Friday, January 23, 2009

.Gong Xi Gong Xi - have more fishes coming your way

Ha.. wierd title. but hey got meaning okay!

Fishes is Cai - aka "Fortune".

Guess what? Due to our laziness - we had our dinner outside and not at home.
That means - we spent money (when we're supposed to save) and the most important thing - PINEAPPLE TARTS.

Haiyah.... must do tonight, after the reunion dinner with my daddy.
Hope I'll get a big ang pow! *GRINS*

Eh....I still need to go bak-kwa buying with V after dinner. And I haven't even do any spring cleaning yet! ARGH!!!!

SO many things, so little time to do! Thanks to..... Bonnie and V. *applaud*
How smart we are! Drag la, drag.

Looks like we're gonna have a long weekend. plus the CNY holidays. AND an additional OFF day the next day. So Shiok! Too bad I don't get to go hongkong now - so I won't waste so much leaves.....

I shall enjoy my holiday and collect ang pows and earn some money... hur hur hur.
So you people out there, gamble big and win big~ HUAT ah!

(i won't be gambling, but V can gamble on our behalf)

In any case, Happy Lunar New Year guys!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!

OOoops! I accidentally published the post without writing anything!

Well, it's gonna be CNY in a few days time! How exciting!
(In actual fact, what is most exciting would be the ang pows! Hehehe)

Thank god I'm not married yet. Can you imagine, when you're married - you got to give ang pows. Omg.... the amount of damage you get during CNY.

Little wonder why so many families prefer to 'siam' the CNY.

V and I will be attempting to make pineapple tarts tonight. Hopefully it will turn out good. Will post up the pictures when it's done. We have to leave the tart dough overnight - so it will turn out fluffy and nice. As told by Iza (the pineapple tart expert).

I love pineapple tarts!

That golden skin glimmering under the light (flourescent, also can) beckoning you to come over.
You take a bite and tasting it.

Oh, how fluffy and light!
Oh, how buttery!
Oh, the sourish sweet feeling!

You need another one!

It's amazing how people can create so many wondrous items with just butter, eggs and sugar and the most important ingredient - FLOUR!

Argh! I can't wait to make those tarts and pop it into my mouth. And i will have an endless supply of pineapple tarts in the future! Thanks to V~ *winks*


Okay okay, i think i shall stop talking about tarts. Making me hungry hungry hungry! When I think of pineapple tarts, I think of kueh lapis, then I think of rempah udang, then I think of egg tarts, then I think of fried mars bars~ okay, where's the linkage....

I think I should stop eating so much and go on a strict diet! Else I can't wear my new year clothes. Speaking of clothes, I was talking to some of my friends and V about it. For CNY, I try to make it a point that I will have everything new from head to toe, inside to outside. I even have a set of new PJs. They say I'm crazy. Am I?

New year must have new clothes.

Anyway - I shall stop here and dream of the tarts I'll be making with V.

Happy New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Love this funny clip:

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

.New Year 2009 Resolutions



I know it’s a tad late, prolly nearly half a month into the new year already.
Was too busy with my life and work, couldn’t get myself to pen all these down.

Never too late to start!

Things to achieve in 2009

1. Learn a new language
(For career wise, perhaps Japanese is better. Tho’ I still prefer French any time.)
2. Master the art of swimming & go diving!
(I can never seem to get breathing right. People say I breathe like a fish)
3. Get an IMac
4. Be financially debt free
5. Achieve something worth mentioning at work
6. Paint the walls of my place and mend the holes and what nots
7. Start something
8. Stay size 8 and below
9. Care more for my face and skin
(So I can look pretty with skin glowing!)
10. Continue to learn baking and cooking
11. Get back into the spiritual aspect again

It’s nothing very great. Not too many things – but at least it will be achievable in my case. If I get my butt moving to do something. Lol!

.Batam Getaway (Part 4)









Ah… last day.

Did I tell you guys that I had a horrendous night the day before? There was this irritating mosquito that kept biting the both of us. I couldn’t sleep and it made me lose my cozy position to sleep. In the end, I felt hot and bothered and super irritated!

V says I’m like the girl in the fairytale story – The Princess and the Pea. I need to find the right spot to sleep and as long as there is something – be it big or small – I will not be able to sleep and the whole night I’ll be tossing and turning and tossing! But not so exaggerating to that extent, right? Hmmm….




