A fold-it-in-your-pocket guide...

Please print and put one in your pocket hor?? And hor, alert the puhlezze immely when u see him orkay???

Prison Break: Singapore Edition

As all of you guys might have heard, the JI detainee Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from Singapore's detention centre on the 27th of February, sparking an island-wide manhunt and a lockdown of the Goldhill Avenue area. Till now...he's still out at large.

And this, my dear readers, is Singapore's version of Prison Break. In fact, I wonder who's more 厉害 - Michael Scofield, or Mas Selamat. The former escaped from Fox River State Penitentiary, the latter escaped from the high security Whitley Detention Centre. And they share the same initials, MS. What a coincidence.

vs

Anyway, this show something about our police force...so lax. This guy is a highly dangerous man (being a former JI leader and plotting to bomb Changi Airport), and the ease in which he can escape from a so-called high security detention centre raises many eyebrows.

And WKS' reply to minister's queries on the event shed little light on what actually happened. The people are really interested to know what happened, and why information was realised to the public so late, almost 6 hours after the suspect escaped!

If word had gone out earlier, those driving along the PIE and the roads near the detention centre could have kept a look-out for someone who looked like him, and provide police with some leads! Too bad, our police scholars do not seem interested in such help from the public.

The best thing was that they did a lock-down of the Goldhill Avenue area, on the basis of thinking he is hiding in the forests behind CJC. Smart move, but the fact was that they spent resources from more than just the police force; Guardsmen, Gurkhas, SOC officers and MPs were roped in to help. And despite having so many people forming a 'formidable' human blockade, they could not find him, and had to call off the search on the 28th afternoon. I pitied the MPs and Guards personnel who were sent in to bolster the search teams - they were in camp on alert, and this 'shit' happens...gosh. If the police did their job better, won't it be easier on everyone?

And probably our higher-ups did not hear of the show Prison Break. Gosh. Maybe they should use it as a reference into the thoughts of a prisoner who is intent on breaking out at all costs. Haha.

Hope this guy is caught soon. The police thinks that he's still in this little red dot, but me thinks that he's already on some bumboat out of this dot. It's simply too risky to stay on here any further.

News Article:









I've lost all hope in SPF now man...what a joke to the world.

randomness.

Ugh...CoNfUsEd...

Sighs. Can't things be in black and white? Or maybe grey is the colour of the world...

Am tired of holding on to some friendships. Really feel so sucky sometimes.

Sighs.

Admist the CNY mood...

Stories come in through the newspapers...of which the following seem to be important to the newspapers:
1) Ah Meng dies on Thursday (And so...front page news. WOW. How about when a human dies?? Does it get such a big coverage??)
2) US pumping in money to the pockets of citizens to boost economy (does it work???)

3) Taiwan celebrities say that Singaporean England very de not good. (it feels damn lao kui to get this remark ok...Gosh. Time to brush up. Speak Good English (SGE) and Speak Good Mandarin (SGM) Campaigns???)
4) ERP. (Doesn't it simply ROCK??? More gantries, More money (for who ah???)!!! Huat Ah!!! And mrbrown.com's songs of praise here!)
5) Satellite tracking system to replace ERP. (Even't more huat ah! Start engine, Start charging...)

I love the New Year period. New year, New beginnings. ROFLMAO. A perfect time to release news also. HAHAHA.

Movies and CNY!

CNY is a festive period for get-togethers and getting ang paos....as for me, it's also baby-sitting time for my cousins' kids. HAHAHA. Got to play with them and interact with them! Gosh. Never really got to visit them often enough so it's good that we came together once a year at least. Guess everyone's leading their own lives huh??

Playing with the kids was fun...but it's not when they get over-rowdy I guess. Esp. the boys la. haha. The most impt thing was to ensure they do not do a low-wall stunt on u and end up heads-first on the ground. shudders.

Also, watched 2 movies on the first day, after the kids have gone home to nap! haha...功夫灌篮 (Kungfu Slam Dunk) starring Jay Chou and 长江七号 (CJ7) starring Stephen Chow. In my opinion, CJ7 seems more worth it...the main draw of this movie was not the plot or special effects, it was more of the cute alien 'dog' and the wonderful acting by Xu Jiao, who plays Chow's son. (Okay as u all should know by now, she's acting as a he.) And the alien 'dog' is super cute la! Gosh. Loved the scene when the son thinks there's a ghost, and the other scene where the alien does all the funny faces you can possibly imagine!!! To top it off, Chow does spoofs of famous movies like Mission Impossible and even his own Kungfu Hustle!!!

One of the most funny scenes in the movie!




CJ-7!

