The Running Man

Scuba Diving in Cairns (Great Barrier Reef)

Sometime in Jan/Feb of this year we went to Cairns to see the tropical far north Queensland. Due to unfortunate misunderstanding, I accidentally deleted all the Cairns photos (silly me). Needless to say we had great fun and good food (Cairns is very touristy and there are lots of Japanese everywhere...even an LV store! of course). However, we do have the most important pictures...those of us Scuba Diving. It was Lil's first time and considering she wasn't sure of the water...she did very well! and actually went down to depth with me. I am so proud of her... Anyway here is the proof...pls watch this space for future updates on the Cairns trip because I went back there in May this year...

There were so many good photos :P very sad to have lost them...but hopefully these photos capture the moment...haha

Perth, Singapore and Thailand Trip Part 3

After a night of 'clubbing' we woke up again to meet up with a couple of Lil's friends who had come from HK...yupz you guessed it for Roti Prata right outside Thomson Rd (Roti Prata House), we had soooo much delicious food again... haha its all about eating :)

After that we went...yupz back to Vivo city for more shopping (Lil really loves the place and I can see myself going back there again...its like Orchard Rd all in one large shopping centre). After a day of hard shopping...

Family dinner at SICC..

Chilli Crab again at a family lunch the following day at some chinese restaurant near Orchard

Good times..

Dinner at Adam Road markets...we really abused the AUD to order twice as much as any normal Singaporean :P Lil also just loves the A1 Nasi Lemak stall at Adam Road...had satays, stingray, char kway teow! so much!!!

The next day we left for Thailand to chill and eat and abuse the AUD even more! haha...because most of my readers have been to Thailand/Bkk about a trillion times I won't bore you with details of the trip except to post up some photos with comments:

We are in Thailand (Lil with a statute growing out from her head! :P silly joke bw us)

on ah xian's advice...we searched for Soi Polo Chicken...

which deserves a post of its own! see that Yish!

What we ordered

Do you see that chicken Yish!

Us with Soi Polo chicken

Suan Lam night market entertainment..

Our hotel - Grand Sukumvit!

Can you see the bathroom...its just glass :P

Us in our bathrobes

Lil in the morning.. :)

Random Bkk life on the streets...towards MBK

Massages at Healthland Spa! Never slept so well before... haha

One of our many breakfasts at our hotel

The staff making our omellets... Unfortunately this short getaway had to end and we headed back to Singapore after about 3 days in Bkk (it was only a short trip:P)

Lil and her Popiah (another one that she absolutely loves) for breakfast

Me busy organising some last minute meetings

Us at the famous Har mee place...somewhere along Arab St

The Har mee..oh so deilicious!

Lil met up with her friend who was moving to Indonesia :P...I think it was at Food Republic at Wisma

Met up with the old PwC gang for coffee...just as we were leaving SG :P Thanks guys for coming out to meet us!

one final Singapore meal at Adam Rd

One last peanut pancake for Lil

us at Thompson Plaza

Us at the airport...thanks to Maxy and Judee for coming to see us off (and the chicken rice)

Back in Perth, Australia...for mum's home cooking (pretty much the only home cooked food we have had in a couple of weeks :P) haha

Perth, Singapore and Thailand Trip 2007 (Pt 2)

Hi all sorry for the long delay between my Part 1 and Part 2, the week got so busy for me here at the firm - affidavits to draft, client advices to put out, chronologies to amend, financial data to be analysed, it seems like there is a never ending 'to do' list now...oh well :p I cannot complain I suppose, its better than not doing anything and rotting away, now at least the day goes by so fast. So without further ado, here is the second part of our trip to the above-mentioned places...

After leaving the sunny state of Western Australia, Lil and myself boarded a Tiger Airways flight from PER to SG, the cost A$500 return! now that includes taxes and I suppose since I was in Perth (for Suey's wedding) I'd might as well take advantage of the cheap flights. Now all I can say is that Tiger is really basic, but I suppose you get what you pay for :P. We touched down in Singapore at about 2am in the morning, hanged out at the airport for awhile (because no shops were open and I didn't want to disturb my aunty) eating BK (Lil just loved the huge omellete breakfast burger...we don't get that sort of BK stuff in Australia :P) The picture shows us on the free shuttle bus at the Budget Terminal (SG) heading towards T2 (where there was food at 2am in the morning).

