i went through flickr and found all of these (i'm not sure if they're all our park, but most of them are):

top 10

the rest (click on the text links)

a map of the park.

some sweet looking scenery

the sky: crazy and breathtaking

especially at sunset/rise:
two | three | four | five | six | seven

fireworks
one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight

this girl cracks me up, lol

skaters are always enjoying the park facilities:
two | three | four | five | six

i hope he landed this

and some random sweetness:
one | two | three | four | five | six | seven

can you tell i was rushed today?

Let's see, this week I've been friends with a snowman and a rabbit. I've b,een to Papau New Guinea, Boston, Czechoslavakia, and the Congo. I've lived in Kabul and Pakistan in a time women had no rights. I've been enraptured by the stories of a second-grader in Watertower and China. I've been out to the county fair, where we ate swamp fries, roas'nears and elephant ears, and drank lemon shake-ups to our hearts content. AND, yesterday morning, I took Maggie for breakfast at her favorite place, The White House.

Okay, the first four sentences were things I did in books, I read and reviewed The Rabbit and the Snowman, The White Mary, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Gooney Bird Greene.

But we did go to the county fair and we really did eat breakfast at the White House. Of course, when the county fair is open, you have to go more than one day. You have to see the animals and the merchants one night, and do the midway on another night.

So Monday was roosters, rabbits and merchants night, which is my favorite. I love going through the merchants buildings and signing up for every single drawing every business, church or club offers. In the past I've one a DirectTV satellite package, Avon baskets, shirts, and other stuff I can't remember. This year, though, so many were offering gas cards. That kinda sucks, since I don't drive... but I signed up for them anyway.

On Wednesday, we went for bracelet night at the midway. I even got a bracelet, which is stupid because I have vertigo. Maggie and I rode an up and down kind of ride. It didn't spin, so I thought I'd be safe... wrong. But I know to focus on one spot to keep from getting sick... Maggie, poor Maggie, did not. She quickly exited the side of the ride and lost her lunch. She was pretty much ready to go home after that. I have a question for any med-savvy people, Maggie has eczema that flared this week, so she'd taken Benadryl, can that make you more prone to motion sickness? I told her that's why she got sick.

Oh well, we went to look at the horses after that. We scratched several piggie's backs and made our way back to the midway for our last ride. By then Mag's stomach was settled, and our tradition is to save the Ferris wheel for our final fair event. The thing creaked and groaned and scared poor Maggie, who thought with certainty we were going to plummet to our deaths. I told her it just needed some WD-40 and we were safe, though I secretly agreed with her and I never get frightened on rides!

We lived.

Breakfast at the White House... I'm sure you've been dying to know. Here in Logansport, there is a restaurant called "White House". It is owned by Lester, who has been cooking at the White House since my momma was a little girl, and that's saying something! Mags and me, we always order the same thing, eggs over easy, toast with extra butter, smoked sausage and bacon, home fries with onions, chocolate mile for Mags and coffee for me. We always have the same waitress, Karen, so we never actually have to tell her what we want, unless we are adding a pancake with peanut butter like we did yesterday. Mag's loves Karen, who's watched her grow since we had our first breakfast there when Maggie was three. Like most places Maggie goes, she gets away with a lot at the White House... she brings flowers and a smile, and all the orneriness she can muster!

Also this week, I found FRED, where Julie shared the Fart in the Duck, Fyrefly asked Where the Hell is Matt and Suey shared her addiction to Vlogbrothers.

My First Ever Giveaway!! is winding down... only 11 days until it closes! Right now, I have 584 entries, and am giving away a $20, a $10, and a $5 Borders gift card. 16 more entries will add another $10 gift card, and at 700 I was going to add another $5, but I've been thinking... that's such a great number, that it might be more. So... if you haven't entered to win yet, do it now!

When Japan ended its self-isolation from the outside world, one of the first ports opened to the world was Yokohama. Now remains as one of the biggest ports (and the busiest cities) of Japan, Yokohama resembled a mixture of East meets West cultures.

The meeting in Fujisawa dragged until late in the afternoon. I wouldn't bore you out with meeting details, to cut the story short, we dropped our bags (and laptops) to the hotel before heading to Yokohama's tourist destination, Minato Mirai.

Minato Mirai 21 (みなとみらい21, Minato Mirai 21^?), often shortened to Minato Mirai, is a large urban development in Yokohama, Japan.

The name, which means "Harbor Future 21," was selected in a public competition. Construction of the area started in 1983. Built largely on reclaimed land, the area now features the Landmark Tower, Japan's tallest skyscraper, the Queen's Square shopping mall, the Pacifico convention center, Intercontinental Hotel, and moreThe area is a popular tourist spot together with nearby Yokohama Chinatown. Minato Mirai is one of the few places in the Tokyo-Yokohama area where the seashore is accessible, and not blocked by industry and harbour areas.

