I am in Bali! :)

This is my first trip overseas with my group of SCGS friends. We were all really excited and my friends planned to celebrate in a grand way. They bought 5 bottles of wine to enjoy while we are in Bali!! Haha. Well, I don't drink alcohol but I will toast with them with my Coke Zero lol. :P
We took the 10.35am VF241 to Bali and arrived in Bali at 1.10pm. The airport transfer pick us up and sent us to our accommodation, Ranadi Villas in Seminyak.
Once at Ranadi Villas, it really hit me that I am on holiday lol. No work and no kids for four days lol. We checked into our home for the next four days, Villa No 5, a 2-bedroom villa. There were two identical bedrooms on opposite end with an open-air concept living room in the middle and there was a private pool as well. The bathroom was huge, with a bathtub which could look out to the pool and the living room when the sliding doors were opened. There was also a semi-outdoor shower and toilet. :) Going to be interesting taking a shower, semi outdoors lol :P


The reception area

The lobby

Me at the lobby with the restaurant in the background

Us at the reading area (library)

The courtyard

Our Villa No. 5

The open-air concept living room from the door

The kitchenette in the living room

Our private pool

The pool and the living room

The bedroom


The bathroom


The view of the pool from the bathtub

The semi outdoor shower

After we settled our luggage, we ventured out to explore the area around our Villa as well as to get lunch. We decided to have a light lunch at Cafe Vienna, a quaint little cafe with lots of character. We ordered a salad, a nasi goreng, a mee goreng and a dessert to share. It was delicious or maybe we were just really hungry haha.







After lunch, we walked around and shopped a bit before heading back to our Villa hotel for our free 1 hour Balinese massage at 4.30pm. However to our horror, we had missed our appointments. It turned out that we had been informed of the wrong time by the pilot when we landed in Bali, that Bali was one hour behind Singapore time. Sigh. But thank goodness, Ranadi Spa was really nice and allowed us to have our free massages on Sunday instead. :) We returned to our villa for a rest before heading out for dinner at 6.30pm at Bumbu Bali.

At the courtyard in the cool evening

We went to Bumbu Bali, a Balinese restaurant for dinner. We ordered The Rijsttafel set (Rp 295,000): appetisers - tuna salad, chicken and seafood sate, vegetable salad, clear chicken soup; main - roast chicken in banana leaf, minced duck in banana leaf, pork in sweet soy sauce, braised beef in coconut milk, lamb stew in coconut milk, grilled fish fillet, diced fish grilled in banana leaf, selection of daily vegetables, red and steamed rice; and dessert: Balinese cakes, black rice pudding, glutinous rice dumplings, and seasonal fruits. We also ordered the Seafood Dinner set (Rp 350,000) which had some similar appetisers and dessert to the Rijsttafel set except for the mains - marinated grilled prawns, marinated grilled squid, whole and fillet of fish grilled, seafood in yellow coconut sauce. The dishes were really yummy :) but some were really spicy. :( We were absolutely stuffed for our first night in Bali. :) There goes my waistline lol. :P








It was close to 10.30pm when we got back to our villa. The girls had a few drinks (remember the 5 bottles of wine we bought at Changi Airport? lol) and chit-chatted before we all retired to bed. We have a full day tomorrow. :)

Bali, Here I Come!

I am off to Bali today! It is exciting as I have never been to Bali before and together with a group of my SCGS friends.
I will update my blog when I am in Bali. See you around. :)

Railway Tracks

Since I ended early for counselling today, I decided to stop by the KTM railway tracks to take some photos before the tracks are closed to the public at the end of the month. Here are some of the photos I have taken.

Unpleasant Surprise

We had an unpleasant surprise at work. Due to this surprise, we have to shift our plans around. :( However, it is too close to my departure date for Bali for me to do much before I leave. Not going to look forward to coming back to work after my Bali break. I will be going to work at breakneck speed. :( :( :(

My New Moniter II

What a big difference the new monitor makes when I am working on my SPSS files! I should have requested for it MUCH EARLIER!

Pre-trip Gathering

My SCGS friends and I met up today before our Bali trip next week. We settled payments, made additional plans for the trip (other than our spa treatments and day trip) and we also appointed a treasurer for the trip lol. It is all so exciting. We are really looking forward to our Bali trip next Thursday.

Packing

My Bali ESP (Eat, Spa and Play) trip is next week! It is only a 4-days trip so it will be really easy to pack. It is! I finished packing within an hour lol.

