A Trip to Bintan

Paradise. Absolutely wonderful.
That's right. We went for a holiday. This time we went to Bintan! It was the start of Sally's 2-week break. Although I'm still working, I figured that she would feel bored so why not make a short trip over the weekend?

We booked a chalet at Mayang Sari resort and traveled there by ferry. The journey was OK, except for the occasional choppy seas. But I still manage to sleep throughout the journey :P Not too sure why I'm always feeling tired lately.

Mayang Sari chalet
The resort was really amazing... but maybe that's because it is located by the seaside. And you know how much I love the sea! So, yeah that makes it a bias statement. If you hate the sun, sand, water and all, then this place is probably not for you. Hehe.

It was really nice that also we manage to take an evening stroll by the beach :D Sounds like something I'd do everyday when I retired :P

Our footsteps by the beach!
Since there was a free-loop bus every 30mins, we decided to go to another resort nearby for dinner. And this is a funny story that I definitely have to share :P We took a bus and got off the wrong stop. So while trying to figure our way, we asked some locals working in a restaurant for directions. And it was really hard communicating with them because they probably couldn't understand English well and my Malay is kinda rusty.

So the best thing to do is to wait for the next bus. Right? Yeah, so we sat down and started playing kiddy games and talking about Starcraft. After waiting hungrily for 30 mins, the next bus came and we hopped on again happily. Then guess what? Our destination was less than 1 minute bus ride! It was only down the slope, approximately 50m but we didn't know because it was kinda dark already :P and there were alot of trees :P and we're both short-sighted

Anyway...

There. We're still a happy couple!
Hehe, though the trip was only over the weekend, I believe it made a difference. In fact I'm kinda glad that we decided to go ahead with a short vacation. But that's not gonna be the end because our next trip is to Segamat Resort! Then we'll be heading back to Bintan again to... well, let's leave that for another day :)

Now The Fun Begins!

Yo, everyone! How's it going? I'm still alive and kickin', of course. 3rd week into my new job. So far so good :D

Last weekend was a special one. If you don't know yet, Iluma is about 50% ready now. You didn't know, right? :P Arcadia had its opening ceremony on Saturday morning and we were invited as guest to play-for-free as part of our in-house testing, but... we could also take home whatever prizes we won :P Cool? Yey.

Ribbon-cutting ceremony. Stop staring at the girls.
Welcome to Arcadia
Isn't it cool to be testing out stuffs at an arcade center?
So I brought Sally along for abit of fun and also to introduce her to some of my colleagues. To be honest, I haven't played catch-toys in my life before and that was the attraction of the day! I'm not sure about Sally, but I'm an uber sua ku person. But maybe it's just a girl's thing to be playing catch-toys :P What do you think?

Woo hoo! Free tokens!
Sally in action, hehe those toys are sure hard to catch.
Yes, catching those toys are not easy. We tried catching stuffs on different machines but somehow it's not as easy as it seems. On a particular box full of cute tortoise toys, we took turns and tried really hard to get it. Uncountable no. of times, really, but heck, free tokens to play anyway! :D And of course after a 1-hour battle (exaggerated), we got it!

And... Sally decided to call it "Mei mei" :P
With so many tokens to play, we actually got kinda bored after awhile. So we decided to use up the remaining tokens to "catch" some sweets instead. Hehe.

No brainer. Scoop, push, grab the sweeeets.
Check out our loot!
My colleagues playing Street Fighter IV... and they haven't slept the previous night.
LOL a classic example of games destroying people's lives. Anyway... out of point.
Coincidently, Film Garde opened its first movie screening on the same day too. And we bought movie tickets for only $6 per tix! Yes that's the good thing about a new cinema. But of course, it will only last as long as the promotion period :P And yes, the cinema is so new that it smells like plastic all over and the seats were kinda... hard.

$6 per movie ticket.
It was quite an enjoyable day, partly because I've never had free tokens to play catch-toys before. And fortunately Sally had the time to accompany me, otherwise I'll be so bored on my own. And I guess it's also because we won a plush toy and a bag of sweeeeets :P Plus, the movie tickets on that day was freakin cheap! :D So yeah, it was quite an incrediable experience.

Hug goodbye
View from Iluma, cool huh?
The next thing to look forward to is the opening of Colosseum and of course, I'll be there again :P

I'll be back...

Looking Back

Next Monday, I'll be officially working in a new company.

I spent the last 1.5 years in Great Eastern, my first job in Singapore. Looking back, it seems like a short duration but I've experienced so many things it's almost impossible to write everything here.

Burmese food with friends
On my last day at work, while clearing my drawers and chatting with some colleagues, some old memories did flash through my mind. Most notably, the very first day when I stepped into the company and was paired with a *ahem* buddy. Not sure if it's due to the corporate culture, but most people look hostile and couldn't be bothered about the presence of a new colleague.

Because of that, I made the first move to get to know other colleagues who joined the company about the same time. From then on, we became close friends and we had alot of fun together. Though honestly most people in the company can annoy the hell out of you, others make good, worthy friends. One even became my sweet other half ;) thanks to Jozy the wise.

