Dawn Service

I attended the Anzac Day Dawn Service today.

Don't ask.

It just seemed like a good idea at the time. I have to go through Kings Park to get home and the guys in the car at that time thought it would be a good idea to attend it atleast once.

We stayed until after the the sounding of the "Last Post" (the bugle call) and the minute of silence was observed.

Just after the break of daylight.

I think I'm going to call it an early night tonight.

16 hrs

I slept for 16 hours straight after getting off the plane in Perth.

16 hrs..........

I feel like such a pig. I should have flown in the next day, then atleast I wouldn't hear my granny and my mum's constant nagging.

"wahh.. how come she so tired ? must be drinking until boarding time."

"she must be going out every night in singapore. didn't sleep at all."

blah blah blah...

It actually wasn't too far from the truth. After the steak and mango drinks at Grapevine, I met up with my ex bf's friends - for some more drinks. At about 3am in the morning both of the other guys drinking with me decided to get an MC (medical certificate - for work) and open up a new bottle of Chivas and continue drinking. After we ran out of Coke we had Chivas with 100 Plus. Nothing could taste worse. But I knew I wouldn't be able to last through the night if I had it just on the rocks.

After another 2 hours one of the other guys passed out. One down, one more to go. I was already trying to decipher my exit plan. Would I be able to get a cab now or wait until 6.30am in the morning ? At what time do you not have to pay the overnight surcharge ?

My flight was at 9am. I would have to leave at 7am. Get home. Pack. Call cab to airport.

So long I reached the airport at 8am. I should still be able to make it.

I did make it. I also managed to keep walking a straight line through all the custom check points. All this while dragging my hand luggage, laptop and all the other shopping bags I didn't manage to fit into my suitcase.

But I swear I would never catch another flight while intoxicated. It is definitely the worse thing I have ever done.

And although I don't get bad hangovers, I still look like I've just crawled out of my grave. Atleast that's what my grandma has been repeating like a broken tape recorder for the last 3 hours I have been awake.

Rightio. Back to bed for me. Cya all in another 16 hrs. I think I need it.

Last Day

My last day in Singapore and I'm sitting at a nice pub along Upper Serangoon watching the Manu vs Spurs game. The rib eye steaks at this place are great value for money.

Originally my friend took this laptop along so that they could bet on the game. But since that they do not need it now - I've taken over it. :)

I'm on my 2nd mango drink already. And I'm still going strong. The pub is called Grapevine. I seriously will miss the mango shake drink here.

2nd Day - Shopping

I spend my 2nd day in Singapore shopping with my high school friend. And I brought.... *drumroll** ... NOTHING !

Well, not exactly nothing. I didn't buy anything for myself. But I did buy a present for my mum and for pete.

I walked into Charles & Keith but didn't see one pair of shoes I liked. I tried on a couple which were ok.. but they didn't have my size. So I walked out empty handed, while my friend brought three pairs of shoes. Depressing.

We meet up with an old friend of mine from Sydney for dinner. He was actually the friend who convinced me to drive up from Melbourne to Sydney. Which I have stayed till now. He came with his wife, who (not suprisingly) is 5 months pregnant. It felt like Deja Vu all over again. I have a feeling the next time I come back, I will be surrounded by alot of babies.

My plan today is to continue my shopping expedition.

And hopefully today I will not come home empty handed ... :)

Highschool catch up

I met up with my highschool friends last night. The bride-to-be in two weeks time had also flown in from Perth for a conference, so we managed to get a small group together for drinks and to catch up on old times.

Its funny how when you get a group of girls together that nothing is sacred. Everything is open to discussion.

We touched on the usual stuff like working life and finances but as girls and old friends we were mostly interested in the gory details in each other's life.

From ex-boyfriends to current boyfriends to discussion topics like.. "Where is the most unique place you have ever done it before". (Yes, sex). And I heard some pretty unusal answers as well. As I said, with us, nothing is sacred.

It was fun to catch up with them. Especially now that all of us live in different areas of the world. We probably only get the whole group together when someone gets married now. And at the rate of all the marriages that has been happening in the last month, hopefully the next time we meet won't be too long away.

1st Day in Singapore

Day one in Singapore ! It is alot less hotter than I remember it to be. (Thank God)

Its nearly been two years since I've been back here.

This morning, I followed my best buddy to our old workplace to give some of our old colleagues a suprise. She stayed alot longer at that company than I did. I left for Melbourne about 4 years ago, while she left a bit over a year ago. But I was still surprised when one of the sales lady who used to work in the Jurong office still remembered me. Even more amazing to see that she didn't age one bit at all. I remembered her instantly.

