Dehydrated...

Last night we were supposed to play pool at Dave&Buster's again but thanks to a private event which took up most of the pool tables, we decided we waited too long and left for Yard House instead.

We had a new colleague who joined us last week, she's half chinese with a Shanghainese mom. Was quite surprised she came and join us for our little outing. Her boyfriend is those type who can smile and u can never see his eyes. I was so outta line (also cos I drank a little too much) after I took pictures of them, I started laughing at him asking why cannot see his eyes wan...then I kept taking pictures of them saying that I wanna see those eyes. I told him to close his eyes really tight then at my count of 3 to open them really wide...but alas...what Nature has decided, men cannot change...


*trying....


*try harder...


*cannot make it....

I laugh at people, ownself also laugh until cannot see my eyes liao..



Actually I was quite amazed at my liquor tolerance, when they asked me what I wanted to drink, I replied Long Island Tea then they were like woah...strong stuff...

It was stronger than Singapore but okay lor, I was still going strong...then they told me to order another drink and I was quite bored cos the drinks aint strong so they were trying to get me something really strong. So Jason ordered a Jager Bomb for me which came with redbull and a shot glass. To drink it, u submerge the shot glass of donno what cough medicine into the redbull then down it..




oh ya, I told them about our Singapore's infamous flaming lambourgini donno how to spell, then Jason was very interested in the drink cos they've not heard of it. He went to ask the bar-tender at D&B's and surprisingly he sorta knew what's in the drink. He say donno what one fifty one...anyways when we adjourned to Yard House we really wanted a flaming Lam cos I was quite bored with their drinks. But the people at Yard House never heard of it b4 then I was like nvm just give me any drink that flames! Then they all laugh and wonder why I have such interest to flame my drinks. Sadly the waitress told me they've not allowed to set anything on fire...sibeh sian...

Angmohs are boring...

So Jason suggested Three Wise Men...then everybody was like wooahhhh....so I think it must be very strong...it consists of 3 different types of alcohol. Well, I drink liao and dont feel any wiser....tipsy definitely and talking alot more...I guess in a way its good bah, everybody felt more relaxed cos we're afterall colleagues and Crystal was so new to us and we just met her boyfriend that night! And oh plus this friend of Jason's drove from LA to meet up with him and us (apparently she likes him hehe) and to me she reminds me of Tyra Banks! Can u imagine we're of the same age?? Dont look like it hor? Anyways she says she likes me wor, maybe cos of my crankiness, I tell u woman, once I sober up , u wont feel the same towards me liao. Im very quiet....quiet....so quiet ur better off talking to urself. She told Jason he must bring me to her should we visit LA one day, she'll bring me go shopping! whee!!

Photos

i uploaded more photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98864278@N00/?saved=1

sian ley, just cos this is a free account after a certain limit they will only display the most recent photos...my photos from NZD and office no longer there....

Singapore - A Peesai

Few weeks back me & a friend chatted with some locals at the Orange County Fair. When we told them we from Singapore, they asked "Is that part of China?"

And then last week while hanging out with Ashley, she said her friends asked where the hell is that when she told them where I was from.

Everybody knows United States but that doesnt mean they need to know about you. A co-worker told me she has never flown out of States, just inter-states & furthurst she went is Hawaii but that too is part of America.

The country's so big & they've got everything. She doesnt feel the need to get out of the country. These people are in California, quite a city & they may not know or heard of Singapore, the natural phenomenal Auroras, catfish having barbs or strings..

Sometimes I get the feeling they're really closed-up. I guess in Singapore there are people like that too but maybe what really bothers me is they dont really care and they think they're always right..

I know my ABCs...Armani, Bebe, Coach

This weekend was quite well spent

First Thuy took me out to the Peninsula at this surfer's joint called "Mutt's Lynch" for a real hearty breakfast. They serve good breakfast 7 days a week from 7am - 11am



Since this place serves alcohol, that blok above seats himself at the entrance & checks your ID to ensure your of age before letting you in. You cant see it but as I was standing there next to him, he was spewing Japanese at me..."konichiwa...arigato.."

You know Japanese?? my eyes widened...we had this little exchange all while smiling at the camera.



We were seated right at the window & that's the Pacific Ocean stretched out behind those cars. People walking past smile in occasionally as we tucked into our breakfast: Corned Beef Hash with sunny side eggs for me and her "Twosome breakfast: French toast, bacon strip, sausage & scrambled eggs. All these washed down with refillable hot coffee.


