Simply.Just.Pure.Me
20
Helping people find jobs
Qifa.Commonwealth.Hwa Chong.
BMTC II.AFS.SOA.PLAD
Ren.Ray.Jan.Yu
Woon.Zing.Ner.Aili.Re.Ngai.Li
Blue.White and hazel choc
Travelling.Reading
For 2007, I hope to...
:Enrich myself as much as possible before Uni:
:Do well in Uni:
:Visit Hong Kong or Taiwan:
:Learn hip-hop dancing:
:Not involve my car in any accident:
Free shoutbox @ ShoutMix
No, I'm not aksing ppl to gear up for anything, or myself for anything either. Hmm.... on second thoughts maybe that Nokia N95 challenge. But anyway, I think I kind of just upped one gear on my tuitioning... by taking up a JC1 econs student LOL. Yea, I kind of told myself last year to take it easy on the tuitioning, and to refrain myself from taking up JC students because it would need more preparation than others, but alas... the message just escaped me? I didn't put it in a time capsule???
But I need the money anyway. It's sad... being a victim of this whole rat race "I need to earn lots and lots of money" racecourse, but at the same time, I can't say for sure how long I can last with a disposable income of $60 *gasp*. Well, it's as bad as one point in 2005 where it hit $1 plus. That was super.... (insert some dramatic word which is synonymous with bankrupt).
Anyway, had lots of fun meeting some friends today. First in the afternoon sprawling over the travel guide section in Kino looking for the perfect destination to escape to with a budget and balancing Paris and Angkor. Yes, one of my friends wanted to go to Paris; the other, Angkor Wat. Hmm... I'll give you (and them) some time to reconcile. But eventually we decided on Australia, and now we fretting over what to do there. So yes, it made for a really tiring day reading and flipping and talking and getting exasperated at certain points in time (for me).
Thank goodness we had a Mac's break in between or I would have vommitted blood (along with some gastric juice since I skipped lunch... would be an ugly sight). I had the Double Fillet-o-fish which honestly wasn't what I expected. And I certainly did not fall in love (case in point: their advert) with the it, well the price at least. $4.45 ala carte. I was like WTH?! It used to be $3.80! (a few years back tho).
So ya, back to it. I then met another group of friends in the evening for dinner at the fabulous Thai Express, and I must say, their desserts are WICKED! I'll leave it at that. Go try it. Lurve the banana fritters with coconut ice cream. How can you not love the hot-cold, fried-sweet, easy-melting-xrisp combination? Love it love it love it!!!! That's gonna add some calories, but hey, it you've got to add it, must as well make it come from something heavenly!
Feeling weary now. Havent showered (eeks). Gotta get to bed soon. Oh wait a minute. I don't evem have school or work tmr hor. LOL. Nvm then.
Labels: Desserts, ice cream, Thai Express, Tuition
Terence pens his legacy at 12:37 AM
YOW-ZAA!
I'm feeling at the top of the world! Weeeeeee!!!! Can't you just feel the excitement and joy just oozing from this post? Ok I'm getting too hyper. "But I feel so ADD..."
Anyways, I went with LS to JB today, to kind of enjoy myself again... haha. Although I have to sadly declare that my funds are running low. Hmm... donations are welcome though. Lol. Ok enough with this "I'm so high" crap.
We headed straight for Aeon Tebrau City and first stop: The Manhattan Fish Market! Yea. I've always wanted to try the food there and compare it to Fish and Co for a looong long time now. Anf today I somehow managed LS to try it out with me. He has been a little conscious about his spending in our past several trips, but ever since he started working permanently and full-time at a HK cafe at Lot 1 and has been having a steady income, it seems that he's a little more willing to pamper himself, and of course when it comes to food, well, let's just say that his tummy would always betray one of biggest weaknesses.
So yup, we went in, pretty nice setting, nice music too - they were playing mainly PCD tracks, I mean how could anyone go wrong with PCD? With tracks like "Wait a minute", "Stickwitu", "Don cha", "Sway" and many others, damn, I was having a good time! Of course if the PCD were performing live in the restaurant that would have made for a much better meal but, alas, they were held up in the States. Heh. So nvm, I'll just settle for their voices.
