Friday, May 30, 2008
Thu 22 May
I had a typical long day in school, but at least we went on our uplifting pilgrimage to Old Airport Road. Today I wasn't adventurous and stuck to old favourites because I didn't feel like roaming around.
In the evening, we headed down to Suntec City to do some window shopping, and I bought Evangelion: 1.0, which is a movie version of one of the earliest anime I have. We headed down to New York, New York at Citilink to use one of the vouchers I got for becoming a member to get a free steak (which was delicious, but full of sinful looking fats) for the steak I ordered (1-for-1 voucher), before we headed off to cell group.
Fri 23 May
Today would be the longest last day of term. After lessons ended, my wife and I snuck off to Parkway Parade to do some shopping. We wanted to check out the Isetan sale to see if there were any baby-related items on sale. We found a Looney Tunes sale area from Isetan in the basement, and spotted a nice playpen that was quite cheap (at $109), sturdy enough, and easy to keep. We went around to check out other shops, but eventually decided on this one. The mattress with it had a cute Tazmanian Devil design on it, so we didn't mind. And there was a free Bugs Bunny cushion to redeem, so I had to lug that back with me to school. Furthermore, with the purchase of the playpen, we got ourselves a free mug that we could put our names on.
In the evening, we headed back for the biannual Mardi Gras carnival. I managed to do some work before the opening, and then went around to check on my AV students, who were doing a fine job. This event is typically the nightmare of AVC, since we have to anchor about five different places on campus. The shows were quite enjoyable, but I managed to find some time inbetween to finish some work as well. The whole thing ended around ten plus, and our colleague gave us a ride to Bedok MRT station, which was a blessing because the bus stops were spilling over with students and visitors. Finally, the holidays (that won't really feel like the holidays till week 3)!
Sat 24 May
We went to Elias Mall to have the fishball noodles there, did a bit of shopping, and headed home to watch Evangelion. I had thought that this was the complete story in a one-hour plus movie, but it turned out to be a cleaned-up high-definition version of the anime, and it seemed to be the first part of the series, so I foresee maybe a trilogy? I spent the rest of the day with my wife doing housework, more or less.
Sun 25 May
We went to service as usual, and I had cell group with my boys at Daily Fresh at Eastpoint. After that, my wife and I went over to have dinner at Downtown East. We walked around quite aimlessly before settling on Hei Sushi for dinner. It was too rushed to watch a movie, so we postponed our initial plans of watching Indiana Jones.
Mon 26 May
I went to school in the morning to discuss the upcoming THINK challenge with my colleagues. Not a good way to start the holidays, if you ask me, being back in school and all. My poor wife was doing invigilation for Mother Tongue exams in MJC. By the time we were done discussing, I mentioned that my wife and I would be going to Ikea for lunch, three of my colleagues changed their lunch plans and tagged along. Good thing they did, since we managed to get a free ride there. We bought some household items that we needed to get, but we couldn't find any nice cots there, which was top priority on our shopping list right now.
Tue 27 May
I headed back to school to have a meeting with some Excelfest people. In the end, it went really fast. I think when I told them I needed three banners, they probably panicked. Even when I told them I would design them myself, I think they assumed that they would have to do the graphic design, because from what the lady in charge told me, it looked like most schools just passed them information and photographs. So when I told her I had the full banner designs, she looked pretty skeptical and requested to see them on my laptop first. When I showed them, she went, "You designed them yourself?" I told her that it was me indeed, and she muttered, "Very impressive." Since that compliment comes from a person managing publicity and events, I take it that my standard isn't bad at all then. Unless she was saying it from a perspective that teachers can't do any bit of design. Hmm.
After that, I went to Bedok 216 market to meet my wife and mother-in-law for lunch. The kway chap there was really good, but frankly, I don't like to eat kway chap in general, so I would make a poor reviewer. But I still can tell a good one from a bad one, and the one there was delicious. Beastly expensive though, considering that it is based in a market.
The three of us then headed off to Expo to check out Robinsons Sale! It was not as crowded as I imagined, but then again, we deliberately picked a weekday to go to avoid the crowd. We went around and bought toiletries, and for myself, some clothes, socks and boxer shorts. Cheaper than usual, so why not? But our main purpose was to look for baby-related stuff. My wife managed to find heavily-discounted Medela products there, and I spent a whopping $500+ there in one shot. It was great that I had an OCBC Robinsons card, so I had an extra $10 off every $100 expenditure, and got a $5 voucher in an instant lucky draw. The stuff we bought was worth the trip and the squeezing with people.
We then headed off to the food fair at Hall 5, and I think every year I happen to go there I regret the choice. Singaporeans must really love to eat, because it was so darn crowded. Frankly, the food sold there is usually overpriced and not that tasty, and you can't get seats to sit down and eat properly. I usually feel like I spent a bomb eating loads of junk.
After heading home to dump off our purchases, we went to Downtown East for a late dinner, since we desperately needed a nap to recharge. We ate at Pastamania, and then watched Indian Jones 4. I enjoyed the show, all the exaggerated stunts notwithstanding. I think the storyline was still entertaining enough for me, although the whole thing about aliens didn't sit quite well with me. It was weirder, considering the third movie had the ark of the covenant in it, and had some spiritual element there. Suddenly the whole franchise seemed to go down a way different route. Maybe the different religions in the previous three movies had been milked dry. Considering that I just watched National Treasure 2 on DVD, I think that Hollywood itself must be fascinated with the legendary City of Gold more than any explorer. In any case, I think Cate Blancett played the villainess with style and much aplomb.
Wed 28 May
Day one of the THINK challenge. The science department decided to hold this two-day day-camp for secondary schools to participate in our THINK cycle pedagogy, and compete for some prizes at the end of the day. Of course, this was to raise the awareness of what the school has to offer, but it also implied extra (hard) work for many of us IP tutors. The students that came were generally very enthusiastic though, and I found it interesting at least to monitor their lab work. After that when they were doing their research, they were so independent and focused I was quite impressed. Thankfully, that allowed me to complete some work inbetween while they were doing their individual research.
After a long day, my wife and I headed to her parents' place for dinner, and went around Bedok doing some grocery shopping. I bought a few movies that I had wanted to watch, but missed, and hope that I would have the opportunity and time to watch them. I mean, going to school four out of five days this week in the holidays doesn't bode well for having a rest, does it?