My New Monitor

With a colleague's help, I managed to set up my new LG 21.5" LED monitor. Wow, it looks so huge haha. :) The monitor that I borrowed from my friend was a 4:3 monitor.It will take some getting used to the wide screen monitor lol. :P

Shopping for Monitor

I finally got the approval from the IT department at my workplace to buy the monitor I needed for work. I am so happy. :) The new monitor would really help with my work, especially when I need to compare between SPSS files, word documents, etc. Currently I have been using a monitor which I borrowed from a good friend. After work, I went down to Sim Lim Square and bought a LG 21.5" LED monitor! :) Can't wait to set it up at work tomorrow. :)

Sisters

I was playing around with my camera when I managed to take a candid photo of the girls. It is a nice photo of them and the sepia colour also went well with the wooden furniture lol. :P

Money Changer

My Bali ESP trip is coming up soon and I have yet to change Indonesian rupiahs. I thought I could get the girls' father to do so at the bank he is working at. But it seemed the banks don't sell and buy Indonesian rupiahs. Thank goodness, my father is home. :) He helped me to change S$250 into Indonesian rupiahs at the money changer.
This is the first time I have seen Indonesian rupiahs. Goodness, the notes are of such big denomination, e.g. Rp10,000 and Rp100,000. I have never seen so many zeros on a banknote. Hope I don't make mistakes when paying and receiving back change in Bali.

Project Progress

It is the last week of data collection for my project. :) The next stage of the project is to start our data entry and cleaning. It's going to take two or three weeks just to do that.

Harry Potter: A Look Back

WarnerBrosPictures uploaded this trailer that incorporated the past trailers of HP movies. :) Enjoy! :)


I can't wait for the bd box set of HP to hit the market! I have all 7 books but I am missing the last few movies since HP5.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Due to my colleague's connections, we managed to get 4 free tickets to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in 3D! Thanks, YZ! :) My mother, my girls and I watched the morning "HP7 part 2 show "at Bugis Junction. I just watched HP7 part 1 on the flight to Sydney so I was able to continue the story with HP7 part 2.

Although I much prefer the HP books because of the rich details, the HP movies are great too for their visual effects. I wish there were more fighting scenes though at Hogwarts between the good forces (students, teachers, former member of the Order of the Phonics) and the evil forces of Voldemort. The scene that I was most happy with was the scene where HP looked into Snape's memories. This scene followed the book quite closely. I cried when I read it in HP7. I cried again when I watched it in HP7 part 2. I shall not say too much because it is a lot more enjoyable if you watch the movie yourselves.

Here is the trailer for HP7 part 1 & 2 (uploaded by MovieManiacsDE)


Below are the trailers for HP7 part 2 (uploaded by WarnerBrosPictures)


My favourite trailer for HP7 part 2 :)


A tribute to Snape


When the last HP7 book was out in 2007, I was not willing to let HP go. Finally, 4 years later in 2011, I am now able to say good bye to HP with this last movie. Time has lessened the impact of good bye and allowed me to come to terms gradually with the end of the HP series. I can now say with a smile, "It has been great knowing you, HP! Thank you!".

Wet 15th Day of 6th Lunar Month

Today is the 15th day of the 6th Chinese lunar month. In ancient times, the Chinese emperor would only dry his dragon robes on this day because it is always a dry and sunny day. Taiwan has a saying in Min nan (a dialect similar to Hokkien) on this. Families would dry their stuff on this day. However, this year's 15th day of 5th lunar month has been raining since morning. Not just in Singapore, also in Taiwan.
Not a good sign. The world's climate is indeed changing.

Hateful Headache

I am suffering from a headache since yesterday afternoon after my counselling. It is one of those headaches that is not enough to render you bedridden but yet does enough damage. Sigh. :(

Scenes of Sydney

Here are some of my favourite shots that I took on the recent Sydney trip.

Mother's Medical Report

My mother's medical report is out. Other than her cholesterol level being very high, she is in extremely good health. Phew. It seemed the reason for her high blood pressure was because for the four+ months away, she hasn't been exercising and also she has been eating lots of seafood. Can't blame her. As mentioned before, my mother's hometown is a seaside village and my uncle-in-law owns two fishing ships which means that there is fresh catch everyday. :)
Now she is back to her usual routine of daily morning walks at Botanic Gardens and also cutting down on her seafood lol. The doctor said she should be alright in no time.

