Been away to Melaka for the past 3 days, in search for the Nyonya tale. All in all, it was a fun trip, relaxing time away from Singapore. And it was fun to just eat and eat, good food here and there.

Trip to Malaka was decided upon a month back, before Little Nyonya started showing. Needless to say, we ended up seeing a lot of Singaporeans in Melaka in this trip. Anyway, here is what Kris and me decided on for our accomodation, the modest Kota Lodge.





Compared to our neighbour, Baba House, it completely pales in comparison, you pay for what you get. And ya, we did not realise it was so close, till we walked out of our hostel door.



And we met up with Weekar and Shirley, who went a day earlier. I had a field day playing paparazzi haha..



And if you come to Melaka, the number 1 attraction is... FOOD!!!

This is one of the famous stores along Jonker Street, selling Nyonya Asam Laksa and Nyonya Chendol.





Yes we have chendol in Singapore too, but this is different. It taste better! Partially because they put Maltose instead of the usual syrup.



Another store with a long queue, which we decided to come on another day.



Trishaws are here for tourists too, but unlike their counterparts in Singapore, this one is decorated with lots of flowers, and a horn that can make you deaf should you happen to get in their way.



After some sightseeing, what other things can you do except eat???



This is Rendang Chicken, though I pretty much forgot what the others are.





The dish that Yuzhu cooked



Asam Fish



Ngoh Hiang



Otak-Otak





The next morning, another round of eating begins. We FOUND REMPAH UDANG!!!







I think Juxiang can make better ones haha.. we also found some other goodies~!











Other than the food, Melaka have a long history, being occupied by 3 countries including the Dutch, Portugal, and British. The red buildings, are left behind by the Dutch.





The large boat linking its history to ZhengHe? Not too sure as I only seen it from afar.



And this remains of a church, by Portuguese



And the Portuguese fort, A Famosa. Raffles have a hand in helping to retain this small wall.



Literal "Red light district", not sure why they light up the streets this way, nothing sleazy though.



And of course, the famous night market, Jonker Walk.



Luk-Luk, damn nice~!



BBQ Stingray, need more sambal though



"In God we trust, others pay cash"



And of course, the long queue we saw the previous day. Chicken Rice Ball~!



My very cute gf made this "chicken rice ball burger" for me =)

I was at the national stadium last week, watching the lions playing against vietnam. The match ended 1-0, with Vietnam winning the tie and the semi-finals. It was disappointing, but if we have more luck, it would have ended up differently. But what was even more disappointing is Singapore fans jeering their own team after the game. Shouts of "empty promises", and many other vulgarities was heard while I was exiting the stadium. But was it warranted?

One of my colleague text me after the game, "Go n see sg throw face! Haha". Needless to say, I was pissed off by his comments. If you are not going to support them, then just shut up. Criticising them on a night when they are the better team is not the way, but many Singaporeans are just fair-weather fan.

Wednesday edition of the mypaper have this letter written in by a reader, and I have the pleasure of walking to my colleague, pointing at this article, and say "hey thats YOU they are talking about".

Ha.. Sweet revenge =P

Yes!!!!! I just watched Jim Carrey's latest offering, Yes Man, and this is a good watch, go catch it! Say Yes!!!

Heres the synosis:

"It's about this guy who's always so pesimisstic in life and syaing No to everything. Then, one day, he bummped into a friend, who says life has chnaged for him ever since he's enrolled in a programme, called- The YES programme- it means saying YES to EVERYTHING. And, by saying YES to evrything, you will be happier in life."



Anyway, the concept of this movie really makes me think. We really should catch life by its breath isnt it? Doing the same things everyday just doesn't cut it. Sure, there are some things like work which we essentially need to do to survive, but outside of that 8-9hours, we should really be making full use of it shouldn't we?

I shall start trying to say yes to more things, not to the extent of Carl Allen, but more of a willingness to try new things.

Say yes ppl!!!

Self cook dinner with kris, Heres my very cui Pad Thai..



