my 4th visit to the toilet.

HK public toilets are really unforgiving..

The look.. the smell.. even the FEEL.. of the toilets.. just thinking of HK public toilets make me want to *puke*. In my bro's own words, 'the toilets here are so.. I AM LEGEND' and, 'the toilet bowl looks so disgusting, I feel that my ass would get infected the moment I sit on it... Good luck, Beng'. Obviously, luck was not on my side that day..

Despite my obvious debilitation, my relatives including my FAMILY (parents) chose to ignore my pathetic pleas to return to the hotel.. Instead, they decided that I should go up to the PEAK.. by foot.

So we walked..

and walked.. Escalators, followed by more escalators.. we trudged up the peak.

Interestingly. I chanced upon a Krispy Kreme store on .. ELGIN STREET.

And all of a sudden, a wave of nostalgia hit me on the head like a wall of bricks! ( or rather, the food poisoning and fever could have accounted for the feelings of vertigo and unstable feet I experienced on the peak). I was back in Melbourne!! I was reminded of my student days in Melbourne where I used to.. wait.. I STILL AM A STUDENT... NOOoOOoo!!!!

Xiaoping: Wake UP!! Why are you screaming like that!?

Huh? Was I hallucinating..? I thought I was back in Melbourne for an instant.

After walking for over an hour.. My relatives finally took us to the cable car to go up to the Peak. By then.. I was really burning up. My parents simple refused to acknowledge my need for medical attention. So in a fit of anger, I hopped onto a cab and headed back to the hotel.

Back @ the hotel, I took a nap. My parents returned only 2 hours later and in a sudden fit of concern, they decided to sent me to the hospital. It was only after seeing me motionless on the bed in the hotel room, were they finally convinced that I wasn't joking about my condition. My bro also had the symptoms of food poisoning.. but said that he'll rather wait till he returns to Singapore to visit our family GP.. his corpse, that is.

Next thing, I was at the hospital, the triage nurse took my history, charged me SGD$120 for A&E charges (it was a Sunday). The GP gave me a jab, some medicine and the green light to go! They also wanted to know how many of us got the food poisoning.. my in order of severity.. Me, my Bro, Uncle Kok Tai followed by my Ah Gong.. all had the prob. But I was leaving HK for Macau so the heath authorities didnt really get the name of the problem causing restaurant from me in the end.

Ugh.. HK.. I dont know if it was the food poisoning or what.. But truth be told, I feel that HK is a good place to have a shopping holiday but apart from that.. HK is not really a place I wanna live in. The somewhat haphazard planning (no distinction between commercial and residential buildings), overcrowding, stressful way of life, VERY BAD AIR POLLUTION and somewhat dirtier streets really puts potential migrants off. Or.. it could simply be blamed on the food poisoning holiday fiasco I had while I was there..

No offense! My HK friends hehe..

The LensMen and The EyeSite

2008-01-21T17:16:00.000+08:00

http://www.thelensmen.com/promotions/viewfull.asp?c=184796

HongKong - Macau Trip 131207 - 191207

2008-01-19T09:28:00.001+08:00

Hi all, sorry friends, I've been M.I.A. for so long.
First excuse: I'm too busy working! (10.30 am to 9.30 pm..or 10 pm on saturdays)
2nd excuse: I need my free to time play Hell Gate: London.
Thirdly: I'm spending my free time on Heroes, Season 2 (Just trying to save the cheerleader..ok!)

So.. as you can see, I've been.. and still am... pretty busy!!!

So just wanna share with everyone.. my FIRST TIME to Macau and Hong Kong! Well, this is the first time I've gone anywhere more 'North' than Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City. Because Disneyland is one of the biggest part of my trip (one of the few fond memories I have of HK), I'm dedicating most of this post to HK Disneyland.

Day 1: Took an afternoon flight to Macau. Arrived there at night. Dinner.. followed by sleep.
Day 2: Morning. We took the ferry to HK.. Yay! This is where the journey of Magic and Adventure begins! (Lol.. Typical Disney)

The view from the ferry leaving for HK.

So weird.. a VOLCANO beside a Tang Dynasty structure.. This is Macau for you..

HONG KONG!!

Getting through the subway was terrible! I always thought Singaporeans walked too quickly.. but it turns out that HongKongers are practically jogging to work! Here's the view as I stepped out of Central MTR station...

A beautiful 3 storey shopping centre.. with a pretty run down residential block above.

The view from street level @ Central. Everyone scattering about like ants in a colony.

Who needs trees for shelter when I've got these wonderful signboards!

This was where we re-charged before heading out for Disney! Clockwise from 12o'clock : Dad, Mum, Ah Lin Gu2, Aunt Esther, Stranger in yellow, Gong2 and Uncle Kok Tai.

Yay! We're going to Disney! Me and ma' Bro..

Everyone's excited!

Finally, we're here! HK DisneyLand!

So this is where they GROW Mickeys!

(in HK, Mickey is pronounced as 'Meh-kay', Goofy is pronounced as 'Gao Fei'.. LoL)

The Disney Trademark life size replica... in full Technicolor!

Wee! Welcome to DisNeeeeyy!

The plaza was littered with quaint little shophouses, coupled by the paved cobblestone streets.. It truly brings out the retro feel.. am I in Sovereign hill (Melbourne) all over again?

This ride is a life storybook, whereby a little train ride brings you into a storybook featuring Winnie the Poo +h.

Next, we wandered into FutureLand!

Me, Posing with Buzz Light Year, from Toy Story.

Next we headed to a cafe for some refreshments...

After a shag day.. it was time to take a break.. So I stoned for a few sec.. before crashing beside my Ah Gong (who totally skipped the stone phase).

After Re-Fuelling at the Space Station, we headed to.

AdventureLand, Home of Tarzan and the Lion King!

Boeat ride to Tarzan's Tree House.

We also played with Simba's food =)

My ah Gong taking over... after Simba devoured everyone else. Bad Lion!.. with Cheese.

The beautiful Disney Castle at night.. Followed by a dazzling display of Fireworks (not featured in this blog).

After a wham-bam goodbye with a bang display.. we headed back towards the MTR.

I don't know if you noticed.. its freakin' snowing in HK!.. (fake snow lah.. Parkway Parade also)

Sadly.. all good things come to an end... Bidding a tearful good bye to my new friends, Mei-kay and Gao Fei.

After another gruelling MTR ride.. we made it back to town.. this was the start of my Nightmare..

We made our way to Temple Street to meet up with parents for dinner..

A foodstall in Temple Street... THE foodstall which I probably got food poisoning.

