Drift: The Remote Car Way

We all know the Movie: "Fast & Furious" where we see cars of all forms and sizes drift in all sorts of situations and locations. From car parks to highways. From bridges to back alley.

But I bet that you have never seen this before. Remote cars drifting. And where is it? On a little island called Singapore... Check this out!

So far, yet so near...

Last Sunday, 30th March 2008, was the first day Ber Ber went to Hong Kong. I was so uncomfortable not receiving her smses or her calls the whole day.

There were many times I took up my phone and typed some messages to her, just when I was about to send, I suddenly remembered that she is in Hong Kong and my phone can't send oversea SMS... ARGH!!!

But luckily she called me in the morning before she left and after she arrived (SO HAPPY...)

I must get used to her not being around me, and keep myself busy by excerising! ha ha ha!!!

Remember to take good care of yourself ok?

And my laptop broke down!!! (SOB SOB SOB...) Anyone here is using a HP or Compaq lappie? Can lend me your recovery CD/DVD?

I realised I can get really bored with my Lappie... ARGH!!!

Good Friday, Good weekend

How great! Another nice long weekend all thanks to "Good Friday" CHEERS!

Knocked off slightly earlier on Thursday, then I went back to have my dinner, bathe, then off I went to meet Jane, Sally, Siong Siong & Ber, to go Double "O".

I tell you, last Thursday's Double "O", although it was R&B night, but all 5 of us did not have the mood to party at all. It was so so so boring!!! Why?! The reason I guess all 5 of us know it... (Can't say here... Quite a sensitive issue...)

But we drank, joked and caught up with each other... CHILL!!!



After chilling, we danced a little. Gosh! Double "O" was SO SO SO PACKED!!! Hardly had any space to move around... GOSH!!! Then, feeling a LITTLE hungry, we headed down to Bedok 85 for supper hahaha!!!
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Good Friday

Slept till very late haha!!! (That's what I always do whenever I never go out haha!!!)

Watched a few episodes of Taiwanese drama: "They kissed again", I washed up and prepared to go out with ber ber...

We went walk walk at Vivo City. Last time we went there with Sally, we walked by this urban-minimalist restaurant called "Red, White & Pure". The restaurant is located at 2nd Level Vivo City, near Secret recipe. EXCELLENT restaurant.

Why excellent?
1) Quiet, clean and beautiful ambiance (Best of all, NOT CROWDED!)
2) The commotion happening outside the restaurant feels so distant.
2) Wonderful view of Sentosa Island
3) Great food at very affordable prices
4) Spa & masseur services on 2nd level

We were able to fully enjoy our meal, because there wasn't much crowd. During our meal at any one time, there were only 4-6 people in the restaurant.

Here is what we ordered:

Appetizer

Smoked Salmon Salad, with whole wheat bread and tata sauce
The salmon is served in 5 thin slices. Lightly smoked till about 20% cooked. It's excellent, but slightly too salty. You can request for the Salmon to be less salty. A MUST HAVE dish!

Soup of the Day: Pumpkin soup, served with whole wheat bun
I think that this soup is the basic of French cuisine. And this Restaurant, scored full marks on this one! The soup is served lurk-warm. Easy to swallow. And most important, it doesn't leave behind a bad after taste. It just makes you wanna have more, and more, and MORE!

Main course

Pasta al Napolian
The only vegetarian main dish. I think this is a dish that can really show how skillful the Chef is. Because the pasta and the rest of the ingredient must blend together perfectly. For this dish, the pasta was purposely cooked till a little burnt, which I feel gave it much texture and flavour. Companied with the ingredient and olive oil. Splendid!!!

Brewed Chicken Skewer with butter rice
This dish is a MUST order! The rice has been pre-treated with butter and a little bit of BBQ sauce. It is fragrant!!! Can't comment much about the chicken. But Ber Ber finished it all in a flash! ha ha ha!!!

We spent a total $50. i felt that it was well-spent. The view was wonderful. Ambiance was splendid. The service was excellent. One thing I noticed was, they do not rush to serve customers their dishes. In between our starter and main course, there was a good 5-8 min interval. I feel that this interval was just nice. So that our stomachs can rest a while and prepare for the next dish. And, they do not waste on refilling your drinks. Cool!

MUST TRY!!!
4 out of 5 stars!

After that, we walk walk a bit around Vivo City, tried out clothes at Domanchi & Forever 21. Then, we headed down to Pasir Ris Park to have a nice pot of tea.

we ordered brownie with Ice Cream, Earl Grey tea & Chamomile tea

Chocolates we bought at "Candy Empire"

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Saturday

I got to work till 9pm!!! But I get to sit in Air-con hall, listen to Traders teaching people how to trade. COOL!!

