I dunno for whatever reason, i don’t really feel the urge to go and hunt down every single corner for the best job in the world.
Felt very lethargic actually, and really just feel like want to nua and read books whole day. nothing better to do. maybe go for a run to reduce stomach size or something.
aiiiyyyeee….
I didn’t know when we started planning for this trip. it was just out of a sudden when we’re talking over supper that the topic of grad trip come trickling by and it was decided that we would go on a trip to east malaysia.
in fact, out of all 4 of us, i’m the only one graduating this semester. so i guess grad trip wouldn’t be an appropriate term.
So here we are, back in one piece after a 2-week break. Though we couldn’t get our initial plans going (we wanted to drive all the way from Kuching up to Kinabalu stopping by the little towns in Sarawak, but the car expenses that would incur is beyond imagination), we still managed a fine trip, ending with sore thighs and hips.
The aim was simple. It is utterly frustrating to keep track of how much to spend on eating and worrying whether or not the food will taste good. This is especially true of visiting countries with a higher living standard when travelling, and i’ve experienced that quite a bit. So we aimed to visit these 3 places and eat until the cows come home without bursting our budget.
Well there was another aim actually – to see how dead we can be by climbing the highest mountain in the region with minimal training. Turns out it smothered 2 guys’ motivation to climb ANY other mountain in their entire life.
So here goes some highlights. Pontian was great with awesome food. particularly, there was a dish called ‘Tong kang bee hoon’ in which the rice vermicelli is stir fried with a kind of fish that i’m not familiar with. very shiok. Btw, i have no food pictures because we were (me included) simply not interested in waiting for me to whip out my camera and take some photos. Digging in is the first thing to do. And of course the famous Pontian Wanton mee. shiok.
Sun setting over by the beach at Pontian. Click to enlarge.
Next, it was Kuching. From my memories, Kuching doesn’t really have a lot of tourist attractions – malls are not very big, (even the new Spring is well, hmm… fair-sized?) beaches are not very happening, no coral reefs... the only thing that interest nature enthusiasts is probably the rainforest. But we are no nature enthusiasts. we are food enthusiasts and food is just what Kuching has to offer – at a dirt cheap price. Along with a kick-ass shiok-daoooo mouth watering resort.
Damai Puri resort. I don’t remember it being like this but this is quite some scenery actually. Click to enlarge.
Anyway, the trump card was the last supper. Let me recount: 3 med-huge crabs, butter prawns, yam wall with mixed veggie, fried bilin (local veggie), fried beehoon, sweet n sour sultan fish, fried oyster, soup, 6 rice and 10 cups of drinks – all for 6 person. it amounts to less than SGD 12 per pax. seriously, we nearly flipped. Too bad there’s no food pics, or else you’d see crab carcasses all over the place.
Sunset by the beach at Permai. i just liked this picture a lot. Click to enlarge.
Then came Kinabalu. You can imagine that we were still dreaming over what to eat and showed no concern whatsoever for what awaits us in the last days of our trip. Btw, we really give thanks to God and to all our friends for providing us lodging, car and food throughout our trip. You guys are awesome.
And so we’ve planned the climbing to be on the last 3 days, a wise move from hindsight. Food in Kinabalu wasn’t as cheap as Kuching, but in return we were rewarded with much sceneries to look at. It’s the tourist thing. you see, the more tourists a city has, the higher its living standard has become and that’s the case for Kinabalu i guess.
Just a random shot by the island. It really looked fantastic. Click to enlarge.
We did almost everything we could before climbing – eat, shop, hangout at malls, play bridge, BBQ, swim, snorkel… and then on the day before we climb, we went to have some simple briefing and mental preparation of what we were pit up against.
Mighty mountain behind the range in the clouds. It decided to show its face when we were on the island. Most of the time it’s hidden in clouds. Click to enlarge.
Turns out we really need the mental preparation. It didn’t sound so bad but uh… let’s just say that you need to at least train a bit larh before climbing. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Meaning i only want it once in my life. At the end, it’s something that we would be proud of and i believe that all of us now appreciates flat surfaces to walk on.
The most famous peak in Mount Kinabalu. It’s behind the RM 1 note. Click to enlarge.
It’s almost a miracle that there wasn’t a drop of rain throughout our climb. KK has been very consistent in its weather – hot blasting morning, cloudy noon and braaahhhh.. poured in the late afternoon. But we really thank God we could witness sunrise on the peak and got home without a single drop of rain on our shoulders. Even the mountain guide was surprised.