Smile everyone! The next dish, Salmonella Supreme coming right up!

HK DisneyLand

JJ Rating: 3.5/5

HK Disneyland is pretty small.. but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We managed to finish it in a single day! I loved the shows especially the Lion King and the 3D show feat. Donald. Golden Mickeys (similar to Golden Horse Awards) was quite nice as the characters come to life! Disneyland is really packed with Family friendly entertainment for both the young and old. Thrill seekers would be greatly disappointed though.. All in all, I totally enjoyed myself and its the single most fun experience I had in HK.

Royal Melbourne Show (2007)

2007-10-13T12:59:00.000+08:00

The Royal Melbourne Show
Take me out to the fairgrounds...

Flinders Station: Our first train ride since coming here.. *wow*..

*ding dong* Next stop... FairGrounds... We have arrived!

Abstract from Wikipedia: Royal Melbourne Show

"The Royal Melbourne Show is an agricultural show held at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds every September. The Royal Show began in 1848. The focus of the show is the display of rural industry, including livestock and produce. There are associated competitions and awards. It is a time when the country comes to the city, and the foundation of Australia's economy in rural industry is celebrated."

Definitely something we don't get in urban Singapore! Thing is.. we don't have a 'countryside' except Lim Chu Kang Countryside , which is too busy being filled with granite, leaving little space for a carnival ground.

Hoho! Here we gooOoo....

Party time!

There were rides... many many rides! None of which we took, save for the giant ferris wheel (later).

The fair was really vibrating with so much life and energy. On the way here, we saw a super long queue.. but had no idea what it was. Later on we discovered that they were selling mega show bags. A 'showbag' is actually a bundled product, whereby they throw in lots of candy and chocolates and sell it to you at 'below market price'. It doesnt necessarily have to contain sweets, u can buy angel costumes, magazine bundles, poker chip sets, skateboards etc... I guess showbags are the highlight of the Show.

They also had spidey races, where people shoot water onto the target (like a men's urinal, where we aim for the fly) and spidey/venom climbs.

What I love about this carnival is that everyone comes here to have FUN! Yes.. the kids come here to get their face painted, looking like cats, dogs, pigs while others simply look like mischievious monkeys... even without face paint.

The girls walk around with Devil Horns (hairbands) and carry menacing forks as they roam the carnival grounds. We also had a great number of Angels, complete with halo and wings.

We walked on...and bumped into this.. outdoor display. Everything here is for sale.. yeah.. it's like an outdoor furniture shop.

'Fancy a drink? JD's on the House!'

We roamed into an indoor display gallery.. with live chickies! Everything for sale here too, except the chooks.

There were also animals... like these poor Llamas.

And sheep! Little did they realise.. that they were so gonna feel the cold of winter.

Maa..Maa.. The sounds of a Silenced Lamb.

They also had... *gasp* logging competitions! To see who could kill the Earth faster. This is so wrong.. I hope these trees didn't die in vain.

One of my favourite parts of the Fair. The petting area! We get to touch all our favourite foods!

Hehe.. I'm choosing meat.. just like I do in Queen Vic market..

Nice hair.

Cherry sympathising with her 'brethen' haha

Wow.. look what happen to your grandma! (notice our blue and red sweaters..)

Finally! The queue for the Showbags have let up.. so we got ourselves a few yummilicious Cadbury Showbags!

Introducing.. THE WHEEL!

Arguably my favourite part of the Royal Melbourne Show.. being able to see the entire showground from a bird's eye view point. (And also to rest our tired feet!)

We are lucky enough to get the entire cabin!

Wow! It moves!

The view from above:

We also had time to take photos of each other!

Hao Na and Jasmine showing off their loot.

Elmo (in blue) holding Jasmine (in red).

Kanga with Piglet.

Haha! All mine!

We could also see the city from up here.

Good shot of the fairgrounds. There's a really scary looking ride which goes up about 1/2 of the ferries wheel height.
Soaking in the sights and sounds of the sprawling masses below.. really gets you in the mood...

...for more Photos!

Hehe.. lucky me!..

Got to take photos with so many girls..

Finally we landed.. Well rested, full (we snacked on our showbag items) and ready to conquer the remainder of the Royal Melbourne Show.
.

We continued our journey.. into the food tent. It was basically a foodcourt. A TV crew was present and in the midst of filming a cooking contest (Aussie Iron Chefs?).

We met our friend.. and decided to take pics with him.

So cute!

Soon it was nightfall...

In a corner of the fair, we noticed these 3 Bouncy Castles.

After 1000 shots, we finally got this one right:

'Ahaha!' (Chun Li Victory dance)

After a whole fun filled afternoon.. Much as we dread it.. it was time to leave.

Following shots show us clutching tightly to our 'spoils'

' Argh! Show em' our treasures '

So HAPPY.

Cherry with matching Elmo.

yet.. so SAD.

As they say, all good things come to an end.

See you at the next Royal Melbourne Show =)

Rock ON! @ Hard Rock 190907

2007-10-06T13:42:00.000+08:00

Hardrock

@ Melbourne CBD (VERVE)

501 Swanston Street

Melbourne Victoria 3000

Telephone: 03 8878 4178

Email: info@hardrock.com.au

. .

Like the idea of climbing in full view of the rush hour crowd? HardRock @ Verve is THE place for ya! Really love it when you're at the top of the wall, you look down and see pedestrians looking back at you, especially when they are waiting for the traffic light to turn green.
.
We paid $28 if I remember correctly. That's the student rate. Non-students have to pay much more... $29 to be exact. (WHAT!? only $1 discount for students..) Price includes use of the wall for the WHOLE DAY, shoe rental and basic 'course'.. very fun!
.

.Girls, Dion lives here.

I was shocked see my ex-classmate, Shimei working here!

NOT! But she really looks like Shimei, especially in person.

The staff are very professional. All of us have to go thru' a basic belaying course and a mini proficiency test before we are 'certified' ready to climb. Ah Ma was basically struggling to belay me! That's me on the wall... up for the 4th time.

Ah Ma... please.. when.. can i ever return to the ground.. cant hold.. on.. much.. longer..

'This Ah boy ah.. so heavy!'

We met our classmate, Adrian by coincidence!

Ah Ma gives the high wall a go!

Rachel looks on anxiously..
.

as.. Dion makes it to the Top!

Actually, as a belayer.. my eyes should be fixed on Dion's ass the whole time..
This is not safe! PLease do not learn from this pic (above).

.
Yay we all had a go at the wall, except Haona, who was there to cheer us on (only).

.
.
To THE top!
.