Thu 29 May
Day two of the THINK challenge. We went back early in the morning, had some breakfast, and began assessing the school's presentations. In all honesty, all the teams (except a couple of schools that didn't seem serious enough) did fantastically well, given the tight timeline. I was quite impressed with the quality of students (and secretly hope that they really would like our THINK pedagogy enough to migrate over to our Temasek Academy eventually). But in any case, after a gruelling time for judging, we finally took a break for a while before the day ended.
My wife and I went to her parents' place again for dinner, but we didn't stay long because my G12 group was coming over to have cell group at my place, due to some last minute changes. My G12 leader brought his baby daughter along, so she kept us all busy and distracted throughout the time she was there. I think I'd better be prepared for a similar experience once my little one hits the world.
Fri 30 May
I watched a movie I just bought a few days ago called the Illusionist, featuring Edward Norton. It was quite an enthralling watch, but I guessed the plot twists rather early, so it wasn't too surprising. I think it would have been more entertaining if the magic tricks look more achievable in real life than film special effects. At least my wife enjoyed the show. The genres she enjoys are more limited than mine apparently.
After that, we went over to Century Square for lunch. We went to Ramenten, and man, that was a regrettable choice. I had mushroom ramen, and the soup base was rather bland. Frankly, I think the mushroom ramen sold in many food courts taste similar, if not better. My wife ordered a chicken karaage ramen, and it sucked. Yeah, it really sucked. The chicken batter tasted odd and had the powdery texture, and the chicken itself wasn't fried well. It was even worse that they didn't serve plain water at all, and only had mineral water. I already dislike restaurants that charge money for plain water, but those that don't even have that option and force you to buy mineral water for exhorbitant prices are even more disgusting. I mean, if the drinks on the menu are worth drinking, customers will buy even if you serve plain water. I go to Billy Bombers, and I'll be sure to order the milk shake because it is good.
We then went to do some shopping at Spring Maternity, and I bought a couple of bottoms for my wife. My wise wife then asked the saleslady if there was anywhere that sold baby stuff cheaply, and she really rattled on and listed about three places for us. Since we had time on our hands, we took a cab down to Kaki Bukit to check out Baby Hyperstore and Baby Kingdom. The stuff there indeed is cheaper than outside by a bit, but more importantly, they have quite a lot of sample items that we could examine. We are the kind of people who don't feel secure ordering based on a picture in a catalog. We finally found a perfect cot that we both liked in terms of colour, finish, and sturdiness. And it came complete with mattress, pillows, cases and can adjust the height up to four levels! So far the ones we saw that came close in terms of functionality ranged from $400 to $500 (having a baby is indeed an expensive investment), but this one costed $299 only! Best deal of the month.
We headed down to Parkway Parade to pick up the free mug we got from buying the playpen last week, and our colleague picked us up from there to head to Seafood Station at East Coast. My last year's Level Head was giving us a treat for the 'A' level results of last year's batch. The food there was quite good! We had seabass, and it was fresh, with delicious gravy. The sambal kang kong was fantastic, although somewhat spicy. The fried chicken was tasty too, and the chilli crabs were big, full of meat, and the flesh was sweet. The gravy was thick and good, and made excellent accompaniment for the steamed buns.
Some of our colleagues and us went down to Cheesecake Cafe afterward for dessert. The cheesecakes there are really nice, similar to past experiences, but I still find it quite expensive. The iced mocha float I drank was $9.90, which felt quite expensive to me actually. Still, it was more for the company than just food.
I had a typical long day in school, but at least we went on our uplifting pilgrimage to Old Airport Road. Today I wasn't adventurous and stuck to old favourites because I didn't feel like roaming around.
In the evening, we headed down to Suntec City to do some window shopping, and I bought Evangelion: 1.0, which is a movie version of one of the earliest anime I have. We headed down to New York, New York at Citilink to use one of the vouchers I got for becoming a member to get a free steak (which was delicious, but full of sinful looking fats) for the steak I ordered (1-for-1 voucher), before we headed off to cell group.
Fri 23 May
Today would be the longest last day of term. After lessons ended, my wife and I snuck off to Parkway Parade to do some shopping. We wanted to check out the Isetan sale to see if there were any baby-related items on sale. We found a Looney Tunes sale area from Isetan in the basement, and spotted a nice playpen that was quite cheap (at $109), sturdy enough, and easy to keep. We went around to check out other shops, but eventually decided on this one. The mattress with it had a cute Tazmanian Devil design on it, so we didn't mind. And there was a free Bugs Bunny cushion to redeem, so I had to lug that back with me to school. Furthermore, with the purchase of the playpen, we got ourselves a free mug that we could put our names on.
In the evening, we headed back for the biannual Mardi Gras carnival. I managed to do some work before the opening, and then went around to check on my AV students, who were doing a fine job. This event is typically the nightmare of AVC, since we have to anchor about five different places on campus. The shows were quite enjoyable, but I managed to find some time inbetween to finish some work as well. The whole thing ended around ten plus, and our colleague gave us a ride to Bedok MRT station, which was a blessing because the bus stops were spilling over with students and visitors. Finally, the holidays (that won't really feel like the holidays till week 3)!
Sat 24 May
We went to Elias Mall to have the fishball noodles there, did a bit of shopping, and headed home to watch Evangelion. I had thought that this was the complete story in a one-hour plus movie, but it turned out to be a cleaned-up high-definition version of the anime, and it seemed to be the first part of the series, so I foresee maybe a trilogy? I spent the rest of the day with my wife doing housework, more or less.
Sun 25 May
We went to service as usual, and I had cell group with my boys at Daily Fresh at Eastpoint. After that, my wife and I went over to have dinner at Downtown East. We walked around quite aimlessly before settling on Hei Sushi for dinner. It was too rushed to watch a movie, so we postponed our initial plans of watching Indiana Jones.
Mon 26 May
I went to school in the morning to discuss the upcoming THINK challenge with my colleagues. Not a good way to start the holidays, if you ask me, being back in school and all. My poor wife was doing invigilation for Mother Tongue exams in MJC. By the time we were done discussing, I mentioned that my wife and I would be going to Ikea for lunch, three of my colleagues changed their lunch plans and tagged along. Good thing they did, since we managed to get a free ride there. We bought some household items that we needed to get, but we couldn't find any nice cots there, which was top priority on our shopping list right now.
Tue 27 May
I headed back to school to have a meeting with some Excelfest people. In the end, it went really fast. I think when I told them I needed three banners, they probably panicked. Even when I told them I would design them myself, I think they assumed that they would have to do the graphic design, because from what the lady in charge told me, it looked like most schools just passed them information and photographs. So when I told her I had the full banner designs, she looked pretty skeptical and requested to see them on my laptop first. When I showed them, she went, "You designed them yourself?" I told her that it was me indeed, and she muttered, "Very impressive." Since that compliment comes from a person managing publicity and events, I take it that my standard isn't bad at all then. Unless she was saying it from a perspective that teachers can't do any bit of design. Hmm.
