Macau and Zhuhai holiday

19th Nov: Weather was really cold...We took the free shuttle to Venetian Macau from the bus terminal at Gongbei custom. A nice fit old lady has led us to the custom, which was supposed to be within walking distance from our hotel as the locals defined. However, he route seems so long and we all felt tired from the walking. The old lady was walking really fast without any sign of tiredness. I lost S$33 at its casino *sob*. It was my first time visiting a casino. I didn't even managed to grab one of the free drinks. The boat/Gondola ride was very relaxing. The boat staff's singing attracted many passerby to take picture of our boat during the journey... Lucy bought the whole set of photos taken before we took off in the boat and it was so expensive.

We took the free shuttle bus to City of Dreams. There is another casino there, which I visited on the last day and lost S$10. I bought my first winter jacket, as there was some special offer for it and they have my favourite colour - light pink!

At night, we checked out of our hotel and took a cab to the Gongbei custom for entry to Zhuhai, as it would be a hassle for us to drag our trolley luggage there.

Our suite at Zhuhai Jinye hotel was quite nice with a living room and a bedroom. There were 2 television sets and I love the antique chairs and table in the living room. However, I had a bad experience with the switch in the bedroom. One of the switch was faulty and when I tried to fixed it, the bare wires touched the back of my right palm and gave me an electric shock. Luckily, I drew back my hand forcefully as it was really painful and my whole palm was trembling and numbed. The whole room suddenly went into darkness and we were in a panic. We called the reception, only to know that they didn't have any technician around. Dorothy switched on her mobile phone backup light and I checked on the plugs using the light. Then, I tried to re-enter the hotel card at the main switch near the door and luckily, the light came back on. We couldn't sleep that night as we had not gotten over the shock. I rubbed some balm onto my palm to get rid of the numbness...I wonder what would had happen if I had not pulled my palm away in time.

20th Nov: China Zhuhai. We took a half-day package tour and besides us, there is also another China couple in our tour group. The couple kept asking us about Singapore and the guy asked "Does Singapore provide free food, education and housing?" I told him no and that maybe only applies to Brunei.

The chairlift ride gives really good view of the hill, but Dorothy was scared of height as our legs were dangling in the air with a thin foot rest for support. I slipped on the steps on the hilltop and only realized the pain of the fall on the last day of our trip. There were many beggars near the Fisher Girl's statue. Lucy donated to one and soon another came. We love the breeze there... Our tour guide cum driver asked us for a tip and after he received the tip, he told us that they were actually not allowed to collect tips.

What I don't like about Zhuhai is that the traffic is a bit messy there. The pedestrians and drivers don't really obey the traffic rules, as there are just too many vehicles and people on the road. It seems a bit dangerous, but I guess the people are used to the loud vehicles' horns. Their zebra-crossing isn't as safe as Singapore, and vehicles just zoomed past the pedestrians on the crossing whenever there is sufficient space. Once, I had a car moving towards me while I was crossing and it still moved even though I was just infront of it. The drivers need a lot of skill to handle cars that cut into their lane suddenly, even though there isn't much space in between the cars. I also don't like the way people spit their germs onto the walkway, especially infront of many others who were walking nearby. I also found an interesting fact - The locals simply eat the fruits in the supermarket to test the taste without any signage or staff allowing that.

At night, we went to eat seafood after meeting up with a colleague and his family. The place he recommended had lots of live seafood stalls like in a market and we are supposed to buy them and give them to a restaurant to cook and serve on our table. The competition of the restaurant was really intense and many ladies (representing different restaurant) were following us and aggressively promoting their restaurant when we browsed through the stalls. I felt that Zhuhai people are very hardworking and they could endure working long hours and outdoor in the really cold weather.

21st Nov: After buying the buns for breakfast, we walked around in the underground tunnel where there were many shops. It was fun shopping when the crowd wasn't in yet. I happily bought my Sims 3 game at a very cheap price. In the afternoon, we took a cab (they call it "Da Di") to Xing Yuan Ming Yuan (Mock palace). We took a short tram ride, but the tram driver cum guide was not very friendly as some thing happened before we took off. The tram ride was pretty expensive (S$10 per pax) as it was quite a short ride (just 15mins?). The place was really nice with many photo-taking spots. We didn't managed to see all the shows as a few of us were tired and wanted to go shopping instead, plus they wanted to return to the hotel before it gets too dark (I'm a bit disappointed though). This was also where I slipped for the second time as the path was rather rocky.

22nd Nov: We went back to Macau and deposited our bags at the airport. We took the free shuttle to Venetian, which is nearer to our next planned stop - Taipa Village. We bought most of our biscuits there, as most of the Macau famous biscuit stores were there. The peanut candies I bought were so heavy that my shoulder ached. We went back to City of Dreams where we watch a free dragon show in this indoor theatre. We happily deposited our bags of biscuits at the cloak room and walked around without the load.

