You don't ask, you don't get

A great life lesson I learnt from my USA vocation :)

December 2012

Is passing by in a flash.

My favourite month is passing by so quickly, I have difficulty slotting in a routine annual dental check-up into my calendar (I am able to claim for dental but the job must be done by this year, you see)! Well, I also found out it's not easy to book a dental appointment. Are dentists so busy? Anyway, I managed to book one on 31st Dec lol, practically the last day available.

Heading to KL this weekend for mangjie's wedding, gonna be celebrated by the whole extended family and I'm sure there's gonna be loads of fun and laughter and photos taken!

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Random pic:

Handmade card :)

Me and Myself turns .... 28

'A surprise' was all I asked for, but I received many more :)

Awesome girlfriend, awesome buddies. Couldn't ask for more... no other birthdays can up this year's :)

And special credits to NZ gang for chipping in the pressie! I have never received a wrapped up bday gift this huge :D Hahaha, had fun unwrapping it corner by corner!

And to fabulous magic mom for the anticipated red eggs, year after year :)

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On this special day 1215 I happened to hop on one of my buses of bus no. 1215 and cross a fine young age of 12+15 =27. Signs of an awesome year ahead :D

I AM 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27

Still a young 27 years old young man!

=D

I took leave tomorrow, which so happens to be a Friday and eve of my birthday. Gonna 自然醒 tomorrow, till the sun shine on my butt and I don't care~~ *hums*

Agenda for tomorrow!

-Buffet lunch at Furama with family!
-Hoping for good weather in the afternoon, gonna laze down on the greens and watch the clouds float by with the girlfriend
-Hobbiton movie in the evening!

Life should be this awesome.

Macau, Zhuhai and Hong Kong

10 hotels, 18 restaurants, 3 golf courses, 2 mega shopping malls - all in 4 days!

Once in a lifetime opportunity to head out to Macau and Zhuhai and experience overnight stay at 5 star hotel in upgraded Executive Suite. Sua ku me was so awed by the sheer size of the room! And not to mention a Nespresso coffee machine (complimentary), branded disposable toiletries including Loccitane shower lotions, Fiji mineral water, printer in the room, thick comfy bedroom slippers, a TV screen in front of the bathtub, a TV screen that greets me by my last name and a handwritten card wishing us an enjoyable stay - 宾至如归。I swear the bed is the most comfortable bed I have ever, ever laid my back on in my entire 27 years (yes, still 27!).

And the super atas amenities, complete with jacuzzi, steam sauna, heated outdoor pool, a yoga room with instructor...

If you go Macau you have to lay your taste buds on their local cuisine - 1) Portugese and 2) Mecanese (Portugese fused with Chinese). My favourite is wet seafood rice (centre pic, below) at Antonio, but be prepared to pay for the divine gastronomical experience.

And a view of the familiar scenes iconic of Macau...

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Zhuhai is a China city that is just next to Macau and takes about 1 hour to clear the immigration. I LOVE ZHUHAI. EAT AND LIVE LIKE A KING!

THE FOOD IS LIKE HEAVENLY DAMN NICE! Definitely heading backkkkkk for more (+1 bucket list).

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Popped over to Hong Kong which is an 1 hour's ferry ride from Macau. Surreal feeling I had, behold the familiar sights.

Rushed to catch the laser show at 8pm. The Squash Open was playing 'live' at the harbour, unfortunately it was drizzling the whole day and the match couldn't be played without interruptions.

It was my first time travelling by myself and fortunately I was in a small country fantastically inter-connected by its world renowned MTR network. Wasn't difficult at all to locate Mongkok (lady's market), Tsim Sha Tsui (where my abode was) and Central (where I was gonna meet up with my sec school classmate!).

This classmate of mine has so admirable courage - getting out of her comfort zone and packing her luggage to locate herself in Hong Kong just to take a breather and sort out her future. Soon she found herself an successful entrepreneur, starting a customized walking tour for tourists who wish to experience outside the commercialized areas of Hong Kong, to have an understanding and taste of the rich, complicated life of the locals. You can find out more at http://www.bigfoottour.com/. I secretly envy her job. Not only does it bring you opportunities to interact with globetrotters, you also enjoy time flexibility and you have fun at the same time - now what's bad about that?? Well, she is recruiting... and I'm all qualified lest the 'in-depth' knowledge of HK. :(







Anyway, we dined at a simple restaurant serving decent local food and she introduced me to Lan Kwai Fong (LKF), the HK equivalent of Clarke Quay, only more happening and fun! There were lots of ang mohs and a liver-slaughtering "How fast can you drink 10 shots?"-challenge. Guess the record?