After that, I went to Bedok 216 market to meet my wife and mother-in-law for lunch. The kway chap there was really good, but frankly, I don't like to eat kway chap in general, so I would make a poor reviewer. But I still can tell a good one from a bad one, and the one there was delicious. Beastly expensive though, considering that it is based in a market.
The three of us then headed off to Expo to check out Robinsons Sale! It was not as crowded as I imagined, but then again, we deliberately picked a weekday to go to avoid the crowd. We went around and bought toiletries, and for myself, some clothes, socks and boxer shorts. Cheaper than usual, so why not? But our main purpose was to look for baby-related stuff. My wife managed to find heavily-discounted Medela products there, and I spent a whopping $500+ there in one shot. It was great that I had an OCBC Robinsons card, so I had an extra $10 off every $100 expenditure, and got a $5 voucher in an instant lucky draw. The stuff we bought was worth the trip and the squeezing with people.
We then headed off to the food fair at Hall 5, and I think every year I happen to go there I regret the choice. Singaporeans must really love to eat, because it was so darn crowded. Frankly, the food sold there is usually overpriced and not that tasty, and you can't get seats to sit down and eat properly. I usually feel like I spent a bomb eating loads of junk.
After heading home to dump off our purchases, we went to Downtown East for a late dinner, since we desperately needed a nap to recharge. We ate at Pastamania, and then watched Indian Jones 4. I enjoyed the show, all the exaggerated stunts notwithstanding. I think the storyline was still entertaining enough for me, although the whole thing about aliens didn't sit quite well with me. It was weirder, considering the third movie had the ark of the covenant in it, and had some spiritual element there. Suddenly the whole franchise seemed to go down a way different route. Maybe the different religions in the previous three movies had been milked dry. Considering that I just watched National Treasure 2 on DVD, I think that Hollywood itself must be fascinated with the legendary City of Gold more than any explorer. In any case, I think Cate Blancett played the villainess with style and much aplomb.
Wed 28 May
Day one of the THINK challenge. The science department decided to hold this two-day day-camp for secondary schools to participate in our THINK cycle pedagogy, and compete for some prizes at the end of the day. Of course, this was to raise the awareness of what the school has to offer, but it also implied extra (hard) work for many of us IP tutors. The students that came were generally very enthusiastic though, and I found it interesting at least to monitor their lab work. After that when they were doing their research, they were so independent and focused I was quite impressed. Thankfully, that allowed me to complete some work inbetween while they were doing their individual research.
After a long day, my wife and I headed to her parents' place for dinner, and went around Bedok doing some grocery shopping. I bought a few movies that I had wanted to watch, but missed, and hope that I would have the opportunity and time to watch them. I mean, going to school four out of five days this week in the holidays doesn't bode well for having a rest, does it?
Thu 29 May
Day two of the THINK challenge. We went back early in the morning, had some breakfast, and began assessing the school's presentations. In all honesty, all the teams (except a couple of schools that didn't seem serious enough) did fantastically well, given the tight timeline. I was quite impressed with the quality of students (and secretly hope that they really would like our THINK pedagogy enough to migrate over to our Temasek Academy eventually). But in any case, after a gruelling time for judging, we finally took a break for a while before the day ended.
My wife and I went to her parents' place again for dinner, but we didn't stay long because my G12 group was coming over to have cell group at my place, due to some last minute changes. My G12 leader brought his baby daughter along, so she kept us all busy and distracted throughout the time she was there. I think I'd better be prepared for a similar experience once my little one hits the world.
Fri 30 May
I watched a movie I just bought a few days ago called the Illusionist, featuring Edward Norton. It was quite an enthralling watch, but I guessed the plot twists rather early, so it wasn't too surprising. I think it would have been more entertaining if the magic tricks look more achievable in real life than film special effects. At least my wife enjoyed the show. The genres she enjoys are more limited than mine apparently.
After that, we went over to Century Square for lunch. We went to Ramenten, and man, that was a regrettable choice. I had mushroom ramen, and the soup base was rather bland. Frankly, I think the mushroom ramen sold in many food courts taste similar, if not better. My wife ordered a chicken karaage ramen, and it sucked. Yeah, it really sucked. The chicken batter tasted odd and had the powdery texture, and the chicken itself wasn't fried well. It was even worse that they didn't serve plain water at all, and only had mineral water. I already dislike restaurants that charge money for plain water, but those that don't even have that option and force you to buy mineral water for exhorbitant prices are even more disgusting. I mean, if the drinks on the menu are worth drinking, customers will buy even if you serve plain water. I go to Billy Bombers, and I'll be sure to order the milk shake because it is good.
We then went to do some shopping at Spring Maternity, and I bought a couple of bottoms for my wife. My wise wife then asked the saleslady if there was anywhere that sold baby stuff cheaply, and she really rattled on and listed about three places for us. Since we had time on our hands, we took a cab down to Kaki Bukit to check out Baby Hyperstore and Baby Kingdom. The stuff there indeed is cheaper than outside by a bit, but more importantly, they have quite a lot of sample items that we could examine. We are the kind of people who don't feel secure ordering based on a picture in a catalog. We finally found a perfect cot that we both liked in terms of colour, finish, and sturdiness. And it came complete with mattress, pillows, cases and can adjust the height up to four levels! So far the ones we saw that came close in terms of functionality ranged from $400 to $500 (having a baby is indeed an expensive investment), but this one costed $299 only! Best deal of the month.
We headed down to Parkway Parade to pick up the free mug we got from buying the playpen last week, and our colleague picked us up from there to head to Seafood Station at East Coast. My last year's Level Head was giving us a treat for the 'A' level results of last year's batch. The food there was quite good! We had seabass, and it was fresh, with delicious gravy. The sambal kang kong was fantastic, although somewhat spicy. The fried chicken was tasty too, and the chilli crabs were big, full of meat, and the flesh was sweet. The gravy was thick and good, and made excellent accompaniment for the steamed buns.
Some of our colleagues and us went down to Cheesecake Cafe afterward for dessert. The cheesecakes there are really nice, similar to past experiences, but I still find it quite expensive. The iced mocha float I drank was $9.90, which felt quite expensive to me actually. Still, it was more for the company than just food.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The weather lately has been quite unbearable. I guess this would be as close as I can get to imagining what 'fire and brimstone' might feel like.
