A friend of my mum asked her to visit during Chinese New Year. Hence mum asked me to join along. With the day free, I decided to join in too. It was an interesting experience for me, as this was actually my first time visiting a Chinese house during the lunar new year.
When we arrived, Iris, one of mum’s friends told us that it was a custom to give a pair of mandarin oranges to the oldest member of the house. Oranges symbolises gold as the word orange sounds like gold, in Chinese.
My venusaur protecting my gold
Inside, it was very lively with the chatter of the other visitors already inside. There were a plentiful of food and drinks. I looked around and there were a number of decorations such as calligraphy in bright red parchments. These were pasted on the walls and the doors. These was supposed to bring in wealth and luck.
And that was when the granny handed me the ang pow – little red packets with money inside. Ang pows are given from the married to the unmarried people. I’m not too sure why though. But being given the red packet made me surprisingly happy. I felt like a kid again during hari raya, being given our own green packets 🙂
After spending a lovely time snacking and talking with mum’s friends, we made our move. Interestingly enough, the host took out a box of oranges and asked us to take a pair. She said, “You’ve given us gold, so we are repaying you back with gold”
Those gold are going to go into my stomach 😀
Happy Chinese New Year everyone. Enjoy the wonderful weekends 🙂
Pengerang is a town in the southeast of Johore, Malaysia, about 80km from Singapore. Being near the sea, it was rather famous for its seafood. Imagine being stuffed with all the seafood that you could eat and having to pay about only $20!
A couple of weeks ago, the vesporeans announced in the forums about an outing to Pengerang for seafood. After the successful convoy to Malacca, I immediately jumped to the chance as soon as I found out about it.
Our meeting point was at the Jurong Bird Park. Prozzie was one of the first people there and we waited for the rest to arrive one by one.
Once everyone was assembled, we rode all the way to the Tuas Second Link Checkpoint. There were a number of other motorcyclists there already. I noticed a large group of scramblers with huge backpacks behind them. They looked as if they were going on a camp.
The custom check did not take very long. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we did not need to fill up the white immigration cards anymore. That speeded up the process. In just a few minutes, we were out of the gantry and on our way across the sea.
And it was such a beautiful morning! It was just lovely to see the lovely blue sky with the fluffy white clouds and the glorious sun rays across the sea. At this point of time, I wished that I had a video camera installed on the scooter. I would have loved to show a streaming of the journey live.
We stopped at Gelang Patah for some breakfast. By the time we reached there, it was already crowded with people – people at the tables, people queuing up for food. It took us a good 15 minutes just to search for a place to sit.
After a sumptuous breakfast, (Nasi Lemak for me!) we quickly topped up our scooter with petrol at the petronas petrol station. I met with the quirkiest cat ever.
This cat was sleeping right in front of the payment counter. There were a number of people who accidentally hit it while making their payments. But the cat kept on sleeping and would not wake up! Maybe it was tired after working the night shift.
I noticed Kah Woon and Gmoh having the most interesting face covers. I’ve never seen anyone having these type of covers on the roads before. Have you?
Incidentally, Gmoh installed in a horn to his scooter. Not just any horn. But a bicycle horn!
After our fill up, we were on our way!
Riding in the Malaysian roads is much different compared to riding in the Singaporean roads. For one part, the maximum road limit is 120km/hr while in Singapore it is 90km/hr. Imagine our amazement as we see the other motorists zooming by. They were really fast!
Prozzie watching the locals zipping by
It was a very long ride. For the next couple of hours, I amused myself by listening to the radio station on my ear piece and looking at the scenery. It was nice seeing all of the vegetation and plantation around. There were loads of palm trees, as far as the eye can see, at one point.
Halfway along the journey, we stopped by for a much deserved rest to stretch our legs. Riding for two hours straight is not very comfortable!
I met a few guys manning a roasted chestnut stall and they were quite amazed to see our Vespa Convoy. All throughout our conversation they were curious and kept asking me questions, since I was the only one in the group who could speak Malay.
What nice looking scooters!
What club are you?
Where are you guys from?
Where are you all going?
After a couple of minutes later, we said our goodbyes and continued with our journey.
