I miss hawker food. =( I miss the crowd and miss all the camaderie that a hawker offers. I miss seeing people 'chop'-ing seats with their tissue papers packets, umbrellas or even pamphlets. I miss having my rounds of kopi-peng. I miss having good chillis in my food.

Argh I'm homesick again!

*JAW DROPPED*

*DROPPED FURTHER*

can't believe what these people do for full marks.. acting so childish... copying is one thing that we can close one eye of.

The indian trainer was just passing a remark after seeing her paper that it's full mark. He said, " Wow full marks, this means that I have to relook into the paper and find some faults." She immediately snatch the paper back from the trainer and kept saying, "no no no no!". She really snatched it very fast from him and I just gave her a really shocked look! When he asked for the paper, she still went "no no no!". Is it just me over-reacting or wat?

Then cos 2 of them got full marks, they are so happy! Well they copy wholesale from the slides right under his nose, how not to score full marks also. Then kept going on and on about how lenient that guy is when marking and how they managed to get the answer by luck. I dont have a problem with the copying but more like the attitude and the childish behaviour.

I really couldnt believe it. Thank God i still managed to keep my jaw closed in front of them. But i know my look was really in shock!

I definitely have a proBREm with that childish behaviour. They are already so A-vanced (advanced) in age but still behaves like that. And we are in working world for goodness' sake! I am still coping with the shock!

Just a thought of the day! I find it's really inspiring. It's not the amount of bible verses that you know, but how much you include God in your life that makes your relationship and walk with God very personal. Sometimes we just get too carried away doing His work, or just trying to follow His footsteps that we forget to include Him in our lives. It's good to remind ourselves to take a step back and see how much we are including Him in our lives.

How Can I Improve My Daily Quiet Time?

Gregg Farah

Ask the Expert for Guys

Q. I have trouble doing daily quiet times and praying consistently. I want to though. Can you help?


A. I love your heart. And just so you know, I have trouble too. I have times when I'm consumed with God and times when God has to reintroduce Himself to me.

Before I share thoughts from my own struggles, let me ask you a question: Why is this important to you?

Are you hungry for God, wanting to love Him and know Him in greater intimacy? Or do you feel like you're letting others down? You know, other people respect your walk with God, and so you may be trying to live up to their expectations, rather than being more concerned with what God thinks. That's pride, and Jesus addresses that kind of heart in Matthew 23:1-6.

I'm guessing your motives are pure, and you're simply wanting to take the next step with God! But I can relate to that other motive ... the prideful one ... and it's ugly. Don't go there. Instead, here are some things that have helped me when I've struggled with spending time with God.

Don't Miss the Obvious!

Time with God is not a five-minute quiet time or even an hour. Time with God is a 24-hour lifestyle! Sure, there may be times in the day when we get away from our routine to pray or read or journal or sing or ... whatever. But we
need to worship God all the time, when we're in school, playing basketball, going to the movies, laughing with friends ... you get the idea.

Accountability

Sometimes I'm motivated by accountability. Ask a friend to call you once a week to let you share what you've been reading and learning and what God has impressed on your heart during times of prayer. Ask this friend to
pray for you, to be open to what God wants to teach you.

Prayer Partner

Meet with a friend or two and pray for one another, for non-Christians, or whatever else is on your heart. Designate a place and time to meet and give it to God. Not only will you be motivated to grow closer to God, but your friendship with your prayer partner(s) will deepen.

Think About It

Pick one thing from your Bible reading that you can think about all day long. Write down that thought on an index card and stick it in your pocket. When you're walking between classes or have any time to think (30 seconds or so), pull out that card and read it. Let it soak into your brain. By the end of the day, you won't even have to look at the card ... you'll already be thinking about its message!

Mix It Up

Don't get stuck in a rut. There's more than one way to spend time with God. So try something completely different. Draw, journal, sing, take a walk ... whatever. Just do it while focusing on God.