Wed 14 May
Today was another long day by virtue of the College Day rehearsal. Thankfully most things were settled cleanly by the time it ended. I went over to my in-laws' place for dinner, and quickly went home to continue doing work. The end of Term 2 for me is usually marked by nightmarish deadlines, whilst others look forward to a long break.
Thu 15 May
My long day today was shortened because I cancelled my last lesson of the day. Half the class went to support the basketball semifinals (I think), so I let the whole class off since we were slightly ahead of schedule. After my wife was done with the lessons, we went down to Marina Square for some shopping because my wife was rapidly outgrowing her clothes and even shoes. We grabbed dinner at Waraku there, but I was quite disappointed by the food and service. At the point we went, there were at most, say, ten customers. I waited for my food to arrive till I dozed off. Of course, I was tired, but I think I slept for a good fifteen minutes at least. The set meal that I ordered was impressive in portion, because the udon came in a huge bowl, and I mean, huge. The udon itself was of superb quality, but the soup tasted too salty, in fact. The unagi rice that came in the set was decent, but not fantastic. The best dish was the yasai tempura moriwase (I think that's the name), which had an assortment of vegetable tempura. The mushroom ones were fabulous, and the tempura crust was done to perfection. My wife's udon was also too salty for our liking. Her mini-bowl compared to my regular-sized udon was truly dwarfed.
We went down to Bukit Merah for cell group after we were done with dinner, and we were slightly late, thanks to the waiting time at Waraku. Thank God for G12 brother Eric who kindly drove my wife and I back home because he was heading to Pasir Ris to deliver something.
Fri 16 May
It was a typical day in school, and despite finishing early, both my wife and I couldn't go off because she had to settle the prizes stuff for tomorrow's College Day, so I hung around to clear a whole big chunk of work. In the evening, we went to meet a mutual friend, Angeline, for dinner at A Different Taste. Sadly enough, after raving about the quality of the food there, the sin chew bee hoon, which was really delicious the first time we went, that my wife and Angeline ordered turned out dry, bland, and too springy. My fried rice was still good, but the soup was also not the standard we remembered it to be. After dinner, Angeline went to catch a concert with my wife, so I headed home for some badly-needed rest.
Sat 17 May
It was College Day today, at long last! I went to school terribly early because my wife had to prepare the prizes early, so I went out for breakfast with a couple of colleagues before returning to the auditorium to prepare for the ceremony. I was glad all went well, with no technical glitches, and my powerpoint slides were quite well-received. After two years consecutively, I wonder if I can top it again when next year's College Day comes along.
In the evening, we headed out to Downtown East, our current favourite spot, for dinner. We went to the restaurant BBQ (stands for Best of the Best Quality, not barbecue) Chicken. I ordered a charboiled chicken, and my wife ordered a fish fillet. We were both unimpressed. Sure, the "we only use olive oil" tagline does sound more pleasing, but the food quality wasn't anything special. The charboiled chicken does have a unique taste, and is tender and well-grilled, but it doesn't make me go "Wow!" The fries weren't crispy, and the coleslaw tasted like KFC's, except that the vegetables inside were green. My wife's fish fillet was a letdown. The fish was quite a thin slice, and the batter was just average. In essence, I doubt we would go again. After dinner, we had a stroll around the place, and I went to Emicakes to get a thick chocolate cake as a surprise for shups! tomorrow.
Sun 18 May
I went to service with my wife and cell as usual, and after service, my wife and I brought Collin, Eric, and shups! to Downtown East to eat at Mr Chicken Rice. We were too early for them (I didn't know they open for dinner only at around 5 pm), so I showed them around the place for a while. When it was time, I introduced them to the food, and they enjoyed the food. I never thought that Pasir Ris would have something this good, after realizing that the quality of food available in this area is generally appalling.
After the early dinner, they came over to my place for mahjong. Eric was a beginner and he did quite well at the start but fizzled out after a while. We started at about 6 pm, and Eric had to leave early. I planned a little surprise for shups! with the cake, but it had to happen past midnight since her birthday was rightfully on Monday. I summoned the help of one of my colleagues, and she gamely came over at 10 pm to continue the mahjong session even after I warn her we would play through the night. At 12 plus, we gave shups! a surprise birthday celebration which she did not expect (thankfully), and resumed our mahjong session till 3 plus, whereupon we stopped for some McDelivery supper, and fought on till 8 am in the morning! After about 13 hours of mahjong, I walked away about 25 bucks richer, and the poor birthday girl lost the most.
Mon 19 May
After my friends left at about 8 am, I took a nap till about 3 pm, ate some fried bee hoon that my mum cooked, and went out to meet my blood brudders for dinner. Yuren wanted to brief the whole lot of us regarding his wedding day, and to pass us the brothers' ties, and (theoretically) the wedding invitation cards that he forgot to bring. I introduced them to Daily Fresh, and amazingly enough, blood brudder Shaofeng, who lived in Simei for 16 years, had never eaten anything from there before. After trying the Kimo Ice that I recommended, he was a convert. For dinner, we went to Eighteen Chefs, just round the corner. The baked rice was, as Shaofeng recommended, indeed their signature dish. I tried the baked rice with the creamy mango sauce out of adventurous curiosity, and it turned out really good.
After the discussion was over, we went over to Ben & Jerry's at Whitesands to chitchat a bit before calling it a day.
Tue 20 May
Today is Innovation Day in school, so students get to have a day off while teachers get to have a half-day of courses. Even so, those attending the course can relax and have fun with learning, but me, I have to conduct the Photoshop course. The good thing is that I'm in my most natural element, teaching about a program that I use really frequently, so I didn't need to prepare much. I was glad to see that those who came for the course were really interested, and were playing around with the program, so that was good progress.
After a lunch reception, most of my colleagues left, I suppose, to go out and have fun. Me, I stayed back to print the June Common Test question paper with two of my colleagues. Better now than the holidays, I reckon, but I foresee coming back a lot for the first two weeks anyway. I was done about 3+, and was desperately hungry after the lunch's effects wore off. In the end, I couldn't afford time to go out and eat, so I ate instant noodles in the staff lounge. At 4 pm, I went to meet a vendor with another colleague, and we were done around 5 pm.
That was longer than my usual long day.
