Today is the 2nd day that my bosses are away. I know, some of you must be thinking: "WHEN THE CAT IS AWAY, THE MICE COME OUT TO PLAY" I'm not that sort, ok...?

Aniwae, as always, my collegue & myself has been pondering as to where to go during our block leave during Chinese New Year. Krabi? (what about the violence in the South?) Bali? (Is it within our budget?) M'sia? (Drats! It's the monsoon!)

Seriously, I wanna go to Krabi. Last time I went to Phuket, it's only for a pathetic 2 1/2 days. Very unsatisfactory. Besides, I can't get enough of the natural beauty of that place.


You see what I mean..? Isn't it simply gorgeous?

Anyway, before leaving for Pulau Sipadan @ Sabah for their diving trip, my boss's wife actually booked 2 tix to Phuket for this Feb on Tiger Air. Only $105 inc. tax. She excitedly booked A WHOLE WEEK for our trip. Whoa!

Actually, I dun' mind. Someone has helped us with the decision-making, after all. Thing is, I dunno just how to break this to my dad. He's been saying bout' how Thailand is just no longer safe. Shucks...! True enough, when I broke the news to him, he questioned me over & over as to whether the place is safe enough...

Anyway, I plan on staying at 2 different places for that whole week. One will be on Phi Phi Island and then Banthai Resort in Phuket-the same resort I stayed in previously. The resort is pretty expensive but I just can't seem to get over my previous experience there.


I love this resort! Very contemporary Thai design, boasts 2 swimming pools & has EVERY rooms facing each of the gogeous pool!

Sigh...Now starting to make my personal countdown to February 2005...Whoo!!!

Ohhhh, the next few entries will be filled with things that are long overdue (nope, that doesn't include my library books..)

Pics from various occasions.... that date back to last month. Those even earlier than that? I decide to just incorporate then into existing photo albums. Okies...?

Last Sun, 07 'Nov 2004
Maybe the holy month of Ramadhan is simply a great time for reunions. Another renion, this time with the guys, back from my Poly days.


1) Meng 2) Bas 3) Khama 4) Kai

We were to meet at 6+ and at yet, at 5+, Bas actually said that he has a last minute recall to his camp and can't make it. It's one thing to make an effort to organise and its another to make a plan work. I offered to send him back if he join us for the dinner.

Khamz met me under the block(since he live across the road from me). He's late (why am I not surprised..???) Then it's Kai. He offered to meet us at the train station instead of us having to go all the way in. Aww..That's nice of him. Thing is, he has yet to make the walk so it's some waiting on our part. By the time he reached the car, I was already in the backseat. He took over my place at the driver's seat. Ahh.. it's just so nice to sit in the back, doesn't it?

Kai driving. Sorry Kai, I am just so sick of driving at that time. Been driving the whole day...

Bas got lost in Far East Plaza itself. Hee... We had dinner at Anatolia Turkish Restaurant. The food is kinda so-so. frankly, I think the kebabs at the bazaars taste nicer. More vege. But the fries were nice.

Meng & Kai hamm it up for the camera @ Anatolia Turkish Restaurant

Then it's chill-out time(yep, chilling-out is my fav. past time) @ Borders Cafe, Wheelock Place..Duh! Had some coffee & desserts. The place is nice. Cosy and relaxing.

Meng, trying to figure out how to eat the hard-as-rock frozen peach that comes with the gelato, before biting the top off. Not surprisingly, he got brain-freeze.


An attempt at snapping a funky-lookin photo. What's in the pic? Figure it out yourself. Nice???

Me & the guys...

I wonder, how long it will take before all of us meet up again....

29th 'Oct 2004
This day, 3 ol' pals finally met up - together after long, long time. Tini - Mard - Me. How long? God knows. Each of us with our own commitments... yadaa yadaa...Same ol' excuse.

So for a reunion, what do we have? KFC. Wow... Big deal. Well... not for us who have not had that for ages. Since Mard may have difficulty meeting us on time, Tini suggested we had our break-fast at Siglap, where Mard worked. There's KFC there. Clever girl.

Anyway, since it's my collegue's b'dae, we were given 1/2 day off (yesh, our bosses gave us 1/2 day off on our b'daes..) The whole week, I've been dreaming of doing a bit of housekeeping & keeping up on my sleep when I came home early before meeting moi pals. Yar rite. I came home and my mum was actually awake. Amazing. It's only noon. "Let's go out and do some shopping," she said. Arrgh! There goes my personal plans! Sleep? Fuhgettaboutit!

