Birthday Celebration #13 - Kerry

met Kerry at Central for dinner...
the place was packed...
couldn't decide on what to eat...
walked to Robertson Quay and dined in the Japanese Book Cafe...
simple food for simple people...
as usual chatted a lot...

Birthday Blast...

the day started with an ang pao from mum...
followed by breakfast @ Hougang Avenue 8 market...
i was telling her that we will leave the house at around 9:30am to avoid the morning traffic and bus lane...
at 9am... she came into my room to tell me that dad has driven the car to office today...
so, we took the bus...
Hougang Avenue 8 used to be our weekly breakfast place during my school days...
time flies and it has been more than 12 years since i last visited there...
changes everywhere...

came home, showered and went out to meet Steve for massage @ Elements, The Cathay...
we were using the HSBC promotion...
today was the grand opening of the outlet...
my birthday must be a good day...
the masseur was chatting to me the whole time...
and i didn't know how to ask her to stop...
she used quite a fair bit of strength and my body was aching after that...
after the massage, there was the usual sales talk...
we didn't manage to agree on the freebies...
hence did not sign up for the package...

rushed down to Cineleisure's Fabulous Tanning Studio for our free trial...
after the introduction, tanning started...
11 minutes in the chamber which was equivalent to 4 hours under the sun... amazing...
was tempted to sign up for the package...
but will give it more thought over the weekend and at the same time see how the effects were...

lunch-cum-tea was at 4:30pm at Central HK Cafe Takashimaya...
by the time we finished eating, the tan was still not noticeable...
we parted after tea and i headed home to shower...
it was a painful event now that the body is red, like cooked prawns...
applied moisturiser to prevent the burning and itching...

what a blast to my birthday...

Happy 35th Birthday...

birthday greetings started streaming in on the eve...
first it was William from KL who was going to bed and so decided to send the greetings earlier...
next came Kelvin Ho, one of the deafies i knew from roller-blading last year...
my colleague Pat sent a Chinese SMS...

after midnight, greetings came from dai lou David...
my colleague Yee Lee...
Triston, who probably was still studying for his exams...

in the morning, greetings from Arun, who has migrated to Sydney and will be coming back for a holiday in two weeks' time...
more greetings from Siang Leng (my ex-colleague)...
Kelvin Ong (the other deafy from blading)...
Jimmy (my camp mate)...
Ashok (my ex-student from Beatty)...
Puey Ling (whose last day with the company is today)...
Lisa (my colleague)...
KC (from KL who is working in Langkawi)...
Elsie (my ex-boss)...
Eileen, Christina & Krisha (my colleagues)...
Ling Ling, Khim Siong & Ranelle (my staff)...
Daniel & Steve...
Shaun & Kenneth (the Ugly Dolls)...
Kit, Guhan & Eugene...
Philip (my ex-colleague from the current company)...
Ming (my ex-colleague from AGO)...
Jsen (my ex-colleague from AGD)...
Angel (my cousin)...
Jane (from California Fitness)...
Jason (aka Lillian Three)...
Elisabeth (my sister-in-law in The Philippines)...

even NTUC Income sent me birthday wishes via the SMS...

of course there are others who sent their greetings via Facebook & MSN...
Addy, Felix, Clarice, Fritz, Li Ting, Eddie, Ken & Howard...

Kenny from Hongkong who is working in KL called me personally in the evening...
glad that he has received the singlets just in time for the photoshoot...

and the biggest surprise of all has to be my Taiwanese student, Wei Jung, calling me from Canada!!
so sweet of him to remember my birthday...
chatted for a short while...

thank you to everyone for the birthday greetings and well wishes...
appreciate all of you from the bottom of my heart...

Farewell Lunch...

had a colleague's farewell lunch @ Menotti...
the set lunch was simply worth every cent...
but the again, too much food for lunch...

had our department dinner @ Dian Xiao Er in Marina Square...
the food was delicious...
especially their famous herbal duck...

we ended the day with ice-cream @ Azabu Sabo...
we wanted to order individual scoops of ice-cream from the counter...
but was strangely told that they don't allow ice-cream from the counter to be dined in...

what a super sinful day for the stomach...