Wed 21 May
A normal day back in school, but without staff conference. I managed to settle a few administrative tasks while waiting for my wife to be done, and we went to Tampines Mall to have dinner at Ding Tai Fung. I think the fried rice is their best dish in the menu, but I don't quite like the noodles. When we went home, we dug out a movie DVD I bought long ago Bridge to Terabithia. My wife didn't like the show at all, but I found it quite touching at times, and meaningful in the way that it portrays a child's inner world. I guess it is not the mainstream blockbuster kind of stuff that appeals to a wider range of audience perhaps.
Wed 14 May
Today was another long day by virtue of the College Day rehearsal. Thankfully most things were settled cleanly by the time it ended. I went over to my in-laws' place for dinner, and quickly went home to continue doing work. The end of Term 2 for me is usually marked by nightmarish deadlines, whilst others look forward to a long break.
Thu 15 May
My long day today was shortened because I cancelled my last lesson of the day. Half the class went to support the basketball semifinals (I think), so I let the whole class off since we were slightly ahead of schedule. After my wife was done with the lessons, we went down to Marina Square for some shopping because my wife was rapidly outgrowing her clothes and even shoes. We grabbed dinner at Waraku there, but I was quite disappointed by the food and service. At the point we went, there were at most, say, ten customers. I waited for my food to arrive till I dozed off. Of course, I was tired, but I think I slept for a good fifteen minutes at least. The set meal that I ordered was impressive in portion, because the udon came in a huge bowl, and I mean, huge. The udon itself was of superb quality, but the soup tasted too salty, in fact. The unagi rice that came in the set was decent, but not fantastic. The best dish was the yasai tempura moriwase (I think that's the name), which had an assortment of vegetable tempura. The mushroom ones were fabulous, and the tempura crust was done to perfection. My wife's udon was also too salty for our liking. Her mini-bowl compared to my regular-sized udon was truly dwarfed.
We went down to Bukit Merah for cell group after we were done with dinner, and we were slightly late, thanks to the waiting time at Waraku. Thank God for G12 brother Eric who kindly drove my wife and I back home because he was heading to Pasir Ris to deliver something.
Fri 16 May
It was a typical day in school, and despite finishing early, both my wife and I couldn't go off because she had to settle the prizes stuff for tomorrow's College Day, so I hung around to clear a whole big chunk of work. In the evening, we went to meet a mutual friend, Angeline, for dinner at A Different Taste. Sadly enough, after raving about the quality of the food there, the sin chew bee hoon, which was really delicious the first time we went, that my wife and Angeline ordered turned out dry, bland, and too springy. My fried rice was still good, but the soup was also not the standard we remembered it to be. After dinner, Angeline went to catch a concert with my wife, so I headed home for some badly-needed rest.
Sat 17 May
It was College Day today, at long last! I went to school terribly early because my wife had to prepare the prizes early, so I went out for breakfast with a couple of colleagues before returning to the auditorium to prepare for the ceremony. I was glad all went well, with no technical glitches, and my powerpoint slides were quite well-received. After two years consecutively, I wonder if I can top it again when next year's College Day comes along.
In the evening, we headed out to Downtown East, our current favourite spot, for dinner. We went to the restaurant BBQ (stands for Best of the Best Quality, not barbecue) Chicken. I ordered a charboiled chicken, and my wife ordered a fish fillet. We were both unimpressed. Sure, the "we only use olive oil" tagline does sound more pleasing, but the food quality wasn't anything special. The charboiled chicken does have a unique taste, and is tender and well-grilled, but it doesn't make me go "Wow!" The fries weren't crispy, and the coleslaw tasted like KFC's, except that the vegetables inside were green. My wife's fish fillet was a letdown. The fish was quite a thin slice, and the batter was just average. In essence, I doubt we would go again. After dinner, we had a stroll around the place, and I went to Emicakes to get a thick chocolate cake as a surprise for shups! tomorrow.
Sun 18 May
I went to service with my wife and cell as usual, and after service, my wife and I brought Collin, Eric, and shups! to Downtown East to eat at Mr Chicken Rice. We were too early for them (I didn't know they open for dinner only at around 5 pm), so I showed them around the place for a while. When it was time, I introduced them to the food, and they enjoyed the food. I never thought that Pasir Ris would have something this good, after realizing that the quality of food available in this area is generally appalling.
After the early dinner, they came over to my place for mahjong. Eric was a beginner and he did quite well at the start but fizzled out after a while. We started at about 6 pm, and Eric had to leave early. I planned a little surprise for shups! with the cake, but it had to happen past midnight since her birthday was rightfully on Monday. I summoned the help of one of my colleagues, and she gamely came over at 10 pm to continue the mahjong session even after I warn her we would play through the night. At 12 plus, we gave shups! a surprise birthday celebration which she did not expect (thankfully), and resumed our mahjong session till 3 plus, whereupon we stopped for some McDelivery supper, and fought on till 8 am in the morning! After about 13 hours of mahjong, I walked away about 25 bucks richer, and the poor birthday girl lost the most.
Mon 19 May
After my friends left at about 8 am, I took a nap till about 3 pm, ate some fried bee hoon that my mum cooked, and went out to meet my blood brudders for dinner. Yuren wanted to brief the whole lot of us regarding his wedding day, and to pass us the brothers' ties, and (theoretically) the wedding invitation cards that he forgot to bring. I introduced them to Daily Fresh, and amazingly enough, blood brudder Shaofeng, who lived in Simei for 16 years, had never eaten anything from there before. After trying the Kimo Ice that I recommended, he was a convert. For dinner, we went to Eighteen Chefs, just round the corner. The baked rice was, as Shaofeng recommended, indeed their signature dish. I tried the baked rice with the creamy mango sauce out of adventurous curiosity, and it turned out really good.
After the discussion was over, we went over to Ben & Jerry's at Whitesands to chitchat a bit before calling it a day.
Tue 20 May
Today is Innovation Day in school, so students get to have a day off while teachers get to have a half-day of courses. Even so, those attending the course can relax and have fun with learning, but me, I have to conduct the Photoshop course. The good thing is that I'm in my most natural element, teaching about a program that I use really frequently, so I didn't need to prepare much. I was glad to see that those who came for the course were really interested, and were playing around with the program, so that was good progress.
After a lunch reception, most of my colleagues left, I suppose, to go out and have fun. Me, I stayed back to print the June Common Test question paper with two of my colleagues. Better now than the holidays, I reckon, but I foresee coming back a lot for the first two weeks anyway. I was done about 3+, and was desperately hungry after the lunch's effects wore off. In the end, I couldn't afford time to go out and eat, so I ate instant noodles in the staff lounge. At 4 pm, I went to meet a vendor with another colleague, and we were done around 5 pm.
That was longer than my usual long day.
