From Bbq party to the crime of breaking & entering to hi jacking to more robbery

This happened one weekend last month. SIL's birthday falls on a working day, so dear brother decided to celebrate the wife's birthday on Saturday instead and surprised her with a small barbecue party on one fine Saturday night at my place we did. The bro was in charge of the guests and supplies while i was in charge with the rest of the prep and food. We started around after maghrib and everything was in order. We put up fairy lights (the one we bought for raya but never did use them), i prepared the chicken the night before (after googling for barbecue marinade from all over), made some Singapore fried beehoon and some potato salad. One cousin brought a scrumptious lasagna and we had cupcakes as the birthday cake. The only thing that was missing was that i forgot to serve the ice cream we bought after suddenly being stirred by a commotion outside the house. The guys were already at the neighbour's house opposite (of my home) when i rushed out to the gate to see what it was all about.

It turns out that my neighbour's house were broken into (while they were out having dinner & we were having the party outside!). My kid brother was the head chef in charge of grilling the chicken in the lawn outside but did not see anything amiss nor did he hear anything that of suspicion. My elder brother was also outside taking a puff. Hubby was playing with Aslan (the cat) when 2 of my cousins arrived and said they saw a car parked in front of the house which was about 2 hours ago but thought it was just one of the neighbour's friends or relatives. His next door neighbour also saw and thought the same. They only saw a man waiting in the car outside the gate. The thief apparently took their time to ransack each room and manage to get away with their jewelleries, a lap top, a camera and some cash. They pry open and broke the strong door and it could not serve its purpose (the door would not close at all). Since it was then past 10pm, my poor neighbour could not get the door man to fix it and had to sleep over at his brother's house that night. The neighbours and i could not believe they would dare break into the house while there are many people going in and out right in front of that house. (And we were later informed that the police were late to the scene due to another case of theft in our housing area that same night!)

Then a few days back, my cousin's car got hi jacked when my aunt was driving to get newspaper one early morning. Some indian guys came to the car with parangs and ordered her to get out of the car. They came in 2 cars but luckily my aunt was not harmed. The guys got away with the car, her wallet, house keys and my cousin's stuff (biz cards, cd collection - his canto exercise book too). My aunt later got back her IC and driving license as the bad guys tossed them out somewhere in Sunway and was discovered by a Sabahan guy. The crime happened in Kelana Jaya.

Yesterday, I read a newspaper article about a robbery in Muar where the robbers, after taking the victim's jewelleries and cash, also took their food supplies - rice, noodles and even instant noodles!

What a world we are all living in nowadays. I don't feel safe even in my own home. And when i am away, i can't help the fear of anyone breaking into our house. I guess time is really bad with everything is so expensive, we are all desperate. And you know what they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Now the question is, who do you think we are to blame???

Anyway, Happy Birthday, SIL. And guys, please be careful. Wherever you are, whatever you do. Just be careful.

My first Go at Karting

"I'll take you karting one day", he used to say to me. Several times over the years, whenever he engaged in conversations that involved the topic of Go Karting. "Yeah ok.." was simply my sentiment to the thoughtful gesture. Well, i finally get to get my hands behind the wheels the first time last weekend. It was an outing with the Kazzens and was a darn good experience. I was pretty nervous as the others are pretty good at it (winning competitions and all) and that i was the only one who have never sit in one before but i was there to experience it and just have fun, and serious fun we all had indeed (though i finished last in between struggling to get the hang of it and colliding with Edrin's kart, thank you, Edrin!). I just wished it lasted longer as when the momentum was about to set in in the second round, i saw the stupid red flag being waved motioning the unwelcome ending, that our 10 minutes were up. Sigh.

I take pleasure in attempting bold endeavours once in a while. I was suppose to go for the white water rafting at Kuala Kubu Baru last year but got disappointed when they (the former company i worked with) announced that they had to cancel it due to the continuous pouring rain in June that lead to the rising of the water level and refunded our money. I guess God above was trying to tell me to keep my feet on dry land.

Karting was really exciting (but expensive nonetheless), it also reminds me of driving home from work where i (sometimes) boost up the speed of my humble car just a tad (before the traffic builds up) to reach home. I miss that sometimes. :)

strapping up

see that lady in turquoise on the right?
she's one of those champions i mentioned earlier..
(& i think something got into my cousin's eyes)

that's moi leading with hubby right behind me, followed by my kid bro..
hahaha.. NOT!

me... in the lead again.. :P
(on the right: kid bro spun hahahaha..)

was a good Sunday evening
- & i am all set for a second outing
(little Harris was there too - in his own kart)

Books galore!