From Wikipedia Minato Mirai

Our hope to catch the sunset at the port was for sure wouldn't be fullfilled. We caught the train to Yokohama as yesterday, a group of a few Indonesians, a FIlipino and a Malaysian. After Bani splitted in the station, we walked from Minato Mirai station to the port. Woah... I love the view of thousands of lights on the tall bulidings by the water. It's so different from what I've seen so far. The weather was a bit cold of the bay's strong wind, better pack up a sweater. Though it was summer, still I felt a bit chilly whenever there was no sun.

There were pathways and docks of wood and bridges that we walk on the side of water, from across the building of five starts hotel and meeting hall stood tall in glimmering lights from top to bottom. One of the atraction was also an amusement park, with its giant ferris wheel also decorated with lights and a roller coaster with screaming spectators.

The place itself was also a common dating place, given the view and the ocassional meeting spots. Suddenly the participants of the "tour" was busy with their own cellphones - calling home. Aaww :)

We had dinner in the mall, where I tasted one of the best meal in Japan so far, strangely it was Korean food. I never thought that our choice of having dinner first have a consequence of not being able to ride the ferris wheel. The wheel closed at 9 pm and we arrived there minutes too late. So we just went to the park down there and spent some time with the view there. I found Doraemon there! (a ride where kids can get inside Doraemon and have some screen in there). Hehe :)

We spent sometime there before one of our friends joined us and we went back to Fujisawa using the same train.

or here.

then tell me which one sets you free.

Andy got very excited when I told him we're going to ride the ferris wheel. I lied.

To our surprise, we found a driving range right next to Miramar and decided to hit a few balls since we arrived early. It was nice do something active other than eating.

I didn't really like golf that much before mainly because I suck. Sometimes there's nothing more frustrating than trying to enjoy a nice relaxing afternoon at the driving range. Anyway, I still suck but slowly improving. See for yourself below. It's not quite like Tiger's swing but it's close. By the way, slow motion is cool. Is there a cheap way to do it at a high-quality level? Yeah...probably not.

Here's my swing:

Here's Andy's swing:

The Eye, London, Southbank

Winter 07

'Into the Eye'

A winter inspired London Eye, giving the viewer a brilliant concept of the size and complexity of one of the cities most popular structures.

Beautiful. Well done.

So I'm showing you some of my favorite pictures that I've taken in the last couple of weeks.

Saturday, I went to my work summer party with my friend Rob. It rocked the socks off anything you could imagine, there was a ferris wheel, flying swings, a merry go round, a maze, potty racing (motorized toilets), a fish grill, espresso bar, beer stands, a live game show tent, mini golf, a pirate sand pit, a burger shack, a bunch of other food, an area to learn salsa dancing, a kid's area, an open field with random games, human fuse-ball (sp?), bull riding, jousting, an icecream stand, a cookie baking station, and a stage with a bunch of acts including a cowboy doing rope tricks, some acrobatic guy, two strong men, a ventriloquist, tap dancers, stompers, beatboxers, singers, a gay cowboy who hula hooped, a fire eater etc etc etc. The best part is I didn't pay a cent, we weren't even allowed to tip the bartenders because it was all covered. Damn I love my job. Will post videos soon!

Coney Island, originally uploaded by DRheins.

Coney Island boardwalk. Summertime and the living is easy.

Mobile post sent by paulswansen using Utterz. Replies. ]]> http://discoverynarrative.wordpress.com/?p=20 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:49:14 +0000 discoverynarrative http://discoverynarrative.wordpress.com/?p=20 I just wanted to thank everyone for the comments they've been leaving. It's nice to know that people are reading this.... :) If there is anything in particular you are wanting to see, let me know, and I'll try to get pictures! My apologies for the randomness of this post - I had a lot of little things that I wanted to show y'all and this is the result....

Zongzi is a traditional Asian food eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival which fell on Saturday, 7 June this year. We were in Kaohsiung that day, but the races had been canceled due to rain. Zongzi is made from glutinous rice, usually wrapped around meat or beans, and then wrapped in leaves and cooked. Lemon's mother made this one and I kind of ate it without taking a picture of the inside, so if you are curious, click the first link. Also, check out the story of how zongzi came to be made. I love it! Holly, who is from one of Taiwan's indigenous tribes, also brought some Zongzi for us to try. I liked hers a little better, actually. Unfortunately, I also ate that one without taking a picture.

