I Miss You....

My Dear

I miss you very much....

I miss our time together.......

I miss having you here.......

I miss being by your side......

I miss making you feel loved

I love you.


------------ Sawbear Travel -------------

J.B. Again

12 June
Was to meet up with Raymond at Kranji MRT at 11am. Was running late and actually received an sms from him saying 'YOU'RE LATE!' I was 5 mins late. Did not expect him to be early/on time!

At the station, we were surprised to see a very long queue for bus 170. Even for the Smiley Bus, there was a queue! Usually there's lots of the smiley buses but we waited for quite a while before we saw one.

At the immigration/custom, it was quite smooth..did not look very crowded. The shock came when we went to catch the bus. The queue was very long and there was lots and lots of people! I have never seen such crowd!

We managed to squeeze ourselves into the queues.... and into the bus after waited for quite a while. The jam is usually at the F1 track and as usually, the traffic was bad......

We finally arrived at the JB immigration/custom. Clearance was very fast, surprisingly. Anyway, we started waiting for bus at about 11:10am and arrived about 1pm.

The 1st thing was lunch and we decided to catch the taxi at the side staircase before CitySquare. I thought it was metered but the driver told me that it was cost M$10 for the trip. I did not want to argue and so I agreed.

Lunch was at the 顺发肉骨茶, our favourite joint. We ordered our favourite dishes and the waiter thought we ordered too much. He was surprised when we finished everything! Never under-estimate the 2 of us! Hahahahaha!

Next on the itinerary was foot reflex/massage at 唐医堂. As usually, I had foot reflex and Raymond had body massage. The session was always very good for me!

Went over to LeisureMall where Raymond managed to stock up on his comics (18 books!) till his next trip. From there, we went back to CitySquare where we settled down for early dinner at the Mong Kok Char Chan Teng. The drinks were great! I had 2 orders of the same drink! Don't bother about the food, though.

Clearing JB side was quite fast...there was a short jam on the F1 track (surprising) but we were soon back on Singapore soil. The immigration/custom at Singapore side was very crowded. I cleared very fast but poor Raymond took a long time to clear.

It was a good trip and I enjoyed myself. We took a longer time than usual for clearance but being the school holiday period, I guess it's expected.


------------------- Sawbear Travel ---------------

Time Flies

7th June was the Birth date of 2 friends.....

Kevin has been my pen-pal since 1982. Yes, my pen-pal! Kevin has a twin sister was the pen pal of susie, my classmate and I had the opportunity to be introduced to Kevin. Kevin lives in New Zealand with his wife and children in Ashburton.

Many years back, I was bringing a tour group to New Zealand and due to bad weather, we could not get to Mount Cook. Having some time to kill, I decided to bring the group to Kevin's farm. That was the 1st time I finally met up with him.

There was another trip when the farm stay I was being hosted, turned out to be Kevin's neighbour and I ended up having breakfast at Kevin's place!

It's been 28 years! We are still in contact! Happy Birthday, my friend!

I have known Stanley since 1996 when I joined Ananda Travel. It's been 14 years but since we become better friends, I have made it a point to wish him every year on 7 June. This year is no difference. Happy Birthday!

Met up with Vincent and Terence last night. Nancy and LH could not make it. I have known Vincent since 1993 when he came over to help me. Terence and Nancy were colleagues from Ananda and they believed in me, came over to SAFE and work with me to setup and run the retail travel. We worked very hard during the 1st, almost to the verge of giving up. We did well and the business started with profit even in the 1st year! I owed a lot to these friends!

While chatting, I realised that Vincent is already 40 and Terence is catching up next year! How time flies! When I knew them, they were still in their late 20's! Come to think of it,... I am not getting any younger...... would be 50 in a few years' time! Haiz.......

It was great catching up .... so much to laugh about ..... and would surely be meeting again because Nancy is finally getting married!