I don't normally share my purchases (especially with the public) for some obvious reasons but i'm sharing my recent book purchase because it really is something to highlight. All this for only RM170 and sen sen.. crazy isn't it??? (Note that 2 of the books above are in hardcover). Wanted to get Amir Muhammad's New Malaysian Essay but noticed the footnote (in the book) that said if it's ordered online from Malaysiakini, it comes with a free copy of Generation: A Collection of Contemporary Malaysian Ideas by Amir Muhammad, Kam Raslan & Sheryll Stothard. So, i've placed an order from Kinibooks. Will be delivered in one day! Yay! :D

[This is how things should be.. Books at affordable prices! I feel wonderful.. i so do! :D]

And then there were four

After the unexpected leaving of Carly Smithson in the last round of the Idol, i knew it will either be Brooke or Syesha next. We must all agree that Kristee Lee Cook never deserved to get to the top 5 but i honestly think that Carly would made it thru at least in the Top 5 (especially given her strong last performance). But i guess the Americans decided to throw the big-voiced Irish gal out sooner than i had expected. I like Brooke for having her own style and i'm sure she has developed her own fan base throughout the singing competition. While Syesha can sleep well after the announcement of Brooke's departure, she must know that she's up next. The girl can sing, but i think she lacks the uniqueness to win the competition. Then Castro will eventually leave the idol along with his dreamy eyes, "soulful" voice, dreadlocks (& charm that had helped keep him on the show) and all.

And then, i really do not know what will happen between the 2 Davids. It will be a battle between the very novel (& of course much talented) 25 year old rocker from Blue Springs and the sweet-faced 17-year old singing prodigy from Utah that we all adore. (As much as i think that Archuleta is super-talented, i personally favour Cook's originality, singing style and performance so i'm kind of hoping he will be the next Idol - it has nothing to do with his bad guy image, honest!). However, we all know that it's just a matter of winning the title. These people can well achieve their dreams soon after the competition is over, doing what they love and make tonnes of money. I'm no expert, just another opinion from a mere observer. Cheers to all, hope u had a splendid Labour Day!

It's raining books!

I missed the KL International Book Fair due to some unavoidable reasons and therefore i shall feast now!

Click here for more info.

Teaching old cats new tricks

5 cousins & a friend (of a cousin) took up Cantonese recently. On the very first lesson, like the others this cousin struggled with the unfamiliar slang and phrases entirely. She enjoyed learning mandarin in her college days (and got pretty decent grades too.. :)) but must admit that she finds Cantonese even harder. She is uncertain whether it's the age that has started taking its toll (because she learned mandarin like 4-5 years back) or it is in fact more difficult as compared to the latter (read: she's in denial).

She told the cousins that she needs to reset her Mandarin so as not to confuse herself with the newly learned language but so much so, instead of calling herself ngo (which means I in canto) and calling you with nei this cousin kept on saying wo (which is I in mandarin) and ni (you) all the time. Sigh. She quickly dragged herself to Borders the next day to get one of those Cantonese CD to get familiarised with the basic phrases (& was described kiasu by someone :p). Thank god the second class was so much better (note: being kiasu sometimes help :D). She has quite adjusted to ngo and nei nowadays (though wo & ni still slip off from time to time) but is still yet to remember most of the words even the simplest ones and not to mention that putting words into a sentence is still quite a challenge. (It must be the age that contributes to the rusty memory she thought.. hmm). Then again, she can't help but notice that some of the mandarin words are very similar to those in Cantonese and it certainly helped her remember the Canto phrases better like:

i know = ngo ji do (canto); wo zhidao (mand)
[zhi is pronounced as jhe]
please come in = qing/qeng yap lei la (canto); qing jin lai (mand) [qing is pronounced as ching]
please have a drink (tea) = qing/qeng yam cha la (canto); qing he cha (mand)
because = yin wai (canto); yinwei (mand)
home maker = jhu fu (canto); jiating zhu fu (mand)
Mr. = xin saang (canto); xiansheng (mand)
Miss = xiu je (canto); xiaojie (mand)
i love you = ngo oi nei (canto); wo ai ni (mand) :D

They had fun the 6 of them, having the class all to themselves (giving the teacher a large dose of headache twice a week with their constant mispronounced words and unhelpful laughing and being laughed by one another) and tried conversing with each other from time to time, exchanging new words (bad ones no exception) taught by colleagues and friends. They now have another 4 weeks to go to complete the course and she hopes that these old cats will get to remember their tricks come exam on the final week :)

Speaking of which, she has some homework to get to. Have a wonderful rainy day. Don't forget your umbrellas when you leave home (or office)!

Joi gin.

Something to tickle your funny bone

My kid brother introduced me to this comic duo (who refer themselves as 'comedy court') on youtube the other day. I know the elections was a month ago but i find it too hilarious not to share the videos.

