was once a cute chubby boy back in his secondary school days. Until the day he was brought into army. His BMTC in Ninja Company (2006) and 35SCE Survey Platoon (2006-2007) brought
about a transformation (and a little quirkiness) in him. He obtained superhuman powers and is now called, the Super Pioneer! By day, he is a lazy bum who slacks around at home,
blogging and doing useless things. By night, he turns into Super Pioneer, doing the relentless works that is given to him. After the defeat of his Arch Nemesis, The Brain,
Super Pioneer Daron is moving on with his life and onto the next villian, the NUS Monster.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The start of a very epic battle
The time was 9.15pm. The estimated time to complete my 2nd assignment was by 4am. There should have been nothing but chionging through the assignment.. The assignment was to use a basic shape to create a rhythm (a string of basic shapes which shows motions), deformation (to create other shapes from the basic shape by twisting the contours of the shape) and a pattern (using both basic shape and deformation)I managed to finish it only by 9.30am the next morning. Spending a whooping 7 hours on the patterns, it was my pride and joy that it managed to turn out looking very nice. The rhythms took slightly shorter.. about 4 hours and the deformation, 1 hour with a bit of dozing off from the lack of sleep.
It was super tedious, and careful execution was carried to ensure minimal damage to the workpiece. Unlike soft copy, one wrong move on the actual piece and you can end up throwing the whole piece away.
When it is finally done, i cycled back to bunk by 10am. Took a quick shower and hit the bed. Spent about 2 hours of sleep, and up I was for the Critique session at 2pm. All I remembered was the pounding headache and how it sucks to have so little sleep.
The critique went smoothly. Most of us had interesting rhythms and patterns. Out of the whole lot, mine was one of the last few. Interestingly, the last few were labelled as the "Extremist club", probably because of the daring approach to defining what are patterns. Overall, I didnt really do a good job with the deformation and the rhythms unlike my other classmate. I was however, encouraged by the remark one of the tutors.
"This is the best pattern I have ever seen."
Preparations were made to create the desired pattern on hand
Actual Design... Looks super good! Labels: Industrial Design
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
When You're Stressed from all the work...
The crazy things people do when there's a deadline within Labels: Industrial Design
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Singapore Youth Olympics Logo Competition 2008
The Lion cub and the Lion are the mascots for this year's olympics!
Just the Lion by himselfThe lion represents Singapore's identity as a lion city. Its red and white colours represent the colours of the Singapore flag. The red mane and tail are the end represents fire, and in this case, represents the burning flame of the Olympic torch. Based on Asian roots, the lion can also be seen as a guardian lion, with his right paw on one of the Olympic circles, hence indicating the security of the Youth Olympics in Singapore. The lion displays strength, strategy and perservance. It represents an athlete, a fighter, a winner. For a cub to grow into a dominant lion, it has to learn from its parents. Its parents will also ensure that it will grow into a mighty lion within the pride. Likewise, the potential that are unleashed among the youths all over the world will only continue to grow as they mature into adult athletes through the guidance of their coach and support from their family. The Youth Olympic is their stepping stone onto the World Olympics.
Spent the whole day constructing this figure of the lion.. I must say it is a well thought out concept that it would be interesting and humbling for anyone who can come out with a better idea. :)
Monday, August 25, 2008
My very 1st Assignment!!!
Extracted from my preparation for this exercise
In the square world, everything is made out of squares. Anything that is not a square is also morphed into a 4 equal sided right angle polygon. It was on one of those days that I decided to bring some food from Earth. Gathering my 5 newfound friends from Square world, we had a picnic by the park in Square world.
In Square world, no one has ever seen fast food before. It was a creation that was ingenious only on Earth. So when I brought fast food into the Square world, they were very intrigued by its colour and appearance. Apparently, the Squares have never seen “red” in their entire life, while they could only comprehend “yellow” through the setting square sun. Perhaps red and yellow were so much of an opposite in their world that the colours simply couldn’t exist. (perhaps the reason why the sun remains in square world is due to the fact that there should only be one sun in the solar system, and that sun happened to be yellow). It was such a pity that the Squares have never fully appreciated the use of red and yellow. On Earth, these colours are associated with high branding value. Countless of companies other than the fast food chains have made use of red and yellow, such as Coca Cola, Vodafone, Ferrari, Shell and even DBS. Companies make use of these bright colours and its shorter wavelength to create a closer distance perception, hence attracting the attention of the customers. Perhaps that is the reason why Mac-Donald is able to earn higher revenue comparing with duller colour fast-food chains.
Even though there are 3 dishes brought over to Square world, fast foods come as a set meal (usually a burger, a side and a drink), and with the use of a few common colours among the fast food, there was sufficient for the 6 of us, each mysteriously having food for our own.
Intuitively, the Squares chose their choice of fast-food with accurate resemblances to their character. Each of them had a behavior that suited their colours and their appetite. Starting from the bottom left, I have decided to choose “Long John Silvers’”. Long John Silvers’ are famous for their deep fried fish and French fries. Since I came from a Teochew background back in Singapore, fish can be seen as one of the essential dishes for a Teochew meal. The fact that Long John Silvers’ is one of the few Fast-food chains that emphaysises on Fish, it further showed the huge difference between a Earthly being and a Squarely being.
The next square above me is a wealthy square. His skin is able to reflect against sunlight, hence making it in comparison with a similar shade of blue called “Aquamarine”. Aquamarine is also known as a gem which is under the same grouping as Sapphire. When Aquamarine selected the fast food, he decided to go for Pizza Hut (Red, black and a bit of yellow), and it so happened that Pizza Hut was the most expensive meal out of the six fast-food.
The next square is known as “midnight blue” since he had a darker shade of blue on his skin. He was the kind of person who stayed up late in the night doing his own work, ending up with little or no sleep at all. Instinctively, he picked out the Mac-Donald’s meal, perhaps not knowing that Mac-Donald’s now has outlets opening 24 hours daily.