The laundry facilities at Shu Zen. There are only around 5 or 6 washing machines and two dryers, yet I've never run into a problem doing laundry. Part of that could be explained by Helena's reaction to my doing laundry downstairs. Apparently the boys mostly use those machines; thegirls, on the other hand, use the smaller machines on the floors or wash their clothes by hand and dry them on the racks provided on our balconies. Helena seemed to be concerned that I would catch boy cooties by washing my clothes in the same machines, but I think I've escaped them so far. I'll keep y'all updated though. ;) I was relieved to see that both the washing machines and dryers had buttons and instructions in English.

Yeah, it's a cicada of some sort. They are incredibly loud here and I am beginning to think they are stalking me - first Kentucky, and now Taiwan. I had nothing to do with this cicada's demise - it was like this when I found it. Promise.

Oooooh! A bag from a bookstore! What's in it?!?!?

Eddie recommended this book/workbook/cd combination and was able to get a 20% discount on it for me at the bookstore near his wife's school! It cost me 1140 NT$ / $38 US which seemed like a pretty good deal for all three items. Have I mentioned that learning Chinese is hard? No? Well, it is. I'm trying, though. :)

So, I got sick Wedneday, 11 June, in the morning and by Friday, 13 June, I was having stomach cramps so bad that I was doubled over in pain. I finally had Jonathan take me to the doctor. It was an interesting experience. I was in the waiting room for maybe 3 minutes after filling out the paperwork, and then was immediately seen by the actual doctor. (I didn't get her name, unfortunately.) She spoke English and when she didn't understand what I meant or I didn't understand what she was saying, Jonathan helped translate. After about ten minutes with the doctor, we were ushered out to the waiting room. The visit and the medicine together came to a total of 450 NT$ / $15 US. Amazing. The medicine was dispensed at the office and placed in different colored wrappers (white = take before I ate, green = take if symptoms returned, red = take only if I got a fever). By Sunday afternoon I was feeling much better, and by Monday I was 100%. Hooray!

Despite not feeling super great, I decided to go to the Dream Mall on Saturday with Eddie, his wife Cathy, Kristen, and Dwayne. On the platform at Dahu station (the station closest to our school), I ran into some students from Shu Zen. They approached me and we talked for a bit, and then we posed for pictures while waiting for the train.

On the train from Dahu to Ciaotou Station (pronounced chow-toe), I saw these two men and tried to sneak a picture. Apparently I'm not at all stealthy, because they totally realized that I was taking a picture. :| Obviously, I wasn't holding the camera completely still either, but I still like the shot.

The view from Ciaotou Station. We met Eddie here on the local train, and then transferred to the MRT which was just opened this year (image of stations in English) and went into Kaohsiung.

We picked Eddie's car up at the station in Kaohsiung and drove a couple of miles to the Dream Mall. The weather was not ideal, and this was as close to the Hello Kitty Ferris Wheel as I got. I will prevail, though. Never fear. We'll be traveling to the Dream Mall four times during summer camp, so I will definitely get pictures of the ferris wheel!

The Dream Mall was pretty much like any mall in America, only larger. Everything was rather expensive, so I just window shopped.

I had Cathy (Eddie's wife) take a picture of me in front of the Guess store.

A puzzle shop had these amusing (and linguistically confusing) jigsaw puzzles.

This is the entrance to Eslite Books. They have a fairly good selection of English language books, and the store feels like a Barnes and Noble. I did buy a little notebook and a small flashcard set secured by a ring to practice my Mandarin.

Finally, there were some wood sculptures just outside of the bookstore that I liked. All in all, it was a good day, but I was again disappointed by the amount of Western influence I kept seeing and was left longing for a more traditional view of Taiwan.

Up next: I get that more traditional view in Tainan, Taiwan's first capital and oldest city! Also, I finally visit a night market!

The World Class Stratford planning application to site a giant ferris wheel on the recreation grounds in the heart of Stratford-upon-Avon have been turned down by the council on the grounds that:

it would not be in keeping with the character of the historic town.

Finally, a common sense decision from the council and a restriction on the damage done by some of World Class Stratford's wacky plans.

Read more about it in the Stratford Observer or via the BBC News website.

The official refusal can be seen on the Stratford-upon-Avon District council website. Here you can read a selection of documents including plan details, and complaints, however you cannot find any details as to the cost of the consultations and time spent on this daft proposal. Shame the wasted time and money couldn't have been better spent.

The fortress

SAFRA Yishun Country Club

I decided to explore, and found this flying around the nearby park.

Mystic Moth

Three of a kind

It was then when the security guard who passed by made mention of a giant bird's nest that was found somewhere in the distant trees. I gazed. And gazed. And saw this, approximately 9 stories high in the treetops.