And here's other trivia you can learn from a local in 1 hour:

• The patrons at LKF drink until 6am. Now that's hardcore
• HK girls are easy to pick up girls - just declare you're either a lawyer/doctor/banker and buy them 3 shots - or if you prefer to extend the game, get them a long island
• Their mobile plan comes with limited data but there are plenty of free Wifi spots designated by your telco
• How do you get a waiter's attention at a eatery? It's easy to tell apart the locals from the tourists - the locals will call out "seh ye" (写也), or "louk dan" (落单) that is more formal; whereas you see the tourists desperately raising their hands. And the Singaporeans? Hilarious as my fren's bf put it, they are even more polite - they will say "excuse me"! HAHAHAHA!
• Thirsty and you step into a Cha Chaan Teng... the small cup of tea given to you:

...... IS NOT FOR YOUR DRINKING!

It is actually meant for washing of chopsticks!!! Not that's what I call a cup half-empty...

But well, my friend explained the practice was derived from the old roadside stalls that did not heed much attention to hygiene. Nowadays at Cha Chaan Teng the tea can be consumed. Phew!~.

• Wanchai is the HK equivalent of Geylang but one notch better
• Tsim Sha Tsui is where locals go bar drinking
• Head to Sham Shui Po for cheap, warehouse-kinda shopping
• Halloween comes alive at LKF! The patrons dress up. Like, really really dress up. They don Ironman suits, huge panda heads, Chinese vampires, exaggerated make up and all and party like mad (+1 bucket list). Google and you'll know what I mean.
• I personally realised the locals don't really jaywalk? I mean, there were loads of people waiting at a junction and I was wondering why they were not attempting to get across when the traffic was sparse. I stepped onto the road and instantaneously felt like an alien
• Their working population have minimal work life, partly because they do not feel like going home for their houses are so cramped
• The starting salary for Uni grades is HKD10,000.
• HK is populated with Filipinos who form a huge majority of their domestic maids - out of HK's total headcount of 7 million, 200,000 come from Philippines. And we're complaining?

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I hope I'll be back pretty soon ... :)



Back to December

In a twinkling of an eye, it's back to December again.

December has always been my favourite month, and I think many can relate to why:

• If you're a student, you probably have looked forward to chillaxing the school holidays away
• If you're working, this is the period of time you clear your leave! And your bosses will be away too!
• Most cooling weather in the year. We all need that, right
• December is slow paced and less stressful
• Malls are decked in Christmas decorations and playing merry Xmasy music!
• It's the season of giving!
• Surprises surprises surprises - Xmas gift exchanges, year end bonus, check out what Santa left in your socks...
• and.... my birthday!

I haven't basked in the December mood yet and it's already into the fifth day already!

I don't know why, but December seems like a good time for some soul searching, reflections... and just doing nothing but lay down on the grass and gaze at the clouds swim across the sunny sky.

Interesting Facts of Macau

Picked these up from a few locals:

1) Locals do not know names of the streets well. When required to give directions, the locals will mention landmarks or some generic directions - they will eventually locate it themselves.

2) The government restricts their local to foreign labour ratio to 1:1. Yes, 1:1 regardless of industry. To every foreign worker you hire, you need to employ a Macau citizen first.

3) Their local cuisine is called Mecanese. It is a fusion of Portugese and Chinese.

4) The number of foreigners stands at 20% of their total population. Which is very similar to Singapore.

5) The entire Cotai area is reclaimed. Cotai Strip is where you find the newer developments such as the mega hotel-casinos like Venetian, City of Dreams, Galaxy.

6) It can drop as low as 5 deg C during winter, but the temperature mostly hovers around 10-ish.

7) You can earn more with a 'O' level cert as compared to a Uni grad - if you work as a croupier, that is. It has thus caused a societal problem amongst the youths, who will be motivated to study hard?