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This girl by the window, one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen. Seeing her from a distance, listening to music, seeing her pouty lips mumbling the lyrics, and grooving ever so gently to the beats hoping others won’t notice. I stared up at her for awhile, and when she noticed she gave a little smile. Who is she? I will never know. For she went away after I took this picture. I regretted not going up to her when I had the chance. Oh well, it was good while it lasted…for what its worth..she did make my day.

P/S: In case you’re wondering, this picture was taken at “That CD Shop” display window along Scotts Road, Singapore.

I was in Singapore again last week, mainly to meet up with my friends and party because the last time I was there (just a week before that), I only stayed for less than 48 hours. Well, I manage to meet up with Joyce and her friends and she took me to this place call Howl At The Moon. It’s located at Peranakan Place, along Orchard Road (specifically along an alleyway right next to CenterPoint Shopping Center). I’ve got to say I haven’t come across such a place back here in KL, and it would be great that they do open up a franchise.

“..Howl at the Moon takes the term "piano bar" to heights, with the piano players offering up witty discourse while encouraging the audience to "sing-along" to songs almost everyone knows by heart. Anyone who delights in good music will have a wonderful experience." - Howl At The Moon Tampa

If you want some fun having a guys/girls/group night out in Singapore, this is the place to be. There are performances from a band that entertains the crowd through a unique mix of music, comedy and sarcasm. What I like about the place that it has a “Phrase of the Night” board for the highest bidder. So, if you want to put up a quote or something quirky, all you have to do is to pay more that the specified price on the board and your quote will be up for all to see. They even have a “High-Roller” column, where bidding starts at say SGD$20. It’s really an ingenious way to get the crowd participate and to also generate income for the place…brilliant!

I just have to take this “Phrase of the Night” :P

I really had fun together with Joyce and her friends. If you know Joyce, you know how wacky she can be at times…

Joyce & I

The ladies

Joyce & I fooling around…

Juliet & I

The group shot..

I ended up super tipsy by the time I took the cab back to my hotel (it was around 330AM). The amazing thing was..the cab driver didn’t know where my hotel was exactly, so I told him to stop me somewhere nearby and I walked back (2 streets ok!)…not bad right?  Thanks Joyce for a really awesome night. It was really good catching up with you again. It was my first time there that night, and I can already tell you that I would want go back there again.

*Click here for more photos

This is about my trip to Tioman Island last weekend. It’s my first time there so I didn’t have any expectations whatsoever. To my surprise, the place is simply awesome! If you really want a short getaway from the city and to chill out by the beach in some island…this is a place to consider. Clean sandy beaches, cheap accommodation, cheap booze (it’s a duty free zone), and great company…the perfect combo for a holiday.

There were 8 of us who went, and out of the 8, 5 of them were mainly there for diving and the other 3 (myself included)….well, we’re there just to chill and for the cheap alcohol.

upon arrival at the jetty, awaiting the ferry

We stayed in Coral Reef chalets in Tekek Village.Tekek is considered the heart of Tioman Island, and it’s where the airport is situated. Room rates are from RM45 to RM150.00 per room per night by the beach. The rooms comes with 2 beds, air conditioning, water heater and TV in some (got Astro some more wei!)…not too bad if you ask me. A word of caution though…if you’re planning to bring your “princess-like” girlfriend/wife who can’t tolerate bugs and a not so perfect bathroom…don’t bother getting a room here…after all we only paid RM75 per person for 2 nights…what more can you ask for?

there are several hammocks in front of our rooms which was simply heaven!

Can you believe that this is actually the view from the hammock?

The beach

Crystal clear waters

sunset by the beach looked so calm and peaceful

For us non divers, we went snorkeling and chill by the beach during the day and during the night…well need I say more?

choosing our poison at a duty free shop

With alcohol being cheaper than a can of Coke there, it’s quite hard not over buy. Imagine a can of Tiger beer is going for only RM2 per can and a bottle of Hoegarden is only going for RM5! So on the first night itself, we bought a bottle of Glenfiddich single malt whiskey (12 years), a bottle of Absolut Mango and a couple of bottles of other imported beers.

note the price of this single malt whiskey?

these are our purchases on the first night!

It’s actually quite surprising that despite so much alcohol that we bought, none of us were actually really drunk on both nights. I think it’s mainly due to the fact that the majority of them had to go diving the next morning and consumption of alcohol before diving is a big no-no (heard they can actually revoke your dive license even). But even so, being tipsy for 2 nights straight was good enough for me…it was really fun nevertheless.