At length, we reached a sort of residential area. Even for being in the middle of the day, it looked kind of secluded. There were hardly anyone to be seen. We then entered a path to a village and finally saw a seafood restaurant.
We tried to park in front of the eatery, but as seeing that the parking area was rather small and there were quite a number of us, the kind lady who was working at the eatery offered to let us park in her verandah which is just a stones throw from the eatery.
By then we were very hungry! We ordered heaps of food to feed a platoon! Here are the food that we ate :
Stir fried vegetables
Sambal Cockles
Steamed baby lobsters
Fried Kang Kong
Heavenly Black Pepper Crab
Deep fried lobsters. These lobsters were really huge!
Oh I tell you, all of the food was so delicious! It was just heaven. I especially loved the black pepper crab and the lobsters. It was so juicy and succulent, that momentarily, I didn’t care about risking to having a weight gain.
We ate everything and in the end we were all stuffed! I had to sit slumped on my chair for a long time, too full to even move. I just sat there in contented bliss.
When the bill came, I was mightily impressed as when divided with the people sitting at the table, each of us only had to pay about RM45 dollars. That’s about $20 Singapore dollars.
Nothing was left when we were done as seen below :
A long ride back to the customs. Such a relaxing day. I admired the beautiful fluffy white clouds among the blue skies. It was such a beautiful day.
It was nearly 6p m and for some reason, the group headed to the Woodlands Checkpoint. The good part about this checkpoint as there was no fees to cross the gantry. The bad part was that it was usually very crowded.By the time we reached there at about 6 pm, it was already quite congested with cars. Fortunately for us, being scooter riders, we were small enough to squeeze through.
But it was when we were approaching the gantry that was the most trying. There must have been at least one hundred motorcycles(!!!) trying to get into the gantry. And the progress was so slow. It took a very long time for us to get closer.
Many of the people there were feeling hot and frustrated that they started to hit on their horns repeatedly. It was chaotic. The smoke all around, the loud horns. I kept my focus on to listening to music keep myself calm.
It was only after about 45 mins that we finally crossed over back to Singapore. I was just thankful that the entire ordeal was over. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the trip today, solely for the beautiful view and the yummy food. I would love to do it again. Thank you so much for organizing this trip, Vesporeans 🙂
Though we were both worn out by the end of the day, we both enjoyed ourselves immensely and had the loveliest time at the zoo.
Sun, 30 Dec 2007
Longtime netbuddy Geri, who was a staff at the Zoo, has very generously offered Cart and I tickets there. As the Singapore Zoo is famous for its open zoo concept, I was quite excited to bring Cartcart here. The last time that I was here was in 1998 and I was curious to know what new developments was in there.
We reached the place in the early afternoon after taking a long and leisurely bus ride. By the time we reached there, it was already quite crowded with people.
The place has certainly changed since the last time I’ve been there. It looked much modern with its decor and felt more spacious. I made a quick call to Geri and she popped out to say hello and met Cartcart for the first time.
I was happy to see that they were able to get along with each other so nicely 🙂
Sang Kancil having lunch
As we entered the animal exhibits, I was pleasantly surprised to see much changes being done all around. The zoo was divided into different segments according to the types of animals they were like primates and birds, and the continents they were from.
One of the first animal that we saw were the otters. I nearly had a headache when I approached this exhibit as they smelled really bad! But this was the way that they mark their territory. I’m glad that I did not live next to an otter!
The beautiful red fox
As we explored, Cart was very impressed at how natural the surrounding was that he even quipped, “This doesn’t even feel like a zoo”. Nowhere were any of the animals were in a cage. Instead, the zoo uses hidden barriers like moats and shrubberies.
I was amazed at how close we were able to get to some of the free roaming animals. I was so close that I could pet them if I wanted to.
I wonder how the lemur coat will feel like. Is it soft? or is it rough like steel wool?
While we were in the Australian exhibit, this handsome little emu came over to me so close to me.
The dangerous animals on the other hand were kept in a safe distance using moats and bridges :
For some reason this white tiger was very restless and kept pacing around. Luckily for us, we were separated between a deep moat. But for the species that are able to climb high, they were kept behind glass displays where we could admire them :
Like this stunningly beautiful Jaguar. Did you know that although both look similar, the difference between the Jaguar and the Leopard is that the Jaguar has a black dot in the middle of its spots.
