A Cry in the Night

I just heard cries of help a few minutes ago.... It was so loud that I was distracted from my work. It sounded like some kind of family abuse. I vaguely heard a female voice, pleading for the beating to stop. The shrieking was creepily scary. It sent shudders down my spine. It sounded as if a father was beating up a child with certain tools... not the sound of usual caning. Sounded more like flinging whatever that came in handy at that point of time, furniture, chairs, whatever. I am deeply shocked. My imagination is running wild... badly abused child with bruises all over, mom in the background crying for help while the dad, who was drunk, continues with the abuse. I guess I have watched too many dramas... Perhaps the child committed a grave mistake that deserved punishment and this beating is just a once off occurrence. I am still pretty shaken though... the cries of help were scary... Hope the child is fine.

Shall listen to some relaxing pieces of music to calm my nerves down...

Completed merely 1/3 of my architecture slides with the help of my fren's slides as a reference. Still pretty confused over the terms construction systems and structural systems. So many things to do, so little time! Was too lazy during the past few days. Doing nothing except watching tv, shopping and doing my cs100 notes for like just a mere couple of hours per day. 1 day has 24 hours! Must fully utilize them. Cant feel the sense of urgency yet, perhaps because the deadlines are not that near. Recess week is coming, but that's when all the business starts! Here's a tentative schedule that I have planned. Hope I will STRICTLY adhere to it.

25 September: Forensic research in lib + b-day celebration
26 September: Architecture class as per usual + fyp research
27 September: Mindef talk at hiltons + research for forensic psy + detailed fyp outline
28 September: Finalize architecture slides + research for forensic psy
29 September: Forensic psy field trip and outing with girls
30 September: Forensic psy report + study for cs100 quiz
1 Oct: Forensic psy report + study for cs100 quiz
2 Oct: Study for cs100 quiz and forensic sci quiz

AHH!! Seems like there are so many things to do! 1 week is not enuff... panic! Okay... stay calm yanshuang. No more procrastination.

Side track a bit.... went to H n M on sat... it was really packed! Lunch hour madness. Queued a while for the fitting room (like 10 mins?) In the end I did not buy anything cuz the queue to pay was too long... simply not worth my time queuing just to buy 2 items. But i bought stuff elsewhere! A green cardigan :) My favourite colour. Hahah... Call me silly but I always wish that I can have cardigans of all the different colours..

Mad for Garlic

Here to recommend an eating place! Mad for Garlic! Explore the goodness of garlic in there. Definitely a must go for a garlic lover like me :) Rate it 4/5 stars... Been there like 5 times up till now. Ambience is good, but can be a little noisy when the crowd settles in. No reservation is needed, but if u want good seats, better do so? Went there to celebrate my cousin's birthday a month ago and it's still as good as ever.

The infamous calzone pizza that I will never fail to get.

Cousin getting ready to eat... haha

Other food recommendations: garlic snowing pizza, seafood cream risotto.
Do not try: dracula killer (it's just dipping bread wrapped with a clove of garlic soaked in olive oil. pretty messy and oily)

The End.

Fyp in Progress

Current mood: Excited and motivated

Guess what? I just requested this journal article about change blindness from levin lab! And it was really great that they emailed me the article. Cuz usually these websites would just ignore such requests. All excited and geared up about finding the resources that are needed for writing the 40 page report. Finally I can see some drive and motivation in me :) I guess working on something big individually does really requires some serious self-discipline. It's the wee hours in the morning... and I am happily reading my article on change blindness. Rare!

Beautiful Bali

Everytime I go on an overseas trip, I become more appreciative of Singapore. This time around, it's the same. I am proud of Singapore's CIA, the efficiency of the customs and the helpfulness of the airport staff. Had a short stay at Bali (4 days 3 nite)and although the duration was short, it was a memorable experience (minus the part abt me falling sick during the whole trip and using up to 8 packets of tissue per day). Our driver is really nice, though he did not speak much English. He's humble and polite, at the same time attentive to our needs. He stops the car whenever we asked him to and even added in more activities to our itinerary. Anyway I nv know that itinerary is spelt this way! All this while i always spell it as itinery. Until I was involved in the planning of the itinerary, then i learnt of the correct spelling. HAHA. Laughs. So ironic. For someone who is extremely particular about spelling.

