Feb .... CNY at Wong's

12 Feb

New Year's gathering at Wong's Place.

After some tossing of ideas, we finally decided on steamboat! Then, who prepares the steamboat??????

Haiz....me, as usual!

Managed to get some stuff organised and also got Raymond to accompany me to Giants at Parkway Parade for marketing. Got all the stuff we wanted and also the lo hei from Cold Storage. Wong was kind enough to pick us up from the mall.

Gerald and Sam were already there when we got in. Wong, Tony and I started to get all the stuff ready for the steamboat. Usually, we would have pot luck or cater nasi lemak buffet but we decided to try something new - steamboat!

Small ben and his friend, Adrian came and finally Albert, late as usual!

The steamboat party turned out quite good. The balcony was an ideal place to have the steamboat. There was enough food for everyone and we also had special rice cooked by Gerald and a cake bought by Sam, not forgetting the new year goodies!

I have a great time and I believe the rest would agree with me!

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

Feb ......Chinese New Year

It has been a while since I last updated my blog..... February has been an eventful month. Started with Chinese New Year.....



2nd Feb Half day at the office. Everyone was just waiting for the hotline to end at 12:00noon. Then, some last minutes shopping before going home to prepare for the Reunion Steamboat Dinner.
The Reunion Steamboat Dinner has always been exciting. This year, we opened 8 cans of abalone! Crazy! As usual, nobody wanted to open the lid..everyone wanted to 'grab' as many slices of abalone! It was so fun!

After dinner, it's giving out of red packet! At my age, I am still entitled! My brothers were all very kind to me!

3rd Feb

1st day of the New Year! Nothing much happened......went to the supermarket, a yearly ritual for me.

The families came over in the afternoon and went over my cookies / and their favourite melon seeds. Yanti prepared simple dinner for all of us.

Went to the airport to fetch Stephen, arriving for Hong Kong. The flight was on time and did not take long for us to reach home.


4th Feb
1st Ang pow for stephen! He got up and wished mum and mum gave him 1 red packet! Gerald's mum also gave him 1! Really brightened up his day!

This morning, was to meet up with K and visit Dad's grave. K fetched us from home and we met all of the other brother there.


After the cemetery visit, we went back home to rest and then off to Vivo City to see the new attraction on the bridge to Sentosa. Lots of people there as well!
In the evening, went over to Gerald's place for dinner. He invited some friends over. It was a good evening.

5th Feb
Checked in this afternoon at Ibis Singapore for overnight stay. The room was not big but cozy enough. The mini fridge was really mini........though.








Went over to the Esplanade and also to River Hongbao. The place was crowded with lots of locals and tourists. Went over to Marine Square for dinner - sukiyaki dinner before heading back to the Hotel.
6th Feb
Went over to Orchard road and had high tea at the Mandarin Gallery. It was pretty good. Then, went to buy lo hei for dinner.
The family came and we had potluck dinner. The lo hei was interesting for Stephen as it was his 1st time! Dinner was simple but enjoyable!

Stephen managed to collect ang pows from my brothers! Not bad!

7th Feb

Early morning trip out to the airport for Stephen to catch his flight back to Hong Kong.

Glad that Stephen could come and spend Chinese New Year with me and my family.



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

Feb .......... Bangkok Trip

The long awaited trip finally came!

It started with just me and Stephen going over to Bangkok. We planned to catch up dinner with his God Daddy and friend and also with my Bangkok family. Then, we heard that Chartchai was not well and the Hong kong family has decided to fly over to visit him around the same time as us. The Taiwan family came to know about this and they immediately bought ticket to join us. Everyone would be there!

24th Feb

TG 404 bound for Bangkok is ready for boarding...... the flight journey is estimated to take 2 hours...kindly have your seat belt fastened, the seat upright and your tray table stowed...... soon we will be landing at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport......