Wed 21 May
A normal day back in school, but without staff conference. I managed to settle a few administrative tasks while waiting for my wife to be done, and we went to Tampines Mall to have dinner at Ding Tai Fung. I think the fried rice is their best dish in the menu, but I don't quite like the noodles. When we went home, we dug out a movie DVD I bought long ago Bridge to Terabithia. My wife didn't like the show at all, but I found it quite touching at times, and meaningful in the way that it portrays a child's inner world. I guess it is not the mainstream blockbuster kind of stuff that appeals to a wider range of audience perhaps.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Thu 8 May
The weekly pilgrimage to Old Airport Rd hawker centre brought me to yet a new stall. There's a fish soup stall (I forgot the name though) that has quite a few newspaper cuttings, so I went to try it. It is delicious! The soup base is thick, and has the right amount of condensed (or is it evaporated?) milk in it. I personally don't really like thick bee hoon, but the soup stock was so good that I still enjoyed it.
After a long day at school, we basically went home and rested. We dug out one of the DVDs we bought and watched it. Charlotte's Web was quite a sweet story, and the animals were pretty cute. I vaguely remember the story from the book, but I think the movie really brought it to life. Then I started working on the slides for College Day till the wee hours.
Fri 9 May
It was yet another long day. I managed to complete the main slides for College Day, so I took a breather and accompanied my wife to the gynae in the afternoon. We were both looking forward to the ultrasound scan to see what baby looked like, but this visit only had an instrument to amplify the heartbeat for us to hear. Sigh.
We rushed back to the school for College Day rehearsal, and that took up to about 6 pm before I could leave for my in-laws' place for dinner.
Sat 10 May
Today was Tommy Tenney's Godchaser conference! I was quite saddened that only one of my boys came along with me, because it was really good. The guy was quite witty and humorous (although some jokes fell flat still), and he had brilliant illustrations and metaphors to simplify many Christian concepts and ideas. I felt refreshed with a new passion and understanding after the three sessions.
After the conference, my wife and I made do with dinner at Sakura Restaurant at Eastpoint, and headed home to rest. The days are feeling drearily longer, and I am looking forward to the holidays. Hopefully that would bring solace, despite me foreseeing that I would be heading back to school maybe half the time for various reasons.
Sun 11 May
I went for service as usual with my wife, and today's service had Tommy Tenney preach as a guest speaker. He was still funny as usual, and I think he is actually a very good teacher and preacher, because he managed to impart something new to me, and made me feel like I had some form of revelation concerning God's Word. I had a long cell group after that, and then headed to my in-laws' place for dinner. Lunch was with my mum; dinner was with my mother-in-law. So my wife and I managed to catch a meal with our respective mothers on Mothers' Day.
Mon 12 May
Finally, a Monday I can have breakfast, and in peace. My first period lesson with my TA1 class was gone because it was their elective week, so I finally had some time in a stretch to do my work. Honestly, I would prefer to teach my classes to all the other stuff I need to do, but I guess at this moment, I have my work cut out for me.
A sign of me having a bit more time on my hands is this: I finally crossed the road to the hawker centre to eat lunch today! First time in about 4 weeks. I have been eating in the school canteen for a month (excluding the oh-so-wonderful Thursday lunch outings) already, and this was a welcome change.
That was important as a boost of motivation because I had to stay till 7 pm for College Day rehearsal (round 2), before I headed over to my in-laws' place for a quick dinner, since my wife decided to go to her parents' place to rest and wait for me.
Tue 13 May
Today was an extremely productive thing, and I managed to settle about four big items on my to-do-list in one sitting, long as it might have taken. Today was also the day of Gluttony, as I had char kway teow and a bowl of yong tau foo noodles for lunch, washed down with a cup of fruit juice. Dinner was at Carls' Jr, so the portion was, as usual, huge. The milk shake there was pretty good though. I was actually at Suntec City after school to accompany my wife to buy some more maternity wear, and we did some window shopping. I spotted a movie DVD of something I had wanted to watch but missed. What's new? This is happening way too often for my liking. I bought Stardust immediately, and when my wife and I reached home, we watched it.
It was a beautiful and well-written plot, and considering that it was an adaptation from a graphic novel (that I own) written by a guy that I really enjoy the works of (Neil Gaiman), it was little wonder that I enjoyed Stardust. Plus it had heavyweight stars like Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro. Neil Gaiman's work in comics and graphic novels (and lately, novels) is refreshing oddball, bizarre, but fascinating. I bought almost anything with his involvement when I was still collecting comics, especially the Sandman series. The movie had twists and turns, good humour and acting, and a nice fairy-tale-ish storyline, and was enjoyable despite me already having prior knowledge of the plot. Although the pacing was alright, I somehow thought it could have had a bit more time and room for elaboration at some points. Ah well. Watching the movie made me feel like digging out my old collection and read it again.
The weekly pilgrimage to Old Airport Rd hawker centre brought me to yet a new stall. There's a fish soup stall (I forgot the name though) that has quite a few newspaper cuttings, so I went to try it. It is delicious! The soup base is thick, and has the right amount of condensed (or is it evaporated?) milk in it. I personally don't really like thick bee hoon, but the soup stock was so good that I still enjoyed it.
After a long day at school, we basically went home and rested. We dug out one of the DVDs we bought and watched it. Charlotte's Web was quite a sweet story, and the animals were pretty cute. I vaguely remember the story from the book, but I think the movie really brought it to life. Then I started working on the slides for College Day till the wee hours.
Fri 9 May
It was yet another long day. I managed to complete the main slides for College Day, so I took a breather and accompanied my wife to the gynae in the afternoon. We were both looking forward to the ultrasound scan to see what baby looked like, but this visit only had an instrument to amplify the heartbeat for us to hear. Sigh.
We rushed back to the school for College Day rehearsal, and that took up to about 6 pm before I could leave for my in-laws' place for dinner.
Sat 10 May
Today was Tommy Tenney's Godchaser conference! I was quite saddened that only one of my boys came along with me, because it was really good. The guy was quite witty and humorous (although some jokes fell flat still), and he had brilliant illustrations and metaphors to simplify many Christian concepts and ideas. I felt refreshed with a new passion and understanding after the three sessions.
After the conference, my wife and I made do with dinner at Sakura Restaurant at Eastpoint, and headed home to rest. The days are feeling drearily longer, and I am looking forward to the holidays. Hopefully that would bring solace, despite me foreseeing that I would be heading back to school maybe half the time for various reasons.
