For hunn =P

Reading Hunn's blog made me realise how badly I express myself...

1) Coolness of Ipods. I think pple think its cool, which is why they buy it. you think pple think its a good player with good software. i disagree with you there. itunes isn't good software, its chains that bind you to apple. Honestly I've considered getting an ipod, but thinking that i HAVE to use itunes put me off at once. of course not all pple think like me, just my personal opinion.

There are much better players out there, sony, creative, iriver, samsung etc, with longer battery life, larger memory, less restrictions, more functionality (like voice recording, more format playback etc)... yet ipods have the lion's share of the market. they command a higher price with less value. and if it isn't the coolness factor, then why is it that every product that tries to be cool has an "i" attached to the front of it?

2) ah, by "easy" i didn't mean the opposite of difficult. I really meant "unoffending", or to put it another way, "palatable". its easy in the sense that it puts you at ease. you can't find fault with what the other party is saying. it fills in the awkward silences.

3) ah that question was because i was thinking of buying a colleague some breath fresheners...

4) ...

5) Well, you shouldn't reject a colleagues' offer to go for coffee right? ESPECIALLY when she's chio, not to mention there are TWO of them.

hey i'm just joking aight?

6) whatever works for you dude..

Cambridge

I decided to do something more constructive during the weekend, instead of rotting at home watching serials like I did the last weekend. So I went up to cambridge and paid an old friend a visit.

The weather was great. Well actually, the weather looked great, but didn't really feel great. It was sunny, BUT windy and cold. Took a few pictures here and there just to show that "hey, i'm in cambridge again!" but they weren't spectacular.

Walked around the city center with no particular aim in mind. finally after i was like 25 pounds poorer, I decided it was too cold, so I suggested going back to his place and chill (not literally of course, I was cool enough).

he showed me a couple of videos, most notably the euro cup last year where liverpool won the trophy. they were 3-0 down and managed to come back up, miraculously, and won thru a hairs breadth with the penalty shootout. man they were lucky, no wonder SC's so superstitious.

it was nice just hanging out, and recalling all those fond memories of the past. and the best memory, it seems, was the rotterdam cycling trip, where everyone had some sort of accident/near accident that is just hilarious.

and now, picture time:

The back of SC's cute little home


SC's cute little car


We felt like eating stir fried beef hor fun after briefly looking at Hunn's blog. So we decided to get the closest thing to that we could find -> Gyu something Udon (beef stir fried udon).



I had this instead. Looks like, and tastes like beef chow mein.

and finished off with a pint of Asahi beer. pretty nice beer i must say.

pity i didn't take pictures of lunch. it was good too.. mm hmm..

Random thoughts

1. Today on the tube I spotted three people with ipods, because of the characteristic earphones. I wonder, why is it still cool to have ipods when everyone's using it?

2. Its easy to spot couples on their first date. they hardly know each other, so the talk (if any) is very easy (in other words, lame).

3. Will you be upset if someone offers you chewing gum / breath fresheners?

4. I got checked again for my age when I bought a bottle of wine. I told him that I don't have ID. He hesitated a while then said, fine, ok. You look like you're 21. I said, "hey, isn't the legal age for drinking 18?" He shrugged and said I look young. I told him I was 26 but he probably didn't believe me.

5. In the morning at the office I got asked by two quite pretty girls who walked over to my desk, "hey wanna grab a cup of coffee?". I immediately said,



"nah, I'm fine. Thanks" and turned back to my work. I only realised my mistake a few hours later. they'll probably never ask me to join them for coffee again. ah well, good news for my gf.

6. on that note, i'm going to visit her in just about three weeks! *grin*

Respectable occupations

Doctors are probably one of the most respectable jobs out there eh? After all, they save lives... but just a thought: how about ambulance drivers? or firemen? or bomb disposal squads?

That said, if I had a daughter and she gets a boyfriend, I'll probably be most pleased if he's a doctor. It won't be because his occupation involves saving lives, its because doctors are generally smart and caring, and also more pragmatically, he'll earn enough to ensure a comfortable living, he won't get exposed to dangers like fire or bombs, and his bread can never be taken away, since pple will always need doctors.

but i digress...

what makes a respectable job? is it the saving lives part, the contributing to society part? is it the money? is it the security? is it the exclusivity?

i'm trying to justify my job aight?

i'm not saving lives, and I can't really say i'm contributing to society.

maybe i'm just a mercenary...

tagged?

I think the blog community behaves in mysterious ways... I don't usually buy into this chain mail thing, but hey, i guess I'm a blogger too...
Anyway I got "tagged" by AKK so here goes...

4 jobs you've had in your life
- cheap labour for the SAF
- part-time labour for a bar/pub
- full time labour for a bank
- ahh.. caring boyfriend to my girl? eh.. pple only have 3 proper jobs la, bf considered occupation can or not?

4 movies you could watch over and over
- not applicable. haven't had a movie that i can watch over and over.. the max number of times i watched a movie is about 6? and I don't remember the title of the movie.... ah you know, my parents might be reading this.. =P

4 TV shows you love(d) to watch
- The Last Hero. The show with the zhi3 luo2 cha4 (purple claws??)? there, the one where got this sissy with super long purple nails? and a hero that's hairy like a monkey? damn funny la that show.
- CSI.
- CSI Miami. (eh don't call me a copycat)
- 24

4 places you've lived in
- Pasir Ris
- Paya Lebar
- London
- California

4 places you've been on vacation to
- Italy
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Austria

4 places you would rather be
- in the US with my gf
- in Singapore with my mum
- at any nice beach suntanning with a cool alcoholic cocktail nearby
- in the red sea looking at fishes

4 of your favourite foods
- Beef
- Salmon
- Chicken
- Pork
(in various forms)

4 websites you visit daily
- google.co.uk
- news.bbc.co.uk
- gizmodo.com
- inaccuraterecord.blogspot.com - yah la i ego la, problem with that?