I dunno whether we’d have such a trip anymore. Probably not since 2 of us decided that they’d only go to a mountain provided there’s car/lift/escalator. So this really makes it once in a lifetime :D thanks guys, you guys are awesome!
I haven’t posted for a month, figured that if i want to keep this blog alive i’d better post some stuff.
Looking back to the first post i had in this blog (about 9 years ago), it really did hit some nostalgic points. though there were some dry spells here and there, this blog has probably seen my entire Singaporean life up til now.
And now time’s up and i’m moving on to the next phase. Again. Lately everyone’s been posting thank you speech coz its the end of 4 years, and memory lane is, hopefully, full of flowers and tinted in sepia tone.
This is probably the last time i’m posting on this blog in KR. i’m not gonna close down this webbie though - it’ll be quite interesting to look back at what i’ve wrote in another 10 years time. As of now, i’m looking forward to the next phase.
It’s always like that. Happened countless times - the emo only sinks in when you left, and by that time you should move on – for better or for worse. 月有阴晴圆缺，人有悲欢离合. its the process of being swept away by time.
4 years. of course it’ll leave behind some flowers in memory lane. maybe a pile of cow dung somewhere, but it serves to fertilise the flowers anyways. Ima gonna miss some stuff – practises late into the night with the Rockers, eating supper with mistress peter, talking about MW2 over supper with Claymore Yap and playing Dissidia with Otaku Kanneeaay when we were suppose to be mugging for our modules. the list can go on.
So, time’s up guys. it’s my turn to move on.
i just feel like being a recluse, imagining Chopin playing his nocturnes on a wintry full moon night, one after another.
I used to not understand how on earth can someone be so hooked up to the internet. Ok so i have an email, maybe i have a friendster account (so 1990s), or maybe i have a blog. So if i have to check them all and update, it’ll probably take like what? 10 minutes max? How would such a thing, especially when it loads pages like snails, be addictive? seriously. It’s not like i can play CS on it.
Turns out i was wrong. I’m used to not watching television – haven’t had them for the past decade. But right now, after four years of cable surfing, i find not just me, but my neighbours as well, stuck to the screen beside their beds almost 24/7. Quote “I haven’t been on the internet for 2 days! It must have been some kinda record..”
It’s quite intriguing that a huge chunk of information can actually be very addictive. admit it guys, how many of you spend hours in front of wikipedia. and the interaction with the virtual social world – facebook… not to mention the ominous youtube.
I’m always very fascinated to see how our generation has been so drastically different from the past. perhaps they thought they were different – when they had their TV. hohoho, now one greater than TV is here.
Perhaps some kinda measures have to be taken. Perhaps we should talk to people face to face rather than just tag on their wall or something. Perhaps i shouldn’t even be blogging about this. How ironic.
Brings back memories of me rushing down to the LAN shop when i was 13-14, right after my exams ended. Never enjoyed a game that good since CS came out.
those were the days. where people were not so complicated and life was not so difficult.
i wonder why can’t we all just stay as innocent as we were. It is a choice, isn’t it. Knowing all the unnecessary complicated things behind and still wanting to remain innocent and pure is a choice. It is a choice to become gentle while you grow to become shrewd. It is a choice we have to learn how to make a decision from.
It’s a realisation especially, when i played this game, to see how far i’ve come to. to see how much i’ve grown into. and to remind me how much time i’ve lost. Such is life.
Now on your iPhone as well.
If you have tonnes of time, an iPhone and 3 bucks to spare, (THREE BUCKS – that’s like eating a lunch or something) please do yourself a favor and get this game.
iPod touch also can. *hint hint* someone who’s been growing mushroom, now you can REALLY grow some mushroom to whack the zombies.
Lawrence Gopnik is a man in trouble. His wife is trying to divorce him, his daughter has nothing better to do than to wash her hair, his son is smoking marijuana behind his back, his brother is a nut staying with him in his house, his student tried to bribe him and some record company is billing him for things he didnt buy.
