Thoughts

Sometimes, I find it difficult to pen my thoughts. There are things that I want to put it down but everytime When I want to write them out, I back out.

I never believe that life would be a bed of roses, for me. I do believe that we must not give in. We run our own lives....believe in ourselves and live our lives to the fullest. Of course, it is usually easily said than done but it's no harm trying, is it!

2011 has been a relatively good year for me. As far as work is concerned, I did better than I used to! The family is still doing fine, thank God! The person who means all the world to me is still driving me crazy....crazily in love!

I thank God for taking care of my family, my friends and also the person I love most. I pray that HE will continue to take care of my family, my friends, me and the person I love most! Amen!


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

BKK Trip 5 - 9 Jan

After rushing to finish my work, got changed and rushed to airport. Managed to take a shower before boarding! Always enjoy doing that!

Arrival into Bangkok, the immigration and custom clearance were swift. Soon, I was on my way to the hotel. Stephen was already waiting at the hotel.

After checking in, we went over to Silom for dinner. Decided on Thai food at BUM. The food was so-so....Stephen reckoned the food was not as good as before.

The next few days were rather relaxing.....went shopping at MBK, lunch at MK Suki, dinner at Fuji; shopping at Chinatown, lunch at Ibis and dinner with Gary & Sumate at Vincent's; lunch at Oishi Grand and simple dinner at the hotel.......

Time passed very fast and before I knew it, it was departure day......

Glad to have made it for the trip.....I guess its not so much as to what I did in Bangkok but rather what I wanted to achieve in the trip!






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

Family Christmas Dinner

25 Dec

Started the morning making dessert for the dinner and the the rest of the afternoon, getting stuff for the dinner.....family dinner at my place.

The sisters-in-law came with food for dinner......there's ham, sausages, curry chicken , vege, pork, bee hoon, fish ball, sotong, soup, etc... A lot more than enough to feed the family!

After dinner, giving out of presents to the kids and adult (me) . Then, it was gift exchange time....... as usual, Steve would take out S$50 .....ang pow....see who would be the lucky one.....Me! It was ME!

The evening ended well......with lots of doggy bags.....



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

Christmas gathering at Wong's - 24 Dec

A couple of reminders from Raymond to all attending the party and finally......

Sam was kind enough to give me a lift.. had a lot of stuff with me....... the weather was pretty bad.....started to rain....when we got to Wong's place, the rain stopped.

Was the 1st to get there. Wong & Tony has a Taiwan friend, Jason, in town. Derrick soon arrived and we proceeded to get and get ice.  Raymond and Tim arrived with the food and after laying out the food, decided to get more food.

The rest of the guests started to arrive. Soon, its time to tuck in!

Then, Thomas came with more guests......

Time for gift exchange. We started with about 11 people and ended with 18! Not bad! 18 gifts and everyone got 1.

Lots of wine, plenty of food & snacks, etc....

Stayed till after 12.....still raining.......

It was a great evening.....the crowd was good!



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

Stephen's Trip

9 Dec

A working day as usual, except some sms coming in updating me the whereabouts...... Arrived, walking to immigration; on the way back home by MRT ; at home now.. Stephen was in town and he made his own way to my place! 

Called him to come by my office. Met up and went for dinner.  After clueless walking around, we decided to have dinner at Toastbox. Ordered mee rebus, laksa and also curry chicken. The taste was not bad...

Went to a new pub for a drink at chinatown before retiring for the night.



10 Dec

Had to wake Derrick up first....and after breakfast, he came over to pick us up for photo shoot. Our first stop was NUS.Tried looking for the NUS signboard but could not find. Instead, Derrick drove us to Faculty of Arts n Social Science. Managed to take some nice pictures

Next, Derrick drive us to a marina (not sure the name). Lots of yachts...nice environment! Our last stop was at Merlion.

Went with Derrick to return the car to his friend before proceeding to Ibis Bencoolen for check-in. Booked a night under the promo and had a lucky draw.... 50% discount off the room rate charge and with free breakfast! Wow, it was great!

Stephen had a work assignment and we spent the afternoon getting it done. Decided to go over to Tao's for dinner, something different from the norm. The dinner was great!

11 Dec

A lazy morning........(after the free breakfast!).

Got home and decided to put up the Christmas Tree. ....did not take long to get that done... then, went to the market for a late lunch and then walked over to the Link building to check out the warehouse sales.... left empty-handed!

Went over to Tiong Bahru Plaza and bought some fruits n cakes. Bought some ingredients for the maid to make some pancakes...hokkien pancakes.

