Tuesday, February 27, 2007
EVEN BETTER...
On Sunday, I ate at a Chinese restaurant.
Today, on MONDAY, it was the company's 4TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION DINNER!!!
And we had INTERNATIONAL BUFFET at CONRAD HOTEL!!!
(bah, i look round in this pic)
Just what did we eat?
In small portions each, and amongst other foods:
BBQ Chicken Wings
BBQ Lamb Chops
BBQ Mini Hamburger
BBQ Prawns
BBQ Chicken Sausage
Roast Beef
Sirloin Steak
Salmon Pastry
Fried Rice
Fried Noodles
Chicken Curry
Thai Green Chicken Curry
Thai Pandan Chicken
Crackers
Assorted Sashimi (swordfish, salmon, etc.)
Fried Fish in Dill Sauce
Fried Fish Fillet
Steamed Garoupa
Mushrooms in sauce
Roast Potatoes
Oyster
Fried Mussels
Cold Prawns
Prawn Kebabs
Tempura Prawns
Cold Crayfish
Lobster in Tomato Sauce (these 2 were both served cut in half)
Suckling Pig
Roast Duck
Assorted Sushi (california maki, egg sushi, salmon belly, etc.)
Cauliflower Soup
Assorted Desserts (including walnut chocolate cake, tiramisu cake, chocolate mousse)
Chocolate Fondue: Grapes, Strawberries and Marshmallows
and...
White Wine and ice water =p
TOTAL COST OF HAPPINESS: FREAKING FREE.
and YES, WE ATE ALL THOSE THINGS MENTIONED!!
the buffet still got stuff like souffle, ice cream, fruits, bread, ham, etc etc etc. I was too damn full to eat! argh!
See, the best things in life are FREE!! =)))
jOhn thought at 3:22 PM
Monday, February 26, 2007
Food for thought!
What do two hungry boys eat on a Sunday afternoon?
Here's what.. =p
Before:
2 Plates of Rice, Roast Pork, Roast Duck, Leafy Green Veggies
2 Bowls of Carrot and Steamed Pork Soup
1 Damn Big Plate of Char Siew
Mustard
Plum Sauce
Chilli Oil (found at every hk restaurant)
Pepper
Chicken-rice-sauce thingy (haha)
Ice Milk Tea
Ice Lemon Tea
THE COST OF HAPPINESS: HKD 131 (SGD 26)
After:
Bah. This is still very common food. We should try something more exotic. Bah.
And this is a normal day's breakfast, at our hostel's restaurant...
Ivan's having...
Porridge
Glutinuous rice and chicken wrapped in lotus leaf
Chinese Tea
Angmoh Tea
I am having...
Buttered Toast
Scrambled eggs, steak, cucumber, tomatoes
Chinese Tea
Angmoh Tea
Apple Juice
Total Cost: HKD 25 (SGD 5)
Damn cheap right? haha.. We are hostel guests ma...
Haha! HK food rocks!
jOhn thought at 11:57 AM
Sunday, February 18, 2007
All the way from shenzhen!...
8 days away from home, away from family, from the wonderful country i grew up in.
Now I know how they feel.
There is nothing like home.
Nothing like coming home to loved ones every night, to the tree-lined alleyways, crazy local people, and the equally crazy local food, all the while never worrying much about whether your wallet will mystically disappear on the way home.
These 9 weeks will be the longest time Ive been overseas, my first trip without a supervising adult, my 4th time in hong kong, and the first real job I have.
This is the cny break, the first time in my life that i missed the reunion dinner, and the first time i am not receiving hongbaos in this break. ba.
A lot of firsts, eh?
Yes, hong kong is a truly amazing place. Over here, you can never run out of nice places to eat, and excuses to part with your hard-earned money. BUT see...
Every morning, me n my classmate leave the hostel. We get our daily dose of carbon monoxide, from the busy main road beside, and all the zng-ed japanese cars that roar past. at the same time, we have to dodge enormous piles of doggie poo littered along our street, where dog owners love to walk their dogs on. damn dangerous la! the bigger the dog, the more the shit, and hk has VERY BIG DOGS. like a PONY kinda big. If I didnt weigh as much as an elephant, id probably jump on those giant dogs and shout YEEEEEE---HAAAAARR....
