Yes i haven't blogged the last few days because i was on vacation. I didn't go overseas. My mum on the other hand did so i had the whole house and car for the last 5 days, and that my friend, is a vacation to me.

I could leave the lights and aircon on without being scolded. I could take my time to do my laundry. I could sleep and wake up at anytime without being disturbed. I could cook without needing to clean the place immediately. I could invite friends over for a stayover without asking for permission. And according to Joey from Friends, i could walk around the house naked. But best of all, i could use the car anytime i wanted to! But that is all "COULD". Past tense...

Anyway, having the car made life so much more enjoyable. Suddenly, everywhere is near. The day of 24 hours suddenly seem longer, allowing me to enjoy more. Like my friends were suppose to meet at Clementi MRT station at 330pm to play badminton at the sports complex. I left my house at 345pm and still made it on time to start playing with them.

But thats all over now... My mum is back from Hainan Dao, the one place she doesn't complain about. She loves the weather there. She loves the food there. She loves the people. Feel like shipping her off in a box to hainan dao. Will make an appointment with Fedex one of these days... Kidding kidding.
Signing out - 5/14/2008 09:21:00 PM

The budget airplane arrived at the Bangkok airport successfully. Don't ask me how was the flight. I took a bottle and hit myself on the head real hard to knock myself out for the 2 hours. I didn't want to have the constant fear of the check-in lady flying the plane in the dark in my head...

Anyway Thailand was an interesting place. Despite being further away from the equator compared to Singapore, it's hotter and much more humid. The moment i stepped out of the airport, i started sweating and feeling all sticky.

Everything is dirt cheap there. EVERYTHING. Each meal cost me less than S$1.50. But the portion is rather small. It was then i realised that majority of Thais are like slim and fit. You will hardly find a fat Thai. The only one i found was my snorkelling tour guide. I think he hangs out in the water too much till he became bloated.

And they have fantastic translators in Thailand. Seriously. How they manage to translate all their signs just amazes me.

The first one i encountered was in a toilet of Khon Khean University. A UNIVERSITY. It read "Keep Cleaning" like this.


I happened to be at a urinal when i first saw the sign flashing in front of me. The first thing that came to my mind was ... Excuse me? Keep cleaning my aaaa... ok... that's ummm a good reminder of personal hygiene. But when i walked out after washing my hands(the sign was still haunting me), i realised the sign was everywhere in the canteen! Then i understood what it meant! It is to encourage their janitors! I was like wow! They are so considerate! They know that these cleaners have a hard time so they put up these signs to encourage them on. Like how dory from finding nemo sang "just keep swimming, keep swimming". The cleaners probably go around the school singing "just keep cleaning, keep cleaning" No wonder the school is rather clean. They have highly motivated cleaners!

Then when i was at a resort checking out the pool, i was met by this sign.



Ok... So I can take bikinis only... Question one: where are the bikinis? And Question two: Are they like free? Then Question three:What if im not a pervert and would like to wear trunks? Is it like Ben & Jerry's where everyone is entitled to take one free cone only on free cone day? No sundaes. Just cones. Hmmm at least they have bikinis... better than nothing... But i don't think i will be trying them on...

I do believe i met alot more than these 2. But i can't remember... what's new... For those of you who don't know me, i got the memory of a goldfish. You can tell me your name and i will forget it within the next 5 minutes. 2 if its a chinese name. I didn't bring a camera and my phone was out of batt so i couldn't take any photos, or not i will have alot more to share. Sigh... Oh well.
Signing out - 5/05/2008 11:49:00 PM

The moment a foreigner touch down on Singapore on a plane, many things will strike them. These things will create the first impressions.

You step out of the plane to meet a sudden rush of warm and humid air. To foreigners, its "Woohoo! The tropics! Time for the pool!". To locals, its "omg.. why isn't this place air conditioned?!"

You step into the airport. To foreigners, its "Wow... This airport is gorgeous... Take photos!". To locals, its "Why are we so darn far from the customs?! Move quick! I don't want to queue!"

You got through the customs smoothly, grabbed your bags and head towards the arrival hall. To foreigners, its "Wow there are so many signs. Finding our way out should be easy." To locals, its "Hey! Thanks for coming! Ok lets not talk here. Im starving! Changi Village! My treat!"