.
Rachel's first attempt, belayed by Dion:
.

She makes it!
.

Pretty cool 'Action-Shot'..

Had to LIE down on the floor to take this one.

Notice the sky getting darker outside...

Rachel as she climbs the Endless stretch.

By the time we were done and thoroughly exhausted.. it was nightfall.

All in a day's climb.

JJ Rating: 5/5 - Possibly the best rock climbing experience I ever had. The place is just so great, facilities are new and staff are so uber friendly. Great place for to lose your Rock climbing virginity here hehe..

Bowling @ Strike! 180907

2007-09-29T22:56:00.000+08:00

Strike Bowling Bar

245 Little Lonsdale Street (QV Building),
Melbourne
Tel. 9573 9574
http://www.strikebowlingbar.com.au/

Welcome to Strike.

This is probably the coolest bowling alley I have ever been to! Really reminded me of Cosmo's in Singapore Polytechnic Graduates Guild (SPGG). So Nice! All of us had just finished our briefing with Laubmann and Pank Optometrists in Melbourne Central. The briefing was about helping out with eye screening at The Royal Melbourne Show, an annual travelling carnival which was really fun (MORE ON IT COMING SOON).

Although none of us except Ben (guy on the right) could bowl well... The enthusiasm was there!

Luke with a mouth full of popcorn.

Where else can you find bowling alleys with FREE POPCORN!?!

From left: Singaporean, Taiwanese, Chinese (PRC) and HongKong-er. (Wow!)

I cant bowl for nuts! :

Nice balls.

'Xiao' Luke being bullied and punched by his sisters.

See no evil, Hear no evil, Smell my evil, Speak no evil.

After that, we headed over to the bar for a coupla drinks.. The drinks werent too good though, couldnt really taste the alcohol in it.. it should've been priced lower instead of $12 per drink. However, we managed to take over a private lounge room which was really nice and cosy. The entire room was illuminated solely by pinkish red light and a plasma TV playing MTVs. Kinda nice to chill with big groups of friends.

JJ Rating: 4/5 - Great!

Nice place for B'days, company functions, class gatherings, chilling with friends and oh...to bowl.

The Indian Foodies! 160907

2007-09-27T10:04:00.000+08:00

Food and Fun!

Food. The Universal Integrator..

This issue reflects just how 'cosmo' we've become as a city (melbourne city lah..). That day, 160709 Luke had just won first in Melbourne Uni Badminton Competition (Open). So I borrowed his trophy as my.. props hehe..

'I'm a Winnah!'

'We all are!'

The Real Winner and his ardent fans..

Next, we headed down to Malabar hut on Sydney road. The journey took about 20min but it was freezing ccc-cold!

We finally arrived!

Malabar Hut

Brunswick, Vic
868 Sydney Road
03 93834200
lesyin@yahoo.com

Lot's on the menu were 'Coming Soon' cuz they were flying chefs down from India. The food was very good! and Very Authentic! They also had Singapore favourites like... Tissue prata and Roti Bomb!!! How's that? Hopefully I can do a more serious foody write up on this place another day..

For now, I give it:

JJ Rating: 4/5

Great tasting food! I love all the food and yes.. its even cheaper than Singaporean Indian restaurants.

Next was chilling out at Brunetti..

Everyone wants a piece of our budding badminton star!

And our guest star.. Rajeev!

Milk 'Moustaches'

'Join Me?'

Sadly, VJ couldn't make it as she wasn't feeling well.. So Rajeev got her a nice 'cure' from Brunetti's

So sweet right? *gushes*

Hehe.. When Luke makes it big, we're all gonna be rich!

(I have so many photos of him for sale now.. *sniggers*)

Base Lounge

2007-09-19T23:40:00.000+08:00

Base Lounge

101 Lt. Bourke St.

(Chinatown)

My first clubbing experience in Australia! Later go take Ang Pao (Red Packet). Through the right connections.. (Thanks Carolyn!).. we booked a private room so I could get in for free! Since we got a prvate room, we got VIP treatment so no need to queue to enter! Phew... super long queue... almost half as long as MOS (MOS queue is extremely long.. so half is bad enough already) on a Sat night haha..

Base Lounge is an Asian Club located in Chinatown, Melbourne. Judging by the crowd, I can tell it's one of the more popular joints. The whole club was spawling with Asians.. Not a single caucasian! They play RNB mainly - English songs of course! The DJs (got a few) were not too bad.. but could be better. Mixing in parts from another song like the words 'Sexy Back' from the song 'Sexy Back' was nice.. but I feel that it doesnt really blend in well with the tempo of the song... DJs themselves also seem to be having more fun on the platform than us haha..

The club was so Asian in the sense that it has private rooms much like KTV booths were we could sit inside and play... DICE! Yay.. my first time playing dice in a club! Kinda weird at first but later on, it was quite fun. Because there were only 5 of us and one full bottle of Chivas, we had to play drinking games to finish them up. Out of the 5 of us.. only 3 of us could drink.. *pukey time*.

Upon entry they 'branded' us like cows.. not with UV sensitive stamps but with traditional black ink stamps.

We started out with some drinking games..

And then we decided to explore the club..

Below is a low quality pic (VLC Snapshot) of the bar counter..

Then.. going to the dance floor..

(where is Jackie looking at?)

Then.. we headed back to the room for a break...

Where Ah Ma got her Lucky Break... (05 x '1' on the Dice)

MUCH more drinking and socialising..

Back to the dance floor..

The Base Lounge Crowd:

The place was sprawling with.... GUYS. Although the music was alright, people just seem to be standing around the dance floor doing nothing. There were some girls who could dance and were really showing off their moves.. to the extent that they were grinding each other.. 3 girls.. can u imagine! Room for one more?

Apart from that, very few guys were dancing.. many were just standing on the dance floor gawking at the dancing girls.. Come on' mates! We have more than enough bouncers already... no need extra.. lah. '

'Bouncers' are sill ok... It's those guys who like to 'rub' into people around them that really pisses me off.. I'm cool with it... but can u please rub a girl INSTEAD OF ME?

It was still early though at that time.. around 12.30am.. Clearly.. this crowd needed more booze.

So we headed back to our cosy room to get suppress more of our cerebellum (the part of the brain controlling voluntary muscle coordination and movement).

WHAT! ME again!

*guzzles down* the remnants of my 4th Chivas Green Tea.

With inhibition at 50%.. I was finally having fun!! SO back to the dance floor! Woohoo!

We continued dancing.. this time I was really making fluid movements (thanks to inhibition of my cerebellum)

Then this guy with a bunch of roses approached us and gave each girl a Rose

...on the Dance floor!

