Kukup Part I

Lost 3kgs in 1 and a half month! 3 more to go. :D :D

No more fried food, no more bubble tea, no more desserts, no more late night suppers, no more buffet, less flavoured drinks, more water, more gym! Colleagues asked me to switch from Teh Bing to Teh O Bing :( and I tried I tried but I love solely Teh Bing please!
So easy to gain weight but so hard to lose some. Still find it hard to digest the fact that I could gain so much weight in few months.

Now everytime I pass by KFC, I smelled 2-piece chicken and cheese fries, and could feel hot tears coming. (Haha, no no I was exaggerating!)

I miss Gong Cha, Korean BBQ buffet and Ice Latte. :D

The staff gym is really convenient for me! I could walk there after work, do some exercises for about 45 minutes and head home after that. If I go to the Marymount gym with Simba, I would be too tired and hungry by the time I start working out.

Blogging about my 1st experience to Kukup with Simba and colleagues. :D
Kukup is truly a great place for relaxation and some together time with friends. But if you are looking for something more like sightseeing or shopping, u will be utterly disappointed.


We were reminded a few times by our HR in-charge, Carol, to assemble at Outram Park MRT at 8am that morning. Simba would always give me a morning call in times like this when we have to wake up real early and risk getting scolded by me (Hoho, I have morning anger!) but I woke up that morning without receiving any call from him. As he is always more disciplined than me, I didn't worry until 7am when i sensed that something was wrong, gave him a call but he thought it was his alarm clock and hung it up. It was only until 7 10am that he woke up! :D

Everyone was here at 7 50am except Chuan Sia, Pui Haan and Jun Wen. Lol. Feeling rather anxious, Carol pressed me to hurry them. She was showing me the list of people who weren't here yet and said, "All these people are running late. Aren't they all your friends?" Lol. Poor me. I shouldn't have come early.

 Chuan Sia and Pui Haan reached exactly at 8am, and the bus came shortly after. As the bus driver was feeling rather stressed waiting in the non-parking area, Carol was stressed too. She pressurised me to call Jun Wen again. LOL. My boyfriend was the only one late for my trip with the company people. :D My heart kept pounding really hard as I was pretty embarrassed and secretly hoping for Simba to appear right away.

Finally at 8 15am, he came into sight and hurriedly boarded the bus, and it sped away immediately even before he could take a seat. Lol. He grinned and said hi to everyone once he entered the bus, but only apologised to Pui Haan and Chuan Sia. (He didn't apologise to me even though I was the one receiving the pressure from our HR. Sad.) Then for the next half an hour, I was teasing Jun Wen about how big shot he was, and how fast the bus driver drove off as soon as he got onto the bus. The funny thing is he was not feeling any guilt from making everyone wait for him. He said they smiled and waved at him when he appeared, as a form of welcome. And since the bus was travelling at a very high speed, he said the high travelling bus could compensate for his lateness and our later programmes could stick neatly to the schedule. Lol.







On the bus to the Kukup.
He cooked up an excuse to play my iPhone games. The excuse was that he didn't bring a watch so he needed something to tell him of the time.







CS saw a van decorated with drawings of mice and commented that this mouse resembles the Star Wars character. Lol. We were all in agreement with him!








The ferry terminal







Packets of dried ikan billis






Colleagues kept teasing me to buy clothes since they were of my liking. Actually they thought any floral or tattered and torn would be what I like. :D
But u know... U can't expect much shopping from Kukup.






Flat fish powder?






Street shopping time before lunch. A provision shop caught our eye and we were all in to get some tidbits back home.






Haven't seen this for quite awhile in Singapore or is it that I always skipped the aisle of the Chips section in the supermarket?







3 packets of snacks were sold for RM10! Wanted to buy 3 packets back home but colleagues said they would want to share their snacks with me, leaving me with no choice but to share mine too.







The wheel tidbit that I used to really like when I was young. (Now I don't eat snacks anymore as I'm plain lazy to clean up the bits that fell.)



And it was the anticipated lunch time! We were dead hungry since the time we last ate was the time we just woke up.





We lunched at a seafood restaurant, a place where we long wanted to try their fresh seafood. Kar Perng brought his friend, also Jun Wen's and my coursemate, along.







Photo of Pui Haan and Chuan Sia.






Wen Wen volunteered to take a photo of us.
They called Jun Wen "Mr Tan" or "Wen Wen" even though they only met him for the second time. Kar Perng even commented that Jun Wen has become alot fatter. Oops.






