For archival: An Q&A of my likes and dislikes

1. Do you have any and if so, all of the Amber books?
Yes, I don't mind illustrated ones, or special edition ones 


2. which Star Trek series did you like best? Do you have the collection?
I like TNG best (2nd series), I own none of them They are as follow: 
TOS (Kirk's gang - fat guy) 
TNG (Picard's gang - botak guy) 
DS9 (Benjamin Seisko - Black guy gang. never watched and would like to) 
VGR (Lady captain. watched 50%) 


3. Which Star Trek movie do you like best and what don't you have from the series?
I like and own the VCD versions 
First Contact (8) 
Voyage home (4) 
Wrath of Khan (2) 

I like and don't own this 
Star Trek - the reboot (11) 

Abosolutly avoid this, and no I don't own it, and don't intend to 
The Search for God (5) - directed by William Shatner

I missing these for my collection
Insurrection (9)
Nemesis (10)
Search for Spock (3)


4. Which Marvel hero you like best?
Thor, and Wolverine 
Liked Wolverine till they scrapped too deep for his origins 


5. Which Gundam hero you like best?
None. they are either cry babies or merciless killers 
The watched series are Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny 


6. Do you have any special edition LOTR books?
Unless you mean thick budget book with thin cheapo paper 


7. Do you have a pocket edition of LOTR or The Hobbit?
Nope to LOTR.  I have a collecters' edition Hobbit which is pocket size 


8. What is your tee size in general?
M to L, leaning to L 


9. Which is more wanted? a limited edition toy, normal film item, or autographed item? (for any series)
Autographed item, limited toy, normal film item, in that order 


10. What language would you like to learn most? (contemparary earthly)
Greek or Nordic, since I can't learn Vulcan or Elvish. 


11. do you prefer an experience or an item?
Don't mind. Good thing is I don't have to store it, or find this and that to assemble it 


12. red, yellow, or white?
Used to be I liked Giordano yellow, now it's Uniqlo Blue/Red 


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gaga: THANK YOU. :P
Kns, these answers would last you a long time
~

Ho Chi Minh City

Q. You went on a trip?!  When was it?
18 May to 22 May.  Missed me? :p

Q. Why?
It was my birthday present, preciousss...  Heh, not really, my current phone is the birthday present.  The trip was co-shared.

Q. ... No, why there?
This destination came about because it was relatively cheap.  The basic tour was only 200+.  Add $60 for extension.  Add $110 for a change in carrier from Garuda to Tiger Airways.
Also, after cleaning out my bank accounts twice on Europe trips, I wish to see something from Asia.

Q. What were the complications?
Switching to a budget carrier means that we get charged from baggage weighing more than 15 kg, which considering it costs $110 more than the default choice of National Carrier, leaves a bad taste in the mouth.  For our return trip, we paid US$20 for excess baggage.

Q. How bad was the traffic?
At first, we expected something like Bali, but worse.  Actually, the traffic in the city was well managed and relaxed.  Jay-walking is the national past-time.  Just make sure you make eye contact with the driver.

Q. Is it true the best way to cross the street is to close your eyes and walk?
Unlike Singaporean drivers, most drivers in Vietnam do not charge at you, to scare you out of their way.  However, bullies exist everywhere.  We met one.

Q. There's nothing to see in Ho Chi Minh!
True.  But are you there to see Zoos and Bird Parks?  Frankly, among all the lame claims to fame that our country tried to make, it's true about our Zoo being world-class.  We went to the standard tourist traps, with hidden costs.  Grrr...  We learnt our lesson from Bali - If you're gonna be a purse-pincher, then you won't get to experience anything!  So spend!  Go to all the silly tourist traps and enjoy yourselves.

Q. Any tourists traps that I should not go?
All of them are pretty enjoyable.  Take note of the hidden costs.  They made their day trips appear very cheap, but they do not include the price of tickets!  Not exactly ethical in my point of view, but everyone does it there, it seems.

Q. Where are your photos?
Ok, here, here.

200905_hcm_vietnam

Choosing a birthday gift

[post has been back-dated]

Belachanbabe wanted to buy me a belated present and asked me to pick my own. I refused to let her do a "Gaga" and went about looking at "anything".

I saw a figurine / bust of Saya(Blood+) in an attack pose, together with Hagi and I expressed my interests. She however claimed that it was too perverted as Saya was in uniform...