I've nv seen anything like this before! Roses while dancing haha.. I looked around and most girls were holding roses in thier hands too. Not all girls though.. think he 'accidentally' missed out those looking like John Travolta in HairSpray.

Then it was back to the cosy room where the girls posed with their Roses..

Which is Nicer? The Roses or ME?

Hehe.. *hic* .. I.. *hic* ..also.. *hic hic* got.. ROSESsss! *slurred speech*

BY then I was quit wasted.. down to my 5th glass and a half.

Then I cant remember the sequence now.. I think we went back to the dance floor one last time.. It was nearly 4am now. The crowd was mostly gone.. but there was this super enthu short guy aka 'Shorty' who was still dancing like noone business. We went down for a while and he self-invited himself into our group and began dancing with.. the girls! Eeew..

So we went back to the room.. rested a while, got our things together and left.. It was 4plus now.. so we walked home from there.. Jackie could still cycle home! (Drink Riding!)

The journey home was long and arduous.. I ended up puking on the corner of The Verve.. (Pictures of the Verve coming soon! We went there for Rock Climbing)

Yay! Home sweet home! Nearly 5 am

Karaoke Mania! @ KBox

2007-09-16T23:24:00.000+08:00

Biggest Opto Outing Ever!

This event is arguably the biggest Opto gathering ever! Grand total of 11 people!! So happening! First was dinner at Singapore Chom Chom, a poor, albeit novel imitation of the real Singapore Chomp Chomp is Serangoon Gardens. Dinner -1900 hrs

KBox

52 La Trobe Street Tel. 9663 9663

Darn! I thought I could escape K since coming here.. I was wrong!

Despite the happy outlook... I was DYING inside...

I was the only guy.. (Since 2000 hrs)

..Until Ben arrived! (2130 hrs)

(above) Full strength less Vivien... (2200 hrs)

My Aussie Premiere!

I finally 'broke' after 23oo hrs..

K is a great way to socialise:

Rachel: Come on girls, let's act Cool! :

Err.. why is Amy acting 'Ku' (cry) ?..

Let's try that again..

That's better... (but only Rachel acting cool)

Ah Ma also acting cool..

Jasmine and Rachel singing together..

By now.. most of us were very tired... Endurance K time...

By 0300 hours.. some of us were half dead..

...NOT!!!

Eventually we stayed on to 0400 hrs.. late into the wee hours of the morning! Reached home at 4.40 am... slept by 5.15 am.. Wow! Next day go clubbing!

My Belated B'day Pressies!

2007-09-16T22:45:00.000+08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMIAH!

with love from Singapore

Yay! I finally received my pressies! :

THANKS TO Xiaoping:

I really loved the 2 silk ties, Mindustrie Polo T, Matrix Calculator, SONY ERICSSON W660i and the entire bunch of notes!

Thanks to Ah Kiang Su Su (Uncle Gordon) for making everything possible!

Thanks to SIA for flying my uncle here!

Thanks Mum and Dad!!

I love the pressie u you both gave me!

Thanks friends for coming with me to receive my pressies!

Hehe.. Special thanks to Ben and Hayden for showing up too!

Jasmine's Bday Series 1: Nando's and Brunetti's

2007-09-09T09:37:00.000+08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASMINE!

Our Dearest 'Ah Ma'

We had planned this (in secret) all along! To surprise Jasmine the weekend before her actual birthday. Our friend, Luke even had to miss his badminton training just for this special event! Jasmine and Hao Na had clinic practice till 5.30pm that day, so they met up with us at Melbourne Central, Nando's.

Nando's

MELBOURNE CENTRAL

309 Melbourne Central,

Melbourne 3000

03 9654 9888

A pleasantly surprised Jasmine upon receiving her special Bday Card:

She was happy.. until...

...she opened the card..

It reads.. HAPPY B'day AH MA!!!

Next was her pressie presentation ceremony:

We gave her her all time favourite 'Ah Ma' bag (bottom left) and 'Ah Ma' Scarf...

...complete with 'Ah Ma' Undergarments (Granny Panties)! *Eeew!*

Next, we proceeded with the feast after much (delaying and) fanfare..

This was what we ate:

Nando's Chicken with medium spicyness and low spicyness, fries and chicken Ribs!

JJ Rating: 3/5 - food was quite alright! The spices they use are damn 'shiok'. Real Peri-Peri Peppers. Medium is just right (maybe too spicy for some girls). I loved the fries! When you order 'Ribs', don't expect pork ribs, it's a chicken shop. Expect tiny bite-sized chicken ribs, rather unique! Service could be better though..

BRUNETTI

Brunetti City Square Café - Gelateria - Creperia
214 Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000

This was where we went after meeting up with my uncle at Crown Casino. That's where I received my belated bday pressies! From Crown, we took a nice stroll down to Flinders where we dropped by at Brunetti! This Brunetti has much lesser selection of cakes and tarts and lacks the cosy atmosphere of the Lygon Branch, but it's a nice place to celebrate.. under the stars!

Looks a little like a Glasshouse..

We asked for a B'day Candle..

That's a huge candle!

A sample of what we ate:

We had to pose quickly for these photos! The sparkler was dying down fast!

After sending Xiao Luke off, we headed home.. Time for fun with Ah Ma new clothes!

Surprisingly, the Granny's looked quite good on us!

Jasmine Bday Series 2

2007-09-06T22:57:00.000+08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Jasmine's postal surprise feat:

Greetings from Singapore!

I got a parcel! Neh neh neh boo boo...

'Who is this parcel from!?',

gushes a visibly excited Jasmine

'My first present in Australia!'

Jasmine as she eagerly opens her pressie..

The Cobbler

(intrepretation provided below)

*gasps* Now we all know who it's from!

Admiring the pressies.. All handpicked and thoroughly deliberated..

All items individually hand wrapped.. scientific explanations provided too!

The following are snapshots of our live recording of our Gossip Channel:

Today Afternoon

Our host, HaoNa, interviewing Jasmine on her feelings upon receipt of such a thoughtful gift.

(with resident Violinist, Rachel in background)

Our violinist cum Co-Host, taking stock from Jasmine's room. It turns out that her presents were exactly what she wanted!!! Obviously, the sender knows her well enough to understand her needs.

'It's the same!'

After sending the picture to our expert behind-the-scenes forensic team and psychologists, the team came up with the intrepretation of the photo you saw above.

