Happy Birthday To Me

All these years, my birthday celebrations have been simple and straight forward. Usually I gather a bunch of close friends for a small gathering and treat them lunch or dinner. Sometimes they buy me a cake or a present. Or even deliver a card to my home.

Sally and me @ Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal
This year my celebration is quite different because I get to celebrate with Sally :D And it wasn't just an ordinary lunch or dinner treat. Although both of us have been quite busy recently, she put in the extra effort to organize a trip to Batam for me, just to relax over the weekend! And I really needed that break. When Sally told me that we'll be going to an island, I was really excited and I couldn't wait to get there. I love beaches and I knew that it'd be a great trip :P

Scenery from Batam View Resort
Swimming pool
Although I'd be honestly contented with just a regular room in Batam View Resort, Sally actually booked a suite overlooking the beach! Aww, the place was really beautiful and cosy. And I really wish I can own a home like that in the future :P We didn't get to do much that night because we were kinda tired after work and it was already dark outside. It didn't matter though, because we only had one activity in our agenda - RELAX.

A SUITE!!
The balcony
The breakfast wasn't as good as the one we had in Boulevard Hotel, but as long as they have eggs, fresh milk, cheese or cereals, I'm a happy man :D

Our humble breakfast. That's because I forgot to take photo of our 1st round :P
ThE cOFfEE iS VeRY GooDZ
After breakfast, we went for a stroll around the resort. They have a mini zoo with a monkey, a chicken, turkeys and some different type of birds. Not too interesting huh?

Turkeys are very boring birds
They have a private beach too, with beautiful scenery and all, but sand was unusually coarse.

On our way to the beach!
Hm, looks like a fishing village
Sally and me
Peaceful scenery @ Batam View Resort's private beach
For the whole day, we didn't do anything except watching TV, playing PSP games and just lazying around. The suite was so comfortable we didn't even feel like going out or doing any outdoor activities. But I guess that's the whole point of getting a suite anyway!

Our lunch - Laksa and mixed grill
Seafood dinner @ Kelong
Entrance to Kelong Seafood Restaurant
That night, Sally surprised me with birthday present. I thought that the whole Batam trip was already THE present, but she bought me something else too :) So sweet right? She gave me a birthday card and bought me an electronic shaver (because I always cut myself with a conventional shaver), a PSP game (because I love Star Wars and I've been longing to get this game) and a Metal Gear Solid keychain (because I love the Metal Gear Series). In short, she bought all the things that I like so much!

A birthday card and a present
Oops, actually many presents!
And to my surprise again, there's a birthday cake too! Non-stop surprises! :P

My birthday cake
We went back to Singapore on Sunday afternoon. Although the trip was only over the weekend, I truly enjoy every single moment. More importantly, Sally made me feel really loved and it's a blessing to celebrate my birthday with her.

Me and Sally on the ferry
On our way home
Sally, I guess this is my most enjoyable and memorable birthday celebration. I feel really happy and I'm grateful to you for doing all these. It means so much to me and I love you very much!

My Dad's Birthday

Coconut trees in Segamat train station
Last weekend, Sally and myself went back to Segamat again. Weeee! This time we went back to celebrate my Dad's birthday. For some reasons, we couldn't get tickets for a Friday night-train, so we had to go back the next day. Kinda wasted, but where's the fun if everything goes smoothly? ;)

Although we went back to celebrate my Dad's birthday, he still had to cook for all of us :P Haha! That's too bad because nobody else can cook better than him, so we gave him the honor to prepare all the yummy dishes.

Dad's wonderful dishes

Extremely yummy Nasi Lemak
This round I spent more time at home playing Monster Hunter Freedom 2 with my brother. We used to play that addictive game alot but we stopped after a while. And thanks to my twin bro, the monster hype is all back again! Damn!

Anyway, we had a small celebration with my dad at night. Here are some pics:

Dad's birthday cake
My cheeky brother
Happy Birthday Dad!
Mom and Pop
Sally, me and my parents
It was a short weekend for a quick birthday celebration, but enjoyable nonetheless :) And now I can't wait for the weekend because it's my turn, and we're going to Batam over the weekend! Looking forward to all the fun! Love ya, Sally!

