Earth Hour Picnic @ Esplanade Park.


28th March 830-930pm was Earth Hour. Dar and i joined hundreds others at the Esplanade Park for a picnic and countdown to the Earth Hour.

We reached at around 430pm. The WWF tentage was up and performers were busy rehearsing. We decided to spend some quite time alone and enjoy the afternoon. :)


Left to right; top down:
1&2: Dar prepared sandwiches with luncheon meat and ham. :))
3: I cooked beehoon.
4: And fried some shallots.
5: Brought some cheesecake from home. Hee.
6: Dar brought a tumbler with ice! So we had cold drinks. Whee! :D


We ate homecooked food, drank tea from garfield paper cups, and played 飛機棋.


We lay our satisfied tummys down and watch the clouds pass by us.


i love spending relaxing afternoons with dar. :)


Later that evening we joined in the crowds to welcome Earth Hour.

Earth Hour is an initiative started by Sydney in 2007, where companies and households are encouraged to switch off their lights for a specified hour. In 2008, the movement went global, and in 2009, it reached Singapore!


WWF video on Earth Hour.

I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout that evening. It shows that Singaporeans do care about the Earth, despite our signature indifference towards politics and social issues.

At least i see some hope, for the Earth, and for Singaporeans.


We lighted up some candles which will be our main source of light during the blackout later. Plus it's romantic. Hee.


There was complimentary Chipster potato chips and Starbucks coffee.


Vote Earth bicycles. Cycling is the healthiest mode of transport; both for us, and for the Earth.

There were performances by local artistes, like Reverie and Dawn Ho. The songs performed that night were particularly tuned towards saving the Earth, love, and peace.

We especially enjoyed the performance by Reverie. The band substituted bass for cello, and drums for percussion, which added new dimensions to their music. I loved the husky magnetic voice of lead singer Surath.


Busking in music... and darkness. Hee.

It was fun joining fellow earthlings in effort to save our Earth. But as the organizers of Earth Hour has said, Earth Hour is not just about asking people to switch off their lights because the act of switching off our lights for one hour may not amount much. But Earth Hour is trying to raise awareness and encourage people to save electricity wherever we go.

Hence we should not become contented with simply switching off our lights during Earth Hour, but let's make concerted effort to reduce energy consumption.

:)

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Food Trip: Lai Lai Casual Dining/来来红烧牛肉面
20 Liang Seah St./Jurong Point B1-60




Checked out this eatery with dar last Sunday. Dar doesn't enjoy beef much, yet she has good reviews for this eatery. So i guess it's worthy of a trip.


"A taste of original Taiwan."

As their slogan may suggest, this eatery serves beef noodles Taiwan style. So don't expect to see your usual beef noodles with thick brown/black sauce.


Fried shallots in chili oil. This chili is shiok i tell you. Woot.


Dar's 卤肉饭加蛋, $5.90.


Side dish fried brinjal with pork floss.


Mine. 红烧牛肉面 + side dish + bubble tea = $13.90

The beef is not your usual boiled slices, but they're braised beef. So it's much more flavored, and softer, such that they'll just disintegrate in your mouth. Added $1's worth of beef tendons. They're very soft yet chewy. It was my first time eating tendons but i quite enjoyed the texture and bite.

The noodles though were a lil disappointing. It lacks the chewiness of handmade noodles and tastes overcooked. I think i'd enjoy dar's rice more. Hee.

The brinjal's serving was huge, considering it's supposed to be served for one person only. The brinjal-pork floss combination is unique and strangely delightful. But it would be better if there was an accompanying sauce so the brinjal wouldn't taste dry and for the pork floss would stick on it better.

The service wasn't fantastic though. But overall the experience was quite pleasant. I'll rate it 3.5/5. :)

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randomness x 5.


/one/

love the clothes and necklace dar bought for me. :)


/two/
visited yiwen's church last sun. should be attending their services for a while.


/three/

*cooked dinner for dar: spare ribs soup with salted veg, steamed egg with minced meat n rice.
*poor chili sauce got blocked. :(
*ecp at night. pardon bad lighting.
*aspiring-housewife in training. ;p


/four/
i finally got a job! wheeee~!! starting work on friday. so fast! =S


/five/

hello, kitty. very soon i won't be able to take afternoon naps with you le. =/



told you they're random.

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Of fairs--career, food, books.


Went to the JobsDB career fair on Saturday. Was pretty skeptical about it because it's recession. If the jobs available online are so limited, how exciting can it be? For that reason i didn't go for the previous career fair.

But dar really encouraged me to go. It's for my sake i know. So we went.



We each received a card which i found pretty impressive. It has a barcode at the bottom, so if you want to apply for a job, just scan the barcode, and the company will receive your resume. How cool is that?