Our experts wrote:

"This photo depicts an elderly man, who is in effect, a mender of soles (pun intended, Shakespeare). This is evident from the tools he is holding and the posture adopted. Apparently, this man has been doing the same job for years now. It reflects how dedicated he is to his job. Taking pride in his work and never afraid to admit his love for *shoes*.

Throughout his career, he has seen thousands of *shoes. However, for all these years, he has always been holding on to this one *shoe*. This is evident from the picture. (refer to pic for the next line:) Amidst the sea of *shoes, the Cobbler tenderly mends this one *shoe* that he has been holding on for years now..

Even into his twilight years.. this *shoe* remains an integral part of his life.

Always lingering somewhere close to his heart.

*Thank You*!

I have said, on her behalf, what she could not find the courage to say...

Note from Author: It's time to mend your soul!

Singaporean Optometric Gathering (8,9,10th Grad Batch) - THE HIDDEN FOODIE ISSUE!

2007-08-30T21:08:00.000+08:00

Ying Thai 2
110 Lygon St
Carlton 3053 VIC
Phone: (03) 9639 1697

This is one of the very rare occasions where we get to meet up like that. Lenny, my senior (Jasmine's batch: 2004 Graduation Batch, 8th Optometry Batch) Singapore Poly Optometry Course, happened to be in town that day (flew down from Queensland) , so we decided to have a mini gathering! Dion (same batch as Jasmine and Lenny) planned everything so we simply tagged along lah..

Instead of harping on the nitty gritty of our gathering, I shall skip straight to what matters.. The FOOD!

This place has been highly recommended by Aussie locals (thanks mates!) and I know why.. As the name suggests.. It serves delicious thai cuisine in a strangely nursery like setting..

The Main Entrance:

They offer Al-fresco style dining too:

So colouful! :

Kids in background playing Singapore Kampong games?

Hao Na and Rachel.

Hao Na and Cutie-Cutie.

HaoNa, Rachel and Carolyn.

(Kids playing Gasing (Gah-Seng) in background!)

Handsome fella in middle is Dion.

I admit, I don't exactly look my best here.

Did I mention he was an Air Force Officer?

Notice the warm and cosy home-like setting..

From Left: Jasmine, Dion, Lenny

They even have authentic Chang (Elephant, in Thai) Plates.

Alright that's all folks. This is not a true foodie issue.. simply because I forgot to take pics of what we ate.. But the Green Curry was absolutely FANTASTIC! I have no idea where they got the ingredients from, it tastes really good, by Australia standards.

Further down the street..

Il Dolce Freddo

Ph: (03) 9639 3344; 116 Lygon St, CARLTON 3053

Gelati Time!! It has always been standard practice amongst foodies to have lunch at Ying Thai2 followed by ice-cream at Il Dolce Freddo..

Look at the winter crowd..

Business is brisk here! They even offer *gasps* DURIAN ICE CREAM!!!

I had the Ferrero Roche Ice cream, it was very awesome. The sell ice-cream exactly the same was as Tom's Palette (Shaw Towers, Singapore), choose a cup size, cone or waffle. And any 2 ice-cream.

'La Fruita Passione'

My NEW Home! I wish...

2007-08-30T20:01:00.000+08:00

Hi all, I would like to introduce to you, my *very own bachelor's pad!

Welcome to Franklin Lofts

FRANKLIN LOFTS, 83-93 Franklin Street MELBOURNE

.
My most humble abode.

*after 10 standard drinks

It's conveniently located in between Queen Victoria market and Melbourne Central. And the best part is, it's just across the street from my favourite supermarket, ALDI (below Milano Aparments.. Hey 2WO Chandra, I found it!)

The view when you step into the lobby of Franklin Lofts.

Wow, the wall painting looks remotely Buddhist. (Don't quote me)

My friends love coming over to parrttyyy at my place:

Meet my new friend Carolyn (in white).

I just love it when my friends stand in my balcony, assuming the usual jaw-dropping awe-struck position for up to 5 seconds before remembering to close their mouth again.

That's the city sky line in the daytime.

My friends simply love performing Yoga at my place as it's so spacious!

Sometimes, I love looking down on my friends, from my bedroom upstairs:

One thing puzzles me though.. why do all my friends gape in awe of the beautiful sunset?

HELLO!? Haven't you ever seen such a beautiful sunset from such an upmarket, wonderfully constructed, award winning, high rise, perfect-view building before? Jeez... I see this everyday.. B..O..R..I..N..G..

Excerpt from http://www.andrewscorp.com.au/apartment.asp:

The Franklin Lofts offers 189 split-level apartments over 31 floors. Construction began in 2000 and was completed late in 2001. The building was awarded a Master Builder Excellence in Construction award in 2002. The design concept emerged from the idea of two-storey, New York style, lofts in a modernist high-rise building. Investors have enjoyed above-market rental returns and capital gains, and the building remains highly popular amongst the international student market thanks to its location in the heart of Melbourne's educational precinct.

Jealous?

-don't be, it's not mine.

JJ Rating: 4/5 - Time to move !

Port Melbourne and Brunetti (Fri Night, 240807)

2007-08-27T19:21:00.000+08:00

PORT MELBOURNE

-sorry, no nice pics of the sea.. it was too dark!

Rex Hunt's D'Lish Fish
Seafood

105 Beach StPort Melbourne 3207

Melway Map Ref: 57 A3

Right after clinic on Fri, we zipped down to Collins Street and transferred to Tram Service 109 all the way to the LAST STOP, before alighting at Port Melbourne. Initially, I anticipated the place to be like our Clarke Quay however, it was rather.. peaceful and serene. It was definitely too cold to sit outdoors by the sea so we sat indoors instead.

Look how happy everyone is (as seen above)... EXCEPT ME:

Boohoo.. I was feeling low that day because of Dr Trung.

Hehe.. My own fault though.

Anyway, we purchased the FisherMan's Basket for AUD34.90.. meant for 4.

But 5 of us had difficulty finishing it! (we added a fish though).

If you're there by yourself, you can get a single fish n chip set for AUD6.90 - first sauce free (subsequently AUD1.30/sauce). I recommend their home made tartare and sweet chillie sauce.

Ambience was fine, much like a fast food restaurant. They had Al-fresco facilities but did not turn on the outdoor heaters. Food was quite good. The place reminded me of Fin (Singapore, Marina Square). Definitely great value for money.

JJ Rating: 3/5 - worth a try lah..!

BRUNETTI

Faraday Street194 - 204 Faraday Street

Carlton Vic 3053Australia

Sunday - Thursday (6am - 11pm)Friday - Saturday (6am - Midnight)

I've heard so much about this place! All the buzz and hype surrounding this cafe has caused reverberations to places as far as... Singapore! (it was featured on a Channel 8 Variety programme) - can someone please add a comment to tell me what show it was?