Shangri-La

Ok, I haven't been blogging for a long time. Recently everything at work seems to be weird, if not stupid. And it's eating up all my precious fun time. But the worst thing is I'm busy for all the wrong reasons. Anyway, who cares about work.

Today I have this special privilege to accompany a pretty girl to attend her D&D at Shangri-La Hotel. Here she is:

It's us again! :D
When I was a kid, my mom once told me about the legend of Shangri-La. I believe there are many different flavors of the story, but it's a myth anyway. Since I'm in the mood for story-telling today, let's hear some story! The legend of Shangri-La that I heard from my mom goes like this...

Once upon a time, a group of hikers climbed up a mountain to enjoy the beautiful scenery at the summit. While resting, one of them noticed a cave nearby. He was sure the cave wasn't there during their last mountain hiking trip at the same spot. Since when did the cave appear?

He notified the others and they were all very curious. Since they were adventurous people, they decided to explore the cave even without the proper equipments. Who knows, there may be hidden treasures?

They went deeper and deeper into the cave and it appears that there was a complex network of tunnel right ahead. They decided to turn back because of the risk, but to their horror, one of the group member was missing! They called out to him several times, but there was no answer. Only dead silence :o

They were all very frightened and ran out of the cave to seek help. But after hours of searching, they still couldn't find him and the poor guy is reported as missing.

This poor guy who went missing somehow got lost from the group earlier while exploring the cave. When he realized that he was lost, he knew that blindly walking inside the cave would not help. So, he took out a small ball of thread and tied one end to a rock. Then he continued walking while holding on to the other end. This way, he can attempt to find his way out without worrying about getting back to the original location, in case he fails. Then of course, he can try other routes until he finally finds an exit.

After hours and hours of walking, he finally found an exit! He was so excited and ran out of the cave, expecting to see his friends waiting for him outside. But to his surprise, he saw a fishing village instead. Wait. A fishing village on the summit of a mountain? It can't be right. He couldn't believe his eyes.

He was very tired and hungry, so he approached the villagers for food and drinks. The villagers were very friendly and welcomed him to stay with them. He soon realized that there was something unusual about them. All the villagers were young and healthy people. There were no old folks around and everyone seems to be constantly happy. The place was unusually beautiful, peaceful and serene, almost like a paradise. Since he couldn't find his way back, he decided to stay there.

Actually we are from Shangri-La. Youthful and happy :P
Over the years, he grew old and weakened like any normal human being. But the villagers remain youthful and energetic. It was an unexplainable phenomenon. He realized that this place was not for him. He knew that somehow he has to return to where he belongs, so he packed his belongings and went back to the cave, hoping to find his way home.

Before he left, he told the villagers that he intend to return home and will come back to visit them soon. He then asked what was the name of the village and one of them replied "Shangri-La".

He bid farewell to them and went back into the cave. He followed the thread he left behind many years ago until he finally reached the original spot where he was separated from his friends. It has been many years. Without delay, he started looking for another way out. After many hours of searching, he came upon another exit and this time, it is the mountain summit. He was home :)

He climbed down the mountain and immediately went to look for his friends. They were very surprised and speechless to see him. They thought they'd never see him again! All those years he has been missing, how did he survive in the cave?

He smiled and described to them the fishing village where he lived for the past few years. But they didn't believe him and thought that he was hallucinating. To prove that he wasn't lying and Shangri-La was real, he brought his friends back to the mountain cave and followed the thread he left behind.

After hours of walking, they finally reached the end of the thread. Instead of Shangri-La, it was a dead end in the cave. A dead end! There was nothing at all, only darkness! He was dumbfounded.

Where is the village?

Was he really hallucinating?

How did he survive so many years?

The end.

Nice story, ho? But Sally told me it's abit frightening. Is that so? I love this story so much that I remembered exactly how my mom told me. But I bet she doesn't even remember telling me the story. Haha!

Once in a Blue Moon

Sunset in Punggol
Last Saturday, Sally and I went over to ZhiWei and Hello Kitty Huili’s house in Punggol for a small house-warming / mooncake-festival gathering session. We met up with some friends in a much deserted Punggol MRT station before heading off together. The neighborhood is still relatively new and quiet, but the place looks really nice and comfortable.