Elections blah blah blah:


Who wants to be a Billionaire:

Disclaimer: This entry is strictly pun intended. The author by any means has no such intentions to offend any individuals/parties whatsoever. Thank you.

The day we spent more than 12 hours touring the Lion city (JB-SG)

Venue: Orchard Road & Victoria Street, Singapore
[useless info: Lady Q is a fan of Victoria Posh :)]

It was somewhat a walk down memory lane for him when we travel to Singapore that day as he used to cross the border back and forth for 6 and half years. In my case, well let's just put it this way, i pretty much missed those days strolling down Orchard Road and spending the weeks/months of savings on discounted items especially during the Great Singapore Sale! (Mum reads my blog from time to time so i have to be real careful with the info i impart. Hehe).

However, this trip was not a shopping spree. We wanted to experience Singapore differently. Dad said there will be a massive traffic jam upon returning to JB due to the search of the fugitive, Mas Selamat that fled the Singapore prison few weeks back. But that did not deter us from carrying on with the already planned trip.
As always, i googled for nice, interesting places to visit. I've not been to Clarke Quay before and he said that it is a nice place and we should go. And so i googled the place up to plan on things we can do apart from dining (planning your time is crucial when travelling, right?). One thing grabbed our attention at the bottom of the website - G-Max Reverse Bungy & that immediately topped everything else to be done during the trip!
We took the SBS Express around 10.30am (nak jalan2 tak thrill la naik kereta, kan.. this is also one way to prevent myself from buying unnecessarily and a pretty good strategy because i like to travel light! Hehe). The tickets cost us RM2.50 each. Upon entering the customs, i was stumped to see the 'NO PEPPER SPRAY ALLOWED' sign because i'm sure i have it in my bag and had to declare it at the custom's counter. The guy behind the counter asked why i had it and my reply was that i always have them in my bag for protection (duhh) and that i didn't know it was prohibited. Sadly i had to hand over my 4-year-old pepper spray to the malay officer in the navy blue uniform. He said with a warm smile, "lain kali jgn bawak.." :(
Anyhow posters of the much wanted Mas Selamat was everywhere - with hair, without hair, with beard, no beard etc. (But only saw one poorly photostated copy on a pillar at the Malaysian immigration when we got back).

WANTED

We reached Rochor at about 30 minutes after. We first stopped by at Sim Lim Square because he wanted to check out how much they are selling the communication walkie. Fyi this is a heaven for those who are into electronic stuff. I'm not so much of a gadget person, but was still very much enticed over the great deals of cameras, laptops, phones etc. We did not get anything though, but the walkie set he checked was way much cheaper as compared to in KL even that of Jalan Pasar.

Next, we walked to Arab Street for lunch. We had Murtabak and the spicy Chicken Beriyani at Restoran Zam Zam and walked out fully satiated to the next destination - Bugis Junction Shopping Mall where we browsed through stuff between the many people as it was lunch time. Went to Charles & Keith too to compare prices with my purchase in Sabah and found out it was slightly cheaper there in Singapore by about RM20 or so on most of the stuff (but i manage to refrain myself from buying anything, so proud!). Everything else was expensive.
I thought of going to Clarke Quay late afternoon after the stop over at Orchard Road (he wanted to look for a backpack) because we wanted to do the bungee before it gets dark and i thought it was better to stroll down the peddlers walk right after and get dinner since Clarke Quay is more alive at night. But apparently 'someone' couldn't wait the adrenaline rush! (But there's no point in arguing when you are on a trip because it will only put stress and kill the moment). And so, we took the MRT from Bugis to Clarke Quay. We started looking out for the Bungee and as we walked towards Coleman Bridge, there it was! He had this smirk on his face like a 2-year-old who had just spotted the carousel at a fun fair (but i was ecstatic too to be honest!) :)
Unfortunately for us, by the time we reached Clarke Quay the sky was all but happy. Clouds had gathered, showing us signs that it was going to rain. After we bought the tickets, we had to wait as the guy was strapping on guests on the GX5 (the extreme swing). Rain started falling minutes after. No way i'm gonna go on the ride in the rain, i said. So we told the guy we would come back when the rain stops.

Waiting for the rain to stop

We walked around the many (still closed) fancy looking restaurants and in the back of my mind i thought, we would not have had to face this if we were at Orchard Rd that time :p but i didn't wannna make a fuss so i just kept quiet. About 30 minutes or so later, the rain started to wane. Refused to just sit and do nothing at one unopened restaurant while waiting for the rain to finally stop, i suggested we take a river ride in the drizzle, and so river cruise it was for us (time is of essence even for a homemaker like this one). I guess it was a blessing in disguise. It costs SGD18 per adult but it was worthwhile. It took us from Clarke Quay to Boat Quay, Marina Bay, Robertson Quay and back to Clarke Quay. I finally get to see the Merlion, trademark of the Lion city. While cruising the river he turned to me and said, "I think i want to steer (is this the right word?) a boat like this uncle when i retire. Boleh tak?" Haha.
Anyways, here are some snapshots on the cruise:

I was instructed to pose before the cruise. It was still drizzling ..

