Blizzard-World

New Little Toy

2012-02-15T02:06:00.001+08:00

Got this little guy over the weekend …. well my old Laptop needs to be replaced. Went to a PC show and got this ACER PC. Well at list I can strike one off my resolution list.

CNY 2012

2012-02-12T19:56:00.001+08:00

I have notice something odd this year. Are the Ang Pow’s getting bigger ? Don’t seem to see any of those small red packets any more. Everything one is now ‘super-size’ but the amounts inside are not.

I really like some of the designs and especially since it is the year of the Dragon some are really nice. The pink one at the bottom from Precious Moments has got to be one of the nicer ones.

Another Year Another Million

2012-02-08T00:46:00.001+08:00

The Annual “Hong Bao” TOTO draw is here, $10million to the lucky person who picks the correct 6 digits. This year it was won by 9 people, everyone’s a millionaire, I’m not one of them …. guess it’s another year of waiting.

This year it was a little special as I did not actually managed to go and get tickets for the draw but instead we had an office pool. Got a system 12 which is basically 12 numbers with all the various combinations. Sad to say not a single number in our list of 12 was picked !!! Guess there is a BIG “L” on our heads now !!

Freaky Rain

2012-01-31T22:25:00.001+08:00

Every time it rains it seems that it floods somewhere. I happen to pick the kids up from ply group today and as we walked to the Bus-Stop it started to rain so I decided to get a cab. We made our way to the Taxi Stand, when we reached it the rain stopped !! As we were already at the Taxi Stand we all took a cab back home today.

Yu Sheng Count

2012-01-31T22:15:00.001+08:00

So far the Yu Sheng (Raw Fish Salad) for this year has been 3. Not many but still all were Salmon which seems to be the standard these days. This year for some reason I quite like the dish normally I would shy away from it but not this year, I enjoyed it for some reason or other.

MBS

2012-01-29T13:56:00.001+08:00

As its the Chinese New Year went to MBS Casino for a little bit of fun. Its my second time there not something I would do frequently anyway as it cost for us locals to get in. The other time was about 6 months ago when it was our birthday and we decided to try the Casino. I went with my brother-in-law as the missus was tired and we were only there from 10.30pm onwards, it was really crowded. even after midnight the crowd was still there. Could only get on the Jackpot machines but it was fun all in about cover up the entrance fee. We left around 3am and the casino was still crowded !!!

Kids CNY Celebration

2012-01-29T13:20:00.001+08:00

Kids Play Group had their Chinese New Year Celebration this week and the kids did enjoy themselves dressed up in their new year clothes for the occasion.

Lion & Dragon Dance

2012-01-28T04:18:00.001+08:00

Caught my first FULL LENGTH Lion & Dragon Dance today in a MALL !! The half hour show was great. It started with 6 drummers doing a number, I thought they were excellent. It was followed by 2 Lions doing their stuff, not as graceful if you ask me. The highlight followed where another set of performers took over one of the Lions and did the jumping on chairs and stuff routine, you could tell these were veterans the movement was so much better and they gave the Lion ‘life’. This was followed by another set of Lion performers doing the orange/cabbage routine. It ended with almost everyone in the trope participating in the Dragon Dance, it takes 10 people just to make it run around and that excluded the drummers and cymbal players. All in an enjoyable Lunch Performance.

cough cough go away .....

2012-01-25T21:35:00.002+08:00

Still coughing even after 2 weeks, guess all that eating during the Lunar New Year did not help. Have not been running as well due to the cough, I think it is getting a little better hopefully it will clear up soon.

Water Dragon

2012-01-25T00:12:00.001+08:00

The year of the Dragon in the Chinese Zodiac has arrived and this year is suppose to be the turn of the WATER Dragon. It sure was as it started with rain right at the stroke of midnight.

It was a cooler Lunar New Year and it has been a long time since I remember a cool Lunar New Year, it's usually hot hot hot and hot on these days. First day was marked by afternoon/evening showers and the 2nd day was relatively cool. Most shops are closed on the first day but have since reopened on the 2nd day. Not much ofa break this year.

We did out usual rounds with the family visiting all the relatives. Hardly meet them nowadays. The truth is it's either during the Lunar New Year or at a funeral that you meet and greet the relatives. As usual the trusty GPS in the car worked wonders and all the pre-programmed locations from las year helped !! No more fumbling with street directories (do they still sell these ??) The other thing I found out this year was that I really enjoy those left over bits of Bak Kwa, don't need to buy teh expensive whole pieces, I woudl much rather get the little bits and pieces which have been cut up already and easier to manage.

The 4 day long weekend is over and soon it's back to work !!

Reunion 2012

2012-01-21T22:31:00.001+08:00

WE had our family reunion dinner early this year, typical as no one wanted to beat the rush of the Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner and since now its more or less a simple get together, no elaborate steamboat or home cook meal. just some ordered food for everyone to enjoy had the yu-sheng and a big bowl of some kind of treasure meal. I think I can’t really name all the ingredients. Had to end early too as the young kids all had to go back for their bedtime. Most families now all all eat out as it simpler and less of a hassle although tradition was a home cook steamboat meal usually with Chicken Rice (home cook as well) in my family, had that in the early years and then I preferred roasted chicken so when I was older I would be the one buying the the Roasted Chicken. After dinner it was back home for last minute spring cleaning.

Ah the ingredients in that pot well let me guess – abalone, mussel, scallop, back fungus, mushrooms (2o ro3 kinds) fish cake, duck, veggies, pork knuckles.

Resolutions 2012

2012-01-18T23:40:00.001+08:00

Mid-Jan and I am just updating my resolutions for 2012, half a month has gone by already and I am just getting round to posting some resolutions. Finally updated my resolutions list and here are the 5 resolutions for this year.

1) Update My Blog

It's time I started getting back to updating my blog. I resolve to make at least 10 posting per month (well I am on my 2nd posting so far) I should have something interesting to write about well at least 10 things I can talk about in a month at least. Must find the time to write too.

2) Complete 1 X-Box Game

Ok I think this is doable, I already got my X-Box set up, finally moved it out to the living room so I can see it and will not neglect it. Time to boot up the system and wanted to get going until I found out I was out of batteries for the controller !!! What's with that well managed to get a dozen batteries which should last me the year.

3) Football Cards (Futera 2012)

I got hooked on the Futera Football cards they are nice and I would probably talk more about it but I hope to complete the Jersey Set of the Futera 2012 Unique Series. There are 16 Single Jersey Cards and 8 Double Jersey Cards to collect I currently own 5 so it's a ways to go still.

4) Better my Marathon Time

Hope to better my Marathon time if not set a personal best. So far 2 marathons I have run ended in 6hr 16mins and 7hr 20mins I really hope I don't break the 8hr barrier this round ! Have already signed up for the Addias Sunsdown Marathon and definately will sign up for the Standard Chartered Marathon at the year end.

5) Get a New Laptop
It's time I bought a new Laptop, my current one is rather old and I think it's near EOL (End of Life) waiting for the next PC show.

That’s it, so lets see what happens to these at the end of the year. oh and I managed to finally change my little one's Birthday Countdown.

Year End … (2011)

2012-01-18T00:24:00.001+08:00

Well it's almost mid of the month and I have yet to do a year-in-review ha ha .... guess it's a good time to start as any.

So Resolutions 2011 !! can be described in one word DISASTER. I think I never did complete any. A combination of lack of time (lame excuse), lack of passion (lamer excuse), lack of motivation (even lamer excuse) and lack of resources (most lamest excuse) lead to not one of my resolutions being fulfilled. So let's not bother about last year which basically was a wash out and look towards the new year and more “DOABLE” Resolutions !! Maybe that’s my resolution ha ha … Now to sit down and think what can be done.

Little Elephants

2011-12-15T22:57:00.001+08:00

There was this Singapore Guinness Book of records event about the most Hand Painted elephants on display and my sis and their family got us some tickets for it. It was a Charity event the 2 kids enjoyed themselves and this was them after the mess with their little elephants which they painted all by themselves.

2nd Marathon

2011-12-14T21:19:00.001+08:00

Completed my 2nd Marathon the Standard Chartered Marathon recently. I ran it last year and this year the route was the same however there was definitely more people participating and it was a huge event. I usually book a room to stay around the area (end point) so that I can rest up after the event and this year was no exception. Was a little pump up for the event but had not really been training heavily, slacking off this year.

As usual I got up at 3am and prepared myself for the race. I put on extra coating of gel this year as I did not fancy myself getting any abrasions as in last year. Used up practically the whole bottle of it. They say don't use anything new on race day but this year I did something different I put on sunscreen as I knew what was coming the heat and I had a running cap which I recently bought and it was the first time I am using it. It was one of those 2XU brands and it had ventilation at the top as well as a sweat band and it was washable. Made my way to the start point which was at Orchard Road.

START

Massive human traffic everywhere, this year the entry to the pens was terrible. I had a hard time finding the entry point and just made it into the pens 15 minutes before the start of the run. I don my cap and waited for the flag off. just had time to stretch a little. The atmosphere was great. At 5am we were flag off and it took me like 10 minutes to just get to the start point it was basically walk stop walk stop till I reached the start point and than more walking and stopping due to the sheer number of runners 19,000 from official figures of people who signed up. At this point I have to make a confession .... it was the first time in any race that as soon as I started I had to pee !! managed to rush off to the bushes just 200m from the start and relieve myself. Well practically everyone was doing it. Never had to do it until now, really bad planning on my part.

RUN

I notice this year the start was a little better not too congested once you got on the way I think they open another lane, but at the 2/3 KM mark the lanes squeeze into 1 and this was really bad. also the distance markers were non-existent this round. I hardly ever saw one !! That was really bad. I think on the entire 42 km run I saw at most 10 distance markers. Last year every km I could see a clear marker. By the time we hit Nicoll Highway it was better as the lanes widen and the runners spread out. Made it to the 10k point in 1hr 25 mins, I reached the half way point in 3 hrs. Got to the 30k mark at around 4hr 15 mins which was the beginning of the construction site and that was it I knew the last 10K would be the killer as it would be HOT, HOT, HOT !! that was where the cap helped and the sunscreen but it probably wore off by all the sweat at that point. My will to continue was gone (will never be a Green Lantern), mind over matter did not really matter to me any more. Practically walked all the way back to the Finish point. It was the longest walk ever. Took me close to 3 hrs to get back. ended with a time of 7hrs 20 mins. But I was glad I completed my 2nd Marathon. woopee ...

FINISH

After I got back collected my T-Shirt and participation medal headed back to the hotel all smelly, wet and tired. The missus got me a sports massage for the afternoon which I had last year as well and surprisingly I got the same elderly lady masseur as last year, she was good my aches were not really there and by evening I was walking around quite comfortably, no abrasions this year thanks to the gel. Only felt a little sore on my left calf and that was it. Surprisingly cramps did not really feature maybe it was because I walk most of the 10K back but my shoulders ache a little. Had a good dinner of Curry Fish Head yum yum and than a good nights sleep.

see ya all NEXT YEAR !! .... I'm a sucker for punishment.

Last Week to the Big Run

2011-11-29T23:20:00.001+08:00

Have not been writing much. Preparing for the kids Birthday Party, signing them up for clases next year has taken up most of the time and also quite excited for the Marathon.

REAL Run 2011

2011-10-26T22:40:00.002+08:00

Went for the yearly REAL Run that I REALly like, ha ha pun intended ... Held at the same place at Changi, this year they scraped the 15K category and added in the 21K category which suited me just fine as I really wanted to do a long run. As usual I bought the bus ticket which cost $3 for the bus ride to the start point. The bus pick up time was 4.45am, so I was up around 3.30am to get myself ready and took the walk to the pick up point which was about 10 minutes away from my place. Arrived at the Changi Exhibition Centre, dump my bag at the bag deposit which still cost $1 and this is the only bag deposit I hae ever used as it is in a building so away from the elements, did my warm ups and was already for the 6.30am start.