So anyway, I just had had HAD to order their "Manhattan Seafood Platter for 2" seeing how the name sounds so much like the one from Fish and Co. Hmm, in fact it's just a rip-off plus a name addition. How original can it get right? Haha. I also have to add that their menu is pretty much similar to Fish and Co's, with but a few differences. Is this brand proliferation by the same organisation? If anyone can enlighten me? Haha.
So anyway, back to the order. A seafood platter, adding on soups-of-the-day and cups of ice lemon tea for us both, as well as a plate of coleslaw. Yup. A very filling meal. So we were waiting for the order to arrive. And the waiter walks over with this HuuUge silver big plate thingamajig (which kinds of outdoes the black platter which FnC uses) with our food on it. And he paused, not bringing the platter to our table. I was like, Give it to ME! I'm Hungry!!! (in my mind)
Round 1: Prawns.
And then he suddenly whips out this flameblower thingy and starts putting on a fire show a la circus performance. And he starts flaming our dear prawns! And I was like WTH?! DON'T BURN MY PRAWNS! And apparently the sauce they put on the prawns had some liqour infused in it so the prawns "apparently" went on fire. Yup. And the resulting sauce had this slight charred taste to it, which, when eaten along with the prawns, taste so heavenly!
Round 1 results: Manhattan thrashes FnC's prawns in taste, but not in quantity sadly (only 4 measly prawns unlike FnC's 10 I believe). So it's still kind of a tie?
Round 2: Calamari.
Ok so FnC's calamari are bigger in size, but looking at the overall quantity I would say it doesn't differ much, as compared to Manhattan's portion. I was told that FnC would fry your calamari rings for you if requested, but Manhattan does it one way only: fried. The batter Manhattan uses is pretty decent, somewhat similar to what FnC uses (IMO at least).
Round 2 results: Thus, I have to award FnC the honours since their rings are bigger and juicier.
Round 3: Fish fillet
So I moved on to the fried fish next. How could I not, it sitting there and looking all big and juicy and begging to be cut and devoured. It definitely looks better than FnC's, being fried and all, and it certainly delivers in taste the promise it made in looks and aroma. It doesn't feel too oily too, despite being fried (not like your usual $4.50 - $5.50 plate of fish and chips at coffeeshops and hawker centres where the fish is, to put it midly, soaked in oil). FnC's just happened to be a little, well, soft, a little too mushy for my liking, and well, it disintegrates into tiny bits too easily when I attempt to get it onto my plate. So...
Round 3 results: I have to say Manhattan's fried version of the fish fillet is better, in terms of looks, aroma and taste.
Round 4: Mussels
Ok, once again, Manhattan's has its mussels fried. Which, I know to some people reading up to this point, might be a turn off since everything from Manhattan seems fried. Well, it has its plusses, being pretty easy on the mouth when entering. Also, the chopped garlics they provide (upon request) goes very well with the fired mussels. However, sadly, they only gave us 3 pieces of it. FnC, however, has I think 8 pieces of mussels still in their shell, supposedly adding to the "fresh factor". Well... its troublesome to get the whole chunk of flesh out wiithout putting in some effort, but when you eventually do, the tatse is actually pretty good. A good balance its counterparts. So...
Round 4 results: FnC's larger quantity as well as its non-fried version of mussels trumps over Manhattan's meager 3 pieces (seafood platter for TWO, hello?) which are fried, and sadly, unlike its fishy counterpart, is a little oily to the tongue.
Round 5: Rice and fries
Manhattan serves garlic rice, a refreshing twist from the usual types of rice we're accustomed to, like Thai pineapple rice, western butter rice etc. Well I may be sua-gu but I havent really seen this kind of rice being served in many places. So it was certainly a welcome twist. FnC's buttered raisin rice is nice too, but doesnt go down too easy after a few mouthfuls. As for the fries, there isn't much comparison to do sadly. It tastes similar, almost indistinguishable if you were to hide its source. The use the same length of fries (almost), sprinkle the same kinf of paprika powder. So, based on the rice...
Round 5 results: Manhattan takes this round because of its very deserving garlic rice.