Met up with Ber & Sally after work at Suntec City, then we headed over to Clark Quay to meet up with Jane, Steve and their friend.

We went into this very cute and cosy dessert shop, located at The Central, next the Cheers. Really, really cute! From decorations to displays to food. Everything was so CUTE!!!

Ice Cream Double Scoop, Baby cup cakes & "Summertime"

Jane, Steve, Sally and their friend. (Dunno his name... =S )

Nice Saturday

Woke up at 9am on Saturday, bathe and meet Ber Ber for breakfast and company her go Raffles Place to settle her "True Yoga" account. But turned out she don't need to go down at all, because the Manager who was in-charge of her account, was not in.

So the admin department's staff called her to inform her not to come down.

Oh well, that means we can go shopping ha ha!!!

We had breakfast at Eastlink food court. The vegetarian food there is quite a disappointment. It's either too oily, too salty, too sweet or too spicy. The Chef never seem to get any of the dishes correct. And the puzzling thing is, the Boss still employ him to cook. GOD!!!

we took train to City hall, then we went shopping at City Link. I finally bought a brand new leather shoe from Pedro! YES!!! Another item off my "Wish List"

I could not find the model I bought from Pedro's online shop. But this is the one that is closest to what I have bought. And their shoes are really very comfortable. Both your feet are very well-cushioned and protected. Really built for wearing long hours.

Then, we went shop shop at Suntec. But not long, because Ber Ber have to go and meet her Mum and go shopping at Bugis. Ha Ha! She is shopping the whole day ha ha!!!

So, after she went to meet her mum, I went to Funan IT Mall to look at Apple Mac items. I cannot believe my eyes that the once "Almighty Windows" has been "pawned" by Apple Mac.

Quoted by one of the staffs at "Multimedia XXX"

"You can run either OS X leopard or Windows. And the amazing thing is this, you can run Windows while you are running OS X. All you need to do is activate this program. A small window will pop up, do a bit of configurations, and you can start using Windows & Mac OS X, at the same time..."

Amazing! Amazing! Amazing!

Then I go work blah blah blah...

Meet up with Ber Ber at 6:30pm. Then we went Vivo City with Sally and walk walk around. Initially, we were supposed to meet Jane at 9plus, so we "rot" at Vivo City first then go down meet her. But since she cancelled meeting us, we took the train home.

Then me & Ber Ber went to Cafe cartel to have something light hee..

Black Forest Cake YUM! YUM!

Amazingly, this Waldorf Salad is wickedly tasty!

me & Ber at Cartel (The only photo I liked...)

After that, we headed down to Jazz Pub@ Expo. Packed. With Uncles, Malays and people who sing like killing a chicken and lovese cracking their voices. Horrible. But luckily we were sitting outside. Enjoying time with just the two of us...

Video of Mas Selamat

A video which was recently posted on Youtube.com by AbelisLove, about Mas Selamat.

His videos has caused quite a small uproar over the Net community.

Just share with you one of his videos...

Title: Mas Selamat Kastari - Street Dancer

IT Show, ThaiExpress & Music Dreamer Live! Cafe

IT Show. From 6th march to 9th march 2008. 12pm to 9pm at Suntec City Convention Hall, Level 1, 3, 4 & 6. This is the biggest IT show yet in Singapore.

Went on Thursday to survey what were the items going on display and the price ranges for the products.

And decided on these items:
- Thumb drive min. 1gb
- Refillable printer ink
- Ear phone.

Bought this at S$10.00 Thursday was going at S$11.90, so I saved S$2.00. I wanted to buy the 2GB version at S$12.90, but it was sold out already. *Sigh*

Bought this ear phone (White colour) at S$24.00 There were other booths offering at $29.90, $27.90, $26.90. But I guessed I held on till the end and finally found the lowest.

Next IT Show, this is the item I am going to buy:

iMAC 20" PC

or

Macbook Pro 17"

Why do I want to switch to Mac? Here are a few reasons why:
1. It just works: Things don't crash, so doesn't an Mac. Ready. Plug. Go!
2. You can make amazing things. iLife, iMovie, iTune, iWork. What more you want?
3. Everything ready. Run MAC OS X & Win Vista or XP. GOD-LIKE.
4. Virus?! What is that?
5. Forest of wires? Not with Mac...

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After the IT show, I went to meet Ber Ber for dinner at ThaiExpress. Despite the crowd in the restaurant, it was quite cosy.
The waitress and Manager were very patient and friendly. They bothered to understand what we wanna try and recommended some dishes accordingly. Brilliant!