Moving on is Cyan, the fickle minded square. It is interesting to note that although Cyan has a certain amount of blueness in him, he also has the equal amount of greenness as well, making him indecisive on whether he should be a blue square or a green one. He chose the MOS burger set. Similarly, MOS burgers sell their burger in a “fickle minded” way. Being famous for their rice burger, the creators of the rice burgers was stuck with the Japanese lifestyle of eating rice and the Westerners lifestyle of eating burgers, so they decided to combine the both together, just like how Cyan looks like.
Being the smallest square, Baby blue clearly shows the youthfulness and childishness of a kid. He chose the KFC meal. Although KFC and MOS burger almost have a similar set of colours, KFC has a slight beige to its lighter portion unlike MOS burger who uses the white background. Other than MacDonald’s, KFC has also adopted a mascot concept in line with their meals so as to cater to the children. This was why Baby Blue picked up the Chicky Student Meal, which is smaller in comparison with the rest of the meals.
Finally, Azure is the last square friends who joined us for the picnic. Azure is commonly used on Earth to represent the clear blue sky, hence he adopted similar traits of being environmentally friendly and healthy living. He chose Subway, knowing from the package that Subway does not use polystyrene materials and uses recycled plastic bags as their carrier. Subway is also one of the healthiest fast food out of the 6 meals.
From the picnic, I have learnt that sometimes, Colours and people have a link with one another in terms of purpose, emotions and perceiving distance. It can be used to represent an object, or even used to enhance the appreciation of a particular object, simply by understanding the nature of the colour. In conclusion, when colours are seen at face value, it might all be in a complete mess, but with the clarity of what square represents, it will become clearer why the square is in that particular colour and size, and the whole mess of squares will then turn into a picnic with 5 square friends.
Labels: Industrial Design
Sunday, August 24, 2008
mm.. Yummy Sunset Grills
What a treat to find a hidden restaurant tucked in the middle of Seletat Air Base. I would like to thank my PC for giving me the opportunity to explore Seletar AirBase, so much so that getting to the restaurant was not much of a hassle. It's really difficult to get it. Perhaps a map from Google map can show you an idea..
View Larger Map
Upon arrival, I was impressed by the good customer service. We were directed to an outdoor tentage with the staff attending to us eagerly. We even had a mosquito coil under our tables so as to ward off the mosquitoes. The food came promptly as well, with the exception of the main course due to some cock-up in the kitchen, but it was okay, because..
THE FOOD IS !@#$%^ GOOD!!!!
I'm not kidding when I say that. Our 1st dish was button mushroom coated with a thin layer of batter. With every crunch on the mushroom, the juice tucked in the mushroom explodes in your mouth, sending a savory aroma throughout your whole mouth. The Clam Chowder was equally amazing as well. Thick and starchy, it had chicken and bits of clam with every spoonful of soup. We also had mussels cooked in white sauce and white wine. I must admit that although the mussels were a little tough, the broth was very addictive. Even the garlic bread had a taste of its own unlike any other garlic bread, and dipping it into the broth was just heavenly...
When the main course finally came, we rushed for the food with eager anticipation, and we were not disappointed. Out of the whole dish, the half chicken was the ULTIMATE. The whole chicken was marinated with barbeque sauce, and not one bit was dry. Even the breast meat, which should be the driest was soft, tender and juicy..! The spare ribs and the fries deserve special mentions as well for their taste and perfection.
Overall, it was a satisfying saturday evening with the family. The food, ambience and staff was good. 9 out of 10 other than for the stupid mosquitoes and smoking couple besides us. Perfect place to bring your date to... that's if you know the way there... hahahaha~
Up, up and away says Super Pioneer Daron.
12:59 AM.
12:59 AM.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
A dead body...
Notice how the dead body is wrapped out with brown gunnysack :D
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
2/10 and modelling class
Hold me Jesus, Cos I'm shaking like a leaf... You have been my king of glory, wont You be my prince of peace...~Big Daddy Weave
My cube scored a 2 out of 10. It started off with a loose corner at the side measuring... 99.2mm.. And that caused me to lose 10(100-99.2) = 8 marks...
But alas, out comes a secret formula. Seriously got to thank Austin for the little cheat tip..! :P
We had a modelling class in the afternoon. It wasnt how to do a cat-walk down an aisle, but using the engineering modelling program to create 3d models on the com. It was pretty cool stuff, and obviously a little boring..
The attractive model on the com..
Monday, August 18, 2008
My baptism!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Finally, its done...!!!
15 “ Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth;
You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small,
And make the hills like chaff.
16 You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them;
You shall rejoice in the LORD,
And glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The Monster Cube that took so much time making and making and making :S
You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small,
And make the hills like chaff.
16 You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them;
You shall rejoice in the LORD,
And glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 41:15-16
The Monster Cube that took so much time making and making and making :S
Must be 100.0mm ACCURATE! O.O
Wasted bits!
Friday, August 15, 2008
The killers!!!
Today we had a safety model workshop in the morning on handling the machinery in the workshop. Some of them looked like the machines in D & T in secondary school, others are brand new, and pretty cool. It looks manageable, except for the heaty machines. I guess i can never get rid of this phobia of handling hot stuff..Finally completed my 1st assignment! Its a study of what writing material goes well with the writing material you are using. We had to create 24 different panels of material. It was gruesome, but manageable, and by 8pm, I was done :)
Nevertheless, the killer came earlier. The 4th assignment rolled in shortly, this time on patterns.
The 2nd killer was the jog I had later in the night. I had no idea NUS was so big... Planning my way around for an overall downslope jog, I took longer than expected to cover this route. Perhaps I was not familiar with the route. But its okay. I'm sure I can hit the timing of 45 minutes for sure!
View Larger Map
Hope my legs and back wont give up on me tomorrow :S
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
1/2 hour of school..
Notice.. the JIP!! (a wooden chipboard with 2 smaller wooden blocks on it)Alright.. the 2nd assignment rolling in.. We had our ID1111 modelling module wif PC. He looked like a very experienced teacher, teaching us the basics of how to cut with a pen-knife and making a jip so that our models will be 90 degrees to one another. There were plenty of equipments used, such as the metal rule, L rule, Set square, pen-knife, gip, fixture spray etc. So much so, it felt like a lesson of D & T.