The Eagle's Nest

So where was Mr. Eagle? There he is, perched much higher than the nest itself, with his hard cold eyes piercing the distance.

The Eagle

The eagle took off soon after to scan the skies for egg poachers, such as crows.

One with the clouds

Nectar Collector

The heat overcame me, and I returned to the air-conditioned comfort of the country club. Our next stop was Pasir Ris Park - the family cycled to Downtown East from there.

Hidden HDB

Safe Landing

There was a new building at Downtown East - one with an Indoor Cadbury Ferris Wheel!

Indoor Ferris Wheel

All in all, it was a time well spent with family. (: A final picture to end off the series...

The Stead (Oops I mean steed.)

Yesterday Ms Huppy slept for 16 hours..... from 6p.m. Saturday all the way till 10a.m. on Sunday. Actually Ms Huppy and Hubby planned to go Changi Village eat wanton mee but unfortunately, both of them were so comfy in the air-con room and simply slept through.... By the time Ms Huppy woke up, it was already 12 midnight.. she decided to pray and than go back to zzz again.

Today, after church, Ms Huppy's hubby finally brought her to Changi Village for wanton mee, and at the same time, surprised her by bringing her to Pulau Ubin.

Below are some of the pictures at Pulau Ubin....

Ferry ride to Pulau Ubin

Welcome Welcome!

Outward Bound School

Ms Huppy & Hubby on bikes

Beautiful natural quarry

On the way back, Ms Huppy saw a man catching fishes during high tide.

At the car park, Ms Huppy saw a HELLO KITTY van ;) cute!

THE REAL STORY

Ms Huppy was very priviledged to be invited for a FREE ride on Singapore Ferris Wheel ~ The Sing-a-pore Flyer :)

It was on 6-6-2008, Ms Huppy reached Singapore Flyer at 6p.m. Actually Ms Huppy didnt know that there was a ride initially but as she saw the word "Singapore Flyer" on the invitation card, she was enticed cos' she never been there before. Being a sucker for new places and free dinners, Ms Huppy went.

Ms Huppy may come across as a very sociable person in her blog but in actual fact, Ms Huppy hates to entertain.... least having to socialize with strangers... but bo bian.... Ms Huppy was there for the free food and to tour the new place.

But God is really wonderful, when Ms Huppy reached there, she saw a long-time business associate, Puat Fong from the power battery Energizer and the ex-beauty queen, Teo Ser Lee. Puat Fong was as usual very delighted to see Ms Huppy whereas Ser Lee looked at Ms Huppy with disdain.... Ser Lee was sure "high and mighty"... and Ms Huppy wondered where's her etiquette when she didnt even return a namecard after Ms Huppy gave her her's.

Anyway, the moment Ms Huppy heard about a FREE ride on Singapore Flyer, she jumped to the opportunity and quickly ran to queue up for the ride ;)

Really thanks to the many years of working with the National Day Committee, they have gracious invited the Kiam Ka Na Ms Huppy for a FREE ride :) and there save her $29.90. Th committee sure know how to please their sponsors!

Ms Huppy should have saved another $29.90 had she not missed out the fine print which allowed her to bring her partner.... (bang Breasts man!).

Now, Ms Huppy shall take you through this memorable ride :)

Before Ms Huppy and other people entered the time capsule..., all of them were held at a holding area to take a group photo... and Ms Huppy's group consisted of her and of course Ms Hao Lian Teo Ser Lee.

Ms Huppy was told that the ride was about 30 mins. It's like $1 per min....;)

Ms Huppy thinks that one capsule can hold about 30 pax....

A LCD screen introducing Singapore Flyer

By the way, Ms Huppy was very fortunate. It was near sunset so she had the opportunity to watch sunset.

Ms Huppy and her dear friend, Puat Fong

Pictures below were what Ms Huppy saw for the first 10 mins...... :)

Next 10 mins.....the sky was getting dimmer....

 ECP highway

Constructing the IR?

Did you see the floating bay where NDP is held?

The sun hiding behind tall building... :(

Tanjong Rhu stretch of condominiums

It's not raining. It's simply watching through air-con frosted glasses.....

The next capsule.... in front of our capsule

We know that we were at the top of the ferris wheel when we saw the capsule in front of us falling lower....

More scenic views... and the sky was getting darker....

The Marina Bay golf course

 Ms Huppy was so happy that she can finally see the sunset more clearly.... it's simply breath-taking :)

Ms Huppy managed to capture a cruise sailing across the river.....

The ride was finally coming to the end.....as the capsule approached the shopping mall..