4 tagged
- not applicable. I'm a bad boy, this "tag" ends here.

6 minute dinner

Preparation: Go to any supermarket, buy a pack of salad, some baby potatoes and some cooked chicken.



Step 1: Place potatoes in a microwavable bowl and cook at high for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, put salad leaves into another bowl and pour desired dressing


Step 2: Place chicken in oven and heat for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, mix potatoes with olive oil and dried herbs.

Step 3: Put together into a bowl (can possibly reuse one of the above two bowls - save 1 minute on washing)


Voila!

I usually have this, or a variation of this for dinner. Easy peasy, yummy tasty, cheap, nutritious and healthy - relatively.

Amsterdam Trip

Finally, after 5 months of slogging for my company, I got to go overseas on official business. Not exactly official business, since I didn't do any business - I just met a few people, sat down with them and learnt a bit of stuff from them.

But its good anyway, the trip. I had a cab booked from my place to Heathrow airport, paid for of course. I was also booked in business class, though the actual flight time is only about 40mins. And for the first time in a quarter century, enjoyed the airline lounge.

It was weird going into the lounge because it was my first time. I looked for somewhere quiet and sat down and took out my magazine to read. Then my eyes explored a bit and I noticed a counter of tea/coffee/soft drinks/beer/alcohol unattended. Thinking that nothing is free, I assumed the worst and observed for a while. After sufficient circumstantial evidence has been gathered, I concluded that it IS free and helped myself to the tea... and then to the potato chips. haha, and basked in the glory of business class... while reading my magazine.

At Amsterdam, I took a cab to the hotel. The cab cost 35 euros, but heck, i'll claim from my company. When I saw my room, hee, another smile across my face =)



The trip was just for three days, unfortunately. While at the office, I am practically imprisoned, since the visitor pass, which I could only get once a day and in the presence of my host/supervisor there, works like a return ticket -> in and out. ONCE. so breakfast and lunches I had it at the office.

But dinner... heh heh heh...

Dinner can be anything within a budget of 30quid. heh heh heh.

remember the steak I told you about a few entries ago, and told you how I wished I could dine there again?

On the first night, I was hungry and miserable. It was late, and cold, and dark. I thought it was 9pm, which is already quite late, but actually it was 10pm - since Netherlands is 1 hr ahead. I stepped into the first restaurant I found (an italian one), but the waiter told me clinically, "we're closed". I crossed the road, walked down a little further, and came across a chinese restaurant. NAH.

And then, as fate would have it, just next to the chinese restaurant, stood GAUCHO GRILL. my god, i never expected that they had franchises even in holland! it had to be fate. I stepped in and ordered the smallest (225g) medium ribeye steak. mmm hmm..

The second night I wanted something different. searched around online for nice restaurants when the person next to me suggested "Palma", an italian restaurant. sounds good, i'd love pasta. and she said something about "chillis" and spicy and stuff like that. *GROWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWL*

Wasn't so lucky this time. When I got there they were packed and the waitress told me, a little more politely than the waiter at the other restaurant yesterday, "we're full. you'd have to wait half an hour at least".

So I walked down further the road and got into another nice restaurant/bar with a very rustic feel. and I had veal with tuna cream sauce for starters and salmon tagliette for my main. satisfying dude..

The third night, need I think? GAUCHO again, what else. This time I ordered the medium (300g) fillet steak (Bife de Lomo). And asparagus with aioli as sides. *wolf-whistle* the steak was awesome man! sublime... it was thick, juicy, tender and oh-so-D-E-LI-CIOUS. (when I got the bill I realised they gave me a 400g steak instead. hahaha, no wonder why I enjoyed it so much. ah well, company pays for it anyway)


(pardon the picture, I was too much of a hurry to enjoy my steak. I had already eaten like a quarter of it before I realised I should share my joy with you. It's dark and I didn't turn on the flash hence the dark picture. Notice the juice floating around the steak. It all flowed out from the steak man.. )

Tonight, since I had a plane to catch, I had dinner at the airport. Looked around for a nice place to eat, but half of the "eateries" where little stalls that sells sandwiches and orange juice. I decided to get ramen at the noodle shop (very imaginatively called "noodle shop"). it was 14 euros but i only had like 20g of pork. sigh... i'm missing my steak already...

The flight back was atrocious. I had to queue for a long time at the check-in, even though it was supposedly "business class". I guess everyone's business class bah. The queue to board the plane was even longer. I thought since the queue was so long, i'll just sit down and wait till the queue got shorter.. and once past the security checks into the boarding area, there was another queue to scan the boarding pass and actually board the plane. so i sat down again and read my book. i think it was about 45 mins later since i arrived at the gate when the air stewardess called to me and asked if I was boarding the plane.

I got up and walked to her and she said "Mr Wong?"

I then knew I was probably the last person to board, so I panicked a little.

And once she scanned my boarding pass and all was fine and dandy and I was walking up to the bridge, I saw that the bridge, all 150m worth of it, was full of people packed like sardines.

took another 15 minutes before i finally boarded the plane.

and guess what, the plane was so full the cabin compartments were also overflowing. there weren't any space left and i had to sit with my trolley tucked under the seat in front of me. damn, business class? i don't see any difference.

The flights also had no music no tv no games no extras no nothing. well, newspapers and a snack.

the flight back ruined my evening. thankfully the cab from the airport, a nice leather-interior mercedes and a polite old gentlemanly cab driver cheered me up a little.

and i realised my room is still more comfortable than the hotel room.