And then, that was it. We started at 9.30am and by 10.10am, we were done.
Spent the rest of the time socialising with my ID peeps. We ate at the FASS canteen, hence I bumped into a few people; such as Jiayi and Yixuan.
Did a bit more diddly-daddling at my bunk before leaving for artfriend, however, I got sidetracked by the National Library. I was in search of a few ID books, so when I have finally found Shimizu Yoshiharu's 2 books, I rushed off to the copiers to get a copy of it. It's pretty rare and expensive to have one book, so for $10, I felt accomplished. :)
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
1st day at ID
1st day in ID1103 was very interesting. Unlike sitting in a tutorial class watching the teacher drone about a certain subject, we were already tasked to do our 1st assignments. We were asked to collect 30 different colours from our surroundings. I went to walk around, picking leaflets and postcards along the way. After cutting the 20 odd squares, Christianen then instructed us to arrange our squares based on groups of 8, whereby each of us had to attach a reason to why our groups were in this way. We later were asked to arrange them in terms of brightness, and later, based on their saturation. It was pretty cool to have done all of this, but homework was pretty crazy. We were to collect 100 of such squares, every square being of a different colour. Sounds.. challenging.
ME2103 was pretty boring. Our lecturer looked similar to a certain cartoon blue cat with a magic pouch on his belly. He was pretty boring, and I couldnt help but took a snooze halfway during his talks. One thing good was his comprehensive collection of lecture slides, examples and instruction on his personal slide: http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/mpeleeks/personal/index.htm
Friday, August 08, 2008
A satisfied customer
It was a birthday gift..and it was a really cheeky one..
Well.. he was happy:P
Its a ragging good time
Biz Faculty : Most number of awards among faculties!
SOC : Final Fantasy inspired
Engineering : Act Cute Japanese
USP : Creepy hand float
Pharmacy : Girl Power
Nice Alien
Law : Rural Banglaa
Medicine : Pinocchio
Dentistry : Director's cut
Art Clubs : Club scene down Mohamed Sultan Rd
Science : Mario Look-alike
SDE : Alien soldier (we'll win again next year!)
Temesak Hall : F1 wannabes
King Edward 7 : Pokers on a chessboard
Team Sheares : Rocker in a box
Little human sculpture that looks like an adaption from D. Gray Man
Eusoff Hall : Early Christmas 
Raffles Hall : Smelly flower
Kent Ridge Hall : hip hop fairytale ending
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
BACK FROM THE HONGKONG
From Left to Right : Yap, Ji Zhak, White Bird and Super Pioneer4 monkeys (okay, except for a white bird and a gecko) embarked themselves on a journey based on the rash decision of one of them. Together through the tough times spurs a new journey. White bird and super pioneer were to cover 5 days 4 nights in the mystical Hong Kong while reinforcements were deployed to a day later. Yap and Ji Zhak were among them.
Upon arrival on 30th July, we checked into their hotels; Mexan harbour. Comparatively, it was a lot bigger than any HongKong hotels, especially those in
Kowloon, and its a lot cheaper. Perhaps the only problem was the accessibility, which took about 1/2 - 40 minutes just to reach the city area. Nevertheless, we were treated to a nice sight of containers outside our hotels, making it the weirdest scenery in my list of accommodations. We went to Kwai Fong for a late lunch of 4pm. I had a dumpling noodles which was reasonable at $4(came with a drink as well).
We later went over to Tsim Sha Tsui via MTR. We each
bought ourselves an Octopus card to use. Dont ask me why the name octopus, because it looked like an ordinary card, but acts like a Easy-link. Later, we both walked down Parklane Boulevard, an 
Orchard Road look-alike that stretches for miles. Dropping by Miramar Shopping Centre, we chanced upon the heavenly Uniqlo. Uniqlo, a japanese brand that is popular for its jean, has never make its mark in Singapore. We practically bought the whole shop down. I bought a pair of jeans on the spot that costed $60, but was considerably cheap.
We later made our way down Temple Street, the land of the night stalls. It looked
pretty much like a pasar malam back in Singapore, but with endless roads and corners of stalls selling almost anything; from counterfeit watches to counterfeit tees to counterfeit laserpointer. There were fans, paintings, XXX stuff and even household goods. Zh outdid himself by spending lots of things; there was a few tees, a craft set, watch, a pair of cheap jeans and others. I didnt really shop at all, other than some pretty cool Christian tees for the peeps back in church.
Came back at around 12am, only having to have dinner at 11.00pm. Surprisingly, public transport work late in the night. So do the eateries around the MTR; it seemed that the Hongkongers dont sleep at all.
Day 2 started at around 9am. Yong teng and yap were supposed to land at 2pm, so we had plenty of time to roam about before they joined us. We started with breakfast at a nearby coffee shop. It was a trip back to the 1970s with old
red leather chairs with wooden boards as backrests, sausage, egg and beehoon beef never tasted that great before. We had an intention of clearing some of the temples in HongKong, grasping the culture and tradition of the place. Starting at Wong Tai Sin Temple, we were greeted with a big mall beside the temple. I guess it must be a HongKong pastime to walk in malls, as there are plenty of
it everywhere in HongKong.
Wong Tai Sin Temple was rested in between residential area. Catering to the buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, the temple had 3-4 altars, each holding a particular god of the religion. Devotees would carry their joss-sticks offering thanks to these gods. It also had a garden for devotees to relax in. With an artificial garden and water sprinkler for the flowers in the garden, the temple is certainly making a lot of money from the donations poured in. Before leaving the temple, I was able to witness a mysterious practice which worshippers practice, which is unique only in Hong Kong. Using a open container of chopsticks to tell your fortune is a common practice in HongKong. The devotee will form a question in his/her mind, and slowly shake the container until the 1st chopstick sticks out and land on the floor. He/she can verify whether if this is what the Gods are really speaking by throwing 2 stones in midair. If there is a stone resting on its curved surface, while the other is resting on the flat surface, then the facts on the chopstick is true. If however, they fall on the same sides, the devotee would have to repeat the process until she gets it right.