We were flagged off on time all 3000 of us, th 10K run had abotu 7000 participants, hit the trail, surprisingly I felt good. I was running slow as I wanted to maintain a nice comfrotable full marathon pace. Did the 10k in 1hr 15min which was cmfortable for me, the trick was to maintain that pace and I knew the ending the last 2 or 3 kilometers were killers as its on an open road with the sun beating down on you. But by the 14K I started to cramp a little and the beach was coming up so I ease up. Just as you entered the beach there was a medical tentage and I guess the medic's there had a lot of free time as they made 'ice-packs' from rubber gloves and handed them out. It was really refreshing as I ran along the beach maybe that help me to at least run 3/4 of the beach and walk the last bits. The beach run was longer this year and hot as hell. Out of the beach top up water and it was the final stretch towards the finishing line in the hot sun. Just as I started the long trek in, muscle cramp started, don't know why but again same spot as I got my cramps last year. It was the entrance area just along the up slope. Maybe that is why. Anyway jog/walk the rest of the way in, just managed to complete it in under 3hrs. The first thing about the race that struck me was for the 21K runners I think they are mostly people who run alot and have water point discipline as I call it. At the water points and mainly after the water points you don't see many paper cups thrown all over the place, they are all thrown at the side of the road so you don't have to run through mountains of used cups. However once the route merges with the 10K runners you see cups all over the route. The other thing was 3000 runners was a very comfortable number not a very crowded race until you meet up with the 10K runners that is.

Next run would be the Full Marathon as I have to skip the Newton 30K as it clashes with my holiday plans. On a side note don't ever go down to MacRitchie on a holiday as it's Jam Pack with people, the car park was full and there were 20 cars at least waiting to get in. I think it's due to the completio of the renovation works now the park has better amenities..

3 Day, 2 Nights

2011-10-24T23:44:00.002+08:00

My little boy went for an operation recently, after visiting his doctor, we were advised to have his throat check by a specialist due to the panting he sometimes gets. We were referred to an ENT specialist at KKH, it was found that he had an enlarged Andenoid, his Tonsils were big too and his left ear was block so a full ENT would be done. Hopefully after they clear the wax in his ear there would be no water behind else they will need to drain that too.

Made the appointment and both me and the missus took leave, his sister had to stay home for a few days and not join him. We checked in a day before as they needed him to stay as the operation was early the next morning. The poor little boy could sense something was not right. He was a little grumpy the whole day.

Next day 9am was the op, doctors came in and got him ready for it we went to the operating theatre he was really fussy now. In the end only 1 parent could bring him in and the missus took him in, he was screaming a lot the poor little boy. The missus came out told me they have put him to sleep and will call us once it was over would be about 45 mins to an hour or so. We waited in the waiting area, really hate this part where you don't know what is going on and you just wait outside. After 45 mins, still no word, an hour passed and still nothing. After about an 1hr 15 mins the nurse came out and asked one of us to go in first. The missus went in to see the little one. 5 mins later I was allowed in. The poor little boy was a little groggy but awake. The doctor told us his ear was fine no water in it. The op was successful his Andenoid and Tonsil were reduced so now they needed to monitor him for another day. Thank god everything went well.

The boy was so very groggy with all the sedatives, he slept most of the time. Aunties, Uncles and grandparents came visiting, he got lots of new toys to play with. At night he did not want to sleep and was very fussy he did not take his medicine well and refused to drink his milk. Then he vomited and the nurse check his vomit and said it's ok he just threw out the bad blood as there was trace of blood in the vomit. The boy threw out one more time and after that he was better, he took his medicine, drank his milk and went to sleep through out the night. Guess he just needed to get the stuff out of his tummy and he felt better after that. I on the other hand had to make a quick detour home to change as he had threw up on me.

Next day doctors came to check he was find everything ok and he was discharged, Had to stay home for 1 week and go for a post op check. All cleared after the post op check and he is doing better now.

Freaky Rain

2011-10-07T21:35:00.001+08:00

It rain so heavy yesterday as I was leaving work for home that I got totally SOAK !!!! My bag was soaked, shirt was wet, pants even the umbrella I had was kind of useless !! even my underwear was soaked !!! The new drainage did not seem to help !! It made things WORST if you ask me so much water ponding !!! But had a nice warm shower after that and had a good night’s sleep on a cool night.

Our Lady’s Procession 2011

2011-09-04T23:00:00.001+08:00

The Annual Procession at Novena was held on 4th Sept 2011. It was crowded as usual, every year it’s crowded, this year I think they managed to get more people up into the terraces. It was great weather, not to hot and there was a gentle breeze. I went early to get a spot but seeing the crowds, I decided to stay back a little. There were people everywhere even across the road. This year’s booklet with the message “Blessed Are You”

There was also the electric candle that were being sold and I got mine a couple of weeks back, bought a couple for my parents and sister as well. It’s a ice little battery operated candle that flickers like a real one I figured it would be good for the alter with the 2 small ones around, no fire hazard. Anyway we were told to bring the candles and we had them lit, great for reading too once the sun went down.

I have been going to the 9 weeks novena and the procession for a couple of years now, and when the little kids grow up, definitely will bring them to attend one day. Its about 3 hours long (6 to 9pm) so they are too young now. But one day will bring them for the procession.

PE

2011-08-30T20:15:00.000+08:00

So the Presidential Election is finally over. We went early that day to vote, yes it was raining and all that but we figured lets get this done and hoepfully more people stay away due to the rain so that we would have less of a crow. Well it seemed that way and the process seemed a lot more smooth than the last election held a couple of months back. Maybe the people were now more season in running the polls. What drama on the day. It went to a recount, I had stayed up but by 3am was too tired to wait up any more. In the end the margin of victory was less than 1% !!!! out of 2.3 million voters. That was incredible.

So what was the impact of the PE, seemed as today is Hari Raya, the Istana was open to the public. We wanted to go as we thought why not since I have never been to he Istana before. Bad idea !! MASSIVE amounts of people were there the queue not only snake up and down the entrance but spilled over to the main road leading to Plaze Singapura, all the way to the MRT and evern beyond. I guess everyone wanted to greet and meet the out going President one last time before he steps down. We kind of gave up on that and decided to head to Botanical Gardens with the kids. Looking forward to the Food Court and the swans, brought some bread too. Another disappointment. The Food Court was closed, for renovations I think, and for some reason there were no swan in swan lake !! They looked like they had all disappeared. I used to see them at the Gardens whenever I had stopped by. So in the end we fed the fishes.

Captain Ape

2011-08-25T21:58:00.000+08:00

I caught Captain America and Planet of the Apes a couple of weeks back. I have to say, Captain America to me seemed a little young and not as beefy as I would have imagine him to be. Dont really like the costume, just does not seem right. However the Red Skull was awesome. I think they did a great job for the character. The wait at the end for the clip of the Avengers was really long, had to wait till all the credits were done before it came up. Nice little preview if I have to say so myself.

The Planet of the Apes was way cool. Kind of a spin on the origin of how the apes took over the world. Cesar was cool especially the last bit when he said "Cesar is home" .... talking ape :)

and the REDS go marching on …

2011-07-18T01:35:00.001+08:00

Read in the papers where the Liverpool team will be today quite a few places and so I decided to go down to Novena to catch Glenn Johnson and John Flanagan. It wasn’t too crowded and since the event was sponsored by Carlsberg you just needed to purchase $50 worth of Carlsberg beer to get a free pass to the Fans Area. Seems Harry’s was the co-partner in this as they were selling 2 buckets (each bucket 5 bottles – $35) for $70 which will allow you to get your pass.

Luckily when I got there early there was not much of a queue, it started to get heavy just a few minutes after I got my Fan Access Pass. The place was basically set up in the Basketball Court and all ready for the 2 stars to appear. When I got into the holding area they announced that Glenn Johnson would not be turning up instead it would be Joe Cole.

At About 2.30pm they came in and after a few words they were down to the Autograph and Phototaking. These were actually for those winners from the Carlsberg Fan Site I was not part of that group just behind them in the Fan Area. The top 10 were allowed autographs and personal photo’s with the stars, while the other;s were in team shots of 5 each. There was even Mr Liverpool Fan who actually had Liverpool Tatooed on his Body !!!

After they were done it seemed there was still a little time and so the organiser allowed those in the fan area to come up for a photo in groups of 10. I was one of the first to get in and the first group to go up. There was an official photographer who was taking the photo’s which would be posted on the Carlsberg Fan Web Site on Facebook. But for some reason the organiser saw me with my camera and asked if I wanted someone to take the pic (maybe it’s because I was in my Carlsberg Pool shirt), I said ok and he took the camera looked around at the official photographers but no one around to help him so he decided to take a shot for me. But by then all the official photographers where done and the security personnel was moving everyone off the stage getting ready for the next batch of 10. Somehow I was left alone and got a Solo Photo with Cole and Flanagan … way cool that was ha ha. My lucky “Group” shot.

There was lucky draw at the end of the session after the stars left at 3.15pm they were there like for 45 minutes only. I managed to snag one of the Carlsberg Liverpool Jersey’s. Other items up for the draw were passes to their training ground and for the super lucky person a Liverpool T-Shirt signed by the entire team.

Finally a shot of me with my winning T-Shirt at the event they had this booth where you can take a picture of yourself at the event and they will email you the picture. Yep that is me below with the wacky hat (they gave a Carlsberg Plastic bottle too but that was on the floor) and my lucky draw T-Shirt.

VISION

2011-07-17T23:55:00.001+08:00

Got some tickets to the Magic Show VISION held at the Esplande. Luckily it was a Mantinee show as it clashed with the NDP rehearsals and we were able to get out before the closed off the roads. The show started at 2.30pm and ended around 5.30pm about 3 hours with a 20 minute intermission.

It was by the local father and daughter team of Lawrence and Priscilla Kong. It’s a local act pretty good I guess. Nothing in the form of David Copperfield or David Blaine kind of stuff but the storyline was ok rather hard and at times a little dark to follow. Wonder how all the kids took it. It’s about the father daughter relationship and flash backs to the younger times kind of story. A couple of slip ups like the Magicians calling his younger version by the boys real name and not his. Notice the lady did not seem very comfortable doing the fire bits and the close up magic probably not meant for the stage. But overall a nice afternoon with the missus just the two of us.

Final 3

2011-07-03T00:44:00.001+08:00

I just signed up for my final 3 runs for the year. It will start with the REAL Run which basically is kind of my favourite running event, will be doing the 21K at that event. It will then be followed by the Newton 30K and as the event states its a 30K run. All this will culminate in the year ending Standard Charted Marathon Singapore where I hope I will be able to complete my second Marathon. Time to get serious about training ha ha ..

T3 : DotM

2011-07-03T00:29:00.001+08:00

Transformers 3 : Dark of the Moon, was looking forward to this movie, I even got the trading cards which were selling in the 7-11 stores before the movie came out. It’s a very nice card set. Lots of specials to collect including Chromium Cards, Acetate Cards (what they call specials), Gold Cards, Silver cards and Metal Collection. I like the Chromium’s best and the base cards were picture puzzles like this one.

This shows Sentinel Prime puzzle on the right and the left is the back of the Optimus Prime card set. More like the Chromium (below Bumblebee) and the Metal Cards include the company logo.

Anyway back to the movie I got a free ticket to catch it on opening day. Went for a late show as the missus wasn’t really interested in catching these sorts of movie’s. The theatre was full !! I have to say I was a little disappointed with the movie, They should get back Megan Fox, the new lady just does not fit in and I have no idea what her name is. As usually the Michael Bay kind of action scenes were everywhere. Lots of Product Placements in the movie, someone will probably come up with a list soon. This year definately has been the year of the comic book movies, Thor, X-Men, Green Lantern, Transformers and next up CAPTAIN AMERICA woo hooo …..

Sole in One

2011-06-20T22:41:00.001+08:00

Had a bad day at the office. Went to work as usual, just changed out my shoes to something I had not worn in a while. I had used it the previous week before with no problem but this time at work I notice my right side shoe was getting a little loose. Checked it out and to my horror found out that the sole was breaking. So had to make the journey back home quickly to get a new pair. Did not make it all the way. The back broke as I was half way home and had to shuffle the rest of the way. First time I have encounter a shoe-drobe malfunction

Here’s what’s left of it.

The Emerald Ring

2011-06-19T23:52:00.002+08:00

“In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night

No Evil Shall Escape my Sight.