As the foreigner looks at the signs... "Hmm taxi to the right... Sky train to Terminal two to the left... Shuttle service to Budget terminal to the left... Wait a minute! Budget terminal?! What's that?! Sounds so cheap! You mean they have a terminal for like poor people? Isn't that like class discrimination?"

If you ask me, it's a total embarrassment. I know the terminal has been around for some time. In fact i have been making fun of its name for a looong time. But it only hit me when i actually travelled there for the first time to take a budget airline, Tiger airways, to Bangkok. I know most of you are probably thinking "Derrick on a budget airline?! Haha that's gotta be a joke."

Well it isn't... I actually took Valuair to HK before and enjoyed it. But then they served food and water and it was at Terminal one. I had to walk like 5km to reach the gate from the check in point since they always give budget airlines the last gate, and one case i even had to run as i overslept(whats new). The run was like being on amazing race. So so fun.

ANYWAY, i was totally shocked as i made my way to the budget terminal. Firstly, the road to the terminal was weird. I had to circle and turn around, trying desperately to follow the road signs. Not to mention i had to argue with my mother that Terminal 3 is not the budget terminal. Then, just as i started to panic thinking that im lost, im greeted by this hideous looking sign thing. I think its so hideous, no one dares to post it on the web because i can't seem to find it on google. Anyway it was a structure spelling out "THE BUDGET TERMINAL" in this font.



Sheesh! Did they have to make it so... bubbly?! Its so unprofessional... and cheap looking... Are they seriously trying to emphasize its a BUDGET terminal?

And the most devastating part of the entire budget terminal experience was... Is it me or is the lady collecting my boarding pass now the same lady who checked in my luggage at the check in counter... Wow... its really budget in here. There isn't even enough manpower... I wouldn't be surprise if she put on a cap and board the plane and holler over the PA system, "Good evening, this is your captain speaking. You all should have met me along the way. I'm the person who checked in your luggage, collected your boarding pass, and am now flying the plane. Once the plane has taken off, i will be coming down the aisle to sell some food and drinks."

The budget terminal. Seriously.
Signing out - 5/04/2008 10:52:00 PM

Before i flew off to thailand, i had a 3 day retreat at my sister's house. A retreat from my mum. hehehe. Anyway i moved to my sister's house to babysit. Not my niece... my sister is smart enough to know i cant take care of her baby for 5 minutes, let alone 3 days. I had to babysit her 2 dogs, which in my opinion is just like only one level harder. Of course i didn't know then, since i havent taken care of them for quite some time. And my bro in law has no problems with that. He is still wishing one of the 2 will mysteriously disappear.

So anyway those 2 dogs are maltese. Those cute small white furry dogs... Think you got the picture. Anyway they may seem cute and adorable... BUT THEY AREN'T.

Firstly, they are supposedly toilet trained. BUT THEY AREN'T. They peed all over the place. EVERYWHERE! This reminds me of a video i watched about matt damon.



"On the bed. On the floor. On the towel by the door. In a tub. In a car. Up against a mini bar."

My version would have been "On the couch. On the floor. On the bag by the wall. In the kitchen. In the toilet. Up against a baby cot." ARGH!!! That's how bad it was. Apparently they pee all over the place to show that they are angry that my sister has abandoned them.

You are probably thinking, Angry?! Dogs have emotions?! Well that brings me to my second point. These dogs are like humans trapped in dogs' bodies. It's totally scary. They seem to understand when we are talking about them. They go all emo when we say something bad about them. Especially one of them by the name of Teeger. He is the smaller and supposedly cuter one. However, if you really know him, he is not cute at all. He is a drama queen. He will scream like crazy if you carry him the wrong way. He gets jealous when you play with the other dog first. He goes suicidal by walking on the edge of the couch if you ignore him. And when my sister is not around, he will seek attention by 'clawing' you so that you will sayang him but the moment my sister returns, you become a stranger to him. In fact we once had a maid who was very scared of him. She claimed that he was too human-like, it was creepy.