Niwae, went to City Plaza & Tanjong Katong Complex. Lotsa' nice baju kurungs. Thank goodness my stuff are all ready. Can't imagine having to make more decisions, "which one to purchase...should I fork out $$$ for that ridiculously expensive suit??" blah..blahh... Well, my mum bought an "exclusive" suit. The type where it's one & only and you won't risk having someone else on the street wearing that same clothes as you do. $173, down from $249 for an organza abju kurung... Cool right?? My mum tried to get me to purchase one too. No way! Unless I wanna sabotage my own financial planning and bust my budget. Hello, festive season..?
Enough of shopping. Not that I'm THAT interested, aniwae. Met Tini & she suggested we took these 2 buses. 1 to MacPherson and then 40 to Siglap. Thing is, at MacPherson, we were not sure, from which side of the road, should we take the bus from. Wanna know the route? Imagine a capital 'D'. Instead of travelling along the vertical line, we went around the curve. Not surprisingly, Mard started calling us when we are not even near there. Come to think of it, it's pretty hilarious, cos' 1/2 the time, both Tini & I wondered if we'll even reach Siglap. Hee..

We were still a tad early for break-fast. So we sat at the near empty KFC, while waiting for the time to break-fast. Lotsa' to catch up on one anothers' lives. Then it's makan time!

1)Mard looking smart (though Tini & I tot' she looked like a security guard)
2)Tini, ever so proud of her new earrings.

3)This was eaten by 3 ppl. What a mess! *burp!
4)The only things left unfinished. 1 cute bun and a date. The dates are so fresh, they taste like grapes.

After dinner, we wondered where to go. Mard can't stay up too late cos' got morning shift the day after. Niwae, Tini dropped by Starbucks to see if her frens were there. Well, turn out, not one, but 3 of them were there. So we end up hanging out there. Kinda' cool. Why not? Got free drinks and the atmospere is very much 'chilled-out'.

5) 3 of us @ Starbucks Siglap.

Tini actually had space for a waffle ice-cream. She can't resist the temptation of having Gelare next door.

6)Tini, happy that she get her waffle ice-cream. Gelare, no less.
7)We only leave behind the soggy parts. *burp - again


8)Lin, sharing with us some juicy gossips about a 'certain someone...' Beside her is her fren, whatzisname
9)Tini & me

And finally, as proof that we were there, Tini offered her smile to go with the Starbucks sign in the background...


I LOVE coffee.

This one date back all the way to 24th 'Oct (yar..yar...THAT long ago)
We got $300 worth of Centrepoint vouchers that can be spent at the various Centrepoint Shopping Centres and I specially select Causeway Point simply because that place is big & it's easy to get stuff all under 1 roof.

Btw. my 14 yr-old cousin Fatimah drop by the night before & stayed over...

...so she ended up joining us for this shopping trip.

I admit that I'm such a lazy person esp. now that it's the fasting month & the destination is sooo far away...

So I leave it to my dear bro to do the driving. Not that he mind, anyway. I'm glad he drove cos' reachin North, it began raining cats&dogs. So heavy was the rain, that visibility must be down by almost 50%!

Not surprisingly, there was a 'mini-jam' leading to... guess where? The carpark of Causeway Point! Har! But as I thank my lucky stars that the car in front was the lastest Merc C-Class. I was ogling at it until a van rudely squeezed in & park right there & then. Drats! Everyone jam-braked. Atrocious! Here we are, patiently following the CORRECT line into the CP(unlike others who try to cheat by squeezing in near the front) & this stupid van just parked there. My bro, being my bro, spewed expletives(regardless of the fact that my parents are in the car) and blast the car horn at the van. Euuugh!!! I hate car horns!!!

Luckily the shopping was fun. Got a b-dae gift for me collegue, bought my cousin her Hari Raya shoes, my bro stock-up on his surfer clothes, I dunno what dad bought but I know mum bought cushions & kitchen utensils (again!!) With the voucher, she took the chance to purchase the more high-end ones. I bet they are silverware...


I'm not a big shopping fan so while the others find their stuff, my cousin & I went....on a mini photo shoot! Hee... Now that's fun.

Grab any clothes that we took a liking to and snap pics while posing with them. Well, till' my dad had to call my handphone asking our location. Frankly, we dunno. Wandered too far, I guess. Ha ha!

There was a Mitsubishi roadshow below and my bro+myself got into the Colt to get the feel. Then I quickly nudged him. "Last time I did this at this exact place, our family ended up buying a car. Scary..." I told him. He just laughed it off. He can do that cos' he wasn't there, then. But it's the truth. It was the KIA roadshow then and my mum & I was so interested at the Rio H/B model that the salesperson approached us. The rest, as they say, is history...