After Wong Tai Sin, We went to Lok Fu to spot another temple. Unlike the Wong Tai
Sin temple, the next temple did not have many visitors. In fact, it was empty other than the attendant cleaning the space. But in this temple, culture and history sprung out alive with many ancient weapons, statues on walls and calligraphy, some dating
back to the 18th century. It was a sight for history buffs, not so much so for poor zh, who was complaining about the weather and the fatigue. The Walled city was pretty much the same as well. Built in the early century, the British colonial rule demanded to tear down the place. 
However, based on the recover of some archaeological finds of old ruins, the place was converted to a tourist spot. Once again, there werent many people, but the beauty and the tranquility of it all was overwhelming, until zh wanted to eat something and get out of the place.
Being lost souls on the street, we wanted to find a place with good
food, particularly dim sum. Heaven heard our cries and send a woman rolling her trolley cart down the alley. When she saw a pair of lost fools clinging onto their maps for directions, she offered to show us the best dim sum around the area. It was a good thing we had dimsum at 3pm as the price of it would be very cheap. We had a good deal of eating the favourites, such as Chee cheong fun, Siew mai, long pao, charsiew pao, century egg porridge, beehoon etc etc. We ate so much till we wanted to puke, and when the bill came, it was only... $12. omg. eating dim sum in singapore with the portions we had would have cost us about $30 per person. We paid left than that total amount for a table of 2.
Having being filled to the brink, we left the eating area of Kowloon and headed back
to Lok Fu MTR. It was back to Tsim Sha Tsui to troll down the museum displays. We bypassed Harbourcity and were greeted with expensive labels along the street. Harbourcity was a shopping centre not even Vivocity can beat. It was THE biggest shopping centre I have ever seen, ranging with brands not heard of ever in Singapore. Upon exiting, we took some snapshots of Louis Vuitton shop. Pretty sophisticated and elegant are the words to describe it. The view at the bay was fantastic. Being able to see all the skyscrapers of HongKong Island, it certainly destroys the conception of urbanisation not being pretty. Architectural marvels are bountiful in HongKong. And my eyes were filled with many sights.
We visited the Cultural centre, space centre and Museum of the art. Pretty boring place to be in. The avenue of stars was a different thing though. With many
handprints on cemented path of famous actors in the movie industries, like Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Andy Lau etc, tourist are attracted to this place to take cheesy shots of their hands in this prints and other filming statues. I have plenty of these stupid poses. We witnessed the nightlight performance of the building in.. disappointment. It was a pretty dull show and for the Singaporean who have seen plenty of skyscrapers and NDP show. It did not meet to our expectation, not one bit.
An interesting thing to note about Hongkong would be THEIR LACK OF TOILET FACILITIES. Can you imagine when you're at high tide and you cant find a single toilet anywhere at all? Not even in the 5 star hotel facing the sea(im particularly mentioning Sheraton hotel. DONT YOU EVER GO THERE AGAIN), nor the shopping centre that has all your favourite goods. If there is any place that deserves recommendation for being a life-saviour, that would be the 24hours McDonalds. It was the most urgent and yet satisfying pee I ever had for a long time. We spent the rest of the night in Ladies Market, another hot spot for Pasar Malam goods. Comparing with Temple Street, Ladies market had more variety of goods and it was
where i bought my ali ba ba bag, and contemplating in other stuff for people. There were plenty of bags, fake wallets and belts, cheap socks, toys and others. Drained out from all the shopping, we managed to leave the place at 11pm, only being able to have dinner at 11.30pm. At midnight, we finally met YongTeng and Yap. ole!
3rd day was a little more exciting. We were off to the magical land of HongKong Island. Being advised to stay over there right from the beginning, I started to regret my decision to stay on the mainland. HongKong Island was a modernised Hong kong, with towering glass buildings and new edge technology everywhere, like the electric trains, cleaner parks and bigger brands. YongTeng and Yap went on their seperate ways from us, so as to look for their swedish brand, H & M. Their ulterior motive would be to look for HongKong Girls.
I dunno about you, but according to Zh and YT, they are claiming that hongkong girls are generally prettier than Singaporean girls. I dun really see any difference. I mean, a chinese girl is a chinese girl, regardless of where she is staying in. I guess the only reason why these hongkong girls appeal to boys would be their better sense of dressing, most of it coming out of their own pockets. It is quite a common sight to see them dressed in Chanel sweaters and carrying Gucci bags. I guess its a common statement Hongkongers like to make, that they are rich enough to buy their clothes but still sitting on trains on the way back home. Another observation I would make would be their use of make-up. Unlike most Singaporean girls(though it is a rising trend), Hongkong girls would apply their make-up anywhere, and somehow this dolling up would drive the boys crazy. Ok, i must admit, i notice a few eye candies as well. May God forgive me such that i do not have to pluck my eyes out.
Zh and I, however, were on our ways to the fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime experience
theme park; Ocean Park. The journey was long and gruelling. On the train, across the strait, boarding a bus, through a tunnel, up a hill and down it and finally, the final destination, the side entrance of Ocean Park. It was a good thing we didnt take the main entrance. The park is split up into two parts with a cable care extension connecting the both of them. Our side was the most exciting part, with theme park rides and animal shows, so we were rather fortunate. It was pretty crowded on a friday, with people jamming the walkways. We attempted the "tallest escalator" ride to the top. The view was breath-taking. New HongKong looked ever-ready for the next exciting thing coming up its way. However, before we could savvy the scenery, zh spotted a menacing dark cloud over the horizon. One thing good about being at the top was that you could see when a dangerous cloud is heading your direction. We sped off to the nearest shelter and waited for the rain to stop. Precious time was trinkling down the drain as we watched the weather playing trick or treat on the people in the park. I finally had enough of the rain and decided to brave it. Storming
past the people with my umbrella and a rather reluctant zh, we found ourselves in a games booth before heaven brought in the final blow of downpour. It was my good o' ring a toss game, the game my dad would never let me play when I was young. I can see why he didnt want me to, since im not a games person myself. But hey, for $10, you can get a try at the games to win something really big, get a small toy for trying and wait out for the rain.