In his excellent book, The Life You've Always Wanted, John Ortberg reminds us that "our primary task is not to calculate how many verses of Scripture we read or how many minutes we spend in prayer. Our task is to use these activities to create opportunities for God to work. Then what happens is up to Him."

God wants to spend time with you and use you to serve Him. Are you ready?

Eversince Nata's blog about the blood type, I was interested about how this blood types thing affect your characters. Well I've heard so much how Japanese and Koreans are always fussing over bloodtypes even more so than zodiac. So here's what I found from one of the website.
____________________________________________________________________

Type A

People with blood type A have a deep-rooted strength that helps them stay calm in a crisis when everyone else is panicking. However, they tend to avoid confrontation, and feel very uncomfortable around people. A types are shy and sometimes withdrawn. They seek harmony and are very polite, but all the same feel that they never really fit in with others. A types are very responsible. If there is a job to be done, they prefer to take care of it themselves. These people crave success and are perfectionists. They are also very creative, and the most artistic of all the blood types, most likely because of their sensitivity.

People with blood type A are also likely to be considered classic "type A's": stressed and conscientious. In anime, people like Hotohori are type A's.

The Third Hokage, Haruno Sakura, Hotohori, Heero Yui, Keiko (Kayko) Yukimura

Type B

People with blood type B are the most practical of the blood groups. They are specialists in what they do. When they start a project, they spend extra time understanding and trying to follow directions than others might. When they are doing something, all of their attention is focused on it. They tend to stick to a goal and follow it through to the end, even if it seems impossible. They tend to be less than cooperative, as they like to follow their own rules and their own ideas. They are individualists. B type people pay attention to their thoughts a little more than their feelings, and therefore can sometimes seem cold and serious.

People with blood type B are often considered more relaxed, freewheeling, and unconventional than other types, although not necessarily to an unacceptable degree. In anime, the genki, off-the-wall types are type B, along with any kind of well-intended character who's ruled by their impulses.

Naruto, Duo Maxwell, Miaka, Nuriko, Tasuki, Sagara Sanosuke

Type O

People with blood type O people are outgoing, energetic and social. They are the most flexible of the blood types. They easily start up projects but often have trouble following through because they give up easily. They are flighty and not too dependable. O types always say what's on their mind. They value the opinion of others and like to be the center of attention. Also, people with O blood are extremely self-confident.

Type O, the most "average" blood type, is considered the best type in Japan.

Quatre, Sailor Moon, Saito Hajime, Kamiya Kaoru, Tamahome

Type AB

People with blood type AB are hard to categorize. They can have characteristics on both ends of the spectrum at the same time. For instance, they are both shy and outgoing. They easily switch from one opposite to another. AB people are trustworthy and responsible, but can't handle it when too much is asked of them. They don't mind doing favors or helping out, as long as its on their own conditions. People with this blood type are interested in art and metaphysics.

AB is considered the worst blood type. In predictability-loving Japan, they're loose cannons. They also like to set their own conditions and reserve the right to drop out when things don't meet their expectations. They're known to be sensitive and considerate—at times—but it just isn't enough to balance out the flaws in this blood type. For a while, some companies tried dividing their employees into work groups based on blood type, and no one wanted to work with the AB group. Anime villains are likely to be type AB.

Uchiha Sasuke, Hongo Yui, Tomo, Trowa Barton, Kenshin

A is most compatible with A and AB.

B is most compatible with B and AB.

AB is most compatible with AB, B, A, and O.

O is most compatible with O and AB

____________________________________________________________________

	Japanese Culture Site
	Jillian Michelle Williams BellaOnline's Japanese Culture Editor

Personality Traits By Blood Type - A Japanese Concept Guest Author - Melanie Shintaku

Beginning in approximately 1930, the Japanese embraced the idea of matching personality traits with one's blood type. This phenomenon is as popular in Japan as the idea of matching horoscope with personality is in the States.