(Took this off from the web)



But I managed to kill it (mosquito) with a pillow. I only found out when I saw the tiny blood stain at the side of the pillow the next morning – Must be V’s blood! To think we switched on the lights and slept so we can wait for it to appear again and kill it. Die long ago already!

We didn’t do much except to pack our things and wait for the shuttle bus to bring us to the ferry. But all in all – it was a fun and eventful trip!





The Jap/ Korean place can try - food is at least nicer than the Harris Cafe. And they even have sides for you. Batam people can cook Jap and Korean! Surprisingly!





Our lunch!





V just couldn't wait to eat. We were famished!






Harris Resort @ Batam


Price : Worth it!


Service : 4 out of 5 stars
Food : Go out and eat, better
Cleanliness : 4 out 5 stars
Ambience : Great for everyone! Take the suites, not the rooms.

Conclusion : If you want an affordable and nice place – go for Harris. Tho’ it doesn’t exude any of the Indonesian flavour, it’s still good clean fun!


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Oh, did i forget to mention they have Astro too?




.Weekends are boring. Girl is wierd.

Over the weekends, we went over to Chinatown and thought we can go check out more stuff from one of the travel agents we spoke to. Apparently – it closed at 1pm?!

Oh well …… fine fine, I shan’t sleep in til too late okay? But I have trouble getting to sleep. Naturally I tend to sleep and make up for the loss of sleep over the week days. =P

Wake me up if you want to. I may get grumpy but I will still wake up. Lalala…

But eventually settled for my company’s travel agency – cos’ I get cheaper rates!

Anyway – over at Chinatown, V and me went for a simple lunch at 5pm over at some hawker centre. It’s quite empty over there cos’ it’s nearing closing time. Empty right? Apparently I was looking at some brochure while V went to get some food and when I looked up, this girl was sitting across the table. WTF?! Eh so many tables around, you must take my table? Yes yes it’s a public place. But I still don’t get it , why she must SHARE my table?! I’m not a handsome guy, I’m a girl. And I wasn’t in much of a mood to share my table with a stranger – so she can hear what me and V will be talking about. I stared at her and she stared back.

So wanted to ask if she’s gonna sit there permanently or just waiting for her takeaway food. But decided not to, so I just stood up and changed my seat.

The uncle even went to the wrong table, and thought she was me. Haiyah! I was so irritated. V still asked. And she was really sitting down there having her meal!

Wah liews… my spot very nice huh? Must share. WTH… OH well! You get weird people nowadays.

But the rojak there, was to die for!!!!! YUMS! I don’t like rojak with peanuts. In fact I hate peanuts or whatever nuts (depending where you put it). But this rojak – you want peanuts? By all means, please put! So yummy!!!!!!!

I took our camera out but forgot to take it out frm the car. So missed the chance to take a pic of it. Dammit!

Will do so next time!

Had a nice time with V’s friends over at The Pump Room. The food was good! And so is the place! No wonder my sister goes to this place. I deemed my sister as the GOOD FOOD guru.





Anyway – final update for my Birthday Trip >>>>>>>

HONGKONG!!!

.Batam Getaway (Part 3)

Morning breakfast was alright – you get your usual porridge, bread, jam, butter, bla bla bla… There’s actually someone making some pancake thing – but I don’t really like it ‘cos you put choc sprinkles and all on it. Not my type of pancake.






On our way to SPA again!

The spa was shiok! Cheap and pretty good for that price. We took up the 1 for 1 promotion and it only cost us S$185 for a 3 hour spa. You get like, a body scrub/ body massage/ herbal bath/ foot massage and a cup of tea. The massage – painful! And ticklish! Can die… hahha.. V and me were like trying to not scream. But you can hear giggles and ouches from time to time. I think I amused the masseuse quite a fair bit. Came to a point, when I said – “wait wait wait! Err.. pain. Softer abit?”







Too bad can’t take pictures inside. But V was so paranoid ‘cos we can see the outside from the wooden blinds but no one can look in. He had to pull the white screens down to double confirm. LOL! And each time the masseuse got to pull it up, cos they can’t do their job if its down. Blocks a little of the sunlight that they need.