We met a very rude driver when we took the free shuttle to the airport. He scolded us for not letting him know that we were going to the airport, when he didn't even make a stop there. The signage for the shuttle has shown that it would be alighting at 2 places - the ferry terminal and the airport, and we had told the staff at the queue that we were going to the airport. I had really bad sore throat, which I guessed was due to a burn I got during lunch. I had swallowed a mouthful of the hot stone rice accidentally (was shocked by the hotness and had swallowed it instead of spitting it out). Our plane was delayed, and the waiting seems really long due to the pain.

07.11.09

Today, instead of being very busy doing the volunteer work at Redhill, I ended up chatting with the other volunteers, as there were not many people collecting the rice and vouchers allocated to them.

There were a line of early birds, but the queue disappeared after half an hour. There were complaints when we allowed two to cut the queue due to a mom who brought along a child with fever and a mom whose K2 child is at home alone with her sick husband, and she needs to rush home to bring her child to the K2 enrollment (she even brought along a letter from the school to prove that she was telling the truth). As the queue wasn't very long, I felt that they should be more compassionate and not reprimand us volunteers for allowing that extended waiting time of 5 minutes.

I realized just how little I know about the financial world when I chatted with a volunteer from the insurance industry. I really need to brush up on my knowledge and read the current news in details.

Halloween at Night Safari 31.10.09

The rain started to pour not long after we gathered in my car. Luckily, Qiuwen is all prepared with 6 ponchos for us. We got caught in the traffic jam at PIE (should have use the KJE) and only arrived at the Night Safari at 7pm. There was lots of people jamming the entrance and lots of screaming as well. Quite a handful of the staffs had put on the standard pale and bloody makeup, and dressed in scary looking costumes. I didn't really dare to take photo with them, as they were making scary gestures, trying to frighten as many guests as possible. Brave Qiuwen took quite a few photos with them.

We were really disappointed when we heard about the temporary suspension of the train of terror service due to the rain. We started our walk in our poncho and the path was really dark. I regretted not bringing along a torch. It was fun to walk in a group and we managed to walk through the whole park, enduring the stuffiness of wearing a poncho in the drizzle. There was one enclosed area of the park where we could get really close up with the bats; it was quite scary to walk past them as there were some that flew across our path as we walked towards the enclosure exit.

The bridge of no return was full of staffs in Halloween costumes. A few gave chase when they saw that we were scared of them. A witch chased me until I reached a pot of bones... luckily, I was not hit by the long bone, which the witch was holding up high.

Upon completion of our walk, we reached the entrance where we purchased tickets for the train of terror that has continued service. Doris and her daughter went back first, as the queue seems really long and the walk has been tiring. We met a family who put in effort to dress up as a Flintstones couple and The Mask son. They were really friendly and agreed to many photo-taking requests. I was amazed by the number of camera flashes behind us (they were queuing for the ride behind our group).

During the last section of the ride, the staffs in costumes tried to scare us by jumping onto the train as it drove slowly past them. I found it funny that disfigured Snow White could bounce up an down the train so well. There was one section where a fat mermaid had her tails cut and bloodily hanged up on the tree, while she was screaming for help on the chopping board. The bloody-looking butcher was holding up his chopper and laughing like a mad man. Nice setup.

We ended our adventure at 11 plus and I believe we all had fun, despite the scare and tiredness from the walk. It was a new experience for me, and now I know who is easily scared, haa.

Lasik Experience

The lasik operation was finally over! Dr Tay was really professional and guided me through the whole surgery process. I thought I would have to wait quite long, but everything went really fast. The last check of eyesight, changing to surgical wear and explanation of the medication kit....all completed within half an hour. I was so nervous when I stepped into the surgical room without my glasses. During the operation, I held onto my crystal bracelet for courage (it was inside the surgical robe, as it need not be removed) and listened carefully to the Doctor's gentle and encouraging voice. The eyes blacked out during the cutting of the flaps. My right eye didn't feel anything, but I felt some cutting movement on my left eye. The 2nd part of the operation was a bit tough to endure, as after the blackout, the eyes were so teary, which made it really hard to focus on the lights. I'm glad that I made it through.

My eyes were teary and quite uncomfortable on my way back home. I couldn't really open my eyes and tears were dripping down my cheeks. Upon reaching home, I quickly popped a sleeping pill from the kit and try to get myself to sleep, but it was so hard to fall asleep with those tearing and stinging eyes. I felt like I was going blind, but thanks to all the well wishes I rec'd, I didn't. My left eye has two small circles of red clot on the white area, due to the suction of the bladeless technology. I can see without my glasses now, but it is still really hard to look at bright things for too long. The vision isn't that sharp yet, and I hope it will improve as days go by. Now, I'm typing with my eyes on the keyboard, as it gets quite blur and foggy when I look at the screen for too long....