Took this photo with this humongous bear from Harrods from terminal 1! So cute :)

Here's a run through of what went on during the 4D3N. We reached our resort at around 830 pm during the first nite. Hence there was nth much to do. Here's a look at our rooms.

Had to squeeze in that queen size bed with 2 of my other sis..on day 1. while the other 2 took the individual beds! For the rest of the days, I was allowed to sleep on the individual bed as I was sick! Finally some benefits of being sick.

Went to this minimart to get our dinner. Had Magnum ice cream for dinner on the first nite :) cuz it's darn cheap! It's only 10 000 rp (close to $1 plus sing)And guess what i spotted in the minimart! Yes! It's soyjoy but in strawberry flavour! We dun haf that flavour here in Singapore. I am a crazed fan of soy joy :)

!

The 10 000 rp Magnum!
After that my sis and I went for a swim in the pool near our room. Correction: My sis went for a swim. I was just playing with the water. It was a little steep though and the lighting wasnt good. So she swam for a while and came up. Here's us in our bath robes!

A look at the pool. Dark isnt it?

Day 2 started off with breakfast at flapjaks restaurant that is located in the resort.

My breakfast! Loved the crispy thick waffles.

The satellite dish at our resort.

The poolside during the day.
Here's our nice driver, waiting for us patiently while we were 10 mins late. His car is a new Subaru car I think? 7 seater.

Along our way to the first stop, I managed to take some nice photos of the shops nearby. Most were selling sculptures, statutes, buddha statutes. The handicraft is impressive. But I wonder what is their target group. Most Balinese are from low income families and I dun think they would want to purchase such luxury items to decorate their houses. Perhaps it's to attract tourists like us.. to buy and ship it home? Wild guesses.

Our first stop is to this place with this cultural Balinese dance. It's more of a play than a dance. Has a storyline but I could hardly understand as it was conducted in malay language.

This part was kind of r-rated (notice this thing sticking out)... Not suitable for kids. Most of the caucasians around me were laughing.. and their inquisitive kids bugging them for the explanation. Had us laughing for a while. Haha..

Yanfen and I with frangipanis sticking in our hair. Beautiful isnt it?

Next stop is Ubud monkey sanctuary. The monkeys were all around us! Ten times more monkeys than u can see in bukit timah! haha.. Captured some nice shots. One of the monkeys were trying to search for fleas on the other's body. So sweet!

Then we went to the Ubud art market where I bought my straw bag! It's really a heaven for me. I m obsessed with straw bags! Can add on to my current collection.

Had lunch at this Ibu Oka Babi Guling (suckling pig). It's not my type of food.. for this pork hater.. But it's this recommended food to try according to lonely planet. Hmmm guess it's subjective. In the end i ate this plate of vegetables together with rice. BuT! the veg isnt nice as well. They included coconut in it. Weird taste..

This is the plate of vegetables. Totally not appetizing.

The suckling pig dish my sis had.

After lunch we went to take a look at some rice terraces. Not the most magnificent one but still worth a look, according to our driver. Rice cultivation is another means of survival over there in Bali, apart from relying on the tourism industry as a source of income. This explains why entrance fees are required everywhere. Even when we visited the rice terraces.

Chanced upon these cute pinocchio puppets in the shops along the rice terraces. Wanted to buy them on impulse. Luckily I didnt. haha..

Next stop was to this place where we had a clear view of Mount Batur and Mount Agung. The air was icy cold up there, couldn help but shudder esp when I was still having a bad flu. It was real scenic. Magnificent and breath-taking. Cant get to see that in Singapore.

Sisters unite! Haha. I hope we dun look alike....

After that we went to see this coffee plantation and I am proud to say that I tried the infamous coffee luwak! The most expensive coffee in the world. Hmmm but taste wise, I think it's just a stronger version of kopi-o. Cant really taste the goodness in it. Perhaps it's overrated after all?

The luwak itself! So cute :)

Chanced upon different types of coffee. What amuses me was the male and female coffee. The coffee in the pot is the expensive coffee luwak.

Following this was a 2 hour drive to our dinner place... at Jimbaran. Jimbaran is famous for their seafood. The ambience is really good. The restaurant itself was situated near the beach. It was nice to hear the sound of the sea waves. (all the while my sis was freaking me out with the tsunami scare though...)The price of the food was not very ex too. Average 20 sing bucks per person. Try it next time if u happen to go to bali.