Classic Tom-yum glass noodle soup. Classic, Brilliant, Godly. You will never expect a typical tom-yum soup to appear this way. No chilli oil, no overpowering of spices. Just simple, traditional Thai Tom-yum soup. DO NOT LET THE APPEARANCE FOOL YOU! Once you start on this, I can guarantee you that you will be HOOKED onto this dish!
The tom-yum soup is very oil-less, yet spicy, sour and refreshing. Combined with the glass noodles. It attacks your taste buds DIRECTLY! Fighting against it, is simply waste of energy.

Fried Stuffed Tofu. At first look, you will expect the tofu to be overly oily and has the bad after taste of food which are deep-fried. But you don't get that taste from this appetizer. No. No. The tofu's skin is fried till almost perfection, and very crispy. To make eating simpler, the Chef even sliced the top of each tofu into four sides. So, all we need to do is peel each slice apart and we can pop into our mouths. Very thoughtful.

And get this. The crispiness and great taste still remains even after leaving it in the open for 45mins! You hardly get this kind of dishes in restaurants. Normally, deep-fried food would lose their crispiness and taste if you leave it in the open for more than 30mins. But not this dish. It's created to own you.

Classic Thai Laksa. Thick, savory soup. Packed with laksa spices that don't clash. Normally, typical Laksa would be either too "cocnut" or too spicy and overwhelm your taste buds from other wonderful flavors. But this bowl is just perfect. The soup is thick, but the spice are not overwhelming. In fact, they blend together harmoniously and you are still able to enjoy the individual flavors in the soup. They used the classic white noodles and they cut it into manageable lengths for easy consumption.

Steamed sweet tapioca with coconut cream. This dish I can say is the BEST! It should be awarded the "Top 10 desserts in Singapore". The presentation is so simple, that you will underestimate what you will be experiencing once you place the first piece into your mouth.
The tapioca is steamed till such a degree that it is barely holding together. Remember M&M's catch phrase? Well, this dish should replace M&M's. It JUST melts in your mouth. Just melt. If you are not a fan of tapioca, I can guarantee you that your perception will totally change after you finish this dish. Because you will never ever expect something this simple, this ordinary, to delivery such a deadly and lingering punch in your taste buds.

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You never notice this small little cafe that is located at the out skirts of Marina Square. Walk towards The place where this is Carona restaurant, walk to the outside and keep left and you will see a sign board that points to Music Dreamer Live! Cafe. Keep going in that direction, it is located after a feet reflexology shop.

The audience crowd ranges from age 18 to Mid-30s, and the singers are also from this age range, all the songs they sang on stage are dedicated by the crowd and also singing their own favourite songs. Most important thing is, the ambiance is very relax, the singers on stage will constantly connect and interact with the crowd and making them part of the whole performance.

CHEERS! (mine is the white cup... Extra right?)

Vivocity, once again

Went to Vivocity on Friday, because City Hall was just too packed! Can't believe that the IT show attracted so many people...

Went to Bosses restaurant to eat.

Very exquisite entrance and the interior is very elegant. We were greeted by a well-groomed female Manager, who showed us to a table for 4 next to the bar counter.

The design that is repeated across the Bar counter.

Veggie roll. This is quite a nice appetizer to start things off. The veggie is fine dice, and wrapped in a "popiah" skin that is slightly thicker. The veggie roll almost falls apart in your mouth, the moment your teeth chew it. Because this whole dish is very light, the veggie leaves a very refreshing after-taste.

Sliced cucumber. This is another great appetizer alternative to Veggie roll. It is served with a dash of minced garlic, sprinkled on top, so people who do not like to eat raw garlic, might not like this dish at all.
Putting the garlic aside, this dish is truly delicious, the cucumber's crunchiness, combined with the light and spicy taste of the garlic is really refreshing and opens up your appetite for the big and yummy main dishes.
And if your main dish is something spicy, eat a few pieces of these to counter-balance the spicy after-taste.

HK-style "Lor Mee" The presentation is very unique, and my friend gave it a thumb's up.

Almond tofu. I can say that this dessert dish is quite a disappointment. Nothing much to say about it, since it is not anything spectacular. We ordered this dessert because the durian rice ball was sold out. *SIGH....*

Verdict: Great ambiance and decorations. Fast and efficient service. The waitresses and Managers were very patient in the explanation of the dishes and also recommend us some of their specialty dishes. Definitely a place for a couple to romance the night, before heading down to have a walk along the sea. Note: Remember to request for a sea-view table. The view is breath-taking.

