Spending a day in Johor Bahru ...

The usual traffic jam lines both side of the causeway. Routine security checks and not so friendly immigration officers greet us at the borders. Tourist friendly? Think again.

I always find myself getting upset over unfriendly immigration officers. Afterall, these uniformed personnel are the first people to greet foreign visitors thus a smile shouldn't hurt.

Wrong subject huh? Should have changed it to something else but let's not kill joy.
Forget the hassle at immigration.

First destination was obviously food - bak kut teh. This corner store at Lion Hotel is a rather popular place for breakfast but for us, it was more a lunch as we reached Johor only at about noon. I have to say the soup was really delicious and we cannot find something similar in Singapore as those in Singapore are usually filled with a heavy pepper taste. Cost ? RM50 which equates to about S$21.

Its very normal for Singaporeans to comment that the meals or shopping in Malaysia is relatively cheap and its all thanks to the stronger Singapore dollar against a weaker Ringgit. This is one reason why Malaysia is still the place for Singaporeans to find a quick getaway holiday.

Shopping followed after the quick lunch and Sandy started on her expedition to buy shoes. I never understand what's with women and shoes. They love to buy lots of them but they always fail to realise that they can only wear one pair at a time. I guess she always wanted to be an Octopus. : )

I won't go into the details of what we bought and where we went as this will bore you further but I have to say the trip was fun and the seafood dinner was great. Look at the pictures and I am sure you will start drooling.

And yes, before I forget, a friendly reminder to all tourists who want to visit the Peninsula or any other country. Always remember to check your passports and make sure the immigration officer endorses your arrival and departure.

This evening, Sandy's passport wasn't stamped when we left. Can you imagine what will happen when she tries to enter again the next time? She might be prosecuted in court for leaving the country illegally as her passport didn't show proof of a legal exit.

All thanks to my sensitive ear that I realised something was amiss. I only heard the sound of 2 stampings despite handing over 3 foreign passports. Thus lesson learnt. Double checking never hurts but just one single error could lead to a disastrous outcome.

I somewhat saved my wife today. She owes me one now. : )

A day by the beach at Sentosa ...

Its one of those rare occassions where 3 brothers hang out by the beach, having lots of fun and of course, not forgetting red sunburns too. Sunburns are fun and they always bring me memories of my 'beach boy' days with my cousin Gregory. Whenever we went for a beach holiday, we'll head home looking really burnt - thanks to our hermit-crab hunting expedition.

Equipped with frisbee and a volley ball, four of us made our way to Palawan beach on Sentosa island. Weisheng told me recently that he likes the beach and I think I found the reason to this new addiction - babes.

Its surprising to know many Singaporean girls are now wearing two piece bikinis. I start to wander if its a liberal mindset or fashion sense.

During my secondary school days, I often visited Sentosa with girlfriends , in other words, female friends. I don't remember them wearing bikinis but instead they don swim suits.

What's funnier is they tend to wear the swim suits inside and on the outside, they wear t-shirts and shorts. All efforts to cover as much flesh as possible was the right thing then but now, revealing as much flesh is likely the 'in-thing' when visiting the beach.

I often ask Sandy to get herself a set of bikinis too but she refuses. Why? She's still from the old-school.

Ok, back to the fun we had on Sentosa. We started off with a volleyball
game between us. Weisheng and Junsheng were obviously in one team (they don't really have good ball sense yet. Still developing I guess - so I thought ) while me and only me on the other team. Yes, 1 versus 2.

I guess its age that's catching up. I aren't so agile anymore or likely I exercise so much lesser now that I can't keep up with their youth. What's worst is Sandy didn't even want to play volleyball so we stopped after half an hour so that we could join Sandy in the water.

In the water, we played 'Monkey' with the volleyball and frisbee too. Sadly, the frisbee decided to sink and we lost it - funny to know a three dollar China made frisbee wasn't made to float. So we bought another one which floated for S$5. S$2 more expensive than the sunken one.

