HK Trip Pics II - Day Trip to Macau

So we took a day trip to Macau...

Looks liks a castle at the back? If I'm not wrong it contains an amusement park inside amongst other things.. Surrounding it are many hotels and casinos...

The 10th tallest viewing gallery...err..in the world? I can't really recall the names nor details of much things in Macau because I was pretty ill that day..

Us in the viewing tower...

The view from the tower..

This is a part of the GLASS floor of the tower!! Not for the faint-hearted definitely. You can literally stand on top of it & look all the way down 58 stories. Looks scary doesn't it..
Probably the most famous site in Macau. Seriously can't remember the name..but it's what's left of a church that was burnt down, and has since become a place of interest.
A lovely view of the sunset in Macau from the top of a museum that we visited.
I really love the whole ambience and feeling of sunset......

HK Pics I

This is the famous Tsing Ma bridge that we were travelling on coming from the airport..

A scenic viewpoint that my parents discovered on their last trip to Hong Kong..

We had seafood at night. Very interesting place..we need to purchase our own raw materials and then look for a restuarant to cook it. Place is called Sai Kung...
One of the places to purchase fresh seafood is right off a boat!
Close up shot of the seafood in the boat...
We only bought 2 octopuses from the boat lady..the rest of our seafood was bought from a nearby wet market. This is my brother and I posing for a shot as my mum and uncle continue with their seafood shopping :)
These are octopuses from one of the stalls selling seafood..I tend to think they look kinda zoned out and funny..hehe..they were swimming reeeeeal slooooooow.... :P
Front view of one of the shops selling seafood..

Back in Singapore already..

Tried posting a short post in Hong Kong but seems like my auntie's computer just didn't want to load up the Blogger page. Haha..so..oh well..
Would love to post up pics of HK and the yummy food, but they aren't in the computer yet. So watch out for a photo post coming soon.
I just realised I haven't posted the Last Episode of "Mount Ophir Trip" up yet..oops.. :P

Anyway, was a nice trip to Hong Kong..met up with all my aunties, uncles and my 8 cousins... and of course, got to eat loads of yummy food!!! The weather was nice and cool...not cold...but cool. The temperature everyday was about 15-20 degrees celsius. So all we needed was a long-sleeved shirt and a jacket. I wore the thickest jacket among my family..because I'm actually pretty afraid of the cold I realised.

The only dampening thing about the trip was an immensely inflamed throat. Got it before the trip, and went there armed with anti-biotics ...which didn't work. Haiz...no idea why. So I just had a super inflamed throat the whole time...swallowing saliva felt as if I had swallowed a piece of razor blade....*ouch* At one point the thought of just spitting out the saliva instead of swallowing it came across my mind.........it was that bad. But I figured that'd be too gross, and of course troublesome.

Had lunch with L today at J8..was a nice simple lunch at Crystal Jade..& received my 1st (& probably only :P) Christmas present. Was a very sweet gesture which I didn't expect...so lunch was my treat :)
People may find it odd, but I really rarely receive, nor give for that matter, presents during Christmas. Hmm..I also don't know why. Was just never a habit I suppose. I mean, I give birthday presents to friends all the time, but Christmas presents, quite rarely. Of course, omitting the gift exchanges during big gatherings lah ;)

So yup, this Christmas, was a nice one. Spent half of it in Hong Kong, and flew back on Christmas night, with enough time for me to send my Christmas sms' out before the clock struck 12....

Going to Hong Kong!

Am currently in Changi Airport waiting to board my plane. Till I get there, tata!!

Hate List!

There are currently 2 things at the top of my hate list:

1. Incessant, crazily erratic and murderous downpour of rain
2. Mad and suffering-from-amnesia cockroach which seems to think that my toilet is its home!!!

*AITUFDFLVKXERFLSDKNFKDSJFIGREA*..........................