If you're walking there along Lygon Street, just take a short turn around the corner of Lygon Court..

There you have it.. (*drum rolls in background*)..

WELCOME TO BRUNETTI.

Look at the immense crowd!

Just like our Singaporean Donut craze!
(please ignore Smiley Face girl. I took 3 shots and of all the 3 girls, only Yiwen repeatedly appeared de-focused- Argh!)

Above: Cake selection area. Below: Coffee/Beverage selection area:

Sorry girls.. they ran out of chocolates:

Just Kidding!

Finally! The food has arrived:

Clockwise from left: Mudcake, Choc Oblivion (Choc Souffle w Ice-cream) and Ricotta Nutella.

A cake costs about 5 bucks.. same as the drinks. Pretty reasonably priced!

We also ordered drinks: 1x Iced Choc, Limonata(bottled lemonade) and Strawberry Milkshake. All not photographed individually though.. DOH!

Happy Times @ Brunetti =)

JJ Rating: 5/5 - A definite MUST TRY!

Ok, I have decided.. It was a tough choice but I have made up my mind. Just that day I was wondering if Max or KOKO black is better... well... stop squabbling you two.. make way for Brunetti. The best mix of cakes, drinks and chocolates!

Current ranking purely in terms of food+drinks/taste:

Rank: 1)Brunetti 2)KOKO Black 3)Max Brenners

Sorry Max.. I still love you!

You're still the BEST in Singapore!!!!

( still prefer Singapore's Max's as compared to here. Why don't they serve Maragnan here anyway?)

'Silence' @ Docklands. Featuring: Cow up the Tree

2007-08-25T23:53:00.000+08:00

Melbourne Docklands

Cow up the tree

-let's meet by the cow up the tree

A sculpture by John Kelly, in reference to a Portrait of Joshua Smith (an Aussie painter), drawn by William Dobell.

'Silence'

We walked on.. and entered an area known as 'New Quay'. There, we encountered another Urban Art display, known as 'Silence'. Created by Adrian Maurika, officially launched on 13th April 2003 by John Tabart, CEO Docklands Authority and Paul McDonald, Group GM of MAB Corp at New Quay.

Silence is the secret and the holy grail.

Epiphany is the greatest joy.

With an undertow of aum,

Reverberating.

ADRIAN MAURIKS.

Friends, meet Silence. 'Hi Silence!! How's it goin' ?'.

Silence: ...
Silence, meet Yiwen, Jasmine, Rachel and Haona.
Silence: ...

Introducing my friends (a joint production between SDU (Social Development Unit) and World of JJ)... with lotsa cheese!

Yiwen: Singapore, Age *18 Female Status: **Single and Available

Rachel: Singapore, Age: *18, Female ***Attached but Available

HaoNa: Singapore, Age *18, Female ****Attached?.. Available?

Jasmine: Singapore, Age *18, Female *****Single but Unavailable (hehe.. )

Jeremiah: Singapore, Age *18, 'Cai Cai' ('Error Code 412: Gender Undefined)

* Estimated Age within +- 10 SD(Stnd Deviation) at 1% Confidence level
** Only Australians need apply..
*** No offense Ken! Just kidding!
****Huh? Got meh? Oh you mean.. cu.. (hehe..)
***** Current Status: Reserved by... *sniggers*

Silence.

Waterfront City

I'm pretty impressed with their creativity! Using projection spot lights to decorate an otherwise empty and plain square.

We look like Mr Bean who just fallen down into a spot of light.

This was where we initially intended to go: Hot Chocolate.

However, the entire glasshouse was booked by Monash University Female Engineering Students.. *sigh*

So we headed off for Brunetti instead.

My Weekly Routine- Very 'Interesting'

2007-08-16T18:35:00.000+08:00

THAT'S IT!

Time to get a life..

Hi Friends and Family. I'm still alive..

and I'll like to keep it that way. Lemme show you how(I do it):

The following photos you see basically sums up my weekly routine.

Waking up to a late saturday morning, we take the free That's Me!bourne shuttle bus to Queen Vic Market. We usually go marketing after 1300hrs. When we first began, we carried with us the Singaporean (Wet) Marketing Mentality: Must go on Sundays, Must go early.

WRONG WRONG WRONG!

'Clinical Pearls' for the Astute Grocery Shopper

(please skip if you don't do marketing)

#1. Firstly, on Sundays, half of the market is closed for tourist shopping! The stalls selling vegetables and fruits, that normally occupy the rear end of the market, are being chased away every sun to make way for nougat and koala bear pushers. These very stalls sell the cheapest fruits and vege because they are located relatively further from the main market.

#2. Secondly, you go early, true, u get the fresher food. But only fresher by a few hours (all meat are refridgerated, indoors)! Going at 1 pm, you get the best deals as stalls start slashing prices by almost 50%!

#3. Thirdly, if you're wondering if it's cheaper to travel by Tram on the AUD2.50 whole-day-all- zone tram ticket, YES. However you can save more money by taking the Free Tourist Shuttle to Queen Vic everyday from 10am to 4pm.

Now I sound like an auntie hehe...

You haven't seen Auntie till you've seen this:

'Brocolli prices are plummeting! Let's buy more!'

Store keeper didnt look too happy when I took this shot.
-We bought too much brocolli?

Next, we leave it to the experts to do their thing:

Mondays to Fridays:

eatstudysleepeatstudyeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleep
And .. we leave it to the expert (in yellow) to do his thing: (Eat lah..)

eatstudysleepeatstudyeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeat

The following scenes are performed by Highly trained professionals. Please do not try to enact these scenes from home. Doing so would put yourself, your family and possibly your dog at risk.. with cheese.

'an additional contribution to the vestibular nerve is from hair cells in the macula acoustica of the utricle and saccule' - *Yawns*

I'm holding 4 different coloured highlighters.

This is a common sight for us. Everyday from Sun to Thurs, mugging till 1am every night! All this just to catch up with our classmates. Ah-ha! Serves you right for returning everything you've learnt to your teachers in poly.

eatstudysleepeatstudyeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleep That's me, fighting the 'Z Monster' (Zzz.. Get it?)

As usual, Z Monster wins.

In my dreams: Allow me to Stimulate the afferent pathways to the Maxillary (V2) and Mandibullar (V3) Division of ur Trigeminal Nerve.

If you were wondering what my MSN nick (as seen above, in my dreams) means: Trigeminal Nerve = Cranial Nerve 5, the sensory nerve of the Central Nervous System.