The capsule touched down and everyone exited. It was important to exit fast cos' the capsule will simply continue to circle and if you did not manage to get off, you will definitely be charged double fare. No wonder! Now Ms Huppy know why they dun pack more people into the capsule!

One the way out, Ms Huppy caught a glimpse of the Singapore Flyer close up!

Ms Huppy must admit that this was a very scenic ride. However, as a Singaporean, the views were simply so familiar to Ms Huppy ( as she travelled ECP almost everyday!). Hence, the ride was somewhat boring to her.

And

Ms Huppy also observed this.... that the moment everyone stepped into the capsule, they will head toward the most scenic part, i.e. near the window and start to snap pictures... no one will bother to rest on the seats.

After like 5 - 8 mins, the people will chit-chat and walk around the capsule.

On the 15th min onwards, they will start to find a seat to rest...or lean against the glass....

People will start fidgeting on the 20th min onwards and by the time the capsule approached the last stop, everyone will be crowding around the exit.

Ms Huppy guess that Singaporeans are simply a bunch of impatient people who can't be caged up for too long else they go nuts! :(

Lastly, thank you so much for the FREE ride, Ms Huppy probably will consider paying if it's during fireworks display!!

Good Night!

Oink Oink!

Happy Tips No 25 ~ Learn to relax! relax! relax! and smell the ROSES

 Oh! Forgot to mention that Ms Huppy saved another $15-$20 bucks cos' she was given the photo snapped with capsule as backdrop compliments of NDP!! Yip Yip Hurray!!

[photo taken January 2008 on the LimoBus en route to Narita Airport. Minor curves edits to lighten parts of photo. Coloring is straight from the camera.]

"Forever in the celebrity spotlight, the Pacific Wheel has a very impressive list of credits with appearances in more than 105 photo shoots, 71 television commercials, 69 television shows, 28 feature films and 13 music videos."

(Jeff Klocke, Director of Marketing and Sales of Pacific Park)

Santa Monica is located in Southern California, and we all know that in The O.C. (TV show) it rained all of about once. SoCal has an abundance of sunlight so Pacific Park is using solar panels to generate more than 71,000-kilowatt hour of renewable photovoltic (PV) power from the sun, and when it's cloudy they just use conventional energy. More than 160,000 energy-efficient LED lights are used to save power and to complement the solar-power application.

Check back in a few days and I'll try to post up some more. Today is looking like a rainy, wet event, so....

Mother Duck

The High Point

How did I begin my journey, you might ask... Hahaha I rushed to the first Starbucks outlet in Schiphol airport and ordered a Java Chip Frapuccino! Pathetic? Who cares? I miss the familiar... So to capture the moment, my ever reliable camera started flashing...

Then off I went... The plane lands in Schwechat Airport in Vienna. Deja vu... I remember this place, it was much wider now, and less crowded. Then the hotel service met me to bring me to the hotel. I couldn't believe it!!! Im going to ride a car!!!! Yahoo!! (Note to reader: I came from bike land. So pardon my excitement..)

I was then brought to my first hotel, Hotel Bosei, a four star hotel about 30 minutes away from the airport. Wow, I said, as I entered my room... I had my own bath tub! Hahaha, Im getting really irritating.

I might be giving you the wrong idea. This trip was a lot of work. They locked us in these great hotels, fed us with real good food, but made us work, work, work, round the clock for three straight days. But honestly? I wasnt complaining....

The next day I moved to an even better hotel, the Hotel Schloss Wilhelminenberg. I have been here two years back in one of the formal dinners we had. But this time, they decided to house us here. My, my, my... Im living my dream to stay in a castle! Well, it was really a former castle...

We had the benefit of the most spectacular city view of Vienna. You dont believe me? Then see for yourself..

It had the most regal staircase I have ever seen. I love using this staircase, leading to the lobby. I felt like a Disney princess!

Okay now, enough of the hotels... I think I convinced you enough to believe that I was living the life in Vienna.

I didn't have so much time to move around the city. So during my free time, I took a bus city tour leading to the Giant Ferris Wheel in Prater and to a Heurigen dinner at the Vienna Woods.

Why the Ferris Wheel? Simple, I wanted to see Vienna from the top!

With the sunset light covering the city.. Perfect!

I was in the tour bus filled with old people! So funny... When we arrived in Prater, I swear this is the loneliest amusement park I have ever seen! But I was there to take photos. And I was happy with my shots.. More sights at the Prater amusement park.

Great views... I was satisfied with our first stop.

