Thursday, November 27, 2008

Fly, fly and away

Now in the aiport with SL LLG (a.k.a Alishan tong2 lao3) at the free Internet terminal. I will be in Taiwan for the next 12 days, so unless there are free time on my hand, I probably will not be updating my blog till my return. So I seek the indulgence of the readers till I return on the 9th Dec.

For the past few days, whenever I replied to friends who asked me who I am going with for this trip that I am going with SL LLG, there is ALWAYS an inevitable question: Why didn't you go with HER??

Well, I always have to exlain that SHE is going to Vietnam with her friends just a day before I leave for Taiwan, and that we both have planned our own trips BEFORE we knew each other. So there you go, in case you care also thinking of the same question :)

Anyway, our (abridged) itinerary is:

28th Nov Arrived Taipei in the evening. Proceed to Xi men ding

29th Nov Around Taipei, including Longshan Temple and National Palace Museum

30th Nov Leave for Chiayi

1st Dec Depart from Chiayi to Alishan.

2nd Dec Go for morning rise. Which means waking at 4 am!!

3rd Dec Depart back top Chiayi for transfer to Tainan. Stay at Tainan to visit all the temples, old streets, tea house.

4th Dec At Tainan.

5th Dec Return to Taipei in evening

6th Dec To Wulai including Wulai Aboriginal Culture Village then take cable cars to Wulai Falls

Gong Guan Night Market

7th Dec Yangminshan
Beitou
Danshui 9Visit Fort San Domingo, British Consulate and Aletheia University

8th Dec Jiufen. To walk along Jishan Road. Then take bus to Kee Lung for Miaokou night market. Return to aipei by train

9th Dec Home sweet home to Singapore!
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Jack and Jill went up the Jurong Hill...

...to catch a meal for their stomachs fill,
...Jack slurped down, as the food went down,
...And Jill came smiling after.

Many Jacks and Jills have gone to Jurong Hill,
And that was how this Jack and Jill knew.

From others blogs,
and others talks,
So Jack and Jill climbed up the hill!

- A rather 三脚猫 poem by the three-legged cat.

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Indeed, it was Jack's friend who told him about this Jurong Hill Teppanyaki restaurant when Jack's friend got attached in June. Rapshodizing how the place was a perfect place for 'pak tor', Jack was encouraged to bring his Jill there if he ever had his Jill.

So days wore on, and Jack finally found his Jill. But Jack had not forgotten about the secret hide-away. So he waited till Jill finished her NTU's exams before declaring the dinner as a form of post-exams celebration. Besides Jill is going to Vietnam the following day and Jack to Taiwan the next following day, so it's like a small little gathering at the top of the hill, at the top of their mood.

Jack wanted to know others' reviews of the restaurant, so he went to google and it came back a few useful links.

http://iamjoannatan.blogspot.com/2008/11/jurong-hilltop-teppanyaki.html
http://vodka-vanilla.blogspot.com/2006/05/week-before.html
http://tomorrow.sg/archives/2005/10/14/hilltop_japanese_resturant_at_ju.html

My dear readers, you might want to read these blogs and perhaps think of having a rendezvous with your Jack or Jill one day. Tucking away on top of a hill, the restaurant is rather secluded and so in 鹿鹿's words, "very best" for:

(1) A hot date, especially on a weekday when it is less crowded so you can have your own personal time and for which time seems to have stood still,
(2) A hot affair, because what on earth would your hubby or wife be doing on an ulu hill top unless they themselves are also there for their clandestine rendezvous too!!

Anyway, as Jack is a poor T-chir, and Jill is a poor student, they can only see posh cars whizzed by them as they made the ascent. But the indigents have their own little blessings. The climb gave them a great tummy-trimming cum pre-yummy-dinner workout, and the walk was most readily peppered with little chats and laughs. They were probably the only Jack and Jill who have actually gone to the restaurant by climbing!

So they settled down for Salmon Special, assorted sashimi, unagi, californian roll and some side dishes. The chef was friendly as there was only another Jackarella and Jillarella sharing the same table surrounding the teppanyaki cooking area, so he made some light chats. Service was rather good even though there was no service charge for the restaurant.