--------------- Sawbear Travel ---------------

Stephen's Trip

3 June

Finally....he's here! Tiger Airways touched down as scheduled and soon, Stephen was out into the arrival hall. So happy to see him again!

Got home for some rest before meeting up with Raymond, Jim and Derrick for dinner. Met up at City Square and finally decided to eat at Boon Tiong Kee at Balestier Road. We ordered quite a few dishes, such as the famous chicken. We even got Bak Kut Teh from the shop next door! The best part of the dinner was the appetizer. We had char siew for appetizer and it was so delicious that we had 5 plates! Yum yum!

Dinner must come with dessert and we decided to go to Udders for ice cream. We had Mao Shan Wang, bailey's and mango sherbet....the durian ice cream was heavenly!

4 June

Decided to travel into JB for the day. Took the train ride to Kranji and then by bus to immigration. The traffic was rather smooth , just a short jam over at Johore side, as usual. The first thing to do with to change some money and then lunch, the famous Bak Kut Teh place near The Store. We had to wait quite a while and Stephen actually fell asleep, in the hot weather! The food was delicious, just the shop was too hot for him to enjoy the meal!

Next stop .... foot reflex! Other than the occasional pains, Stephen finally dozed off during the session. For me, I always dozed off! The session was really good!

Then, it's back to City Square. Managed to get a present for Wong, had something to eat and drink at The Old Town before travelling back to Singapore.

Got back and Stephen suggested to eat in. Had to go to NTUC and get some stuff. Cooked up fried bee hoon and accidentally set fire.....ended up with the kitchen on smoke! The consolation was there was no complaint! Hahahaha!

Then to Chinatown to try and locate a DVD for Simon. Did not manage to get. Ended up with movie at Tiong Bahru Plaza - The Prince of Persia.

Though it was just simple dinner and home and movie, it was a great evening for us!

5 June

Fish ball noodle for breakfast..... and then stoped over at Alexandra Fire Station., Managed to get permission for us to take a look at the Fire station. My 1st time! Then, off to Chinatown again to see if we could find the DVD. Had simple lunch at the basement of Bugis junction before going over to Iluma for the karaoke at Suitez.

The karaoke session with Derrick, Alan, Raymond and Jim was fun! Everyone had a great time during that few hours!

Dinner was ala carte buffet at Zhou Zhuang, Far East Square. Wong, Tony, Albert, Gerald and Jay came along. We were initially 'irritated' with the waitress by the remarks she passed. During the course of dinner, some of them (playfully) casually passed some sarcastic remarks. The food was average, not fantastic.....however, the Company was great! We had a lot of fun chatting away! By the time we finished, it was 10pm! We knew, because the air-con went off!

6 June

Some packing to do for Stephen.... such a quick trip! We went to Safra and had lunch at the Japanese restaurant, followed by coffee at Ah Kun.

Then off to the airport for his Tiger Airways flight back to Hong Kong. Safe trip!

The few days have been great! Glad to have him here and certainly hope he enjoyed his holidays in Singapore! Till we meet again!

----------- Sawbear Travel -------------

15 May 2010

Another gathering with food and wine..what a spread! We had Nasi Lemak spread, with curry chicken & bread, siew mai, & chicken wings! We even had the famous samui chicken from the soup restaurant!




Gathering at Wong's place (AGAIN)! Such a nice and cosy place for gathering..... Also it's his Birthday - Big 40! Happy Birthday, my Dear Friend! Many Happy Returns!

Nice Ice cream cake from Swensen's, courtesy of Albert......

Lots of food and wine and also great company! Where is the next gathering?

---------------- Sawbear Travel ----------------

Hong Kong Again

6 May



Worked half a day today....... left after 1pm... had to go to HDB to settle some documents and then had a hair cut and soon on my way to the airport...Terminal 3...for my flight to the Pearl of the Orient! Hooray!