Anyway by the time my sis got back from her bintan trip(or was it batam...), i was so so happy to hand over the dogs. I was kinda sick of cleaning up pee pools every 4 hours. And a day later, i was off to the airport to leave for Thailand. The amazing "budget terminal". But that's another story.
Signing out - 5/04/2008 12:06:00 AM

Sheesh has it been 2 weeks since i MIAed? Anyway for those of you who are wondering where i disappeared to, i have been in Thailand for the past week. I had no internet and handphone access. Shut off from the world. And it was G R E A T. Apparently i love isolation. Big surprise right?

Actually i got back on sat, but i was still in the relax by the beach and laze in the resort mood. In fact, in the past few days, i haven't been able to accomplish much. Think i only managed to sms a friend a birthday greeting and thats about it... And the only reason why i actually decided to blog something today is because a friend of mine known as Shanrui who works in a school with the coolest name ever made a comment that im funny so that made me all happy so im blogging again to entertain you guys. The school is changkat changi... or is it chong cat changi... whatever it is, its a tongue twister. They probably spend day one of the sec one orientation learning how to pronounce the school name. "ok kids. The first person who can say the school name 10 times consecutively without making an error will get a chocolate!"

Oh and i actually watched ironman last night. It was... alright. Actually i think because im no ironman fan and didnt have much expectations. I guess it was good.. i mean i can't make any negative comments about it... which is rare... soooo yah watch it if ya got nothing to do. I can't wait to watch the remake of Hulk though. The trailer looks so nice!

Btw in case anyone is wondering, my diet plan is soooo working. So many people have come up to me and told me i lost weight! Whoot! Hopefully the half of can of pringles and 2 packets of chachos(i have no idea what it is.. is it some pirated nachos? but the cheddar cheese one taste so so so good) which i ate in the last 2 days wont inflate me... psh time to go running...

And do visit this webby in the next few days and tag some 'hi's to me. Maybe say im funny again. hehe... i need encouragement... haha. Anyway i got some great material i can't wait to blog. I mean i was in Thailand! The land of a thousand smiles and marvelous translators! And before that i had to babysit my sister's insane and crazy dogs. Not to mention my drama queen niece.

Stay tuned!
Signing out - 5/01/2008 01:57:00 AM

Yes i haven't blogged the last few days because i was on vacation. I didn't go overseas. My mum on the other hand did so i had the whole house and car for the last 5 days, and that my friend, is a vacation to me.

I could leave the lights and aircon on without being scolded. I could take my time to do my laundry. I could sleep and wake up at anytime without being disturbed. I could cook without needing to clean the place immediately. I could invite friends over for a stayover without asking for permission. And according to Joey from Friends, i could walk around the house naked. But best of all, i could use the car anytime i wanted to! But that is all "COULD". Past tense...

Anyway, having the car made life so much more enjoyable. Suddenly, everywhere is near. The day of 24 hours suddenly seem longer, allowing me to enjoy more. Like my friends were suppose to meet at Clementi MRT station at 330pm to play badminton at the sports complex. I left my house at 345pm and still made it on time to start playing with them.

But thats all over now... My mum is back from Hainan Dao, the one place she doesn't complain about. She loves the weather there. She loves the food there. She loves the people. Feel like shipping her off in a box to hainan dao. Will make an appointment with Fedex one of these days... Kidding kidding.

The budget airplane arrived at the Bangkok airport successfully. Don't ask me how was the flight. I took a bottle and hit myself on the head real hard to knock myself out for the 2 hours. I didn't want to have the constant fear of the check-in lady flying the plane in the dark in my head...

Anyway Thailand was an interesting place. Despite being further away from the equator compared to Singapore, it's hotter and much more humid. The moment i stepped out of the airport, i started sweating and feeling all sticky.

Everything is dirt cheap there. EVERYTHING. Each meal cost me less than S$1.50. But the portion is rather small. It was then i realised that majority of Thais are like slim and fit. You will hardly find a fat Thai. The only one i found was my snorkelling tour guide. I think he hangs out in the water too much till he became bloated.

And they have fantastic translators in Thailand. Seriously. How they manage to translate all their signs just amazes me.