After waiting for awhile, we headed off to my Aunty's place....then after dumping our stuff there we headed off for our first meal of the day...Roti Prata @ The Roti Prata House along Thompson Rd (Readers of my blog would know I just love Roti Prata and if I was given only one meal in SG...prata would be it!) Such a simple concept yet so delicious! :)

Lil tried an Egg Prata (her first time and found it was delicious..do you see that Yish?) while I had 2 Kusong + Teh Tarik. After breakfast (we would eat prata for breakfast at least 2 more times during our trip)...we headed off to my first destination...PwC!!! haha...yes it was strange going up to the 14th Floor again and seeing (those that were there in office or still at PwC) people, colleagues, secretaries, Bala, partners again...they all remembered me! (mainly coz of my aussie accent perhaps?). I even went to see my CM..now partner, Daniel Khoo and my partner OCK! they asked me about what I was doing now, etc and even told me to drop them an email next time I was coming back to SG so that they can arrange lunch :) ahhh...how sweet! After PwC (didn't have enough time to see all the floors and people...eg. GTS, Typing pool, etc :( sorry next time)..we headed off to a nearby SG attraction:

the merlion. We took our normal touristy photos there...

Afterwhich, we headed off to...Orchard Rd for some traditional SG shopping along Orchard...stopping for somethine else that I missed (and Lil really wanted to try)..MOS Burger! specifically the rice burgers...yummm..yummm haha

of course a trip to SG wouldn't be complete...without a game of volleyball (when I was in SG I usually played this every Wed night :P)

The place has moved to another location and (sadly) the people I use to play with aren't there anymore or don't go as regularly...but thankfully Julz and Bren were still playing and jioed me for a game... played ok but didn't have my indoor shoes with me or my knee pads :P haha. After the volleyball game, as it is tradition...we went to eat a late night snack!

prawn paste fried chicken

some kway teow (recognise it Yish?)...

Thanks guys! Ok, now here are some of the other photos from this leg of the trip (with comments) especially the type of food I ate :P hahah

Chai Tao Kway lady

yum Yum...

Now Lil loved this for breakfast... fatty but so nice!

Mee rebus

nasi lemak...n
ow we had that much food just for breakfast (I suppose its coz its different mentality when you are earning A$ and use to paying easily A$10 per dish...what is S$2-3 per dish..haha...very bad on the waistline!).

Lil's favourite sign (from a marketers perspective) in SG..we went to Vivocity (my 1st time :P)

roti prata maker at Food Republic @ Vivo

Lil texting her friend to tell her how good the food is!

nasi kunning... yum yum

chicken wings... see that Yish?

Later that night we went to Mustafa to look for Lil's Saree (she had an indian wedding to attend back in Australia)...I must say that looking for Sarees was an interesting experience and you sorta got to know a little bit more about this indian wear (its more than just a robe you wrap yourself in :P) haha

Had prata again that morning... milo ping!

me my uncle and cousins (the baby cousin is the latest addition)

cute huh :)

then we went back to Vivo! (it was huge and so many good bargains and shops that we both spent almost 2 whole days there..and still didn't finish every shop :P let me tell u...I think we both boosted the SG GDP by half a percent that trip :P haha). Later that night, we met up with friends at East Coast for...

Yupz...Singapore Chilli Crabs, Black Pepper Crabs and Oatmeal Prawns! my favourite! :) almost the entire reason why we came to Singapore for

After Dinner, we went to MOS...for some clubbing which I had missed...

Thanks Guys! :))

Perth, Singapore and Thailand Trip 2007 (Pt 1)

Ok, after your persistent questions about why I wasn't blogging as much these days (mainly coz I have been busy with other stuff, volleyball, planning my next trips, generally got too much happening to catch up with the blogging duties)...I shall now update you all on my 'recent' trip to Perth, Singapore and Thailand in December 2007 (hahaha...Yish, better not look!). My lovely Lilian was coming with me! (it was our first overseas trip together so it should be a good 1). My reasoning for going to these places were: Perth - my good friend's wedding (Suey!!!) which I promised I would never miss :), and to visit my parents and bro with Lil, Singapore - see SG which I missed, especially the food and my SG friends (also used the Tiger air flight from PER-SG which is pretty cheap), and finally to Thailand because I wanted to just use my A$ to get a cheap flight...even cheaper :P haaha. So without further ado, here are some photos of the trip (there were numerous ones) with commentary where possible :)

Lil outside Perth airport...we arrived at about 10pm.

Next morning, I brought her to the fantastic Cottesloe Beach (see how white the sand is, and there is almost nobody about) to show her the comparison to Bondi beach in Sydney...she was impressed! :)

Met up with Andrew "The Playa" and Kevin "Techno Man" for breakfast at the famous (amongst locals) beachside restaurant..the Blue Duck.