Let Those Who Worship Evil’s Might

Beware My Power, Green Lantern’s Light”

and so the Oath goes, I caught the opening day movie with the Fan Boys. It was organised by the local comic shop, which was great it meant no queue for tickets and you usually get freebies as well. I’m not exactly a big fan of Green Lantern … more a Superman, Batman, Justice League fan. (Marvel would be Spiderman, X-Men and Fantastic Four) but a comic book movie I would definitely go and watch it. Got the tickets, great seats at Cathay where I caught the movie and man I think it was in digital. (you know I have yet to catch a 3-D movie maybe one day I would)

Anyway I get my tickets and my GL Ring and the place was packed … total sell out, all the tickets had been snapped up. Had the lucky draw and did not get anything ah well at least I caught the movie. It was great, actually the other GL’s were better than Earth’s very own Hal Jordan. I kind of prefer them especially Kilowog. Way cool, Not sure why they start making “planet destroying evil enemies” cloud creatures !! Probably borrowed from FF2. All in a fun movie to catch, so that’s the 3rd Comic Movie I caught this year after Thor and X-Men : First Class. Next up I think it Transformer’s and then it’s the debut of Captain America !! And oh do stay for the credits for the little extra …….

Tooth Fairy

2011-06-07T21:08:00.003+08:00

I finally decided to get my wisdom tooth taken out on the advice of the dentist when I had my regular check-up earlier this year, yep it’s almost 5 months since I went to get it checked out and had been procrastinating the removal till now. So made my appointment and was all set for the removal. I knew it would be a long process as I had to remove 2 teeth upper and lower right side. The dentist had already told me it looks like 1 was a straight forward removal while the other had to operate on to get it out. The lower one was the complicated tooth. I arrived at the dentist at 10am for my appointment. They took an X-Ray of my mouth just to be sure where everything was and there was an explanation of what to expect. What was wrong was my lower tooth looked like this …..

The tooth was lying on it’s side and was growing towards the other teeth, it was also near a nerve (in red) and to get it out needed to operate and cut the tooth into 4 to remove it. The nerve maybe damaged I was told, but it was not a motor nerve more of a sensory nerve so I would have use of my mouth but in a small percentage of cases I could loose some feeling. Anyway I decided to go ahead with it.

The Dentist injected my gums both upper and lower to numb the area and then she proceeded to cut up my lower tooth. It was a huge tooth and I was told it’s why you should get your wisdom tooth removed early as it is softer when you are younger and easier to remove. They gave me a squeez ball to hold in case I got over excited. So the drilling and cutting began halfway through they had to change the drill bit as it was worn out. Guess I had like iron teeth or something like that. After sectioning and pulling and cutting and more digging, a part finally came out. On to the other 3/4’s left behind. In the end they had to section it into 5 pieces and the tooth finally came out. By now the numbness was wearing off and I was given another injection so that they can work on my upper tooth. Just a tweak and a twist and a pull and the tooth came out. It was not noon. I was there at 10am, the briefing was about 15 minutes, to take out the upper tooth was 5 minutes, the rest of the time of 1 hr and 40 minutes was spent getting the lower tooth out, half way through I was really nervous and I think I started praying especially when the drilling and cutting started.

The 2 days after the operation were the worst, swollen mouth and the aching was there just a mild one but still persistent.it’s like a headache that never goes away. The painkillers help but it got better after that. I have just return to the dentist after 10 days to get my stitches out and everything seems to be find now. The cut still needs some time to heal but it was healing well according to the dentist. Most scary and painful thing I have ever done.

GROSS

WARNING

Here is my big upper tooth in 1 piece and the 5 fragments from my lower tooth.

X-Men–First Class

2011-06-06T20:17:00.003+08:00

Got to catch the First Day opening of X-Men First Class as the missus had some complimentary tickets from her company as part of a company event. We were given popcorn and a hot dog as well as a cup of coke together with the free tickets.

As a comic fan, really love those comic movies that have come out. X-Men First Class is about the beginning of the X-Men or as I would like to call it when Professor X had hair ha ha …. Its really strange seeing him with hair and walking !! Anyway its a great little movie even the missus enjoyed it, go catch it.

I have seen Thor this year and X-Men, I also got some tickets for the first day screening of Green Lantern which was organised by the local comic shop. Free gifts and all that will be the order of the day at that event. Probably wear my Green Lantern Shirt too.

FCBD 2011

2011-06-04T22:52:00.003+08:00

I finally found where I downloaded those pics from my phone to. Just in time to write about FCBS 2011 as well. The first weekend of May is usually FCBD – Free Comic Book Day. That is where you can get some samples of various comics for free. Its a way for creators to showcase their works and get readers interested in their comics to continue buying them.

As you can see above it’s a relatively huge event long queue at G&B comics where if you are a member you get 10 free comics while non-members get 5. I went there quite early but still there was a queue. But it was fast moving, besides the free comic books, there was also a sale for Graphic Novels as well as an Artist Signing/Drawing session by Gary Erskine.

While in the queue met "Spiderman" and "Green Lantern" ha ha that was hilarious but the costumes were cool.

Was in the queue for about 20 minutes before I got in. Picked out my 10 free comics and they were giving away other free reads as well, older stuff just good for those bed time reads. Took some of those. And I got my book signed by Gary. Here he is doing a sketch for someone.

Till Next Year !!!!

My First 800

2011-05-28T22:06:00.002+08:00

I signed up my kids for the Cold Storage 2011 Kids Run. Wanted them to have a try at the under 2 Stroller race. Got their strollers in good shape, the missus even went to the gym to get fit so that she can push the little one through the 800m course. It was very exciting, I did not get a shirt size to fit them as that was all taken so got them the smallest size which basically was still oversized for them. On the day we left the house at 7.30 to get to the Padang by 8am their race was at 9am. It was a hot and humid Sunday. Strolled around the area to catch the festivities, when it was time got the kids to wear the shirt but the boy had his own ideas and refused to wear or sit in his pram. So in the end only the little girl (my brave little girl) went with mummy to do the race. It was just a short 800m walk round the Padang and they did it in 2 waves and when she cross the finish she got a little medal for her efforts, her first one and she’s not even 2 yet. Maybe next year it will be a parent and child race no more stroller event.

First 800

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PAssion Run 2011

2011-05-27T22:59:00.005+08:00

Man oh man oh man …. PAssion Run 2011 was a run to forget. I guess I did not really train for it have not been running regularly and my knee was giving me issues lately. It was a HOT saturday afternoon when I did the run. Second time I am running the 25 km route. This was what I got in my goodie bag.

Lots of stuff but the watch was really nice. Anyway I went early and knowing the Chaos that might happen at the end and the narrowness of the East Coast Parkway Service Roads, I decide to park about a 15 minutes walk away from the start line. Took a scroll to the starting area lots of time to kill walked around a little. 4.30pm was the start time. I was planning to do about a 3hr run. Get back buy some food at the Food Centre before going home. This year the race seemed badly organised. Their website the day before still had not put up the run routes (it was under construction) the route map they gave out did not show where the water points were or any gel or banana station (there were none)

Around 4pm we were ushered into the holding area for the first wave of runners, I figured get it done over with as soon as possible. The MC was trying to get everyone in the mood there was some NUS Cheer Leaders or something like that.The Guest of Honour the MP for Marine Parade GRC was on hand she tried to work the crowd but to no avail. Runners were not responsive until the man of the moment stepped up, none other that the RO Extraordinaire Mr Yam Ah Mee. Whatever he did or say, the crowd would go wild !! I think if he told everyone to jump into the sea everyone would do it. He was given the honour to flag off the runners.

The race for me did not start well, I felt heavy, legs were not exactly coorperating. I think the first 5km I had stopped at least twice, don’t know why maybe the heat or something it was really hot that day. Struggled to get to the 8km mark felt a little better but was still not getting into my stride. Did not really feel comfortable. One of the slowest 10K I have ever done. Teh route actually was quite nice, love the run to the airport runway. At the 12k mark it felt a little better but then disaster struck. Right thigh muscle started to tighten at the 13K mark, that’s the half way point usually the muscle tightens at the 20K mark, this was early !! Slowed down to recover and then the right thigh tightens up. Had to walk off the cramps and eventually started running again but at a slower pace. The sun had set by then and it was cooler and also I could keep a steady jogging pace. The last 2 or 3 kilometres was comfortable but by then I was really drain out so drain that when I cross the end I totally forgot to check my timing and ony remembered when I got back to the car. I got my medal and wanted to scratch my back, reached back with my right arm and wham !! muscle cramp on my arm !! so had to shake that off on the way to the car I tried to use my left hand to scratch my back and wham !! Muscle pull again, now both legs, and both arms are cramped out !! My time was like way way over what I had expected I think close to at least 3.5 hrs. It was so hot I got a sunburn and had abrasions even thought I had put the lubricant probably this pair of running shorts has not broken in yet. Felt very very tired and on top of that there was still a jam trying to get out of the place took me close to 45 minutes to get out.

Well I leave with this parting comment, all I can say is that Pursuant to Section 1, Subsection 1, Paragraph 1 of my running log, this has been by far the worst run ever !!

GE 2011

2011-05-11T23:08:00.002+08:00

The General Election is here, Polling has arrived and we all know that the incumbent government won the day. This time I went to only 1 rally which was nearest my house but in the end it was not even the candidates for my area. The unique thing about where I live is that if I go out the main gate is 1 area, the side gate over the canal is another area and the back gate cross the overhead bridge was the another constituency I’m like at a 3-Way Junction !!

Anyway as the nights were rainy I did not go to any more rally speeches. On polling day me and the missus got to the polling station early, just a small 5 minute wait and we were done. This was my 3rd time voting and my 3rd different constituency. I always go where the action is ha ha …

The unsung hero from these elections was the Returning Officer who became an instant online success !!

New Soles

2011-05-02T23:28:00.001+08:00

The soles of my office shoes were worn out and so decided to get them done up. Cost me $25 for both pairs, took a weekend to get it done but I guess that is ok.

Lent

2011-05-01T21:40:00.001+08:00

Finally got some time to write about Lent. Actually not been updating the blog for about a month now. Lent has come and gone and this year I actually decided to give up something. What it was was to give up soft drinks, which basically means no Coke for a month. I have to admit, it was harder than expected. It was not so much the sacrifice but the need to remember not to order a soft drink at meal times. The first week was tough, as I drank coke almost as soon as I started as it was part of a set meal. But I did learn my lesson and I never ordered a soft drink again for a month with any set meal. I got coffee instead. The other time I broke it was on the following where I was at a friends birthday party and just happen to drink a cup of coke. I was more careful from then on and I think I managed quite well besides those 2 slip ups. One whole month without coke was I think an achievement for me. It did not feel so bad actually and I just had it again and strangely it felt like I was drinking it for the first time again !

Election 2011

2011-04-29T23:30:00.001+08:00

Well it is the event that happens every 5 years. The countries political leaders go into battle again. Date has been announced 7th May 2011. The hastings begin on 27th April 2011. I got my polling card already so I guess I am all set to vote !!!

2XU Compression Run

2011-04-29T23:20:00.003+08:00

Have not been updating this blog for a while. Anyway on 9th April I wen for the 2XU Compression Run, held at the Marina Bay area. I got there pretty early to be in the first wave of runners I figured run and be done with it, it was also my first run of the year.

The distance was 12K and it was one of the better run routes except for the beginning where it was a little cramp near the Lavender area. It started at the F1 Pit Building, headed out towards Lavender turn and head back by the Kallang River and Marina Bay towards Esplanda and then to Raffles and pass the Marina Bay Sands before ending again at the F1 Pit Building.

A couple of my friends ran the race into but I did not meet them as it looked like rain, it actually pour for 10 minutes before the start and half way through the run it started to drizzle for a while too, so I left quite early after the run. Completed it in 1 hr 25 min, the uniqe thing about this run was the Medal they gave otat the end was gender specific, there were male and female medals. Next up the PAssion Run (25K)

Inagiku

2011-04-29T23:11:00.002+08:00

Me and the missus recently went to Inagiku the Japanese restaurant at City Hall for dinner. Pretty upmarket place. Very nice atmosphere and service. The first thing that struck me was the setup, where the chopsticks was double sided !! Like Darth Maul’s lightsaber. Was not too sure how to use them.

We ordered the trial set (which basically had everything) a Suki Yaki dish and an extra side dish of California Maki sushi. The appetizer came it was some toufu dish and some mashy thingy. Not really sure what it was but it was very nice even the missus liked it.

Next up the Sashimi, wow it was really fabulous ! Excellent stuff served on a bed of ice. There was the Salmon, tuna and some fish which the waitress mentioned but I forgot the name.