Clearing immigration was a hassle especially when it is rather slow. Still, glad that it did not take too long. The luggage was out pretty fast and soon, i was out into the arrival hall. Went to buy a prepaid sim so that I could get connected with a local number and then patiently waited for Stephen's arrival. His flight was less than an hour after mine and soon,. he was out too. We then took a cab ride to Centrepoint Apartment Sala Daeng.

Check in was fast and soon we were into our apartment. It was a one-bedroom unit. It was pretty ok. Gary was waiting for us at Silom (as the taxi driver took him tp the wrong place) and the hotel receptionist showed us the direction to Silom road. It took us about 15 mins to get there!

Met up with Gary and went for a drink at the nearby coffee house. Stephen has not seen his Daddy for a year! You could see the joy in Stephen when he met up with him!

Daddy brought us to Richard's for dinner where we had pizza, chicken and fish for dinner. I have to say that the dishes were not very appetitizing.

After dinner, we went over to Siam Paragon to make reservation for dinner at the Oishi Grand. Did some shopping at MBK before meeting up with Pobe at Siam Paragon. Glad to catch up with Pobe again. The last trip to Bangkok was Feb last year!

25 Feb

Got up pretty early for breakfast. Here, they had various choices : Japanese, Western, Thai and even Chinese. It was rather good.

Went over to Big C but the shop we went last year was no longer there. Then,w e went over to Isetan at CentralWorld. Found a stall selling chinese Dim sum and ordered some. Th dishes were pretty delicious.

Walked around CentreWorld and also back to Siam Discovery Centre to amend dinner reservation after finding out that Derrick n Albert would also be joining us!

Went back to the apartment to rest and decided on a simple dinner ..... egg n noodle n whatever I could find! Tough to be frying eggs with butter (took some from breakfast table). Manged to have some mushroom soup with corn and also wanton and bbq pork pieces as ingredients for the noodle. Even if the food was not tasty, I doubt Stephen would dare to mention it!

Wanted to visit the Suan Lum Night Bazaar and when we got there, we found out that it was closed! Lease problem. So, we decided to go for foot massage. It was really foot massage as I could not feel any thing! So different from the foot reflex in JB!

Finally decided to walk along the silom night market and also to the supermarket for Stephen to buy some local produces.

26th Feb

After breakfast, called Jack and Joseph to arrange what time to meet. They had arrived about 2am and was still in bed when I called! Then, Derrick n Albert arrived and msn me. We met over to meet up with Jack n Joseph at Pathumwan Princess and then to Pullman Hotel King Power to meet with the rest. Derrick n Albert were already there. Win came over from the hospital and then Wallace n Frankie finally arrived.

We went over to the hospital to visit Chartchai. His room was huge! There was a huge living room and then the bedroom. He catered lunch for all of us and mind you, it was not a simple lunch! We had so much food and dessert! There was simply too much to eat! Then, we had a surprise and it was 2 birthday cakes - one for Stephen and one for Wallace. So thought of Chartchai and Win!

After visiting, we split to have our own program. Derrick, Albert, Stephen and myself went over to Centara to tailor some shirts/ suits. We left earlier to go back to apartment to freshen up.

Dinner was at Oishi Grand. Gary came with Sumate and bought a cake as well. The rest started to arrive and soon we were tucking in tp the buffet spread. The restaurant is very well known for the Japanese buffet spread. We had a lot of fun eating and chatting away!

The cake came out and we all sang Stephen the Happy Birthday song. (The cake, however, did not live up to the standard......)

2nd session was at a pub near Silom and we continued with drink & snack, even after so much to drink and eat at dinner!

27th Feb

Trying to sleep in late was not easy when you want to eat the breakfast at the apartment! Hahahahaha!

Decided to get the laundry done in the morning. Bought the token from the reception and just wash n then dry. Simple!

Then went out for lunch at Siam Centre before taking the BTS to Surasak station. HealthLand was the destination. Booked aromatherapy massage for the group at 3pm and had to be punctual. The massage was good for some and so-so for others.