Almost all Japanese are aware of their blood type. The idea began when some in the west were touting the idea that the asian peoples were more closely related to animals then humans, or lower on the evolutionary chain, since type B blood was the predominant blood type in asians and animals. As ludicrous and unscientific as this idea was, it was insulting to say the least. Modern science disproves this obviously faulted idea. In the 1930's Furukawa Takeji (1891–1940) set out to disprove this notion and a new idea was born.

However, the idea of personality traits being influenced by blood type remains. Companies in Japan even had divided workers by blood type.

Here are the general ideas of each blood type. The Rh factor plays no role in the blood type/personality idea:

Type O:
Type O's are outgoing, and very social. They are initiators, although they don't always finish what they start. Creative and popular, they love to be the center of attention and appear very self confident.

Type A:
While outwardly calm, they have such high standards (perfectionists) that they tend to be balls of nerves on the inside. Type A's are the most artistic of the blood groups. They can be shy, are conscientious, trustworthy, and sensitive.

Type B:
Goal oriented and strong minded, type B's will start a task and continue it until completed, and completed well. Type B's are the individualists of the blood group categories and find their own way in life.

Type AB:
Type AB's are the split personalities of the blood groups. They can be both outgoing and shy, confident and timid. While responsible, too much responsibility will cause a problem. They are trustworthy and like to help others.
____________________________________________________________________

Human is really funny creatures. Put them together and there wont be a time when they will not even talk about a particular person, be it friends, colleagues or even ex-collegemates. Most of the times during lunch, I am a very quiet person. Partly because I have no idea what they are talking about. But i notice that they love to talk and discuss or pass judgement about their friends or college-mates. And the things that they say sometimes can be without rationale and sense to derive to such conclusions. Other than this topics, I hardly hear them converse a sensible topic at all. In fact it's always about somebody or the people where we are currently based at. Oh maybe always is too much. But most of the time. The rest of the time, I've already heard how one studied, spotted questions, and then during exam, she only managed to do 1 question and that got her A. And then another one about how she juggled with FYP and this particular module and also managed to get A. Basically bragging to outdo one another or maybe showing off to me? (this one is the too sensitive part of me, i know).

Well see what I mean about human being a funny creature! What am I doing now? I am also talking about people. But just that I prefer to do it with much more sense and analysizing rather than coming to some conclusions on my own.

Yes i do not like them, but I've learnt not to be biased and affected by it. I learnt it the hard way with the Lord kept slapping the verses in my face for a week. It's painful but efficient to get me back on the right track. I still do get affected when they are crazy over details of a product or when they are stressing themselves out of something unimportant. For example, remembering some unimportant formulas, which half the time we wont even use for work. Or simply going to die because there was a surprise test and they have not studied. These things still gets to me but when I get all these attacks, I remember back what verses or the week's devotions topics and I calmed down. Of course there are times, when I cannot take it and still need someone to spill all these things out.

One sad thing is seeing a Christian who has such extreme view start to backslide. And because she has attitude whenever she talks, it is hard to remind her about christian stuff. Furthermore, we are not close so it's even harder to remind her of God. She is always fussing and have no faith in what she studies. And i think even the Indians doesn't appreciate the way she speaks as sometimes it gets pretty offensive and the way she points out things is like saying that the person is stupid. The poor guy was so scared and i think a bit unhappy as well. Afterall this is a MCP country where girls status are basically lower.

sigh.

Well, Diwali is definitely a high profile time for them. The whole of Chennai's night sky is alive with all the fireworks and the whole town is basically lighting up firecrackers. The firecrackers has been going on since saturday. Meanwhile the fireworks started last night. Tonight it is more crazy though, since everyone is trying to finish up all their fireworks and crackers. The sound of the crackers is crazy though. They sounded like gunshots rather than crackers, unlike the usual that i've played and heard before. After 3 days under these conditions, i think i'm beginning to get really irritated.