Some pictures for the curiosity-kill-the-other-cats:













Jack and Jill then adjourned to another area for complimentary dessert though it was a tad disappointing as it was only a scoop of ice-cream for each of them. After a slight drizzle and a walk up the spiral tower, they made their descent down the hill...

and no, Jack didn't fall down and break his crown,
and neither did Jill came tumbling after.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Russell Peters - Chinese vs Indian (making business)

A rather old video, but since the Lulu fever has swept WL LLG and SL LLG, Russell Peters deserves a place in the three-legged cat's blog!

Monday, November 24, 2008

A sour grape a day makes the senescence go away

At least that was what SL LLG piously believes...

If not, how else would this old swine suffering the equivalent of an Ophelia complex snorted how the luckiest guy on Earth forget his deportment in the face of pleasing his future parents-in-laws over dinner?

This the three legged cat can only put it down to a few reasons:

ONE. Real-time bachelors, and a particularly decrepit one at that, usually do not have the patience to discern for even a few seconds, those moments of alpha male scoring especially when it comes to securing the proverbial missing rib. Ain't he understand that La patience est une virtu??



TWO. Delusionists can be considered the next greatest form of "magic" after illusionists. That SL LLG has been looking into mirror mirror on the wall.... who is the youngest of them all... (to which SL LLG should have no difficulty belting out the 1960 Pinkerton's song) have afforded him a most distorted view that redefines prim and proper in his own way.



THREE. A lonely heart. Now Cupid is certainly no blame when it comes to this. For who is to blame to ask for only a 巩俐's lookalike for a mate when the bloke himself is just miserably as 抱歉 as


If you see fangs coming out my dear readers, you are hardly mistaken, for indeed "狗 (the female one- aka the b!tch) 嘴里长出猪牙"!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Meet da parents

As friends of the three-legged cat would know, meeting the parents is one of those affairs that the cat has done/ will be doing. Has done in the sense that throughout the years in the tropical island education system, the cat has been quite an exemplary student that teachers usually had praises for the parent. Will be in the sense that now very soon, the cat shall be the one at the other end of the table, singing praises for his students next year.



But as far as today went, the cat has taken on another role in the second meet the parents session (the first was a supper after Lin Yi Lian's concert and everything was somehow not very formal)... . This meet da parents session is a little bit special. First, it was held not in the classroom but in a zi char restaurant where coffee pork ribs and pumpkin yam paste are the orders of the day. Second, the cat is there TO SCORE POINTS with the cat's goodest friend's parents (to ingratiate is too strong a word to use, but nonetheless almost there). So when the cat's goodest friend suggested that they adjourn to Geylang for durian (goodest friend's mum's fav), the cat gladly seized the idea.

The result? Another few smiles and recognition that the cat really knows its job well!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Kukup

Despite having the bout of stomach flu, the three legged cat had enough of an audacity to test his stomach to the limits by continuing to go on the Kukup tour he had yearned to with Great Friend and his friends.

What a great trip it was despite the perpetual jams and the dizzying roads. There was even a point when Paul Baba had to negotiate a sharp turn to avoid an otherwise fatal collision with a lorry. Thankfully no one was hurt and the journey saw one of Mr G's friend drooling while napping!

The seafood had been over-hyped as the seaview had been over-imagined. But one could not rely on just the food and the view to come to a neat conclusion that the day trip had been most halcyonic. Thanks to Paul Baba's muttering of curses of other Malaysian drivers and Jasmine's mordant but clumsy attempts to deflate the ego of Mr G. that had punctuated the whole journey, they certainly added quite a great deal of colours.

When school starts next year, it's the end of the salad days in N*E as a great deal of work beckons. And even tomorrow Mr G. had to report to work to his posted institution.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Arr..chioooO! Blurp!

That's gastric flu for you.. or rather me.

According to wikipedia
"Gastroenteritis (also known as gastro, gastric flu, and stomach flu, although unrelated to influenza) is inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, involving both the stomach and the small intestine (see also gastritis and enteritis) and resulting in acute diarrhea.

The inflammation is caused most often by infection with certain viruses, less often by bacteria or their toxins, parasites, or adverse reaction to something in the diet or medication. Worldwide, inadequate treatment of gastroenteritis kills 5 to 8 million people per year,and is a leading cause of death among infants and children under 5. At least 50% of cases of gastroenteritis as foodborne illness are due to norovirus
."

