Luang Prabang - Laos

Haven't been posting in a while, so I thought I'd post some pictures of the last place we went to. We had recently seen a lot of korean variety shows and one of them is 'Youth over flowers'. Baro, Ho Joon and Yeon Seok went there and had so much of a good time, that made us end up there as well.




The place is kinda simple, and I have been telling everyone that this is a place that's suitable for family outings, especially when you're lazy like me, and like cheap stuff like me.

The place full of temples and monks seen walking the streets of the city area. And booking a hotel in the city area is kinda like a good choice. We wake up, we walk to a temple just a few steps away from the hotel, and we sight see, then we walk back to the hotel, rest a while, and the walk a few steps to get to a popular eating place. Heck, I walk more at home then when I was in Luang Prabang.

Market view with a Wat in the background, This was taken on the entrance to Phou Si Hill. 

We had planned on one of the days there to climb Phou Si Hill, and watch the sunset from there. On one occasion, we got to the top, only to wait hours and find out that there was not going to be any sunset that day. But do use the alternate access downhill when you exit. The buddha statues there are wonderful!! Particularly like the details of the naga leading down the steps. (oops, I'm not suppose to like those right?)

Look carefully and you can see little birds inside. It's meant to be set free, not kept as pets. 

The thing I remember most!!! Coconut pancakes!! 

On one of the half days we spent there, we flagged a tuk tuk that brought us to Kuang Si waterfall. There were bears in the entrance to the waterfalls, at a place they called Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre. They (the bears) really looked comfortable especially one who seemed to be permanently stationed in the hammock.

At the Kuang Si waterfalls itself, we kinda
expected that the entire place would be filled with swimmers and young chaps jumping into the pools of water, like what was in the variety show. But I guess we made it there too early, and had the pool all to ourselves. You could jump into one of these pools and just swim there if you wanted to. 

Then comes dinner, where we had by god, the best steamboat barbecue meat we have ever had!! I mean seriously no kidding. We have a shop in Singapore selling this for 5 times the price, and it tastes five times less good. SGD10 covers dinner for 2 pax!!

And of course, its a must to see the alms ceremony. We got up at 5.00am in the morning, started preparing and then got out to see them, directly next to our hotel entrance!! We wanted to buy something, sit down and then wait, but instead ended up walking from one side of the street to the other to see which direction and how far they went.

You wouldn't be able to survive with just Laotian food the whole time. But nothing to fear, they have quite a number of different types of cuisine, from french to english to thai food. We had latte and chocolate coated pancakes at a french baguette restaurant which was again just steps away from our hotel. God, I love this place.

And if you're bored enough, you could always take a walk past a bridge along the Mekong river and have drinks at the ''cafe'' at the other side.

The nightlife on the other hand is mainly on night markets. They sell almost anything and everything, from handcrafted pouches to t-shirts to tea bag pouches to etc. etc.

And last but not least, we took a 1.5 hours boat ride to see the Pak Ou caves, with lots of Buddha statues all over and 2 levels to visit. The cave itself is relatively simple, and we thought there'd be scriptures or art carved on the cave walls, but to our dismay there weren't any. The boat ride was ok though, at least for the starting bit.

Oh well, we didn't spend much during this trip, but seriously speaking, it's value for money. Can't say that this will be the case a few years later, when the place becomes more developed.

We ended the trip thinking that this is probably one place that we would visit again. Simple, relaxing and nice. Not as nice as the guys portrayed in ''youth over flowers'', but nice enough. :) 

New phone

My new phone!! A Note 4! Yes I've crossed over the darkside, from apple to the greater fruit... muahahahhaaha...muahahahaha.. No more itunes!!! Yesh!!

Trust and believe

A circus performer walking on a tightrope asked the audience to raise their hands if they believed that he could cross the tightrope while riding on a barrel with someone inside. Everyone in the audience raised their hands after witnessing his ease of walking on the rope. Then, he asked them if anyone would trust him enough to be the one in the barrel while he performs this. This time, not a single person raised their hands. While they believed that he could do it, no one trusted him enough to want to be in the barrel.