And the nicer Tempura Prawn and Tempura Golden Mushroom..



Yummy end to the weekend =)

This is just so cool!!!



And this... erm... I looked damn shag haha

Ok its official, 2:25:13

This is the timing to beat next year.

My legs are aching like never before!! Its a pain just to walk haa.. cui..

Anyway, I just realised, actually my timing is much faster, should be around 2.5hr, because I started 15mins later than the offical timing. Woohoo...

As for the run, I think I did pretty well for the first 10km, overtaking plenty of people really gives me the kick, going through the gaps in the human crowd that would have made eyeshield 21 proud. It is during the 2nd half of the run that my legs really start to tire. I didnt run out of breath, bu rather, it is my legs that run out of steam. And the route didnt really help, everytime I thought its going to U-turn, I ended up seeing another stretch of long road ahead. And the last out was the most jialat, just as when you thought its the last stretch of road, theres actually another slip road you have to take, a super long detour!! arghhh.......

But its actually quite shiok, to be running with so many people. Adn theres plenty of ladies who run much ahead of me too, really amazing stamina.

Ultimately, its like one of the tagline.. Run your own race.

2hr 42mins, thats the time taken for me to run 21km. now i can proudly say i completed a half marathon!!!

its amazing considering this is the first time that i run such a long distance.

Adidas Sundown, 30th may 2009, anyone?

as if being stood up is not enough.. now i being ridiculed for the efforts i spent..

Life is short. The Singaporean who died in the Mumbai terrorist attack is only 28years old, 3 years older than me. Having got married just last year, her life had probably just started, and gone just like that...

We really should catch the moment, and do what we want to do before time catches up with us.

"The finest things in life"

One must really learn to appreciate the finer things in life. Yesterday's sunset was one of the nicest I seen in recent days, with the clouds and sky looking like drawings from a kindergarden kid. Orange skies for probably less than 5 mins, but being able to see that just smoothes my mood.

Appreciation.

Today's paper showed a research --

Unhappy folk spend 30% more time in front of TV than happy people.
Researchers found that activities such as sex, reading, adn socialising correlated with the highest levels of overall happiness. Watching TV, on the other hand, was the only activity that had a direct correlation with unhappiness.


Stop watching TVs!!!



Oh ya, and I got silver for IPPT this morning! Hooray! Cleared my worst performing standing board jump in the first station haha, 230cm! I did not even jump that far in the warmup.. heng ar..
Kris, too bad lah =P

i feel grounded..

Charles MSN nick:
"brain sex with lecture notes... in out in out in out.."

crap analogy -_- funny though haa


Anyway, now is the period when everyone is busy studying, because exams start for ntu students next week. Its also the time when every student wish they are working, and every working adult wish they are studying. Ok maybe not, maybe its just me. I always maintain my stance that studying is much better than working, minus the money. Theres so much freedom when I was just a student.


But anyway, there aint no return to those days. Neither can I return to yellowstone days. One can only keep moving forward, and aim to make the future better.

All it takes is a badminton session with my uni friends, for a reality check. I could no longer pretend to be a kid, the way I was for so many years. And there we were, talking about planning for marriage, and it surprised me that some of them are actually already checking out on HDB.

And then theres another group of friends who have started looking for partners.

Very soon, we will all be married, with kids, and before we could even realise, we will end up like our parents, and life become such a routine. I don't want my life to be a routine!!! (Half of it already is now, the work part)

"flying is my hobby, travel is part of my life"

These words just about sum it all on my interest in travelling. I didn't travel that much in the past, with the furthest I been to is Malaysia, for the simple fact that part of my family is there. Then in JC, I got a chance to go Thailand, Chiangrai and Bangkok, and thats just about the furthest I went for the next few years after that. I dont have the luxury of going further, because its just too expensive, and Im spending off my parents.

Then came USA after my Uni years, 3 months at yellowstone national park, going to new and different places around the park, Idaho,Cody,Bozemon,Billings,JacksonHole, and then to Las Vegas,SanFran and Taiwan after the work. I started to like travelling alot, especially by self-exploring/free n easy.