Despite having such a fancy system, there's really nothing much to offer at the career fair. Companies were mostly from the finance/banking sector (like prudential, standard chart), and the government sector (navy, police).

In fact i think the turnout was disappointing too, considering it's only a one-day fair.


Btw, we came across a Japanese recruitment agency with an interesting introduction printed on their brouchers:

"Tempstaff Singapore is a Japanese Recruitment Agency which focuses in permanent placements."

Er... I think there's a general irony underlying the name of the agency. Lol.



So ended our career fair expedition and we moved on (happily) to the food and beverage fair! :) It's so much more happening i tell you.


There? Where?


Piling up the kebab meats. Wooh.


(Dar was hungry. =X)


Clockwise from top left:
1. Hakka Yong Tau Foo with noodles. Dar's hakka, and she was shocked that i nv tried hakka yong tau foo. Not bad. I love the noodles too.
2. Mexican pie from Pie-Kia. I've never tasted mexican food before.
3. Ice cream: Strawberry yoghurt, and pink guava sorbet.
4. Taiwanese snacks: Spicy fishballs and toufu.
5. Tu-tu kueh. My turn to be shocked that dar's never tried this before.



After filling our tummys we headed to Popular Book fair at expo.


Clockwise from top left:
1. Two chinese novels at $5 each (mine).
2. C.S. Lewis collection of letters and books (dar's).
3. Three tuberware set, $4.90 each! (mine + dar's).
4. Faber Castell crayons and markers (mine).



Happy shopping for cheap food and goods! :))

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Woke up unexpectedly early friday morning. Had some time to prepare what humans term as 'breakfast.' It's been some time since i last had one. =X


French toast and bacon. :DD


Food trip: Golden Mile Food Centre.

Have been wanting to head there after reading all the recommendations on ieatishootipost. It's an attempt at good yet cheap food. Because we should save money remember?


Hainan Hokkien Mee.
Not bad. Better if it's more wet.


Chili Mee.
Was alright. Had to ask for more chili cuz we felt it actually wasn't spicy enough.


Dar's fav Ah Balling in ginger soup.


Belgium Chocolate Waffles.
Have been wanting to try this for a long time. Sadly, it's a huge disappointment. The waffles are no longer freshly toasted. But they're pre-toasted and frozen. =S Which made the waffles hard and flaky, rather than soft and chewy. Really disappointed. The chocolate dip's alright. Spread the word: The standard has dropped. Sigh.



Was strolling our way back to bugis when we wandered into this Renaissance-inspired building called the Parkview Square.


Intricate design.


Looks like a posh hotel lobby.


There's a lounge/dining area with these wall paintings and VIP seating areas.

That's all the photos i managed to capture before being shoo-ed by the security guard. =X

Apparently it cost almost $88 million sgd to build. We thought it'd be some hotel/serviced apartments but the building turned out to be an office building! 0.0 I seriously wouldn't mind working here. But the rental must be real steep.

The lives of the rich and famous... =S

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Last night i received three letters from the bank.


...


Dear How Jie Xi (Tao Jie Xi) Jessie,

SUSPENSION OF REPAYMENT OF TUITION FEE LOAN/STUDY LOAN/COMPUTER LOAN

1. To help graduates cope with the current economic downturn, the Ministry of Education has decided to give all university and polytechnic graduates a 1-year suspension of the repayments of the Tuition Fee Loan and Study Loan.


...


YAY~!!!
*pops champagne*


I've never been so glad to be governed by a nanny-state. I'm so relieved that i don't have to start repaying my loans ESPECIALLY when i haven't even found a job yet. *Phew~* But i still gotta start saving up meanwhile.


PS: lol at my long and repetitive name.
PPS: i have three loans. for that reason i received three letters of the same content. o.0



On the topic of finances. Dar and i had a talk last night. We did some calculations and realized that we've been overspending for the past few months. (Probably that's why both of us are so well-fed now. =X) Anyway, we realized that a graduate's pay is really not a lot considering the bills and responsibilities we have.

So we've really got to cut down on our expenses, start saving up for our future, and repay our loans asap. And re-reading this article reminded me the importance of saving up. And how not to be consumed by the society's culture of spending.

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Watched Watchmen, the movie.
(notice repetition. lol.)



Apparently the movie is based on a comic series released back in 1986-87. So the history of this movie is as old as i am. *Sigh~* Anyway, this movie wasn't my top choice cuz i've been curious about Slumdog Millionaire ever since it won eight Acadamy Awards. But the reviews was not bad so i thought, heh, just give it a try bah.

The movie is a little too long. That's a slight understatement. For a 2 1/2 hr film, it didn't have a clear climax and as an audience, sometimes i was left wondering what is the story trying to build up too. But it's a good effort, still, to try and portray such a complicated storyline.

