2013-01-20

Events happened in the 1st fortnight for 2013

After an almost 3-week absent from blogging, it's time to blog about recent events that marked the start of year 2013.

School has started. It's the last semester for me. Last chiong and it's over. I really hope to keep the class. Afterall, working so hard during year 2 and 3, definitely that's my goal.

First talk about the FYP. So far so good till now, almost complete le. I just got the feeling that something is missing from the project but I couldn't describe it out what is it specifically. The worst thing is that the output result from the simulation looked funny. Perhaps I have been expecting a perfect result from the start. Or that's what a digital circuit should work, totally different from analog one. Shall find prof to discuss again.

Hopefully I can include more extra stuff into the project. But shall see the timing how. There's quizzes and lessons going on throughout the semester.

About the FYP report. I guess it's only 10% done. No diagrams and only some explanations done. Feel reluctant to continue doing. Where's the motivation?! Ahh, the dateline is 28 March. Have to chiong chiong chiong le.

Next, talk about the outings. After the countdown, there's nothing for the 2nd day of the year. Had a simple dinner with PG, HL and Sebastian at Hifumi Japanese restaurant @ Plaza Singapura on 3 Jan.

佐菜還好吃過主菜=.=

賣相還可以,但味道真的平平而已

Ritter巧克力,說到這牌子的巧克力,最近一兩年起價到很厲害,我還記得以前才賣$2.70,前幾天去看已經漲到$3.90。很貴咧!

Thanks Sebastian for the chocolate bought in Germany. The food was average IMO - I had Chicken Katsu Set ($12.90, ahh they increased price by a dollar!). The cutlet had a kinda strong taste of 'frozen food', meaning to say it's not very 夠味 as you would expect. In fact, I find its tofu (appetizer) better than the main course. First time to visit the new wing of Plaza Sing, but haven't really go explore. Looks spacious, but actually it's not that big.

Sent the 'spolit' printer for servicing on Friday (4 Jan) at Beach Road. Had dinner at Skinny Pizza @ Raffles City with Lizhi.



真的,料給的不是很多,不值得$25的價碼

To be frank, I find their pizzas really overpriced. IMO, they should be priced around $15 each. Just by inspection, one could realise that the crust was thin and there wasn't a lot of on top as one might have expected from a $25 pizza. Taste wise, the Squid Ink pizza ($25) was not too bad, but you can't sieve out the seafood feel out of it. Prawns was fresh though.

The another pizza we ordered was The English Breakfast pizza ($24). A few slices of bacon, some cut tomatoes and a sunny side-up = $24. Worth the price?

After the dinner, went around Marina area to test out more night shots from the camera. I really enjoyed walking in the night - very cooling. The shots came out not too bad, but the camera really suffered from the shortcomings of a small sensor - noise.






Attended another dinner gathering with sec sch peeps - YL, James, PH, Jess and Sharon at MOF @ Jurong Point on 9 Jan. Ordered seafood ramen - miles apart from Ippudo, Marutama and Tampopo. The noodles are like Chinese style wanton noodles(?!), soup was not very thick neither. But its matcha frappe ($4.50) was decent enough.

很不像日本道地拉麵的拉麵=.=

手信!

The topic surrounded Korea as James and PH just came back from Korea not long ago. And I tried to absorb as much information as I can on Korea as I really wantto visit Korea on my graduation trip. Thanks James for the 手信 bought in Korea, including the facial mask, haha! Interesting sharing session on rich people by YL... 同人不同命啊,一杯咖啡要價$1200?!

(I'm getting more and more 詞窮 for blogging... Argh!)

Next, was a dinner gathering with CC and Yi Da at Billy Bombers @ Jurong Point on 11 Jan. It's been a long time since I last saw them, especially Yi Da (last seen was in 2010?!). But nonetheless, it's nice to do some catching ups with them and update own current situations with each other.

覺得像是$18.90的晚餐嗎?

Had Texas Crispy Chicken set meal ($18.90) with cheese fries as starters. Nearly facepalmed when the main dish was served earlier than the starters (they really forgotten our order liao!). The chicken was rather smallish, given the price and the impression that Billy Bombers have on me - all are huge servings!

I was surprised by Yi Da. He seemed 把結婚掛在嘴邊的說 in his speech now. I wondered what has gotten into him for this. On top of that, surprised by some shocking comments by CC too.

After the dinner, went to NTUC to walk walk around as it was really full! Didn't buy anything but just see see look look around. Actually I have nothing much to blog about here... Haha!

Went to Orchard on 12 and 13 Jan to shop for CNY clothes. Bought one white polo shirt and lime green shorts from Uniqlo. Pop by Paris Baguette (파리바게뜨) to try Spring Roll Cheese Bun ($4.70) and Maple Pecan Scone ($2.50). Very atas bakery from Korea!

$2.50是很貴,但味道很不錯喔!