As usual, we went separate ways for own activity till dinner time. Joseph treated me and Derrick to a nice restaurant at Siam Paragon for drinks and we ended up ordering food as well!

We met up with all again at Sala Daeng station and Stephen took us to Bua Restaurant for dinner. By the time the food arrived,. we realised that we ordered enough food to feed an army! There were so many dishes on the table! So much to eat and so much to chat and laugh! It was really fun!

After dinner, some of us called it a night while some others went on to party the night away!

28th Feb

Nothing much on this day except breakfast as usual and then final packing. Managed to extend the check out time to 1:30pm.

Called a cab to the airport and then lunch before we went separate ways for our flight home.

The trip was very good for me. I managed to get the family together (and even good friends). The last time we all met together was quite a while ago!

Stephen was able to meet his Daddy again and also Sumate. It was something that he has always wanted to do.

The apartment was actually quite good. After staying for a while, I actually found it comfortable. We managed to find short cut to Silom and that was pretty good!

The weather was, on the average, not as hot as we thought.The nights were windy.

Most importantly, I was able to celebrate the special day with the someone special. It meant a lot to me and I hope that the trip was just as memorable to that someone special......


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

22nd - 24th Jan 2011

A quick getaway to Hong Kong.......


Had to get up at 5am this morning....... by 5:45am I was already on the way to the airport - Budget Terminal. There were not many people and the check in was swift. Then, it's just waiting to board the plane - Tiger Airways.


The flight took off on time and after 3.5 hours, we landed at Hong Kong International Airport. As usual, there's a long queue or people at the immigration. I took out my HKFVC and cleared the immigration! The luggage came out quickly and soon I was on the bus to the hotel! It was cold!


The journey from airport took about 1 hour to arrive at the Terminal - just opposite the hotel : Ibis North Point. After check-in, I went for a look-see around North Point. Stephen came shortly after and took the opportunity to nap at the hotel.

Later in the afternoon, we went for window shopping and ended up at Sogo. Being a Saturday and near CNY, the whole place was packed ! Mountain People Mountain Sea! Got out from there and went to other malls before finally meetinmg up with Derrick for Dinner - Japanese Buffet. Buffet again!


The food was average but the company was great! Went back to hotel by MTR. As Stephen has a performance the following day, decided to rest early.

23rd Jan


Did not even get up for breakfast! A relaxed day......had dim sum lunch at the Chinese restaurant located in South China Hotel. The lunch was delicious and (as usual) I had to be cautious with the ordering......(in case I ordered too much!). Certainly would go back there for dim sum again.

Stephen went back to the hotel to rest while I continue exploring the North point neighbourhood. Managed to buy some beautiful red packets and also some stuff within that short lookaround....


The most important event of the trip - to attend the stage performance.

Stephen and Derrick have been rehearsing for this evening...to sing cantonese opera in front of live audience. Went early to the backstage and it already bustling with activities. Friends came to give their best wishes and after changing and make-up, they were ready for the show down!


The stage singing was about 25mins. This was my first time attending such a performance. Both if them looked very good on stage and they delivered their best to the loud applause from the audience.

After the stage performance, they were busy with photo taking with friends and supporters! They were like celebrities! Hahahahaha!

By the time we left the cultural centere, it was already coming 10pm! Went tp teh nearby restaurant for dinner/supper before hitting the sack!


24th

Got to get up early .... packed and check-out. At the MTR, there were so many people rushing to work. I was surprised to see that the commuters were all standing in front of the MTR doors, waiting to rush in - not planning to give way to the commuters coming out! In Singapore, this would be a rare sight!


Stpehen came to send me off and we had breakfast at the airport before he had to leave for work.

Tiger airways was on time again leaving Hong kong for Singapore!