The first one i encountered was in a toilet of Khon Khean University. A UNIVERSITY. It read "Keep Cleaning" like this.


I happened to be at a urinal when i first saw the sign flashing in front of me. The first thing that came to my mind was ... Excuse me? Keep cleaning my aaaa... ok... that's ummm a good reminder of personal hygiene. But when i walked out after washing my hands(the sign was still haunting me), i realised the sign was everywhere in the canteen! Then i understood what it meant! It is to encourage their janitors! I was like wow! They are so considerate! They know that these cleaners have a hard time so they put up these signs to encourage them on. Like how dory from finding nemo sang "just keep swimming, keep swimming". The cleaners probably go around the school singing "just keep cleaning, keep cleaning" No wonder the school is rather clean. They have highly motivated cleaners!

Then when i was at a resort checking out the pool, i was met by this sign.



Ok... So I can take bikinis only... Question one: where are the bikinis? And Question two: Are they like free? Then Question three:What if im not a pervert and would like to wear trunks? Is it like Ben & Jerry's where everyone is entitled to take one free cone only on free cone day? No sundaes. Just cones. Hmmm at least they have bikinis... better than nothing... But i don't think i will be trying them on...

I do believe i met alot more than these 2. But i can't remember... what's new... For those of you who don't know me, i got the memory of a goldfish. You can tell me your name and i will forget it within the next 5 minutes. 2 if its a chinese name. I didn't bring a camera and my phone was out of batt so i couldn't take any photos, or not i will have alot more to share. Sigh... Oh well.

The moment a foreigner touch down on Singapore on a plane, many things will strike them. These things will create the first impressions.

You step out of the plane to meet a sudden rush of warm and humid air. To foreigners, its "Woohoo! The tropics! Time for the pool!". To locals, its "omg.. why isn't this place air conditioned?!"

You step into the airport. To foreigners, its "Wow... This airport is gorgeous... Take photos!". To locals, its "Why are we so darn far from the customs?! Move quick! I don't want to queue!"

You got through the customs smoothly, grabbed your bags and head towards the arrival hall. To foreigners, its "Wow there are so many signs. Finding our way out should be easy." To locals, its "Hey! Thanks for coming! Ok lets not talk here. Im starving! Changi Village! My treat!"

As the foreigner looks at the signs... "Hmm taxi to the right... Sky train to Terminal two to the left... Shuttle service to Budget terminal to the left... Wait a minute! Budget terminal?! What's that?! Sounds so cheap! You mean they have a terminal for like poor people? Isn't that like class discrimination?"

If you ask me, it's a total embarrassment. I know the terminal has been around for some time. In fact i have been making fun of its name for a looong time. But it only hit me when i actually travelled there for the first time to take a budget airline, Tiger airways, to Bangkok. I know most of you are probably thinking "Derrick on a budget airline?! Haha that's gotta be a joke."

Well it isn't... I actually took Valuair to HK before and enjoyed it. But then they served food and water and it was at Terminal one. I had to walk like 5km to reach the gate from the check in point since they always give budget airlines the last gate, and one case i even had to run as i overslept(whats new). The run was like being on amazing race. So so fun.

ANYWAY, i was totally shocked as i made my way to the budget terminal. Firstly, the road to the terminal was weird. I had to circle and turn around, trying desperately to follow the road signs. Not to mention i had to argue with my mother that Terminal 3 is not the budget terminal. Then, just as i started to panic thinking that im lost, im greeted by this hideous looking sign thing. I think its so hideous, no one dares to post it on the web because i can't seem to find it on google. Anyway it was a structure spelling out "THE BUDGET TERMINAL" in this font.



Sheesh! Did they have to make it so... bubbly?! Its so unprofessional... and cheap looking... Are they seriously trying to emphasize its a BUDGET terminal?

And the most devastating part of the entire budget terminal experience was... Is it me or is the lady collecting my boarding pass now the same lady who checked in my luggage at the check in counter... Wow... its really budget in here. There isn't even enough manpower... I wouldn't be surprise if she put on a cap and board the plane and holler over the PA system, "Good evening, this is your captain speaking. You all should have met me along the way. I'm the person who checked in your luggage, collected your boarding pass, and am now flying the plane. Once the plane has taken off, i will be coming down the aisle to sell some food and drinks."