Nice chandelier @ ZhiWei/Huili home
Yummy food
We all brought a lot yummy food and drinks for the gathering such as mooncakes, cookies, pizza, sushi, etc. But seriously, nothing beats Huili’s AMAZING potato salad. AMAZING!! It is so amazing I’m sure she’ll be able to start a potato salad franchise in Singapore and become a millionaire out of it. Ok, I exaggerated, but it was easily the most yummy dish that evening :D

Group photo
We spent most of the time there eating, yakking and laughing non-stop. And watching TV too. Yeah, that was the day when Manchester United got their ass kicked by Liverpool. LOL. Anyway, it was a really good opportunity for Sally to catch up with her friends and for me to get to know them, though I’ve met some a few weeks back. Gathering friends nowadays can be quiet difficult, unlike school or college days when you get sick of seeing each other everyday :P right?

Jessline doing her magic
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
At around 11pm, we changed to childhood-mode and gathered downstairs to light up some lanterns. It’s been such a long time since I walked around with a lantern. In fact, I don’t even remember when was the last time I actually carried one. And this time round I get to do it with Sally! Ok, here comes the mushy part. It actually feels very sweet to be playing lanterns with the person I love so much :)

Sally and Me
Take a closer look at our lanterns
After taking some pictures, we decided to call it a day because it was already quite late. The whole gathering lasted only a few hours but I enjoyed every moment and I’m sure everyone else did too. Sometimes I think we just need these occasional break from routine or else life can be quite dull :P

Hopefully there will be another one of these gatherings again soon :) See ya all again!

Rite of Passage

On my mom’s birthday this year, I decided to bring Sally back to Segamat. She hasn’t been to my hometown before, so I thought it would be a good opportunity for her to see the place where I grow up. Of course, Segamat wasn’t the same 10 years ago, but at least it was the place where I spent most of my childhood time, growing up and doing lots of stupid things.

Another reason for bringing Sally along was because I wanted her to meet my parents. Meeting-the-parents is a session that all couples have to go through, unless they choose to elope. That wasn’t what we had in mind, so we had to go through the traditional drill. Since it was their first meeting, I accompanied Sally to shop for mooncakes and Famous Amos cookies as gifts. She was so looking forward to the Segamat trip, although obviously abit nervous, which was totally understandable. My parents on the other side were nervous too ;)

We took half day off on Friday and boarded a train to Segamat. I warned Sally of a potentially rough and tiring journey, but she said the train ride was surprisingly more comfortable than the Aeroline bus that we took to KL. And it departed on time! :D Sometimes the train departure time can delay up to 1 hour, which isn’t very surprising, if you know how our KTM commuter operates around KL city. Read my blog on our first trip to KL and you will know exactly what I mean!

My bro and Irene picked us up at the Segamat train station and we reached home just in time for dinner. My dad, as usual, did his magic and cooked some of his best dishes for the evening.

6 plates of rice. Where did Sally sit? Hint: Bowl of chilli padi ;)
Take a closer look at the yummy food
Me pop and mom
And on the same night, we went out to buy the legendary Ramly Burger for supper.

Yum Yum! Ramly Burgers!
My parents actually went all the way to clean and rearrange the rooms for us. And it has never been this comfortable before! :P

My hometown is a small and boring place, so we spent most of our time at home eating, sleeping, watching tv and playing PSP games. We did spend roughly 1 hour in a local supermarket, where Sally bought a lot of sweets such as Horlick’s Malted Milk Tables “Malties” and Ribena Pastilles candies :D Apparently she’s got a sweet tooth too.

Lunch @ Long Fong Restaurant
On Saturday evening, my parents, bro, Irene, Sally and me went over to visit my grandma. She’s kinda lonely most of the time, so whenever there’s a crowd, she’ll get all excited and happy. Sally managed to communicate with my grandma in Hakka, but I have no idea what’s going on unless she translates for me :o My mom then took out some very old photo albums and showed us how we all looked like some 20 years ago. Sally said that I look very cute when I was a kid, so I guess now big liao, not that cute anymore! :P

Anyway, we celebrated mom’s birthday that night. It was a small and happy gathering.

Mom's birthday cake
Happy birthday, mom!
Bro and me showing our cheeky smile
Sally and Irene standing very straight. LOL, relax
By Sunday morning, we were already packing up to go back to Singapore. It was a short, but sweet and memorable weekend. We were kinda reluctant to return to hectic city-life again, where we do nothing but work from morning till evening :( Boring! Life is slow and easy in a small town like Segamat and we were just starting to get used to it! All enjoyable trips eventually come to end. Sigh..