We headed for lunch at one of the beach pubs which served pizza and beer. Junsheng also had his fill of Asahi beer. These guys know their stuff - Weisheng commented that Asahi was smoother than Tiger. Wow!

We lingered around a little longer before we headed for the shower. A lousy experience was awaiting us in the toilet but I won't comment it here. If you want to know more, ask me the next time you buy me a meal. ; )

On the whole, it was a fun outing with my two brothers and of course, not forgetting my wife too. She took leave from work so that she could join me in getting burnt from the sun. I look forward to the next outing and hopefully this time we can have the whole family together. It'll be a really fun experience having a picnic by the beach.

Wake boarding at East Coast ...

Just two years ago, some smart fella decided to re-develop an unused lagoon at East Coast Park for a new water sport called cable skiing.

This is supposedly to be the first in Southeast Asia but as of today, am not sure if the status still stays the same.

Sandy and I would like to try it sometime but we are afraid we'll be clowns in the water without being able to lift ourselves up. Perhaps we should try it next week since Sandy and I won't be at work next monday.

If we never try,we'll never know right?

An active day ...

Its been a long time since I took my Marin bicycle for a ride and this time it was quite a distance that I covered and I have to say that I managed to complete a trip to Orchard and back, all in 4 hours without difficuly except for poor road conditions around Kallang.

The weather was a little cloudy but thankfully there wasn't any rain. I guess its better than under the blazing sun.

I managed to find a place to park my bicycle and was really glad to see my bike still there after 2 hours away from it. I would bleed tears if it was gone as this Marin bike was a gift from my parents when I was 16. I guess brand matters. ; )

Along the way back, I managed to stop for some photo taking with the help of my Omnia phone. I hope the pictures won't disappoint me as afterall, its supposed to be a 5 mega pixel camera.

I am considering doing another trip toward Tampines one of this days but let's see how the weather treats me first.

Will update more if I ever do that.

For now, enjoy some of these photos. Haha.

Test from Omnia

Just bought an Omnia thus trying to see if all works well.

The song for Sandy ... from the wedding party.

Finally we have received the full video of the wedding song I wrote for Sandy. Take a listen and laugh along. I know its funny. ; )

The lyrics can be found in my previous blog if you want to sing along. Haha.

My Wedding at Sentosa's Amara Sanctuary ...

7 June 2008 will be a day in my life that I'll never forget. If I ever do, something must be terribly wrong.

This post is to acknowledge the many efforts put in by the guys at Amara Sanctuary.

Despite the heavy rain that poured on us that day, the team at Amara Sanctuary went all out to shelter our guests from the Grand Ballroom to the Glass Pavilion and back. No complaints or grumpy staff. They delivered their services well.

I wasn't sure how many staff they activated to assist with holding umbrellas but it was all compliments and praises for the team at Amara Sanctuary. Kudos to Irene and team for making the wedding a happy event for us.

The buffet lunch also received positive feedback with great hospitality provided by the banquet staff. Excellent service.

Everything went well except for one - the many ants that turned up at our bridal suite. What to do? Its a jungle out there. ; )

Hey, fellas from Amara, if you are reading this, perhaps another complimentary night for us at room 768. ; )

Bowie and her Turkish ice cream ...

This video was taken in January this year when Bowie visited Singapore.

Am testing this video blogging to see if it works well. If you see this, the post is successful as I sent it directly from my mobile. Technology really transforms lives.

Luis Yu ...a new member ...

Look out for the new champion. He's a likely winner when it comes to 'Deiju'.

Memories of a strong friendship ...

It has been quite sometime since the Happy Six came out together for a round of drinks. As you know, Lance and Monica are now parents thus lesser time spent with buddies like me - a change to baby sitting Luis.

I remember how they used to be carefree and always attending our drinking sessions and stayovers. Those times were memorable. During dinner today, we reminisced about those good old days where we played hide and seek and getting highly intoxicated on Saturday nights.

Things have taken a drastic change now but the friendship stays the same. Only now more planning is required compared to previous outings we had.