What first started off as a heart-burn feeling today morning manifested into vomitting and diarrhoea. I must have looked almost like a ragged doll by afternoon with minimal intake of fluids and no solid food. It still remains a mystery how I contracted the norovirus when I had been happy and kicking just yesterday.

Both Great Friend and Alex were fine even though we dined at the same restaurant. It could be pinned down to a case of misfortune. Funnily enough, I was pointing to Alex the Merlion as we walked past it just last night, and commented how Singaporeans have with good humour, used the expression "to merlion" to mean "to vomit". Essentially I have become a merlion today and a very bad one at that!

My conditions have elicited quite a myraid of responses:

(1) Greatest Friend had been most apprehensive about my condition, and offered to come down to the Land of the Hunks to look after me. Since gastric flu can be contagious, I requested Great Friend not to.

(2) My dearest sister remarked how wonderful it is to have this free slimming programme.

(3) My wonderful brother laughed in jest when my sis made that remark.

(4) Good old mum implored me to see the doctor and busied herself with making black sugar solution, which she claimed "detoxifies" the blood.

To which end, I would rather have chosen to gym out my avoir dupois, than to subject myself to this dizzying 上吐下泻 affair.




I could have easily taken up free membership for toilettes d'affairs considering the number of times that I have patronise it.

Friday, November 14, 2008

A quarter and two

...makes twenty-seven.

An age that is not quite young, but not quite old either. But age 27 has caught on the imagination of others, with 27 Club referring to "a popular culture name for a group of influential rock and blues musicians who all died at the age of 27, sometimes under mysterious circumstances" (Wikipedia).

This macabre image was certainly not in Best Friend's nor Great Friend's minds last Saturday. Best Friend was waiting with bated breath what Great Friend had planned that Best Friend might as well have gone and read Charles Dicken's Great Expectations.

Trying to test the wit of Best Friend, Great Friend gave a card that carried a riddle. Thanks to the regular training by JJ Lin Jun Jie and sister BL who had given the Cat thousands of gifts wrapped in surprises and riddles, the riddle posed by Great Friend unfortunately proved too three-legged-cat for Best Friend Cat that they were soon cruising along to the Ferris within five minutes. But not without Best Friend first getting a wonderful briefcase of a gift from Great Friend.

With the camera's clicking away since this was the first time they were on that humongous wheel, they were soon on top of the world!!! If this was what Great Friend had planned to be, it certainly worked, both literally and metaphorically.... until a box of sublime strawberries dipped in heavenly Nutella as next offered by Great Friend almost drove Best Friend nuts with the pleasures of not just the sights, but now even that of the palette!

Well, it just didn't end there. At Woods restaurant in Vivocity, Great Friend was shilling how the restaurant scored the points of some food critics when the chefs there used charcoal fire to prepare their cuisine. With baked mozarella and mushroom, and then a fish main course, Best Friend and Great Friend couldn't agree more that Great Friend's judgment was marvellously fabulous. Perhaps, it might have been due to their peckish nature as a result of a slip in the planning which saw them getting to the restaurant later than planned that made the food so delectable, but certainly the whole ambience of the place is worth checking out. But Great Friend seems almost unapologetic about the slip, as all other aspects of the plan has been executed so perfectly and neatly, that a slip seems almost wanting to make sure the whole event is not just another Best Friend's dream. It was an effort by Great Friend to tell Best Friend that the surrealness experienced earlier is real.

Not withstanding a full stomach, Great Friend and Best Friend decided that coffee in Clarke Quay would be a wonderful ending to the evening. The mud-pie at Coffee Club was what they shared, and what they truely enjoyed... watching the mud pie topple and then attacking it with no mercy did not leave Best Friend and Great Friend guilty of the sins of loading their bodies with calories. And it was Great Friend at this time that really caught the Cat by its tail, when Best Friend could not guess what was inside a wrapped box that Great Friend flashed out for him.