Though this was a pretty rush trip, I was glad I could be there to lend my support to Stephen and Derrick. Though I did not understand what they were singing (and occasionally dozed off a couple of time!) I did made it through the evening!



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

19 Jan - Gerald's Birthday Celebration

Got Raymond to organise the birthday celebration for Gerald. Finally decided to have it at Jang Shou Korean BBQ.


After work, got a lift from Sam to the restaurant. When we got there, Raymond and Richard were at the entrance. Gerald and Jay were already at the restaurant. Soon, Wong, Tong and their Jap friend,Gon, arrived and finally Derrick.

Soon, everyone was busy BBQing. The spread was great with different marinates and also cooked food. Derrick was kind to provide wine!

It was a great evening and we ended with a birthday cake for Gerald. In return, we all got a small gift from him - TOTO ticket!

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

Year End Trip of 2010

After much anticipation, the long awaited trip is finally here......

23 rd Dec

Stephen arrived from HKG and made his way to my office, waiting at HELLO shop. Went back home first to leave behind the backpack before making our way to Alexandra village for dinner, Met small Ben at Queensway Shopping Centre.

Gerald and Jay were already there and as usual, Albert was late. Better late than never, I guess for him! Dinner was at the zi char stall at the coffee shop. We ordered the famous herbal chicken, the stingray, vege, clam, pork ribs, etc. It was a good meal! Then, we went over to Anchorpoint for dinner. The evening ended well.

24th

Had to get up to work. Left Stephen still sleeping. Office was rather quiet and calls were not many. Soon, at 1pm, the office closed and I left to meet up with Stephen (waiting at HELLO).

We went over to Chinatown point to meet up with Derrick (to pass him Christmas present) and later Raymond came over to have late lunch with us at the noodle shop.

Went back home to rest before meeting for dinner, While at home, found that the air con was not working well.

Frantically searching for someone to come and check but found that I have to wait till Monday. Finally managed to get 1 to come the following morning.

Thought that we would be late for the steamboat dinner at Katong due to the bad traffic. Was surprised to be on time. Raymond's hope of hoping to get us to pay for dinner was dashed! Gerald, Wong and Tony showed up and the group was ready for dinner, We must really be hungry as we ordered many rounds of food! I had to keep ordering and putting the food into the steamboat! By the time we finished, it was a satisfying meal!

Wanted to go over to the ice cream kafe for dessert but it was closed for private function. Decided to go over to awfully chocolate instead. The chocolate ice cream was delicious!

As it was Christmas eve, we planned to walk orchard road. Well....it was a mistake! We got out at Orchard MRT and out of ION. The human traffic was REALLY BAD! It was very packed!

The traffic was almost impossible just outside Taka! We finally managed to get some breathing space and at Dhoby Ghaut, we took the MRT ride over to City
Hall. I though that there would be people singing Christmas carols everywhere but I was wrong. It was just lighting and mountain people mountain sea! There was no Christmas mood!

After a drink at City Hall, we decided to call it a night. When we reached home, the air con was still not working. Stephen tried making some 'changes' and we finally got some cool air but it was shortlived, I really had problem sleeping ...... I managed to get yanti to reset the main switch and we managed to get some cool air again.



25 Dec

The guy came and found that there was gas leakage. He managed to top up the gas and also tightened some loose screws. Hopefully that would solve the problem. To think that I only serviced the air con a few weeks before!

Had to prepare for the family party. Got up to make some desserts, Then, went over to TBP for a movie before going back to get ready.

As it was pouring, the family members were late but we finally had the food ready for everyone. Fried bee hoon, curry chicken, Kong Bak, pork ribs, soup (Buddha jumps over the wall), desserts and jade noodle, There was plenty to eat and drink!

We also got a log cake to celebrate mum's birthday.

Then, its gift exchange time again! As usual, Steve would bring out his ang pow and that would be the one everyone wants, This time, the least expected Stephen got the ang pow! He was delighted! The night ended well with lots of fun and laughters. Glad that Stephen enjoyed himself as well.