But then again, that’s not really the end, because my dad’s birthday is coming soon and there will be a second trip to Segamat! Haha!

When I reached Singapore that evening, my mom sent an SMS saying that we’re both lucky to have found each other. She also said that dad and herself are very happy for us :D Nice eh? I guess my parents like Sally very much and that means our future just got a lot brighter!

Sally, this is just another milestone in our relationship. You’ve met my parents and completed your rite of passage. It will be my turn soon! :o

What a nice weekend :)

The 7 Happy Things

Sally has an appointment with a friend today, so I stayed at home. Woke up early in the morning and spent roughly 4 hours cleaning my room. Upside down. Inside out. Cleaned the fan, the cupboards and even the walls.

Surprisingly, I actually threw out a lot of stuffs and my room feels more spacious now. This reminds me of the time when I was in Australia. My last few days in Australia to be exact, when I was packing my stuffs and realized that there were too many things to be stuffed into my luggage bag. So I asked for advice from a friend who travels frequently and she said there are only two rules when it comes to packing up. Rule #1, pack the things you need. Rule #2, throw everything else.

Simple enough.

But ah, if it’s that simple, I wouldn’t have asked for advice. Right!? We tend to keep stuffs that we don’t necessarily need because, who knows, we might need them later on. In reality, we’re afraid of discarding the wrong stuffs. Sometimes we turn the whole house upside down to look for something and THEN realized that we’ve thrown it away :O Ok, anyway, over the years I’ve learnt to just throw stuffs away because more often than not, I really don’t need them :P

However, there are things in life that sometimes we can’t just throw away. Because they are special to us. Perhaps they make us happy. And these things may not necessarily be a physical object. It can be anything - food, music, an event, a person, a place or even a memory.

I have 7 things in my life that I probably can’t live without. And here they are:

#7 Coffee
Category: Stimulant

I’m a coffee-man. A cup of coffee a day keeps the sleepiness far, far away.

Kopi for breakfast @ Hans

#6 Butter Menthol
Category: Candy

Thanks to Jozy, I finally found the ultimate cure for sore throat. And they are only available in Candy Empire @ Vivo City. Go grab yours right now!

Honey-center butter menthols

#5 Beach
Category: Paradise

I love the beach. The sand. The sea. The breeze.

Rainy day @ Sentosa

#4 Metal Gear Solid
Category: Fan-boy craze

Ok, yes, I’m a big Metal Gear Solid fan. I almost bought a PS3 to play MGS4 but a wonderful person came along and poof! Gotta control budget already :P But I’m still gonna get myself a MGS keychain :P They have it on eBay!

20th Metal Gear Anniversary Figurines
Wonder Festival Limited Edition Snake Squares Camouflage Version
Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel & Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops
Metal Gear Solid official novel

#3 McDonald’s McGriddles Breakfast Set
Category: Yummy Food

Again, thanks to Jozy for this one. A few months back, she told me McDonalds came up with this new crappy breakfast called McGriddles and talked about how the combination of sweet and savory just didn’t work. I was curious and went to try it that very weekend. One word - YUMMY! Since then, McGriddles has consistently been my breakfast whenever I go to Sentosa for beach volleyball.

McGriddles :P~
Me happily munching a yummy McGriddles that Sally bought

#2 Magnolia’s Oat Milk
Category: Fresh Milk’s successor

Sally discovered this drink by chance when we went to 7-eleven to grab some drinks. There isn't a word in the English vocabulary that accurately describes how good the oat milk tastes. Run to the nearest supermarket and grab one now. Drink first. Pay later. No regrets. Magnolia’s Oat Milk is the ultimate successor to the fresh milk I drink everyday.

Magnolia's Oat Milk
A row of Magnolia's Oat Milk :O

#1 Sally Siow
Category: Love of My Life

Sally is the nicest person in the whole wide world. And I’m so glad and fortunate to have this wonderful person as my girlfriend. Everything she does for me, shows that she loves and cares for me. Every moment spent with her makes me a happier person. What else could I ask for? Love you, Sally. Love you to the bits!

My darling, Sally
There you go. The 7 happy things in my life :D

How about you?