Makan at Airport

Meet Ber Ber at night after she finish work, then we took a bus to Airport. We were quite surprised that the Departure floor was almost close to a "Ghost Town". The "crowd" (Minus the staffs) was so countable that you barely notice it.

We went up to this 24 hours HK cafe/restaurant to eat. It's not the best, but like what Hokkiens say: "Mai hiam buey pai, Ai hiam ka na sai" (Means: Still can make it....)

Fried rice with chicken drumstick & egg (One of the best dishes they have)

Dry HK noodles with mushroom & egg (Normal normal only)

Milk Tea with Coke (It's weird but taste great!)

Mixed fruits Ice Kacang (Too Sweet)

Mas Selamat: Day 6

It's been almost 120 hours since his escape 6 days ago. Over the past few days, the search for Mas Selamat has activated over 1,000 uniformed personnels searching almost every corner of Singapore.

Over the past 6 days, Singapore has reached out to the citizens of Singapore, and even the Interpol for assistance to locate him.

Even all the 3 telecom operator companies, Singtel, M1 & Starhub, joined forces and sent out messages containing Mas Selamat's photos via MMS to more than 2 million mobile phones subscribers.

But the question here is: "Are we, typical, normal citizens, trained to identify a person, as dangerous and as intelligent as Mas Selamat?"

The answer is "NO!", here's an article from [The Newpaper], which will explain why.

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THE NEWPAPER, 03 March 2008

HE may resort to changing the way he looks, but fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari has one distinctive physical feature that works against him - his limping left leg.

Veteran private investigator Lionel De Souza told The New Paper on Sunday: 'Wearing a wig or shaving himself bald are some of the most common forms of disguises adopted.

'Some fugitives would dress down, wear inconspicuous attire and spectacles.'

But for Mas Selamat, who has short wavy hair, a dark complexion and is 1.58m tall, his limp will draw immediate attention should he be spotted in public places - no matter how he tries to dress down.

Sleuth Dennis Lee, 37, does not dismiss the possibility that Mas Selamat may even take to wearing his ethnic outfit, like a sarong.

The managing director of Covert Acquisition said: '(An ethnic outfit) is a relatively safe disguise because given the sensitivity of the situation, not many would want to risk mis-identifying a suspicious character.'

Sporting a beard, a moustache or a goatee are some common ways of obscuring the facial features. But unless he has an accomplice who would have prepared the necessary disguise kit, time would be a factor.

Mr Lee said: 'You need time to grow it.'

Another likely ploy that should not be overlooked, he added, is to look down-and-out. 'As the man walks with a limp, he may even dress scruffily and pretend to be a beggar.

'This way, he can also get money, which is important to sustain him.'

So, how many Singaporeans have been actively looking at strangers around them in the past 72 hours?

The general feedback from 60 respondents polled randomly by The New Paper on Sunday: Well, we are alert. But honestly, we are not certain if we can recognise Mas Selamat even if we saw him.

Only five said they have committed the man's face to memory. The others suggested that variations of the man's possible disguised looks should be widely distributed.

NOT CLEAR ENOUGH

Teacher Alec Sim, 44, said: 'Except for The New Paper's page one photos (on Saturday), the mugshots we've seen were either flashed on TV briefly or were too small for clarity.'

His colleague, Miss Emily Png, 30, added: 'We are not professionally trained to spot disguises. The police may want to consider giving us some other angles of his faces.'

Cabby Eric Chan, 50, who has been driving for eight years, said: 'I'd always be on the lookout whenever an alert is sent out.

'But it'll be easier if we have a clear description, like the type of outfit the suspect is wearing. If he boards my cab sporting a disguise, I may not even realise it's him.'

Salesgirl Christina Fong, 25, said she saw a man with a limp at the hawker centre at Seng Poh Road on 27Feb, a day after Mas Selamat escaped.

'My first instinct was to call 999, but it turned out the man is a Chinese and he was with two family members.'

HELPFUL

Madam Lee Hong Jeow, 56, a housewife, said she was concerned when she heard the news that an extremist had escaped, but she admitted that she was 'not looking out' for the fugitive.

'My husband said we should call the police if we spot any Malay man with a limp because he could have disguised himself, but, aiyah, he looks so common, just like any other chap, I may not even recognise him.'

Undergraduate Ignatius Chiang, 23, said: 'I think the authorities should consider flashing Mas Selamat's face at all public areas till he is caught.

'And maybe, some disguise expert can work with the police to come up with the various disguises the man could sport - like in the US.

'It will certainly be helpful than just two mugshots.'
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Extract [HE may resort to changing the way he looks, but fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari has one distinctive physical feature that works against him - his limping left leg.]