The legendary note that Jozy secretly left with a box of candies in my drawer
I must admit that most of the time, I get to laugh about someone or something that happened in office. I'm also fortunate to get a lot of help, advice and guidance from (sometimes very unexpected) colleagues. Sometimes I get extra stuffs like chocolates, cookies, thank-you-balloons and whatnot. Things like that keep me going.

The girl I always talk about
Towards the end of my first year contract, most of these close friends of mine left the company, for one reason or another. Things at work changed for the worse. Working on something became more and more tedious everyday. I felt that the things I was doing became irrelevant and naturally I lost my drive and direction.

When I knew that it was time to leave, I decided to pursue a career in something that I love since childhood. Computer games. Knowing full well that I don't have the necessary background and skills to break into that industry, I almost gave up on that idea until Sally pushed me through. And when I got an offer, I told myself to be confident and to try my best. I'll learn as much as I can and hopefully everything will turn out just fine.

Sally holding our mug
This afternoon, myself and Sally went for a movie and shopped for new jeans. When I looked at her, I know that we won't be spending as much time as we did before, but I know our relationship will remain as sticky and yummy as ever. I also made arrangements to have dinner at her place every week and ... well weekends will remain the same :D

Now I'm leaving my comfort zone and plunging into ... challenge zone? Hell I'm looking forward to it.

Love Is In The Air

Happy Valentine's Day :)
Yesterday, we celebrated our first special Valentine's Day together :D

A week earlier, I went to a florist in Bugis to order a bouquet of flowers for Sally. Honestly, it was the first time I personally go down to a shop to choose flowers. Now, why didn't I make an order online and have it delivered to her? Well the reason is simple. I kinda thought that it's more sincere to personally bring the flowers to Sally. It's Valentine's Day! How can anyone ask someone else to deliver flowers to their loved one?

Isn't that a pity? :P If you love a person, YOU deliver the flowers to them. Not pay someone to do such an honorable job :P What a shame.

A bouquet of roses and Me-To-You bears!
I chose a bouquet of red roses and added two little "Me-To-You" bears on it. Perfect. On February 14th morning, I went to collect the flowers and I was really happy with the flower arrangements. Before the lady handed the flowers to me, she tried to put them into a plastic bag - to my horror. WTF was she thinking? Such a nice bouquet of flowers and you put it in a plastic bag? No, I told her to forget the bag and I'll just hand carry it. What? Guys cannot hand-carry flowers meh.

Me-To-You bears. I guess I look like the right bear because I carried the flower.
And for some reasons, I'm on the right again!
I traveled all the way from Bugis to Choa Chu Kang, holding on to the flowers while everyone looked on. And throughout the journey, except for myself, I only saw another guy carrying a flower. And that's it. Nobody else. Hmm... Either I got the date wrong. Or people just don't personally deliver flowers anymore. But I guess it's the latter. Who cares.

Yey, I've got flowers!
When I reached, I could see that Sally was really happy ;) That's the whole point anyway :P In the afternoon, we went out to Crystal Jade for a simple lunch and then we went grocery shopping. Now that's the fun part, because we decided to cook together. And me being the idiot in the kitchen, I'm sure it'll make a memorable first Valentine's day. LOL :P

Here are some pics of the whole cookin' process.

Chef Freaker! Okla, I was just washing the spoon
Not sure what she's chopping. Can't see a thing. Hehe.
Choppin' up da garlics
Sally mixing da voodoo stuffs to make love potion. Ahh..
Taa daa! What do you mean nothing special? It's the combined effort of two people in love.
Now that's what I call special!
Agar-agar for dessert
Okok, honestly, Sally did most of the cooking while I did the amateur stuffs like cutting mushrooms :P har har who cares. But wait. That's not the end yet. At about 10pm, Sally revealed that she actually have something for me too ;) How sweet!

Aww..I've got something too!
A full set of clothes for my new job! For the entire week! :o *gasp*

Sally is undoubtedly the best thing in my life. How thoughtful of her! And I love every single one of them! Of course, since she's my fashion designer, there's got to be a fashion show too. Woo hoo. Here we go.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Hehe, not bad eh? I kinda agree that Sally has quite a good taste for clothes. So next time when I need to buy new clothes, I must definitely bring her along!

Today we celebrated our 2nd half of Valentine's Day watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the Grand Cathay. Quite a touching story with some elements of love. I think it's a very good closure to our first Valentine's Day together. And it was a very, very enjoyable weekend.

Love ya lots, Sally!

Believe

When news spread around the department that I'm leaving for good, colleagues came to me asking all sorts of questions. Most of them just wanted to know where my next stop will be, while some are more concern about the job scope and benefits.