Had a chat with Chun Xu on my way to school on Thursday. Well, it's from him that I discovered more about EE4041 HRM. Now I fully understand why seniors have labeled it as a killer module for EEE students and also why people are going overseas to clear this module. Exams at first looked ok, but the MCQs were the killers. One thing that left me scratching my head was that why people put in effort but yet getting lousy grades for this module? How many of them got A+/A? Who were these people?

Satisfied my Korean cravings at Big Mama. It's first time for Sharon and Jess to try out 닭갈비 and kimchi pancake (total $16 per pax). Luckily, it turned out fine for them, lol... The waitress, whom they commented to have some 'attitude problem', served me on the previous visits. I find nothing wrong with her, but a cheerful smile and gentle reminder would certainly make patrons feel comfortable to dine. How would diners know if the dish is ready to serve when you literally kept quiet? Afterall, the waiters and waitresses there need to fry the ingredients in front of diners.

The even funnier thing was that I guessed she's a native Korean but Jess thought she understood mandarin. So when Jess asked her what's the particular side dish was about in mandarin, she gave the 'har?!' reply. But after I asked her the same question in English, she could answered me. Strange...







After dinner, we strolled to Forty Hands cafe @ Tiong Bahru. Ordered double choc cookie and oatmeal raisin cookie ($2 each) to share and iced mocha ($8) for ownself consumption. Iced mocha was bitter compared to Starbucks's. Cookies were ok, the choc one tasted not as choc as the one from Subway - at least won't feel sinful. Haha. Nice ambience - paid for it through the food and drinks.



相機在哪裡?

這不是milo冰!

很美的latte art


Had some 八卦 chats on Hua Yians. 我的結論是2004年中學畢業後的這9年來,大家經歷了很大的變化——以前還是同班同學,現在各有其所。一些繼續升學,如今都已經大學畢業然後進入社會打工都2年了。一些則是去當兵,拖個2年,如今大學最後一年也期待畢業。那些沒上大學就直接從理工學院畢業後去工作。都可以說大家開始人生的另一個階段。大家的興趣、去向都很不一樣。還真的要感謝Facebook提供資料哈哈!

那些真的不熟的,就音訊全無了,不知道他們現在幹嘛。好奇之外,我也不可能跟每一個都熟的嘛。

性格也有改變,以前可能我對某個人有某個印象。現在我看回這個人,會覺得說現在的他或她,跟以前的他或她落差還蠻大的。

另一方面,雖然一眼掃過去會覺得沒什麼,但仔細一看會發現很多都有了對象。不分男女,有些已經求婚,有些還買到房子了說,事情發展蠻快的嘛。

提到同學後,就輪到老師了。聽說很多老師都離開華義了,是到別間學校教書還是轉行就不得而知。我不清楚Mrs Siow還在不在,但肯定的是Mrs Selina-Wong還留在華義教課還有蘇老師現在擔任PJC的副校長。

我不是要說這些好或者不好,而是這些都是我觀察得到的結論。所謂‘人有悲歡離合,月有陰晴圓缺’,這是每一個人必定會經歷的。那些還會保持聯絡的,就應該去珍惜。因為來到這個階段,大家各忙各的,但還會抽出時間來見面,已經實屬難得。

Looks like a very busy semester ahead, no time to write blog posts. :(

2013-01-01

Countdown to 2013

Happy new year! 新年快樂!해피 뉴 이어! 明けましておめでとうございます!Selamat tahun baru!

2 days of break from FYP.

It's slowly becoming a must-do activity on the last day of the year - countdown. Environment changes. For the year 2012, Nicholas, HL and Sebastian were unable to join in the celebration, but PG did not go elsewhere, therefore he's inside the group now. Haha...

You do get different atmospheres by mixing with different groups of people.

The weather on the 31 Dec didn't turn out to be good - it was raining until at least after 10. Zzzz, the mood got affected by a bit somehow la... Nonetheless, we still went out to countdown hehe.

Wore the 'new' Hush Puppies shoes for the first time (but it ain't exactly new because it was worn before by uncle, just that I didn't wear it at all throughout these years). Ahh, was thinking about buying new shoes for CNY, looks like this pair can replace my almost 6 years of Nike covered up shoes (鞋底破洞,能進水). Not exactly very comfortable, perhaps of the 'hard' materials used. Needs some seasoning haha!

Met JX and PG at Tanjong Pagar for a dinner at Tori King @ 100am, a new shopping mall just outside of Tanjong Pagar MRT station. It wasn't crowded (most of the office workers would have left office after half day), hence it was rather comfortable to walk around see see look look lor.

While waiting for HH (last minute decided to come to Tanjong Pagar from City Hall), we basically chatted about graduation trip. Yes, after hearing so many stories about overseas trips, really, 找對的人出國是很重要的。

HH got pissed off by the train breakdown. Luckily he was able to get out of the City Hall station and took a bus down. What happened to the public transport system nowadays? The breakdown phenomena 已經有點司空見慣, but to breakdown at the festive season would piss people off. Imagine the crowds going towards marina bay area...

The weather really didn't have mercy on us, my shoes almost got wet after stepping on the uneven pavement near to construction sites which had puddles of water around. :(

And thanks HH for the Christmas gifts!