Railway Tracks

Following the closure of the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, the railway tracks will be closed for works. However, the green link that stretches from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands would be opened to the public until this Sunday 18 July 2011.
Time is running out. For those of you who want to have a last glimpse or a last photograph of the KTM railway tracks, better do so by Sunday before the tracks are closed, and the rail and sleepers are removed forever.
I want to visit the tracks. Although I have never taken a train in Singapore, I have fond memories of taking the train in Taiwan when I was young. I am wondering if I should bring the girls for a walk on the tracks but not sure if they will appreciate it, being part of history.

Another Notice to Go!

My estate is currently going through enbloc. The first signing started on 4 September 2010. It has exactly 12 months to get 80%. The 11th 4-weekly notice has just been put up on the notice board. Another notice to go and I can finally have some peace and quiet.

Again?!

What's with the children and Japanese food?! Since we only go out during the weekend, we allowed the children to take turns to choose what sort of food they would like to have. For the 3rd weekend, we are having Japanese food again! :(
We went to Tonkichi, Orchard Central for dinner. The girls shared a Tonkotsu Ramen. We ordered other dishes to share such as tamago and potato salad. I had a Cheese Roll Katsu Set: fried pork loin with cheese and oba, chawanmushi, appetiser, tonjiru soup, rice and fruits ($26.90). The girls' father had the Ton Shabu Set: thinly sliced pork, appetiser, miso soup, rice and fruits ($25.90).

One thing I was really happy about was that I managed to catch the sunset. :)

Travel Insurance

I will be going to Bali at the end of the month. I couldn't remember which insurance company I used for my last trip so I decided to search the Internet. Oh dear, there are so many companies dealing with travel insurance! Finally, a good friend recommended an insurance company. I did some comparisons and decided to go with friend's recommendation as it is offering the same benefits as the others but at a lower premium. :)

Sydney Trip Uploaded!

I have finally uploaded all the photos and posts from our Sydney trip. Sorry for the long delay. One thing after another just got into the way of uploading the photos and posts onto the blog. Here are the links. Thanks much for your patience and for checking back. :)

Sydney Day 1 (06/6/11): Cold

Sydney Day 2 (07/6/11): Freezing Cold!

Sydney Day 3 (08/6/11): Dolphins!

Sydney Day 4 (09/6/11): Last shop, last shop, I promise!

Sydney Day 5 (10/6/11: Beach and Babes... Oops

Sydney Day 6 (11/6/11): The Rocks

Sydney Day 7 (12/6/11): HM Packing Service
Sydney Day 8 (13/6/11): Pancakes, Shaved Ice and Kangaroo

Sydney Day 9 (14/6/11): We'll be back, Sydney

Alien Galore

I finally received my Alien Anthology bd set! :) It was so darn satisfying watching the movies all at one go!! :) Although I have seen the movies before, I still couldn't help but JUMP at each of the scary parts lol. :P I think getting scared is the thrill of it haha.

iPad or Kindle?

I have both the iPad and Kindle. Although I know which one I favour more, it would be interesting to see what this Blogthing would reveal.

You Are a Kindle

You are a true lover of books and a hardcore reader. You love to get lost in what you're reading. This is so true! :) Even though you like spending time online, you know that it can distract you from what you should be doing. Yes, like I should be working on the final revision for my dissertation, and not blogging lol. :P You are rather serious and down to earth. You don't give into frivolous notions. :P If you will truly use a gadget, you'll buy it - but you don't buy anything just because it's the latest and greatest. So, SO TRUE of me!! :) I love the games on the iPad but I much prefer to read using the Kindle, less glaring for me.

Are You An iPad or a Kindle?

Doctor's Appointment

My mother went to the doctor's in the morning after fasting since 8pm last night. She went through a bunch of tests. The results will only be out next week. Meanwhile, the doctor gave my mother some medication to bring down her high blood pressure.

Health Warning

When my mother was in Taiwan, one of her friends measured her blood pressure and found it to be extremely high. However, my mother felt fine and didn't think too much of it. When she returned home, she used my father's blood pressure monitor to measure her blood pressure. It is confirmed that there is something wrong with her health. Her blood pressure is still extremely high, her reading was 160+/100+ mm Hg. She will be off to see the doctor tomorrow for a thorough checkup.

Mom's back

My mother's back in Singapore after being away for 4.5 months. Yummy food coming our way! :)

7 Years

I have been working at my work place for exactly 7 years today! Wow, time really flies. I hardly noticed it lol. Know what? I can definitely stay on in this job for a couple more years because I am extremely happy doing research. :)