26th

Had leftovers for breakfast and then started to pack for the KL trip. Went over to Beach road to catch the Transtar coach.

The coach left almost on time but there some some congestion getting to the 2nd link. Further delay to clear SG side because 1 passenger left his departure card in his bag instead and had to be escorted to the coach to look for the card. At the rest point, some passengers took their own sweet time, making everyone waited for them. Then, bad traffic slowed down along the highway and by the time we arrived, it took more than 6 hours! We were supposed to arrive about 7:30pm. We arrived after 8:30pm!

Had some noodle at Jalan Imbi before making our way to the hotel. After some calling to Douglas to ask for direction, we finally found Fraser Place.

Check in was smooth and when we got to our room, we were pleasantly surprised! It was a very well equipped studio apartment.

We went for a walk to see the many pubs/bars just next to our apartment before turning in for the night.

27th

Went over to KLCC for a look-see before meeting up with Nelson. Decided to have KFC for lunch as Stephen reckoned that Malaysia has tastier KFC. Then, we went over to Sungei Wang, Bintang Plaza and also to Pavilion. We managed to find seat at the Snowflake shop to have desserts.



SP came over to our apartment for a drink and then we met up with Ben and friends for dinner, We went back to imbi and ordered some noodle dishes, The dishes were delicious and then we moved on to another place for desserts.

Went for a stroll along Bukit Bintang also also Ah Lor before heading back to the apartment.

28th

A relaxed day on our own. Walk to KLCC and then took the MRT ride to Central Market. It was rather interesting as the place has many stuff to offer. From there, we went over to Chinatown. Decided to walk back to Bukit Bintang from Chinatown. By thé time we got there, Stephen's fingers were swollen - too much walking! We settled down at Jogoya for a late lunch. The spread was just too much for us and we had very limited time to eat.

After lunch, we went over to Pavilion for Stephen to buy swimming trunk. We went back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day at the pool, sauna, steam and jacuzzi. It was great!

I had the opportunity to get my laundry done and dried. We did not go out to eat...instead we cooked instant noodle, together with the BBQ pork that we had. A simple meal....

As we could not sleep, we decided to go for a walk and managed to order a pizza and tiramisu back to the hotel for supper. The pizza was really delicious!

29th

A very important day - need to go to Port Dickson to look at a resort. Nelson has been very kind to offer to take us there. Its' about 1 - 1.5 hour's drive. We had to go back to his place at to pick up Alwin (who has just gotten back from night shift). Went to a nearby restaurant for Bak Kut Teh lunch. Supposed to be a popular restaurant but we found the food to be average (based on our liking!)

Then, we moved on and our 1st stop was Sepang - Palm Tree resort. The journey there was rather far, and we dozed off easily after lunch (full stomach). Finally arrived at the resort and we saw many people at the beach next to the resort.

It was rather interesting seeing people flying kites, swimming, having picnic and even having ball game on the beach! We went over to the resort and I must say it looked impressive, even from the beach. The only thing, to me, was that the units were very close (side by side) to each other.

From there, we moved on to Port Dickson. It was relatively nearer from Sepang. We saw the sign of the Legend International Water Homes and the Water Chalets. The 2 resorts were just side by side.

Managed to get the sales person to show us the Grand Pool Villa. From the pictures, the Villa looked very good but........... the villa was not as grand as expected and it looked smaller in real life. We could not see the Executive Pool Villa as the resort was running full. We were told the difference was only the room size.

Both resorts are 4 star but we felt that the lobby at Water Chalets looked better than Water Homes! We managed to see a chalet (the door was opened) and found the room to be rather small, but comfortable.

Then, its driving all the way back to KL...... and the terrible traffic jam....the traffic was so bad that Nelson decided to risk taking another route. Finally managed to crawl our way out of the traffic and the risk was no risk at all. We managed to get into town and decided to have dinner at Pavilion.