Talking about breakfast, I ordered these in my hotel room Sunday morning. Smoke salmon benedict. Gosh these pics make me hungry...

Anyways Thuy dropped me off after breakfast & I waited for Carlton and his wife to pick me up for Singaporean's all time favourite: Shopping!!

Carlsbad is not your typical shopping area. It's littered with factory outlets from Designer's Brands. Make no mistake, I'm no slave to branded labels but some of these stuff are heavily discounted going at ridiculous prices. I would slap myself if I dont get them!



That Polo Ralph's 350 threadcount bedsheets were only 10bucks! Converted to Sing, it's like $15??

For a man, Carlton's quite a shopper. Even after Denise and I kinda zoned out he was still going strong, zipping from store to store. We spent like 5hours at this place. Were supposed to pop over San Diego since this location was really close but decided to do it on another trip instead.

Next day Ashley picked me up & we headed to this shopping mall called "Spectrum". Our agenda was to play pool & beat the crap outta each other. Dave & Buster's is damn atas. Frankly I donno what to make of it, there's restaurant, pool area, an arcade and some theatre/party rooms. Huge place and the pool area was really posh. You register at front desk then a guy walks you to your table carrying your balls for you. He proceeds to brush down the table before racking the balls. Naturally you pay the price as well. US 12 bucks per hour...



My mom taught me not to brag, so I'll leave it to you to guess the winner..heheh..



Iphones are huge here ever since they were launched. We cant use it in Sing cos it's not supported in Asia yet. But heard got alot software glitch and security issues.

Last stop was dinner at Johnny Rockets. Burgers, fries & milkshake. This is just like Billy Bombers back home complete with the mini slot Jukebox at booths. Ash didnt know Billy Bombers but for her age (22) she sure knows her oldies.



The drive home was memorable, the sun was setting in its glamourous display of pink and she tuned in to the oldies station. We squeezed in A-go-go dance moves at every stop lights we meet & this indeed feels like the America I watch on TV.

Yesterday my manager had a talk with me and he says there are plans for me to extend my stay here. He wants me to attend this training by the Learning & Department. I hear already I quite sian.

I left my life behind in Singapore. While its quite an experience here, I simply do not wish to be away from home anymore. 3 years in Perth and now this. Each time I go away, I lose something dear in my life. One season it was my hamster, another season it was my por por. When I was back during the holiday before her passing, she was already quite ill. I was scheduled to fly off a day after, I knew then it was the last time I would see her. She hardly had strength to keep her head up. She was dying.....so it wasnt a surprise when I receive an email or a phonecall...I cant remember, of her passing.

My brother emailed me when my hamster died, again some form of electronic route was used to inform me of por por. All these happened and Im just not there.

How 'out-going' can one be? When you travel the world for your career, meeting new people, new cultures, you gain fresh insights, you feel humbled and you gain perspective and than...when is it time to go home?

I've known friends who has travelled half-way round the world and sometimes I marvel at their courage, their independence, their energy..and than I dream about por por one night and in that dream, I was trying to save her. I donno how but there was such urgency in that dream and I felt helpless, I knew I was going to lose her but I didnt know it was a dream and so I was really scared.

There was once, I recall to my aunt and mom about me dreaming of porpor and my aunt also said she dreamt of her too and my mom said 'strange how come she doesnt or cant dream of her' it's like she wished she could too , but she couldnt.

I donno why a post about my extension turned into my grandma, maybe I miss my family alot and I just hope they would wait for me to get home before they're allowed to age any further.

Say What Again?

Angmohs really talk funny. In Perth, they come up to you and ask "Hi, how's it going?".

Here in States, they come up to you and "Hi Cherandy, what's going on?"

.................................

And I really dont know how to answer them each time.

Hi, how's it going?? Who, What is going to Where?? And if you dont know, like I would know??

Hi, Cherandy what's going on?? This one is classic. Im buried deep in work, some clown snoop up to you and ask what's going on..... i painted fresh coat of paint on my toe-nails last night...my hamster had a baby?

I mean, all these are only greetings I know but...How's it going? What's going on? Cant a greeting pack more relevance to the nature of it?


Why cant it just be "Hi Cherandy, how are you?" Guess what, being a Singaporean trained to bones on answering every questions fired my way...I engaged that "Hi, What's going on" bit giving a brief run-through on the dull flicker on my screen. To my sheer annoyance, I turned round mid way talking to their departing figure! Dont wan listen , ask for what?