Cart and I tried to go to one of the live animal show, but unfortunately for us, by the time we reached there, it was full of people. We could not even see the stage. I felt like we missed a great show.
Thus, when we were determined to see the next show and we headed there early and we were rewarded to a very entertaining elephant show.
The trainers and the elephants, as well as the emcee had such great chemistry with each other. Everything just flowed and it was apparent that everyone enjoyed it.
Here is a quick video montage :
In the end, I think that we did not have enough time to explore the entire zoo. There were still a number of exhibits that we did not go to. And we were so reluctant to leave the zoo, even though it was already closing for the day.
Thank you so much Geri, Cart and I really enjoyed our trip to the zoo, very much! 😀
I took Cartcart to Little India to for Indian vegetarian food. Ever since the first time he ate here, he has enjoyed eating Indian food a lot. I think that it is rather convenient since we have a peace of mind, without having to worry about the food containing any animal products.
We headed to a little place called Komala Villas where they served Indian food in a sort of fast food restaurant. Cart ordered the North Indian set while I had the Naan set.
A slightly eaten Naan bread before I remembered to take a picture
Cart’s meal had a piece of deep fried dried chilli in the middle of his meal. He started to pick it up and ate it! I was horrified as I’ve never seen anyone eat an entire chilli before. I stared at him with my mouth open as he muttered out a satisfied “Mmmmm”.
What? He ate an entire chilli? Unbelievable!
We took the bus to head to the bnb where we caught on tv mobile, news about the assasination of the ex Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto. The first thing that came in my mind was how unreal it was.
Fri, 28 Dec 2007
After Cart’s Islamic studies, mum, Cart and I headed to the Geylang Food Center for a spot of lunch. There were so much things to eat here. There were rows and rows of stalls selling wonderful local fare.
Mum and I ate Ayam Penyet.
A slightly eaten Ayam Penyet before I remembered to take a picture
This was one of my favourite food. Ayam Penyet is deep fried marinated chicken that you eat with raw vegetables and chilli paste. The hotter the better! Granted that it was a much different variation of the Ayam Penyet that I was used to, with that particular chicken being drizzled with soya sauce, it was still very good 🙂
Mum asked me to let Cart try the Serabai
This was a traditional Malay dessert made up of glutinous flour and eaten with gula melaka (palm sugar) Yum!
Mum decided to show Cartcart a couple of the everyday things that we had in Singapore so we walked to the wet market that was nearby.
She showed the local vegetables, and foodstuff like spices, pandan leaves, tempeh (fermented soybean) and others, while she amiably chatted up with the ladies that were manning the stalls. That was when Cartcart spotted out some babas brand curry powder and said, “I want to make curry!” and proceeded to buy all three types that he saw in front of him.
As mum had prior engagement, Cart and I proceeded to go to the furniture shop called ‘Barang-barang’. In Malay, Barang-barang is a plural form of stuff.
Actually Cart needed some respite from the hot sun, while I just wanted to have fun and then take a nap after our lunch. I spotted a chair that looked almost like the one I saw in Secondlife.
We reached our aunt’s place later in the evening where she was already waiting for us. My aunt has been looking forward to meeting Cartcart that she’s been trying to make me feel guilty for not introducing him to her when he came last year.
My aunt’s colourful house
But I was glad that we came over this time because Cart seemed to enjoy himself. He commented that my aunt had a great personality – very friendly, hospitable and a great cook.
It was funny because just a few moments ago, my aunt told me that she was a little worried as she has never cooked vegetarian food before. She had to crack her head and wondered what to cook. And in the end, she made Omelettes, Chap Chye (stir fried mixed vegetables) with mushroom sauce and some fried Macaroni.
My aunt, having already been to Italy some years back, started to talk about her experiences there to Cartcart. And one of the topic that they talked about as seen in the video below, was about coffee :
It was hillarous!
We then quickly said our goodbyes and went up to say hello to my parents since both my parents were home.
Cart started to ask about my dad, whom was hurt during the accident and was surprised to see the well made prosthetic fingers that the doctors made for him. It looked natural, he said. And my dad seemed happy to hear that and even invited Cart to touch his fingers.