The assorted sushi dish came next followed by our other side dish the California Maki. The sushi was perfect, the rice not too big and not too small just nice for a mouthful and the fish stayed on the rice and the whole thing did not break apart. When the California Maki came the missus remarked that “wow it was an expensive maki, those sushi tea ones so much cheaper” That maki was priced at $40, which comes up to $5 a piece. I told her lets try it and see what’s so special. After the first bite immediately you can tell why it cost so much. Its very different from what I have tasted. It was very very good.

Our main dishes came next the Japanese Beef and the Suki Yaki set. I have to say the beef was fabulous I order mine medium well and it was just perfect, soft and juice, just the way I like it. The Suki Yaki was excellent too. Me being the sua ku fellow was not sure what that egg was for but the missus told me you had to cook the meat then dip it in the egg and eat it.

The Tempura was up next and the missus loved it, she was more of a tempura fan than me. I’m not a big fan of tempura but I guess it was ok.
The udon was next up and it was excellent. I love the flavours from the soup it was really nice. Again I usually just have sushi and sashimi, not a udon fan too.

Finally the dessert arrived. That was it below some sherbert like dessert, it was lovely.

All in the meal was excellent, the bill came to close to over $400 for just the 2 of us, but I had a 50% discount, probably the only reason I would eat there. So the bill ended up around the $200+ range. Would I come back ?Definitely if someone was buying.

Car Check

2011-03-30T22:18:00.001+08:00

Got my cert of health for the little car, have to do it every 3 years and it’s goldie’s turn to have her checkup. Passed with flying colours. The whole process was rather fast but there was a queue and the taxi in front of me getting checked up ran into problems it seems as the car took forever to clear the stations.

Race Pack Collection - 2XU

2011-03-28T22:11:00.002+08:00

I had signed up for my first run of the year the 2XU Compression Run – 12km. Went down to collect the race pack and since last year I did the bid number display thingy. I figured this year why not show what the goodie bag was about.
So this is what was in the goodie bag. Had the standard Race T-shirt, timing chip plus the race map and details. A shoe string the easy lace type for triatholon’s. A gel to warm up the muscle and the reason why I signed up for the even the hand carry water bottle. They added in the Pocari Sweat information pamplet on the benefits of Pocari.
I picked up my goodie bag at Velocity and as there was the 30km challenge run in October and they were having a road show. I signed up for that too and got a MIO watch.

PC Show

2011-03-28T00:15:00.001+08:00

I was at the recent PC show held here. Don’t think there was any records broken this year for attendance or sales as there was no mentioned of anything in the newspaper’s unless I missed it. But it was still crowded. I decided this year to go after work on a Friday (I figured I’ll beat the weekend crowded) but man it was still crowded. So many floors could not even find the Apple booth. I went to check out the Singtel booth but it was so crowded that I gave up. Headed for the StarHub area to see if I could get a better deal on my subscription but could not get a free helper there to answer my queries so in the end I just did a quick walk around of the floor area. Wanted to get some more photo paper but again queue was too long. Was about to head dome when I spotted the Camera bag area, it was not too busy and I had seem their advertisement for $30 camera bags. Lowepro pretty good brand. I saw their cheap $30 bags but it was really too flimsy. Then I saw their $80 bag usual was $260 or there about. It was a backpack and big enough to fit my camera with the battery drip it also had a place to hang the tripod which I though was good since during the visit to the zoo I had to lug around the camera bag plus the tripod. This really saves me a lot if I am carrying a tripod. There was a side quick access panel as well. It even had a ‘raincoat’ cover to protect it in case of bag weather. You can take it out at the base and it wraps around the bag. Again the zoo visit highlighted a need for some water proofing since it rain as well there. Pretty happy with the bag now can sell off my other 2 Lowepro bags that I got ha ha.

My Bag that I bought from the PC show and the only thing I got from it.

Speaking of photography, I got myself a simple water proof camera it uses normal 35mm rolls of film and man it has been a long time since I loaded one of these.

Finally got it loaded, Remembered to fire off the first few shots to clear the roll and it was off to take pictures. Photo’s actually came out, well at least something came back however really do miss the digital age where you can manipulate your shots after you have taken them but these cannot do that. Really should not be taking babies with these cameras wasted many picture like that but still great fun and it works.

Best Place to Practice Music.

2011-03-13T23:22:00.001+08:00

You would never believe where people go to practice. I was at Toa Payoh park recently and as I was jogging through the park, I heard the sounds of a Violin playing. As it turns out it was someone practicing their violin playing in the park. At Macritchie Reserviour Carpark encountered a man playing his Saxaphone !! That probably is the strangest sight ever.

Japan will recover !!

2011-03-13T01:00:00.001+08:00

I’m amazed at the devastation the recent Earthquake / Tsunami has done to Japan. After seeing Christchuch in ruins, hey I’ve been to the Cathedral that looks like it is going to have to be demolish now, hopefully they can fix it. It’s the talking point these few days. The Japanese seem very calm in the face of this disaster, you see the news reports very practical people asking just to have the services restored, they queue up even if only 1 store is open to buy food you don’t see mad rushing around, everyone walked home after the quake hit as transportation came to a halt. I think some of the Japanese would have gone back to work if the authorities had not closed down the building. Heard this story about a company who had a branch in Japan and they called in to the head office here and in a calm manner requested permission to evacuated the building !! I’m thinking what the hell just get out and call later man. But then I think that company probably got the news here first even before the cable networks were able to report on the Earth quake. My prays are with the people of Japan.

GUG

2011-03-12T16:05:00.000+08:00

Growing Up Gifted - the kids weekly play group which we have just signed them up on. It has been 2 weeks already since we signed them up and today they went for their second lesson. Much better behaved this round and not like the first time where little boy just wants to do his own thing. Just dread the day he goes to school can just image the teacher calling up on the first day "your son does not want to sit down". Little girl was better at least she likes the story time she could sit there and listen and look at the book that the teacher was reading on. There was songs,activities, play time, crafts and story time. This week both were slightly better behaved.

Little Nat with her dirty dress after the painting class on the session with GUG

TREE

2011-03-12T15:42:00.002+08:00

I took this by the side of the road one day astonishing how the tree cold actually grow through the fence !

Adrenalyn Champions League Tournament 2010

2011-03-12T15:31:00.004+08:00

The Adrenalyn Champions League 2010/2011 Tournament or what the organisers called the Grand Final was held recently on 6th Mar 2011 at Velocity. It was my first time at this tournament decided to partake in it since I tried out the Adrenalyn World Cup tourney and found it interesting. Rules and stuff were basically the same.

The Tournament started at 11am with a briefing on the rules and regulations (something which would haunt me later) and then we were split into our groups. There were 8 groups and 4 players in each group with the top 2 going on to the next round. I was in group 5 and as someone did not turn up there were only 3 of us in the group. All 3 were adults so did not get a chance to meet any young kids. But I heard from my friends who faced these kids they were tough to beat as well.

I lost the first game 5-6 but won my second 6-5. So it was between the other 2 players and the outcome from those matched. Turns out the guy I lost to in the first game won so he had 2 wins, me I had 1 win and 1 lost and the other guy had 2 loses. Managed to get through to the round of 16. So that ends the round robin play.

Elimination round starts. I was picked to play Nas a friend I met recently to do some trading and he went for the friendly games recently, he had just picked up the game and in the friendlies he was basically white-wash by the other players. But now he has made it into the top 16. I won the toss and went first which was the advantage. This was crucial and I manage to win 6-5. So it was off to the top 8 and at least got some prize money as well. The Top 8 will walk away with cash prizes.

Quarterfinals I played Edwin. He won the toss and had the advantage. He played a strange formation 4-1-5 and started with a Midfielder, everyone I had played always started with a Striker. It kind of blew me away and I had to think a bit. I managed to catch him at the right time and won 6-5.

Semi-Final play offs was again the defending Champion Luk. I lost the toss and basically was no match for him and he won with a resounding 7-4 victory. Had a hard time trying to catch him.

I still had one more game and it was the 3rd/4th placing $50 for the 4th and $300 for the 3rd. I would be playing against the guy I lost in the first round. With the help of some friends I did some quick tweaking to the deck and went into the match. He won the toss and first card I though I would get him but he fooled me and I lost a major card to him. I was going oh dear that’s it lost game here. But somehow I managed to get back into the game with some timely placement and caught him the second time. Score was 5-4 in my favour and I just needed 1 more point to win with 2 cards on the table I have a Goalkeeper and Striker and he had the same. It was my turn, I played my Keeper Cech against his Ronaldo and SAVED !! The shot was saved by my keeper score 6-4 and only 1 point left. But then to my horror when the last card was slip my striker turned out to be a Goalkeeper I had made a wrong substitution and that cost me an immediate Disqualification ! I guess lesson learned here and anyway if I had not tweaked my deck with the help from my friends I would have lost anyway. So 4th place for me not bad.

I won a lucky draw prize and took home a mini speaker as well as a Vuvuzela (cheap one) for answering some trivia question. The Vuvuzela was a real hit with my little girl she loves it and thinks its a vacuum cleaner.

of Chestnuts and Durians

2011-03-05T23:06:00.001+08:00

I’m not a big Chestnut fan, I don’t really like those boiled or fried chestnuts however the roasted variety I absolutely LOVE them. You know those roasted in coal and put into paper bags. Recently saw a road side store that sold those and bought a packet. Delicious !!! it has been a long time since I tasted those. That evening I had durians as well and I nowadays they usually come in those pre-wrapped and packed variety which you can get in the supermarkets. I went to the neighbourhood store to get some of those still in their shells. SO fun to break them open and eat the durians like I used to when I was young. My dad basically taught me the smell kind of way to find a good durian. Brings back old memories but the missus wasn’t too keen on the smell

The Lion King

2011-03-05T21:53:00.001+08:00

The Lion King is in town. I saw the production in Canada a couple of years ago, my cousin got us tickets for the event. I have to say it was one of THE most impressive shows I have seen. From the shots and costumes that has been making the rounds in the papers, the Singapore production will be spectacular. I would recommend it to anyone. Go catch it if you can.

Lasik 3-D

2011-03-03T22:57:00.000+08:00

Well finall decided to go for another check up on the eye's seems it needs an adjustment. Went for another round of Lasik surgery, third time lie on table to go under the laser but this time I am not sure what was done as the procedure was different. Faster and less things to do seems if you go for corrective surgery it's faster. Made my appointment and was the first one for the day. Met the doctor and got my eyes fixed in about 10 minutes but then it was 2 days of rest at home to make sure the eye's heal properly. This round it was just the left eye. I had my Lasik done 3 years ago and at that time after 6 months I went for another one as it needed to be corrected. I think it's due to the old age "lao hua" thingy. Anyway this the third time and it has definately improved the vision to be better than before. Hopefully I don't need t adjust my right eye too.

Haze-O-Meter

2011-03-03T22:16:00.000+08:00

This missus woke up this morning and told me "the haze is back" and I said "where,where, it looks the same " She kept going on that there was haze in the air and the place was getting all hazy but I could not tell the difference. Finally as the sun came up I could see that indeed the sky was not all clear. The missus has this uncanny ability to snif out the haze !!

Poor Baby

2011-02-25T22:55:00.002+08:00

What a day it has been, my son has been having this cough for some time now and it was his day to see the doctor for his review. An aggressive dose of medication had been prescribed a week ago. Both parents were there today to see the doctor as it could be more serious. But the good news was his lungs were clear but he still was coughing a little probably due to his baby tonsils that he has. All medication could be discontinued but a preventive daily dose was given. Another review was expected in 6 weeks.

That night for reason’s unknown he started vomiting once it was twice we knew something was wrong and it was off to the A&E. He did vomit a couple of more times and by the time the doctor saw us he seem to have calm down a little doctor suspected a stomach flu virus as there were multiple cases recently and even then there were a few cases at the hospital A&E as well. His vomit now had calm down but actually it had come to a stage that there was nothing left to throw out just the stomach reacting and the poor little boy trying to vomit but nothing came out. Could see his face change colour from normal to red as a tomato and then once it stop a paleness settled on his face.

Medication was given which stop the vomiting and soon around midnight he settled down to sleep. 24 hours later with lots of prays from his relatives and friends, he looks much better. But then we will hold giving him milk for another day as the doctor had advices. Another episode in his little life.

Meeting Meeting Meeting

2011-02-23T01:38:00.001+08:00

Wow what a day, started with a 3 hr meeting, then another 2.5 hr meeting and ended with another 5 hr meeting !!! Exhausted !!!