It's not a question you just have to answer! And then today, I wisen up and play it all cool & chic by muttering a slurred "oh am doing well..zzzzz" and was taken aback when my greeter was looking intently back at me wondering just what's going on in my hotel-stranded life.

I've got nothing for you dude.

Lunch came & Jason announced he was going to Chik-Fil-a & my eyes lit up. That eating place where they said there's grilled chicken! Images of Kenny Roger's rotisserie grilled chicken filled my mind. I volunteered to go with him, checking with him again if there's indeed grilled chicken.

When I got there, it's damn grilled chicken pattie kiap in burger bun lor. Dont even have skin or bones...

Well, it redeemed itself by being a really yummy burger. I just wish when they affirmed me it was grilled chicken, they put in the word 'burger'.

You see me being so excited over whether its grilled or not, yu should know I'm on the wrong track right? We're gonna eat burgers like hell I'm really concerned how you cook the stupid pattie? Whether grilled or fried or broiled?? sianz...

You AM Me PM

My last update was in March and so many things transpired from than to now.

I had a change in my career and my new company flew me off to their Headquarters in California for training.

As I'm typing this, I'm 15hours behind SG time in the hotel room which will be my home for 2 months. It's been 2 weeks and I'm dreaming of satay and my steam chicken drumstick rice...gosh I can feel acid in my stomach having just typed that.

Although its cool that I'm holed up in a hotel and meals are claimable up to US65 per day, fact is I'm here alone and will be for the next couple months. Not a nice feeling. Worst part is the stupid hotel charges internet like per connection rate of USD12.95 which is like twenty plus SING dollars! And its crazy that connection time is only from noon to noon. Siao man I kpkb at them saying that I'll be here for 2 whole months (so if they know whats best for them and dont want to lose their biz, they better wise up and give in to my demands!) the best they could do for me in the end is half the connection rate to USD 6.47 which is still expensive considering I need to logon everyday.

Actually I didnt really kpkb at them, with Angmohs service is totally different from what we have in SING. Over here its like they have their Egos and their righteous Esteem and each one has got their own uniqueness which they cant wait to show. In SG , u buay song only then can whip out "What kinda attitude is this? I wanna see your Manager!" Try that with Angmohs, the Manager might jolly well join forces with their own and gobble you up.

Just yesterday I called room service and requested for a kettle to boil water duh...wah lao the lady on the receiving end was like "Kettle?????? We dont have that period" Her reply was as if its that many question marks okay. Stuff like Kettle , Iron and Hair Dryer is like the basic stuff for a 5 grade Hotel No? And I really dont understand the internet connection which die die must start from noon to noon. It doesnt make sense across all levels! Would you logon being aware that it's a per connection charge and only surf just to retrieve emails for say an hour and logoff? You would naturally maximise your connection usage and surf as much as possible right? For those who's really out to max it (like me) they stay up wee hours and just surf and download as much as possible to make it worth the deal. In the end who's at the losing end? The most I sleep-in the next day but the Hotel would have to pay for the electrical bill powering my PC up whole night and there's not the only thing that gets powered when Im up. You have the lights , the radio etc so economically stupid.

For guests who dont stay long, fine, it makes sense to charge a connection rate. Long-staying guests like myself should be charged a flat fee per week ? Anytime after I'm done with surfing I can logoff and head for bed. Ya you might still get those die-hard sufers who still logon 24hrs if they're allowed. But we're talking about long staying guests who generally might be on official business and it's my guess they would rather catch up with sleep than surf into wee morning?

On a separate note it's the weekends and I would like to take the public bus out to explore around, and it turned out those bus drivers are on strike and there are no bus services at all. I remember in Perth it used to be like that too, any little thing they're not happy with. Strike. Bus drivers went on strike, Teachers in Universities went on strike. These are amazing countries. They care too much about themselves and it's their burning desire to let the world know once they're unhappy. SG you strike , you get arrested. In the 1st place I think nobody will strike with you. The most people do is pin things like ribbons on their tops to show they buay song with something.

If I have the change, maybe I can offer some blue-white-red striped Bow to these Bus Drivers and tell them "Not happy still must drive for the greater good of innocent people made handicapped by lack of public transport. Can show protest with Bow pinned to your uniform. Your heard and your pretty".

ps: Pics have been uploaded in the flickr , will update from time to time