Steamboat with the Sz peeps

14 May 2008

One year on. Exactly one year from my first day in China for my internship. Time really flies. Enough said about that.


Gathering the China way. Yuan Yang Steamboat. It does bring back fond memories of super duper cheap and good steamboat meals in China. It was really steamboat all the way. The amount of steamboat dinners back in China was enough to last me for the rest of 2007.

My roomies. the folks whom have seen me do the laundry and the toilet washing. We hanged up each others' undies. Haha.
Our fave hangout in Sz. Even back in Sg, we cannot get enough of Starbucks. Oh just a little trivia, Starbucks in China is known as Xing Ba Ke. Pardon my hanyupinyin. Its so easy to remember cause its just a literal translation from English to Mandarin.

Hang man partner.

That's all for now. Still too lazy to upload the ton of aussie pictures. =X

Oh and finally, I just submitted my resumes. YAY! First step. Let Your Grace abound for this job search aspect.

A date with Wanzhi at LowenBrau, Sydney

8th May, Thursday.

I had been waiting for this day ever since day one of my pre grad trip planning; waiting for the day to finally meet up with one of my best girlfriends, Wanzhi. Days of secondary school, spending time at the beach, clubbing days, mahjong and dinners with the rest of the girls are just some of the wonderful memories in the past decade. One of the long time friends who so happens to be away in Sydney while the rest of us are stuck here in Sg.

She still looks as bubbly and pretty as ever before. We went to a German restuarant, Lowenbrau at the Rocks. It was pretty authentic and the german beer was good. But it was a wrong choice to order the lemon beer which pales in flavor compared to Julie's mango beer.

As always, we pose with our food. Feels so strange the rest of the girls were not there to eat, drink and talk with us. ah well, it feels really great talking to zhi face to face again, catching up on each others' lives and mutual friendtalk. When I saw her walking towards me in the restuarant, it just didn't feel like its that long a time since she left for Sydney. Just goes to show, close friends even when apart, never run out of things to talk about. Sorry to the boyfriend, kind of snatched your girl away for that short 2 hours. He must be amused seeing us talk like school girls once again.

oh anyway, the boyfriend, Mark. I like his last name, Bentley. The coolest last name I ever heard of. He's really towering tall. Seriously, I think I have a biased judgment that night, because once he said he skydives and scuba dives, I was like, Ok, Approved.

Other than that, he's actually a really sweet guy.

The rest of the grad trippers gang. Gary looks kinda eerie looking in the picture. =\ And my tummy is blatant! The tell tale signs of eating too much red meat, fries and seafood. Of course, the beer, the cheese and the wine. Oh gosh, I really look like I am pulling a spare tyre around my waist. Oh whatever, its more than worth it. The calorie laden food was awesome. We sure know how not to waste our calories on yucky food.

The apple strudel which isn't that great-tasting. Perhaps its due to the fact that I am not an apple strudel person and I couldn't help stealing Li Ping's black forest cake which was much more yummy.

"volunteered" to perform on stage in front of the dinner audience. I was being sabotaged when I wanted to sabotage gary instead.

Went to chill out after dinner and Wanzhi treated us to champagne. Overall, it was a nice time just catching up and making plans to hang out once she's back end june. I really cannot wait to resume our mahjong and dinner with the rest of the girls.

Now, it's just missing ellie who is still in perth.

Kelong View Resort, Batam

18th May, Sunday

It was pretty much a last minute trip. Or rather, It was a last minute trip for me because I am very sure my mum told me about it a long time ago, but being the forgetful me, I totally forgotten about it. Oh well, anyway, it was my first time kelong-ing. And it was quite an experience. My mum's cell group in church organised the outing for a chillax bonding session and the family is invited as well. So Dad, sis and I just tagged along for the ride.

Presenting to you, Kelong view resort...

erms, yah the colour combination is really off. I can like see the kelong very clearly from the jetty. By the way, the owner of the kelong, Mr. Teo loves blue and yellow so I guess he really cannot decide which colour to paint the kelong hence he decided to just go for the combi colour. Haha. the kelong with a unique twist. It comes with ensuite rooms with fully air-conditioned facilities such as 2 conference rooms, an italian (!) buffet room, karaoke and dvd room. Plus, it has a billard table and a mahjong table! Like wow, a five star kelong.

The best thing is, the stay was fully free of charge. Uncle David in mum's cg knows the owner so he loaned it out for us to have our "break-away from city life" mini outing.



The weather is unbelievably hot and humid. Can't do without the thirst quenching Pocari Sweat which was free of charge as well.



Back view shots are the trend these days. My sis and I say so.


Dad.




No idea what made us laugh, and it was a totally candid shot. My dad takes the most candid and unglam photos ever. Yeah, its one of those -laugh till your eyes just become lines in your faces- laughs.


We made a new friend, Rachel. We are known as the kids in the group. She fast became our mahjong, dai di and bridge pal. Played this really interesting game, Rummy O. It's like the westernized Mahjong only much simpler.




The sampan which brought us from the jetty to the kelong and around the island.



Island tour. The rest of the aunties and uncles actually brought along their own life jackets to wear on the sampan. Haha. We were really a glaring bunch of people walking around inviting stares from the villagers.




Life on stilts.
Daddy's girl no. 1
and no. 2
My beloved sister, Jean
Auntie Nancy, Jean and mum. Auntie Nancy was so afraid of walking on the wooden planks with loopholes that give way to the sea beneath. It was pretty fun walking and doing the whole balancing act thing. Its all about planting your steps firmly.

The kids were so cute yet so shy.

Another one of those wooden planks with loopholes bridge. Some of the planks are rotten and looks like they can give way anytime soon. Pretty interesting and exciting experience. everyone was so apprehensive while crossing the bridge.

On the other hand, my dad and I had a good time observing the rest and taking pictures. I was fooling around, pretending to balance on the loopholey plank. oh well, I wasn't too worried about falling into the sea.

at the fish farm, where we bought fresh fishes to steam for lunch.


Yeah, told you, we were a glaring bunch. The life jackets, in my opinion weren't too necessary.

my trusty mary janes.

Thats all for the kelong trip.

Erh, still sorting out the grad trip photos. 1000 of them. The pictures turned out lovely and I want to head back to Aussie soon!

I am going traveling again; heading to Perth this time round with my aunt Janet and uncle Jem. Great! No more clummy sweaty Sg weather.... Job hunting not going anywhere and on hold at the moment. Figured that I have to get the most traveling done before I start settling down in a J-O-B.

Thank YOU, God for everything. In the midst of what's happening, I know you walk with me every single step.

"Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things, and still be calm in your heart. "

- A quote I got from a card in Queen Victoria Building, Sydney.

Just stood there staring again and again at the card. It seems as if, a part of me knows the storm that lies ahead yet know that I still can be calm through it all.

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