Little Boy Blue

2011-02-20T12:01:00.001+08:00

My little boy has been sick for some time now, coughing quite badly especially in the morning and nights. He has an allergy to antibiotics as well and so has to have special medication. Brought him to see the pedi again and the doctor prescribe a lot of medication for him. Finally he seems to be getting a little better, hopefully this round of medication will do the trick.

The amount of medication little boy needs !!

Lion Dance

2011-02-18T17:05:00.000+08:00

The estate organized a Lion Dance for all residence on the 3rd day of the Chinese New Year. We all went down to watch, had relative over for the special occassion as well. Here are the kids with their uncle and aunt. Those orangesseem to be a favourite with them the kids for some reason like to carry the oanges around.

But once the noise started little Natalie did not like it very much and had to go upstairs. The Lions did their walk in from the man entrance they even did some welcome dance at the etrance I beleive.

There was even this Character, bot sure what he was but I think the God of Fortunue of somethig like that who went around giving out sweets. The second act after the Lions Entry dance (which incidentally halted all entry and exit to the estate for a couple of minutes) was the round the pool walk and getting the veggie which was tied up high. Great job of getting it down from the performers. Next highlight was the peeling the orange and those lucky banner stuff. Had it along the pool area so the Lion had to cross the stepping stones to get to the tray, sit down and started to form the good luck words. (or lucky numbers in some cases)

Well in the end they did not mke a word but an animal, this being the Year of the Rabbit, they did a rabbit image with the oranges !! Some people think it's a Pokemon ha ha .... :)

In the end Nigel got to get up close and personal with the Lions, he kind of enjoyed it !

New Paper Ang Pow

2011-02-06T11:43:00.001+08:00

The New Paper was the only paper publish on the 2nd day of the Lunar New Year and they gave a unique twist to the Ang Pow concept when they wrapped their newspaper in a giant Ang Pow.

Reunion

2011-02-04T10:01:00.001+08:00

The yearly reunion dinner this year was a little different it’s back to the old days where we would have it on the eve itself. Over the last few year’s we always had ours a little early just to beat the crowds and all that but this year it was decided to have it on the eve of the Lunar New Year. It was a very small gathering just immediate family. I got this Tung Luk Set which seemed pretty popular as there were many people collecting the set. You had to pre-order in advance. Kind of saves on all the hassle of preparing the steamboat. It had steam chicken, glutinous rice, salmon yusheng and a Pei Cai pot which contain 12 ingredients – Pork Knuckle, Prawn, Scallop, Dried Oyster, Cabbage, Mushroom, Abalone, Toufu, Pork Slices, Dried Scallop, that dried hair like thingy which looks like black moss and a few other stuff all put into a hotpot. Just heat and ready to go.

Bugsy Bunny .... here I come

2011-02-02T22:12:00.000+08:00

Just in time to usher in the Bunny Year. Wishing one and all a very

!! Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year !!

Weird Weather

2011-02-01T23:45:00.001+08:00

Its been raining here for the whole weekend it’s crazy, weather gone bonkers !!! How bonkers you ask. Well I took the MRT today to town, started as a breezy kind of day no rain but cloudy, Got to Somerset and it was hot as hell, the sun was out woohoo I though. Took a quick lunch with a buddy of mine from the army days and wanted to go get some stuff from Bugis and it was raining cats and dogs. Managed to get to the train and at Bugis it was drizzling, got my stuff made my way back to the MRT and it was sunny again. Reached the Novena area and it was raining again. Freaky Weird Stuff today !!.

First Movie

2011-01-31T00:06:00.001+08:00

Watched my first movie of the year – Solomon Kane – like the movie but then I kind of like all action movies. One of those redemption kind of story line and the hero finally learns of his destiny. Hopefully can catch The Green Hornet before it ends.

Mad Mad Mad Rush

2011-01-30T14:22:00.001+08:00

Its the Lunar New Year Period again. The Tiger year ends and the bouncing Bunny year starts. As usual there is always that mad rush to get things done before Chinese New Year. I recently got my yearly (ya ya I know should be half yearly but I’m lazy) dental checkup, had my eyes check again as well. Did the house cleaning and packing … still in progress …. goodies shopping which was really hampered by the rain rain rain and more rain rain rain, It does not seem to want to stop this rain. I think the stalls at Chinatown are suffering due to this and this is the final weekend before the big day. I went to the bank recently to do some backing and I was at May Bank and OCBC which just happen to be on the same stretch. The funny thing was May Bank stated they had run out of new $10 notes and these will come only the following week. while OCBC stated they had run out of new $2 notes but had plenty of new $10 notes !! I guess if you wanted new notes you had to queue up twice !! Off to continue with my house cleaning.

11.1.11

2011-01-12T21:20:00.001+08:00

So 11 Jan 11 has come and gone. The ‘O’level result have been released and my alma mata SJI had the top Eurasian Student. Was really surprised to see that in the papers. Great job. Next day the papers had the article on people staying over night to be first in line for …. get this registration to kindergarden and that is only in 2013 !! What’s up with that !! Do I need to registered my kids now then !! Soon it’s going to be once you deliver and when you submit the name and particulars of your kid you can also sign up for their kindergarden classes one stop shop for everything for your child’s education. The missus actually has started checking out little kindies, I remember my kindergarden days, I think I went to a few as we move around a bit, I just knew I cried alot ha ha … and there were sweets to eat and cereal and cornflakes which I hated as they gave us milk with that and I hated milk. Love the playground as I remember this huge stone like structure that you can climb around in. Ah well guess once the missus makes up her mind, I’ll probably need to get myself a sleeping bag and an iPad to keep me entertained through the night.

Blog Changes

2011-01-10T15:50:00.001+08:00

Ah finally did some changes to the blog, well actually just minor changes like updating the 2011 resolution list in the side bar as well as putting a link to some items I am selling, actually just stuff that I have spares of which I decided to sell off like my microstar collection, football card collection, trading card collection, comics, toys, and my camera mugs collection.

Resolutions 2011

2011-01-03T00:49:00.004+08:00

Well last year was not a very good year for resolutions so I hope this year I would at least complete them. Have been thinking about what I should put as my resolution for this year and finally settled on these 5 New Year Resolution for 2011.

1) Catalogue my Comic Collection

This has really taken ages to do I did zero entries last year basically just too busy with the kids. But I hope this year I would be able to do more and I have already setup my PC for the long haul data entry so at least it’s a start. Just hope the PC starts up and my data is not lost ha ha …

2) Complete my Star Wars Toy Collection

It’s an old set actually about 3 or 4 years old I have no idea how many figures are in there that I need to complete but I know I am missing quite a few it’s a 60 figure set if I am correct. Have to start digging them out again. This is probably the hardest resolution to complete as not sure if the figures are still available around here and hope they are cheap. I know I got all the McQuarrie figures so it’s the others that I need to track down. Time to hit those flea marts ….

3) Built my Lego AT-AT

It’s about time I got this done I had it for like 3 years now and not worked on it yet. Just hope the parts have not disintegrated over the years ha ha … May even have time to take a coupe of pictures always wanted to do that and I even had kept toilet rolls which I wanted to paint to recreate the Endor battle scene.

4) Finish 2 X-Box Games

Decided to lower some expectations to this as I might not have time to complete but have started by at least bringing out the machine into a place where I can access it for playing. Got my guidebooks and web sites ready for when I get into trouble ha ha …

5) Improve on 3 run times
Now that I had complete 1 Marathon I as debating if I should try a triathlon or maybe a biathlon but I think I’m not so ready for that. So I have decided to improve on my previous year’s run times. They were not fantastic times last year seems as I get older it gets slower so it’s time to arrest that slide. I definitely would like to try out again for the Singapore Marathon, full distance 42.195km (6hr 13min 24sec) the other run which I have always liked would be the REAL run and going for the 15km (1hr 58min 34sec) the third run was something I am still contemplating as want to be a half marathon distance and was thinking of the Sunsdown or Bay Run. I might go with the Sunsdown (2hr 44min 33sec) as it’s in the first half of the year so that it does not clash with the other 2 and also plan only to run 4 times this year and I have already signed up for the 2XU run. Well need to get going and sign up for it else have to go with the PAssion Run.

So that’s my 5 resolutions for the year and this time I will do a quarterly update on progress for the above 5 resolution instead of doing a year end review probably that would help motivate me a little to complete come of them !!

1.1.11

2011-01-01T21:06:00.002+08:00

The first day of the year ….. time to remember to write your cheques with the correct date, tear your parking coupons correctly, sign and date your items with the proper year and throw away your old calenders.

Still trying to figure out what to put in my New Year’s Resolution, probably will do that tomorrow, have a couple of ideas in mind. It being all one’s today I figured I should start the year on the right note and went for a run at MR, turns out it had to rain half way through my 5km run and I had to run in the rain most of the way back. All wet but surprisingly it was an enjoyable run. Hope to keep that up through out the year.

Looking Back

2010-12-31T21:25:00.002+08:00

It’s that time of year again where its time to look back at what has happen in the year and where did my resolutions go …… Bad year for resolutions ha ha …

The year started as it ended, with the arrival of the twins back home from the hospital. The household definitely got crowded this year, we had a helper in for the babies and then it was the confinement nanny for 1 month. The first quarter was pretty hectic mainly around the kids. Getting their baptism done, 1st month celebration, doctor’s appointments and check ups, grocery shopping for baby food and diapers. Second quarter was mainly on the mom, the missus went back to work, and she got baptised as well, that was another celebration event. The 3rd quarter was when we decided we needed a little more help and got another helper. It was also the time where I rented a little box shop to put my trading cards up for sale. The 4th quarter was again the preparation for the kids first birthday and more visits to the doctors and I ran my first Marathon. So that was the year in summary for me.

Resolution wise not a good year of the 5 I think this year only hit 2 targets.
1) Baptism of the twins well that was pretty quick and necessary so we got that done.
2) Ran the Marathon and complete it well I finally got the courage to run one and completed it although not the best of timings I had hope for.
3), 4) and 5) on my Cataloging, Gaming and Toys …. well I think it looks like I have to go for another year of it.

Off to enjoy the final last few hours of the year … HAPPY NEW YEAR

TRON

2010-12-30T10:07:00.001+08:00

Got to watch probably the last movie for the year for me. TRON Legacy, a movie I did not want to miss. I had watch the original TRON movie way way way back in the 80s and I had loved that movie, as a kid it was one of my all time favourites, together with the Star Wars movies. The Light Bikes were really awesome then and they still are now. That was like one of the defining moments of the original TRON movie. So what's in store for 2011 looks like more comic related movies are coming out including Thor (6 May), X-Men First Class (3 June), Green Lantern (17 June) and Captain America (22 July -- why this not on the 4th of July week beats me). The final chapter of Harry Potter (15 July) is another movie I look forward to since I saw the first one and there are bound to be cinema's that will show the full part 1 & 2 together again. There is also the following which I am looking forward to Pirates of the Carribean : On Stranger Tides (May 20), Kungfu Panda 2 (May 27) and Transformers : Dark of the Moon (July 1)

Boxing Day

2010-12-26T09:13:00.002+08:00

Has been a busy few days. A little late but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone

The kids first real Christmas home and they did enjoy themselves although they did not know what was really happening. They just love getting the presents …. well I think they like the wrappings more than the gifts themselves. Forgo Christmas Eve mass this year and went on Christmas Day instead. Kids stayed up late .. for once .. but got them home before 10pm to get them into bed. (They usually sleep at 8pm)

The thing about the presents was strangely and probably a good thing, No twiney type of presents ha ha … they each got different gifts guess it gets a little difficult for family and friends to get them matching stuff when they are a boy and girl.

Well I need some rest now. Time to get back to bed for a bit before they wake up from their nap.

We Are One

2010-12-23T23:19:00.001+08:00

Recently celebrated the twins turning one. Had a small little party for family and some friends.We got the Sesame Street cake from Patisserie, catering from Lavish Dine and Studio shots from Studio Loft. I had a photo for each of their first 12 months which with some photoshop touch up, A4 printing and lamination came out quite well and it was displayed on the walk for everyone to see their 12 months journey. The missus wanted to have a family dress code so new clothes and shoes were bought for the kids and Daddy and Mummy had to follow quit with matching outfits. Took too many photos to put them all up so here are just a very very small few.