Had the famous Eggs and Salmon benedict and the Blue Duck big breakfast (see that Yish?)

Seaside by the beach :)

Next day, we prepared for Suey's wedding (that photo was taken in our hotel room) ceremony at my university (a very scenic place where there is always lots of weddings every year)

Us with the bride (Tina) and groom (Adrian)

All of us either lived in the same neighbourhood, went to high school together, played basketball weekly together or went to uni together...a good bunch of friends and definitely worth me coming back to catch up with them, to celebrate Suey's wedding!

We separated from the main group... to take some fake 'wedding' photos of our own (where we thought the wedding photographer would set them up).. :P hehe

Next I took Lil to 'Kings Park' which is this massive nature park thats located overlooking Perth City.

Perth

Summer is coming! beautiful weather we had...

We got back to the hotel, just in time to rest ... and change for the wedding dinner that was on that night at Burswood Convention Centre (Lil looks fantastic in that blue dress)..again that photo was taken at the hotel where we stayed. Here are the photos from that wedding night..

Yish, can I just say...that the food was superb...top dollar...there was sharks fin, abalone, yabbies (mini cray fish), fresh fish...delicious...haha

Overall a fantastic night, and the newly weds looked very good and fantastic...wishing them all the best! they deserve it! :)...we both had tons of fun! and it was good to dress up formally once and awhile!

The next morning, we checked out and I brought Lil to Margaret River (this is the famous WA wine growing region, that also makes Simmo Ice-cream...delicious..with so many flavours!)

Sharing an ice-cream (I was more concerned about the ice-cream than the camera! :P haha)

Lil outside the doors of the Evans & Tate vineyard...

At a vineyard...

Lil with the West Australian flag 'growing out of her head'! haha ;)

This photo is for you Yish...we had this at one of the famous Vineyards ... Sandalford... its a beef wellington! a delicious piece of beef wrapped in a pastry...yummm... can you see it Yish?

Lil's dish, a quail (its on the RHS) and some pasta dish, also just as good...like eating a mini chicken! haha

We also went to Busselton beach! (again it was very empty haha)

us outside the Busselton Jetty (one of the longest in the South, at about 2km long!). Ok thats all for Perth (we went to more places, but then this blog would just be too long :P)...next stop: Singapore (please see Pt 2 above).

Good Neighbour Volleyball 2007

Here are the details of the annual volleyball tournament I took part in (see my very very old post). This is my second year in the tournament and it was as usual tons of fun

Event: Annual "Good Neighbour" Volleyball Tournament

Location: Canberra, Australia

Dates: 24-25 November 2007

Team: Soba

Here are some of the photos from the event! enjoy :) Team Photo.

The end result...2 Wins, 2 Losses, 1 Draw

Missed out on getting to the QF :( oh well at least we had fun and it was a good bonding experience!

Apologies

Apologies everyone for the total lack of updates (I now know what it feels like Yish), but I am in the middle of moving house hence don't have any internet at home. The only place with internet is in the office (which is now) and hence office internet is only meant to be used for work. Updates will be coming up soon...such as the Good Neighbour Volleyball tournament in Canberra last year, and our Perth, Singapore and Thailand trip! Best wishes for 2008 everyone! :)

Tilly as Fred Flintstone!

As you know from my previous post, I went to my firm's Xmas party as Fred Flintstone. On Saturday, whilst I was cooking dinner (see previous post)...Lil had a little project to do, using my leftover materials and fabric from my costume...she made Tilly (Maz's cute dog) a costume...this is the end result...hahaha she looked sooo cute. We even surprised Maz's parents by dressing both Tilly and myself up as Fred Flintstone and appearing before them as a surprise hhaah...and they were definitely surprised and loved it...especially Tilly, all that extra attention and loving...pretty fortunate life she has... anyway here are more of the pictures...enjoy and say awwwwww... :P

so adorable!

3 Courses from Me

On Saturday, it was terrible wet and overcast weather (which ruined our plans :P)...so I decided to spend the afternoon cooking a fine dining 3 course meal for Lil (which totally surprised her as she just thought I was cooking 'dinner'...pfff)...sorry Yish...got to see more pictures (but this time of what I cooked :P

Entre: 'Symphony of the Sea' - steamed fresh XL pacific oysters, fresh prawns, sambal squid with pineapple and sweet potatoe salad...this totally surprised Lil as she thought we were just having Oysters pfff... haha (sorry Yish...I know how much you like seafood)

Main 'Chicken Supreme' - a stack of japanese bread crumb fried chicken thigh fillet on a bed of baked potatoe and sweet potatoe with snake beans and a garlic and herb sauce with pineapple.