Coming home...

I'm coming home!!!
I prefer to use "coming home" instead of "going home" because it gives me a sense of closer to home as if I've always been home, though it's not grammatically correct.
It's been a tough week for me. I barely sleep for the past week, waking up at 6am and couldn't get into sleep after tossing and turning on the bed till 1am. I'm just too excited about coming home and so many things going around in my mind. My laptop is giving me a headache. I couldn't decide whether to carry it home or leave it here in my small room. Although Singapore is famous for being a safe country, it just doesn't give me a sense of security about leaving my laptop unattended for a week. If I'm to carry it home, I have to get a new laptop case as my 15.4" Dell laptop doesn't come with a case. I bought a laptop sleeve but it's of minimum protection to my laptop, which I worried that it couldn't "survive" in the long journey home.
I'm taking a 10-hour coach as flight ticket is too expensive and it just doesn't quite worth it to take a flight to Penang. It will probably take around 6 hours or more including check-in and transit. Whoa, that's too much time to spend for such an expensive option.
So, waking up at 6 in the morning and blogging about my worry over the journey. Lame!!! It's just as lame as the city lifestyle here.

Bukit Timah Hiking Trip

I needed some work out after that heavy Indian dinner. So, here's the photos from my Bukit Timah trip on the next day after that dinner. It was a fun trip for someone like me who enjoy the nature after working in the cold but rather dull office facing the monitor for more than 8 hours daily for 5 days. Though I had aches on my legs and arms and even my back after the hiking, I'm looking forward to the next adventure in Singapore!

The giant ants - each of them is about 1 inche long.

Indian dinner

Last Friday, me and other eight colleagues went for Indian dinner at Little India. The restaurant is a cosy one with good environment and reasonably tasty food. So sorry there isn't any photos of the food we had as we all were too excited about eating Indian food with our hands for the first time in life (at least for most of us as there were Korean, Singaporeans, Malaysians and Chinese among us). Here's the list of food we had:
1) Naan
2) Curry fish head
3) Mysore mutton (hope I didn't spell it wrongly)
4) Tika chicken
5) Mango lassi
and another one or two dishes which I couldn't remember the name.
It was really fun to enjoy the dinner the Indian way - with hands. We all laughed so much making the dinner too heavy for all of us. Why were we laughing? We were laughing at each other of the way we eat with our hands with all the rice & gravy all over our fingers. It sounds yucky the way I describe it, but we didn't feel anything but fun. Haha

After the dinner, we all went to Geylang, the famous red light district of Singapore. We all dare not walk into the alleys, so we ended up having the famous Rochor tau hua and went home after walking along Geylang main street. Many Ah Bek and girls with sexy clothes sitting in the kopitiams, eateries, etc. I don't feel pleasant walking there, but it's a good opportunity to have a look of the other side of Singapore, besides being an advanced and organized city.


This photo was taken by an 'en dau' Indian guy (very good looking indeed) at the Gayatri Restaurant.

Horror Movie

Horror movie used to be one of my favourite movie genres. I enjoyed the excitements and fears it brings me. However, I've not have the gut to watch it anymore since I moved to Singapore and staying alone in the small room.

My mum used to say that I'm the bravest one among my siblings. I would've watch the horror movies, ghost movies and then go to bed alone. I had no fear of sleeping alone in the room before my sisters coming to bed. Now, I'm staying alone. So, I try to avoid watching any horror movies. I'm afraid of waking up from nightmare in midnight and surrounding by fear in darkness.

When I was young, I used to have this dream, Japanese dead soldiers killing people in my dream. I had that same dream for years. I believe it was the inspiration I get from the Hong Kong horror movies. I also had this dream of myself running in the corridor at my old house. It is the corridor of my house, but, with a big deep hole in the middle of it and the corridor seems to have no end. I was chased by ghost or something which I can't remember at all, and I was running along the corridor and keeping myself from falling into that deep big hole. I would wake up in great fear every time I had these dreams. I was only four or five years old.

Then, I stopped having that dreams after my family moved to the new house. But, I had other nightmares. Also, I used to wake up in midnight and felt that the window which is only a few feet away from me to be so far away. It was such a bad feeling. Creepy.

Even though I've not had that feeling and nightmares for quite some time, I fear that they will come to find for me again as I'm staying alone now. There will be no one there for me if I ever wake up from nightmares in the middle of the night. :(

I miss my sisters so much, even though I wanted to have the bedroom for myself at times.

18 October 2008, Saturday

想家

走出地铁站，站在人群里，子莹感觉有点茫然。

在这个城市中生活近三个月了，她还是无法适应那紧凑的生活节奏和那什么时候都似乎不会减少的人群。她生长在一个介于城市与乡村之间的小岛上，那里的生活节奏不急不缓的，人群没有城市般拥挤，却也不像乡村那样寥寥可数。想着想着子莹又想念她的家乡—槟岛了。

“唉…”她轻轻叹了一声，声音小得自己几乎都听不见了。自从来到新加坡后，脑子和心每天都在打仗，挣扎于留下来还是回家，心思徘徊在咬紧牙根熬下去和回家另寻出路之间，没有一刻停过。工作了一天，眼睛累得快睁不开了，手肘关节因为长时间敲打键盘正隐隐作痛。每个星期四、五，她总是觉得特别的压抑。一整个星期累积下来的压力她再也无法承受了，食物是最方便的解压方法。

在小食中心里绕了一圈，还是不知道该吃什么好，没有一种食物能够引起她的食欲。突然她想起了来自印度尼西亚的同事说过这里的印度尼西亚料理很道地很美味，就决定了要尝试一下那很有名气的Ayam Penyet。其实，她最想吃的是槟岛的亚三叻沙，可是在这个城市里整个地球的料理都有，唯独槟岛美食难找。

写于2008年10月31日，未完

Pulau Ubin Cycling Trip

Okay, I know this post is outdated, but please don't complain. I was too tired clearing all the backlog deals I have in my folders. Busy is the only word to describe the past one week.

Here's the photos my friends took during our Pulau Ubin cycling trip last Sunday. It was fun cycling in the kampung in one of the Singapore's islands, looking at the 1960s Singapore. This is my first time to ride on the bumpy roads with rocks and sands on them. There were 11 of us and I get to know a few more new friends. And we had a nice seafood lunch, it was cheap for only $27.50 each!

We're on a bumboat heading to Pulau Ubin from Changi ferry point.

We get ourselves maps before starting our adventure. But, none of us actually read that map once we get up on the bikes. We just cycle and stop for the direction maps on the roadside.

Here we are before our journey begins, all smiling!!! You'll see how we look like after few hours of cycling in the next few pics. :P

This is me on the bike and with my Korean colleague behind me.

Here's the photo of all the leng lui of the day.

And here are all the leng chai.

This is the 1960s toilet. The aunty selling coconuts said "You may go if you're daring enough." when my friends asking where the toilet is. None of us dare to use it. I didn't even dare to walk near it.

Enjoying the chilling coconut water.

This is the famous must-call dish in Singapore - Chilli Crab!!! But it's not my favourite dish as the gravy is not hot and salty enough.

This is my favourite, the fish is so sweet and fresh!

I think I ate a quarter of this - fried daun ubi with sambal. As my friends are mainly from China, they don't fancy sambal dish.

Steam squid, the dish I ordered. Not bad, but the portion is too little for the 11 of us.

Ma po tau fu. Very hot leh, the taste is just so so.

Fish soup. Nice!!!

The Caucassian girls at next table were building a tower out of the cans. We contributed our cans too.

We all eating like hungry ghosts after a more than an-hour-wait for the food to come.

See how clean the plates are!