Sesame Street

2010-12-18T00:10:00.003+08:00

Went with the kids to catch the Sesame Street play at Plaza Singapura as they like Elmo. However the boy was more interested in sleeping. I guess he was tired out that day. However my little girl was total engross with the show and she definitely loved it. The show was short just 15 minutes only. But still I think she was excited to see Elmo.

STGCC

2010-12-15T20:39:00.001+08:00

Singapore Toy Game Comic Convention – STGCC was held recently at the Suntec Convention centre. It was a paid entry but I had joined a tournament and it gave out free tickets to the event. I total stunk at the tourney but I guess the important thing was to get in and look around. There were a lot of stuff to see, in the end I got some toys and a few comics which were autographed by the writers and artist. A lot of anima and manga characters were about I guess the best looking ones were these 2 below.

So many things to see and so little time. The exhibit that I really love was the Star Wars 501st which were there in full force (pun intended) they even had a baby in ewok costume !! You could take photos with them. At their booth they also had this awesome display. A Hoth battle lego recreation and the Rebel Hoth Base with toys. they were totally so cool !!

There was this life size Simpson family as well which I though was cool.

Post Ponderings

2010-12-13T21:39:00.002+08:00

The Marathon was a real experience. There were a few moments to savour. Here’s some of my thoughts on the run.

Banana
One of the things I learn from the race was that I finally learned how to eat and run. When I had picked up my banana at the banana station, I actually could run and eat at the same time. It was a first for me. ha ha ….

Deep Heat Rubs
I also realised that Deep Heat rubs were the way to go as it helps with the cramps and keep the muscles loose, but along the route I only used my left hand to apply the rub as I wanted to keep my right free to wipe the sweat off my face. Did not want to accidentally sting my eye if I had rub my face with it. Had to use the water to wash it off but what I could not understand about the Deep Heat rubs was people who actually were rubbing their legs like the cream was some sun-tan oil they practically had white legs after that. Don’t get it that they actually used so much !!!

Cap
I might just run with a cap the next time as the heat of the sub was really scorching how hot was it well I got a T-Shirt tan running in the heat. It was really bad !!

Gel
The body gel that I used really worked wonders I had no chaffing or abrasions. I even put some on my toes. I had applied it generously this round and I think the after the experience last year where I got abrasions on my body the money spent on the gel was well worth it.

Water Points
Wow the water points near the end were not so much water points but “paper mud points“ as at the later stages people really needed to hydrate and would stop and drink and throw the cups around and also they would pour water over their arms and head as it was hot. Soon the entire area was just a mess of soggy paper !!, Got my socks wet there as well with all the water people were splashing around.

Massages
I think it’s a good idea to have a massage at the end of your run or at least a day after. The Hotel where we stayed was fully book and I could only get a massage (paid for by my missus as a gift for completing the run) on the next day and I think it helps with the recovery.
So those were my thoughts on the run and at the end I guess my pride and joy was to get the finisher’s T-Shirt. YEAH !!!

SCM Singapore

2010-12-12T12:33:00.002+08:00

Well it’s that time of the year again, I had signed up for the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS) this is my 3rd year and after trying the 10K and the Half the last 2 years, it was time for me to tackle the FULL Marathon, all 42.195KM of it. I had collected my bib number 2 weeks ago and here’s a picture of it with the race route.

This year it would be a kind of stay-cation holiday for the family. We checked into Westin Stamford and got 3 rooms for 2 nights, I figured I would be too tired to check out on the same day. The hotel was fully booked, as we were checking in there were at least 3 other groups checking in who were there for the race. Got a nice high floor and one which overlooked the Padang and the day before the race could see that they had set up everything and were putting the finishing touches to the area.

It was 3am when I woke up, did my pre-run checks, got all my gear checked took my breakfast, got my isotonic drink and the most important part was to gel down my body to prevent chaffing and blisters. This year they had a novel idea where the races started at different timings and routes, the Full started in Orchard Road, the Half at Sentosa and the rest were at the Padang. So I took a slow walk to Orchard Road and there were many people heading that way as well. Seems the hotels around the Padang were fully booked too.

There was a party atmosphere at Orchard. By the time I got there it was almost 4.15am and the race was starting at 5am. Just enough time for a quick warm up and I was ready for the start. The race flagged off at 5am sharp and there was a LOT of people there. 20,000 runners from what was reported. It took me about 2 to 3 minutes before I even got to the start line and then it was off down Orchard Road, it was a bit tight as they did not full closed the entire road just 3 lanes and it was an experience running down Orchard under the Christmas Lights. We turn off into the Chinatown area and that was where it got really tight as it became 2 lane, Ran through the business district and back to the Padang area and up on Nicoll Highway which was better as it opened up I enjoyed running that bit. The 10K mark came up and from the results that were posted after the race I was going at 7min 36 sec per km pace, a little fast I think but still under 8 mins. or about 1 hr 20 min for that 10K.

The East Coast Park run was a long long long straight run before we turn back and headed down the same long long long straight again. The turn was also where the half way point was and by that time I had slowed down to 7min 59sec per km pace basically still managed to hold around 1 hr 20 mins. The 23km mark was tough as could feel my legs were cramping but luckily there were those deep heat stations along the way and I basically used as much as I could along with the water stations and the banana stations and the energy gel stations. The 30k mark was around the Marina Golf course, I had slowed to 9min 40 sec per km pace which was about 1 hr 30 min.

The last 10k stretch was a real killer, it was at the Marina Golf Course and the Marina Barrage and then onto the Benjamin Sheares Bridge and down to the Marina promenade before heading to the Padang. ABSOLUTELY shadeless !! The heat of the day really got to you and there were a few casualties as at least 3 ambulances were racing around the course at that point. I had slowed to a 2 minute run, 10 minute walk pace. It was absolutely HOT HOT HOT !!! Most people walked as well and by the time we hit Benjamin sheares bridge practically everyone was walking up except for a few brave souls who still tried to jog up (less than 10 people I think were running up while I was there) In the end I was managing a 10 min 3 sec pace which was about 2 hrs to complete that last stretch.

At the end it was really exhausting and it was really tough just to job over the finishing line. But I completed my first Marathon in a Gun time of 6 hrs 16 mins 31 secs. (my chip time was 6 hrs 13 mins 24 secs) I was really pleased that I completed the entire course. Although I walked most of the last 10K. Well more thoughts on the Marathon later.

Pre Marathon

2010-12-03T20:44:00.001+08:00

It's just 3 days to the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2010. I had signed up for the Full Marathon this year. It will be my first try at it. I have never run a full marathon before (42.124km) In the course of the year the other runs I have attended, when you walk among the runners the conversation usually comes to "are you running in the stan chart marathon this year" most people are as its something on most runners calendar and most try the half and you hear the reason they give for not running full is that they are afraid. I hear that a lot especially at the runs nearer the year end. I too am a little apprehensive if I can actually complete the full distance but I kind of have a plan for the run. It's basically to take it slow at the start and get into a rhythm and hopefully get to the end around the 6 hour mark. Well that's my aim anyway. I will be have certain markers along the way and I am planning to carry some energy gel as well to sustain me over the course.

Plan is to start slow.

- 5 km will be my first marker as it's to say woohooo ... first 5K done.

- 8 km is the next marker as that is where I usually will feel warm up and comfortable.

- 10 km is next to remind me that QUARTER of the distance is over.

- 12 - 15 km will be where I take my 1st Energy Gel

- 21 km the HALF WAY POINT woo hooo

- 22 -25 km will be where I take my 2nd Energy Gel

- 26 km this will be the marker that I have run the longest this year, as I completed a 25k this year.

- 30 km the THREE QUARTER point and this will be the mark where I have run the furthest EVER in my life I did complete a 3/4 marathon something like 20 years ago.

- 32 - 34 km will be where I take my 3rd Energy Gel

- 35 km just 5 more to go .....

- 40 km just 1 more km to go ......

- 41.124 km FINISH !!!

I will be hitting all the drink stations, banana stations, gel stations and even the heat rub stations. Guess the 3 biggest things I worry about are (i) Cramps (ii) My knees holding out and (iii) Chaffing and Blisters. Well that’s the plan anyways.

Missing Photograph

2010-11-22T23:30:00.001+08:00

You know how sometimes you take pictures when you are at a restaurant and then ages later you download them from your handphone and you can’t remember what that picture was or where it was taken. well it happen to me and I finally found out where I took the picture and where. Here’s the Jedi Mudster !! a really awesome dessert !!

Day at the Zoo

2010-11-21T21:11:00.001+08:00

Went to the Zoo recently with the family. What a start to the trip, as soon as we left the house I forgot my handphone and then the misses forgot the keys and then the helper forgot the kids pacifier so even before I could get 1 km away I had to make 3 loops, but lucky it was near the house that we forgot all these things. So we arrived at the Singapore Zoological Gardens at around 11am. We decided to head towards the White Tiger enclosure. But then found out that it was under renovation so that was that. had our lunch break at the Ah Meng Cafe, which was Nigel’s favourite place. He was not too keen on the animals in the zoo. Don’t seem to be very interested slept along the way even. We got to see the Australian outback, some crocodiles and lots of birds. We also managed to get to the wild cats area for the lions and cheetahs. But the place where we spent most of our time was at the Monkey exhibits, that was Natalie’s favourite place, she literally went ape (pun intended) over the monkeys, kept point and making all the little baby noises. All the other animals did not strike her fancy except for the monkeys. We did not managed to get far did not even get to the children’s animal area as the sky was getting dark and it was about 3pm and the kids were getting tired so we left the zoo.

A Very colourful picture of 2 parrots.

Another bird photo, i think it’s a crane or something.

Even more bird pictures, this one was a bird picking in a hole on a Rhino’s back !!

A Kangaroo in the Australian outback section. Went with little Natalie to view this as Nigel was sleeping !

Does this look fake to you, well it does too me but it’s a real Crocodile basking in the sun.

Something right out of Discovery Channel’s Meerkat Manor !!

A family picture of the missus with the 2 kids in their strollers.

Here’s the gang walking in the Zoo.

And the missus with the Monkey that was just walking along the railings. Kept asking her to get closer but she dare not !

Natalie’s favourite exhibit the Monkeys and here are the Orang Utan’s playing.

As you can see little Natalie is so engrossed with the Monkey’s !!! She was absolutely fascinated by them.

More monkey’s we stay at this enclosure for a while for the little girl to get her fill of what the monkey’s were doing.

One of the great things about the Singapore zoo is that they have this open concept of enclosing the animals and they use natural barriers and some even no barriers. As in this case this was an Orang Utan taken from below, meaning we were actually walking under it and it could at any time just swing down and land beside you !

Images of some monkey’s fighting which ended with one of them falling into the pond.

My favourite sign on what a women is worth ha ha ….

PACMAN

2010-11-14T21:47:00.001+08:00

Wow .. 3rd post of the day, I think this is the first time I ever submitted 3 post in a day. But its catch up time I guess. Anyway, watched the Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito Boxing match this morning. Actually I did not even knew about the match until Friday when I wanted to cancel my Starhub Sports channel and they had this on their phone log which was an interesting marketing ploy. So I finally got to see the “pacman” in action live ! They had a few smaller fights before the main event. So Let’s Get Ready to Rumble ….. as the announcer said. After all that hype and even when Manny was smaller, lighter, had less reach, it was still a one sided affair, it was all Manny from start to finish. Margarito had a cut below his right eye and both his eyes were almost swollen shut, many times either the doctor or referee had to check that he could see before continuing the fight. It was really one sided and even in the 10th round there was a time where not only the announcers were hoping the ref would stop the fight but after a flurry of blows, Manny looked to the ref with that why don’t you stop the fight look. In the end Margarito hanged in there till the end and made it to the 12th round. The Pacman won and he has 8 titles now to his name outstanding fight !