Birthday Celebration #12 - Joseph

Joseph is my classmate from Bendemeer Secondary School...
dinner was at the Straits Chinese restaurant along Queen Street, opened by his ex-colleague...
this time it's Peranakan food...
there were only the two of us dining in the huge restaurant...
ordered otah otah, vegetables, curry chicken, asam sambal fish, noodles and lime juice...
informed the waiter to serve our noodles first...
but by the end of the dishes, it didn't come...
to our horror, she forgot to inform the chef about our noodle order...
and they also forgot to bring us our lime juice...
Joseph SMSed his friend to complain... hahahaha...
eventually we had our chendol for free...

chatted about the StanChart marathon on Sunday...
about family...
about work...
and of course, about our school days...
told him i will plan an alumni gathering sometime in 2008...
time to get all the oldies together again...
that would be fun...

thanx for the dinner, mate...
will celebrate your birthday with a lunch on 9 December at Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro...

Birthday Celebration #11 - Elsie...

met up with my ex-boss, Elsie for my birthday dinner at Seafood Harvest in Bugis Junction...
it is part of the Jack's Place chain of restaurants serving generally seafood...
ordered the lobster bisque soup, black pepper crayfish pasta and guava soda...
Elsie ordered the Boston clam chowder soup, codfish and lime juice...
this was my third time dining there...
and the food is still as great...

updated each other on our latest happenings...
glad that Elsie has been reading my blog and looking at the photos on Facebook...
Elsie was away in Perth for a couple of years to take care of her son who was studying there...
she is supposed to be back in Singapore for good this time...
now that her son has completed his studies in Perth...
can catch up more often then...

i always feel that Elsie is like a mother to me...
forever so caring and motherly...
soft-spoken and kind...

thanx, boss, for the dinner and the lucky charm...

Tomb Raider Anniversary...

finally got the game running on my younger brother's PSP on Sunday...
it's been 10 years since i first played Tomb Raider...
was crazy over Lara Croft then...
another game that i liked then was Diablo...
tempted to try out Hellgate, from the same producers of Diablo...
but decided not to...

been playing Tomb Raider Anniversary for the last few days...
cleared the first two stages...
but did not manage to find any artefacts or secrets...
now i am stuck in stage three...
think it's time to download the walkthrough...
hiak hiak hiak hiak...

Hair Cut...

decided to get my hair cut today...
the lady asked me what style i wanted...
told her cut it short...
and she did exactly just that...
Armani style... super short...
mum was shocked...
cos all the colouring she did last Saturday were gone...
sorry mum...
but short hair suits me better...
especially now that the half marathon is just around the corner...

You Ya Concert...

Steve and i went to watch You Ya's concert...
just like when Kerry and i went to watch Cai Qin's concert, we must have been the youngest in the audience...
i was disappointed with the concert...
mainly because her vocals failed to impress me...
and the backup dancers were too cheap for an event like this...
their costumes were bad and they simply cannot dance, especially the guys...
You Ya's attempt to sing in Cantonese was atrocious...
luckily we know more than 50% of the songs that evening...
else we would have fallen asleep...

Kelvin Soon from Project Superstar 2 was one of the backup singers...
and he sang the duet "Zai Yu Zhong" with You Ya...
nice!!

on our way to Max Brenner, i bought a Heroes poster from one of the shops in the Esplanade...
had cappuccino and shared a yummy brownie with Steve...

Birthday Celebration #10 - Steve...

met Steve after collecting my StanChart goodie bag...
dinner was at Olio Cafe Suntec City...
my first time there...
used to hang out a lot in Suntec City...
now, i hardly know the place...

Olio Cafe was quite deserted for a Sunday evening...
the blue pointed lights on the ceiling mesmerised me...
we shared two starters, Breaded Prawns and Calamari, and one main course, Teriyaki Chicken pizza...
the food was good...
the company was even better...