Cart handed some chocolates (which was the first and last time I saw, since my siblings were all chocolate monsters) as well as this very interesting thing :
This was a Panforte. I guess its a sort of hard pie which is made up of spices and dried fruit. Mum couldn’t wait to open and try it out.
And we all loved it. Yummy!
Next : My 10th year Jurong Institute school reunion!
I’ve always had fond memories of the Science Center. Back in school, we’d have rather regular excursions to see the exhibitions or omnimax films or to participate in their science courses.
It was probably in 2003 when I’ve last been in the science centre. Even so, it was for a robotics competition rather than for leisure.
Last year, I thought that I’d bring Cartcart to go to the science centre as he loves maths. But it has been an unusually heavy downfall of rain the entire week that he was here last year. Hence, when the weather appeared to be fair this year, I dragged Cartcart to my stomping ground, Jurong East 🙂
The entrance to the Science Centre was already crowded by the time we reached there in the early afternoon. There were plentiful of people around, kids, parents, tourists as we walked down the corridor past the waterworks.
For many of the parts, the Science Centre was quite familiar as how I’ve remembered it the last time that I was there. There were the displays that I still remembered. But at the same time, there were also a number of new displays that I saw for the first time.
Like this painting of the President of Singapore, Mr SR Nathan
But as cool as the painting was, I don’t think I would like to be in the same room with this painting, alone  and especially at night time. I think you’d feel the same too!
And there were plenty of other cool stuff around, like these display made up of laboratory created pills in the Biology Segment :
As well as this interesting interactive game where one goes in front of a green screen :
And these beautiful cosmic like elements swirling around gracefully :
When we walked to another area, I regretted for not coming to the Science Centre before my examination period as I saw an ecology section where everything was very useful for my geography knowledge.
There was so much things to see that it seemed incredulous when we found out that we did not have enough time to see everything. I thought for sure that two hours would be more than enough time to look around Science Centre. But we did not even get to explore the second floor and then it was time to head to the omni-max theater at 6 pm.
We did however had just about enough time to pose with a little friend 🙂
Since the first time going there, I’ve always enjoyed going to the omnimax theatre. It was, and still is the largest theatre in Singapore to date. With the screen being about five storey tall, it was an immersive experience that it was easy to feel like being part of the movie itself.
It was an arduous climb to the back of the theatre as the way up is a lot of stairs. One may feel vertigo if they stood up and look down as the steps were quite steep. But I think the best seats are the ones at the back. The poor latecomers would have to crane their neck up.
The show that we were watching was the secrets of the pharaoh. It was like watching the BBC’s walking with dinosaurs where current scientists explore how mummies were preserved and using the evidences that they had, pieced up the clues.
And like all the times that I’ve been in the omnimax theater, I was very drawn to the beautiful, lush and rich visuals.
After the movie, I decided to take Cartcart to IMM, which was probably one of the largest shopping centre in the area, for dinner.
We were standing there at the directory for a full five minutes, wondering what to eat when Cart decided that he would like to try to go to Spagetti Too and try their pasta.
Spagetti Too was a relatively new cafe in IMM. Everything in the menu looked so tempting. The front counter was so colourful that it seemed as if it was beckoning us to come closer.
What a nice surprise when I saw that there the cafe had a halal certification. It didn’t carry it the last time I saw it.
We made our orders by taking the paper menu which is provided by the side of the table and mark a tick to the items that we wanted. And then we hand it to the front counter and then make our payments.
And I was doubly surprised to see that the food was affordable. I think we spent less than $25 for full set meals for the both of us. I was impressed.
As I still had a craving for chicken chop, I decided to order that, while Cartcart had Vegetarian Pasta. We had the Garlic Bread with Cheese ($1.70) as an appetizer.
Cart liked this bread a lot. He said that it was nicely cooked and perfectly crunchy. But I thought that it was a little bland but there was no condiments to be seen nearby.
Nevertheless, we didn’t have to wait long for our food to arrive. By the time we were done with our appetizers, in about 10 – 15 mins, the helpful crew handed over our main meals.
This was my delicious Grilled Chicken Chop with Mashed Potatoes. ($6.90) I do love my chicken a lot. The meat was tender and juicy and was just a delight to savour. The sauce tasted more like black pepper sauce than mushroom sauce, but it was still really good.