Well we went over to Ganesh's place this afternoon for lunch at his place. Initially with all the hypes and hoo hahs of the festival, I thought it would be a really lively and bustling kind of things over at his place. I went there to find that we were the only guests there. They also dont expect relatives to come over, and they rather much prefer to stay in for the day. It was kind of disappointing but lunch was nice. His mum made this rice flour cakes and dosai to eat with this daal curry (usually i dont eat this, but as guest i just took some and it was nice) and a variety of sweets. Well i really conclude that indian sweets are just not to our palate. It is extremely sweet and made of ginger. It was definitely not my preferred kind of indian sweets.

The locals place is definitely very small. The house has 1 bedroom where 5 people sleep. The kids sleep on the bed, while the parents n grandfather sleep on the floor. It seems bad that the parents sleep on the floor but this has just been their common practise. I didnt take any pictures of their place as I thought it seemed rude to do so. The area is also pretty rural. They have a mixture of slums and houses at the same area.

This boy here is the son of one of their tenant who is living in the room above their house. He's really a cutie. He kept smiling when he sees me with the camera. He was also excited as Ganesh lit up all the firecrackers. Well I asked him if we could try playing with it since there was nothing much to do in the house as well. It's illegal to play in Singapore and I havent played it for a long time, since I left Indo. So i thought it was fun.

There you go, lighting it up, and then disappearing from the place. And in 15-20 seconds time, it goes BOOOM! it was really really loud! After playing it for 15 minutes, I was kind of deaf by that time. My ears were ringing! And because of it, I had such a bad headache afterwards. In fact it lasts till now. Even after a short nap, it doesnt go away!

I need a haircut! I should have them cut just before I came here. But those moments were just so busy with the house, couldn't even have time to go for one. Now it's pretty long and pretty irritating! And no i'm not even entertaining the thought of cutting them here ok! I'm not so adventurous to that point.

Anyway 1 more week to seeing my friend and more supplements from home. She definitely has lots to choose from, since we have lots of things that come from Indo. She had some food supplies from Jakarta, i have mine from Surabaya (thanks to Diah who just came back from my place), and also also from Bandung (nata's mum is in sg..). I'm not sure if she's bringing everything though! I wonder how is she going to take everything. But of course it'll be fantastic if she's bringing all of those stuff. I'm really looking forward to her arrival and seeing someone familiar and also someone whom i can share things with! And also to knowing more people especially with the group that is coming with them.

I believe in Faith! I believe in having faith in God! I believe in having faith that my friends and family would be there for me. But as much as I want to have faith leaving my life in the hands of doctor, I am cautious. I believe that you should know the medicine going into your body and what it does. Not for self-medication purposes, but more of understanding what you are feeding your body and its effects. I dont understand those who are taking medications and yet they dont know what is it and just completely disregard the importance of knowing it. This is why so many got into the case of taking the wrong medication and yet they continued on. When it doesnt work and add on, that's when they blame the doctors! Yes the doctor should be blamed, but we are also responsible in checking whether our medicines can address the problems, or learn more about it. If it's wrong, at least you have not harmed your body!

There's a DISTINCT difference between eating left-over or overnight food and food that has gone bad! Amazingly, this is a fact that my 2 colleagues do not get. Call me insensitive, call me biased but i think they are too much! So much for higher education! And being proud of achieving better grades than me.

Over lunch today,

KK: Marlin, does the chicken that you bought has smell already? (she asked because a few days back our fridge got spoilt, so everything was defrosted and probably affected the meats that they bought.)
Me: Nope, mine was still fresh, cos i bought mine later than you guys, so the spoilt fridge didn't affect it much.
KK: Oh.. we are thinking of giving you our meat (no i dont want ur flesh!) cos I think it has gone bad and i'm scared our tummy cannot take it. (AND WHAT MAKES YOU THINK MY STOMACH CAN TAKE IT???? IT'S TURNED BAD FOR GOODNESS SAKE!)
Me: Of course not, throw away la!