Steve and i went all the way back to our Bendemeer Secondary School days...
and then Anderson Junior College where the two of us were the only ones with the double Maths / Physics / Chinese A combination...
we were closest during that time...
and we drifted after we both went to separate Universities...
in the past year, we have been meeting up more regularly due to concerts, bowling... and possibly mahjong...

i am grateful that our friendship has lasted this long...
and wish that it will continue to bloom...

2007 StanChart Half Marathon...

had breakfast with my family at AMK...
after that i was home most of the day...
watching two consecutive episodes of the US TV show, Women's Murder Club...
it was produced by one of my all-time favourite detective author, James Patterson...

collected my StanChart goodie bag...
it's still the same obiang blue colour...
and the running tee is also blue in colour...
been the same all these years, except this year's did not have the green portions...
luckily i opted for size XS which fits nicely...
but then again, i don't wear the running tees i received from all the runs i've participated in...
bought my bus ticket for the actual day...
chose the departure time of 4:30am from Hougang Stadium...
this is the fourth year i am running in the StanChart Marathon...
2003 - 10km mini marathon...
2004 - 42km full marathon...
2005 - did not participate...
2006 - 21km half marathon...
2007 - 21km half marathon...

this year not much training after the Army Half Marathon...
adjusted my target from 2hrs 10mins to 2hrs 30mins...
wish me luck...

Birthday Celebration #9 - Family...

rushed home after the birthday lunch at Tony Romas to wash up...
aunts came to meet us at our place before taking two cars to Si Chuan Dou Hua in Plaza Parkroyal Hotel...
surprisingly, the food was not great...
even the Peking duck was so-so only...
the only delicious dish was the pork knuckles in dark soya sauce...
everyone loves it...
the other highlight will be the "acrobatic stunts" performed by the Chinese waiters filling our tea cups...

got a complimentary birthday cake using the UOB credit card promotion...
we usually do not have birthday cakes...
so this was something different...

it was a simple yet endearing dinner...
in the company of my family, aunts and uncle...
life is beautiful...


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while having dinner, received an SMS from Jsen...
wanting to meet me to pass the birthday present to me...
was pleasantly surprised that he has bought a gift for me...
since we already had dnner last week...

Birthday Celebration #8 - AGO...

overslept...
bought breakfast for mum and me...
rushed out of the house after eating...
went to send the singlets out to Kenny...
luckily no queue at the post office...

met Ju Liet, Ming & William (with their kids Lucien and Inez) to celebrate Martin's and my birthdays...
lunch was at Tony Romas in Orchard Parade Hotel...
it's been years since i last visited them...
the ribs were still as good as ever...
and the onion loaf was superb...
i was busy entertaining Lucien...
taking the lifts up and down...
going to the toilets...
taking pictures...
walking around...
feeding him...
was surprised that i could do all that...
but at least he's one obedient kid...

dessert menu at Tony Romas was sucky...
and we went opposite to California Pizza Kitchen for the marvellous sweets...
ordered four types of sweets...
Apple Crisp, Brownie, Souffle Cake and Tiramisu...
what a treat...
what more to ask for??

Beowulf...

dinner with Jason was cancelled because he was not feeling well...
down with three days MC...
didn't know he hated his boss that much...

asked Kerry out for dinner @ Vivocity...
Kim Gary was still as crowded...
maybe it's the school holidays...
settle3d for White Dog Cafe instead...
food was good...
service was commendable (minus the horrible Malaysian-accented English from the waiter)...
but ventilation was a bit off...
smell of the food after that...

watched Beowulf at GV Vivocity...
totally disappointed...
the storyline was sucky...
the script was tacky...
and the actors were so surreal...
one of the worst movies of 2007...