Yet, at the end of the story, you don’t get no answers to all his problems. Seriously, it’s either too abstract, or i’m just too noob to critic films. i am earnestly hoping that it’s the later. i have absolutely no idea how on earth this film can be on the list of one of the 10 best films of last year. i am sincerely looking for any enlightenment if you watch this film. TELL ME WHY IT IS ON THE OSCAR LIST.
the only thing i can make out of the film, is “who cares about Lawrence Gopnik? He’s just another average Jew who struggles with his life problems, and so do we.”
If movies are going in this direction, we’d be doomed. I’m serious.
Before:
After:
Plus backache, finger ache, finger bleed, sweat all over, tears. sweat, blood and tears.
On a side note, i have my mp3 while doing stuff like that, and just realised that ‘Khalil’ Fong (方大同) sounds like ‘go and play’ in Foochow.
Matt Damon is superb in this dark comedy, and i really have to say, sometimes you just feel like slapping Mark Whitacre across the face when you watch the movie.
Until i found out that ADM is actually a real company, and Mark Whitacre is actually a real whistleblower.
I don’t know why this movie wasn’t really shown widely in Singapore, but this must be one of the most interesting movie of the year. Unlike blockbusters and all, this is a movie you can sit back and enjoy a few laughs but never stop thinking about how true this whole tale is :)
Red Bean doesnt sound like a very interesting title for a song, and actually this song has been around for donkey ages. But it just brought back some very nice memories :)
Ironically, I’m not doing my last SEM (secondary electron microscope) session. Have lots of SEM to go before i can graduate, and above is a picture of it. Stare at it almost every week trying to look for tiny weeny inclusions on a metal surface.
Not very interesting, after you’ve realise how routine this work is. Actually, all the work that you’re gonna do will NOT be very interesting either, and that is a FACT. Gotta learn how to deal with it now, sooner rather than later.
Recently read an article by a very renowned photographer, and it really makes you think twice before getting ANOTHER lens for your DSLR.
Actually, it’s not that i have a DSLR, but the truth is, taking pictures has always been about the PICTURES and not about your camera. It’s about the composition and the colour, not about your f stops and lens zoom.
I have to admit that with a lousy camera its harder to do stuff like taking pictures in the dark properly / get exceptional bokeh / get like super up close shots / get shots with very good colour representation…. BUT, having a complicated camera just turns your picture into crap actually.
And so, before i happily save up enough money to go get myself a decent cam, i think it’s important to get the idea right again – taking pictures, not playing with your camera. which reminds me, i can actually do that with my phone.
I haven’t blogged in a while, and since then, a lot has happened.
I’ve just had my progress presentation this afternoon, grilled by a total of 3 profs and finding myself in another pile of workload after that.
BUT! i have to post something about this movie. i’ve watched it last week, and despite the big brouhaha and high expectations of James Cameron blue men, i came out of the cinema and said to myself, “That is a darn nice film!”
I haven’t said that in a while, and avatar really, really, really deserves that. Not that i will watch it again in 3D but if you havent catch it, you’d better.
9.5/10
Sure is tough. Recently i’ve been given the opportunity to sub someone else at the abovementioned place every sat nite. quite a nice place with nice fellas and diners.
Very good experience actually, and i wouldn’t want to play elsewhere. =P anyways, really want to give thanks to God that He already provided me with a place to stay – even before i graduate.
It has been a wonderful 3.5 years living in KR and i guess it’s time to move on. BUTTTT before that, i have my projects. sigh.
A picture says a thousand words.
so does it help if my presentation has a lot of pictures every slide?
I was notably bored from writing my design project presentation. So I went to search for some interesting diagram which would spice up the ppt a bit, but it was a bad move.
Ended up chancing upon this blog which has the collection of Super Mario Bros played by very interesting instruments. So i’ve decided to be cheapo and post a few interesting ones! Super Mario Bros everybody, duh duh duh~ duh duh DUUUH! dom~
This is the most conventional one (IMO), since he’s playing a drum kit. But its really a bit WS so i’ve decided to post it.
Then you have the geek one, which is quite interesting since we don’t really see tesla coils everyday.
And another weird instrument call theremin. He’s not faking it ok. I know there are some idiots who really play air drum or air guitar or air whatever but this thing is actually an instrument… suppose to mimic human voice but it sounds more like cats crying.
The super hilarious one. I really can’t imagine how long he practiced on it. I mean how long he practiced not to laugh when he does that. I think Cartman can do it maybe?
And the most WS of them all. EFFORT LARH!
ok. what am i suppose to be doing again?? oh yarh.. design project…