On the other hand, Chou's movie was not that nice. Other than the draw of watching him do slam dunks and do some gongfu here and there, there's really no plot at all and the apparent lack of clear direction was shown. Love sub-plot was hinted but not developed. A waste, indeed.

More angpaos for the next few days I hope! Hope CNY's not gonna break into another routine again. Gosh.

新年快乐！

It's finally Chinese New Year!!! Gosh...the time of the year for us to "HUAT AH!", earn more money (hopefully) at the 麻将 tables and in cards (i.e. Poker, Texas Hold'em for the younger dudes?)

And who can forget the reunion dinners?? Such an integral part of Chinese culture I guess. Some families still have home-cooked meals, others prefer lesser hassle and head to the restaurants. Nevertheless, the feel and atmosphere of the reunion dinner (IMO) is very very important!

And of course, the 'chance' to get together with your family for a long long period of time! Gosh...I guess I really spend very little time at home, especially since I try to fit in evening classes and runs after work. And to top it off, to meet some friends now and then. Which all means reaching home after 10pm. Not much time for a good talk huh?

Anyway, dinner was steamboat, simple and easy! Had fun eating, chatting and then moving on to the TeeVee/GoogleBox and finally playing a few rounds of Poker! Had a slight loss, but I shall not be deterred! This is just a warm-up match!!! 鼠年有鼠运!

The spread!


海鲜


发菜






Nice and cosy dinner :)

Good weekend ahead!!! Wishing all my family members and friends 身体健康，心想事成，万事如意，财源滚滚...

P.S. That was just for warm up. HAHAHA

Current Mood: New Year Mood!

What a fast week...

Time flies when u're having fun, or maybe time flies when u're busy.
But whatever it is...coming back to SG might be good....?

Been trying to get myself settled down in SG now...sheesh. Juggling both IA at Emerson Process as well as meeting up with friends! Gosh.

Met up with a lot of people over the past 2 weeks...shall actually blog a LITTLE about that and move on...haha...haven't blogged for the past 2 weeks!

First, met up with Adeline, Heng Hong and Jac for supper at the Ponggol Nasi Lemak before heading to Liquid Kitchen for a round of drinks. Nice chit chat...and it was kinda cool to be eating Nasi Lemak on the day of my arrival in SG! And did I say that it was HOT HOT HOT???

Next, it was workday on the 21st and from then till the weekend, I met up with Jialiang on Tuesday, as he was going to fly off for his exchange over in Lyngby, Denmark. And of course, that's where Lisheng and Anthony were for their exchange!

The next day (Wednesday), met up with the Okalier peeps for dinner and a celebration of Sharon's birthday! No pictures yet...all with Hwi Bee! But it was fun, and I was glad to meet up with Yihui, Jianlong and Pei Geok.

Had to rush my report and essay for TU/e for the rest of the week, and while I was dying from obvious boredom in the office, I found time to get an evening class for HR2002. And man, I did not regret that decision!

The following week started off brightly, as I was assigned to a project and getting more involved. Like finally...I have a purpose??? haha. Met up with Wanling at school, then dropped by to say hello to the 28ths before meeting some of the 27ths for a farewell party organised for Weiguang, also going on his exchange! Dinner at Prince @ Coronation, and Island Creamery thereafter.


The week dragged on, had a great time for my FIRST HR2002 class and met up with my primary school classmate Calvin, together with Jennifer, Lydia, Ray and Ya Yin as the group members! Gosh. All chemical engineers. haha. And we were one of 2 groups in the class who had ladies in the group! The rest were all-guys groups. (This was observed by Lydia, I was only too happy to have ladies in the group)

But anyway, Thursday came by and I met up with the Fuego peeps. Really happy to meet up with another group of friends. Someone was pak-to-ing so couldn't meet up, but the main group was there - Fou-ge, Anqi, Mark, Weili and Chee Hao!

We had dinner at this zhi cha near Holland Village, and then we headed to HV to meet Anqi and had dessert at NYDC! Seems like everywhere there were price increases...the mudpies in NYDC cost $10.95, up a dollar from $9.95 previously! The new look menu did not make me forget about the cost of mudpies before I left!

Fuo-Ge.


Food....NYDC mudpies!




Weili, Anqi, Me


Chee Hau, Fuo-ge, Mark

Then yesterday, met up with the 26ths for a long-awaited gathering! The attendance was not bad, and the whole of the Pub Cell was there too! Gosh! A pity that Jorin, Tianqi, Meena and Heng Hong couldn't make it. Had dinner at this Jap restaurant along Citylink, and I also brought my Port wine! Too bad that it was raining, else it would be damn fun to be sitting outside along the river, taking in the sights, talking and sipping some wine...