It is divided into 3 parts: V1: Ophthalmic Division (which I'm more concerned with) supplies ur upper eyelid, cornea, tear glands etc...

V2 innervates the skin of your Cheek, Upper Lip etc..

V3 innervates your Lower Lip, Anterior 2/3 of the Tongue etc..

Get it? *wink* wink* Oops, did I trigger a neuro-sympathetic response in you?

(If you're a girl, please check mirror now to see if your pupils are bigger than usual)

National Day Celebration 2007 @Velour

2007-08-10T08:05:00.000+08:00

NDP Celebration @ Velour

121, Flinders Lane

This event was organised by SSS (Singapore Students' Society). The plan is simple: All UOM (University of Melbourne) Singaporean students were to gather in the (rather) small club, Velour by 2000hrs to watch the Singapore NDP Live Telecast. Yay! Oh so we thought.. the Parade came to us in bits and pieces.. refreshing at a rate of 1fpm (one frame per MIN). We did manage to catch a glimpse of key personnel like MM Lee, SM Goh (with cool looking new specs) and PM Lee.

I met my friend from OCS - Artillery Institute... Daniel Choo! Such a coincidence. It was really a pleasant surprise. He is studying in Swinburne University of Technology [SWINBURNE], about 4 Train stops away from the city center. His friend, a UOM student brought him in.

He informed me of our mutual friend, LTA Joshua, who EXTENDED his ORD to remain in the NDP. He was the Officer giving the command for Artillery 21 gun salute. Unfortunately, we weren't able to catch his performance due to 'technical difficulties' with the streaming.

I also met my ex-polytechnic senior, Dion. Who is now doing foundation year to gain entry into Medicine. (Sorry, no pics of him).

My BFFs, Rachel with Bourbon Coke, Jasmine with..Cranberry Juice. Haona and Me, Vodka Sunrise.

These are our friends. Soi, Xenia?(hope I've got the name right) and Yiwen. We went to KOKO Black with Yiwen 2 weeks before. Soi and Xenia and Medical students *gasps*

As the party progressed, everyone totally ignored the NDP on TV. We had games like.. Best dressed couple. Theme of the day was: DIAMONDS and RUBIES. Everyone was to wear Red and White, with as much bling as possible. Obviously, non of us won as we came straight from school (wearing 'school clothes' see?).. Yes Mum, I've been studying!!

When we entered the club we were each given celebrity names, I'm Justin Timberlake hehe.. so throughout the party, we can approach any girl who is holding on to the name of our respective celebrity's girlfriend. (all girls will carry a corresponding celebrity female name). Thing is.. I don't really know who Justin Timberlake's girlfriend is so I didn't bother looking for his partner.

Our guest STAR: THE MERLION!

Evidently, I have no pics of the Merlion. But he left his 'signature' right there on the floor after the drinking game.. Eeww!!

A scene of the party, dance floor on right of pic.

As you can see, I'm the camera man. So I'm not in most of the pics. When I finally got my own pic taken....

All the girls wanna punch me in the face.

Do I look that bad?

The party was not too bad. After NDP we had MAMBO JUMBO. The club's standard was obviusly not as good as Zouk's. But their bar was pretty nice (looks like my Officer Mess in Khatib Camp haha) and their bartenders are VERY skilled. When you order a drink, they'll use many 'patterns' i.e. Pattern Zui Ga Badminton to impress you. Really gives you the 'WOW' factor!

JJ Rating: 3/5

No smoke machines, 'Mambo night' but very few of our fav Mambo Songs. Lighting was too bright (maybe cause of steps on the dance floor)? Sound quality was mediocre. Few people went up to dance stage. VERY impressive effort on the part of SSS Committee.

My new BFFs!!!

2007-07-28T20:37:00.000+08:00

'HOUSE PARTY'

on peel street

This is by far the 'wildest' house party I've ever been to! Think WILD ANIMALS. Yes.. this unique safari - themed party is the first of its kind I've ever attended. There were WILD TRIBAL dance routines (below):

Two young females dancing the traditional hunter-gatherer dance sequence (as seen above). They even had the sacred medicine man, who kindly graced the event:

The traditional tiger headress is earned after enduring 9 months of training and hardship... with cheese. Passing wild animals, like this zebra below also strolled their way into our party..

And this innocent looking giraffe... *yummy*

Look what happens to our new 'friends'... (following pic may be graphic in nature)

BY then, the feast was almost ready!! The tribe female serves up food which was prepared using our newly acquired ingredients!

You want some of this? *wink*

The tribe gathers around the table for the FEAST!

Left to Right: HaoZhen, HaoNa, Jasmine, Rachel

Yummy! What's this meat in my stew..?? ~Don't ask.

Hey hey... look who/what just strolled into our 'party'...

Fresh (Camel) Meat!

-everything with cheese.

The above mentioned event was not as graphic in nature as described. No animals were harmed in the process, except the pig which was slaughtered so that we can have mince pork congee. What we really had was a mini lunch gathering after school at Hao Na'/HaoZhen 's place where we stayed till dinner. Their room mate is a vet and animal lover, hence the wide collection of photos at home. And if u were wondering.. no, we did not consume the camel.

Max Brenner's @ QV, Swanston

2007-07-28T20:27:00.000+08:00

Welcome to Max Brenner.

25-27 Red Cape Lane, Level 2, QV Square, 210

Lonsdale Street Melbourne VIC 3000,

Phone Number: +61 3 9663 6000.

I've always loved Max Brenner's chocolate. Listen to his love story and you'll see why..

Max Brenner's vs KOKO Black:

Hmmm... not too sure about which is better. Max Brenner's drinks are cheaper, about AUD4.50 for a hug mug. While here u pay nothing less than AUD5.50 at KOKO Black. Both are equally good, I must say. But I've had strong emotional attachment to Max, the bald guy who started it all for me.

Max and I
Max, the bald guy with the choc. I first heard about Max Brenner's in QV, Swanston. After trying their unique Suckao there, I became an instant convert. Imagine the joy when I discovered that they had opened a branch in Singapore - Esplanade! That place became the regular hang out place for Xiaoping and I. I can definitely relate to Max's story.

KOKO BLACK, on Lygon

2007-07-28T20:20:00.000+08:00

Welcome to KOKO BLACK,

167 Lygon Street

Carlton, Victoria

Australia 3053

(Melway Ref: 2B:F9)

Open til 11pm from Mon-Thurs, Sun

Extended to: 12am on Sat.

View of KOKO Black, from Lygon. Al fresco dining with outdoor heaters available.