And photos of seafood.













I weren't full at all after the meal. Wondered if the potion was too little or colleagues acted too quickly in shoving the food down their throats.







An old school baby chair. Couldn't resist the urge of taking a photo of the antique!


And after lunch, we took a boat to the chalet we were going to stay in.










The boat was pretty packed with tourists and the locals so Kar Perng and Jonathan went to the boat front to enjoy the breeze while Pui Haan and Chuan Sia shared seats with others.
Look at Jonathan's and Chuan Sia's smiles!






Ecstatic Kar Perng, all set to enjoy himself in Kukup! He has been readying himself for and awaiting it ever since we agreed to sign up for this trip.






The boyfriend who would always push away my camera, whispering to me not to take any pictures of it. And after awhile, he would pose with some weird expressions and then ask me to put the photo as his profile pic.


Following are the pictures I took while boating.




Kukup fish farm.





Temple.



Residents' homes.



And then we reached our chalet.






The mahjong tiles were all cramped in a ice-cream container and the jaws playing card box was so deceiving since it contained the poker cards instead of jaws cards!









Touched mahjong tiles as soon as we entered the house. Lol.









Ate the tiles as soon as we entered the house.







Held the tiles in an array as soon as we entered the house.
Lol.





I can do it too!






The Karaoke box was the one useful system which kept us from boredom the whole noon! We sang plenty of songs.. Ahems.. I meant we sang plenty of ... old.. songs. (Are we getting obsolete? We don't really listen to new songs anymore lol.)









It was rather magical that Jun Wen felt comfortable talking to my colleagues and singing in front of them. :D He is usually very shy in front of strangers. Perhaps the lion has grown up.






:D
We bought our coconuts at RM1 from an uncle who rides on his bicycle and go from chalet to chalet scouting for buyers. After we finished the coconut drinks, we would pass the husks back to the uncle and he would use his big chopper and ultimate strength to pry open these husks so that we got to eat the flesh too.


Love this photo by the way.
Everyone seems to be in the world of their own.








Yes I saw that gap between the bangs. 
*Zoom in on Pui Haan*







:D
The try-too-hard-to-be-artsy photographer.

Drawing Blood & Samuel

Lately, CS used a faster way to draw blood from the mouse and taught it to me. I had to insert a needle into its face and if I hit on the right spot I would be able to drain some blood from the vein. The first few times I tried I got too emotional since the mouse's eye was almost popping out and once it struggled I gave up. I would be like, "Erm, CS, could you help me draw it? I don't think I can."

But I got used to it after some weeks and tried my best to hit the right spot the moment I insert the needle in so that the mouse doesn't suffer so much. 

Drawn by my tutee's 4-year-old younger brother:










Left: Me
Middle: Tutee Joanna's brother, Samuel
Right: Tutee Joanna


So cute right! He tried to share a chair with me, hug and kiss me sometimes. He is so cute!

Ying's Birthday 2012!

My surgery appointment is set. 5th November 2012! It's a 2-day stay in the hospital. :D I seemed to have told many people about it accidentally and they said they would come visit. Lol.

As my medial ligament is torn, the surgeon has to reconstruct it using a tendon extracted from the back part of my knee and implant this graft into the hole of ligament. 6 cuts will be made on my knee in the surgery. 5 minor ones and 1 major. 4 to re-adjust the patellar, 1 to insert the graft and 1 to remove the loose bodies. This was unlike the references I saw online and thus unexpected by me.

The success rate is 90% and recovery time is 3-4 weeks, with knee braces worn for 6 weeks. But afterwards, the knee will be significantly better and will not be dislocated again according to the surgeon. Anaesthesia type is General. Left knee would first be operated, followed by the right knee 3 months later. My surgeon is Paul Chang from SGH. I went to collect reviews and references about him and he seems like a proficient doctor who has improved the lives of many patients.

One of the questions I asked him in the consultation room was "What if the surgery fails? Will I be able to walk?". And without hesitation he answered that I will be back to square one, unless there are complications like infections, but till now he hasn't encounter anyone of such case.

I heard that few percent of people don't wake up from General Anaesthesia and kind of made my mum worry alot but other people assured me that I would be fine. :D


Just celebrated Ying's birthday at Brotzeit German Bar! Dined with Ling, Joe and Shixing a week before and we couldn't forget the enticing Pork Knuckle Platter we shared, with me not being able to keep the Banana Syrup beer off my mind. Lol. Hence for her birthday, Shixing suggested Brotzeit again! :D


And we shared the Pork Knuckle Platter again.

