September Lapse

Blogging from the ship, after weeks of low quality food due to bad weather (no bunkering)... it's been a long time since I'd seen anything fresh on the tables of the mess room :( My daily meal has now consist of instant noodles, bread, oats, cereal..... Oh how I miss those leafy greens, so much! (I have already placed an order for Su En to cook for me as soon as I touch down to Singapore).

Anyway I am here to report another lapse in my blogging activities.... This break is going to be another busy and hectic one. I will leave it as a surprise but needless to say when I am back onboard, I will have tonnes to blog about and I am looking forward to that! 

A lil spoiler.... I will be heading to a place where it has kindled my love for seafood 

yum yum  So much food I want to indulge myself into when I get off!!!

New places, fresh discoveries, novelty collecting, old friends and lifelong passion 

(If it does not yet strike you, I have found that gmail does have a load of interesting emoticons that I can easily copy and paste to....)

What's Been Bobbing

 It's been a while now... First post of April!.... I seriously need to get into the groove of things and blog more often. But then again, coming onboard my life has been all: wake up, shower, breakfast, stare at a screen, occasional workboat, stuff my face with food, stare at the screen again, dinner, stare at screen, stuff face again, get off shift, shower, maybe gym, stare at another screen again and finally zzz.

Still, there are some quirky things that do perk up my day sometimes :)

 Like a day out in the sun on the workboat... Not the tan/doze off kind of relaxing workboat, but the sweaty, stench-filled barnacle massacre kind.  The heat has grown up a notch now and if you're not careful, you'll end up looking like a lobster only 30 minutes under the sun. Maybe less.

Barnacles.... They're disgusting.... but getting rid of these things gives you a kind of gross satisfaction as well. Much like popping a pimple. They squirt all over as you 'harvest' them.... and don't let me get started on the slime.... These things grow and attach themselves at anywhere they can find a grip on. I've gotten bad rashes on my hands because of these crustacean creatures. Ugh. 

My special supply of chocs and caramel :) . An apt description from one of the guys say here, it's like sex on a biscuit. LOL. But they truly are bliss and I can't seem to get them in Malaysia or Singapore as well :/

Highlight of the day! Was walking around on the helideck for fresh air when I spotted this wee thing. Wouldn't let me get near to it and started flying around and back again. I dashed to the galley to grab some bread and tore the bread into small pieces but the damn thing wouldn't even go near it! A reckons it will die soon :(

 Don't die... too adorable :(

My current FB cover photo :) of the damn bird that wouldn't eat the bread I purposely got for it!

 Workboat

Imagine seeing this eerie thing floating in the middle of the ocean. Black mast without anything else attached to it underneath. From far it looked like some shark's fins lol. A bit anti-climatic after finding out that it's probably just some marker attached to fishing nets etc...

 And my second home.....

That's all for updates to announce I am well and kicking... Almost end of shift and going for a workout in the gym before I am consumed by this sedentary lifestyle!

Hazy Future

So, yes, I am back home for a couple of weeks now. It's been uneventful, doesn't even feel like a proper Chinese New Year except for certain nights when fireworks are explosively loud till Pickles panicked and scurried under the sofa. 

On the up side, I've been properly fed and very much well-rested that I think I should be concerned of this sedentary lifestyle.... But I've been jogging every so often so that should alleviate all sense of alarm ;) (self consoling).

Loads of pictures - mostly food, obviously, but I will only blog about that once I've got the full CNY photo editions, up till Chap Goh Meh (15th day CNY), hopefully. My sedentary lifestyle might just get in the way hehe...

On the long journey home after signing off from the vessel...

The ever admirable and efficient Indian staff's secret - handwritten official forms and filing. Not a single PC in sight They painstakingly fill our documents by hand and one month later as I sign off, they can miraculously produce the initial form that I filled. Very impressive. Maybe the agent had them to retrieve the form first before our arrival?

 To top it off... there are at least 10 staff in there but they are mostly just mingling around, chatting. This country is really getting to me... even checking in for a flight through the counter takes them about 5-8 minutes to finish. And that was with their national airline, Air India (on a side note, it seems that the more I resent being put on Air India, the more this airline seems to haunt me, I kept having to fly them because I just have no choice :( ). Just recently I flew with Tiger Airways, a budget airline in Singapore and they cleared my check-in within 30 seconds.

I think I'm spoiled by Singapore's efficiency.

Some random trinkets - Saree-clad Barbies in a souvenir shop at the Chennai airport. 

Funnily, on the Port Blair-Chennai leg, I watched my first Bollywood movie onboard Air India after many, many years without doing so. The last time I watched an Indian film was when I was 10?? The movie is called Bagh Du something something starring Shah Rukh Khan along with two very pretty and dreamy looking actresses. 