Mt. Ophir Trip 13-16 Nov 06 (Episode 3)

As seen from Episode 2, we DID manage to make it to the peak of Ophir, thank God! Would have been such a waste and a big disappointment to the boys if we didn't make it to the top due to bad weather. But, afraid that the weather will suddenly take a turn for the worse, our instructions to the boys was to QUICKLY take the pic and vamoose in 3 minutes!! (the other instruction was to dive to the ground in the event that they felt their hairs stand due to and impending lightning strike..hehe.) In the end we stayed for I think less than 10 minutes..but definitely more than 3 minutes ;)

So this is P and I, obviously happy that we're up at the summit too ;)



















And this is me!!
Check out the sports walking stick in my right hand! :)












On the pic on the left below, is the view from the top of that steep wall I was talking about in Episode 2. P and most of the boys went down the same way they came up the steep wall. As for me, I didn't manage to convince myself that I wouldn't slip on my way down..so I went down by an alternative route (pic on the right) that's beside this rock wall surface, less steep but with the same kinda ropes and lack of safety precautions. So a few of the boys and I went down by the alternative route.




















I don't usually believe in psychoing myself into doing things, but as I made my way down the 2 rock surfaces, I was literally psychoing myself.. "I can do it..I can do it...I can do it..." I found myself repeating to myself. I suppose the slip on the wall the year before really left an imprint in my memory..........but in the end, I made it :) So that was personal goal no. 2 accomplished ;)

One thing about this trip that the previous one didn't have, was bees and leeches. I guess the leeches were around because of the wet weather. But this time round, we met many many bees along the way. And they were larger than the usual ones...commando bees man. Somehow they like to buzz around people..and seriously, I was a little freaked out by them, because of the buzzing sound. Cannot stand buzzing sounds around my ears!! Think 3 of our boys actually got stung....thankfully none developed allergic reactions.

2nd night at the campsite was much better, the weather really held up the entire day, and so during dinner, we all could stand/sit outside the tents to enjoy each others' company. After dinner majority of the cadets retired to their tents. P and I sat outside in the cool weather to chit chat....was really nice and relaxing to be away from busy Singapore and sitting in the middle of the forest in the cool of the night and chatting..

Till the last episode of Mt. Ophir.....tata....... :)

Mt. Ophir Trip 13-16 Nov 06 (Episode 2)

The first evening at Ophir was really pretty cold..at one point, I could see the condensation coming out of my mouth when I was speaking! Almost felt like I was in Genting..hehe. Still remember when I was eating my cup noodle, I purposely stood real close to the stove so that my legs could feel warmer..almost everyone were wearing sweaters.
A pity it was still drizzling at night, so we couldn't have any night activity nor just simply sit outside the tent to chit chat. All of us were back in our tents at 8+pm. But perhaps everyone was excited, or maybe the floor was simply too damp/flooded to sleep peacefully..lotsa cadets were up and talking and laughing into the wee hours of the night....which I seriously think was a bit inconsiderate to be laughing and playing at 2+am in the morning.

So oh well, next morning came and we trekked to the summit. Must really thank R for giving me that sports walking stick. It was REALLY a very great help in the climbing, because it was extra support...as if I had 3 legs for climbing instead of 2 :) So it eased the pressure on my legs quite a bit. Think my 3 weeks of running did help too..didn't feel as jialat as the last time I climbed.

The next personal challenge for me on the trip was, climbing up that steep rock surface with the ropes. I slipped the last time I climbed, because my gloves weren't suitable for climbing, and so I grazed my elbow pretty badly on the rock surface. So that was a psychological hurdle that I had to climb too.




