NewUrbanMale...

my first time buying from NUM...
to help a KL friend who needed the singlets (with countries on it) for a photo shoot...
damn bloody expensive at S$60 a piece...
luckily for the DBS credit card 10% discount...
now i am officially a member of NUM...
*roll eyes*

Department Dinner @ Imperial Treasure...

had our department dinner tonight...
each of us has been allocated S$80 for the year...
time to try out the expensive restaurants with the budget...
it's my fourth time eating at the restaurant...
still as good as before, if not better...
especially the mango with pomelo dessert...
and the durian pudding...
simply heaven...

Birthday Celebration #7 - Colleagues...

three of my colleagues bought me lunch at Raffles City's Asian Kitchen...
my favourite restaurant in RC...
and it's been a long time since i last went there...

one of the HR girl bought me a Biotherm gift set, comprising a cleanser, toner and moisturiser...
such an expensive gift...
another bought me a mobile phone strap...
with my name DAVE on it and a letter T for Teo...
she even went to decorate the box she found at home to put the strap in...
so touched...

i am so blessed to be surrounded by such nice angels...
thank you guys...

Birthday Celebration #6 - Pat & Melvin...

had mahjong with Patrick, Jason and Melvin at home...
mum cooked curry chicken for them...
followed by a sumptous dinner...
i was seated at my lucky South East direction for the first round and won...
after that changed seats and i lost S$50...
it was fun playing mahjong with them...
no stress...

Melvin gave me an ang pao cos he doesn't know what to buy...
hahahaha...
thank you very much...

Birthday Celebration #5 - Ugly Dolls...

fortunately i did not wake up with a hangover...
was still feeling perfectly alright, except with a little tiredness...

coloured my hair using Gatsby's Mud Fire...
been a while since i last did it...
went Heartland Mall with mum for grocery shopping for tomorrow's mahjong game at home...
forgot to release the handbrake while reversing... what a shame...

came home, rested for a short while before taking the cab to Chip Bee Garden, opposite Holland Village...
dinner with the Ugly Dolls and Thyetus and Jason at Da Paolo Terrazza...
Jon couldn't make it cos he had to prepare for his 12-day Japan trip from tomorrow...
ordered the crabfish and prawn spaghetti... simply sedap...
the cake from the Da Paolo bakery was heaven...

the guys bought me a pair of "double happiness" boxer shorts and a wallet from Anthropology...
and a huge A3-size birthday card... shocking!!
the Ugly Dolls did not manage to get a photo taken two years in a row...
fate??

what is a sumptuous dinner without dessert...
we had fruit fondue at Coffee Club...
together with my iced berry tea...

thanx guys for another wonderful year...
cheers to more good years...

Birthday Celebration #4 - Department...

my colleagues booked me for KTV quite some time ago...
and recently those from the Compliance Department are going through a hard time with their boss...
hence, this outing was supposed to let them de-stress...
and what a party it turned out to be...

they managed to get the Doraemon cake i wanted...
having to resort to calling Polar's HQ to get the cake done within within one day (which usually requires three days)...
impressed with their ability to get the cake...
KTV was at the K-Box...
we managed to smuggle in a bottle of Absolut Vodka, a pack of orange juice, two cans of red bull and half a bottle brandy...
i started the ball rolling and after a while, everyone joined in the singing...

i was busy mixing the drinks and toasting to everyone...
by 11pm, i was high with alcohol...
it was getting more and more difficult to focus...
but the feeling was great... as if in heaven...
unfortunately, we had to leave at 12:15am...
but that did not stop us from continuing with our merry-making...
red wine was served at the Coffee Club next to Cineleisure...
and we were having so much fun teasing one male colleague into telling us what kind of girl he likes...
and his jokes about getting an alias for himself was hilarious...
mosqui-toh, toma-toh and pota-toh...
the party ended at around 4am...
by the time i got into the cab, my eyes could hardly open...
told the driver where i wanted to go and was dozing off...
fortunately the driver stopped talking to me after realising that i was falling asleep...

reached home, dashed to the toilet and merlion-ed for a second time...
had a warm shower and headed straight to bed...

thank you guys for making this birthday celebration a memorable one...



my ipod nano in new skin...