I have so many things I want to eat in singapore.. (mostly hawker food). I'm still not able to brave the curry fish head or laksa here. But I miss the satays and oyster omletes and chow kuey diu (fried noodles) so much. Oh, and of course the BBQ sting ray.

My tummy is rumbling just thinking about it.

Is there anything I have missed ?

If so, pls post a comment so I can add it to my "must eat" list. Cheers !

Chinese Weddings

The main reason why I flew back to Hong Kong was to attend my god brother and my uni friend's wedding. Apart from my uncle's wedding, I have probably never witnessed a full on chinese wedding.

It was hectic. Or to summarise it better... Chaotic in an organised way.

The action started at 7.30am in the morning. When the groom and the brothers had to come to "Pick Up" the bride. But first they had to get past the obsticles us sisters and the bride had set up. These were traditionally done to show the groom's Proof of Love. First the groom and his brothers were drawn all over in red lipstick and were made to pose cheek-to-cheek for a photograph. The next task was to open a Durian with only a pair of chopsticks which the groom and his best man did push-ups. The groom later had to eat the Durian. Which I personally knew he hated. The last task was probably the most amusing to watch. The groom had to put an ice cube into his mouth while his brothers licked\bite the ice cube until they freed a tiny pink heart frozen inside the middle of the cube.

After the groom successfully made it through all the obsticles. He had to buy us sisters off. Literally. We asked for a lump sum of $9999.99 (9 means longevity in chinese). After bargining for about 5 minutes we settled for a sum of around $999.99. And it was only then that we let the groom through.

The followed the tea ceremony at the bride's place. After that was the wedding reception. Where the bride and groom exchanged vows. After this was the tea ceremony at the groom's place then the whole entourage went to the restaurant to help setup the displays and tables and get ready the place before the guests arrived.

Me and my best buddy some how ended up with the job at the front desk which assigned the guests to their correct tables and recorded which guests had arrived. Sounds like an easy task. But in reality it was far from that. They obviously forgotten that they had put someone that didn't know the whole extended family of both sides and more importantly someone who couldn't read chinese.

But no one else had wanted that job. As the night dragged on, I felt my chinese improving by the second. Only then to be confronted by the bride's relatives who had flown in from Indonesia. To which I just gave them the list of names and asked them to find their own name. This method turned out to work alot faster.

The wedding dinner flew through the last 4 hours of the night. And it was not before long I realised my god-brother could no longer stand straight on his own two legs. I wasn't surprised. I had expected him to be dragged to the toilet to puke by now. But he held out pretty well.

I had originally planned to go out clubbing with my Sydney friends who now live in Hong Kong at Lan Kwai Fong after the wedding dinner. But I was so tired, I struggled to make it to the bus stop for the long trip back home.

It was fun, chaotic and I was relieved when it was finally over. Definitely an experience to remember.

Lady's Night

It was lady's night at the pub I went to yesterday night. Lady's drink for free and guys have to pay $250 (hk dollars) each.

Thank god I'm female !!

I had Hoegaarden (lots of Hoegaarden) and tapped into the endless supply of Chivas with green tea.

The people in Hong Kong are really into drinking Chivas mixed with Green tea. And it isn't at all that bad. It actually tastes quite nice and sweet.

The Hoegaarden part I was a bit surprised. Especially since most pubs in Sydney don't even stock it. Given that my favourite beer was available on the tap. Hoegaarden was all I drank for the first two hours.

We left the pub after the guy I was playing 15-20 with disappeared after his 10th trip to the toilet. And it was about 4am when we reach home.

I wish it can be lady's night every night.

Yesterday

Yesterday I managed to meet up with my close friend during high school days. Originally I had planned to go for a quick retail therapy session with her and maybe finish off the day with a karaoke - drinking session, just to catch up on old times. But she surprised me by showing up 5 months pregnant.

Needless to say, there was no drinking allowed.

Instead of shopping we retired back to her apartment to take a look at her wedding photos taken only the year before. Four big albums.

It seemed like only yesterday when we talking about boys and homework. And now the topics all revolve around marriage, husband (her's) and kids.

Topics that I just can't seem to associate myself with.

And I don't want to be able to either.

Day 1

I hit the bed before 10.30 pm last night, after spending the whole day out shopping. I was totally exhausted. My feet are still sore. Very sore. But as I closely look at them now, I feel like I'm proudly examining the battle scars from the ordeal yesterday. Blisters. Four of them. I pray to God that they won't pop yet. Atleast not until I leave Hong Kong.

I think I'm going to go soak my feet in some hot water. Hopefully that would bring some life back into them.