Him and his idol in the background. lol
Boat Quay

The gorgeous Fullerton Hotel during the day

The Esplanade aka The Singapore 'Durian' Convention Centre
on the right: The Singapore Flyer

A Leo seen here with the Merlion

The rain had completely stopped by the time we got back to Clarke Quay, giving us way for the much anticipated G-Max bungee now. It was HORRIFYING with a capital H!!! I've never experienced such a thrill, my two legs were shaking when we got down!!! I was screaming like a mad woman who had lost her mind somewhere up there but my other half was expressionless and unresponsive *scratching head*. Going up was not so bad but the most terrifying part was when the capsule dove straight down leading us to the ground at full speed, it felt like my soul was left up in the blue sky! It is by far the utmost terrifying ride ever for me! The deadly ride lasted approximately 2 minutes. U can go for another round at SGD20 if u stay in your seat. If not, another ride will cost another SGD40. If you are an adrenaline junkie, be sure to drop by Clarke Quay to experience this stimulating ride. (For details click here).

[Useful tip: you can purchase the dvd of your ride at SGD10 but do skip the SGD5 for the photo because the photo will be taken only after the bungee, in which you can get them to snap using your own camera - We thought the still pix would be captured from the capsule camera during the bungee].

Fingers crossed

Ready for take off

It was about 5pm when we left Clarke Quay for Orchard Rd and guess how we got there? We went on a trishaw! It was unplanned and was my first time to be in one. A very good experience but i was kind of nervous sitting next to huge buses and other engine-running vehicles even though the uncle said "..don't worry, it's very safe!". Uhuh.. He was kind enough to show us around and telling us tales about the buildings and all but to tell you the truth, we couldn't really hear him. Hehehe. Though we were taken through a very nice path upon reaching Orchard Rd.

The uncle was telling us something.....

An old building of the Fire station

Smiling quite nervously :)

There, the trishaw. In case you don't believe me :)

It is a known fact that Singapore is a green and clean country. It is also well known for its rapid development and unconventional transportation system too (trishaws not included). They have the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) which is complemented by the regional Light Rapid Transit (LRT) systems (circled in pink below by yours truly ;)) that link MRT stations with housing estates. It operates from about 5:30am and ends before 1 a.m. daily with frequencies of approximately three to eight minutes, very efficient indeed!
But most of all i really adore the nicely and well preserved old buildings standing amidst brand new tall ones. In which some, new modern units are built in addition to the old ones for more room. I think our government should impose the same on our old existing shophouses and other old buildings too rather than demolishing them and rebuild everything from scratch. Each surely has its own charm. Look how stunning they are!

Bugis Village

Somewhere around the Robertson Quay Precinct

At Clarke Quay

Raffles' Landing Site

another elegant one we saw on the way to Orchard Rd

It is an opportunity not to be missed to go on the Singapore Flyer that was completed only in March this year if you visit the city on your next trip. We got to know about it when spotted during the river cruise earlier at Clark Quay. From Orchard Rd, you need to take the MRT to City Hall (where Raffles City is) and walk a distance to reach the location (i think it took us about 20 minutes). The area is still under development and they are building the 'Promenade' MRT station which are expected to be ready in 2010. My feet were already starting to feel the pinching of my spanking new white sneakers by then. The 30-minute ride was brilliant to simply put it but be ready to pay a hefty SGD29.50 per adult! It was a spectacle sight with the city lights showering the buildings beneath us and since it wasn't a peak time we had the capsule fit for 28 people all to ourselves!

To end the day trip, we travelled back to Boat Quay on (aching) foot that took us about an hour to have lobster for dinner but alas later informed by the waiter that only large (meaning pricey) lobsters were available. Famished, we opted the king prawns instead. The service was slow but the food was good. We took a cab to Woodlands and i was awfully relieved to find that there was no horrific jam at the causeway and that we managed to get on the last bus (thank God!!). Had we not been on the last bus, i honestly think that my feet are no longer in its place today! Haha. Reached home at 1.30am. Thus our trip to the Lion city this time certainly proved to be a whole new experience afterall.

The gorgeous Fullerton Hotel by night
- smiling in pain

Pan fried red snapper & Grilled king prawns
Venue: Boat Quay

Here's to a memorable one!
Me & my mocktail (pussyfoot).
- don't be deceived by the name, it was delicious! Cheers!