Last Post

Hey everyone!! Its finally here, the last day of 2005, my last entry for the year.

2005 has been a really great year for me. And I hope it has been the same for you.

Well, as the saying goes, "All good things must end, for better things to follow." Much as I hate to leave 2005 behind, the time has come to bid it a fond farewell.

So Goodbye 2005 and Hello 2006.

May the new year bring with it bigger and better things.

HAPPY NEW YEAR Y'ALL!!




PS : Pardon the depressing sounding title of this post. No reference what-so-ever to any military tunes was intended... Heh Heh...

Fishy Business

For those who do not want to hear me rave about Manhattan Fish Market. Please skip to the next part of this post. For those who do, I have this to say.

The place has won me over!

The food's ok by my standards with generous portions. We ordered a flaming platter for 2. Check it out.

Whao... Easy with the flame-thrower dude!

Yum!! Really liked the calamari.

Anyway what really impressed me was the service. Efficient and friendly, the staff made sure that all our dining needs were well taken care of.

Whether its an extra serviette or a glass of water, the staff make an effort to bring it to you as soon as possible despite the crowd. Which is much better than what you can expect at some other places.

I think the employee of the month would have to be this guy.

Think his name is Rapk. I didn't really catch it. Anyway the warmth and sincerity he injected into his work was amazing. He seemed genuinely happy and the personal touch added really made the dining experience a very pleasant one.

Oh and the decor's pretty interesting too.

Big screen with video clips of marine life. Nice...

OK enough about that place.

The next part of the evening was spent walking around the area. Got tau huay from Selegie and walked towards Raffles City.

Along the way, we stopped by CHIJMES and simply couldn't resist taking tourist photos.

The night shots turned out much better than I expected.

Tried with different exposure settings. And I think this one was the nicest. Not too bright. It creates a mysterious air about the whole church. Can't rem whether this shot was taken by Von or me. Good job anyway!! ;P

An impromptu shot of a spiral staircase.

I walked past it and just snapped. Think it turned out pretty ok.

Von had to get one of the staircase too. Nice shot.

This shot makes the church look like part of a movie background.

Can just imagine it on the set in some film studio. It looks so two dimensional...

And here's proof that we were at CHIJMES.

It wasn't taken by me!! Serious!!

That wrapped up another fun dinner plus photo shoot.

Good Times...

Drool...

Here's more pics to make you hungry!!

Family feasting on Christmas Day.

Bon appetit!!

The full spread.

My contribution was potato salad and chicken wings.

Sounds like deja vu? I prepared the same things for Christmas Eve. So you can't really blame me for not eating the potato salad. Wahaha...

I'll be preparing potato salad again for a class outing on Boxing Day. So that's 3 days in a row!!

Spicy Pasta.

Curry Chicken.

Roast Turkey (Mini-Me version). Chicken lah...

Ngor Hiam.

Prawn Fritters.

Apple Crumble, Fruitcake and Brownie (deja vu!!). Also celebrated my sister's birthday. Hence the candles and sign.

Anyway Santa didn't bring me presents this year. So...

Let's hope next year he remembers! Ho Ho Ho...

PS : No fictional characters were hurt in the production of this post.

Christmas Eve 05

This year's Christmas Eve party was the most happening one I've had so far. We had a potluck party at my place followed by "light drinks" and a caroling session (see previous post).

For the potluck party, my buddy Angel came over earlier to help with the prep.

Thanks Angel, really appreciate ur help!

For food, we had...

Brownie!! By Angel.

Chicken wings by yours truly...

Baked rice by Angel. Didn't take a shot of the finished product, but it was simply superb. Luckily I managed to observe the process. Gonna try to make my own someday!!

Roast Chicken by Faith. She bought it from Cold Storage though...

People started arriving around 6 plus.

The first being Faith.

We were sooo hungry!! Couldn't wait to get started!!

Gradually more ppl arrived...

Including my bros.

The boozing soon started...

And ppl began turning red!!

And looking wasted...

I had a good drink with brudder Hao.

We finally had our real life "Direct Tonight" (private joke).

The highlight of the evening for me was when the caroling started. It was really nice to have them come over and sing.

Do remember to check out the video.

And that concluded another memorable Christmas Eve.

Good Times...

Christmas Eve Caroling

Here's the caroling video from the Christmas eve party.

Big Thank You to Shianni, Jean and Xiumei for organising this session.

It was really meaningful having you guys here to share the Christmas spirit with the rest of us.