We bought stuff for buka at the bazaar next door. Lotsa' stuff, man. Almost bought the Arsenal jersey & polo tee there. I was interested in the blue one. I'm SO glad I didn't purchase that 'un cos' that very night, Arsenal lost to Man U wearing THAT same jersey...

Niwae, we sent my cousin home before heading back. What a day it's been. Both my bro & I managed to catch some 40winks before break-fast....


After all that fun, I still wasn't too keen on shopping...

Well..well...what can I say? Saturday night turn out to be a pretty good one, I'd say. Heheh... That Portsmouth vs. Man U match brought on a great sense of 'Deja Vu' to me, somehow.
Final score? Pompey 2-Man U nil/zilch/null
First goal-penalty. Still dun' gettit? Rewind back 6 days. Ahhhh..Now gettit?


David Unsworth scores from the penalty spot


Alan Smith (left) jumps for the ball with Dejan Stefanovic

Reading The New Paper on Sunday, there's one article that caught my eyes. With lines that goes, "..must have been plain retribution when Rio Ferdinand conceded a penalty, when Portsmouth proceeded to deal out the same result that Manchester United so gleefully handed to Arsenal..."

Or like these, "..the man who sent them crashing back to earth was Harry Redknapp's 1 million 'bargain buy' Aiyegbeni Yakubu, who scored a precocious goal which even Ferguson's 20m investment on Wayne Rooney seemed a waste of time yesterday.."

Or what about these, "..it was a nightmarish afternoon which Ferdinand would rather forget for a show of inconsistency within six days of being declared the Man of the Match at Old Trafford.Yesterday, he was the villain in a defeat that United probably didn't quite foresee after last Sunday's joy..."

Oh man, I could not agree more. For a full read on this article... Go to Electric New Paper

Since that match was shown simultaneously with the Arsenal showdown, I of course tune in to the Gunners but I can help shrieking in delight when the update at the bottom of the screen update everyone about the goal by Portsmouth as they come.

Woo hoo! Way to go, Pompey!

During the Gunners vs. Southampton match at the 85th minute, I already have an idea as to what the title of my next blog will be, "Attack Of The Killer Headers."

Sounds appropriate, considering the fact that both goals conceeded by Southampton is by some great headings. One with a ball from the corner - both by a guy called Rory Delap. Nice headers, though.

The fact that Henry missed a penalty was such a downer.Even though he proceed to score at the 67th min, those headers happened in the final 10 mins & I was already biting my nails.


Thierry Henry (left) is congratulated by his team-mates

So nervous was I that I did not notice Van Persie replacing Ljungberg in the very last few mins. Turns out Wenger(the genius he was) made a great move on that 'un. For that young fella' actually save Arsenal from another defeat!

Oh that shot..It felt like watching an NBA match where the team with the ball attemps a great risk at wasting time and shooting the ball thru' the hoop at the last min, with that silly organ music in the background.

I screamed "GOALLLLL!!!!" so hard that my throat still hurt. Doesn't help that I ate some mangoes at my gramma's yeasterday....


Robin van Persie is mobbed after his late leveller

Hey, check out excerpts from this match report, "..The delight was doubled when news of Manchester United’s defeat Portsmouth was read out over the tannoy system on the final whistle..."

After that final score... I decide to rename the headlines to, "Saved by the Dutch."

Hey the last leg of 2004 Motor GP happened yesterday at Valencia, Spain.

Daniel Pedrosa won at his home country. Not surprising, huh. I'd say that he'll get to 500cc as soon as he win another championship next year. He can do it, for sure. He won the 250cc championship just a year after clinching the world 125cc title.


Pedrosa with his trophy.

Did you see how Rossi cuts everyone during the first few laps of the 500cc race to get in front and lead the others all the way..? Superb fella'. One helluva' racer. He sure knows how to create a great finisher for the racing year of 2004.


Rossi with his trophy.


Having fun. C'mon it's the last leg for this year!

His arch rival, Sete Gibernau, unlike his fellow countryman, Pedrosa, trailed at a close 4th after Australian Bayliss. The way he race... so slacked. You'll know what I mean if you see how he was neck-to-neck with Rossi in Australia.

Personally, I think he dun' wanna be on the podium with Rossi.


I told you Pedrosa is small. See how he stood beside Rossi. Like a hobbit! Hee... He's about my height. Shucks! I take back that hobbit thingy.


Individual category champs on their bikes. Cool pic!

Sigh...Now for a brand new year.....Happy holiday, guys!!!!