Visited IMDEX Asia 2009

Before the Changi Naval Base tour at the Expo's IMDEX Asia 2009 exhibition with my colleagues...It was an exhibition with many visitors in their white sailor uniform as the focus was on marine military. We registered ourselves for the warship tour and waited 30 minutes for the next shuttle bus leaving Expo as the bus was full.

At the Changi Naval Base's warship tour...before we started exploring the warship. Due to security reasons, we have to take two shuttle buses before we could enter. It was really hot; we were sweating and trying to shade our eyes with whatever brochures we have from the exhibition. Luckily, the air-conditioners in the ships were on full blast, so I managed to cool down at some point. We wanted to visit the largest warship, but it was closed due to maintenance.

It is really not easy to work on board. The steps are very steep and the sleeping quarters are not very spacious...The lowest deck (I think it is their equipment and machine storage place) was really warm and stuffy. The people working on board the warships really deserve our respect.

The Southern Ridges Walk

It was so difficult to wake up early on a Sunday morning... I thought I would be late but luckily I wasn't. Lan and I reached the Harbourfront mrt at 8.40am and I had ample time to finish my doughnut breakfast before the walk. There wasn't much people at the gathering point at 9am, so we waited for more people to come before taking group photos. The weather was a bit hot during the wait...


The Marang Trail was a bit hard to walk...there were many steps and I had not climbed so many steps since years. I was panting hard, but managed to get to the top with Lan's encouragement. It was drizzling when we reached the top, but the drizzle stopped as we walked towards the Henderson Waves. The breeze was so nice on the Henderson Waves (Lan and me had such messy hair in the above photo), but the breeze only lasted for a while.


See the PSA building? It was our ending point...The sky was so dark and Lan was worried that it may rain before we reach there. Thus, we hesitated on whether to proceed to the Forest Walk or U-turn back to the Marang Trail. At second thought, I encouraged Lan to continue the walk with me as I probably won't visit this place again. Luckily, the weather was good as we continued our walk.


Resting cum picture taking time...

The Henderson Waves have got nice curves right?


See the carvings? We are 74.14m above sea level at the Henderson Waves...

This is the end of the Henderson Waves and supposedly the start of the Hilltop/Forest Walk...though I didn't see any sign mentioning Hilltop Walk.

On the Forest Walk! The metal bridge is really sturdy and easy to walk, and it goes round and round. I only realized how high I was when Lan told me to look down. It was a bit scary to see through those holes of the metal as you could see the top of the trees and how far the ground is from the bridge.


We completed our walk at the Alexandra Arch, hooray! Lan and I visited the HortPark to freshen up before sharing cab with Dorothy to Jurong Point for lunch. Some of my colleagues were really enthusiastic walkers and continued their walk to the Kent Ridge Park via the HortPark. I strongly recommend this walk for those who like nature and exercise!

West Coast Plaza

I tried to use my new GPS system to get to the renovated West Coast Plaza...I found that it is a bit difficult to drive fast using the GPS as I was afraid to miss any turns. I was honked at twice, as I was not on the left lane when I was supposed to make a left turn. The two cars who honked at me refused to let me cut lane even though my signal was on for more than 3 seconds...they just simply speed up and honked at me. Till today I have never honked at anyone yet, even though I've seen many cars that abruptly cut into my lane. I wonder why people are so impatient, especially towards drivers under probation.

My family and I ate at the Paradise Inn for the first time. The queue was so long and there were so many customers that we felt neglected. We waited so long for our fish head and it didn't taste as good as we expected. The other dishes were just average too and there were irritating houseflies flying around. The bill came up to $105! Not really worth the money... The new West Coast Plaza looked a bit empty, in term of crowd and shops. The large game arcades that we liked to go to were no longer there. Haiz.

It's Fri again~

Oh I am so full. The Fish and Chips that I ate at 8pm plus still haven't digest yet...the thick flour of the Fish and Chips was so disgusting that I regret eating it. Haiz. I think I have been eating too much lately.

The last few nights were full of activities (quite rare for someone like me who loves to be infront of the computer or TV)...

Tues night: I had dinner with a lady whom I met at BBDC on my test date and she invited me to her church. However, my parents don't really like the idea of me visiting a church so I rejected her. I think I won't feel easy too, as my family practised Taoism. I like being a Free-thinker (self-declared) as there is no restriction to how god should be like and I could believe in whatever I want.

Wed night: I went to play in water with my colleagues at the Jurong West Sports and Recreation Centre's Aqua park . It was quite a last minute plan as we wanted to avoid the crowd and I suddenly remember that this is an exam week where most students are at home studying. It was the first time the four of us visited that place. I had wanted to try the water slide, but it was closed at 7pm (by the time we walked there, it was exactly 7pm!). We had played in the lazy pool and normal pool before two of us decided to try the exciting-looking slide. It was a decision that needed lots of courage for non-swimmers...but I always like things that look fun. The lazy pool has quite strong waves and it was funny to see my colleagues getting swept by the waves, haha. Dorothy, you need to go faster next time, try to put on contact lens lah. The Jacuzzi pool was pretty relaxing, but the force of the water was so strong that my back felt painful and was a bit reddish after the "water massage". It was quite fun to go there with my colleagues (New finding - Qiuwen is quite sexy in her swimming suit!). I also found that I'm not the slowest in bathing! Haha. So, I could actually be quite fast if my mind don't go blank during bathing (which happens every morning).