We then on headed to the Vienna Woods for our heurigen dinner. It was on the other side of the city so it took about 30-45 minutes to get there. In the Vienna Woods, there were lots of wine taverns hidden amidst the greenery, with their own mini vineyards, producing their own wine. The typical Viennese tradition was people could bring in their own food and enjoy these with the wine in the taverns. For our purposes, though, we, or should i say, they (coz Im a non-alcoholic) were going to taste the wine and eat meat, meat and meat! Plus, a Viennese musical show with operettas and waltzes and live music. The Viennese version of the pub, or in common Pinoy parlance, the beerhaus!

Potatoes, sauerkraut and meat, meat, meat! The starfished shape on top of the heap is the real Vienna Sausage, baby!

Here was the mug of wine.. I dont remember ever seeing wine served in a mug. I told you it was a beerhaus!

Only in this beerhaus, the live show was the waltz

And there was a cello.. That was the end of my stint with Viennese culture..

But the highlight of my stay was high afternoon tea or coffee. What would a Vienna trip be without a cup of coffee and a sugar overload?!

A waste...

So before I left for Utrecht, I needed a serious coffee break..

I wanted a Wiener Melange, a typical Viennese coffee concoction. I couldn't get enough of it... I had two!!!! And for a recreational coffee drinker like myself, that was a milestone!

What went with my Melange? That was the next logical question.

This...

While going through the menu, I was looking for a simple danish or tart to go with my coffee. I asked the server for recommendations. She said we have a strudel with cheese and raisins, with a little vanilla sauce. I said, okay that sounded simple to me. And then this came.... My eyes were about to pop out with excitement! I savored every bite! And took so many photos of it, in every angle imaginable.

All in all... Vienna took my breath away..  The second time around...

For Vienna city tour needs, visit www.viennasightseeing.at

This city tour cost 65 euros, including a free ride to the Prater, a Heurigen dinner, free ticket to the musical show, pick-up and drop-off to your hotel. Lots of old people will ride the bus with you. But if you need serious alone time, this will be fun!!!

Gak ding, mau belajar abis ini. Besok ada Ujian Sekolah PKn (Pelajaran Kurang peNting) ama Agama (yang katanya penting), buat kelulusan SMP.

Silahkan bagi yang mau mendoakan, kalau nggak juga nggak apa-apa sih...

Buat apa sih ke Singapore? Hm... Ada lomba. Simpel kan?

Selama di Singapore, 3 hari, inilah kira-kira daftar hal yang harus saya lakukan:

• Ngeblog gratis di Changi
• Beli Six Sacred Stones karangan Matthew Reilly di Kinokuniya/Popular
• Naik Singapore Flyer, Ferris Wheel terbesar di dunia, mengalahkan London Eye
• Main Capsa sampe jam 12 malem Nonton Air Terjun Fortune, or something like that di Suntec
• Dapat Medali, at least Perak di Senior Section SMO dan atau Open Section SMO (ngarep di Open...)
• Nyobain Es Potong di Orchard
• Nyari Nasi Ayam Hainam (lagi)
• Nyobain Nasi Lemak (lagi) yang rasanya kurang enak
• Nyobain Bakso Ikan (lagi)
• Nyobain Kepiting di Marina Bay (ngarep)

Ya ampun, kok 5 terakhir jadi makan semua yah?

Maklum lah, sekali-kali nyobain wisata Kuliner.

Jadi inget temen joking tentang acara fiktif, Kuliner Jujur.

Hostnya, "Makanan ini... rasanya... GAK ENAK BANGET! RASANYA KAYAK **** (disensor demi kepentingan bersama) AYAM! Udah gitu, MUAHAL!"

Buset, kalo ada acara kayak gitu sih, parah bener.

Anyway, dari semua target di atas, yang berwarna biru, yang dibold, yang di-underline, adalah yang paling penting. Karena itulah gua bisa ke Singapore. So, doakan saya untuk target yang warna biru.

SMO tuh apaan si?

SMO itu Singapore Mathematical Olympiad, semacam OSN di Indonesia, tapi ini di Singapore (ya iyalah, masa di Hong Kong?). Dibagi menjadi 3 section:

• Junior Section : Untuk anak-anak di bawah umur (lho?) 14 tahun. (ga bisa ikut, udah ketuaan. *sigh*)
• Senior Section : Untuk anak-anak di bawah umur 18 tahun. (yang ini malah saya ikut)
• Open Section : Bebas dan tanpa batasan umur. Yang penting masih sekolah. Mengikuti asas LUBER JURDIL (Langsung, Umum, BEbas, Rahasia, JUjuR, aDIL) (yang ini saya juga ikut, kayaknya saya cari mati banget di sini)

Dan FYI, saya naik Singapore Airlines (yipee!!! Untuk pertama kalinya!!!) soalnya lagi murah banget. Maklum, promo. Hohoho...