Dinner was at Crystal Jade and we had Peking Duck, Sweet & sour soup, some prawn dishes and vege, etc. It was a sumptuous meal, thanks to Alwin!

On the way back to the hotel, we bought desserts (from SnowFlake Cafe). Nelson and Alwin were quite impressed with the room. We chatted till late before they had to leave.

It was a long day but it was a very good day for us.

30th

Got up late.....just ready for lunch. Went for buffet Dim Sum at Novotel hotel. Did not realise that the dim sum were already on the buffet table (not the ala carte buffet). The food was average but for the price (M$45 nett), I guess one cannot complain.

Then, it's off to Pavilion for a look around. Wanted to catch a movie but the timing was not good and so decided to go over to Time Square. Time Square was rather crowded but after looking around, there wasn't anything worth buying there.

Nelson called and wanted to catch up. So, decided to meet at Pavilion. Went over to Pavilion and we sat down for tea at StarBuck. As it was still early for dinner, we decided to go back to hotel to rest.

Back at the Hotel, we went to the 18th floor again for steam, sauna and jacuzzi and even swim! It was really good! Dinner was supposed to be at Cheras, behind Phoenix Plaza - steamboat. SP was to meet us there.

Dinner was good...we had lots to eat!

Then, SP drove us to Mid Valley for a look -see and also for a drink. It was rather late by the time we got there and after walking around for a while, he drove us back to the hotel.

31st

Got up for breakfast and then packed our stuff. Checked out around noon and took a cab ride (about 50 mins) to LCCT.

It was self service for check in at the kiosk and then we just dropped off our luggage at the counter.

The plane was on time and after about 50mins flight, we landed at Changi International Airport.

Raymond has booked dinner for 6 at the Canton Restaurant at People's Park Complex and we arrived early to buy some stuff for Stephen's colleagues. We also bought a gift for Simon - parfum.

Gerald, Tony and Wong turned up for dinner. We just had dinner together on 23rd when Stephen arrived from Hong Kong. It was great to catch up again, on the last day of the year.

After dinner, Gerald, Raymond and us decided to try to walk to Fullerton for the countdown. We met up briefly with Kelvin and gang at illuvia, enroute to Fullerton.

When we got there, the whole place was packed! It was almost impossible to walk! Then, we decided to give up and we came back home to watch the countdown instead. We got to see the fireworks on TV.

1st Jan 2011

First Day of the New Year! May it bring good health and lot of good fortune!

Have arranged lunch with Kelvin & gang at the Seafood International Market restaurant at East Coast. Raymond came along as well. The food was rather good and the company was great!

Went over to Raffles City for a look see but could not get what I wanted. Then, we went over to TBP and also Anchorpoint to get some stuff.

Dinner was at Anchorpoint . We had Laksa Yong Tau Foo and also pizza (not as good as the one we had in KL).

2nd Jan

Stephen's departure back to Hong Kong.

Went over to Pearl Centre to try and buy a DVD but it was not available. Went to another shop but still could not find. Had Dim Sum lunch at Mouth Restaurant. Wanted to have lunch at Yum Cha Restaurant but was packed!

Went to the airport early to avoid any long queue as many people are travelling back today.

The trip has been rather exciting for us. Stephen got to meet up with some of my good friends in KL. He was pleasantly surprised with their generosity and kindness. The journey by coach was an experience for him and he reckoned that he would do it again. The apartment was cosy and comfortable. Certainly would stay there again!

Glad to know that he enjoyed himself a lot and also made new friends in this trip!



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

Piggy Bank

It's that time of the year again!

The time to 'break open' my SMILEY piggy bank and count how much I have saved this year. The money is to buy Christmas presents for my nephew n nieces.

This year is not too bad.....slightly more than last year.....

The problem is...how to change the coins into notes!!!!!!

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