Most of the time, we mistake our beliefs with trust... and only when something happens, our beliefs crumble and what we though was trust for a person, ends up only being beliefs that we fail to hold on to. So before u claim u trust someone, think first what u'd do if something happens to that person. Would u then still trust that person to be who they are? Or crumble when something happens? 

Ironic..

Buddy reminded me of this song from Alanis Morissette, which we used to hear when we were teenagers..


An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
Isn't it ironic, don't you think

 [Chorus]
It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought, it figures
Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought "Well, isn't this nice."
And isn't it ironic, don't you think

 [Chorus] Well, life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out
when you think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up in your face

 A traffic jam when you're already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic, don't you think a little too ironic, and yeah I really do think.

Health screening...

Just got mine done today. I usually opt for the basic package. But today, I took the courage to ask the malay aunty what happens if I choose a package with more tests than the basic package? Do I need additional sessions? Or different tests to be done at the clinic? And phew, all they needed was a payment, and an additional tube of blood. One word to sum everything up.. "Suaku". So it's 55 tests instead of just the basic ones this time.

I paid up, went to the various counters and told the aunty at the fourth counter that I needed 3 tubes at least and that I could then tell my boss that I feel dizzy. She told me "Drink milo then can aredy, no problem wan." pointing at the free biscuits and milo at the end of the table. Spoil sport!!! There goes my excuse for taking the day off...  

Ghost on a ship...

There was an accident the previous day on board a ship. After that a colleague told me that they had sent photos of the ship over, and there was something weird about those photos. Every photo seemed to have indications of some apparition hidden in some part of the photo. Someone made a comment that every one of those photos could be explained with engineering judgement, like flickering lights, shadows being misinterpreted, a cloth looking like something else... but imagine every photo turning out like that. And these were taken by the security camera that was on board the ship that night. Spooky...

Odd one out..

There are times when you know you're just the odd one out. Went to a meeting today with a visiting doctor from UK when the participants were from our various departments. In the presence of directors, I guess the norm is not to speak up too much, but given the role at work, and being the only rep there for my department, sometimes it's just inevitable that you have to speak up. When we finished, the cameraman told everyone that they were going to have a photo shoot with the directors (mind you, I am the only non-director there). So I stood there in the edge, with 4 directors and the visiting doctor, wondering how weird the photo would look when it comes out. Hope I didn't spoil it for the organisers with my presence.

Bye bye Clermont, Hello some funny coffee shop and Subway...

Long time since I've been back to HQ, and Clermont is gone for quite some time. Used to be one of our hangouts. The coffee was no where near OK, but the food was not too bad. Good thing was that the aunties who mended the counters had distinct personalities. Those that would remember you when you patronise them and throw you some banter when you enter the shop. Since they had closed down, I recalled meeting one of the aunties at another coffee shop along Macpherson road, beside some prata place. And for sure she remembered us when she saw us, and came over to tell us Clermont is no more and that she now works here. Had a subway sandwich instead today, and it sure felt like any other shopping center subway, nowhere near the good ol Clermont we used to visit.

The Garden of Words

Previously watched 5 Centimeters Per Second (Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru) by Makoto Shinkai and loved the way the piece was portrayed. Was on a SQ flight back from Peru, and during the trip, had to watch loads of movies before we touched down. I saw the description on this anime, mentioning the director of 5 Centimeters Per Second. Interesting anime, if you have the time.

Insomnia...

My dad gave me a call and told me that he had insomnia. Well, normally I'd listen and lend an ear, but when he mentioned insomnia, that was my domain!! It was like just the topic I had much more experience on than anyone else could ever have.

Dad, are you on sleeping pills? Not a good solution? Why don't you try:
a) Vitamin B complex from Guardian... serious, it really helps! You'd feel a bit relaxed. Don't bother about the label saying that you should take it in the morning as it gives you energy. You'd be relaxed instead, since we share the same genes;
b) Didn't work? Tried melatonin? The 500mg ones does miracles! And its a hormone based natural remedy. Since its natural, shouldn't have any side effects, except for maybe a bit of memory loss? Don't worry, I only forgot to dress up for the external meeting at 10am today and missed the 2pm discussion entirely today,,, no big deal, everyone forgets things occasionally right..
c) Still not working? Ok before you go for the cough mixture, and assuming you have a sudden allergy (If you don't, just pretend you do), just go to the pharmacist and ask for the drowsy version of antihistamine. First time taking it and it might knock you out a day or two.
d) Ok, since its drastic... here's the cough mixture...
e) I give up... go eat your sleeping pills.