Dont you just feel irritated. Furthermore she asked with so much innocence in her sentence and tone, just like a dumb blonde.

Well, we just got an invitation to spend the day during Diwali, or better known to us as Deepavali, at a colleague's home next Monday. So it'll be interesting to be among the locals celebrating the festival.

A lot of people have misunderstood Deepavali as the Indian New Year, but actually it is the Festival of Lights. And they are celebrated just like Hari Raya or Chinese New Year. They go and visit their relatives' houses and wear new clothings. But these are just the thing that I know. So being invited to take part and witness how it is really celebrated is pretty exciting. At least I'll walk out from the house knowing another culture, rather than spending the day just going out shopping.

Last week or 2 weeks ago, I ate this paper dhosai that's actually wider than me! Crazy right! But it's really thin so i cant taste anything in that dosai except for the cracker/biscuit taste.

Well, it was another stay-home weekend for me and in a way, I like it. Cos it's the time to have the house to myself, and the kitchen to myself too. The drawback? I kept making something and eating and eating.

Today i decided to make bread and pudding, but it was too sweet in the end. Well i wanted to make a caramel bread and pudding, but apparently while making the caramel, i added too much water and my caramel became sugar syrup instead. But it achieved the correct look and texture, just that maybe i should add another egg in.

I also went down to the supermarket to see if I can find some sauces or something for some taste in my beehoon or other stuff that I cook. I've been relying on this Ching's chilly sauce, which taste kind of like tabasco, for cooking most of my stuff. It's not too bad but after a week, i tot it will be good to find other things as well. I was thinking of getting mustard, but after bumping into a treasure in the supermarket, i completely forgot abt it and really regret not looking for it. I had wanted to make some mustard chicken. So anyway the treasure that I found was beef salami and beef sausages. When I saw it, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Beef!! And yeah it was really beef and I was so happy! Instantly bought 1 of each. Just wanted to make sure that it is nice. I've just tried the salami for supper, and it was good. so definitely one of these days when im there again, I would buy them again. Just the thought of eating it with steaming rice, it was already killing me. For rice, apparently we've found the rice that is similar to the one that we normally eat. So probably the months ahead will be better.

For the past few weeks, my food intake has been like a routine and it was unhealthy of course. Mondays normally i'll get KFC chickens and a Zinger. Tuesdays it's time for instant noodles. Wednesdays cook roasted veges and chicken. Thursday time for pizza delivery. Friday either we eat out, or another instant noodle. Saturdays, cook roasted vegs and chicken and fried rice. Sundays, the one which i always look fwd to, beehoon day, where i cook 2 servings to last me through dinner, sometimes with chicken soup.

From tomorrow onwards, it shall be different, hopefully. I would definitely start with my salami and rice, with fried eggs and ketchup! Simple and to the point! What follows the day after, depends on how good is the rice.

I love it that now time is really going pretty fast! Splendid. Oh and it's exactly 2 months from now that I'm going back. Just realised it's the 20th today. 21st it'll be exactly 1 month that I've stayed here.

A LOT OF GRACE
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Job 17:1--16

You know why I love the Bible? Because it's so real. There's a lot of fog rolling into Job's life, just as in our lives. On this earth nobody "lives happily ever after." That line is a huge fairy tale. You're living in a dream world if you're waiting for things to be "happy ever after." That's why we need grace. Marriage doesn't get easier, it gets harder. So we need grace to keep it together. Work doesn't get easier, it gets more complicated, so we need grace to stay on the job. Childrearing doesn't get easier. You who have babies one, two, three years old---you think you've got it tough. Wait until they're fourteen. Or eighteen. Talk about needing grace!