So it comes down to how you like your prawns: Numerous? (FnC) or Tast-ier (Manhattan). That's not to take away anything from FnC's prawns, their fabulous too, but Manhattan's is a teeny bit better?
So after the huge food war, we both moved on to watching "The Messengers". Don't believe it has opened in Singapore yet, or if it will. Pretty decent flick, with a rather decent and believable plot. A pretty good twist too, that is if you're not caught up in the suspense enough to notice it before it's too obvious or in your face. Starring angmoh actors/tresses but directed by Asian directors The Pang Brothers, so expect some element of Asian horror movies: the suspense played up by the soundtrack (or lack thereof at some points). 3/5
And then it was on to shopping for clothes. Actually I didn't really get myself any pieces of garment because my closet is already too chocked full with shirts and tees. So I really have to practise some self-restraint. And it did work heh. I did get some stationery though, considering school was about to start and all.
And we taxi-ed off to City Square thereafter, where we once again, indulged ourselved in food! Yes, foodies back in action. And this time, we didn't spare on the pamper factor either! We went to Wan Jiao HK Cafe and, guess what, had snacks and other "xiao-chi"s as our meals!! Haha. No rice or noodle dishes, we were gorging ourselves full on side dishes, which can be a costly habit if acquired.
We had French toast, which Wan Jiao does a perfect type of. Two slices of bread, fried in beaten egg batter, and topped with melted butter. Sounds typical? Here's the twist I havent seen in most other HK cafes: They spread peanut butter in between the slices, making for a really delicious (but sinful) concoction. 4 stars!
Next up was what they called "Star Website" which really was two pieces of fried mashed potatoes mixed with chopped radish shaped into stars and fried. Paired with the slightly sour sauce they provide, it makes for a pretty decent snack. 3 stars.
We then had fired youtiao stuffed with fish paste and dipped in mango sauce. Sadly, this was a mismatch made in Wan Jiao, since the youtiao with fish paste (which is very very readily available at your nearest zhu-chao stall) is very typical and mediocre at best, and the accompanying mango sauce just doesn't go well with the youtiao. 1.5 stars.
Lastly, we had what they termed "Fruit Bacon Rolls" which was basically a piece of fruit (I think it's a pear?) wrapped with some fish paste and a slice of bacon, and sent to fry. It's then lavishly smeared with sweet and sour sauce, which, together witht he fruit, complements the fish paste and bacon really well. Can't really tell who the main actor was, but it all went down very easily. 3.5 stars!
After that, how can the foodies give Secret Recipe's cakes a miss since it's so much more affordable in M'sia than in Sg? We teetered over to Secret Recipe with an almost full stomach and helped ourselves to their mouth watering cakes! I had the chocolate indulgence cake, which was, well, a little too sugary (and spice and everything nice... oh no, I so did not just sing this...) for my liking. What I'm trying to say is, with the combination of milk choc and white choc, it may be a little of an overkill, but the name says it: choc indulgence, so there... 3 stars.
LS had a choc banana cake (which I have tasted before) which is basically sliced banana wrapped with choc cream and cake. One word. HEAVENLY! A must try if you're at a lost of which cake to try. 4.5 stars!!
So there you go. Loved today! Loved the feeling of indulging myself. Love the fact that I'm hopeful such more days will come for me.
Peace out! :) :p
Terence pens his legacy at 12:47 AM
I'm bored, wanna get a job, but...
Yea, kind of slacking it out these days. Ever since I finished my job at Recruitexpress, I have been doing nothing much. Gone out with friends, check. Accompanied family members (and sometimes even driving them) to checkups, running errands etc, check. Playing Neverwinter Nights 2, check. Watching TV, check. Lying around thinking of what to do, check check check *tssssz* oops I think I just tore my paper by writing too hard on that last one. Hee hee...
So anyway, job applications sent out liao. But I didn't send any to any job agency. Like I'm so over and done with these recruitment agencies... Not that I have anything "life-and-death"-y against them, but I don't necessarily agree with their way of doing things. I can't say the same for agencies other than the one I worked at, but I guess it's almost the same since it's a cutthroat industry and I guess if you're not ruthless you'll get marginalised?