Huahahaha, isi postnya jadi ngelantur gini.

Pokoknya, pada intinya, doakan saya, semoga dapat medali, at least Perak, at least 2 (ngarep lagi...) Ditunggu doanya...

It was my friend Kasey's birthday this weekend, and in honor of that very special event, Kasey, her boyfriend David, Mr. Cleaver, and I all went down to Navy Pier.

As some of you may know, Mr. Cleaver and I are moving back to Maine this summer and our time in Chicago is quickly dwindling.

With this in mind, we've been constructing (a mostly mental) list of things we have to do before we leave Chicago. The list includes things like see a show at Steppenwolf (done - Dead Man's Cell Phone), visit the Shedd Aquarium (not done), see a Cubs games (done, but like to do again), eat Katie Cakes at Taste of Heaven (never too many times for this), and so on.

One of the things that has been on my "Chicago-to-do List" ever since I moved to the city was to ride the Ferris Wheel that towers over Navy Pier. At 140 feet in diameter, and a seating capacity of 240, this baby is big - though not as big as the original Ferris Wheel that was built in Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 - which stood 264 feet and could carry 2,160 people. (Thank you Devil in the White City)

Well Saturday was finally my day to check that one off the list and was well worth it. The view are amazing:

Now it must be said that Mr. Cleaver is not a fan of heights. So here's me waving at Mr. Cleaver.

And here's Mr. Cleaver waving back:

In addition to our jaunt on Mr. Ferris' wheel, our party of four ate a great lunch at Charlie's Ale House and played a rousing gold of Micro Golf.

Now I say micro and not mini because seriously, look at the size of each of these (18) holes.

My favorite part of the game was making up random "pars" for each hole. I think five was the highest and the average was two or three. Let it be said though, that this is a speedy game, which throngs of small children on either side.

Not that you can't take time to make that perfect shot :)

7th May 2008

After checking in to hotel, we headed down to have our first dinner at Taiwan! Went down to have our dinner at 西门町. We had this:

Totally yummylicious! This eatery is kinda different. Everyone is like standing outside its stall with their bowl of mee sua (see the first pic)

8th May 2008

We had a half-day tour. Went to some historical places and museum.

This is a lame lame video taken at 中正纪念堂

Director: Song Wei
Main Male Lead: Ming Chin

Lunch is at 便所餐厅.

This is the exterior of the restaurant at 西门町.

Our table is the basin, and our seat is the toilet bowl!! So cute right!

Our appetitiser in a bath tub!

My main course. Yummylicious but very big portion!!!! All in a toilet bowl~!

My Ice Red Tea... Gosh... Does this look... good?

Our ice cream in a toilet bowl~ LOL~

Our dessert. 2 big toilet bowls of "chua bing". The one in brown is chocolate flavour. There's chocolate ice cream, chocolate chips etc~ The one in pink had strawberry ice cream and mush mallow etc. It's really cheap to eat there. It only cost NT$300 (~S$15), and we had so many stuff!!!

After such a filling lunch, it was "血拼" at 五分埔. Sadly, I didn't really get much there. In fact, I only bought 1 shirt. *sob* Things ain't that cheap I guess? I found this top I quite liked, but it was like NT$980 (~S$49). But the guys really did buy a lot of stuff.

Visited 绕河夜市 for some quick-bites. The very first night market we visited. A much smaller night market, but had quite a number of delicious street food. It is located near 松山站 (railway), and its just a walkable distance from there.

Dinner was back at 西门町. We had a really nice 红烧牛肉面!! It's really big portion, and it's yummyliciouss~ It's around S$7 per bowl. A bit expensive, but worth it cuz it's nice!!!

9th May 2008

It was off to 杨明山. We waited for the bus for a good ~30mins. It was a really interesting experience taking their public bus. Well, it was our first time up their 公车 and we didn't know how the fare works. They have similar system as our EZlink card. However, the difference is that for some buses, its '上车付费' while some is '下车付费'. It's kinda confusing. So we just followed the crowd. LOL.

The weather was great. After getting up the mountain, it was kinda cold and windy. We were in love with "smoke" so we went to this place call 小油坑.

There's like holes with smoke coming out. Really strong sulphur smell. As you can see, the surrounding of those holes are really hot. The rocks are ashy colour. These mountains are actually sleeping volcanoes. Eruption of these volcanoes are still possible, maybe in another thousand year.