Plans of going for a night stay in Bintan or Johor during August is being finalized. It has been one of our goals to visit Lance's hometown for seafood but it never realised due to busy schedules. We seem to be serious about this and we
Know it will happen soon.

Whatever it is, in short, this bond we have together will stay strong always and even if a new member joins the family, its still going to be a crazy outing for Mun, Clara, Lance ,Monica and us of course not forgetting Beatrice who often AWOLs.

Oh Sandy .. Oh Sandy .. Oh Sandy ...

Many friends have been asking for the lyrics of the song I wrote for Sandy. I'll try uploading the music too but surely not the vocals as I haven't invested in a recording microphone yet. ; )

A song for you – by Mark Chong

When I look into your eyes
I can see the smile
It’s filled with joy
Happiness and lots of love
I wouldn’t be here today
If it weren’t for you
I would be somewhere else
Still looking around
For love
Perhaps for you

So here I am with you
We’ve said ‘I do’
Whatever lies ahead
I know we’ll get through
So I take this chance
To sing you this song
For you I’m sure
Cause I love you
Oh sandy
Yes I do

We’ll travel the world
We’ll climb all mountains
We’ll sing this song
And let it live on
As we grow
In age together

We’ll teach our children
To sing our song
We’ll let them sing
And let them carry on
So they’ll know
How much I love you

We’ll learn and play
We’ll do things together
We’ll cherish our love
We won’t let it end
Like this song I am going to play for you ….

让晚风轻轻吹过
伴送着清幽花香像是在祝福你我
让晚星轻轻闪过
闪出你每个希冀如浪花快要沾湿我
命运就算颠沛流离
命运就算曲折离奇
命运就算恐吓着你做人没趣味
别流泪心酸更不应舍弃
我愿能一生永远陪伴你
命运就算颠沛流离
命运就算曲折离奇
命运就算恐吓着你做人没趣味
别流泪心酸更不应舍弃
我愿能一生永远陪伴你

We’ll travel the world
We’ll climb all mountains
We’ll sing this song
As we grow
In age together

We’ll teach our children
To sing our song
We’ll let them sing
And let them carry on
So they’ll know
How much I love you

My wedding photos ... bits of it.

Just thought I'll share some photos of our lovely wedding and a photo of a post-wedding party which saw the HK team knocked out by the heaps of alcohol available at Keppel Club. I will try to upload more photos once Sandy finds the time. ; )

Time flies pass really quickly. It has been more than a month since we had our wedding at the Amara Sanctuary and its been two weeks after our honeymoon in Japan. I have to admit the honeymoon was really enjoyable. I enjoyed every minute of it despite the numerous shopping forced upon me. You can check out the link below to see more honeymoon photos.

Please stay patient with me as we upload the wedding photos and the post-wedding party that looked so much like a gambling event but instead of money, alcohol became the stakes instead.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ard6v2w9.7l1accv1&x=0&y=-2n0rpu&localeid=en_US

Back in blog world ...

Its been two weeks since we've returned from our unforgetable honeymoon in Japan yet I've not updated the blog. Guess what? I caught a rather nasty flu just few days after returning home.

While I am slowly recovering from the bad fever, aches and cough, Sandy also attracted the bug. Its her third day suffering. Let's hope hers won't last as long as mine but am sure her immune system is stronger than mine. Am always known to be the weaker one when it comes to health issues.

Once the bug is completely wiped out from my system, I'll be going for a thorough health check. This was something I promised my wife to do. Better be safe than sorry. :)

Not to worry too much, its just one of those routine checks which I haven't done for a long time. Its a good time to reveal the level of my bad cholestrol. It won't be surprising to know its on ridiculously bad levels especially with me being a glutton for fine yet unhealthy food. I guess I really live to eat.

I read somewhere that if we all chose to eat food we didn't like, there wouldn't be so many health issues around. Its only the food that we really love, that's where the danger lies. Perhaps eating in moderation can do some help as well as placing an exercise regime together will improve our health.

So delay no more, cycle, swim or simply walk up a flight of steps, that'll keep us in shape at least for a while longer.