I expected for some gravy on top of my mashed potatoes, but once I took a taste of it, it was good the way it was. It was smooth, savoury and creamy. It may look plain, but it was full of flavour.
This was Cartcart’s Vegetarian Pasta. ($5.90) Cart said that although the dish was more of a fusion dish than true Italian pasta, it was still cooked well enough with the pasta not being overcooked – something that he is very particular about.
In the end, I was surprised to see that even an Italian enjoyed his pasta here 🙂
For dessert, Cart had the Chocolate Brownie while I had the Apple Cobbler ($2.50 each)
We both loved our desserts. They were both inviting and each had a huge dollop of ice cream on top of it. My only mini issue is that I don’t like my apple cobbler to be heated up. I think it was nicer to eat at room temperature or cold, unlike brownies. But its not such a big deal, being such a value for money 🙂
If you are anywhere in Jurong, give this place a try. Good food and cheap prices. They don’t have a website yet though.
Next : Meeting Tstar and the beautiful sounds of handbells!
In late September, the vesporeans, as well as other various biker associations participated in the Bikers Aid Charity Ride.
This year, in lieu of the Hari Raya Haji Celebrations, the Bikers Aid will be organizing the “Ibadah Kurban 2007” for the tsunami and earthquake victims in Jogyakarta and Aceh.
The bikers aid are seeking your kind donations. These monies will be contributed for the purchase of live sheep to be distributed to the needy as food. With each sheep costing $170, you may consider pooling this amount as a representation of your association.
The last date for donations is on the 10th December 2007. For more details, please contact the Scooter Owner Group Club, Mr Ramle Ismail and Mr Wan.
As expected, the TAA Charity Ride was fun! It is always exciting for me to ride together in a convoy along with the other two-wheelers. Its a pity that the convoy was much too short though.
I was worried that I was unable to get to the Kallang carpark, which was the designated meet point for all the bikers. I had a tendency to get lost on the road and was still unable to read maps. Luckily for me, while riding on the expressway, I met up with a huge group of bikers whom I assumed were on their way to the carpark. It was so cool to see them and I felt proud to ride with them.
Eventually, I reached the Kallang carpark and was marshalled to a group of riders.
Marshall 1 : You can ride with the gilera group there (points)
Me : But I’m not riding a gilera!Â
Marshall 2 : Oh a Vespa, your group is at the other side.
Me : Thanks guys!
I knew I was with the right group when saw a large procession of Vespas – both classic and modern. I finally met up with the rest of the vesporeans who were present, Moon_star, Kahwoon, Natsume, Mengster and Un-Sith whom was representing the group.
I admired the multitude of colours and varieties of two wheelers. There were so many types – Harley Davidsons, Scramblers, Hayabusas, Ducatis and many others. There was a festive purring of engines everywhere.
At length, we got on our scooters and lined up to start the convoy. I turned behind and saw a fascinating looking man with a long white beard on top of a Harley.
As we rode in our convoy, I noticed the excited looking pedestrians as they pointed animatedly at our convoy as well as the awed looks of the car drivers. It was so funny to see that I couldnt help but to chuckle. There was a road marshall who rode beside us to ensure safety.
Shortly after, we reached our destination and drove in the compounds of the Malay Heritage Center.
We parked around the quickly filled compound and went to explore the centre as well as Muscat street outside. The area was lined with food bazaars selling all sorts of delicacies.
The gang chanced upon a pink drink and were curious to know what the black seeds at the bottom where. Mengster explained that it was Bandung Selasih, a rose syrup drink with milk with sweet basil seeds. It was refreshing and crunchy and wonderful to have in the hot weather.
And a hot weather it was! It exacerbated my thirst and I longed for a glass of bandung. We were supposed to wait till 5.30 pm for the charity presentation, but with over 2 hours to kill, I persuaded the gang to enter the museum as it was cooler and was much more entertaining than doing nothing.
Entry to the Heritage Center for the charity riders was a dollar and four for normal days. I revisited back my roots and marvelled about the fascinating history and artifacts. Modernisation has made it impractical to use now, but these items are so intricate and beautiful – proof of our naturally artisan traits. I nearly forgotten about items like these :
I’ve always liked looking at the display and the old photographs. I liked to imagine myself in the picture and transport myself to what the people in the picture were thinking and feeling.