(On left) This is the wall and ropes that leads to the even steeper wall and ropes in the picture on the right. Bear in mind that, there are no safety precautions whatsoever..no harnesses nothing. So if you really slip and fall off the wall, then it's GERANIMOH.....
Well, I'm proud to say I managed to scale both walls! Haha..though when I was climbing the 2nd surface, I was really quite scared because I was worried about my arm strength. It was afterall quite vertical and not a short distance upwards. But anyhow, I managed it ;)




























This is all of us at checkpoint 7, the one just before the summit. It was also here that our guides told us of the possibility of not being able to reach the summit because of the ominous clouds that were floating in our direction. 4 years ago, someone actually got struck by lightning at the summit because of bad weather, so P and I couldn't take our chances. And so we rested and waited to see if the weather would clear...................















































........................................................and it did :)

Mt. Ophir Trip 13-16 Nov 06 (Episode 1)

Finally I feel like I want to post about Ophir. Exactly one month ago, P and I brought 27 CHS NCC(Land) cadets on our Mt. Ophir expedition.

It was the 2nd time I was going to Gunung Ledang, having gone there a year ago with NCC HQ. But I was still kinda looking forward to going this time, because I was much fitter and we were bringing our own people on this one. Having trained up my stamina for 3 weeks before the 13th finally came, I was eager, but yet at the same time, felt a little anxious when the day finally came.
This time round, I also packed smarter, and brought a lighter bag than the previous trip (or did it seem lighter coz I was fitter..haha..), and so I am determined to make it to CP4 (checkpoint 4) carrying my own bag, and without external help..this was one of my personal goals this time round, coz the last time I went, the guide insisted on taking my bag for me..I must have really looked like I was about to roll down the mountain with my bag the last time round. =/

It was a short bus ride to Ophir, compared to the whole day of travelling when we went for the Perak expedition.





We had lunch at the resort at the bottom of the mountain, packed our rations for the next 2 days, and we were off for the climb.









First so-called obstacle was that loooong flight of steps up..I think it's 500+ steps...survived!











Taking a breather after the 500+ steps up...

















After a short rest, still all smiles :)










The climb up to CP4 was better than I expected, didn't feel as tired as I thought I'd feel. Halfway through it started to rain..so the soil became muddy. Was thinking of taking out my poncho...but aiyah, so ley che. And anyway, most of the bag and my shirt was wet already. So I decided to do without the poncho. For the first time I felt that my efforts to waterproof my stuff in my bag was worth it..haha..I could be rest assured that even without the poncho, all my belongings would be absolutely dry. So we all pushed on despite the rain..crossing logs and rivers once in a while..



The 1st river we had to cross..the guy in the poncho was one of our 3 guides who brought us up..
I think that white blob in the middle of the picture could be a raindrop ;)










Crossing one last river brought us to CP4! Felt happy and proud of myself..and of course, for everybody else ;)
Because of the rain, the floor was damp. All the insides of the tents were wet too =/ But I guess a wet tent is better than none. For some obscure reason, I just didn't take any pictures of the campsite AGAIN. I remember I did the same mistake on my last trip, only like quickly snapping a few pictures on the day we were leaving...haiz. I think due to the rain, I didn't want to climb in and out of the tent when I was wet and dirty so I just dumped my belongings (along with the camera) into the tent. Subsequently, I also just simply forgot about it. But oh wellz, this is what our campsite looks like, picture from my previous trip.














This time round, I had one tent to myself! Haha..that was nice. But the floor was completely wet still...AND, my tent was set up on superbly undulating and sloping ground. So there were puddles of water collecting within the tent, coz of the uneven surfaces..THANKFULLY P brought a whole lot of trashbags..so I managed to line the portion of the tent that I laid my sleeping bag on with trashbags so that I could sleep on a dry surface at least.
Took a super cold bath in the river, with fishes nibbling at my knee..haha...

OK, end of episode 1.
Shall continue another time soon.. :)

If a picture paints a thousand words....

Taken from
http://stickgal.blogspot.com

New Version of Blogger?

Your new version of Blogger is ready!

The new version of Blogger now has all the original features you're used to, plus new post labels, drag-and-drop template editing, and privacy controls. And, it's a lot more reliable.

After you switch you'll need to sign in with your Google Account, but your blogs will stay the same. Their content and layout will not change.