It's a typical Bollywood film, filled with music (not so much dancing, strangely enough), romance and over-the-top plot. It's so cheesy and cliche, I almost died from frustration watching it. *** Ok, I just googled the name of the movie and if you're keen, you can read about it here. And it's called Jab Tak Hai Jaan, or, As Long There is Life (roll eyes). The movie depicts Shah Rukh Khan, the main actor, as the ultimate romantic hardcore and the girls around him are like very noble, sacrificing the love of their lives for another, etc. And there's that amnesia bit thrown in as well so it's supposed to be real ironic and sad but hell... not my cup of tea. The problem with movies like these is they create an unrealistic expectation of what love and relationship should be like. 

But I have digressed. My apologies :D

Little taxis in Chennai.

I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of this blog is but it's been a while since I've created a new entry and I certainly don't want to see it defunct... Anyway, I was jogging earlier in front of the house's padang. I was wearing a tank top and shorts, just normal workout attire, when suddenly it struck me that I may be 'scantily-clad', especially in this neighbourhood, on this part of the country.

Feeling a tad self conscious, I continued running anyways. Mind you, I wouldn't even consider my workout attire to be sexy in any way, but I swear, this country can get excessively conservative! And I was right. Mild responses from bystanders were just people staring. Then there was this pair of idiots on a motorbike, heading towards my direction. Seeing me, the two guys started shouting something incoherrent and ogling as they pass by me. I turned around to give them the finger but they'd already zipped by. wtf? What is wrong with these people? No job then have to ronda around my neighbourhood and disturb young women is it? I hope their bike gets caught in the ditch and those two idiots are thrown off and run over by a lorry :)

I was annoyed big time but I still have a few rounds to do before I call it a day so I went on. Then as I passed my house, my Mum told me to watch out for a mentally-challenged man she'd seen roaming on the field close to where I run. Double wtf. My confident, morale-boosting run has turned 360 into a over-the-shoulder twitchy run. It was then I started questioning myself if this is where I want to settle down. I honestly do not want to feel threatened or panicky every time I venture outside. It's ridiculous but it looks like it's come to this point.

Su Jen has offered for me to move to the States and I am just glad to be given an option... Singapore is a great place but it's too sanitized and too..... motorized, for some reason. Just lacks life, I suppose. Pre-programmed beings going about their jobs to keep the country running. 

Ok I'm just going to end this seemingly zero purpose ranting post. Bed time.

Karma's a Bitch

花: Gardens by the Bay

 Visited the highly hyped Gardens by the Bay not-so-recently. Snapped a multitude of photos and for the sake of blogging and then sun pian fish for compliments, here is a truckload of nature.

First conservatory is called Forest Cloud (or some random fancy sounding name).

Seriously, I don't know how tourists in Singapore survive. Entry to the conservatories are $25. Big kachings Tourism Singapore is making.

 I obviously do not know the names of the plants, much less the scientific names. So I'll just caption them the way a layperson would :D

 Super cute alien with gigantic brains orchid.

 Batik preen orchids.

Look like evil baby (hands cupped in glee type) nested in cot flower something.

Man-made waterfalls that greet you as you enter the conservatory. This one is supposed to mimic a higher ground/montane plants. So flowers you usually oooh and aaah in Cameron Highlands, now no need to travel all the way up (and risking your lives if you're taking a bus) liaw.

 Singapore is really amazing. Anything and everything they can come up with something man-made. Man-made waterfalls, man-made mountains, man-made beaches, the list goes on and on....

 Beautiful rose gardens. In all shapes and shades.

 Fascinating leaves with a suede-like texture.

Then into the second conservatory, Flower Dome, which admittedly has more stuff to see (but my camera started dying out, so only a handful of photos).

 Cute little flower buds facing all directions.

 Massive display of beautiful flowers.

 Towering supertrees around the gardens

 View of the two conservatories from atop the super tree.

See, in a garden also die die must have man-made trees ;)

***

Digressing, without intent to insult/taunt anyone, I have lost some weight, 2kgs to be exact. My waist reached an all-new low 25". Don't know whether to feel happy or worried. Hmm. 

Untimely Depression Wave 2

A sudden wave of nostalgia strikes me and I was going through all my older posts (waaaay back in '07) and came across this post that strangely reflects my current mood.

Depression

Four years down the road... And I am still debating. Except that now I feel probably ten times worse.

I need strength.
I need a heart of stone.
I need help.

Monster

I've been in a whirlwind of sorts these past couple of months.....

A lot of things happened that I wish hadn't, sometimes I wish I could be more ignorant, but I know that's not right, either. Bit by bit of what I'd learned feeds this little monster in me until it's all grown and prepared to take over me.

I wish there's a time-turner.....

I wish life need not be so complicated....

I've got to learn and re-discover my own self :(

Prelude

I've got tons of pictures from TY's recent trip to Singapore. But it's a weekday, there's not enough time to blog a proper post, so I'll just post a few shots from a not-so-short trip to the tattoo parlour...

Artsy-fartsy shots

Dials on a Sanitizer

Book of anatomy. 

 The tattooist's 'cubicle'. Much more interesting, at least.

 Ink & Blood

That's pretty much all I have... loads of food ventures coming up, soon I hope!