Previously we had the complimentary one in a room, so it wasn’t that bad.

Anyway we went over to Nagoya shopping Mall via the shuttle service provided by the resort. Paid 17 bucks each to get there…

While waiting for the shuttle service –we went for a shot at the airgun game. It was SGD 10 bucks for 30 bullets. It was fun! Tho’ it only lasted for less than 10 minutes – the 10 mins was rather torturous! Those mozzies are commandos! I was wearing shorts and was bitten like 10 times! V had his share of bites too… but I took more for him!





[Correct Posture]

[Wrong Posture ]
V says I looked like I’m holding a bazooka!









Mine!





His!

But not bad la, I was jumping up and down to siam the mozzies – can still shoot quite nicely. Apparently the resort guy helped to blow cig smoke at my legs and arms to shoo away the mozzies. V was laughing and clicking away.








Point to note: Please wear long trousers and sleeves and spray lotsa bug spray!







Took a shuttle bus to Nagayo Shopping Mall. They even had security guards and all. We felt so safe there, until we leave that area to hail a cab - not sure if it's me or what. I suddenly felt like that place is so scary! And I decided to pull V back into the shopping area to hail a cab.





Over at Nagoya, we had a sumptuous meal and it was super yummy! I think Indonesian food in Singapore must buck up – even a small time eatery over at Batam is much nicer than some famous franchise place. But of course there are also some good Indonesian places to eat over at Singapore worth mentioning like the one at Far East.


And it only costs us less than 20 bucks SING! WAH!






Ah Poh – time to go for family KTV and no more blows! Lol!


Nothing much to shop around, seriously. In Batam – I think you can only come here for food and their cheap spa. Other than that, nah… nothing worth coming for. For those lao ti kohs – women lo… I heard that to keep a mistress here is super cheap. Maybe 500 bucks a mth - she can live lavishly here with a nice place. Eh eh eh… I’m not telling all these to give funny ideas to Singapore men huh. Please la – I do NOT like the idea of kept women!

If V ever does tt – maybe I will just cast a spell to make his ‘ahems’ shrink like raisins.
Don’t tell me, I will still find out eventually!

The fake goods here – it’s everywhere! Eh so now you know huh – why some people can afford those branded stuff. *HINT HINT*

Actually V did a little research and got some info on places to eat. We settled for A1 seafood, ‘cos I didn’t really want to go to commercialized places. When in Rome, do what the Romans do! When in Batam, eat what those Batam-ians eat!



Eh sian… cheh – it’s just like a Batam Newton Food Centre. But cheap cheap. And they have wild boar meat! We didn’t want to order too much in case we get food overload which we normally did.


Too many stalls to choose from. So we randomly chose Hai Sing Seafood. Their menu had no pricing so we had to ask from time to time – how do they charge.

I was so skeptical – afraid that they might overcharge us ‘cos we ain’t locals. I hate it when places do not state their pricing on their menus. But oh well – even if they overcharge us – it’s still cheaper than Singapore food.










V says after a meal, MUST smoke! That's like heaven to them, smokers~ -_-
But i heard that after a meal, smoking is the worst thing a person can ever do, cos' the toxins get absorbed faster...... Is it true?




The food was not bad – the butter prawns were nice – You can chew the shells! No need to peel it off~

All these for only SGD 30 bucks! WAH!!!!

To top it off – we had a friendly driver (Mr. Rahmad) driving us from the mall to A1 and back to the resort. He actually waited for us! To do him a nice deed – I shall post up his namecard for you guys to see. Please call him if you want a lift anywhere in Batam. He doesn’t overcharge.

.Batam Getaway (Part 2)


Ah sucha LAZY and busy weekend! I couldn’t bring myself to switch on my laptop and continue from the previous post.

But today, I shall ‘mi bu’ (make up for the long empty period) and update whatever I’ve been through for the past few days. The more significant ones, of course.

Anyways – we upgraded our room to the Cabana Room. They did up the room exactly like what you see on the website. And also, the same standard – seen as it is from V’s colleague’s pics.

Everyday you see people taking the same package that we had – and it’s only a 2D1N thing. But – these people at Harris, actually take the effort to lay the flowers and all so nicely each time. Can you imagine?








[essential oil burner – made the room smell so nice!]