I will be going for my 1st follow-up visit later in the afternoon and I hope Doctor will tell me that everything is fine.

Teambuilding experience

Today's office is really quiet, as many went to the outdoor teambuilding programme. Even though there is peace in the office, I still couldn't finish all my work...I'm glad that the deadlines are still far away. I hope to complete my work before I go for my Lasik surgery, as I would be taking 3 days leaves for it...

Last fri, I joined the 2nd batch of participants for the teambuilding programme and it was pretty fun. We went to Gardenasia and had a hunting cook game in the morning. It was very hot that morning and we have to walk quite a distance to complete the game missions (which my team only managed to complete 3 out of 5 due to time constraint). Two of the missions were in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and our team had a hard time trying to figure out where our station master is, as the path seems endlessly long (I heard that the distance between the station and the entrance is about 2km and since we got a bit lost, we may have walked more than that). I am the only one in my team to have sprayed insect repellent, and I ended up with rashes (the areas where I sprayed on still felt very itchy till today, no matter how much cream I put). It may be due to the heat and the chemical reaction of the repellent and my sweat, since my skin is really sensitive. I saw many big iguanas at the reserve...I think it was my first time seeing so many of them up close.

There was a cooking contest after the missions, based on the ingredients we bought from a given budget. We only managed to buy 8 prawns at one of the station, as we started off at the wrong station and had to miss buying the veggie to save time. I saw teams with oyster sauce, crackers, sambal chili etc. Luckily, I have got two really good cooks in my team, who did wonder with whatever we have. The rest of us tried to help with the decoration, chopping, cleaning and other types of preparation. We were the only team that day with an opening jingle for the food introduction, with funny hand gestures to complement the 'jikalaka' cheer. I felt that our team mates were really excellent, even though I couldn't really get along with one of them, who distinguished himself as someone more superior than the rest. We may be ranked fourth out of the five teams, but I really think that we make a good team. The team spirit was there and everyone tried to do their part. It was a tiring morning, but we all enjoyed ourselves.

The afternoon session started off with the DISC personality test. I found that I always have the "D" element in my DISC personality test. It was the third DISC test I had done; I never had the "C" element and always have some "I" and "S" to complement the "D". I wonder how true the results are, as the "D" people are supposed to be quite "fierce"...

04.10.09 ~ Trip to Chinatown

The Mouth Restaurant at the Chinatown Point was so crowded on Sunday. I really don't understand why, as their food tasted very average and yet pricey. Their service wasn't very good as well. The dim sum lunch was a treat to my family (as I had just gotten my bonus), but the dining experience was really a disappointment. I wouldn't have eaten there if there was no POSB card 50% off promotion. This may be the last time I'm going to that restaurant.

I really don't understand why the carpark entrance for Chinatown Point is so hidden. There was no "P" sign to show the way to the carpark and I kept making the wrong turns. I think I have made 3 or 4 U-turns along the same road at Chinatown! I only found the right way after approaching the security guard at the building. It would be useful if the future GPS system could also state the way to the carpark entrance.

OG was having their anniversary sale and it was their last day of sale. We happily shopped and I signed up for their free membership card. I really like to get shoes there, as the price was very reasonable for the not-so-branded ones and some of the high heels there could be really comfortable. I wanted to get one of those comfy Scholl leather heels, but there were limited designs, or rather, not much modern-looking designs.

That night, I pumped air into my 4 tires for the first time on my own! All thanks to a friend who has taught me how to do that on a hot Wed afternoon. I felt that the drive is now smoother...

03.10.09 - Decided on my Lasik date~

On Fri night, I attended the free Lasik forum at The Lasik Surgery Clinic (Thanks to Dorothy for accompanying me) and took up their offer of free eye evaluation that determines whether I'm a suitable Lasik candidate. I was worried that I would fail the test due to my dry eyes and fluctuating eyesight, but it seems that my eyes were quite ok and I don't even need to take up the more expensive Wavefront technology.

During today's checkup, I was really nervous as I couldn't stop blinking when the lights were shone into my eyes through the machines. I hope I won't be so nervous during the surgery. There were many people at the clinic; I guess Lasik is getting really popular nowadays. One of the female staff told me about their promotion of having $150 off if I operate today. I felt that it was too rush, as I haven't made any preparation (there was a checklist like one could not put any hair gel, makeup, talcum powder before the surgery and I had all these on. Furthermore, I wasn't mentally prepared yet) and I'm afraid that my eye condition is still unstable. I have decided to have my Intralase Lasik on 21 Oct...pls wish me luck...

I just bought a thousand-year Tian Zhu from Worldlink Dzi Gallery located at Lucky Plaza. The sales lady took a picture of me wearing the Tian Zhu...I hope it won't appear in their ad. I hope the bead would protect me from any eye complications...