Birthday Celebration #3 - Jsen...

birthday celebration #3 on Thursday 15 November 2007...

tonight had international buffet dinner with my "younger brother" from my ex-company, AGD...
he calls me his big brother cos i was older than him and he does not have an elder sibling...
the venue was Plaza Market Cafe in Raffles City...
after Bar & Billiards was booked for a private function...
the buffet spread was superb...
especially the winter melon with pork ribs soup... nicely brewed to perfection...
the satay was delicious, especially the gravy...
durian puree was the icing on the cake for me...
thanx, younger brother, Jsen...
for a wonderful meal and the great company...
will keep you posted once i found someone to share my future flat with...

Birthday Month...

am wondering how i should pamper myself this year for my 35th birthday...
one thing for certain is that i will be on leave on the actual day...
it's been the case for the past 10 years since i started working in 1996...
i might just go for a nice massage in the afternoon...
and maybe buy myself a Nintendo DS Lite or a PSP Slim...

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an update on my birthday celebrations...

8 Nov - dinner with David & Shawn @ Brewerkz before A*mei concert
9 Nov - dinner with ex-colleagues from AGO @ Sun With Moon Wheelock Place
13 Nov - ex-colleague from current company @ Citylink TCC
15 Nov - dinner with Jsen @ Plaza Market Cafe
16 Nov - KTV with colleagues @ K-Box Cineleisure
17 Nov - dinner with Ugly Dolls @ Da Paolo Terrazza
18 Nov - mahjong with Jason, Patrick & Melvin @ home
20 Nov - Department dinner @ Imperial Treasure Ngee Ann City
23 Nov - dinner with Jason
24 Nov - dinner with family @ Si Chuan Dou Hua (Beach Road)
25 Nov - dinner with Steve @ Esplanade before You Ya concert
28 Nov - primary school classmate (who is also into running)
30 Nov - dinner with Kerry
30 Nov (night) - friend for clubbing

mum has said time and again not to celebrate after the actual day... which is 30 November 2007...

Birthday Celebration #2 - CWF...

birthday celebration #2 on Tuesday 13 November 2007...

met an ex-colleague from my current company for dinner at TCC Citylink...
had their pasta... very nice... the fruitti drink was good too (but a bit sour)...
chatted about work, her travel plans and my plans in general...
dessert was at Max Brenner @ The Esplanade... with another colleague joining us...
guess my waistline will grow if this continues...

Religion...

first we have the Muslim suicide bombers who sacrificed themselves in the name of Islam...
next we have the Catholic priests doing funny things to young boys...
now we have the Buddhist monks involved in financial irregularities...

what next??

Tai Tai Lifestyle...

finally managed to be a tai tai for a day...
woke up at around 10am...
showered, changed and went for breakfast with mum...
mee siam, half-boiled egg, kaya toast and teh-o at Kiliney Kopitiam...
then it was shopping time at OG, mum's favourite departmental store...
storewide 20% wor... how to resist...
bought three tops, underwear and socks...
mum had a good time shopping...
three handbags (including one Guess), two pairs of shoes and a few tops...
she really used up the S$250 starter prize i won on Wednesday...
lunch was served at Prima Taste, Centrepoint...
the chicken rice was good but the price was even better (at S$6.00 each)...

after sending mum home, i went to meet Ju Liet and Ming for tea at Royal Copenhagen...
they actually waited for close to half an hour for a table...
it's either there are too many tai tais in Singapore or many people, like us, took the day off...
had my favourite scones and red date pudding together with UVA tea...
after that we shopped for a while at Takashimaya, Metro and Isetan...
before taking a rest at NDYC for coffee...
stayed until 8pm when we moved to Sun With Moon for our dinner...
Ming's husband, William, and son, Lucien, joined us...
i only had a salmon steak so as to save myself for the dessert...
we shared four desserts... and they were all yummylicious...

came home, showered and headed to bed...
enough for the day...
this weekend quite free, actually...
time to rest more before the hectic weeks ahead...
with all the celebrations coming up...