The budget terminal. Seriously.

Before i flew off to thailand, i had a 3 day retreat at my sister's house. A retreat from my mum. hehehe. Anyway i moved to my sister's house to babysit. Not my niece... my sister is smart enough to know i cant take care of her baby for 5 minutes, let alone 3 days. I had to babysit her 2 dogs, which in my opinion is just like only one level harder. Of course i didn't know then, since i havent taken care of them for quite some time. And my bro in law has no problems with that. He is still wishing one of the 2 will mysteriously disappear.

So anyway those 2 dogs are maltese. Those cute small white furry dogs... Think you got the picture. Anyway they may seem cute and adorable... BUT THEY AREN'T.

Firstly, they are supposedly toilet trained. BUT THEY AREN'T. They peed all over the place. EVERYWHERE! This reminds me of a video i watched about matt damon.



"On the bed. On the floor. On the towel by the door. In a tub. In a car. Up against a mini bar."

My version would have been "On the couch. On the floor. On the bag by the wall. In the kitchen. In the toilet. Up against a baby cot." ARGH!!! That's how bad it was. Apparently they pee all over the place to show that they are angry that my sister has abandoned them.

You are probably thinking, Angry?! Dogs have emotions?! Well that brings me to my second point. These dogs are like humans trapped in dogs' bodies. It's totally scary. They seem to understand when we are talking about them. They go all emo when we say something bad about them. Especially one of them by the name of Teeger. He is the smaller and supposedly cuter one. However, if you really know him, he is not cute at all. He is a drama queen. He will scream like crazy if you carry him the wrong way. He gets jealous when you play with the other dog first. He goes suicidal by walking on the edge of the couch if you ignore him. And when my sister is not around, he will seek attention by 'clawing' you so that you will sayang him but the moment my sister returns, you become a stranger to him. In fact we once had a maid who was very scared of him. She claimed that he was too human-like, it was creepy.

Anyway by the time my sis got back from her bintan trip(or was it batam...), i was so so happy to hand over the dogs. I was kinda sick of cleaning up pee pools every 4 hours. And a day later, i was off to the airport to leave for Thailand. The amazing "budget terminal". But that's another story.

Sheesh has it been 2 weeks since i MIAed? Anyway for those of you who are wondering where i disappeared to, i have been in Thailand for the past week. I had no internet and handphone access. Shut off from the world. And it was G R E A T. Apparently i love isolation. Big surprise right?

Actually i got back on sat, but i was still in the relax by the beach and laze in the resort mood. In fact, in the past few days, i haven't been able to accomplish much. Think i only managed to sms a friend a birthday greeting and thats about it... And the only reason why i actually decided to blog something today is because a friend of mine known as Shanrui who works in a school with the coolest name ever made a comment that im funny so that made me all happy so im blogging again to entertain you guys. The school is changkat changi... or is it chong cat changi... whatever it is, its a tongue twister. They probably spend day one of the sec one orientation learning how to pronounce the school name. "ok kids. The first person who can say the school name 10 times consecutively without making an error will get a chocolate!"

Oh and i actually watched ironman last night. It was... alright. Actually i think because im no ironman fan and didnt have much expectations. I guess it was good.. i mean i can't make any negative comments about it... which is rare... soooo yah watch it if ya got nothing to do. I can't wait to watch the remake of Hulk though. The trailer looks so nice!

Btw in case anyone is wondering, my diet plan is soooo working. So many people have come up to me and told me i lost weight! Whoot! Hopefully the half of can of pringles and 2 packets of chachos(i have no idea what it is.. is it some pirated nachos? but the cheddar cheese one taste so so so good) which i ate in the last 2 days wont inflate me... psh time to go running...

And do visit this webby in the next few days and tag some 'hi's to me. Maybe say im funny again. hehe... i need encouragement... haha. Anyway i got some great material i can't wait to blog. I mean i was in Thailand! The land of a thousand smiles and marvelous translators! And before that i had to babysit my sister's insane and crazy dogs. Not to mention my drama queen niece.

Stay tuned!