On top of that, the basement link from Citylink to Esplanade was full of rat drawings! If you happen to pass by there, do go and take a look! And of course, dun leave ur prints behind ;)


Dolls at your service.


Danny playing with the dolls


26ths!




The artist


Rats! Reminds me of Hamtaro??


干杯！

Managed to watch Sweeny Todd: The Demonic Barber of Fleet Street, starring Johnny Depp, today!



Either way I felt that the movie was 'gory'...fake blood spilling out was a little too much...or sleep-inducing. It was kinda slow to build up, but the plot (IMO) was kinda straight-forward with a small side-plot to go with it.






Current Mood: Happy

Current Music: 黄立行 - 你身边

Segovia/Avila (Spain Part 2)

On Timeline: 17 Nov 2007

Backdated entry stored in my drafts...'cos I din have the time to upload the pics. Sorry!

Segovia, a city near Madrid, is DEFINITELY worth a day trip. In fact, many would have heard of the magnificent Aqueducts in Segovia, and the old city which is also part of the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The Alcázar is yet another prominent building in Segovia, which towers the countryside below.

It's about 2 hrs from Madrid via bus, and bus rides to Segovia are very frequent. I would definitely recommend anyone who's visiting Madrid to have a short day-trip to Segovia!

My journey to Segovia was pretty interesting. First, I could not locate the bus station, and it took me some time to figure out that an old dilapidated building ACTUALLY housed the buses...at the basement level. Gosh. The front absolutely did not seem like a bus station, and when I went to the basement, buses parked head to tail in an orderly fashion in 'garage' style.

Taking the bus to Segovia was nice as I had the company of a Japanese lady Takako who was studying in UK prior to her trip to Spain. So, at least this journey-man had a person to go with on this trip!

When we reached Segovia, it was a beautiful sight with a lot of slopes and the walking distance from the station to the old city and its famous Aqueduct was short. Soon, we found ourselves staring at the gigantic structure, all in awe (at least I was!) I was definitely amazed at how the Romans managed to construct such a gigantic structure which brought water from the Río Frío (Cold River)(about 18 km away) to the city! Engineering marvel, definitely.

Bus to Segovia!


The Aqueduct!


Panoramic picture.


Long!


Me and one of the pillars of the Aqueduct!


Segovia Aqueduct


Me and my Jap travel buddy!

After the 'tour' of the Aqueduct (well we do not go along all 18km of it!), we proceeded to the old city...where the 'charm' of the city still lies. One of the famous landmarks in the old city is the Cathedral, which stands in the city's central plaza. Constructed by architect Juan Gil de Hontanon in the late Gothic style between 1522 and 1577, it is widely considered Europe's last great Gothic cathedral. And definitely, it was huge as well!


Along Juan Bravo


Iglesia de San Martin


Juan Bravo Monument


Cabildo Catedral de Segovia

The Alcázar is located in the north-western side of the city, and is perched at the tip of the promontory and towers over the countryside below. The original fortress was transformed into a residence and each subsequent king added new parts to the building! Inside, one gets to view how the military changed over the years, and the rise of the canons and gunpowder men. Reminds me of Age of Empires, actually.

One thing about the military exhibits was that the armours and canons were very well-preserved! Even though there was a great fire in 1862, it is a wonder how the metal armour and canons got preserved over the years. Definitely recommended for military buffs!

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The Alcázar


The knights


Swordsman


Transportation of canons in the past


The cathedral. See how BIG it is???


Iglesia de la Vera Cruz

The above is an abandoned church which is near the Alcázar. Both of us made our way up, which was about 20 minutes on foot. From there, one can see an impressive view of the Alcázar!



And of course, the rest of the day was spent touring the old city. I had planned to go on to Avila, while she planned to go back to Madrid. Nonetheless, we did see quite a few interesting stuff despite hitting the siesta time for Spaniards, which meant that shops closed from 1 till 4pm, depending on the store owner!


If the car backs a little more it will just go down...


Raisin pastry!

Well, Avila is another town about 2 hrs from Segovia, and access to Avila is worse off than that of Segovia. For Avila, there are limited bus timings for the Segovia-Avila route. Therefore it's highly recommended to take note of the bus timings if one does the Madrid-Segovia-Avila-Madrid route. ;)

A pity was that it was raining and I reached Avila very late. Thus, most of the buildings were bathed in yellow light from the illuminating lamps, and the rain fell on me as I walked.


Walls of Avila.


Cathedral Avila


Avila City Walls


Iglesia de San Pedro

And at the end of the day...the bus to Barcelona! :)




A screen to tell u where u are!

Current Music: 苏打绿 - 相信