Sun 11 May
I went for service as usual with my wife, and today's service had Tommy Tenney preach as a guest speaker. He was still funny as usual, and I think he is actually a very good teacher and preacher, because he managed to impart something new to me, and made me feel like I had some form of revelation concerning God's Word. I had a long cell group after that, and then headed to my in-laws' place for dinner. Lunch was with my mum; dinner was with my mother-in-law. So my wife and I managed to catch a meal with our respective mothers on Mothers' Day.
Mon 12 May
Finally, a Monday I can have breakfast, and in peace. My first period lesson with my TA1 class was gone because it was their elective week, so I finally had some time in a stretch to do my work. Honestly, I would prefer to teach my classes to all the other stuff I need to do, but I guess at this moment, I have my work cut out for me.
A sign of me having a bit more time on my hands is this: I finally crossed the road to the hawker centre to eat lunch today! First time in about 4 weeks. I have been eating in the school canteen for a month (excluding the oh-so-wonderful Thursday lunch outings) already, and this was a welcome change.
That was important as a boost of motivation because I had to stay till 7 pm for College Day rehearsal (round 2), before I headed over to my in-laws' place for a quick dinner, since my wife decided to go to her parents' place to rest and wait for me.
Tue 13 May
Today was an extremely productive thing, and I managed to settle about four big items on my to-do-list in one sitting, long as it might have taken. Today was also the day of Gluttony, as I had char kway teow and a bowl of yong tau foo noodles for lunch, washed down with a cup of fruit juice. Dinner was at Carls' Jr, so the portion was, as usual, huge. The milk shake there was pretty good though. I was actually at Suntec City after school to accompany my wife to buy some more maternity wear, and we did some window shopping. I spotted a movie DVD of something I had wanted to watch but missed. What's new? This is happening way too often for my liking. I bought Stardust immediately, and when my wife and I reached home, we watched it.
It was a beautiful and well-written plot, and considering that it was an adaptation from a graphic novel (that I own) written by a guy that I really enjoy the works of (Neil Gaiman), it was little wonder that I enjoyed Stardust. Plus it had heavyweight stars like Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro. Neil Gaiman's work in comics and graphic novels (and lately, novels) is refreshing oddball, bizarre, but fascinating. I bought almost anything with his involvement when I was still collecting comics, especially the Sandman series. The movie had twists and turns, good humour and acting, and a nice fairy-tale-ish storyline, and was enjoyable despite me already having prior knowledge of the plot. Although the pacing was alright, I somehow thought it could have had a bit more time and room for elaboration at some points. Ah well. Watching the movie made me feel like digging out my old collection and read it again.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Wed 30 Apr
I had a typical day, and I had to wait for my wife to finish the hustings of the PDP she was in charge of before we headed down to Marine Parade for dinner. I tried out this ramen noodle stall at the hawker centre, and it was not bad, with well-fried pork ribs, but the soup tasted a tad too salty. We then went for our Cluster Meeting at Touch Centre that our tribe pastors together called for and shared a mini-sermon with us.
Thu 1 May
It's Labour Day! So we stayed home to labour and do all the household chores we could. Of course, we found time to go out shopping, and went to the place-that-I-really-dislike. We headed there early so that the monstrous crowds would not have gathered and overflowed in the two shopping malls. Yeah, I'm talking about Tampines.
We managed to snack (a lot) while we were there, and I managed to buy new black leather shoes to replace we current one which now has one huge rip across the sole. I also bought a couple of tops while I was there, and I bought a pair of Gisele Bundchen slippers for my wife. I didn't know she released a slippers/sandals series, but they look pretty good, and weren't pricey ($20+), so I gave my wife a pair to ease her feet's discomfort. On my way back, I bought a KVM to link up my two computers, and it worked beautifully! Now I can toggle between the two computers using one keyboard, monitor and mouse (hence KVM: Keyboard, Video & Mouse)! I love technology. Bwahaha.
Sat 3 May
I stayed home to help my wife with some household chores before bringing my mum to Downtown East to have a Mothers' Day dinner (way in advance). Seriously, my whole family is too practical to go on the actual day and burn a hole in the pocket eating something that is (usually) only slightly different from what the restaurants offer originally. Not to mention squeeze with the crowd, and etc. We ate at A Different Taste once again, and I feel that the restaurant should just give me a membership card or something for my loyalty.
Sun 4 May
My wife's relatives were celebrating Mothers' Day (also way in advance) today, so we went to the first service instead before heading down to her grandmother's place. Oddly enough, her side celebrates with a gathering where the mothers (my wife's aunts and aunt-in-law) cook and the children freeload! Sorry, I'm half-kidding. Of course, there are presents given, but while most mothers out there celebrate Mothers' Day by not doing the things they usually do, my wife's side does the things they usually do best - cook good food.
Sigh. My KVM suddenly malfunctioned on me, and I couldn't toggle anymore. To think that it tricked me into assuming it was working fine and threw away the receipts! I still have the warranty, but I think I have to go down to (eek) Pasir Panjang to settle the repair/exchange. Bleah.
Mon 5 May
Today was my long day, and I still had to rush some work inbetween lessons. My wife and I both felt like giving ourselves a little treat to good food, so we headed to Hi Sshou at Elias Mall for dinner. We were as usual the first customers when they opened. Anyway, if you ever do go to Hi Sshou, try the Bento Set. It has a few pieces of sashimi, fried chicken (superb!), well-grilled mackerel, excellent chawanmushi, rice and miso soup. For $15.90, with GST and no service charge. I think this is the most worth-it item on the menu, if you need to fill your stomach. The ramen my wife ate was delicious too, with a tasty and not overly salty (like Ajisen) soup base.
Tue 6 May
Today was my short day by right, but I had so much to complete that in the end I stayed all the way till about 5 pm when my wife ended lessons. We went to Wan Chai for dinner, and went home to rest. Or rather, my wife rested. I just bought a booster box of Shadowmoor (I think few readers will even know what I'm talking about), so I happily spent a few hours designing and making new Magic decks. Heh. I'd better do this before all the deadlines bury me under.
Wed 7 May
Nowadays Wednesday is always a mad rush at the start because of meetings, followed by a remedial followed by video interviews of students. But today I had finally wrapped up the last interview, and I think there should be enough data to follow up on my research on my card game. Now all I need is...time.
For lunch, I went out with a couple of colleagues to a coffee shop at the far end of Bedok South. My colleague remembered the wrong coffee shop for excellent roast pork, despite me pointing out that the good one I know is the coffee shop at the other corner of the block. Fortunately it was at least decent quality. We then went for quick dessert at the food centre opposite Bedok Camp, before returning to college for a staff conference and another meeting.