I'll be painfully honest here. If I called the shots, I would have relieved Job five minutes after he lost everything. I'd have brought all his kids back to life the very next day. I would have immediately re-created everything he lost, and I would really deal with those sorry comforters! I'd have cut the lips off of Eliphaz after about three sentences. And if that didn't stop him, I'd take the neck. I mean, who needs that clod? But you know what? You would never mature under my kind of treatment. You'd just enjoy the comfort. We'd all go to picnics then on a motorcycle ride and have tons of fun. That's my style. Which explains why Cynthia says to me, "Honey, if everybody handled things like you wanted, all we'd bring to the party is balloons. Nobody would think to bring the food." As usual, she's right.

So, the fog's rolled in. As all hell breaks loose, grace takes a hike. Welcome to the human race, Job. But the wonderful old song says,

Thru many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.¹

That's the ticket. Even in the fog, grace will lead us home.

Words and terms that I've been hearing really often even when I'm not in !

To achieve a feel [fail] mode action, we need to relieve the priees-sure (pressure) of the fru-id (fluid).

As the fru-id (fluid), we can use oi or water as the medium.

to be able to achieve a good shutoff, the vave (vaLve) needs......

Sore-noid coi (solenoid coil) works as..

and their fave phrase which is flawlessly said, So what does it means is.....

@.@ not saying that I'm good or perfect but sometimes, it just makes u cringe to hear it from a graduate's mouth. No pun intended anyways.

a short note, something for ME to be happy about. It seems that instead of 5 weeks time, it turns out that my mate is coming in 2 weeks time. Isn't it such a good news? *grins*

Ms. Kentut is coming...... =) bring more food! more instant porridge please! and please please load urself up with nice food these last 2 weeks. pretty important! enjoy rice, enjoy the sweet taste of pork, stop eating chicken and eat more veg as well. Important, dont even think of eating pratas and curries. Bring lots of snacks too, cos there's not much things to snack on except for pringles. And important important! Dont forget the bakwa!!! important!

After 3 weeks here, I've finally found 1 indian food that I've come to like in the foodcourt downstairs. I like the chicken briyani from Pathamko stall. It's the closest to the Singapore style so far. The first time i tried was not from this stall, it was dry and was too flavoursome with all the spices that they used. This one is really much better and although they used the usual hard rice, but I got no complain since they cook it till pretty much like our usual rice. And then they give curry with it, so not dry! And it's not expensive as well, so can save up more for other stuff.

Well for the rest of the food, they are either too dry, or too vegetarian, or just plain expensive to get fast food all the time. The fast food prices is like double the normal indian food. And actually the indian food is also very expensive for most of the workers here. SO wat they do is to bring food from home.

Anyway I'm still surviving well here, just that at times the colleagues just drives me nut.

“The lip of truth shall be established forever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”
Proverbs 12: 19, King James Version

“Sarai: There’s No Such Thing as a Little White Lie”

1. When God gives you a purpose for your life, follow His path or you might end up in Egypt.

2. There’s no such thing as a little lie. Little lies can cause great suffering.

3. Each of us must choose what is right, no matter what threats hang over our heads.

4. Just because we can’t see God’s solution to the famine in our lives, doesn’t mean God’s food basket isn’t filled to over-flowing waiting for us just around the next corner.

Tomorrow, we’re going to leave Egypt and find out what lessons Sarai learned about hospitality and God’s gracious love.

“A half-truth is a dangerous thing, especially if you have got hold of the wrong half.”
Myron F. Boyd

Read the Devotion at http://www.christianity.com/devotionals/TransformGarden/11582847/

The comfort of my room. While the rest are out shopping, here I am home alone and finding true bliss of rest and comfort of my room. Well in a way, my room is a way of me running away from the fact that i am away. So i really prefer to stay in after a week of going out for dinners, and work. I do want to sight see but it just seems that i've been going out a lot. I prefer to go out occasionally since it's like 10 more weeks here. Oh may i add its 5 more weeks to Ong coming over.. *grins*

Asian investors upset

'The 1987 crash was over in a day or two, but this one is like a death by a thousand cuts,'
- Mr Brian Ingham, who helped start Sydney-based Nucleus Global Investors in Aug.