Inked | 300

YEAY! Another benchmark to this not-so-humble blog, marking the 300th post. I'm not entirely sure what I'd blogged about to reach this number, but I'm pretty confident that 60% are made up of food posts.

Another wave of reflection shall come into play!

Reached my 200th post back in 2010 and the tune is more melancholic... not surprising since that year was a really bad time for me. Rewind a year back where the 102nd post was written and there was the blur me (cos I overshot and only realized by the 102nd post). Apart from the blur-ness, the conditions were very much in contrast to the 2010 200th post: there was a breath of exhilaration, humour... also no surprises there, I was in the midst of the adventure of my lifetime!

And finally.... Yes you read that right I got inked again :D:D. You know what they say about getting tattoos and getting hooked on it right? I can vouch for that.

 Another type of plant - makes it looks like I'm a sort of naturalist ;) LOL Well, not really but I just liked the thought of carrying a bit of luck with me all the time. My previous tattoo - which is at least 10 times bigger than the one here, did not bleed - not a single drop. But this time around has blood popping out macam cendawan lepas hujan kekeke.

 Bloodified piece of tissue!

Sha, my tatt artist asked whether tattoos are okay in the office and I told him that I can just use a watch to cover up! lol... but seriously I think it's alright as long as you don't choose really exposed areas like your forehead (if you do that, you're just plain dumb and nobody would hire you anyway).

Close up - I really liked it a lot! Love the colours... But coloured tatts are much more painful compared to the monochromatic one... Because there's shading and colour on colour... ouch :( Although it's only been 3-4 weeks since the first tattoo, the pain still surprises me.

Wonder what the parent's reactions will be like ... :D

 

Inked: The Reactions

My parents are the coolest! I just had to create a separate entry for this... So when I was back in SP through the long weekend, and parents and I were lounging at the living room. I casually commented that I'd gotten a tattoo.

Their reactions:

Mom juling-ed at me, meanwhile Papa pulak asked, butterfly ah?

LOL!!!!

K that's all :D

Got Lucky!

On a boring commute to the gym after work, as usual I was on my phone, doodling over it, stalking people on Facebook etc etc. Scrolling down the updates I saw a beds.sg (beds.sg is a Singapore website selling miscellaneous items ranging from mattresses to kitchen appliances to home decor) update of a little online contest called PriceIt - like one of those American The Price is Right game show... 

" The rules are simple; the first correct guess on the actual price of the featured item (in S$, of course) will be the winner of the contest. If there is no accurate guess, the closest guess in the next 5 hours will be crowned the winner!

The winner walks away with this beautiful red lounge chair! Here's some details to help you out:

Material: Fabric Upholstery & High Density Foam Cushions
Dimensions: 70cm(H) X 165cm(L) X 63cm(W) "

So I thought, what the heck right? Win or not, it takes the barest minimum of effort! Initially wanted to type in $89, but after scrolling through the comments (kiasu style), the numbers are really high! I think out of 150 comments, probably 5 guesses are of values less than $100! So I just tembak lah..... 

But anyhow I am forever skeptical of contests like these. I've taken part in a number of contests, but I have never won anything.... and I have never been successful in lucky draws too! Well, there was this once where I won the 2nd runner up price..... but....  the prize was some water dispenser, you know, those huge bulky ones where you have to order custom water containers that fits the dispenser - cut the story short, I think it was actually worth some RM1500 or something but it's just of no use to me that I exchanged my gift with another colleague and took his some $300 Calvin Klein perfume set. Couldn't be bothered to try and sell those things too.

So ya loh, skeptical and all, I joined just for the heck of it... Thinking that in the end also, maybe the prize they give to someone close to the company or something lah.....

Then later that night... logged in to Facebook again and received a notification 'beds.sg mentioned you in their comments'. I was like, eh? Immediately thought hey! Maybe I did win after all, but tried not to get my expectations high....

"5 hours and close to 180 guesses later, we have our winner!

Congratulations to Su Yin for the closest guess of S$125, a bare $6 difference from the Ariel's actual selling price of S$119!"

Walao! Seriously kena one!!! Lol. I sent the link to TY right away and he went "wtf? like this kind of game also got?" hahahahha. But then after that I headache, die lah, our place is as crammed as it is, we've got no more place for this monstrous thing!

SE pulak went "harrrr...... where got place? why u go and join??" hahahhaha. Cos I never thought I'd win it!!!

But the guys at beds.sg were great, I told them I have space constraints and they allow me to choose other items in place of it! Just so ngam we badly needed a rice cooker......

The goods came in yesterday! Really squeezed till dry kekekkekekke.... Got a rice cooker and steamer (btw just only realized that it's stainless steel, not teflon, so rice will stick :S), a blender with ice crush functions (fruit smoothies!!!) and just cause those two items are barely $100, I have an extra $20 or so left, so got a bedsheet set with pillow and bolster case! Super utilized to the max hehe.

Just the stroke of luck I needed! This restores my belief in online contests... yeay!