My wife and I headed down to Downtown East for dinner and movie, before I get totally tied down with work (all non-academic, as usual). We ate at New York, New York, and the quality of food was still quite good. Not as fantastic as our first visit, but still not bad. In the end, I applied for their membership card. $30 for one year membership, and it comes with one immediate free drink (I took the most expensive ice mocha vanilla at $9.90), a 1-for-1 main course voucher, a $10-off voucher, and a $15-off voucher (and free bottle of wine) for birthday month. There's also a 10% rebate that you can store on the card for use on any visit to offset the bill. My wife thinks I'm a sucker for membership cards, and I guess that's kind of true. Heh.
We watched Iron Man, and I loved it. Though some may disagree with me, I rank Iron Man second to Spiderman (1 & 2), which I still think is the best comic book to screen adaptation so far. X-men probably comes in at third. The storyline for the movie follows how Tony Stark becomes Iron Man, and the acting is excellent as usual by Robert Downey Jr. The special effects were solid too, and there was some witty dialogue and humour. It's the first in a trilogy, and if you stay all the way through the movie credits, you will see an important comic book character appear and mention something that is for a movie after the Iron Man trilogy. I'm glad I know enough about the series to appreciate the significance of this easter egg.
I had a typical day, and I had to wait for my wife to finish the hustings of the PDP she was in charge of before we headed down to Marine Parade for dinner. I tried out this ramen noodle stall at the hawker centre, and it was not bad, with well-fried pork ribs, but the soup tasted a tad too salty. We then went for our Cluster Meeting at Touch Centre that our tribe pastors together called for and shared a mini-sermon with us.
Thu 1 May
It's Labour Day! So we stayed home to labour and do all the household chores we could. Of course, we found time to go out shopping, and went to the place-that-I-really-dislike. We headed there early so that the monstrous crowds would not have gathered and overflowed in the two shopping malls. Yeah, I'm talking about Tampines.
We managed to snack (a lot) while we were there, and I managed to buy new black leather shoes to replace we current one which now has one huge rip across the sole. I also bought a couple of tops while I was there, and I bought a pair of Gisele Bundchen slippers for my wife. I didn't know she released a slippers/sandals series, but they look pretty good, and weren't pricey ($20+), so I gave my wife a pair to ease her feet's discomfort. On my way back, I bought a KVM to link up my two computers, and it worked beautifully! Now I can toggle between the two computers using one keyboard, monitor and mouse (hence KVM: Keyboard, Video & Mouse)! I love technology. Bwahaha.
Sat 3 May
I stayed home to help my wife with some household chores before bringing my mum to Downtown East to have a Mothers' Day dinner (way in advance). Seriously, my whole family is too practical to go on the actual day and burn a hole in the pocket eating something that is (usually) only slightly different from what the restaurants offer originally. Not to mention squeeze with the crowd, and etc. We ate at A Different Taste once again, and I feel that the restaurant should just give me a membership card or something for my loyalty.
Sun 4 May
My wife's relatives were celebrating Mothers' Day (also way in advance) today, so we went to the first service instead before heading down to her grandmother's place. Oddly enough, her side celebrates with a gathering where the mothers (my wife's aunts and aunt-in-law) cook and the children freeload! Sorry, I'm half-kidding. Of course, there are presents given, but while most mothers out there celebrate Mothers' Day by not doing the things they usually do, my wife's side does the things they usually do best - cook good food.
Sigh. My KVM suddenly malfunctioned on me, and I couldn't toggle anymore. To think that it tricked me into assuming it was working fine and threw away the receipts! I still have the warranty, but I think I have to go down to (eek) Pasir Panjang to settle the repair/exchange. Bleah.
Mon 5 May
Today was my long day, and I still had to rush some work inbetween lessons. My wife and I both felt like giving ourselves a little treat to good food, so we headed to Hi Sshou at Elias Mall for dinner. We were as usual the first customers when they opened. Anyway, if you ever do go to Hi Sshou, try the Bento Set. It has a few pieces of sashimi, fried chicken (superb!), well-grilled mackerel, excellent chawanmushi, rice and miso soup. For $15.90, with GST and no service charge. I think this is the most worth-it item on the menu, if you need to fill your stomach. The ramen my wife ate was delicious too, with a tasty and not overly salty (like Ajisen) soup base.
Tue 6 May
Today was my short day by right, but I had so much to complete that in the end I stayed all the way till about 5 pm when my wife ended lessons. We went to Wan Chai for dinner, and went home to rest. Or rather, my wife rested. I just bought a booster box of Shadowmoor (I think few readers will even know what I'm talking about), so I happily spent a few hours designing and making new Magic decks. Heh. I'd better do this before all the deadlines bury me under.
Wed 7 May
Nowadays Wednesday is always a mad rush at the start because of meetings, followed by a remedial followed by video interviews of students. But today I had finally wrapped up the last interview, and I think there should be enough data to follow up on my research on my card game. Now all I need is...time.
For lunch, I went out with a couple of colleagues to a coffee shop at the far end of Bedok South. My colleague remembered the wrong coffee shop for excellent roast pork, despite me pointing out that the good one I know is the coffee shop at the other corner of the block. Fortunately it was at least decent quality. We then went for quick dessert at the food centre opposite Bedok Camp, before returning to college for a staff conference and another meeting.
My wife and I headed down to Downtown East for dinner and movie, before I get totally tied down with work (all non-academic, as usual). We ate at New York, New York, and the quality of food was still quite good. Not as fantastic as our first visit, but still not bad. In the end, I applied for their membership card. $30 for one year membership, and it comes with one immediate free drink (I took the most expensive ice mocha vanilla at $9.90), a 1-for-1 main course voucher, a $10-off voucher, and a $15-off voucher (and free bottle of wine) for birthday month. There's also a 10% rebate that you can store on the card for use on any visit to offset the bill. My wife thinks I'm a sucker for membership cards, and I guess that's kind of true. Heh.
We watched Iron Man, and I loved it. Though some may disagree with me, I rank Iron Man second to Spiderman (1 & 2), which I still think is the best comic book to screen adaptation so far. X-men probably comes in at third. The storyline for the movie follows how Tony Stark becomes Iron Man, and the acting is excellent as usual by Robert Downey Jr. The special effects were solid too, and there was some witty dialogue and humour. It's the first in a trilogy, and if you stay all the way through the movie credits, you will see an important comic book character appear and mention something that is for a movie after the Iron Man trilogy. I'm glad I know enough about the series to appreciate the significance of this easter egg.