There you have it... my personal remedies for insomnia. I am so successful with it that I no longer have normal insomnia. I now only get those anxiety based complex insomnia problems. The simpler ones that can be treated with the remedies above, well they're gone for good. Which is why I am still typing this in the middle of the night!!

Ugly people

Some days in life you just meet ugly people. No I don't mean looks. Oh well, looks too. But not in the way you are thinking.

Just a few examples of recent encounters... just days before...

Example 1:

We were in a queue for a Bus ticket, when this Perusian bully just went to the front of the queue and asked the first person in the queue to move aside and let him buy his ticket. We told him off, that there was a queue line, and he answered "Yes I know", then stood there till the queue ended. Thinking he had learned his lesson, again when boarding the bus, he ignored everyone in line and tried to barge his way on the bus. The conductors told him off and he embarrassingly moved toward the back. But when he saw someone he knew, he just cut in the line. 

Example 2:

I was judging on a panel, when my fellow panelist asked what was my vocation. I told him I was with the inspectorate, and he then told the other panelist beside him that contractors like him hated inspectors. Well, to all their own. I am ok with him having his personal dislikes. But then, he had to point at a picture and ask me if it is safe and required supervision. I looked at his picture and politely gave him my opinion. His remark to me was "You never work in construction before how you know?" and my answer "6 years in construction and design and another 6 in safety... is that good enough??" which instantaneously shut him up for good. 

Sigh, sometimes I really don't understand why some people are like that. Life is already difficult enough without the need for bullies and nasty remarks. It's bad enough if you can't appreciate people for who they are and what they contribute, but going all out to be nasty, that really isn't something that anyone would respect or appreciate, no matter what explanations you may choose to give. 

Song Ga Yeon! Song Ga Yeon!

Legendary Hero?!?

Old songs...

Combing through my old documents to find something, then decided to on some music to listen. Nowadays, it's mostly korean songs and ballads... then clicked on some old songs.. nice la! Not too often, but once in a while listen to older songs quite good feel... ;)

 

Rurouni Kenshin: Movie 2!!

After the 1st movie on Rurouni Kenshin, the sequal and final movies will be out soon! Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno and Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends.



Coming out in Aug and Sep this year I guess. Hope it comes out sooner online.

Scent of a Flower

I smell a flower, where is it coming from?
There are no flowers here, there’s only you
I feel good, my heart is at peace
Keep looking at me like that
Like me, I want to see you smiling
Although I haven’t smiled yet
Please teach me, I want to learn
You can’t learn how to love from books
Please help me because that person is you
I need you to know love
I hold a pencil and I draw you out
There’s nothing I can do but this
Is there something else I can do for you?
I want to know, please tell me
Please teach me, I want to learn
You can’t learn how to love from books
Please help me because that person is you
I need you to know love
Please teach me, I want to learn
You can’t learn how to love from books
Please help me because that person is you
I need you to know love