Yep, I know my chances are so limited, and this, coupled with the fact that I'm a rather picky individual when it comes to work - not with the amount of work I have to do, but more with the remuneration. Come on guys, I have bills to pay too! My wife takes up quite a bit already lor, so yea... the season parking, the petrol blah blah blah adds up to quite a bit. Hmm... oh yes and my Prudential Policy Premium (P3) which is around 100 buks a month?
So, I pray pray pray that I get a good job by directly contacting companies? Pretty puh-leez? Haha. I'll stick to dreaming about it, and who knows it may just come through!
Nightz, out!
Terence pens his legacy at 12:00 AM
The Question came up again...
Yes it did. Money or passion? Sigh, I still can't decide...
Sometimes I can just lie on my bed thinking about being some real estate mogul, or some rich empire-controlling entrepreneur, or some super successful attorney whose services are courted over the world.
Yet sometimes I think about smiling as I drive my dear Colt to work, about choosing the nicest songs for radio and loving every second of it, or being a travel presenter and getting to visit so many places in the world, some maybe not even popularised/commercialised, or being a journalist and inspiring readers with my opinions and feeling like I've done humanity a favour. Oh I certainly wouldn't mind if you want to invite me to some TV feature or maybe (if I'm really that good) throw in a Nobel Peace prize or two. I'm not greedy lah muhahaha.
I still can't decide. And honestly I don't blame myself. Although at 20 (turning 21), I'm "supposed" to be charting my own future and supposed to be having "5 year plans" and "10 year plans", I guess I'm psychologically not there and probably not ready as of yet, and I'm not afradi to admit it. I guess I have a general direction of which way to go (which I have very cleverly narrowed down to, guess what, "not science!") and the fact that I'm not pursuing anything too limiting/constricting or specific still leaves that many doors open, and which buys me (hopefully) enough time to think things through (triple "th-"'s, always hate those when I speak...). Makes me sound like a cheenah-kia trying to act ang-moh when in the first place, that's the way it's supposed to be pronounced.
Hopefully an honours in Law would still alow me to be a journalist/editor/presenter should I choose to do so in the future. Maybe I wouldn't be as learned in these fields as people who specifically studied them, not too bona fide I know, but I guess the important thing is that the door may still be open?
Ok, I'm getting too verbose here. Maybe I should chnage the title of my blog to "Ramblings" (or did one of my friends already use it before... that would spell a lack of originality.... cannot...) hmm maybe make that "Insecure Ramblings", yes, I would be building my own "IR" then. Then there'll be lots of hype about my blog since it is an IR in Singapore.
Ok. I'll stop.
Applied to couple more jobs yesterday and hoping to get a reply from a couple of them. A few of them include things I would really like to give a try (so at least on my death bed I can say I have "been there, done that"), including DJ-ing and being some drama instructor for kids in a childcare centre. Yes yes, I know. I already said it's a try-out. Who knows what will come of it and what opportunities it may bring?
A quote:
"Everybody's looking for that something
One thing that makes them all complete
So impossible, as they may seem
You've got to fight for every dream
Cause who's to know
Which one you let go
Would have made you complete"
- Westlife's "Flying Without Wings" (side note: Lurve the version featuring BoA. She rox!)
So at least I'll give these "dreams" a shot should the opportunity knock. Then I'll be able to see if it makes me complete, or if it justs... no la, don't think it will waste my time. And so should u people who are reading. Nothing lost. Well not much at least, but a lot of valuable insight gained.
Terence pens his legacy at 3:06 PM
BACK!
Ok so here I am after the long disappearance. I guess some people should know where I went, but for those who don't well it's not something G-L-A-M-O-U-R-O-U-S, so I think I'll not want to talk about it.
Anyway, it's nice to be back and up and running after my March episode, feeling so down and melancholic and all, ergh, don't you just hate it when people feel this way and it runs off onto you? I dunno about people out there but the blogs I read, they're usually of this tone and sometimes (make it most times bah I guess) it just rubs on onto me and I get affected by them.
Funny. I read about being emphatetic (sp?) and symphatetic, and it seems it's not good to be too symphatetic but better to be the former. But I guess being the type of person I am, I always fall into the latter group. Regardless I'm trying hard not to do so...