Merry Christmas!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

Photos and videos from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day parties coming up soon!!

Back @ PS

I'm having dinner at PS for the second time in 3 days. The place really is conveniently accessible for most ppl(NorthEast-Liners especially. Heh Heh...). Hence its popularity as a meeting spot.

Met up with Prissy, Charles (he's back!!) and LXM. At LXM's suggestion, we went to Swensen's. It seems like the last 2 times I met Prissy for a meal, we would somehow end up at Swensen's. Wonder if she's getting a commission for bringing friends there?!?!

Anyway it was pretty nice meeting up with them. Been a while since I last saw Charles. In fact, I think it was around this time last year that we last met.

After dinner we just hogged the table at Swensen's chatting and clowning around with Prissy's camera phone. Haven't gotten the pictures from those yet. Will upload them when I get hold of them. LXM was really hilarious and went nuts on video!!

Good Times... But going broke!!

Dinner at MFM

Dinner yesterday was a celebration of sorts. I had just received my results for the semester in the morning and I was pretty satisfied with them.

After 3 years in NUS, I've finally completed my collection by obtaining a grade that has been eluding me all this while. So I dragged by buddy Angel out to dinner at the Manhattan Fish Market (MFM) at PS.

Arriving at PS, most of the food outlets were packed and there were long queues outside. MFM was no different and we got in line to wait for a table.

It wasn't long before a space was available and we were led to a table that was next to a giant screen showing images of marine life and divers. Hmm... seems like a good spot for 2 diving enthusiasts.

The first thing that struck me about the place was the efficiency and cheeriness of its staff. A group of 3 had just left their table and within seconds, 3 staff members descended on the table and cleared it in about 30 seconds flat!

The bright and cheery smile of a particular waiter was also amazing. This guy didn't just smile at you. He gave us the biggest ear to ear grin and he just seemed really happy to be working there. Talk about good service huh.

We (more like I) were pretty interested to try out their Flaming Platter. So we ordered a Flaming Platter for 2 to share. Its basically a platter of deep fried seafood consisting of calamari (my fav), prawns, oysters and fish. Together with a bed of rice and chips.

The waiter actually carries a "flame thrower" (blow torch like device) with him when he brings the platter to the table. He then flames the cream on the prawns to give it a little burnt appearance.

I guess its more for the novelty of the experience, cos I personally didn't think the flaming actually did much to enhance the taste. But it was definitely something that was pretty fascinating for a little while.

I'm not much of a food critic, and I have very simple criteria when judging food. First and foremost, quantity for money is a major deciding factor. This doesn't mean that the cheaper the better though. As long as I feel that I'm getting my money's worth in terms of serving size, I'm a happy diner.

Based on this criteria, MFM's Flaming Platter definitely sores well. The serving was really generous and more than adequate for 2 "pigs" like us. Quality wise, I guess it's pretty good, but I decline to comment more on this cos I think my tastebuds aren't exactly top of the line.

Anyway, we spent most of the meal drooling over not the food but the amazing video of marine life that was being shown on the big screen. It was a showcase of all the really cool dive spots and the sights from below the waves. Must go diving soon!! May 2006!!

All in all, dinner cost $35 after a 15% discount for UOB card members. Still haven't paid Angel yet. (LOL... Dun hang pig's head ah!!) Pretty alrite I would say for a place like that. Would definitely want to go back there again sometime!!

Just an Afterthought

I was just thinking about yesterday's Christmassy outing, and I've decided to say something about it.

I spent the better part of yesterday working on my FYP, banging my head and trying to get my code to work. And it left me mentally drained. I must admit that I was feeling a little grouchy as I left the house to head down to Orchard.

Didn't really help when I reached Orchard MRT station and saw the crowd. The thought of fighting my way through the sea of humanity to reach the library was pretty insane. Long story short, I was feeling increasingly crabby until I went down to meet Yvonne. Here's the funny part.

Was supposed to meet her outside Zara, which I thought was in Wisma. So I fought my way through the tide and ended back in Wisma, only to realise that Zara was in Taka! DOH!! (Note to self - Vorlacks you're an idiot!)

I guess that did it though, this little screw up amused me so much that I stopped feeling crabby and started feeling silly. We had a good laugh about my "suah ku-ness" and that pretty much evaporated watever grouchiness that lingered.

Anyway, the evening got even better as we met up with the rest of them. First Qingwei, then Ah Liang. Justin and Sally. And finally Ah Poh. More jokes, more laughter, more suaning... Heh Heh...