"Hello? Bleach is more perverted. Blood+ is serious all the way. Ahem, I correct myself. Bleach is very perverted."

However, my argument fell on deaf ears. She picked something in the end, unwittingly completing a collection of mine.

Later, we saw a nice display set of a popular cartoon series. It was several characters and its selling point is "Create your own opening scene!". Belanchanbabe then thought it would make a better present. I felt shy about returning the present to the shop-owner so we left it at that.

Thanks. Anyone wants to gift me a shelf next?

Belated bday for Gaga

The seven of us are finally together after some time. We had a slow lazy BBQ which was interrupted at the latter half when a monkey came along. After an hour of standoff, it was always comical for the monkey to be distracted by an ice cube. It enjoyed it so much that he took it up the tree to suck on it.


We cleared up and headed to another spot to play Munckin. We backstabbed each other for 2 hours before Roger joined us. We then took another hour triple-stabbing each other before we let Ah yam win...

Finally, we ended our day at a restaurant with not-so-nice dumplings. The ending highlight of the night was, "Do you know the price of your wife's ring should be 2.5 times your salary?"

Official site: Munckin Bites

Bryan's bday celebrations: No plans survive first contact with the enemy

[Plan A, part 1] Go Sentosa.
[Plan A, part 2] Foot massage for Bryan, watch him squirm and scream.
[Plan A, part 2] Dinner.
[Plan A, part 2] Iguana!

[Reality1] "Oops", said Bryan. "I forgot I got jap class"

[Plan B, part 1] Foot massage for Bryan, watch him squirm and scream.
[Plan B, part 2] Dinner.
[Plan B, part 3] Kill Bryan with drinks at Iguana.

[Reality2] Foot reflexology hurts me more than it affected him. What was I thinking??

[Reality3] Dinner plans changed. Iguana booking cancelled :_|

[Plan C, part 1] Foot massage for Bryan, watched JW squirm.
[Plan C, part 2] Dinner at HarbourFront.
[Plan C, part 3] Kill Bryan with drinks at Iguana.

[Reality4] After dinner plans involve karaoke.

[Plan D, part 1] Foot massage for Bryan, watched JW squirm.
[Plan D, part 2] Dinner without hopes of ice frozen strawberry margarita.
[Plan D, part 3] Karaoke.
[Plan D, part 4] Maybe we could still go Iguana.

[Reality5] Decided to call it a day.

[Plan E, part 1] Foot massage for Bryan, watched JW squirm.
[Plan E, part 2] Dinner without hopes of ice frozen strawberry margarita.
[Plan E, part 3] Karaoke.
[Plan E, part 4] :_|

-6 days

Can't get any work done

[work]
There's so much interruptions to my work for the last two days. Other than being chased for existing work, I have to answer queries from colleagues on program logic. I'm not getting anything down.

[social]
Anyway, we got to meet Joseph this afternoon. Tony also contacted me out of the blue. Too bad I didn't have much time.
Btw, happy birthday Bee.

-4H2U

We are the kids

I was out with a friend today to have tea. When we were done, we shopped around for her young nephew's birthday present. "I want to buy him a toy bus with doors that open", she said.
Action City and Lego shop yielded not results. We then visited Centerpoint. The first item I picked up was a bus with a smiley face from the "Thomas and friends" series. My friend wasn't too impressed and we went on to look at other die cast cars. There was only 1 toy bus and it didn't have doors that can open.
We briefly considered toys for toddlers and I was rather fascinated by a crocodile car. I entertained myself with it while TimidGal looked on, amused. I passed her my initial pick of the "Thomas and friends" bus again and said if she doesn't want it, I'll put it back. It was then she thought it cute. -.-

So we went to the shelf and she went, "Cute! Cute!", like some little chirping chick. What began as a simple search for a bus became a half hour ransack of the shelf with the 2 of us getting more excited with each new find. Kids were trying to get around us to look at the trains...


Final choice: A train engine named Mike; A magic cargo car that changes its contents every time you open its doors; A bus named Bulgy

You know what's amazing? Each of them has 1-2 bi-directional magnets that allow the cars (including Bulgy) to be joined!
We are the kids.

Source of pictures:
All Aboard Toys
Toys & Hobbies
More reading:
Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

-4H3U

July update

Apologies, was busy with having fun and didn't have the energy to update recently. Plus the fact that I'm not done with my K.K write up yet.
As interests vary between individuals, you might want to skip sections that are boring to you. I have labelled them with a subject title.