We tried to climb up to the peak of the mountain. We really did. Heh.. We were just 1.6km away from the peak. We thought it wouldn't be too difficult. BUT! Look at these steep steps! haha~ Totally gave up when we only covered like 400m. I'm such a noob! Lol~

After that, it started the "curse of the 9th of May". We tire ourselves out at 杨明山, and so we went down to 新光三越 for lunch before heading down to visit 台大. My impression of 台大 is pretty posh and nice.. Just like how it looked in various 偶像剧, but it turns out to be pretty old. Afternoon was pretty hot and humid. We got kinda tired, so we decided to head back to hotel for a good shower and get a bit of rest before continuing our schedule later in the afternoon.

Headed down to 美丽华 (Miramar Shopping Centre) for ferris wheel! It's just NT$150 (~S$7.50) for adult ticket! So cheap as compared to the ferris wheel in Singapore! Seriously, that ferris wheel is so over-priced (though I wanna take too!!! =X ).

The ride lasted for around 17mins. Great night view from the ferris wheel. I love it!!!! :D

After ferris wheel ride, we wanted to have dinner at 士林夜市, but when we got there, it started to RAIN. So thereafter, we thought it would be better for us to head down to some shopping centre instead for dinner. So, we proceeded to the train station. After reaching the platform, we saw that the rain had stopped! Gosh! SO, we exited the train station again to go back to 士林夜市, and just then, IT RAINED AGAIN. -_- But we were lucky to get some really great street bites:

The round round thingy is call 地瓜球. The one in 士林夜市 is really good. It is very Q, and tastes great. We tried the one from those street hawkers along 西门町 and it's really nothing as compared to the one in 士林. Other stuff in the bag includes wedges, nuggets, and fried dumplings. *drools*

We decided that we should just go back to 西门町 for dinner. So, we thought of going down to the Red Theatre for dinner. But when we got there, we realised it has a pathetic range of set meals. It's more of a cafe. We decided that we shouldn't be picky with what we eat anymore. We decided to just settle in this eatery call "Tamago Ya". But guess what? IT'S FULL HOUSE. -.- It was such a suay day. LOL.

10th May 2008

It's off to 淡水 and 北投!

It's a really cold day due to the rain the previous night.

Such a windy and cloudy day!~

We walked around the landmarks around the area before heading down to 淡水渔人码头. I'm so poor thing!! I'm soooo reluctant to pose for this pic:

Know what the photo means? Haiz~~~ Okay~ Let's have a "guess the photo contest". Look at the photo carefully, and interpret the underlying meaning!!!! *sigh* I'm really reluctant.... As you can see.....

Us on 情人桥!!

It was a really cold and windy day by the bay. We headed down to the row of shops for some hot food. There's this 鱼圆汤 which is super nice.

This is the yummy 鱼圆汤 and a meat-ball thingy. Its really great to eat something hot in that windy weather!! The 鱼圆 has meat inside, and its really tasty! yummmmm~

After 淡水, we headed down to 北投 to have our Hot Spring Tour. Toured the Hot Spring Museum. We have 3 代言人 for the museum:

Front view: Song Wei

Back view: Yun Heng

Main view: Ming Chin

It's really an interesting visit to the Hot Spring Museum. There's this public bath I got pretty amazed by! Well, I like to look at old structures I guess! No photo on it though~ :(

After that, it was the search for 地热谷. It has such amazing view:

See all the "smoke" behind us? There's this lake of really hot water, which is acidic in nature.. think it's about pH1.2 or something? Those are "nature water", and it's as hot as around 100degrees. Strong sulphur smell there again!

After that, bad luck from the previous day came again. Headed down to 忠孝复兴 for early dinner, and we tried "Tamago Ya", and it turned out to be extremely 难吃. *sigh* Unsatisfying. And, it started to RAIN again... haiz.. Our good luck didn't last... But at least we found Jay Chou's shop:

Look like a high class shop, so we just stopped outside. LOL. Believe it or not? I bumped into Calvin Wong, Wai Kit, Yong Cheng and Millard over there. So qiao!

But in general, it was a really fun day despite the rain in the later afternoon.

Dinner was back at our favourite eatery in 西门町.

鲁肉饭，肉圆汤. Geez! I miss the 鲁肉饭!!!

This is Taiwan style 蚵仔煎. Look very different from the Singapore style right? There's this sauce that will be spread on top, and there's vegetables in the middle of the fried egg. Love the sauce totally!!! After trying this makes me not want to eat the Singapore style's anymore! LOL. As Yun Heng and Song Wei do not take 蚵仔, Ming Chin and I would have to finish the 蚵仔 ourselves! And, they are pretty generous with the number of 蚵仔, unlike the Singapore style's which only has like at most 3 蚵仔? LOL..

I shall continue blogging tomorrow. This entry is getting too longgggg~ Stay tune!