Switch to the new version »

Hmm, I've seen the above notice from Blogger a few times..anyone has switched to this new version of Blogger? Personally I'm always hesitant to make switches like these coz I don't know what could possibly go wrong when you switch (for those who are uninformed, I'm a technology-jinx..what people have no problems with, I could have a godzillion problems =P)
And I don't understand that 2nd last sentence, " After you switch you'll need to sign in with your Google Account, but your blogs will stay the same."
Huh? WHAT Google Account..I DON'T HAVE a google account..so switching to the new version means I am switching from Blogger to Google? Alamak..this is utterly confusing...
So though I'm tempted, I have still not made the switch..haha...

Krabi trip

So some have been wondering where in the world I've zipped off to after that couch potato week..
Haha..basically I've been very busy attending wedding after wedding.. and amidst all the weddings, I squished in a very short but totally relaxing trip to Krabi in thailand :)

And it's ironic, but, there's so much that I want to blog about..like, when I'm out, I'll be thinking "hey I wanna talk about this on my blog... " or "I think I'll take a picture of this to put up on my blog.." and after that when I come home, I forget all about it...or when I do remember, I'm too lazy to do it! Haha..

Went over to Krabi for 3 days this week...totally relaxing and chilling out place. Think I'll photo blog, a bit lazy to write....anyway...we were basically chilling out on the trip ;) All photos below are courtesy of F :)




















So this is me...on a long-tail boat. Its long-tail is actually it's steering and engine at the back of the boat.. S, F and I took this transport from Ao Nang to Railay, an offshore island, the first night we reached Krabi.




















We spent the next 1.5 days in Railay...just look at the water, it's SUPER MEGA clear. And the sand on the beach is super mega soft and nice to step on..unlike the sand we have in singapore..that usually feels a little pricky to the feet. Sad to say there weren't many seashells on the beach though... =/ I love collecting seashells...

Managed to go kayaking while at Railay..and we got lost!! Haha..thankfully roads have markings..can't imagine getting lost while driving everyday. S and I kayaked over to another little island for fun..and while we were kayaking back to Railay..the waves and current pushed us at an angle and we didn't realise it..so we ended up kayaking to one of the beaches which WASN'T Railay. Goodness..so in total, I think we kayaked for 3 hours as opposed to the initial planned 1.5 hours.haha. Believe me, when you're at sea..all islands and mountains look the same -_- Heh, but on the whole, it was a good experience..EVEN the getting lost part..haha..


























See? The 2 pics look similar right?? ;)

OK, time to sleep now. Will post more pics up when I get them outta my camera..

Couch Potato week

Think I haven't been a couch potato for some time. That is, of course, attributed to my work during the term. But being one for too long, also makes you feel bored...in other words, SIAAN.
Haha..ever since I came back from Ophir (somehow I still don't feel like blogging about Ophir just yet), I had been spending a lot of time at home. Over the past week, other than attending a friend's wedding on Mon, and 2-5 & 2-4's BBQs on Wed and Thurs evening, I think I spent the rest of the time being a couch potato & channel surfing at home. Heh.
Personally I consider that a good sign..because I recall that 2 years ago, during the Nov/Dec break, I was feeling stressed out every day as I was so worried about my lesson preparations for the following year. Such was the stress of being a beginning teacher with only 6 mths experience, couldn't really take a proper break even during the hols. So being able to chill out and be at peace with myself for spending time to chill, tells me that I have matured somewhat as a teacher, and able to take time to rest when I should. Afterall, like what all my more experienced counterparts say, WORK can never be finished...

During the couch-potato-week, I decided that I wanted to play the guitar and sing some songs. But, lo and behold...............Murphy's Law sets in................................














I suppose I could still play with 5 strings out of 6...but that's super irritating. So after playing for 5 minutes, I gave up.

Ended the couch-potato-week by going to one of my favourite hangouts, MusicDreamer Live! Cafe at Marina Square.