When the birds started singing again, we grabbed the opportunity and raced down to the biggest rollercoaster in the park.. THE DRAGON!! It was pretty okay, cos we were sitting in front, so we didnt have much of the g-force in us. I guess the cool part was being to look upside down as we were on the loops. THE ABYSS(aka free fall dropping
machine) was a lot more adrenaline-pumping. Zh was saying how it was shorter than the Genting highlands. But he said a completely different as the ride started to bring us higher. When we are nervous, both zh and I would work in different ways. I would keep rather quiet and would want to think through calmly. Zh, on the other hand, would want people to talk to him so as to distract himself from the nervousness. I must say, the two of us are a pretty bad combination when it comes to this. Nevertheless, when we were dropping for the next 4 seconds, I was screaming my lungs out..
"ORD LOH!!!!!!!!!!" (trying to put a happy thought in my mind, can?)
we had a little dolphin show, where the little critter performed tricks that amused the crowds. A cable car ride after that. And some more money wasting games that earned us little tokens. We ended Ocean park around 4pm. Shagged but still anticipating the 2nd half of the itinerary.
Part 2 started at 5pm. We met Yongteng and Yap at the Charter park before setting out to the Peak Tram station. Apparently, Yap and YT bought plenty of clothes from H & M, each carrying at least 3 items. When we reached the venue, we were shocked to see the number of people queuing up for the tram. It took a total of 45 minutes before finally having the chance
to go up this 2 carriage tram. Dating back in the 18th century, the railway was one of the oldest mode of transport used in HongKong. Although it was irritating to wait with the crowd and intense heat, the wait was well worth the experience. As the tram climbed up the slope, you can literally feel your feet go off the ground. That is because the tram was going up the slope at a ridiculous angle of 40 degrees. That's about 4 times the angle for an average vehicle. I could have nearly flew against gravity as the tram crawled up the hill. Upon arrival, the view was stunning. Stretching all the way to the New territories, you could practically see the whole of HongKong in one glance.
Thank God for the good visibility, cause the sight was simply marveling. We took plenty of shots at the cliffs before proceeding on to the Peak Tower. Shaped in a bowl manner, the Peak Tower was certainly one of the weirdest shape building I have ever seen. It started getting darker as we stood at the top of Peak Tower. There were plenty of visitors busy snapping pictures of buildings as they switched on their night lights individually. The whole street was lit up and Hong Kong was filled with blinking shiny dots.
We took a good one hour to get down to the foot of the hill. With the long jam at the tram, we were only left with a bus alternative, which took equally long curving down
the hill. By the time we found the restaurant, we wolfed down the food, preparing for the last stretch of the journey before calling it a night. And that was to roam around Mongkok once again. We arrived at Mongkok station at about 10pm. Fortunately, Yap was not as interested as the both of us with Ladies Market, so we pushed on to Fang Yuen St. Fang Yuen was also known for its sports goods. This was the place which sells merchandise never seen
before in Singapore. They were plenty of Nike, Adidas and Puma to get a shoe fanatic crazy. Besides shoes, these shops were also selling cheaper football jerseys; at least $20 cheaper than in Singapore. We walked till we dropped... then finally reaching back to the hotel at about 12 midnight. That night, we made a new acquaintance. His name is Uncle Toby. Being the hotel staff, he was very friendly to us and met all of our demands when we bombarded him with all of our wants and where to find them. Sigh.. Singapore should have more of Uncle Toby around.
Day 4 was a dedication to the shoppers in our group. Mainly, the 4 of us. We went on the ultimate shopping expedition. Leaving the place at 10.30am and reaching Tsim
Sha Tsui MTR at about 11am, I decided to bring YT and Yap back to UniQlo. They had the potential to buy the whole shop. And I was right. After spending 2 hours in just that shop, YongTeng pulled off with 2 pairs of jeans, Yap had 3 pairs with a tee, Zh had a tee and a pair of jeans, and I, a pair of skinny jeans. I have to admit, the skinny jeans was at a super value price of $72.
$72!!! FOR A RAW SELVAGE JEAN OF SUCH QUALITY. It was crazy for me not to buy such a pair of jeans. If Topman was selling their average jeans at $103, then surely Uniqlo jeans was more worth the money.
After Uniqlo, we went to Esprit outlet where we bought presents for the church gals. We headed to Mongkok once again. Somehow, Mongkok seems to be the centre of all the shopping. We visited Langdam Place, the reputable shopping centre of great heights. With a total of 15 levels of pure shopping, you got to admit even Suntec
cannot face the challenge of Langdam Place. The greater amazement was that we covered every single level in an hour. It was tiring, having to skim though the clothes at super duper fast speed. After Langdam place, we went off to individual shopping mall under the directions of Uncle Toby last night. YT and Yap were on a mission. They were desperate to find cheap berms in HongKong. However, after roaming about all of the 4 shopping malls, we were unable to find anything close to their description of berms. We were however, able to find YT football figurines and bought ourselves a graphic tee. We ended the day earlier than most other days, with a plate of charsiew and roasted goose rice for dinner, and a mango shake for dessert.
Being the last day of our HongKong Trip, I did not want to end it with shopping, so
after our negotiation with the group, I finally had the chance to see some of the things I wanted to do in HongKong. We started from Prince Edward MTR, walked down the road till we came across Yuen Po Street Bird Garden. Think of it as a mega Serangoon North selling only birds. There were rows of shophouses selling birds of different species, from parrots to mynah to songbirds. We came across the feed for the birds as well; locusts, crickets and mealworms, all in the nutritious diet of the bird. At that time, the birds were feeling heat wave that was happening in HongKong... we saw a few uncles cooling off
their prized possessions by sprinkling water onto their feathers. Further down along the road, we came across Flower Market. Flowers sold here were at a insane price of 
$5 for a bunch. There was a whole lot of assortments, from roses to water lilies to bonsai and aloe vera to mini sunflower and plastic fruits. The sights and colours were simply overwhelming for an artist looking for some free photoshots! We ended my mini-tour around Prince Edward at GoldFish Market, and yes, u guess it, they were all rearing aquatic life over there. It was quite interesting to see the fish and
the tortoises in the tanks, but as I slowly watch the vast quantity of caged animals, I started wondering how cruel the whole system is. I wondered why even though WWF set up their office in Hongkong, and yet not doing anything about the endangered 
species in certain tanks and the damage of coral reef. It certainly hurts me to see man destroying Earth for their own profits.