Last night my colleagues and I sang KTV until 10.30pm. My colleagues tried to sing a popular Hokkien song but in the end, no one sang as we were distracted by some topic to chat on. Next time you all must sing that I-ask-heaven song ok? So far I have never heard any friend sing Hokkien songs in KTV.

This Sunday, Lan and I would be going to the South Ridge walk organized by my company's Sports and Recreation club. I signed up due to curiosity of how it would be like to be on the Henderson Wave. Hopefully I won't regret halfway during the walk...as I don't really like hiking type of exercise. I remember that I was so sick of hiking during the last Taiwan trip...Please let us have nice weather that day.

Just an update...

My eyes are ok and I'm wearing my contact lens again, yeah. The eye doctor finds no problem with my eyes except that they are too dry due to the long period of time I wore my contact lens. What a false alarm and there goes my half day leave. Jurong Medical Centre is really big, but I felt that it is a bit empty. The rates are pretty reasonable even without a polyclinic referral. I managed to redeem my free 3-mths supply of contact lens from the Optometrist (which I won from a lucky draw contest and where my 1st redemption failed due to the supposedly "eye problem").

I tried Zhou's Kitchen lunch buffet for the first time today - A treat from my mummy. There were a lot of diners and the food was gone in minutes. The chefs must be working really hard to try to replenish those dishes. One of the aunties was really kiasu and kept lying on my back to push me towards the front, so that she could try to grab whatever that was available. It was disgusting to feel her breasts on my back, yucks. However, there was little space for me to move, as there were people infront. Some people were also trying to cut queue. I think it would be better to eat there on a less crowded day.

Waited so long at the Polyclinic...

There were so many people at the Clementi Polyclinic today...I waited an hour plus for my turn! I wonder how they assign the doctors for consultation. The doctor I am waiting for seems so popular with such a long list of patients, while the younger doctor beside his room finished his list of patients so much earlier and happily knocked off. I really agree that it was so much cheaper to get consultation and medicine from a polyclinic. I was surprised that my eyedrop costs just $1.40! I managed to get a referral from the doctor to go to Jurong Medical Centre's eye clinic. He told me that I might just be allergic to contact lens...hopefully that won't be true as I don't want to be stuck with glasses forever.

I am worried that I would get summon for beating the amber light yesterday as there were cameras at the junction. I was bypassing a construction work area and didn't notice the light turning amber until I have crossed the white line at the speed of 40 (was driving quite slow, so should be quite easy to capture my number)...I checked online and found that the penalty could be as serious as getting 12 demerit points and $200 fine! I am keeping my fingers crossed...please don't let me get it. My luck is so down these days...everything kept going wrong for me. Please make my bad luck go away.

A tiring day...

Last night, I was told by an Optometrist that there were some problems with my eyes and I should get them checked by an eye doctor...he also advised me to not wear my contact lens for a month! Oh no, I really don't like my "four-eye" look...I'll visit the Polyclinic tomorrow to get a referral to Jurong Medical Centre's eye clinic. I heard that it's so much cheaper to be referred.

This morning, I finally sold my old laptop and the buyer was very patient and friendly even though I was late. I had a very heavy breakfast with my family at Burger King before going to the bird park. My car hit into a pole at the shopping mall carpark's exit...I'm glad that my Picanto survived the hit without any damage! I love you, my dear Picanto! The people in the car behind mine looked a bit shocked.

The carpark at Jurong Bird Park was so packed that cars parked in any available space, even though it was not meant for car to park. It was scary to drive in such a packed carpark with such narrow lanes. I felt that they shouldn't have allowed cars to enter when the carpark is already so full! I even saw a luxury car with its plate gone, as some car has hit its front and its plate has dropped onto the ground. I didn't witness it, so please don't ask me about what happen. After driving in rounds, I finally came across an exiting car. There was a car that waited way infront and it tried to reverse to that lot even it saw my car just beside that lot. Thus, I quickly drove into that empty lot and that car driver wasn't too happy. He winded down his window and the people in his car started to blame me for taking "their lot" as they have waited very long for an empty lot. I felt that they were really unreasonable, as that doesn't mean that by waiting way infront, he has the right to all the lots in that long stretch of carpark! I have also been driving very long in that carpark to find a space!

Today's weather was really weird; the rain was so unpredictable - it shines one moment and rains at another! I was lucky to have my cap and umbrella with me. We took the bird park's panorail ride for the first time and it was so much easier to view the whole park from the ride. The Lory Loft was packed as usual, with many chatty birds and people feeding them. While waiting for the show to start, we waited at the indoor Penguin exhibit to hide from the rain and humidity. The show was a bit different from what I remembered years ago, with new mascots and more birds.

We went to IMM for dinner after the show. The carpark was also quite packed; seems like today was a popular day to drive. The salad crispy prawns at Crystal Jade were really delicious.