꽃향기가 나요 어디서 나나요
kkochyanggiga nayo eodiseo nanayo
여긴 꽃이 없는데 그대밖에 없는데
yeogin kkochi eomneunde geudaebakke eomneunde
기분이 좋아요 마음이 편해져요
gibuni johayo maeumi pyeonhaejyeoyo
계속 나를 그렇게 빤히 쳐다봐줘요
gyesok nareul geureoke ppanhi chyeodabwajwoyo
이런 나처럼
ireon nacheoreom
그대가 웃는 모습 보고 싶어요
geudaega utneun moseup bogo sipeoyo
아직 한번도 웃지 못했지만 난
ajik hanbeondo utji motaetjiman nan
가르쳐 주세요 배우고 싶어요
gareuchyeo juseyo baeugo sipeoyo
사랑하는 방법을 책으로 알 수는 없는 거잖아
saranghaneun bangbeobeul chaegeuro al suneun eomneun geojanha
날 도와 주세요
nal dowa juseyo
그 사람 바로 그대니까
geu saram baro geudaenikka
사랑을 알려면 나는 그대가 필요해요
sarangeul allyeomyeon naneun geudaega piryohaeyo
연필을 들어요 그대를 그려요
yeonpireul deureoyo geudaereul geuryeoyo
이것 밖에 아는게 할 수 있는게 없어요
igeot bakke aneunge hal su inneunge eobseoyo
또 있을까요?
tto isseulkkayo?
그대를 위해 내가 할 수 있는 일
geudaereul wihae naega hal su inneun il
알고 싶어요 내게 알려줘요
algo sipeoyo naege allyeojwoyo
가르쳐 주세요 배우고 싶어요
gareuchyeo juseyo baeugo sipeoyo
사랑하는 방법을 책으로 알 수는 없는 거잖아
saranghaneun bangbeobeul chaegeuro al suneun eomneun geojanha
날 도와 주세요
nal dowa juseyo
그 사람 바로 그대니까
geu saram baro geudaenikka
사랑을 알려면 나는 그대가 필요해요
 sarangeul allyeomyeon naneun geudaega piryohaeyo

Everyday.... Girl's Day!! Nice!

Birth Secret OST

Naruto Summoning Technique Petite Chara Land Mini Figures...

Galileo 2

Season 2 is out!! Already watching ep 7.. but the subs are rather slow. The same plot with Galileo 1, where Prof Yukawa a physicist solves supernatural mysteries with science. This time Kaoru is no longer with him, but is replaced with Kishitani as his police sidekick. The actress playing Kishitani does quite well though, with quite a bit of charisma.

Spurs vs Heat

Can't believe that Miami won. We were in class with the laptop open, looking at game time scores. No access to pay per view, but the last few minutes of game 7 was really a killer. Could visualise free throws every time they added 1 point, and timeouts every time the score stays stagnant, especially during the last minute of the game. Close game though, but being in class and with the teacher walking around, that's considered quite good.
Oh well, spurs is probably too old to have another year of championship, so this would be more like a farewell for them.

Hyakki Ryouran Taisei!!

Just bought this from ebay jap!!

Classic Moments

Sohee (Wonder Girls) in a sitcom... and the friend of the guy is Gwang Su!!

Rorouni kenshin moving on SQ flight!!

Looking high and low for the movie and end up watching it inflight on route san francisco. Not bad, although the stars chosen for the show were not spectacular, but the movie went so smoothly, can hardly tell it was anime adapted! Spent the rest of the timw watching running man though. Ya they even have it in the plane.

Kwang soo

Red Star

long queue for dim sum

Personal Taste..

Watching this, this weekend. Quite a funny show. Something to perk the mood up after the long week.

Cool!

Night affogato

Who am I !!!

Was at Trade Hub today for dinner and walking over to buy a cup of coffee from the counter, when a bald guy sitting at a table shouted out to me, "ooi ooi". I looked at him strangely, and continued to walk to the counter, at which he shouted even louder "ooi ooi ooi". I turned my head around, stared at him sharply, and turned back to order my kopi ping. He ran over, stood beside me and said "sorry ah, I saw u wearing like uniform, I never come here before, thought u work here".. *&^%&^%#@^... That's a $79 F1 polo T shirt!! What uniform... &%^&$#$^

A day back, I went to a site. Corresponded with the project manager a while back, and was supposed to meet him with my staff on site. As I drove in to the site and stopped my car, he came over and greeted my staff, then greeted me, and asked me who I am. I said "I am Tong", and he gasped. He actually gasped. "Hah?? You? Group head? So young? U r Tong?" niabe...knnknnknnknnknn... what young? Almost no change aredy lei. And what, I cannot be head isit? Got problem isit?

Went to a meeting with my staff, one of which was a 60+ yr old and another a 20+ yr old. As we sat down and started the meeting, you can see the confusion, as though asking "Why did he bring two kids to this meeting?" &^%#^%^*&^... I said, "Let's start with a round of introductions" and my staff introduced me as his colleague. Their confusion seem to increase, as they look at this guy rocking his chair and twisting his pen.  At this point, the only thing left to do was to exchange namecards. I took out my namecard and passed it to the Director, and you can see the 'waahh' expression.