To be honest, I feel that interest plays an important role. How many of you drag yourself out of bed every morning, feeling like cow poo and cursing the dreadful work ahead? I'm one of them. But it didn't use to be like that. I guess things changed. Apart from Sally, nobody really gave me any encouragement when I found a new job. Worse still, there are idiots who say stupid things but let's not get into the details :)

Today, the PM from Sally's team talked to me about my resignation, but I didn't expect him to be too bothered about it. After talking for awhile, he told me that when making decisions, it is very important to have a strong determination and stick to it. Stick to the decision all the way. If you start to fear the potential consequences, then you'll start to worry unnecessarily.

Make a decision and face it bravely. Believe in it and it will be the right one. Hmm..

I believe in anything made of cheese
So why is it that some people are afraid to make decisions? We make decisions everyday. What to eat. Where to go. What to say. What to blog. But some decisions are frightening, especially the ones that requires change. A decision that takes you out of your comfort zone. That's the nature of human beings. When we get too comfortable, we're reluctant to change. We're afraid that we might lose this so-called "blissful" or "peaceful" life and end up in a poo-hole.

But there's no guarantee that the current situation will remain too, eh? So seriously, what the hell?

The second point that he brought up was that this world is never ideal. It will never be. For instance, in an ideal career, we should be doing something we love, earning a good fat salary, having a strong cooperative team *vomit* and having flexi hours. Ideally, of course. But no, there's nothing ideal in this world. So, by knowing this, it can actually help us make better decisions, taking into account a level of calculated risks acceptance and balancing what we have and what we will get. And just be happy! :D

Then he mentioned that the most important thing in our life is our family. Nothing else. Not even the job that pays you a fat paycheck. Because when we work, we're only trying to earn a living. When we're unable to work, the company will look for a replacement. It's a fact that nobody is irreplaceable.

Wa, last time my hair damn weird :P
Our family is important because we're bonded together for life. And we must fulfill our responsibility to support and care for each other. The so-called "family" that companies usually declare is superficial and we're considered a "family" for only as long as we work together.

Lastly, he reminded me that it is never too early to plan for my own future. He mentioned that at my age, I should be pursuing my dreams because that's what I'm still capable of doing. In our later years, we will have less options and by then, it'll be more difficult to do what we really wanna do.

After listening to his advice, I felt that he has all the valid points. When I handed in my resignation letter last week, there's a bit of fear in me. Because like any human being, the unknown is usually a threat - not an opportunity.

Now, I'm ready to face a new challenge. And I believe my decision is the right one.

CNY 2009 Recap

Harlow people. Gong Xi Fa Chai. This year got Fa Chai or not? I bet not. This year economy not too good. Retrenchment here and there. But who cares right :D Recession also still must continue to blog!

Anyway, super hectic week for me. Just got back from holidays and I was flooded with nonsensical work. What the cow.

Talking about cows, CNY this year is kinda quiet. We had a family reunion dinner in Malacca at my grandma's place. Food is good as usual on new year's eve but that's about it. No fireworks, no special TV programmes, no gambling. I spent most of the time in Malacca playing with my aunt's Shih Tzus and easily defeating my brother in Star Wars: Force Unleashed light saber duels. Boring.

C.J. - Cute and hyperactive puppy
J.J. - Blur case Shih Tzu with a mop.. No, that's the tail.
On the 3rd day of CNY, we went back to Segamat. That night, I attended a small gathering with my high school friends in a coffeeshop. As we talked about the old times, I suddenly realized that it's the 10th year now since we left high school. Cow, we're now like friggin old ah peks hanging around in coffeeshops. Who cares.

Steamboat dinner @ Segamat Resort
On the 5th day, Sally took a train over to Segamat. LOL. I'm so proud of her for coming all the way here, all alone. But I was indeed excited. I mean, why not? The previous day when I was napping in the afternoon, I dreamed that Sally had arrived at the train station before Segamat. In the dream, she SMS to inform me that she'll be arriving soon. The dream was so vivid that I jumped up from the bed, with eyes half-opened, almost rushing out to fetch her! Nabeh, just a dream. Have to wait another day :P

But having Sally around is fun. More laughter. More chili.

Sally and Freaker
Hehe
Although this isn't Sally's first Segamat trip, it was the first time we actually took a stroll in a nearby park. We used to just hang around at home. But this time we realized that we need abit of exercise :P Can't afford to be lazy anymore. The fats are all accumulating :P So yeah, here are some photos that I took along the way.

Segamat Resort Park
A small lake, no crocodiles
Jogging track, though it looks just like any regular road
One more interesting stuff that I noticed is, whenever Sally comes to Segamat, my mom would show her photos of my younger years. Like when I was around 2 years old or so. Yeah, maybe because I look cuter back then, and I look more like a monkey now :P Since Sally loves the photos so much, I'll just post some of it here!

Not sure what I was drinking, but definitely not Tiger beer
With my mom
With my twin bro
My career aspiration then, was of course, to be a policeman
Salute! You may call me Inspector Freaker
Again, with my twin bro
Me @ Rock Gardens
Cute? To be frank, I don't remember anything about the photos. But I'm sure back then, I was a care-free kid running around happily without the slightest worry about recessions and weird colleagues. And when I wanted something, I just need to cry loudly and I'll get it.

Well, those were the days!