Upstairs, I saw a tribute to some of the noted malays whom have contributed to arts like Zubir Said who composed the Singapore national anthemn as well as P. Ramlee who was arguably the most talented and versatile man whom had sucess as a scriptwriter, composer, singer, filmaker, actor, comedian.
We have such a rich heritage. Even as a Malay, I was fascinated and enlightened by what I saw.
I took my time looking at the display and at length and stepped out of the building to see that there was a lively crowd outside filled with visitors. Festive music was played and a host in a Malay costume was emceeing.
I didn’t stay for too long aftwards as I felt rather lethargic after the days activities, but to what I last heard, the TAA has raised about 34k which is not a bad sum 🙂
I still had the same problems the next day, but I had to bear with it as I needed the scooter to get to work and night class.
On monday, the leak was even more than what I anticipated. Engine oil was spilling out on the floor! I was so alamed that I sent it for repairs immediately.
After work, I went down to the workshop and the mechanic and I finally saw what was causing the problem. It was the engine chassis. It had a split!
Me : What could have caused the problem?
Mr Wee : I have a scooter of the same model as yours too. It could be caused by too much pressure – If you had a passenger and they shook your scooter, that could have caused cracks in the engine.
Me : This is very bad.
Mr Wee : There are two options. Option one is to replace the entire engine which costs about $700. But I’ll recommend you to take option two – I’ll use a sealant and cement the split together. This will be cheaper.
Me : Ok, lets go with option two and we’ll cross our fingers.
—
I got the scooter back yesterday and so far so good. No leaks after parking it overnight and after a ride to work today, its still dry. There looks like a patch there but its actually a stain from the leak and its actually dry.
Still, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Sidenote : There will be a TAA (Tabung Amal Aidilfitri) Charity Ride this Sunday. There will be a convoy ride of approximately 1000 bikes and scooters to an end venue, where the presentation of donated funds will be held.
If you have a two wheeler, come and join us! Riding in a convoy is fun! 🙂
For the past few weeks, there has been a trace of brown liquid and drops of coolant on the floor each morning when I take the scooter out of the carpark. And though it wasn’t leaking much, I was still rather concerned. I didnt want to risk having my scooter explode on me.
I sent my scooter to Tong Aik on saturday morning and I met the mechanic, Mr Wee, who handled my scooter the last check up. He promptly took my baby under his wing.
While waiting for Mr Wee to complete the check, I met Yaoming, a fellow vesporean. He was there to collect his scooter that day and he recognized me from the Vivo Vespa event.
Yaoming told me that he was on his way to go the ‘Big Bike Fest’ and will be meeting the rest of the vesporeans later. Initially I contemplated on going to that event, but having already been there last year, I wasn’t too appealed by its male-oriented activities.
There was a bike stunt performance that seemed interesting to me. But that wasn’t enough for me to feel compelled to go.
At length, Mr Wee told me that he could not trace any obvious flaws and needed time to inspect my scooter more thoroughly so I headed for home and took the bus.
After the convenience of my scooter, it feels so different taking public transportation again – sitting passively on the seat, blocking out the sound from the mobile-tv, staring at the scenery, and then finally lulled off to sleep and waking up blearily just in time at my stop.
Come Monday morning, I walked to the bus stop to head to work. It was the same scene of over a year ago. The same listless people waiting for their buses. Some familiar faces. The annoying auntie pushing her way to the front to enter the bus.
I received a call by Mr Wee later at work telling me that my scooter would be ready for collection in the afternoon. Luckily, my brother has already finished his shift and was willing to give me a lift to Tong Aik.
Unfortunately for me, I was wearing a pair of skirt on the day. Though I was confident in wearing a skirt on my scooter, little did I know that I would re-enact the infamous scene as Marilyn Monroe in the seven year itch, being a pillion to my brother, all the way to the workshop.
After collecting my scooter back from the workshop, we were on our way back home. My brother noticed that there was a guy on a class 2A bike whom almost fell off his bike when he saw me. Has he never seen a girl wearing a skirt and wedge shoes on a scooter before?
But anyway, when I got to the car-park these this morning, I am greeted by this :