It took quite a bit of giving of clues, that Best Friend could not enjoy ice cream due to his most sensitive teeth (for a most sensitive person, what do you expect) before Best Friend managed to squeal in delight "Sensodyne".... an answer that was almost a promise to Best Friend that they would have to go for Hagaan Daaz ice-cream in future. No excuse for Best Friend!!!

And what did I say about age 27 again? As far as I know, age 27 couldn't be better!

P.S. As competitive as Best Friend has always been, Best Friend is determined to outdo Great Friend when Great Friend's birthday approach next year May. To this, Best Friend already had in mind a grand scheme, one that would draw the Great Friend swiftly to concede losing.... *wicked guffaw in Mongolian style*

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Bintan

One day, Mr G and Good Friend decided to go to Bintan.

Mr G met Good Friend at Tampines MRT where they took a train and bus to Tanah Merah ferry terminal. Their exciting day began with their awe at the spacious and comfortable Mayang Sari room. But because Mr G had not slept much the day before and since both of them were early for their planned itinerary, they napped for a while before leaving for Pasar Oleh Oleh.

Enchanted by a particular sleepy restaurant tucked at a corner where there was hardly a soul, Mr G and Good Friend decided to fill their tummy in this refill station. By refill, it also meant a Bintang beer! It is usually not advisable for one to do a massage straightaway after a heavy meal, but the two went ahead anyway with a two-hour body massage and scrub. Both agreed the soothing head massage was a blast, but Mr G was actually secretly hoping that the head rub would not give him a literal post-massage hair-dropping experience!

Thereafter they returned to hotel to walk down the wet beach. Wait a minute, wet beach? Durrrr... but it was wet as it had showered mercilessly earlier and the sand was slightly cold to the touch. Sill Mr G and Good Friend thought that might have been a blessing since nobody came out from their warm little huts. Thus the entire beach was theirs. Until they realised later that they shared it with the mosquitoes!

Admidst the tiger balm that Good Friend was quick to offer to Mr G in their room for their itch, they realised they were losing their cup noodles eating time! Good Friend hardly ate anything while Mr G could have been easily mistaken as a part-time fire-eater when he gobbled down the entire cup within a min. Not that they would be disturbed by their hunger pangs later for they were totally floored by their mangrove firefly tour, what with all the river cruising and firefly catching (and releasing of course)!

Their stomach forgave them when their late dinner was settled at a near-forgotten beach side restaurant after the tour. Soon, iced wine in the hotel room washed down the entire fatigue of the day, and the day culminated with Mr G and Good Friend doing a Watson's facial mask that made them really really sleepy… What Mr G lacked Good Friend made up. It was the astute Good Friend who reminded the myopic Mr G to set the alarm clock lest they fell asleep.

Thanks to Good Friend's most enterprising thought, they were in good time for the breakfast. But the sky had hardly been doing them any favours again when they saw over the course of their meal, a most wondrous sky turning moody and then great, it poured....As if that was not bad enough, they missed the bus to Pasar Oleh Oleh as the call of the concierge eluded them. They could only content themselves by taking the internal shuttle bus to other resorts and checking out their facilities. If there was a silver lining, it was the conclusion that the resort they stayed was simply the best. And with this "best" word which they had continued to use to describe their whole experience, Mr G and Good Friend left Bintan for Home Sweet Home.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Scaring the 3-legged cat

**From my.. eX-peren... I feel... ** that this post really scared the sh*t out of the three-legged cat!

Do not watch if you:
(1) DO NOT want nightmares, OR
(2) are working NOW late at night in office, OR
(3) going to take an elevator later, OR
(4) work in Raffles Place CBD, OR
(5) hate old women, OR
(6) are just plain scary (but not necessarily 3-legged) cat.

After all, one person commented in the youtube "f*ck you! now I cant go to the elevator in the condo from the internet cafe!".

Lol.... an absolute best way to encourage people to shave off some kilos through climbing the stairs.. but then again, who can promise that there is no hanging wispy white gowned Nightingale waiting at the stairs....

For some hard-core ghost-bustering, visit our gungho friends at http://www.rafflesplaceghost.net/blog/
where they do all the follow-up.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Best of Noose: Maid Trg Sch/Barbarella Beach/Lulu and Balls

Got this clip after going to SL LLG blog.
My goodness, Michelle Chong's accentsss are so diversifying!!