Okay, then we reach work, which is quite decently at the 29th floor of a downtown office building. oh man, 3/4 of the people smoke! they all do it at the pantry, which leaves a smoke-tinged 'aroma' in the entire office!
Right, end of day, we have to take the train and then walk. hk is full of street food vendors, narrow streets, and grossly overcrowded urban areas, which make for a terrible, terrible combination. wth la. we get to sample the refreshing aroma of raw pig intestines, rottng flowers (cny ma), smelly sewers, smokers of all ages, bad mainland Chinese breath, burps, farts, and the omnipresent dog shit and car exhaust.
Ive spent the chinese new year break in nearby shenzhen, a chinese city in which 4 of my classmates are working. They stay in pretty posh condos, much better than my crummy hk hostel room. at least I dont have to do the dishes/wash my own clothes =p. Must pay for laundry tho. bleh.
Wow. okay, a little history. Shenzhen is a relatively new city, a Special Economic Zone, set up by Deng Xiao Ping. Its one of the most prosperous cities in China, as it was set up specially to trade with hk. the good thing is, compared to hk, it has very wide streets, and is much, much less polluted. but aiyo, the people here are absolutely uncultured country bumpkins, compared to the worldy-wise hong-kongers.
No matter where I go, nothing can really replace Singapore. When you've stayed in one place all your life, you begin to take it for granted. Really, the only bad thing about singapore is the humid weather. The shops in singapore are wonderfully planned and organised into shopping centres, with a reasonable range of goods and cool stuff.
True, HK has a staggering amount of shops, but who the heck really wants to spend all their waking hours buying clothes? You can always spend a week here and buy all you need. Materialism and elitism, you say? well, try working in hk for a week, and you'll learn to appreciate how singaporeans at least HAVE A FRICKING LIFE. The people here work at least until 9+pm every day! The shops don't close on cny (most la)! No wonder so many of them smoke and turn to drugs. Walao, the city is already so polluted. Smoke summore, you probably wont live to see your children start schooling -_-
Really, I love, love, love Singapore. I haven't found a place more healthy, more enjoyable, where freedom does not mean anarchy. =p
Money or life? HK = money, Shenzhen = life. Singapore = both. :)
I once read somewhere that HK is the best place for shopping, Taiwan is the best place to work, and Singapore is the best place to live. I think it's true =)
jOhn thought at 10:09 PM
Friday, February 09, 2007
Seeya Singapore!
Haha...
Hong Kong
10th February - 15th April 2007
Work Attachment
John and Ivan
Woohoo~!
jOhn thought at 2:14 PM
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Insult and Friendship
Insult
The most deprecating insult to an enemy is for you to become him. Achieve his dreams before he does, do his impossible. This effectively steals his soul, and his social identity. In a first world country, you cannot kill the body, but you can definitely attack the soul.
In addition, you can also prove his ideals and preachings wrong. The ability to possess and preach an opinion is a mark of mental maturity. If those opinions can be toppled, an enemy is nothing more than a child in need of your reprimand and correction.
So prove me wrong, if it is your interest =p
Friendship
Friendship is a good thing, it fulfills the social needs of the human soul. Friends can help you in times of need. To feign friendship or loyalty is wrong. Like all mortal things, you can trust friends, just not completely. They are just like you, human.
Place your dependance in a power higher than people or yourself (ever heard the saying: believe in yourself?), because a time of such need will inevitably arrive, when you are beyond natural help.
jOhn thought at 6:00 AM
RK House - NO PORK!!!
It is undeniable that the video is side-splittingly funny, and intended to entertain. Much like racist jokes that are so commonly told over lunch, in schools and offices, it is an exposure of the unseen sentiments in our society. Just like the Shetty controversy in the UK or Borat in the USA, these 'exposes' are both funny, yet serious. With their mass appeal, they create awareness of racism or segregation within society that no government campaign can achieve.
Which do you prefer, hypocrisy or openness? Where is that line between funny and insensitive drawn? The theme of that video was not to ridicule Muslim practices, but to highlight the poor pronunciation of the food assistant, like the antagonist mentioned.
True buddies are not afraid to point out each other's faults bluntly, whether jokingly or seriously, and yet still remain the best of friends after the correction.
Woo~, I talk alot, don't I?
jOhn thought at 5:40 AM