We tried a little shopping at Allied plaza, hoping to find YT and Yap's berm. YT eventually bought a berm over there less than $30, even though it was a little tight at the bottom for him. And to end the 5 days 4 nights with a little goodies to bring back home, we were transported back to the same old airport, getting ready to fly back to Singapore.
The trip has been fun. It was certainly "the last ditch attempt to go overseas" just before uni starts. I didnt regret going for this trip. It was definitely fun!
Now back to the mugging.... ( =_______= )|||
Posing for Hongkong!
Upon arrival on 30th July, we checked into their hotels; Mexan harbour. Comparatively, it was a lot bigger than any HongKong hotels, especially those in
Kowloon, and its a lot cheaper. Perhaps the only problem was the accessibility, which took about 1/2 - 40 minutes just to reach the city area. Nevertheless, we were treated to a nice sight of containers outside our hotels, making it the weirdest scenery in my list of accommodations. We went to Kwai Fong for a late lunch of 4pm. I had a dumpling noodles which was reasonable at $4(came with a drink as well).We later went over to Tsim Sha Tsui via MTR. We each
bought ourselves an Octopus card to use. Dont ask me why the name octopus, because it looked like an ordinary card, but acts like a Easy-link. Later, we both walked down Parklane Boulevard, an 
Orchard Road look-alike that stretches for miles. Dropping by Miramar Shopping Centre, we chanced upon the heavenly Uniqlo. Uniqlo, a japanese brand that is popular for its jean, has never make its mark in Singapore. We practically bought the whole shop down. I bought a pair of jeans on the spot that costed $60, but was considerably cheap.We later made our way down Temple Street, the land of the night stalls. It looked
pretty much like a pasar malam back in Singapore, but with endless roads and corners of stalls selling almost anything; from counterfeit watches to counterfeit tees to counterfeit laserpointer. There were fans, paintings, XXX stuff and even household goods. Zh outdid himself by spending lots of things; there was a few tees, a craft set, watch, a pair of cheap jeans and others. I didnt really shop at all, other than some pretty cool Christian tees for the peeps back in church.Came back at around 12am, only having to have dinner at 11.00pm. Surprisingly, public transport work late in the night. So do the eateries around the MTR; it seemed that the Hongkongers dont sleep at all.
Day 2 started at around 9am. Yong teng and yap were supposed to land at 2pm, so we had plenty of time to roam about before they joined us. We started with breakfast at a nearby coffee shop. It was a trip back to the 1970s with old
red leather chairs with wooden boards as backrests, sausage, egg and beehoon beef never tasted that great before. We had an intention of clearing some of the temples in HongKong, grasping the culture and tradition of the place. Starting at Wong Tai Sin Temple, we were greeted with a big mall beside the temple. I guess it must be a HongKong pastime to walk in malls, as there are plenty of
it everywhere in HongKong.Wong Tai Sin Temple was rested in between residential area. Catering to the buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, the temple had 3-4 altars, each holding a particular god of the religion. Devotees would carry their joss-sticks offering thanks to these gods. It also had a garden for devotees to relax in. With an artificial garden and water sprinkler for the flowers in the garden, the temple is certainly making a lot of money from the donations poured in. Before leaving the temple, I was able to witness a mysterious practice which worshippers practice, which is unique only in Hong Kong. Using a open container of chopsticks to tell your fortune is a common practice in HongKong. The devotee will form a question in his/her mind, and slowly shake the container until the 1st chopstick sticks out and land on the floor. He/she can verify whether if this is what the Gods are really speaking by throwing 2 stones in midair. If there is a stone resting on its curved surface, while the other is resting on the flat surface, then the facts on the chopstick is true. If however, they fall on the same sides, the devotee would have to repeat the process until she gets it right.
After Wong Tai Sin, We went to Lok Fu to spot another temple. Unlike the Wong Tai
Sin temple, the next temple did not have many visitors. In fact, it was empty other than the attendant cleaning the space. But in this temple, culture and history sprung out alive with many ancient weapons, statues on walls and calligraphy, some dating
back to the 18th century. It was a sight for history buffs, not so much so for poor zh, who was complaining about the weather and the fatigue. The Walled city was pretty much the same as well. Built in the early century, the British colonial rule demanded to tear down the place. 