謝謝送我聖誕禮物呀!

Ok, back on the real topic - ramen for dinner. This time round, we decided to go for Japanese ramen which I didn't have it for months liao. Haha :) This restaurant called Ramen Keisuke Tori King (aka 雞王) serves chicken broth ramen, similar to Marutama's offerings. In fact, when I first received the slip of paper to order, I thought I went to the wrong restaurant. Again, it's similar to what Marutama is doing, the patrons have the freedom to customize the ramen.

Chose the black spicy ramen w/o egg and seaweed ($12.90). And we added on chashu as a side ($1 per pc). I took 2 pcs, but paid only $1. HDW!




無限量提供熟蛋+豆芽

普通熟蛋,並非日式熟蛋

豆芽不會貴到哪裡去,但免費的東西顧客還是會喜歡的

The atmosphere was not very cosy, but you'll get the '親近' feel - the tables weren't big, everything looked cramped (enough to simulate the Japanese environment). But it's not to the extent that it was uncomfortable, but not that comfortable as some brunch restaurant might offer.

We were given some pounders, grinds and sesame seeds to grind them into powder form. The eggs were already cooked, waiting for patrons to peel off the shells - they were not the Japanese styled hardboiled eggs though. But I'm not complaining as they were complimentary. :) Had 3 of them lol.

The focus of the meal was on the chicken actually. The meat was tender soft (macam 燉湯雞 kind of 口感), yet the skin was roasted. Yum yum. And it would taste even better if add mayo on it!




Shortly after the noodles have been served, the patrons sat beside us kept looking over to our side. After a while, one of them broke silence and asked me if the chashu was beef! Errr, if it's beef then the meat is not that color one leh, but much redder one. Obviously it's pork haha!

 勤勞在剝殼!

 雖然拉麵本身就有一點辣,可是對我而言,根本沒有辣到叻~ 要靠辣椒粉了!

看起來真的很好吃!

叉燒,比Ippudo遜色的說,但這裡的雞肉才是最賣座的

 加了蛋下去,就完成2012年最後一份晚餐了

 HH的原味拉麵+紫菜($13.90)



這間源自日本的綠茶甜品店的甜品還不錯下的


簡單格調

After the dinner, we decided to chill at Toms and Toms cafe, 順便介紹給HHJX. But to our disappointment, it's closing at 8pm (only left 1 hour to chill) :( We headed back to 100am instead. In the end, we settled for Tsujiri, a Japanese dessert outlet which specialises in green tea. The personnel manning the stall were really Japanese! Shared a serving of O-maccha roll cake お抹茶ロール ケーキ ($4.50) and a serving of Sunset - Uji 宇治冰黑蜜 ($12). 對,沒看錯,就是$12。起初我覺得很貴,但等它端上來時,我覺得$12其實還好。Why? 料給得很足,抹茶很夠味,只是師傅沒有把冰再壓壓下,銼冰散散的,一戳就倒了=.=。

單單看你肚子就餓了

很大份啊!一個人吃不完的……

 各個忙著拍照

也要出動DSLR!

Played Saboteur 2 there. Managed to smoke my way through and won some rounds! Haha... 他們被我騙到的說,其實我真的不懂要怎麼玩啦,就低調一點咯不讓他們發現我的角色……

在拍照中……

看效果

Saboteur!

我贏!

Moved on to Bras Basah (nearer to City Hall) and waited to countdown. Nicholas wanted to FaceTime, Oovoo, Skype but none of the video call methods worked. :( Instead, sent him a photo of us playing the game. Haha. Continued the game there until about 11.15pm? By then when we reached somewhere outside Raffles City, they already enclosed the inner area, we couldn't get any closer to Esplanade to watch the fireworks in full view. But to stay at the junction between Nicoll Highway and Stamford Road. At least there isn't any obstacle to block all the way up.

繼續大戰Saboteur!


開心送走2012,迎接2013

夜景美啊!下次有空真的要出來拍一拍了!

放大後相機不會出現手震的詬病

在光線不足的情況下,測試相機性能,當然這張有稍微調了顏色和亮度一下

新年快樂!

新年快樂!

Actually, we didn't even know when to countdown until the fireworks suddenly just exploded and painted the night yet clear sky (sky cleared up after a whole day of rain). The fireworks lasted for about 8 mins. And fortunately, we didn't want to go back to where we celebrated 2012 countdown. The poisonous chemical fumes from the fireworks literally fogged around the Fullerton. Can't see, can't breathe also. It was a bit horrible.

IMO, the fireworks were better than last year's one, but nowhere when compared to Sydney or Taipei or even Hong Kong ones. They were much more better! The major turn off was the fumes, the fireworks generated so much fumes that literally the fumes spoiled the show already. Is it because it's lot more expensive to get those almost smoke-free types? :/

Because of the proximity to City Hall MRT station entrance, we were able to get back to City Hall station in time before the rest of the public started flooding the station. Boarded the train at 12.30 am and reached home 1.15 am. That's considered quite fast already.

It's not until 4 am before I got onto the bed and slept.