1. [Military geek speak]
The advantage of living in my area is that I can see the pride of our nation - the fighter jets, scream past our window, year after year. My nicest view this year happened when I was in the car park, watching a F-16 jet roll lazily with me as the center.
With the Apaches joining the National Day Parade this year, it felt so surreal to have such high tech equipment in our country. F-16 Falcon and AH-64 Apache; These are stuffs you see on CCN and Discovery Channel. Never mind that the Falcon was developed before I was born but watching it in the skies is a sight to behold.

2. [Neighbourhood]
Happy birthday to my local library. I didn't know that she had served me 18 years =)

3. [Gathering]
Went out with the guys to Settlers Cafe last Saturday (1 Jun). We played Settlers of Catan and fell in love with its simplicity. Bryan later opened our eyes to what a cutthroat merchant he could be...
Cheryl wanted to go to Takashimaya for shopping but it was I who ending up buying a pair of shoes. The night was ended with a 2hr DotA match, bringing in Cheryl and Bryan as beginners. On one side were Bryan, Cheryl, Daryl and GagaGoogoo. On the other side were me and some AI bots to assist me. DotA is a game where beginners are a liability rather than a help. So the game went badly for Team A for I grew stronger with each kill :p. Cheryl was beside me and she was absolutely livid whenever I killed her character. Everyone pretty much enjoyed themselves.

4. [Injury]
Erm... The healing is proceeding slowly.

-2H2U

Cheese and Roses

I was to meet a friend for cheesecake today (26 Mar) but I realised the day before that it was going to be her birthday on the 27th of March. So instead of the original plan of her treating me the cheesecake, the bill will never reach her hands.

I was to go to Parkway to look for her blue roses. P followed along to lend his assistance. We finally found some and sat down to have dinner at McDonalds. After collecting the bouquet at 1945 hrs, we walked around Parkway to pass the time.

At 2100 hrs, we reached Cheesecake Cafe and sat down. I had ice peach tea and P had blueberry cheesecake. It was then we overheard they were out of cheesecake.

A meeting at a cheesecake cafe without its namesake is like meeting at a dry fountain. After checking at the counter, I found that he still have 1 tiramisu and 1 Oreo cheesecake (probably released from their reserved items). I ordered both. P then left me to wait for my friend at 2140 hrs, no doubt disappointed at not being able to catch a glimpse.

In the middle of losing my thoughts into nothing-ness, she arrived and suddenly the fountain does not seem so dried-up anymore. She was pleased with the roses and said I shouldn't have (yeah rite...). The cakes were served and we had an additional pizza as she was hungry. The Oreo cheesecake was nicer than the tiramisu and I don't like the pizza as the taste was uneven. Parts of it was yuck and parts of it nice. Our chat was still comfortable and we stayed till 2315 hrs.

The cafe as mentioned was Cheesecake cafe. Take 10, 12 or 14 from Parkway and get off before Siglap Centre.

-eof

Celebrations

Was celebrating Cheryl's bday yesterday (18 Mar).
We started off with High Tea at Raffles Hotel, then a Japanese dinner, drinks at Iguana and finished off with a 6hr karaoke session.

---
Met with my ex colleagues this noon for a movie. V for Vendetta turned out pretty decent. There are details aplenty and the movie doesn't shout it out.
There are the old Bobbies when the story is in the past. Vendetta had a painting of the Great Fire in his hall. The river Thames with its many bridges but without the Millennium Wheel.
For those interested, the Gunpowder revolution was a plot to blow up the Parliament House. I may have remembered wrongly. Please do your own research as you please.

---
We had a dinner at Smith's Street to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. It was a speciality shop which serves Shark's Fins. It was an 8 course dinner which had Peking duck w goose liver (oops...), Buddha jump over the wall, Seafood Delight, etc.
Not too bad.

-eof

Reviews

Trans-America (4/5 stars)
My day at work as at 10 Mar (0/5 stars)
My stiffed neck colleague from dunno what company (-1/5 stars)
My lunch (5/5 stars)
My first try at House of the Dead 4 (1/5 stars)
How I cleared my work today (4/5 stars)
-- I'm humble :p
Atmosphere at the new Crystal Jade Korean resturant at centerpoint (3.5/5 stars)
Bday gal's dress (4/5 stars)

-eof