However, based on the recover of some archaeological finds of old ruins, the place was converted to a tourist spot. Once again, there werent many people, but the beauty and the tranquility of it all was overwhelming, until zh wanted to eat something and get out of the place.Being lost souls on the street, we wanted to find a place with good
food, particularly dim sum. Heaven heard our cries and send a woman rolling her trolley cart down the alley. When she saw a pair of lost fools clinging onto their maps for directions, she offered to show us the best dim sum around the area. It was a good thing we had dimsum at 3pm as the price of it would be very cheap. We had a good deal of eating the favourites, such as Chee cheong fun, Siew mai, long pao, charsiew pao, century egg porridge, beehoon etc etc. We ate so much till we wanted to puke, and when the bill came, it was only... $12. omg. eating dim sum in singapore with the portions we had would have cost us about $30 per person. We paid left than that total amount for a table of 2.Having being filled to the brink, we left the eating area of Kowloon and headed back
to Lok Fu MTR. It was back to Tsim Sha Tsui to troll down the museum displays. We bypassed Harbourcity and were greeted with expensive labels along the street. Harbourcity was a shopping centre not even Vivocity can beat. It was THE biggest shopping centre I have ever seen, ranging with brands not heard of ever in Singapore. Upon exiting, we took some snapshots of Louis Vuitton shop. Pretty sophisticated and elegant are the words to describe it. The view at the bay was fantastic. Being able to see all the skyscrapers of HongKong Island, it certainly destroys the conception of urbanisation not being pretty. Architectural marvels are bountiful in HongKong. And my eyes were filled with many sights.We visited the Cultural centre, space centre and Museum of the art. Pretty boring place to be in. The avenue of stars was a different thing though. With many
handprints on cemented path of famous actors in the movie industries, like Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Andy Lau etc, tourist are attracted to this place to take cheesy shots of their hands in this prints and other filming statues. I have plenty of these stupid poses. We witnessed the nightlight performance of the building in.. disappointment. It was a pretty dull show and for the Singaporean who have seen plenty of skyscrapers and NDP show. It did not meet to our expectation, not one bit.An interesting thing to note about Hongkong would be THEIR LACK OF TOILET FACILITIES. Can you imagine when you're at high tide and you cant find a single toilet anywhere at all? Not even in the 5 star hotel facing the sea(im particularly mentioning Sheraton hotel. DONT YOU EVER GO THERE AGAIN), nor the shopping centre that has all your favourite goods. If there is any place that deserves recommendation for being a life-saviour, that would be the 24hours McDonalds. It was the most urgent and yet satisfying pee I ever had for a long time. We spent the rest of the night in Ladies Market, another hot spot for Pasar Malam goods. Comparing with Temple Street, Ladies market had more variety of goods and it was
where i bought my ali ba ba bag, and contemplating in other stuff for people. There were plenty of bags, fake wallets and belts, cheap socks, toys and others. Drained out from all the shopping, we managed to leave the place at 11pm, only being able to have dinner at 11.30pm. At midnight, we finally met YongTeng and Yap. ole!3rd day was a little more exciting. We were off to the magical land of HongKong Island. Being advised to stay over there right from the beginning, I started to regret my decision to stay on the mainland. HongKong Island was a modernised Hong kong, with towering glass buildings and new edge technology everywhere, like the electric trains, cleaner parks and bigger brands. YongTeng and Yap went on their seperate ways from us, so as to look for their swedish brand, H & M. Their ulterior motive would be to look for HongKong Girls.
I dunno about you, but according to Zh and YT, they are claiming that hongkong girls are generally prettier than Singaporean girls. I dun really see any difference. I mean, a chinese girl is a chinese girl, regardless of where she is staying in. I guess the only reason why these hongkong girls appeal to boys would be their better sense of dressing, most of it coming out of their own pockets. It is quite a common sight to see them dressed in Chanel sweaters and carrying Gucci bags. I guess its a common statement Hongkongers like to make, that they are rich enough to buy their clothes but still sitting on trains on the way back home. Another observation I would make would be their use of make-up. Unlike most Singaporean girls(though it is a rising trend), Hongkong girls would apply their make-up anywhere, and somehow this dolling up would drive the boys crazy. Ok, i must admit, i notice a few eye candies as well. May God forgive me such that i do not have to pluck my eyes out.
Zh and I, however, were on our ways to the fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime experience
theme park; Ocean Park. The journey was long and gruelling. On the train, across the strait, boarding a bus, through a tunnel, up a hill and down it and finally, the final destination, the side entrance of Ocean Park. It was a good thing we didnt take the main entrance. The park is split up into two parts with a cable care extension connecting the both of them. Our side was the most exciting part, with theme park rides and animal shows, so we were rather fortunate. It was pretty crowded on a friday, with people jamming the walkways. We attempted the "tallest escalator" ride to the top. The view was breath-taking. New HongKong looked ever-ready for the next exciting thing coming up its way. However, before we could savvy the scenery, zh spotted a menacing dark cloud over the horizon. One thing good about being at the top was that you could see when a dangerous cloud is heading your direction. We sped off to the nearest shelter and waited for the rain to stop. Precious time was trinkling down the drain as we watched the weather playing trick or treat on the people in the park. I finally had enough of the rain and decided to brave it. Storming
past the people with my umbrella and a rather reluctant zh, we found ourselves in a games booth before heaven brought in the final blow of downpour. It was my good o' ring a toss game, the game my dad would never let me play when I was young. I can see why he didnt want me to, since im not a games person myself. But hey, for $10, you can get a try at the games to win something really big, get a small toy for trying and wait out for the rain.When the birds started singing again, we grabbed the opportunity and raced down to the biggest rollercoaster in the park.. THE DRAGON!! It was pretty okay, cos we were sitting in front, so we didnt have much of the g-force in us. I guess the cool part was being to look upside down as we were on the loops. THE ABYSS(aka free fall dropping
machine) was a lot more adrenaline-pumping. Zh was saying how it was shorter than the Genting highlands. But he said a completely different as the ride started to bring us higher. When we are nervous, both zh and I would work in different ways. I would keep rather quiet and would want to think through calmly. Zh, on the other hand, would want people to talk to him so as to distract himself from the nervousness. I must say, the two of us are a pretty bad combination when it comes to this. Nevertheless, when we were dropping for the next 4 seconds, I was screaming my lungs out.."ORD LOH!!!!!!!!!!" (trying to put a happy thought in my mind, can?)
we had a little dolphin show, where the little critter performed tricks that amused the crowds. A cable car ride after that. And some more money wasting games that earned us little tokens. We ended Ocean park around 4pm. Shagged but still anticipating the 2nd half of the itinerary.Part 2 started at 5pm. We met Yongteng and Yap at the Charter park before setting out to the Peak Tram station. Apparently, Yap and YT bought plenty of clothes from H & M, each carrying at least 3 items. When we reached the venue, we were shocked to see the number of people queuing up for the tram. It took a total of 45 minutes before finally having the chance
to go up this 2 carriage tram. Dating back in the 18th century, the railway was one of the oldest mode of transport used in HongKong. Although it was irritating to wait with the crowd and intense heat, the wait was well worth the experience. As the tram climbed up the slope, you can literally feel your feet go off the ground. That is because the tram was going up the slope at a ridiculous angle of 40 degrees. That's about 4 times the angle for an average vehicle. I could have nearly flew against gravity as the tram crawled up the hill. Upon arrival, the view was stunning. Stretching all the way to the New territories, you could practically see the whole of HongKong in one glance.