SQ 2 bound for San Francisco, with a stopover in Hong Kong. Bigger aircraft and even the individual screen is bigger! SQ service has always been good and certainly no complain!



3 .5 hours later, arrived into Hong Kong about 9:30pm and did not take long to clear the immigration and also getting my luggage. Bought the airport express ticket and soon on my way to Kowloon station! From there, the free shuttle to Jordon MRT station and then to Largos Hotel. Stephen was already there waiting for me!




Went out for some supper and since most places were closed, decided to have a quick steamboat . The food was just average. Back to the hotel.



07 May



Late breakfast at The American Embassy - MacDonald's before meeting up with Stephen at Hung Hom Station. Was to meet up with Peter at Wong Tai Sin for lunch before heading for ShenZhen.



When in ShenZhen, went over to Peter's shop. He runs a 'health' centre where he introduces Infra Ray and Negative Ions. He has dry sauna rooms where the walls are filled with Infra stuff and also emits negative ions. An hour in that room would do one many good..detoxifies the body. Really!



After that , went for a quick look around near the border before heading back to Hong Kong. Went back to the hotel to change and then to Tsim Sha Tsui. Dinner was at the usual steamboat place with Derrick, Herman and Stanley. The meal was great! I really enjoyed it!





08 May

Went for morning movie - Ip Man 2 at MongKok area. Had breakfast at a local restaurant

The show was pretty good - worth watching.... I did not fall asleep!

Then, met up with Joi for tim sum lunch at Yau Ma Tei area. Great to catch up with him again! The last time was in KL, at MidValley!

After lunch, we went to pay respect to a dear friend of Stephen. The weather was kind to us and we managed to get there and back quite easily.

A short rest, a quick shower and off to Tsim Sha Tsui to meet up with Eddie and the gang for vegetarian dinner. Everyone was pretty on time and when we got to the restaurant, we were the only customers! The food was ok for me, being not a great vegetarian supporter! There was so much for them to chat and we proceeded on to Express Cafe at Hotel Panorama for a drink. The Cafe was situated on the 28th floor..great view! Lots of laughters and fun till we had to leave and meet up with Frankie n Wallace for a drink.

Nice to catch up with F&W again. Frankie is having his exams but he still made an effort to catch up. Much appreciated!

09 May

Slept in till rather late and then checked out. Went for lunch at nearby restaurant before heading to Kowloon Station for early check-in. The station was not too far from the Hotel. It was an easy walk.

After getting rid of the luggage, took the airport express to the airport and then caught the S1 bus to Citigate (15 mins away) for some window shopping. Not a very big places..lots of branded stuff.....not cheap......

Back to the airport and soon had to go in and board the flight back to Singapore.

I managed to achieve what I wanted to in this trip. Many people may not understand why but I felt that I had to do it.

This trip also opened the opportunity to understand my special someone better....

---------------Sawbear Travel ------------

Miscellaneous

NATAS had another travel fair the last weekend. A much smaller scale and not many big agencies. Chan Brothers was not there! Well, they said that due to overwhelming response from the last Fair, they decided to have another one! More likely that there were still many seats available and that's why they needed another Fair to help get rid of them! Anyway, it does not concern me... I am no longer in the Trouble (Travel) Industry!

Have not been in the pink of health lately... stressed with work and also family matters.... also not resting enough..... hopefully all these would be over soon.

Found out recently that a dear colleague has resigned, another already left. Was trying to look for him and then found out that he was no longer with the Company! Either I was ignorant or the Company was really secretive about resignation. Wait....everyone knew, except me! The colleague that resigned was partly due to the fact that he could not achieved target. He was given the option to move to another department but he chose to go. That's the reality of life!

Mum is recovering slowly...better than before. Occasionally, I still need to attend to her but Yanti handles most of the time. Speech is getting worst and I have a hard time understanding her. Many times, I have to guess...like playing charade!

Looking forward to Thursday....... why? You will know soon!


----------------- Sawbear Travel ---------------------