A*mei 2007 Star World Tour...

finally the day is here...
was resting at home after last night's KTV...
trying to recuperate and be all ready for the concert...
which i was certain will be a blast...

my first birthday celebration was dinner with David and Shawn (plus Kerry)...
venue was Brewerkz @ Indoor Stadium...
a good meal and great company before the concert...
thanx a million, dai lou...

the queue into the stadium was long at 7:40pm...
guess all of us were full with enthusiasm for a memorable experience tonight...
while seated, we managed to locate Ken, Steve & Daniel and my secondary school classmate, Joseph...

at 8:15pm, the music went off...
and it never stopped until 11:45pm...
what a blast...
what a performance...
and what a crowd...
my first A*mei concert left me with lotsa feelings...
of the past and the present...
so emotional...
so much memories...
A*mei is truly a performer...
she was able to bring the audience to wherever she wants them to be...
making them scream...
asking them to dance...
and above all, to sing along with her...
this has to be the best concert for me in 2007...

took a lift from Shawn and David to Somerset Coffee Club...
chatted with Kerry about a lot of things...
from work...
to reconciliation...
to Desmond, a friend i used to hang out with a lot in the past...
and of course, to the future...
i guess i will never ever want to try to change Desmond's opinion of me...
about what i had done in the past...
everyone of us is entitled to our own opinion...

KTV On Deepavali Eve...

we decided to give mambo a miss after all...
the thought of long queues and packed dance floor puts us off...
went for KTV instead...
even that was fully booked at Partyworld IB, Orchard and Cuppage...
managed to book Chinatown...

had dinner in Chinatown with Steve and Kerry...
Chinese cuisine at Da Dong @ the corner of food street...
food was quite good...
though somehow a baby cockroach managed to find its way into my soup...
sucky... my first and last time dining there...

KTV was the gang was fun and great...
we were practising most of A*mei's new songs, in anticipation of her concert tomorrow...
especially when Chris and Kevin joined us...
so much of bitching and making fun of each other...

had a drink at Maxwell Market before heading home to rest...

2007 Kusu Pilgrimage...

had our family Kusu Pilgrimage today...
Patrick was supposed to join us but last minute he went with Tracy and friend...
managed to meet up to say hello when we arrived at the island and they were leaving...

we left the house at 11:45pm...
only to be met with a huge traffic jam on the CTE due to an accident...
reached Marina South Pier at around 1pm...
the queue for the ferry was super long...
waited for the ferry for an hour...
was on the island by 2:30pm...
did our prayers at the Tua Pek Kong temple and the Malay Keramat...
had lunch and bought some mementos...
took the ferry back at around 3:30pm...

next year we had to be later...
maybe take the 3pm ferry...

had a good time with my family...
despite his pain, dad managed to walk up to the Malay Keramat...
so proud of him...

Saturday Mahjong...

was lazing at home for most of the Saturday...
wanted to tidy up my room... but did not manage to... bummer!!
left the house at around 4pm... casually in my t-shirt, bermuda and slippers...
which prompted mum to ask where i am heading to...
told her i am meeting Steve and gang for mahjong...
she exclaimed, "so late ah?"...

had a simple dinner at West Coast before the battle on the square table commenced at around 6pm...
played four rounds... lost S$80...
partly because i was blocked by Danial on my 13 Wonders win...
found out from mum the next day that 13 Wonders can intercept another person's win...
big bummer!!

it was fun playing mahjong once in a while...
i am not the type that can be on the square table every week...

Friday Dinner With Kerry...

last minute arrangement to meet up with Kerry for dinner at Bugis...
he needed to get Vietnamese Dong and US$ for his Vietnam trip tomorrow...
one S$ = 100,000 Dong... shocking!!
i always wonder what is there to do in Vietnam...

chatted on many topics...
from friendships to relationships...
from complaining about work to my birthday plans...
we can never run out of topics to talk...