Thank God for the good visibility, cause the sight was simply marveling. We took plenty of shots at the cliffs before proceeding on to the Peak Tower. Shaped in a bowl manner, the Peak Tower was certainly one of the weirdest shape building I have ever seen. It started getting darker as we stood at the top of Peak Tower. There were plenty of visitors busy snapping pictures of buildings as they switched on their night lights individually. The whole street was lit up and Hong Kong was filled with blinking shiny dots.We took a good one hour to get down to the foot of the hill. With the long jam at the tram, we were only left with a bus alternative, which took equally long curving down
the hill. By the time we found the restaurant, we wolfed down the food, preparing for the last stretch of the journey before calling it a night. And that was to roam around Mongkok once again. We arrived at Mongkok station at about 10pm. Fortunately, Yap was not as interested as the both of us with Ladies Market, so we pushed on to Fang Yuen St. Fang Yuen was also known for its sports goods. This was the place which sells merchandise never seen
before in Singapore. They were plenty of Nike, Adidas and Puma to get a shoe fanatic crazy. Besides shoes, these shops were also selling cheaper football jerseys; at least $20 cheaper than in Singapore. We walked till we dropped... then finally reaching back to the hotel at about 12 midnight. That night, we made a new acquaintance. His name is Uncle Toby. Being the hotel staff, he was very friendly to us and met all of our demands when we bombarded him with all of our wants and where to find them. Sigh.. Singapore should have more of Uncle Toby around.Day 4 was a dedication to the shoppers in our group. Mainly, the 4 of us. We went on the ultimate shopping expedition. Leaving the place at 10.30am and reaching Tsim
Sha Tsui MTR at about 11am, I decided to bring YT and Yap back to UniQlo. They had the potential to buy the whole shop. And I was right. After spending 2 hours in just that shop, YongTeng pulled off with 2 pairs of jeans, Yap had 3 pairs with a tee, Zh had a tee and a pair of jeans, and I, a pair of skinny jeans. I have to admit, the skinny jeans was at a super value price of $72.$72!!! FOR A RAW SELVAGE JEAN OF SUCH QUALITY. It was crazy for me not to buy such a pair of jeans. If Topman was selling their average jeans at $103, then surely Uniqlo jeans was more worth the money.
After Uniqlo, we went to Esprit outlet where we bought presents for the church gals. We headed to Mongkok once again. Somehow, Mongkok seems to be the centre of all the shopping. We visited Langdam Place, the reputable shopping centre of great heights. With a total of 15 levels of pure shopping, you got to admit even Suntec
cannot face the challenge of Langdam Place. The greater amazement was that we covered every single level in an hour. It was tiring, having to skim though the clothes at super duper fast speed. After Langdam place, we went off to individual shopping mall under the directions of Uncle Toby last night. YT and Yap were on a mission. They were desperate to find cheap berms in HongKong. However, after roaming about all of the 4 shopping malls, we were unable to find anything close to their description of berms. We were however, able to find YT football figurines and bought ourselves a graphic tee. We ended the day earlier than most other days, with a plate of charsiew and roasted goose rice for dinner, and a mango shake for dessert.Being the last day of our HongKong Trip, I did not want to end it with shopping, so
after our negotiation with the group, I finally had the chance to see some of the things I wanted to do in HongKong. We started from Prince Edward MTR, walked down the road till we came across Yuen Po Street Bird Garden. Think of it as a mega Serangoon North selling only birds. There were rows of shophouses selling birds of different species, from parrots to mynah to songbirds. We came across the feed for the birds as well; locusts, crickets and mealworms, all in the nutritious diet of the bird. At that time, the birds were feeling heat wave that was happening in HongKong... we saw a few uncles cooling off
their prized possessions by sprinkling water onto their feathers. Further down along the road, we came across Flower Market. Flowers sold here were at a insane price of 
$5 for a bunch. There was a whole lot of assortments, from roses to water lilies to bonsai and aloe vera to mini sunflower and plastic fruits. The sights and colours were simply overwhelming for an artist looking for some free photoshots! We ended my mini-tour around Prince Edward at GoldFish Market, and yes, u guess it, they were all rearing aquatic life over there. It was quite interesting to see the fish and
the tortoises in the tanks, but as I slowly watch the vast quantity of caged animals, I started wondering how cruel the whole system is. I wondered why even though WWF set up their office in Hongkong, and yet not doing anything about the endangered 
species in certain tanks and the damage of coral reef. It certainly hurts me to see man destroying Earth for their own profits.We tried a little shopping at Allied plaza, hoping to find YT and Yap's berm. YT eventually bought a berm over there less than $30, even though it was a little tight at the bottom for him. And to end the 5 days 4 nights with a little goodies to bring back home, we were transported back to the same old airport, getting ready to fly back to Singapore.
The trip has been fun. It was certainly "the last ditch attempt to go overseas" just before uni starts. I didnt regret going for this trip. It was definitely fun!
Now back to the mugging.... ( =_______= )|||
Posing for Hongkong!
Master, teach me to pray!
Act Cute!
So crowded!
Emo Daron~
The magical dim sum place @ $12!
Hongkong skyscraper
Wide Angle~
Wide angle 2
Night sky~
Nice Scenery from Ocean Park
Everyone loves kungfu fighting~
SURVEY PLATOON!
Hey! how come ure here?!?
Wide angle; night time
Gay boys with umbrellas
But it was super hot
Act Cute!
So crowded!
Emo Daron~
The magical dim sum place @ $12!
Hongkong skyscraper
Wide Angle~
Wide angle 2
Night sky~
Nice Scenery from Ocean Park
Everyone loves kungfu fighting~
SURVEY PLATOON!
Hey! how come ure here?!?
Wide angle; night time
Gay boys with umbrellas
But it was super hot