It's interesting to see how the story incorporates various historical events like the assassination of President Kennedy, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. And Archie the owl aircraft is quite cute.

I'll rate it 3/5.



Perfect Cut, season 2.



We tend to, I for one, complain about how Singapore television is so limited and monopolized such that it doesn't promote better quality. So i think we should all the more give our support when a good series like Perfect Cut comes along. It's only through the ratings will Mediacorp realize this is what the audience want.

I managed to miss many episodes of the first season so i'm rather determined to follow through this season faithfully.

I really like this drama because one, it has a good script. The script is well-planned, with several mini-stories running alongside concurrently (instead of some shows where an entire episode can revolve around a couple's breakup). Two, it is a local drama that (finally) learns to incorporate its theme songs into the drama, which i think is one reason why korean/japanese dramas can be so touching at times. Three, nice camera angles and filming techniques.

I really do try my best to watch the drama when i can. But inevitably there will be days when i won't be at home to watch it. And i was elated when i found the drama on tudou.com. Whahahha. Seldom am i thankful to the Chinese government for their inefficiency. =X

Here's the link. :)

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Volunteered at Alexandra Hospital yesterday. It was rather mundane, dealing with administrative documents. But i was glad i can help and it reminded me the good habit of sleeping and waking up early.

Managed to meet dar for lunch at IKEA because she works nearby. Swedish meatballs, roasted chicken and fried chicken wings. :)

Met dar again after work and went to Mind Cafe for dinner and boardgames. It's member's night. Played our usual Blokus and Rumis. Took a stroll back clarke quay and went home.


Dar commented that it's a prelude of how it would be like when i start working in the future. It's a simple life. And i look forward to it. Spending time with dar has become so natural that most of the time i don't have to document it in photographs.




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ONE. Josef Fritzl, the Austrian who allegedly locked up his daughter, raped her, and in doing so fathered seven children, pleaded guilty to all charges.

TWO. AIG uses bailout money from the US government to pay $165m worth of bonuses to their staff. Of course democrat Obama will be furious.

THREE. Lesbians in South Africa are raped and attacked so that they might become straight. They call this "corrective rape."

FOUR. SAF-bonded Dr Allan Ooi commits suicide, leaving SAF to be questioned.




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Three Things You Want To Do Before You Die:
1. Backpack the world.
2. Tell my mama i love her.
3. To love and be loved.

Three Names You Go By:
1. Jessie.
2. How Jessie How?!
3. Hao Jie Xi. =.=

Three Physical Things You Like About Yourself:
1. o.0 Eyes.
2. (used to be) thin.
3. Straight teeth.

Three Parts Of Your Heritage:
1. Merlion.
2. Hainanese Chicken Rice.
3. Eternity.

Three Things That Scare You:
1. Being lost in a crowd in a foreign place.
2. Strange people who follow you home for a hobby.
3. Uncertainty.

Three Of Your Everyday Essentials:
1. Food (good ones preferably).
2. Oxygen.
3. Hope.

Three Of Your Favorite Bands/Musical Artists:
1. Sodagreen
2. Death Cab for Cutie
3. Norah Jones

Three Of Your Favorite Songs:
1. Carnival Town
2. Tiny Vessels
3. 是我的海

Three Things You Want In A Relationship:
1. Lots of love.
2. Openness.
3. Security.

Three Physical Things About The Preferred Sex That Appeal To You:
1. Spontaneous.
2. Romantic (or at least tries to be).
3. Devoted.

Three Of Your Favorite Hobbies:
1. Eat good food.
2. Watch good films.
3. Read good books.

Three Things You Want To Do Really Badly Right Now:
1. Lose weight.
2. Finish reading a book.
3. Find a job.

Three Careers You're Considering/You've Considered:
1. Journalism.
2. Photographer.
3. Film critic.

Three Places You Want To Go On Vacation:
1. Europe.
2. Redang, or some unrealistically beautiful beach.
3. Africa.

Three Kid's Names You Like:
1. Lakisha.
2. Happy.
3. Emily.

Three Ways That You Are Stereotypically A Girl.
1. I like to wear skirts and put make-up.
2. I am afraid of aging.
3. I enjoy being loved.

Three Ways That You Are Stereotypically A Boy:
1. I have big hands big feet.
2. I like things simple.
3. I don't like anorexic dolls.

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Bday 09.


Has been quite normal, punctuated by minor interesting events. Like receiving a birthday card from my insurance agent (thank you very much) and getting an email birthday greeting from LiNa, jobstreet.com's email bot.

And i guess i've gotten used to having my birthday fall on Friday the 13th.