MacRitchie, Monkeys and Medics

2010-11-14T21:28:00.002+08:00

Went for one of the last long runs at MacRitchie over the weekend. It was an unusually crowded day. I think a lot of people were out and about as the weather was pretty cooling. The missus and the kids joined me as they wanted to see the Monkeys at MacRitchie. I took the loop track round the reservoir, along the track at the back as I was running in, came across a small scene where someone had fainted or had heat stroke. A lot of people were gathering round him, he was about a kilometre from the exit of the track. The guy was just lying there and people were trying to make him comfortable, he was not moving from what I see, someone had already called for help it seems. As I continued on my way, came across the paramedic's, all 3 of them, quite poor thing they had to track in all the way to get to him with their gear, and they had parked their ambulance at the cafe area, so basically they had to trek up the slope, walk round the back area where the kayaks were and then head into the track for 1 kilometre or so. They look exhausted. At the cafe area where I went to meet the missus, there was a patrol car and 2 policemen were making their way in and asking for directions, I told them where the guy was. Soon a Red Rhino could be seen and heard. I have no idea why they decided to park the vehicle at the other end of the compound in the car park when the ambulance and police cars were parked near the cafe area. I think they were walking all over the place and was lost. Finally they came to the cafe got the correct directions and made their way in. The really puzzling thing was I think they knew that a person had fainted or something like that but the 4 SCDF personnel who went in did not seem to carry anything except one of them was carrying a portable fire extinguisher, a small one not those big ones. I still can't figure out what he wanted to do with that !!

Well in the end the Monkeys did not really make their appearance just some small ones and they were quite far off, it was disappointing for the family. So we took a drive to Pierce Reservoir where there was sure to be Monkeys. Nigel was fascinated with them. Little Natalie on the other hand went to sleep and was not really into the Monkey Business.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-14T15:18:00.001+08:00

This update is a long time coming but finally getting round to updating the blog. We had a small party over Halloween (Oct 31st) with some friends and relatives. I bought for my 2 little ones Star Wars outfits, the little boy was Darth Vader and the little girl was Princess Leia. The outfit for the girl was a little big but luckily we could fold it and she looked adorable in it with the 2 'Leia' hair buns. The Boy really did not like his helmet and kept flicking it off, although it was made of cloth. The Vader costume came with cape and helmet and I got him a glow-in-the-dark sword to act as a lightsaber but he got a little hot in his costume and had to change out.

The party started in the afternoon, we had friends come over to help decorate and prepare the goodie bags of sweats. Food was catered, great food incidentally I think it was from Mum's Kitchen, the missus did the ordering. Oh she came in her big grey 'Rat' hat costume, but she keeps insisting that it's a chinchilla but I think it's a big floppy ear rat.

The kids all came dressed up as witches and pumpkins which seem to be the 2 most common characters. We even had a werewolf. The parents did their bit in dressing up as well. Some came with outfits bought overseas !!

There was even a Pinata and all the kids had a good time whacking it and it finally broke there goes Barney’s head and the kids all rushed in to grab the sweets. Poor Barney lost his Head and no one bothered about him !!

kids in costume

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More sweets were given out and in the end I think all the kids went home with sweets to last them the entire year. My little ones even had their own baby juice since they could not eat the candies.

Baby T

2010-10-30T10:03:00.004+08:00

Visited the doctor again as little boy has a cough and runny nose. It was crowded and we had to wait a while to get to see the doctor. Finally it was our turn and the doctor got to see both of the kids. Little girls got sensitive sick which react quite badly when she gets an insect bite, it inflames quite a bit and the doctor decided to give her some cream to help out. She has gained weight and is now almost 9kg (she was weighed in at 8.9kg) She was at the 70th percentile for her age group but as she was born premature the doctor took the corrected age and she would have been in the 80th percentile.

Little boy on the other hand is a whopping 11kg. Hitting the 95th percentile and I think if they did the corrected age check he probably would have gone off the charts !! I could just imagine the doctor saying “ my charts not big enough to plot this “. Anyway the doctor checked his lungs and throat, lungs were ok the wheezing seems to be coming from his throat and not the lungs. A further check on his throat revealed that he has Baby Tonsils !! Well just like the daddy he seems to have tonsil as well. Doctor gave him some medication for his cough and the runny nose and we left the clinic. He seems to get sick quite often poor little kiddy.

RIP – Captain Phil

2010-10-19T22:54:00.001+08:00

I finally got to watch the episode from Deadliest Catch where they had the death of Captain Phil. I knew that he had passed on early in the year as it was at CatchCon where they paid a tribute to him, but I had yet to see the episode about his passing which was shown on Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch (which is one of my favourites shows, the others being Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs and Man vs Wild) It finally came round and it was such a sad episode from his collapse on his fishing vessel, to him being rushed to Anchorage and the surgery, his recovery and finally his relapse and death. They even showed his funeral and I think he was cremated and his ashes put into a Harley Davidson gas tank. It was painted red and has his face on it. Very touching when his sons laid him to rest.

There was even a part where the other boats got a pod and put a bouy with his name and some dedication and put the whole thing into the pod and let it drop into the sea in his remembrance and at the same time the ships bell was sound, very touching.

Water Babies

2010-10-18T22:34:00.001+08:00

Went swimming with the little ones recently. It was their 2nd time at the pool They did not like it previously but we figured it’s been a while now and maybe they will like it. AND THEY DID !!

Here’s little Natalie, splashing away with her Rubber Ducky. she knows how to say DUCK now.

Nigel on the other hand likes to sit in his float. It’s just a little big for Natalie but just nice for him and he likes to get to the edges as he can stand then. His feet just touches the floor of the baby pool currently. He is quite lazy just wants to sit in the float and get people to push him around refuses to do anything. Unlike his sister who kept splash away when she got into the water until we had to keep taking her out to dry her face.

REAL Run Roundup

2010-10-17T22:06:00.001+08:00

Went for my yearly REAL Run, it’s so far the only run which I have participated in for the last 4 years straight. Twine running the 10K and twice including this year running the 15K. This will be my 6th event for the year. was suppose to stop at 6 but then I added in the Tour de Trail run recently which will take my tally for runs this year to 7. The final one will be in the year end Standard Chartered event. As usual the REAL run was held at the Changi Exhibition Centre. I bought my $3 bus ticket to get that. (Its one of the things I like about this run they have island wide pickup service) It’s also the run where you get your goodie bag on the day itself and not before. As with my other runs this year, I have my number tag capture.

I took the 5.15am shuttle to get there. Arrived around 6pm which gave me enough time to change, deposit my bag and warm up. The race started at 7am, It was not a very hot day, a little cloudy but still humid. The flag off was done at 7am sharp which was great as did not have to wait around too long. I did the 15K last year in a net time of 1hr 53 mins. I knew I could better this time this year. It started off a little more crowded than usual but I think there were same number of runners but it felt more crowded. Ran through the bush before going onto the road stage. The 9K mark came up for me on the hour. Which was a 6 to 7 min per kilo pace. A little fast actually but it felt good once I hit the 5K mark and was running quite well. Then it really started to get crowded as the 10 and 15K runners converged onto the path and beach. Most people start walking once they hit the beach as the sand is not something that is easy to run on. I plodded on in the sand. Alas my race basically ended at the 12.5K mark just as I was hitting the road after the beach. I think the run on the beach put too much strain on the legs. I felt my right calf muscle pull once, 2 steps later it pull again and that was when I decided to stop and walk. The last 2.5K was the longest ever. With walks and slow jogs as I did not want the leg to lock up on me, definitely did not want to arrive at the end in an ambulance. I did managed to get to the end and as I was approaching the last 100m I could see the clock at 1hr 59mins and 30secs, put on a little faster jog and I think I managed to just get under 2hrs. Not one of my best runs but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I really like this year’s medal as it’s gold in colour. They gave out the same T-Shirt and Bag which is normal every year. Just colour changes only. Now its to prep for the year end Marathon.

Mighty Miners’s

2010-10-16T17:46:00.001+08:00

This week saw the rescue of the 33 Chilean miner’s from their underground home which they shared for the last 2+months. I was really fascinated with the rescue bits and what they did. I think the 3 things that really caught my eye were (a) That Capsule which they so appropriately named the Phoenix would make a great capsule in those fun fair merry-go-round thingy. (b) I would love to get my hands on that liquid food that they gave the miners to make them not get dizzy or vomit on the ride up. I;m sure it would help with my sea and air sickness. (c) The other thing from NASA that really caught my eye were those special underwear that they gave the men which was used on space flights. Keeps fresh for days, I would really love to get my hands on it then no need to change for months woo hoo. Been hinting to the missus to get me one for Christmas.

Well I’m just glad the miner’s are safe. Well Done to the men and women who got them out.

Retrolicious turns out to be Retroridiculous

2010-10-10T21:03:00.002+08:00

We got some discounted tickets to watch the Retrolicious concert at Fort Canning Park. The missus was pretty excited as she had wanted to go watch it. They were bringing in 3 acts – Johnny Hate Jazz, Debbie Gidson and Rick Ashley.

We arrived around 7.30 as the concert was suppose to start at 8pm. Actually we were there around 7pm but there was a massive jam and parking around the area was all taken up. In the end we parked at the Concorde Hotel and walked over to Fort Canning. by the time it was already 7.30pm and there was this MASSIVE and I mean MASSIVE queue to get in. It snake for like forever, from the gates it went up the slope, round a carpark, up more slope, curve round a u-tun point, goes back down the slope, makes another turn round another carpark and down some more to where the main road was to be. Since it was a queue we joined in and actually there were like more and more people joining the queue. Had no idea what was holding this up seems they were tagging people as they entered and that caused this massive queue. As expected the missus got a little frustrated and started complaining. Well actually everyone in the queue was complaining. By 8pm we were still in the queue and heading up the slope (still have to loop the loop and head down) There was pratically no security people cut queue and they were still selling tickets to gain entry to the event. Finally I think someone decided enough was enough and started allowing people in with out restriction as long as you had a ticket. But by that time it was 8.45 before we got in. Queuing for over an hour !!

They also got the show going then so we did not miss much. Johnny Hate Jazz came on for an hour or so. They changed the instruments after their performance, which took another 20 minutes or so. Debbie Gibson came on and did her stuff for an hour before the really star of the show Rick Ashley came on. Overall I think the show was great, the queue was terrible but the show was good. When we entered we moved over to the other side where there was enough room to move around and all that and not too crampy. The show stretched over to way pass midnight. By the time we got back it was almost 2am before we hit the sack.

So how were these 80s singer’s now. Well Johnny Hate Jazz you can tell they have aged and the voice has changed somewhat. Debbie Gidson, just imagine a 40 year old Gidson with a 20 year old voice, that’s her high pitch voice never seems to change. As for Rick Ashley, don’t think he has changed a bit in all the 20 years since he appeared. The look and voice still the same, he can’t move on stage still :)

First Panorama

2010-10-05T20:27:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend, my little boy was running a fever and he vomitted his food, so we had to sent him to see the doctor. There were a lot of kids getting sick that day. We arrived around 11am and registered him but was told to come back later at 2.30pm as the doctor would be free only then to see us. So we went for lunch and got back at around 2.15pm we waited for my little boy's turn and while I was in the waiting room I started to fiddle with my handphone's camera. There was a setting for panorama view and I tried that. It actually took 8 shots at around a 180 degree angle and below was what I got. The doctor saw our boy at around 2.45pm and got some medicine for his fever and vomitting. Took a urine sample which came ou fine and we later found out that his upper 2 front teeth were growing and that could have caused the fever. He is well now.

Heart Rate Monitor

2010-10-05T00:09:00.001+08:00

I tried out my new Heart Rate Monitor which I got recently as a goodie bag item. It came with a watch and a strap. It’s one of those cheap China brand models - JS-711 can’t really ask too much since it was free. Got it at the Tour de Trail run which was a 10.5km run (which I completed in 1hr 12 min) through the forest of MacRitchie.

I had to strap on the strap above, did some adjustment to it but it still felt pretty tight. I’m not sure but it feels like I’m wearing a bra or something, not saying that I have used one before. It needed to get used to having that thing strap across your chest. It actually worked and I could see my heart rate and percentage on the watch. It beeps when I am over or under the target I think, not really sure what values to set so I just followed what the manual put, probably wrong figures ha ha … anyway at least the good thing was that it showed my heart rate and at the end once I got it down to my normal rate I knew I had warm down enough and could go home. Another good thing was my other watch strap just broke on the day that I tried the Heart Rate Monitor so the watch that came with it double up as my running watch and time keeper as well.

National Stadium – finally ……

2010-10-03T22:08:00.002+08:00

The time has finally come. The National Stadium will be torn down after a 3 year delay it’s finally happening … its the start of the end.