How are we supposed to identify him, when there are thousands of other Singaporeans with a bloody limping leg?! HOW HELPFUL...

Moreover, a report in [Lian He Wan Bao] stated that Mas Selamat's limping left leg is only obvious when he is running.
Which means, when he is walking, HE IS JUST LIKE ANY MALAYS WALKING ON THE FUCKING STREETS OF SINGAPORE!!!

They talked about him dressing down, wearing a sarong, shaving off his hair and his beard and even pretend to be a beggar. But why don't they assume that Mas Selamat might have already stayed at a old man or old lady's house?

In my opinion, the chance is quite high, because the announcement of his escape was made hours after, which would have given him ample time to walk to areas such as Toa Payoh, Braddell, or even Chinatown area, come up with a lie to seek empathy from a kind old man or old lady, so that they will allow him to stay in their house.

With a place to stay, food to eat, place to bathe & sleep, he can slowly recuperate, start communicating with JI members and start re-building his plans.

Why would I say this? Because there are a big number of senior citizens who don't have the habit of watching TV, reading newspaper or even listening to the Radio.

The Government can certainly do a Nation-wide search in residential houses. It's gonna be a mad job, but at least it does not eliminate the chance of him already residing in a person's house.

Still, i want this bastard to be caught, slaughtered and have his remains placed in jail FOR LIFE.
Because, seriously, with Singapore's high population density, he can activate a bomb ANYWHERE and thousands of people can be blown away...

JI Leader - Mas Selamat bin Kastari

Call 999 immediately if you see him
Telefon 999 segera jika anda melihat dia
Mas Selamat bin Kastari

Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) detainee Mas Selamat bin Kastari escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre at 4:05 pm on 27 Feb 2008.
Mas Selamat was the leader of the Singapore JI network and is presently at large. He is short (1.58m) and limps on the left leg when running or walking briskly. He is not known to be armed. Anyone who renders assistance to him is committing a grave offence.

Latest report

01 Mar 2008: Telcos Pitch In Search for Mas Selamat

The three telcos in Singapore have joined in the continuing search for Jemaah Islamiyah leader Mas Selamat Bin Kastari. A lookout message will be broadcasted to all their subscribers, which number about 3.9 million.

Subscribers of M1, Starhub and Singtel will receive the photograph of Mas Selamat via MMS free of charge. A single message will be sent to subscribers of the three telcos from 12 noon, 1 March 2008. In view of the large number of handphone users in Singapore, the whole process of reaching all the subscribers will take several hours.

SingTel will also be sending an email with the JI leader’s photograph and physical details to all their Singnet users.

Superintendent of Police Evon Ng, Assistant Director (Community Involvement), Operations Department, SPF, commented: "The three telcos have stepped forward to help the Police by sending photos of the fugitive to all the mobile phone subscribers in Singapore. We are encouraged by their strong support.

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My sentiments: He might be hiding in some abandoned houses, warehouses, shophouses, or private housings, or even at some factories. He might have even shaved his hair and beard off, and might have even wore a cap, with t-shirt to further disguise himself...

Or even worse, he might have been offered assistance by some elders who are informed about this person, and offered their flats as a shelter for him.

In order to make sure that the people who are helping him, does not suspect him, he might come up with some lies that he was chased out of his house and no place to leave...

Beware! Do not offer any assistance to him, hand him over to the police.

A blessing in disguise

My PC broken DOWN on 29th Feb 2008!! ARGH!!! Why at this time?! I only used it for two years.... *SOB SOB*

After work I immediately rushed house from work and pull out my laptop as temporary usage *Luckily I bought this lappie a few months back...*

I was planning to replace this PC after June, and hopefully it will last till then... But now... sigh... I guess Heaven decided to give my PC an early RIP...

After that I quickly bathe, ate my dinner and rush out of my house to meet Jane, Sally and Bernice in Orchard.

But by the time I reached there almost 95% of the shops have closed... Still I feel that it was a blessing in disguise, at least my friends are still safe and sound...

!!!Fly Singapore Flyer!!!

I realised that both of us hardly have the chance to really have good quality time together, enjoy a private scroll together, along a beach or along the busy street of Orchard Road.

Last week, both of us had the chance to take a slow walk down Marina Square, walking aimlessly, we headed towards "Singapore Flyer". It was a magnificent creation. At exactly 11:11pm, a magical thing happened. The "Singapore Flyer" lit up in a beautiful blue colour.


we walked into the interior of "Singapore Flyer", it was another majestic sight. The criss-cross of steel and cables overlapped each other beautifully. What a sight!

I can't wait to go onboard this beautiful creation in March.