Anyway. That day, dar's supposed to be at work. The company's organized an outing which i think dar would really enjoy. So when she asked me if i want her to apply leave for my birthday i said no. Because i really hoped she'd enjoy herself at the outing.

So when she appeared at my place 12pm i was very surprised and touched. But at the same time i wondered if i'm depriving her of something else.


My fav sunflower. :))


and a non-helium goldfish balloon. lol!

Plan was a 2d1n stay at our usual destination--Batam.
It's already our 3rd time there since Dec 08. Lol. I really dun mind going there often, but can we try venturing somewhere else? Hee.


Departure: 13 Mar 2009. :)

(Oh, i forgot to mention that when i crossed Batam's customs, the customs officer wished me happy birthday. Wahahaha. That's v nice of him. :))

The night's stay is at Novotel, our poshest hotel ever! I think it's only shy from a 5-star hotel because of some cranky rules and regulations.

First stop: Dinner @ Nippon Tei, Novotel.


my puffy hamster face. hee.


Complimentary starter: some tofu thingy.


Hello salmon sashimi! :)


my main: tempura don.


dar's main (previously taken): teriyaki chicken. She simply loves it.


(also previously taken) Chawanmushi.


Ribeye beef Sukiyaki. The beef was GOOD. I conquered them all. whahahha.


Grilled salmon.


Complimentary dessert: mixed fruits.

Just look at the amount of food we ordered!!! We managed to clear most of the food, though it feels like we've gained another five kg. =S

That night, we tried sauna. I didn't expect it to be SO HOT inside! We only stayed in for five mintues. Then we tried jacuzzi. I didn't know the water is SO HOT either! But it felt good after some time.

The next day we did our usual stuff: play at the arcade, shop around, eat A&Ws, do massage/body scrub, eat goreng pisangs, buy JCO donuts. :DD If we had more time we'd catch a movie too.


Waiting for the ferry.

It was the first time i celebrated my birthday with a partner. And i'm glad it's with dar. I really enjoyed Novotel. The extra comfy bed, sauna, jacuzzi, pool table, and japanese food! :) It was a happy birthday. Thanks dar! :)

Oh. The last interesting punctuation. Upon reaching Singapore, i started receiving many smses. (My phoneline cannot be reached overseas.) And ten smses and three voice messages came from this person who claimed to be delivering some flowers to me.

Apparently someone wanted to send me flowers on my birthday and didn't expect me to be overseas. Ah wells. Too bad for that person! :P

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It's terrible. It's 4:09am now. And i can't sleep!!!

To be honest, i have been losing at least one night of sleep for the past few months. All at around the same day of the month. Because i'm simply too excited about the next day i just can't sleep!


Happy fifth month dar! =DDDD

That's the reason why i can't sleep... =S

We've been together for five months already! There were some points in our rls where we doubt we'd reach this stage. But i'm glad we overcome those and come this far. Five months is still really short, there is so much that i wanna do with you dar. ;)

Just a short entry before i go to bed.

(Some background: Dar and i got pet names for each other way back in aug 2008. We were working on an intense and tedious project together, which caused us to meet up every single day for almost a month. The deadlines were very tight, but i made a few blunders because of my forgetfulness. Because of that, dar started calling me goldfish. Because goldfishes have an extremely short memory. And i started calling her seaweed. Cuz i wanted her to be in the tank with me. Whahaha.)

Some time ago, dar designed a t-shirt for me with a slogan:

"I love goldfish. Bloop! Bloop!"

:)) We happened to be talking about it a few days ago. To reciprocate my love, i came up with a corresponding slogan:

"I eat seaweed. Burp! Burp!"

HAHAHAHAHHAA. How romantic is that?! ;)
Alrights, i'm going to sleep now, attempt two. Happy anniversary dar! Love you! :D




Happy anniversary @ Astons Specialties, The Cathay. :)
Have always wanted to go there after reading so much about it on ieatishootipost.
Yay!

The photos didn't turn out very well i wonder why.


hello dar why are you so shy? hee.


HAHAHHAHA. be happy i didn't post the uncensored photo!


mushroom soup.


mine! Ribeye Steak X'tra Cut, pasta salad and mashed potato as sides.

I didn't fancy the pasta salad. The pasta's overcooked and soggy. But dar liked the pasta's capsicum taste. Good thing she can finish up for me. Whahahha.


dars! Salmon Steak, coleslaw and baked potato as sides.

I love dar's coleslaw! Shall order it next time.


The unexpected find of the day. Fried chicken wing. I think it's really good!


anni present for dar. a blue toolbar thermal waterbottle.
think the sleak design and pale blue color really suits her. :)
hope you like it!


office present. cuz dar just started her new job and she's got an empty office table. bought a pair of cactus, so i'll place mine in my office too next time. i hope we won't kill them! =X

:)

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