The National Stadium holds fond memories for me. My earliest recollection of it was during the Malaysia Cup days when Singapore played any visiting Malaysian team. Some of the more popular matches, my dad would get us tickets and the whole family including my mum would go. We had to reach there early to get a good spot and usually we left just before the end to ‘escape’ the mad rush after the final whistle. It was more of a family picnic my mum would make sandwiches or hot dogs and my dad would get the balloons, sometime my uncle would join us. I really love those balloons, it was the long kind usually had stripes on it and you inserted the ‘whistle’ part at the end and when you let it go it would launch with that wheeeeeeeee sound. It was my first encounter with the National Stadium and football in general the great nicknames of the footballers like Camel, Gelek King, Banana Kick, Spiderman, Crazy Horse etc. were all familar to me. When it rain you used newspaper to cover your head or if you are lucky you would have your umbrella with you. No one can forget the Kallang Roar (and later the Kallang wave) and the most famous 3 words …. “Drinks, Kachang, Keropok”. In my later years during my secondary school days, it was where the Sports Day would be held and I guess I had the opportunity to at least run on the track. My National Service days saw me training there for formation runs and relays. When I started working, it was a place I hardly went. I can only remember 3 times I went there. Once with a group of friend to watch Man U play in Singapore, another time was the most recent visit by Liverpool and one of the last was a sort of Family reunion where my whole family including my mom and sister went was to watch Singapore played Thailand in one of the last matches at the Stadium.

In a couple of years the spanking new Sports Hub will be ready and I will definately look forward to that. Would catch a game or two :)

“ROYAL RUMBLE”

2010-10-01T23:05:00.001+08:00

No the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is not in town but what I am referring to is the very innovative name of different sets of Nasi Lemak at the famous stall at the Adam Road food centre.

At the stall you could order the various standard Nasi Lemak like the egg set, fish set, chicken set or otah set. If that is not what you wanted you could then try the Full House or Royal Flush combination and if that is not to your liking then there is always the ROYAL RUMBLE (pictured above) which basically has everything from Ikan Bilis, chicken, fish, egg, otah, begadil and of course the chilli which is out of this world one of the best I have tried.

Popeye

2010-09-30T20:39:00.003+08:00

When we say Popeye the first thing that generally pops into mind is Spinach and Popeye the Sailor Man (toot toot) The last thing you would associate it with is Fried Chicken !!

I have tried Popeye’s Friend Chicken and I love it !! The Chicken has that crispy and crunchy skin when you bite into it you can still heard the crunch. The meat is moist and not dry. It’s very tasty too. The biscuits that comes with the set give it a nice touch, it’s not that bad, the fries are just ok. But the chicken is really something you have to try it. I would give it a score of 5 out of 5. If you have not tried it. I highly recommend you to go down to your nearest Popeye outlet and give it a try. It’s out of this world.

And just to inform you I was not invited, I did try the meal a couple of times (different days), I went alone and I paid for the meal in cash :)

Changi Point Broadwalk

2010-09-29T00:48:00.001+08:00

Family took a stroll to the Changi Point Broadwalk recently. Actually with the kids it was just a short walk down to the Jetty after which I took them in the car to the end point at Changi Village where we met up with the rest for dinner.

A Family Shot before the walk

Nigel in his little buggy and new Socks

Mum and Natalie

Tour De Trail

2010-09-27T21:25:00.007+08:00

As the name suggest it’s a run around MacRitchie Reservoir. I actually did not want to sign up for this run but found out that they actually had a Heart Rate Monitor in their goodie bag and I believe the run was for charity. It was coupled with another run somewhere in the West at the Chinese Garden but I was more interested in this. The entry fee was pretty high at $75 but I guess $75 for a HRM was relatively cheap. I only signed up like the week before and when I went to collect my goodie bag they had not received my entry yet so I had to rekey in everything again. I went early on a Saturday to pick up the stuff and the shipment of HRMs had not arrived so I had to pick that up on the race day instead. The running vest and number that I had got.

It was a 10.5km run which would take us 2 rounds of the normal boys cross country track plus a bit more up the Reservoir’s walk way round the food area, (not exactly sure what that area was) The flag off was at 7.30am a rather late flag off but I guess they wanted to be sure there was light along the jungle track, I have run there in the wee hours of the morning at 6.30am or so and it’s pitch black at some areas with just some light to guide you if you were running on the tracks.

It was not a big race event, about maybe a couple of hundred people turned up. I walked from my house to MacRitchie in the wee hours of the morning. That was like a 3 or 4 km walk, that got me warm up was sweating already before the run. We were flagged off at 7.30am and I felt the first round of the jungle track was really punishing. Almost wanted to just walk the rest of the way but continued and I think after that first 5km I was really warmed up and the second round was much better. The event was organized fairly well had 5 water points along the route which was good. The funny think was they gave the isotonic drink in cups with ice !! That was a first for me but I kept the ice and held it in my hands till it melted and used it to cool me down. They did not have a clock and I think my time based on my watch was 1 hr 14 minutes or so for 10.5km which was ok for me.

Collected my Hearth Rate Monitor, must give it a try at my next run and had the rather long walk home. That’s another 3 or 4 km of walking.

2 grains of rice :)

2010-09-24T21:14:00.001+08:00

Our little boy with his 2 grains of rice :) ha ha ……

De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis

2010-09-18T10:02:00.001+08:00

No it’s not another Da Vinci or name for Quentin Tarantino or any of his movies for that matter, it’s what I have for my wrist. I’ve been having this pain in my wrist for the last 2 weeks and it seems to have gotten worst. So I went to see my doctor about it and immediately he said my wrist is swollen (slightly but I could hardly tell) and that I had De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis. Seems it’s pretty common if you do a lot of wrist flicking / bending such as fishing, carrying heavy stuff with wrist turns or carrying your little ones. I probably got mine from the last reason. So what he said then was I needed an injection (what they term a Cortisone Injection as that is the most effective way to treat it. Medication generally would not work. I had heard from my wife about a friend who also had to have a wrist injection and it was suppose to hurt like hell. I WAS WORRIED !!! So I prep myself for the injection, the doctor called in his nurse to assist which kind of made me even more worried, since it seems they probably are going to restraint me if I start screaming like a lunatic. There are basically a few things in the world that can make a grown man cry one of it would be injections the other being a visit to the Dentist. The injection was to the vein where the swelling was, whatever the doctor was saying at this point I kind of shut off as I was more worried about the pain of the injection. So he took my wrist and found the spot and then he did warn me that the initial breakage of the skin would be painful after that as he administered the fluid it will hurt again as the veins expand. But surprisingly I felt no pain at all even from the poking of the needle to the administering of the medication. Soon it was all over and I was relieved. I guess maybe it was due to the skill of the physician more so than any other thing that made the injection bearable and not only that but one of the least painful injections that I have ever encountered.

Novena Procession 2010

2010-09-17T20:53:00.002+08:00

I’ve been to the Novena procession for the last couple of years and this year was no different. I went for the 9 weeks Novena which culminated in the Annual Novena Procession. This year we were instructed to wear blue or any item of blue clothing. It starts at 6pm and normally ends about 9pm or so. It’s very crowded and crowds would spill onto the sides of the road and even across to the other side of the road. Traffic police usually are called in to help with the crowd control, ambulances have to be on stand by as well.

I got there around 5.30pm and was able to get “up” as in to the car park area, usually I’m kind of relegated to the street level. Not this year I managed to get up there. Was able to see the whole procession and all that. it started to drizzle a bit during the procession but it did not get heavy. There was the procession followed by mass and the crowning.

Definitely will be back next year.

SSBR & AHM

2010-09-12T20:45:00.002+08:00

So the SAFRA Singapore Bridge Run and Army Half Marathon was held today. I have not been running for about 2 months now. Only went for 2 jogs recently. Was recovering from the previous run. Also recovering from a cough and cold. Had sprain my left thumb (carrying the little ones) “Crushed” my right knuckles when I slam it in a door. Knees still hurt slightly and I had put on tons of weight. Well that’s my excuse.

More on the run. As usual I prepared the night before, but was in a rush and I forgot to pack my energy packs for the half way point. Since I had not really trained for it I figured to aim for a 3hr finish for the Half Marathon (21km) The only thing good about the day was when I woke up at 3am it felt good. I guess that was about it. I even forgot to take a picture of my number tag until after the race here it is after the race.

The race would start at 5.15am. I got out of bed had my breakfast and arrived at the Padang around 4.15am Just enough time for me to warm up a bit before the run. We were punctually set off at 5.15am by the Chief of Army. Besides the half Marathon there was the 10km run and 5km fun run. All in 70,000 people took part from what the organisers were saying. It is definitely a Bridge Run as this year we covered 3 bridges – Helix Bridge at Marina Bay Sands (that was short and steep), Benjamin Sheares Bridge (that was long and steep) and Nicoll Highway Bridge (that was heck of a long and gradual) I started slow. Well actually not that slow since I did 10km in 1hr 15 mins which I felt was a little fast. Slowed down after that I figured once I reach the half way point at 12 km I would stop and walk the rest of the way in but 12km came and I still felt good, in 2 hrs I was at the 15km mark and still shuffling along. So I told myself ok lets see how far I can go. 2hr 30 mins into the race and I was at the 18km mark. It was only after the 19km mark that my knee started to hurt a little and I slow down to a walk and enjoyed my banana as well. Thank goodness there were plenty of banana stations else without my energy boost I may not have made it back since I was getting hungry as well. Finally took off again and managed to shuffle my way back to the finishing line just under 3hrs. Mission Accomplished.

What I really like about the run was the signage they were big and clear and easy to spot so you knew how far you had run. The water points were ok they tried to spread it out which was good. Banana stations were wonderful I think there were about 3 or 4 of those and I took one whenever I could. Salonplas was one of the sponsors and they had people stationed along the route about 5 or 6 stations where you could get some spray on and I think they really helped. I like the finisher’s medal as it had the Marina Bay Sands hotel on it. The first race to run across the Bay !! Now on to the next race really need to train up for the REAL Run.

Expendables

2010-09-11T21:29:00.001+08:00

I recently went for a movie, the second this year. The first was Clash of the Titans and it was a free ticket. So was this movie had free tickets, watched The Expendables. Great show, love it. So many cameo’s of all the action stars from Bruce Willis to Arnold Schwenegger (probably spelt his name wrong) It was however quite gory in certain parts, lots of blood letting !!! It’s a good movie for action/comedy buffs I guess. GO watch it !!

BPL

2010-09-10T13:47:00.001+08:00

Finally found where this picture which I knew was in my handphone somewhere. took in at the start of the English BPL Football season. Me and little Nigel all ready for the BPL in our Liverpool T’s. Now where else can you get a Red’s Baby Jumper !! Looking for a nice lady design one for little Nat but have yet to spot one locally or overseas. The search continues.

Nose Bleed

2010-09-06T22:43:00.001+08:00

We had a little emergency over the weekend. We had just finished church on Sunday and were off to City Square Mall (my fav place currently as it has excellent parking lots) for our weekly grocery shopping. The kids and our helpers were with us. We got all the stuff we needed for the week. We were almost done, our cart was almost full the boy was in the pram while the girl was in a carry sling. Suddenly the boy was making some noise one of our helpers took him out of the pram and was carrying him when I came along to see what the fuss was all about and that was when I got the shock of my life ! There was blood streaming out of Nigel’s nose. Obviously went into a little panic. Wiped the blood from his nose and we just left everything in the cart and quickly left the mall to rush him to the A&E at Raffles medical. The nurse on duty asked if the bleeding had stop which it had by then and referred us to the non-emergency area, I guess that was a good thing since it would seem the worst was over. The doctor did a quick check on him found him ok, stated it was a blood vessel burst likely due to the little boy scratching his nose. Now I know the boy does not do that but he likes to shake his head and I think that he probably hit something or someone when he did that during his little tantrum. Anyway through it all he did put up a brave front well more like he was oblivious to all the fuss going on around him and I think daddy panic more than mummy in this case.

Aunty Killer

2010-09-03T00:10:00.001+08:00

The little ones although they are twins have 2 very different characteristics. Little girl is the more inquisitive one and will tend to stare and check you out when you look at or play with her. While the little boy tends to smile a lot, he gets easily excited. That has lead to him being the ‘aunty killer’ everywhere he tends to go after finding out they are twins all the aunties will start gathering round the boy and the girl will just stare and give that – so what’s the fuss – look. Recently in church he was making a little noise and we brought him to the back where a passing priest actually gave him an impromptu blessing. Walk around the ladies section is a problem and recently he got his first free gift from one of those cosmetic promoters, A cupcake. Little Nigel got it but not little Natalie!