Most people will probably know this place as Ai Qin Hai, a nice little cafe tucked at one corner of marina square. I love it because of the nice ambience and 'live' singing that's available every night. The cafe opens for business from 6.30pm to about 10.30pm or 11pm..and almost every night, 2 teams of singers/musicians will sing to the audience, 'live'. The teams also take song requests from the audience, which makes it all the more interesting..always nice to hear them sing the song that you requested for. =P Local singer Cai Li Lian & her husband are regular singers at this little cafe too :)

OK, after a week of couch-potato'ing, am glad that I'm finally starting on some work after resting well for one week. Spent some time in school over the past 2 days..tidying up my table and filing up all my materials. Am proud to say I'm 95% done with packing my table!! Haha.. Managed to prepare some materials today too :)

It's currently 2.20am, and...gosh, I'm not the least bit sleepy. This is BAD, I'm tuning my body clock later and later...eeks..gonna have such a hard time tuning it back when school re-opens.

Perak Expedition (Part II - Caving experience)

On the last day of the Perak expedition, we went caving. The initial part of the caving was...very tourist-y. The guide showed us many many rocks which apparently looked like animals, people, etc. Well, some resembled what the guide said it looked like, others....just left us clueless. We walked up and down using man-made staircases and pathways, surrounded by railings that were very helpful, especially when we were walking down loong staircases. Some photos from the cave..not too clearly taken as the camera flash was not strong enough.



























Think the real fun began when we got off the man-made pathways and walked into the dark.....onto sandpaths. Our first adventure, was sliding down this slope.



Looks quite easy? Yeah, now that I look back. But when you first saw it, didn't look all that simple. But the guides made it quite safe, because there was a guide mid-way down the slope (at where the torch is in the photo) to make sure you slid down the right way, another guide at the bottom of the slope to catch you as you slide down :)










After the slide down, our next adventure was "squeezing" through this hole in the ground! Haha, thankfully all of us were slim enough to go through it. Actually, the hole is pretty deceiving...looks quite small, but actually isn't that small afterall ;)














That lead us to the next exciting part of the cave, the WATER. The water was pretty cooling, a little cold in fact...and looked pretty clean... Thankfully the people who went last year already warned us about water-proofing our torches when we went caving...so I was well-prepared with my water-proof bag for my torch and camera. OTHERWISE, both would have drowned later on..














Initially, the water level was ankle-high as seen above. As we went deeper, the water level rose to our calves..and our cave ceiling seemed to be going lower and lower..which means, after a while, the only way to continue exploring the cave, was to literally be waddling/crawling (almost swimming!!) in the water. Haha..no wonder the need for water-proofing. I remember I bumped my head once or twice while crawling in the water, because I didn't see the rock in front due to my cap *ouch*.

(Well, obviously there aren't pictures of us waddling nor crawling since my camera is safely tucked away in my waterproof bag =P )

I think we waddled and crawled for maybe...20 minutes.
Took our rest at a more open area of the cave before we headed back out into the light... :)














Exiting the cave marked the end of our expedition in Perak!
All that was left of the trip was a nice lunch waiting on the outside of the cave, as well as a nice bath at a toilet where we had to pay RM 1 to use.

More pics of the wedding

Woohoo!! My blog finally looks EXACTLY like how I want it to look like, all thanks to YH :) thanks a lot ;) My Christmas countdown timer is exactly where it should be...hee.

These pictures that you see now are all taken by one of my choirmates W's website..he happens to be and old boy of CHS! Never knew he's a great photographer until the recent spate of weddings that we started attending together.




The bunch of us choir people at the church..


















The ballroom at Goodwood Park Hotel...


















Cute little teddy sitting on top of the Ang Pao box..















This is a Q & A game session for the couple..where the ultimate goal is for the groom to do a forfeit, regardless of the outcome of the game. Haha..before you think the MCs were being evil, it was all a ploy to celebrate the groom's birthday, which was just the day before the wedding ;)










My table no. 12 :)















My choir batch..... :)