This must be one of the worst crash over the past few decades. Especially with the extend to how many days it's been falling. Thank God I've really found my job and at least I'm spared with the unemployment setback.

Well I'm hoping that it will all be well in Indo and not have a repeat of whatever that happened 10 years ago. The inflation seems to happen every 10 years or so.

___________________________________________________________________

Side track.

Well it seems that putting all my ambitious travel plans on hold except for the Taj Mahal trip. The locals colleagues have been telling us not to go anywhere by ourselves or even by the travel. While me and another colleagues understood their care and concern, one just seems a bit adamant. Thinking it's just another singapore kind of place. There are only 3 of us, while Indians who come and disturb us always comes in a groups of guys. Obviously me and the other colleagues are not so keen on travelling anymore after some incidents that happened while we were out sight seeing. The local colleagues were very serious in telling us not to put ourselves in danger. So somehow this one colleague is just either really no fear (which i think its otherwise) or just really plain stupid.

The other thing is I've also been reading the numerous number of bombings around. Haiz. For now i'm waiting for the other batch to come as they have 2 guys and with more people travelling it's definitely much safer.

Arghh with more and more days spent with her, it's also pretty vexing cos the way she thinks is really like a dumb blonde. I know once i dislike a person, i am VERY VERY biased. Maybe i am in this case. But really it's really irritating me and really exasperating. But today's devotional was talking abt having the patience and knowing that others can behave in our way all the time. So tolerate! Just that at times it gets unbearable, when u know she wants something but still say anything and then in the end still want to drive her point! For me i am an anything person, but its genuine. I prefer to let others choose something that is fun or comfortable for them unless it's really not my kind or type. Then yeah i'll voice out. So down here, since she always say anything, I become the i want this and that. Since they take turtle time to decide everything or to do something. Haiz i'm getting more and more biased. Let's stop here.

Now i have trouble sleeping! just cant sleep no matter which position i take. Oh great and tomorrow i still have work! argh..

Well the sight seeing trip was interesting, but the sun was just too unforgiving. Cos i forgot my bottle, so even after buying two bottles of water, i still succumbed to the heatstroke. So the whole of today was just feeling the after effect. Tired and lethargic. Pretty bad actually. So much so that after coming back from work, i had dinner and normally a game of scrabble with Ong and probably a movie. But i couldnt last and kept falling asleep at 830. So i went to sleep, but normally when i sleep early i just tend to wake up in the middle of night. True enough! I woke up after 2 hours.

I got a bit burnt in the end. It doesnt really show in the arms or legs, but more on my face. Tomorrow we might be going to search for a japanese restaurant just nearby our place. Let's hope i will find it.

Mahabalipuram, it's an area with lots of stone-carved temples. It's a huge area! The temples are at the beach side. Almost like Tanah Lot but i think Tanah Lot nicer. The nice nice beach pictures are taken before we went to the temples. We had lunch at the hotel resort and had a really nice lunch while we were there.

Dakshina Chitra, a handicraft museum, which has a lot of huts and a lot of handicraft. I must say they are all pretty similar to all the rest of Asian cultures. Similar to Malaysian, Indonesian culture but less glamour and vibrancy i guess. But still it holds pretty interesting things.

Btw click on the pics to look at another pic. But this doesnt contain all the pics. It's sort of a preview kind of thing. for the real thing go to the website itself k.

An excerpt from Channel NewsAsia:

SINGAPORE: Changi Airport will be corporatised next year in a bid to boost its status as a leading aviation hub. The move will see the creation of two entities – a regulator and an airport operations company.

In an increasingly competitive global market, Changi Airport said it must corporatise to stay flexible, expand overseas and boost its standing as an aviation hub.

Next July, a new company will undertake the operational functions of managing Singapore's airport, including its emergency services and investments in foreign airports.