Spent the rest of the afternoon counting my Piggy bank's money....it's that time of the year again! Later, went over to Katong to visit Wong's new place - very cosy! Wanted to have dinner after that but most places were already finishing. Met Thomas and Yoshi at 112 Thomson and again on the road when trying to get a cab. Thomas gave us a lift home! So sweet of him! Managed to catch some dinner at Anchorage.


12 Dec

Another lazy morning...a quick stop over at Chinatown to buy the pineapple tarts before proceeding to the airport for the flight back to Hong Kong! 



It was a short trip and it went well......................................


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

Nov 24 - 27

24 Nov

After making sure everything was OK, rushed off to the airport to check in the luggage. managed to take a shower and have a snack at the lounge before boarding.

The SQ flight departed on time and arrived earlier than scheduled.  Clearance was rather fast and even with the luggage. Soon, i was out into the arrival hall and Stephen was there to meet me.

Took a ride on the Airport Express to Central and then the free shuttle to Empire HKG. From there, its a short walk to Wesley Hotel.

Steamboat dinner with Derrick and Stanley at Sheung Wan.

25 Nov

MacDonald's breakfast to start the day...... took a bus (no. 681) from opp the hotel to Ma On Shan. Went to visit Stephen's place. Took about 40 mins to the Town Centre and then another 15 mins walk to his apartment.  First time to his place. Ma On Shan is a self sustained township....big shopping mall.... Saw many people queueing up for the free shuttle and also saw many people queueing up to pick up the kids from the kindergarten

Went to walk Pacific Place while Stephen went to do some office business.Pacific Place is rather upmarket and walking over to the next mall, you could actually find cheaper stuff! Bought a belated birthday present from Frankie.

Japanese buffet dinner near the hotel...huge slices of sashimi....too huge for me....the meal was not too bad...

Had to help Stephen finish his assignment..and still managed to catch a movie - Immortals before calling it a night.

26 Nov

Met up with the gang for dinner ....dim sum buffet. Great to catch up with them again. Lots of laughter! Wanted to go to Stanley markets but the bus queue was too long and decided against it.

Strolled back to the hotel and rested till evening. Went over to Tsim Sha Tsui for some window shopping and catching up on the night lighting.

Wanted to catch another movie but the only available tickets were the front rows.

27 Nov

Got up early and went over to Central to check in. Breakfast at the American Embassy (MacDonald's) before catching the train to airport to board the flight back to Singapore.

Though the trip was rather short, I managed to do what I have always wanted to do. Thank you for making it possible and thank you for spending time.



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

JAPAN YOKOSO ...... Final Part

30 Sep

Decided  to check out early to go over to Dotonburi Hotel .

After leaving down the luggage, we made our way to Kuromon Ichiba. It was a pleasant to get there. The place was like a wet market selling lots of stuff. We managed to stop at one and bought some Maguro and Toro to eat! Stephen enjoyed them very much! ( I am not a sushi/ sashimi person....) It was quite a good experience strolling around Kuromon, shopping and eating!

From there, we made our way to Osakako - Osaka Port. As it started to rain quite heavily, we decided to break for lunch at the nearby Mac. The MacRib was really tender and delicious!

Walking around the shopping mall next to the Aquarium was fun! We managed to buy Ikayaki and also some pig shaped buns to eat!

Before going back to the hotel, we took a stroll along Shinsaibashi and bought some souvenirs and snack.

The room at this hotel was really small, but great location. Not only that, it has laptop for rental, wi-fi and even different adaptors for free use!

Went to Taka to buy a birthday cake and managed to get one to my liking! By the time I got back to wash up, Omori was already waiting outside the hotel.

Omori drove us back to his place for sukiyaki dinner. Mrs Omori has bought Kobe beef for sukiyaki! Wow! There was so much to eat!

Mrs Omori baked a cake for the party and we had 2 cakes to eat!

It was a great evening at his place!

01 Oct

Early morning check out to catch the train to Kansai airport. The Omoris came to see us off and gave us presents. So kind of them!

About 3hours and 20 mins flight, we arrived into Hong Kong. Overnight stay at Kimberley Hotel before catching my morning flight on 02 Oct back to Singapore!

The trip to Japan has been wonderful. We had good weather, delicious food, good traffic and most of all great hospitality!

It was great to be back in Osaka, after 8 years! Much has changed since, but it was easy moving around the city.

It was Stephen's 1st trip and I believe he enjoyed himself, especially the home stay at Omori's place.


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