[check it out! see through roof when you’re bathing and even in the toilet]
Hahaha... V's gonna kill me if he sees this. He warned me not to put it up. But its cute!
At least it's pixelated!
p/s: it’s really nice in the day but actually I get scared when it comes to night time. Cos’ I’m afraid I might see something on top of the roof. Lol. And V refused to sit outside the toilet to talk to me when I’m bathing! (&)$#)&%#(%#) although he is just a screen away from the toilet. *pai sei*





more pics…..





Check out the toiletries they gave – wah … and they give clean towels when they do up your room the next day. Some places don’t even give that. (The ones on the left are ours)




Even gave us slippers, please don’t wear it out. It’s for the room. I see some people wear them out. Err…..






[eating the praline that they gave (didn’t liked it but V forced me to take it), while checking out which spa package we wanted to take for the next day]



[the ‘balcony’ – it was rather dirty and not much view to look at, so I didn’t bother to stay outside.]

Mozzies are aplenty! Rmb to burn the mosquito killer thingy from the first day – it’s super efficient. They died instantly. Apparently I only found out there’s such a thing the last day – V didn’t tell me! Gave us a sleepless and uncomfortable night for the last day. Grrrrr….

After our 60 mins complimentary massage, V tipped the masseuse and their eyes brightened up. I think Batam no need to tip huh?

We had a massage the day before – a complimentary 60 min massage. That was good too. We came out looking refreshed! And to top it up – we had a good glass of avocado and beer for him.




[Dinosaur cousins! Hahaha. -_-]



That's the spa - here we come!



@ the bar...




[Bintang beer - proclaimed it as the best beer Indonesians ever made]
But aren't Muslims supposed to be not drinking alcohol?



[My Fav Avocado drink - awesome!]





Sidetrack: Omg, we fuckin' gained so much weight! Now then I realised. See my tummy! *Gasp*







Highlight of the day – I’ve got to show the monkeys we saw over at the nearby pub before our dinner on the first day!



I was scared la!


The larger monkey – will make the MMmmmmMMMmmmMMmmm sound when it eats the orange! How cute la! So like a human being.


(His distant cousin)

When V went to feed that monkey with a slice of orange, it actually grabbed V’s tee by its toes and V’s neck collar by its other hand. And the other hand was the orange. Lol! Aiyah but it stained V’s tee… which was one of my fav tees that I like him to wear.


The smaller one was getting jealous and became a little hostile. So we siam!
.


.


.





Bo bian – got to go back and change.

Off we go to the so called ‘candlelight’ dinner. When we stepped out of the room, I was scared by this toad. Haa…. Reminds me of the time I accidentally kicked a toad (I meant literally) when it jumped towards my path. And it flew even further into the grass patch.



We should have went earlier – thought people will come later. Urgh! I wanted the solitary table at one corner. Oh well!

[Welcome gift – Bandanas. V wants to wear it. Eee…..]

Pai seh - forgot to turn on the flash. Heh.


It was a bbq buffet with an assortment of seafood – crabs, fish, prawns. I love the smell of bbq crabs and prawns – they give out the nicest smell which will whet your appetite. But! I don’t like to eat them. I rather have like, black pepper crab and all… And not to forget – V’s black pepper crab is superb! I think maybe when he’s old and retiring – we can just open a Tze Char place and he can cook his famous crab dish.

Okay, I’ll make V cook that sometime soon and post it up. Coming back to what I was saying, the food spread was mediocre – but V and I do like the potato salad. The crabs unfortunately was not fresh. But what to do? Buffets normally they don’t really give fresh crabs when it’s bbq item. So wasn’t expecting too much.

They had a singer and her keyboardist over to sing some songs. Honestly speaking? I rather they play some nice songs instead of letting her sing. In fact, there was this lady who went up to sing – she was even BETTER than her! If I’m the singer, I think I will be so embarrassed!


What was really nice – they actually offered to give blankets to people if they were feeling cold while having the meal. We were seated at this open area – facing the sea and it was really really windy.

Before we left, one of the waiters asked “Not staying on to watch the show?” Was it a movie? Or he meant the singing part? Oh well, I rather go back to the room and catch “Little Nonya”! Talking bout that show, the 3 min thing was crap la~ Might as well don’t show. Hur hur hur…