Our side dish, potato wedges.

Everyone had a 0.5L of beer, with some ordered more of it later.

Joe thought I was aiming the camera at him and hence posed for it. But little did he know that my camera was set to the miniature function, where the focus would be on things nearer to me and everything further blurred out.

The Platter (for 5 pax) consisting of 8 German sausages, 1 pork knuckle, 1 chicken chop, and 1 fish and chips.

The miniature effect.

The guys. Bespectacled Joe, his new image.

Cheers! ;D

Miao's boyfriend, Wan, surprised Ying with a cake. This cake was something very unique as it has layers of flavours. Always wanted to ask where he bought it but always didn't. :D Thanks Miao and Wan for always being so generous.

The wind was not in our favour this time and so Ling helped to shield the lit candles from the wind using her cup.

Birthday girl with her cake. Did she make a wish? Didn't remember if she did.

One big piece of cake for Ying.

After I handed the responsibility of photo-taking to the professional Jun Wen, he began taking candid shots. This is one nice captured moment.

The girls. Still auto mode is the best! Lol.
Ling looked different that day but couldn't identify the change she has made. Ying said it should be her hairstyle, as she made a nice bow with her hair.

I was giving tuition before this and my tutee commented that I always wear everything with holes. Yea, say hi to my new holey cardigan!

Tuck Wei was very energised that evening for some reason, which is good of course since it reflected how happy he is now. Perhaps cos of his new job?

He went on and on about the Gundam Style Video. Lol. This "Ultraman" thingy was extracted from the Gundam dance. What matched his hand gesture so much was his expression, making everyone quiver at the sight of it. Lol. Luckily Jun Wen was more normal.

Lol. Jun Wen with his newfound lover, Tuck Wei.
I told Jun Wen to come upfront with me when he gets home on whether he was intimidated by Tuck Wei's gayness and intimacy (lol). If so, I will confront Tuck Wei for him. 

Then it was present opening time. Inside the feminine Victoria's Secret paper bag were a Victoria's Secret handbag and wristlet. I like the striped alternating shades of pink on the wristlet, which is a feature of Victoria's Secret goods.

The handbag with the brand name printed all over it.

Joe came over to our seats to take a quick peek at the birthday card.
I couldn't get my fringe to align properly, as usual. :D
Seemed like people who noticed my new hair mentioned that gap on my fringe. Lol.

Candid #2.
Look at the-blessed-and-natural-Ying-look when she read the card filled with warm wishes.

I am the card illustrator. Have something to confess: Did the card the night before our meet up! I'm so sorry it was so last minute as I was really cooped up with my work. :(

Bought this card from Vietnam due to its uniqueness. The locals crafted it with such delicate skills, making me so eager to lie that I made it myself. LOL.

Ying is one true blue fan of My Melody.
She has everything associated with it, you name it, she has it.

The heartwarming wishes penned down by our friends.

:D

Happy birthday Ying! U are one special friend whom we always would want to spend your birthday with. Hope you spent an awesome birthday with us~

4th Year Anniversary Part II

Back track to my 4th year anniversary day with Jun Wen.
(Realised that I have not updated plenty of posts. At the rate I'm going, I can never finish it.)

Following the brilliant circus performance, we went to Leisure Park for dinner. What we thought as the appealing restaurant in the whole mall was this one shown below.




Plenty of people queued patiently before the restaurant waiting to get in and at the sight of it, we both stood in line with the queue, awaiting to see and taste what the craze was about.
The service was quite slow that day and perhaps it could be that the restaurant is really unstaffed. I forgave them since the food was really good and worth the money.

It was like a alternative Marche. U have to go to the food corner and put your ice-cream stick into the slot that reads the name of the food you intended to eat. U will pay at the end of the day.
















Then next on his itinerary was a drink at Wala Wala Bar.
He paid for a over costly Corona while I tried the Kronenbourg Beer, a beer which I couldn't differentiate with other beers. :D









Beers really taste the same to me until they are mixed with something else.
:D
Still thinking of the beer with banana syrup I had at the Brotzeit German Bar Vivo City. Couldn't get enough of it. It was just too bad that the 313 branch didn't give enough banana taste.