No one seems to understand that Head is very very small in our organisation.. Very very very small. No Director at the back of our title. Only zho kang, work like *&^%%$&^ and get mediocre salary. Very very very very small. And nooooo the shirt is $79! It's made by an Italian tailor that sew in each strand one by one by one.... arrggh...

Rurouni Kenshin Live Action!!

Is it out? Is it out? The trailer says 25.8!!!

Scorching heat...

So hot today... like when in office on a normal day.. no mood to go out... hide at home in the aircond environment better.. haha

Nice.. Yiruma

Hiei!

Oooo see that "Dragon of the Darkness Flame"?

Just got this!!

Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations!! Madara vs Itachi anyone? haha..

As One

Haha... so much emphasis on table tennis... and I found this movie by Ha Ji Won on North and South Korea joining hands to win China in the sport!! Haha can see they dun like China.

Secret Garden.. the end..

Sypnosis:
The drama tells the story of Kim Joo Won (Hyun Bin), an arrogant and eccentric CEO who maintains the image of seeming perfection, and Gil Ra Im (Ha Ji Won), a poor and humble stuntwoman whose beauty and body are the object of envy amongst top actresses. Their accidental meeting, when Joo Won mistakes Ra Im for actress Park Chae Rin, marks the beginning of a tense, bickering relationship, through which Joo Won tries to hide a growing attraction to Ra Im that both confuses and disturbs him. To complicate matters further, a strange sequence of events results in them swapping bodies.

Ok I've finally finished this. The best part was the special, where they showed all the NG content and the views of the stars. Somehow felt that it wasn't a happy happy ending. Well, it was happy, but not happy happy. Firstly, the grandmother didn't accept them as she should, and still bear grudges even after 3 kids. Normally, when the first one comes out, the grudge should be gone. And secondly the dead father doesn't come back to life. Well, its a drama, and you can do anything, even bring the dead back. But all in all, I guess they got to be together, so that's probably a consolation. 

I guess there wont be a sequel. If there is one, it would probably mean the Ra Im and Joo Won getting stuck in a lift. And the three kids having 3 separate partners, and 6 people involved in body swaps. Then the grandmother will take her proverbial role of saying 'no' to all 3 relationships. Would be technically challenging though, for the viewers to understand who is who, or who went into who's body. 

Oh well, I guess now that this is over, I have to find something else to close the void. Anime's aren't coming out as fast as they should. Comedy? Fighting? or Sci-Fi? 

prelude to art museum

dessert

Simple lunch

...

Hardly had a breather the past 2 weeks. Have been a hectic time. As someone put it... it's crisis period. Sometimes find it hard to even sit down after getting a cup of water. The problems, work, issues, all keep pouring in, every time I finish one, another 2 comes in. Just feels like I'm the only firefighter assigned to fight a blazing flame. I guess people love to use the quote 'ninjas have a lot of labour' in chinese, to depict that the capable are rewarded with more work. But it has been crazy, just crazy hectic the past weeks. It's really a job with all blame and no thanks. Sigh.

Fantasica (iphone)

Recommended by Bugdie... not a bad game... but a little time consuming though.. heh.. tower defence plus card game, as he puts it.. just starting out... so will be at least a few more days before he decides to change game again i guess.. hehe...

Brave..

Really not a bad movie to watch. Nice accent, funny parts and a touching end. Nice. :)

Manga - Naruto

[SPOILER] Couldn't help it... the remaining story was just too interesting. Finally read the manga up to date. Tons of epic battles, as if epic battles happened everyday. Bijuu vs Bijuu, Madara vs 5 kages, brothers vs Kabuto... it's all just too overwhelming! The best battle had to be the one with Kabuto. Not as powerful as the others, but it's just a realisation that another Sage ability should be able to exist. Oh well, have to wait more weeks until the next manga episode comes out. Till then, it's back to Fairy Tail and Hunter x Hunter 2011.