Right after dinner, we went back to the resort while we rested till 1 am. Met the driver at 230 am. The sky was pitch dark... the wee hours.. All because we were on our way to see the dolphins, in this place called Lovina and the journey there was very long. A total of 3 hours. The roads were pretty unstable as it was bumpy and I didn dare to catch a wink as I was worried of our safety. Esp when the driver wasnt well rested as well. Wonder how my sisters manage to sleep so soundly during the ride. I kept vigilant throughout.. esp through the winding, mountainous area. We reached our destination at 5 am but the dolphin watching thing hasnt started yet. Had to wait till 6 am as that was the operating hours. Captured some nice shots during the wait.

Finally it's 6am. And we set off to watch the dolphins! First we had to get on board this seemingly unstable looking motorised boat. Haha.. and there were no life jackets provided.So as usual, I was freaked out esp when I cant swim. No wonder we haf to sign this declaration form on accidents.. Haha... nonetheless,it was a great experience to be able to get so close to the dolphins. Couldn capture many shots of the dolphins as they can just appear unknowingly and unexpectedly...The boat ride was 1.5 hrs and all of us except for yanni went for it as she gets seasick easily. Cant rmb the cost. Should be around 40 or 50 bucks sing... The sunrise was mesmerizing as well. My first time catching such a beautiful sunrise!

After this we went to take a look at the Gigit Waterfall, the tallest waterfall in bali (but again how many waterfalls do bali haf? HAHA).

Our next stop is to a temple. We didnt manage to enter the temple as there were prayer sessions in progress. Hence we merely toured around the area.
I like this tree a lot, esp its roots. It's very beautiful.

They haf nice trees in bali, dun they?

After which we went to see the magnificent Jatiluwih rice terraces. A must- see! It's the biggest rice terrace in bali. And there's really a wow-factor. The farmers must have put in lots of time into maintaining the terraces and cultivating the rice crops.

Visited another temple known as the Tanah Lot Sea Temple. As it was built near the sea,the temple was only accessible during low tide. Though it was out of bounds to tourists, it was still a pretty sight. I saw many young kids peddling stuff such as souvenirs, postcards etc. It saddens me to see that they are doing that as a means of survival even at a young age. In addition, most of them were barefoot. It's dangerous to walk on the rocky beaches where there might be pieces of glass and other hidden hazards. My sis bought a couple of cards from them and I believe that's for a good cause.

End of Day 3. A day filled with excitement, fear and unexpected surprises. Haha.

The activities for Day 4 were short and sweet as we had to rush to the airport by 6 pm. The day started off with horse-riding! Something that i looked forward to because it's horse-riding on the beach! No way will I get the chance to do that back in Singapore. Hahaa..It's 65 Usd for 1.5 hours. Totally worth it. A must do! During the drive to the destination, something catches my eye. Yes. Peddlers can just go up to your car to sell stuff! Stuff such as papers, food, accessories etc. It's amazing because they do that despite the heavy traffic. And it's kind of dangerous as well. They have to be very alert. Cars, motorcycles are everywhere.

Reached the horse riding venue! Excited and exhilarated at the same time :)
There were many horses in the stable.

Getting ready.... love this pic as it appears as if my legs are slimmer. haha... praise for the photographer

Fully equipped! Mounting up the horse....

Yeah! Successfully mounted on the horse. Look at how happy I was!

Hungry! Let me eat...

Notice that my guide did not hold on to the reins of the horse...unlike my sisters' guides..Both pros and cons for that. He did taught me how to navigate. But in the end I still crashed into a tree. The horse kind of went nuts during high tide and it just rushed to the trees nearby. As the tree branch was too low, it was inevitable that I crashed into it.

Hahaa.. a good thing that only my arm was injured and i managed to stay on the horse. When my guide noticed what had happened, he then dashed to find me.. He was a couple of metres in front, chatting with the other guides. Anyway we still paid them handsomely as it was really a good experience. I enjoyed it when the horse galloped! It was thrilling and u had to really hold on to the reins tightly. Wouldn mind doing this again next time when I go to Bali for a second time.

The guide (eric) who made me crash.. haha

The best driver in Bali! find him if u are going to bali next time.

Home sweet home finally! On board flight klm08375. The air stewardess were polite and tended to my needs quickly. Overall, I am satisfied with their service.
Camwhoring session again :)

In short, Bali is AWESOME! I will definitely go back there someday!