I realised how much fun it was to meet up with friends and just hang out. We didn't have to be doing very much. In fact we were just walking down Orchard Road and taking in the sights and sounds. But I guess it was the company that mattered most.

I was pretty amazed at the 180 degree change the few short hours had brought about. From feeling grumpy at my miserable FYP, here I was running around Orchard Road like a trigger happy tourist (I was shooting everything in sight with my camera!). I guess we all need a break once in a while from the daily routine and this was just that for me.

Well, that's about all I have to say.

One last thing though - Let's hang out again soon!!

Christmassy... Christmassy...

You know its Christmas when Orchard Rd starts looking like this.

Yeah it could also be Deepavali or Hari Raya, but i'm telling you its Christmas!

Anyway, to spread some Christmas spirit, Ah Poh and Ah Liang invited us to watch members of their church sing Christmas carols outside Ngee Ann City.

The stage was a Christmas Tree!! It was really grand and definitely more unique than performing on a conventional stage.

Met up with Philip and Ah Liang after the performance. Couldn't find them before or during the performance.

However, the elusive Ah Poh was still at large. We finally found him explaining something to a passer by.

He looks like a sales promoter!! LOL...

Justin and Sally were also at the performance, but we only met them after.

After dinner, we (ok it was only me, i dragged the rest along) proceeded to become tourist(s) in Orchard.

Yvonne just had to take this shot to prove that she was in ORCHARD RD!!

We believe you lah... :p

We walked and we walked. Then we posed outside the Hard Rock Cafe.

Ok so I was the only one. But who cares! I'm a tourist in my own country, and proud of it!!

Finally we reached our destination - STB building. Justin wanted to see the Christmas tree formed by lit windows.

Nice isn't it?

Out came my tripod to take a group shot.

Extendible legs! Woot!

Here's the group shot.

That concluded a really fun and interesting hang out night!

Saturday Afternoon Thoughts

Its another boring Saturday afternoon and I decided to google "Vorlacks" and see wat the Net turned up.

The results were pretty interesting. Especially this one circled in red.

I figured its probably the description of a type of character in a game, but I didn't really bother checking it out. It did set me thinking though.

"Vorlacks are generalist". What an intersting thought. It seems to be a very true reflection of the person that "Vorlacks" is, ie me.

I have always thought of myself as a "jack of most trades, but master of none". Sure, I knew a little about this, a bit about that. But I couldn't find something that I can truly consider myself good at.

I may be able to do some things a little better, but I wouldn't consider myself a specialist in that area. Take for example the skill I've been practising quite a bit lately - cooking. I've been experimenting and trying new stuff. And althought the results have not been totally horrendous, I wouldn't say they are top-notch either.

Another example is what I've been studying for the last 3.5 years - computer engineering. Well, I know how to use the computer. LOL... Can get some simple stuff done, know a little about others. But in no way do I consider myself an expert. On the contrary, I would consider myself a beginner trying to feel his way around in the vast cyberworld.

I've thought of finding something that I can truly excel at and to focus all my energies on it. But as of now, I've yet to find it. I've considered trying to brush up on my Flash skills, but I don't have the artistic flair to be really great at it. Be a sportsman, no talent... sigh...

Oh well, I guess Vorlacks will continue to be a generalist for now...

Experimental Dinner

Decided to experiment with some Christmassy food.

As usual, got a few guinea pigs, oops sorry, food testers over to sample the stuff.

Here are the daring volunteers.

My bros Ivan and Justin. I dun have a photo of Lester. He was the official experiment photographer!!

There's a photo of Sharon though. A daring female volunteer!

Ah Poh, Ivan and HJ. Think they're discussing how to survive the evening.

Anyway, they need not have worried. I had medical supplies on standby.

Here's the food.

Mashed potatoes. This dish was accidental, cos I screwed up (overboiled) some potatoes. So they became too mushy for the potato salad.

Potato Salad.

Sausage-Bacon-Honey rolls.

Magic Mushrooms.

Corn Beef with Onions.

Honey (over)Glazed Chicken wings. Think I overdid the olive oil a little.

Salted Saltfree Chicken Leg. Huh? OK. The seasoning was "Saltfree Chicken Seasoning". But had to add a little salt to taste. So... Salted Saltfree lor...

Ended the experiment with a round of ice-cream and watermelon. I hope no one had to rush for the toilet...