The inside view of KOKO Black, when you enter the door. Little red riding hood not included.

Their super yummy: Belgian Spoil
chocolate cake, two Belgian chocolates, a shortbread,
chocolate ice cream and chocolate mousse $10.00 (contains nuts)*

Iced Chocolate
A rich combination of Koko Black's chocolate and vanilla ice cream,
milk and chocolate shavings $6.50

Koko Black Hot Chocolate
Freshly brewed traditional recipe. Made with dark Belgian chocolate - no powder.
Made with full cream milk. Served extra hot unless otherwise requested $5.50

My my.. I've finally found a place worthy to hang out in. Why walk 35 min to QV on Swanston for my chocolate fix (Max Brenner's) when I can take a 5-10 min stroll to KOKO BLACK on Lygon. This is a place where you can really chill and look good while chilling.

Max Brenner's vs KOKO Black.

What's happening to me?

2007-07-28T20:15:00.000+08:00

Rachel!!! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY EYE...

This is what we did for our first practical session. Slit Lamp Biomicroscopy with use of mydriatics. Wow.. this pract really opened up the window to my soul.

Tertiary Phase

2007-07-28T19:58:00.000+08:00

OK finally! I got inspired by my ex-lecturer Mr Rajeev's (now a Phd Student in VCO) creative use of furniture in the apartment. I decided, I don't need the side table in my lounge area.. moved it under my workstation instead. See? Now I got more space to walk.

BTW, if you were wondering.. those are socks on the table.

After Phase 2: After IKEA

2007-07-27T19:35:00.000+08:00

My new Home!

My new home has photos on the walls. *faint applause in background*

It has a (useless) standing lamp. The same model as the one I have in my room in Singapore.. except that it's in black. Photo of me and my Army friends (my farewell gift). Thanks guys!

My new workstation. Buddha had to go up! Thanks Buddha for your kind understanding! I REALLY needed that space cos' it is really much easier to reach that shelf you were housed in instead of your new home.

Buddha's ex-residence is now taken up my a photo of xp and me in Tom's Palette. Beside is the good bye card from my poly mates. Thanks guys! I was expecially moved by Da Xuan's entry (after Xiaoping deciphered the text for me). It was written in the modern version of a rather ancient language.. luckily I had Xiaoping with me (it was written in Chinese.. Doh!).

My new crib. Noticed the difference? Hint:It has a yellow frame.

Now I can proudly call this place ma' home. Any comments, suggestions to improve the look of my home?

After Phase 1 Furnishing

2007-07-27T09:01:00.000+08:00

My Apartment..

Most of the stuff you see here are mainly from Harvey Norman, Big W and Safeway Supermarket all under one roof in QV, Swanston.

As you can see, I bought a lovely table runner just to spice things up.. Free electronic kettle jug courtesy of Rachel, a mini rice cooker in the background.. some cutlery and mugs. I managed to find an Asian Supermarket very near to Queen Victoria Market, that was where I bought all the soy sauce, dark sauce, sesame oil and oyster sauce which you see in the pic, beside the rice cooker.

Bathroom mat and laundry basket.. also from Big W...

This is my workstation, complete with my very own buddha corner.. for quiet reflection..

This is wear I sleep *yawn*

It gets REALLY quiet here at night. So quiet that you practically here a faint ringing in your ears.. neural noise..? At least that's what we optoms use to describe seeing things/light that aren't actually there.

You'll see the radiator in the bottom left. It has only been turned on ONCE, when I was testing it. Two reasons why I do not turn on my radiator: Firstly, it's VERY expensive! Try turning on a 5000W monster overnight (typically non-energy saving light bulb is about 60W). I just cannot afford this luxury lah.. Second and MOST important reason: radiators heat the ROOM, NOT the person. Come on... It's time to do your part for the environment! Keep warm the Live Earth Way! (put on a cardigan instead).

Those dangly white brown yellow thingys were brought over from Singapore. You can buy them in Mini toons, Cineleisure orchard.

My room is complete! But it's not quite a Home yet..

My New Home in Melbourne

2007-07-25T18:35:00.000+08:00

Honey, I'm home... ahhh!!! Where am I? Still unable to believe I'm actually HERE already. Yes.. I'm in Melbourne and this room will be my home for the next 6months at least..

College Square Apartments:
My room is located conveniently on Lygon Street. Convenient in the sense that the cemetery is just across the street. - NOT! Convenient because my school, the Victorian College of Optometry is just a couple of blocks down the road from my place.. Convenient because I live on Lygon Street - known widely as the 'Little Italy' of Victoria.. Think pizzas and pastas, chic cafes and... KOKO BLACK!

My room is basically L shaped.

First picture depicts what you'll expect to see upon entering my apartment.

Second pic shows my bathroom with spare bed.

Third pic shows my bed.. with a welcome gift box from YMCA. The gift box includes my doona (quilt.. not sure why they call them doonas here), doona cover, sheets, pillow, pot, mini wok, 1 set of cutlery and a drinking glass. Pretty neat huh? Even got an extra doona for both beds.

Last pic shows my toilet in the background left and my door on the right.
As you can see.. everything is in a MESS! Time to get crackin'

Airport Farewell

2007-07-24T18:43:00.000+08:00

Ok.. that's it! I've had enough of goodbyes! Phew.. this is the last of it. I'm really leaving now (from a retrospective viewpoint)!

I'm very very glad that so many of my friends turned up. Initially, I was feeling apprehensive.. wondering if I should call anyone at all. You know, it's really hard to leave when you see your friends and family gathered around you.. for the last time.. in 6months to 1 year..

Big question on my mind right now.. Still unable to decide if I should return to Singapore in Dec this yr.. or should I return next year June.. or
BOTH..? That's where YOU come in! Yes, help me decide by leaving comments thank you.

Thank you all who came for my farewell! Really appreciate it.

Left to right for all:

My buddies Jereld, Darren, Nigel...

My polymates: Shang, Jason, Ryan, Daxuan, Samuel

My army friends: Daxuan *again!*

My friends: XinYi (youngest member! nearly 1 year old now) and Charmaine.

Last but not least: MY FAMILY!! Ok, it's official. The turf wars has BEGUN!!!

Brief History of the Turf wars.
When my brother, Marc, first left for UK for his studies, his bed room became a guest room. As we bought more clothes over time.. his room gradually became a walk- in wardrobe. Things soon began to pile up in his room... It became a Store Room. And before long, everyone was fighting over this small but highly coveted property - Marc's Room.

Now everyone is waiting... and eyeing for MY ROOM. Question is.. Will I still have a room when I return..?