Funny. Now that I have left my job, I'm supposed to be happy and stuff cuz I need my much deserved break
1) After serving 2 years of NS (yes I'm not so lucky to get 1 yr 10 mths, and yes, I AM sore about it by the way...)
2) Since my uni is starting in Aug and once it starts it's going to be a 4 years stretch so it wouldnt really be too wise to stretch my brain to its limits before it really has to...
But as most people around me know, I don't really enjoy sitting back and having too much of nothing to do... like I would usually whip out a copy of Today which I always grab from the distributor uncle/auntie when I walk past them to read while waiting for my notoriously late friendS (yes, I have more than just "a few" friends who seemt o have a problem with their "bus" or "MRT" rides.... :S) at the MRT stations or where-nots... like I have been sculpted (very unfortunately) by our non-stop always-grinding education system to be someone who has to always do something... I dunno, maybe I'll invest in some betel nuts someday?
Spwaking of which... I have been thnking of going to Laos sometime before my uni starts... it was supposed to be Russia and the Trans-Siberian railway but well, lets just say some kinks popped up along the track to fulfilling that dream of mine so I guess it has to be shelved like a can of sardines for now... I'd most definitely go back to open it and I hope that by then, it hasn't expired, or gone bad and smelly that I'll discard it altogether...
I dunno... there's something about these "off the beaten tracks", "not overly commercialised" or "inaccesible" (as some people call it) destinations that attract me so so much. Myabe I like to do things that others dont. Maybe it's that rustic, unique charm that each place should have that makes travelling to that place worth the while in the first place. Or maybe it's just that forbidden fruits are sweeter. I dont know which facet pushes my buttons, but whatver the case, these cases do. So there. Myabe I'll share some of my travel fantasies which would, hopefully, come true one day...
1) I've thought of going to Argentina, u know going there to learn the Argentine Tango (and hopefully find a dance partner who's not taller than me, which is well.... let's just say the chances aren't as fat as Lydia Sum or sth), probably get influenced by the passion of the dance and go wild while participating in one of their festivals and just madly tango, mumba, samba my way around town OR
2) Board the Trans-Siberian railway and meet colourful personalities on the train which I can hopefully strike somewhat of a conversation with and hopefully learn more about the Russian culture, how the russian revolution, the leninism, stalinism changed and affected their lives etc etc and maybe even go to small rural towns and live there for a couple of days, see how they live their lives (especially Siberia). And I'll make pitstops along the way to view the magnificent sights which I'm sure not many countries can rival (Oh I'm such a sucker for cold, snowy winter landscapes) OR
3) Extensively explore the Indochina region (i.e. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and maybe northern Thailand as well?) and visit the minority tribes who still very traditionally hold on to their cultures and practices and which hopefully they can very generously allow me to smaple a slice of (gastronomically and otherwise...) I also hope to be able to take a slow boat down the Mekong (for a section only, not the whole river I'd probably not have enough time and money for it)... And do all the outdoor activities that are starting to pick up speed there, like caving (ooh!), cycling, (elephant) trekking, maybe be a little more adventurous (and if my physical fitness allows)... rock climbing as well? Yea... OR
4) Visit Wales and go castle-hopping, visiting all the old castle ruins (I'm also a sucker for castles by the way, chateaus included too :)), learning mroe about the history. Maybe fantasize being a king (too old, make that a prince...) for a day. And then I'll probably hop over to Ireland where it has such a cosy feel, hop into a bar, grab a mug of beer (I'll watch it, I'm so NOT an alcoholic), drink and "make merry" with the locals, maybe get into the mood and learn some tap dancing and attempt to strut whatcver stuff I have learnt and make a fool out of myself but at the same time getting people in stitches and getting new friends possibly...
Yes, the list could go on. But as aforementioned, there are but fantasies atm, fantasies that I have to KIV for the time being. Hopefully with enough finances and time I would be able to fulfil them in the future lor haha ;) But until then I'd try to read the travel guides and picture myself living it up in those cities and thinking of "what might be"s and hopefully turning them into "what it is now"s.
Any TV station or editorial wanna rope me in as a travel presenter/writer? Haha...
Terence pens his legacy at 12:48 AM
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