The company will be wholly owned by Temasek Holdings, which is paying an as-yet- undisclosed sum for Changi's assets. The new company will also pick up the construction bill for Terminal 4.

I read the first three para and got curious as to which company would be getting the control of Changi Airport. At the 4th paragraph, i had to let out a laugh. Just as expected!

Well read more in http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/380867/1/.html

It's 2 am here and I cant sleep at all. Even after prayers! A lot of thoughts are just running in the head, especially with a tummy that is about to rumble. The thoughts just start to drift towards food. Images flying past. The nice and cosy feeling of home! Then the thought of cooking, but the realisation of being so hungry and tired, probably go and eat out or dabao some cai fan back. Then start the images of steamed rice floating by, sweet and sour pork ribs, green veg. All started to fly past! All the simple food as much as i miss my beef and pork and all the sashimi. I think deep down, i really miss a familiar and simple meal.

Oh boy that is still 11 weeks more.. arghhh

Look at their version of Maxi Cab! What a vast difference right!!

Their bus-stop. This reminds me of Indo's bus-stop!

The traffic light, which I dont see that often at my side. Apparently, in the town area they are more common.

So it seems that India has a lot of holiday here. Just yesterday it was Gandhi Jayanthi meaning, Gandhi's Birthday and next wednesday it is another religious holiday. At the end of this month, it is Diwali, or to us better known as Deepavali, the Festival of Light. I am interested to find out if there are any place to visit during that Festival of Light. I want to take pictures on that day.

So far, it's been pretty boring with no one taking us around and havin a driver with little knowledge of english, it's very hard truly. It's boring cos my 2 colleagues prefer to go places to shop, whereas I dont find that they are good shopping partners. They take a long time to consider and they are bad at bargaining. I prefer a 'chop chop' shopping and I like to be able to browse through things fast or at least not too long. They wanted to attempt this bazaar streets markets on their own and I was appalled at the idea cos they are like too ambitious and I am pretty definite it's a place where they will just cheat us out of our money. Furthermore, it's a place which will be VERY crowded, STUFFY, SWEATY and _____, u know wat comes next. Being the white ones around, we are preys to pickpockets and many other things. And i'm definitely looking for this kind of experience without someone local to bring us. I want to shop for cheap things and not be cheated or prey to all those who want to make money out of us. And then probably half the time i have to bear their faces of disgust at this kind of places although they want to try this and that. I hate it cos they somehow just forget that they are on foreign land and just start making faces! SO insensitive and inconsiderate. SO much for wanting to experience a different culture.

I rejected the offer to go out tomorrow since we had planned to go out on Sunday as well. I would rather stay home by myself and enjoy my safe haven at home. In the end, since my indian colleague has offered to bring us there, so i relent only provided that we are not going out on Sunday. It's tiring to go out on both days and it's not as if we are lacking of time to check things out.

Actually now I am checking which days i have long weekends on. I would prefer going to another city to see and have a feel of it. I would love to try their trains to some other cities. But we'll have to see. I am wondering whether I should just go on my own and have a look of the other cities. But I can imagine how many people would be screaming at me! haha. I shall check with my colleagues which city would be worth visiting by train.

I am interested to go to Bangalore and Gujarat since both are apparently the silicon valley of India. However it seems that there are quite a few bombings in Bangalore. So i dont think it's such a safe place to go. Apparently it just got hit by another bomb just last week, i think. So i dont know. It's only the 2nd week. Oh and it means another 11 weeks to go!!! yay!!

If only fresh stuff can be shipped over, I would want

• Beef, lots and lots of it
• Pork!
• BK Beef Whopper, at least 2 to satisfy the craving
• Roast Beef Subway
• Bak Chor Mee
• Bak kut Teh
• SOUP! bai kut soup!
• Green veg, be it chye sim, kai lan, kangkong.. bring it on!
• Steamed fish!
• Mee goreng
• Steamed rice!!!!