The Bintan Chronicles -Day 1

I've never really fancied a Bintan holiday, cos there really isn't much to do and everything's costly. So since Diners Club offered RT a pretty attractive birthday package for a 3D2N stay, we decided to go.

Leaving on a Sunday for Bintan was not such a bad idea afterall. By the looks of the crowd at the ferry terminal, we weren't heading for a mini Singapore. Most of the crowd comprised Caucasians (not surprisingly, considering the affinity between 'ang mos' and the beach), Japanese and Koreans.

We arrived at Nirwana Gardens Resort, checked in by 3pm and decided to head off to Pasar Oleh Oleh. Had a two-hour massage and scrub at a mere $40. And the scrub was shiokeroos! Like RT said, it probably scrubbed off three decades of accumulated dirt. haha.

Dinner followed after massage...




Silver fish fried rice, tom yam soup, sambal sotong and gong gong, with a coconut and aloe vera shake. The gong gong's really good!!!

The last time I was at Pasar Oleh Oleh, I thought it was too touristy and the prices of things were pretty steep. Today, however, the prices were pretty reasonable. The place was pretty dead and almost everything was going at 50%. Maybe cos it was a Sunday. Perhaps if I come back tomorrow, they will be at 70% off...

Anyways, the restaurant sent us back cos we were the last to leave the place, and it didn't make sense for the shuttle bus (which we paid $6 each for. Told you everything also gotta pay!) to come back at 10pm just for us. So the driver got the restaurant to send us back, which was what one of their staff agreed to do if we spent $36 and above.

Part of the Diner's package included a birthday cake and a gift, so, here they are....

So much cream right?

SYT vs TOW

As s guy, which would you choose? The Sweet Young Thing (SYT) or The Older Woman (TOW)?

My guess was that most guys would go for the SYT. But I was quite wrong.

Anyway, in the midst of discussing this topic with Char Siew Pow she had really hilarious analogies...

Purples: So if you were a guy, which would you choose? The SYT or TOW?

Char Siew Pow: So its SYT vs classy and sphisticated right? It's like choosing between a Suzuki Swift and a Beemer.

Purples: I guess. Ok you are like late 20s and the SWT is like 16.

Char Siew Pow: That's quite sick.

Purples: But SYT more fun what?

Char Siew Pow: But it's like choosing between a fizzy drink and wine!

I Can Run, But I Cannot Hide.

Because I have hit a certain decade of my life, and the need for an identity card update was necessary, I realised that we do have certain bodies which are pretty efficient. No long waiting time. No snaking queues. No directing me from one department to another and answering the same question upteen times.

The crowd there scared me, but ten minutes was all it took to collect my new identity card. Wonderful isn't it? Especially when I was prepared to spend my whole lunch hour waiting for it.

I was asked to provide thumbprints (for BOTH thumbs), sign on three places on a form, questioned about my highest education level (why ah?) and voila! I had my new identity card.

So if I ever commit a crime and become a fugitive, they have all my particulars. Right down to the detailed fact that I am a degree holder, but not with an honours. No running away.

So tell me, with all the efficiency and detailed information on a person, why is Mr Selamat still at large?

Conversations of a Convent Girl and a China Girl

Shades of Pink and I decided to go blading this evening before meeting BFC for dinner.

This is the kind of conversation that takes place between a convent girl (BFC) and a china girl (the waitress)....

BFC: We'll have the chicken curry, and...

Waitress: Qing de? (green one?)

BFC: No. Red.

Waitress: Curry qing de? (green curry)

BFC: Red. Red. (nudges me and goes, "eh red how to say?")

Purples: Hong. Hong de curry.



We decided to have dessert and BFC beckoned to the waitress to ask for the dessert of the day.

BFC: Xiao jie, jing tian de tian pin shi shen me? (What's the dessert of the day?)

Waitress: Yu ni.

BFC looks at Shade of Pink and I and we go, : ORH NI.

BFC: Oh. ok.

And so we had orh ni for dessert.

I'm just wondering what BFC thought "yu ni" was. Some kind of Indonesian cake?

Oh ya! Thanks for the present babes.

Happy Commercialised Love Day

So today must be the most lucrative, money-making day for chocolatiers and florists, just to name a few.

February 14th used to be a rather big and exciting thing when I was, what, 16? 17? 18?

Today, it passed just like any other day. Any normal working day.

Then I stepped out of the office, and was greeted by the 16, 17, 18-year olds - their hands filled with overpriced roses, chocolates, balloons and stuffed toys, and their hearts and minds filled (psychologically, I believe) with more love than Feb 13 or tomorrow. Hmm. Was it just me? Or does this cynicism come with age? I checked with my friends whose ages fall within the same decade of mine. What's normal from this age group of people is "Why waste money on flowers?" or "Why waste money on a lavish dinner?" or "It's just commercialisation la". Phew! So I'm quite normal.

In any case, I called back the office and asked my colleague, Ah Muay, if anyone had sent me flowers. "Huh? Not yet. You wait long long la" she said.

Then in the late afternoon, my other colleague, Amoy called to say that I had received a love letter from a secret admirer.

"Quick come back and see la. See who sent it." Amoy said.

"You must be the one la! You and Ah Muay. After I call to ask about the flowers right?" I replied.

So anyway, here's my Valentine's Day love letter that was waiting for me at the office....

Compliments of Ah Muay and Amoy.

Liking What You Do

I recently received updates via email from TLG over in UK. Updates which included matters of the heart and his career. With respect to the latter, he mentioned taking a course in acupuncture, having been quite into orthopaedic ops, and having done or helped in 1 external fixator and 1 plating of broken legs, whatever that is. In case you're wondering, TLG's a vet. And more importantly, he's enjoying it.

How many of us can actually proclaim to like our jobs, enjoy what we're doing, and look forward to going to work every single day?

My guess is that, to most of us, the job is simply a means of making a living.

But I'm sure many of us have a dream job, or rather something that we know or think we'd enjoy doing. Like setting up a bakery, teaching, painting, acting, dog-walking, baby-sitting, and the list goes on. One of the factors that holds us back from actually taking that step and pursuing it is its feasibility in terms of the financial returns. That thing that we (think) we might enjoy doing somehow will not pay as much.

I was discussing this with a friend and his reply (via sms) went like this: U get paid to get more shit, fact of life. U have to decide. My take is there's always shit everywhere so might as well go for more $ cos once u get used to the shit, it's not so bad or much. :)

Very practical. The typical 'there's-always-a-trade-off' theory.

Of course, there will be the handful who decide to just 'heck-the-money-and-do-what-i-like'. Kudos to you. For me, for now at least, I'll start trying to get used to the shit. As the chinese saying goes, "Xi guan chen zi ran" (Once you get used to it, it becomes a norm).

Or maybe what I think I might enjoy doing may not be that enjoyable once I eventually embark on it. Like how they say the grass is always greener on the other side.

The Dogs and the Rat

So this is how my dogs play with my new pet.

Honestly, I think they're just waiting to pounce on her.