On the final day, Rabin & I rented bicycles and we rode around the island. I think that was my first time on a bicycle in after 5-6 years. It really feels great to ride again. I did most parts of the journey myself though, as Rabin was too tired to continue and headed back to the room half way for a rest.

I cycled to this marina where all the boats are parked..

And to this pier where several people were seen fishing..

coastal view from the pier

I think judging from the pictures, it’s hard for anyone to leave such a beautiful place just after 3 days. We were all contemplating to actually extend our stay for at least a week! Sighh…Oh well that’s just wishful thinking I guess, but I will most certainly come back here again…if it’s not for the beach…it’s certainly for the cheap alcohol…haha!

Our final picture…

Note: Some pictures are courtesy of Eric Cheong

I’m back after an enjoyable weekend in Tioman Island. Yep, not many people know where I was as I didn’t want to make it public that I was still reachable haha. Anyway, it was great and will update in my next post. So stay tuned!

I just got back from a holiday in Hong Kong and Shenzhen for a couple of days and I must say, it was really good to be back there. Well, first of all, my trip was supposed to be during end of November, but was brought forward so that I can meet up with May Lynn there when she "transits" for 5 days, from Korea before flying back to KL. I was also initially supposed to go alone, and was supposed to be a purely shopping trip, but then Mike, my colleague decides to tag along as well. It’s a good thing too as he used to work in Hong Kong for 2 years back in 2002, so he knows where the best places to go are.

So what did we do in Hong Kong and Shenzhen? Well, for me…like intended, it was a shopping trip. For Mike, I think he just enjoys being back for the food and the city after such a long time. I also manage to catch up with old friends as well as meeting new ones.

Well, I won’t be writing a whole report on everything, I will just sum it up with lots of pictures as they always seem to say more anyway…

THE CITY…

awesome skyline via the Star Ferry

THE FOOD…

Pork dumplings stuffed with celery and vegetables with noodles

Braised beef la mien

Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun

Click here for more food pictures…

THE COMPANY…

I met up with May Lynn, Penny, Su-Lin + her family, Melor, Michael and also Vicky. What’s really interesting was because, I have never met Melor and Michael prior to this trip. I used to liaise with them only through phone and emails while working in my previous company. Melor was based in KL before, but strangely enough, we’ve never met at all and Michael is based in Singapore all the while. Now both of them are based in Hong Kong. We kept in touched through MSN and also Facebook all this while (don’t you just love technology?) and finally met for the first time at Discovery Bay at a restaurant overlooking the sea!

  Mike, Vicky, Michael, Melor & I @ Discovery Bay

Mike, May Lynn, Penny & I @ La Qube, Lan Kwai Fong 

Click here for more pictures…

SHENZHEN…

Mike, May Lynn, Penny and I went for a day trip to Shenzhen for shopping. It’s about a 45 minutes ride by train to Lo Wu station, which is the border town between Hong Kong and China. We managed to get on-the-spot visa which entitles you for a 5-day pass into China. We expected a long wait for our visa, but to our surprise, it took us less than 10 minutes! Maybe because it’s a weekday that we went. The visa costs HKD150 (approx RM75) in case you want to know.

After the border, we took the subway to Laojie station. So what’s good in Shenzhen? Well…shopping of course. It’s the land of the knock-offs, land of the pirates…anything you want to call it. These places sell Grade-A fakes and you can’t tell the difference really. Just to illustrate what I mean - I saw this pair of limited edition Nike Footscapes Woven which cost around HKG1900 (approx RM950) at Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, and by comparison…I got the same thing (just of a different color) at HKD290 (approx RM145). Cheap isn’t it?

On the bad side, Shenzhen is also known for its snatch theft. My friends and I actually witnessed a guy snatching a girls mobile phone while she was about to board the train! Then, we saw some ruckus amongst a group of people and some policemen! Talk about a dangerous place to be in….but I would still recommend anyone to go there for a day trip….just to shop…but nothing more.

Yatttaa!! - Hiro Nakamura wannabe..

Click here for more photos of Shenzhen…

AND THE SO CALL HAPPENING BITS…

In the end, I would say it was a memorable and awesome trip. And mission accomplished (for me…didn’t I say it was a shopping trip??) …I got 3 pairs of limited edition shoes - 1 from Hong Kong, and the other 2 from Shenzhen, Tees from Esprit and Bossini ranging from HKD39 to HKD79 per piece, Polo Tees from HKD 20 per piece, an Armani Exchange bracelet and souvenirs. It was all good…but tiring as well….but would I do it again?….HELL YES!