And when I started working, suddenly a lot of places are within my reach, went to Japan, China, Bintan. A lot of places that I never been to, that I can only see on tv, is within my reach, and I started travelling whenever I get the chance to. The falling prices, and increasing number of destinations that budget airlines fly to, only attracted me to go further and more often.

Its not hard to understand why I like travelling so much, + the fact that when you spent so much time at work, you just want to make full use of your time elsewhere. Besides, Singapore is just too crowded to rest and enjoy.

Tiger Airways 1-cents deal this week ... Heres how it all measures up

i know my fitness have been going down.. now I have the results to prove it -_-

I NEED TO IMPROVE MY RUNNING BY 10SECONDS PER ROUND!!!! OR 6 SECONDS PER MINUTE!!!

cui.. thats a tall order sia..

its been a while since I updated.. because theres pretty much nothing interesting to talk about here. I don't remember what I have been doing for the past 3 wks though, it just passed by. The only happening, was the un-happening.. because my Redang trip was cancelled due to bad weather. Kind of disappointed, but nvm.. can always go next year. But it means I'm not going anywhere this month.. been going to a country for consecutive months since May, so its gonna stop.

I really love to travel, but perhaps its time to stop and think about the future, esp in this crazy economic downturn. Its is time to save some money.. and I will probably settle for a trip every quarter. And I wanna go to more countries and places I never been to~! Places I aiming for next year..
1. Vietnam - I think Hanoi will be nice
2. Darwin - Australia-Tickets can be as low as $450!!!
3. Cambodia - Erm.. dunno why
4. Mt Kinabalu - Climb the mountain and see the world largest flower~!
5. Indonesia - Its strange Indonesia is so near to us, yet I have only been to Bintan. Its time to start exploring there.

Have to really find new ways to grow my money

Its been a fast week, too fast because I have been enjoying it. But one must really learn to appreciate, and be thankful for the precious time.

Was over at Bangkok for 5days last weekend, 2 years since I last went there (I consider it too long.) Just like to travel, and also to visit my friends there, but the main purpose of it all, is to put a milestone for the past one year we have been together. We are both travellers, and we have been travelling apart, you to China, Tioman, me to Japan, Ipoh, Bintan. About time we set off together again, M.A.W =)

Anyway, more on the Bkk trip, contrary to what you see on tv, things go on as per normal, nothing changes. (Not sure if thats a good thing though) Going to places which I went before, Wat Arun,Chatuchak,Platinum,MBK, and to places I have never been to, Floating market,Pratunam,Marble Temple,Patpong,WatPho. And who can forget the tuk-tuk aka con-man, who works ever so hard to bring you to some jewellery or handicraft shops.

A visit to an amazing place in T3, the butterfly garden.


Plenty of butterflies around, and one captured in my timer~!


As again, posing at the waiting area. I need to think of newer ways to pose really


Authentic charcoal steamboat at a roadside stall near our hotel.


Even an elephant drop by to visit


New ways of "begging", playing an musical instrument while wearing your school uniform.


Even the police there go hi-tech, you wonder where their money go.


The "Super nice melt in your mouth" cononut icecream desert~!!!


And the Teh-tarik lady spinning around with the teh tarik, making everyone dizzy except herself


Cruising along chao phaoya river, just 20baht/person


Her mediating at Wat Arun


While I cant stay still


A way of conning unsuspecting tourists, notice the number at the bottom?


Another conman - Tuk-tuk, who will try to bring you to jewellery shops


Face covered to protect his identity


A good way to eat corn, but cutting it off.


Along to the floating market


"Lets go"


Cheese fries in Macdonlds~!, but it sucks.. KFC rocks@!


Patpong - Tiger show??? 表演?? pingpong ball??? - chants of the touts there


A new find, remember the Mango+glutinous rice desert? Change it to durians~!!! yummy~!