Raining non stop
ZZZZZZZZZZ

I've got another great news
I'm heading Spain in September for another workshop
WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

So excited

At airport now
DarDar go buy DFS items again =\
Still got 1 hour plus before we headed for our flight

Luckily we didnt take the 1st flight at 830am
coz it has been re-timed to 1130am
& so now my flight at 1015 is the first flight afterall
=D

Wookie
Gotta go

Sigh
I only have 1 data for my shell orientation experiment
Due to poor weather
No sun!!
Not sure if it will affect the result
=(

The sun was out on & off
& I ran from side to side of the rock
But in the end I gave up
Coz it was raining heavily on mainland
& I think it's coming up soon since the grey clouds started to appear above me
Somemore my bladder was kinda full
Strong urge to head to the loo!

Max came down with me for a while
& went off soon when Suhaidi passed by at the boardwalk

After my research
We had a mini durian feast
Mohan picked 3 durians
& all taste different!
I donno what name it is lah...
Those D24, cat's mountain,golden pillow, whatever
But all taste very nice!

Back home
DarDar wanna eat durians too after I told him about the Ubin durians
The guy said his durians are from JB, Segarmat
Heh, isnt that near his grandpa's durian farm?
So I giggled at DarDar's ear
"Eh, we crazy one... go & pay $15 for your ah-gong's durians when we can eat for free back at JB.."

Finally done with my luggage
Except for my electronics
After this blog article
My laptop will have its first trip overseas

I will be outta town from tomorrow 26 June to 5 July 2008
Luckily the typhoon just passed
If not, trip wasted

Anything just leave me an email
Else urgent, dial my mobile

See ya =)

2 more days back Hong Kong
I've yet packed luggage

Headed Ubin today
As I was walking down the shore
Max came down as well, leaving Cookie at the boardwalk
He followed me to the rock where he started to play with himself

Cookie was whining from the boardwalk as if he wanted to join
& within the next few minutes
He ran off the boardwalk, thinking that he'd returned to the kiosk
He actually came down to the shore as well from the other side!!!

So I had 2 dogs with me during my data collection

& stupid Max kept disturbing me
Want me to hug him
& Cookie jealous
Growled & wanna bite it

-_-"

The dogs stayed with me for 1 hour before Max headed back when Mohan called
Cookie also left
But it came back to me 5 minutes later

=)
So sweet
Made me wanna keep dogs when I have a house
& I'm already eye-ing on an Alaskan Malamute

I keep having this phrase spinning in my mind lately...

'Everyone's looking for a durian...'
*from one of Westlife's songs*

& hey
THIS IS SO PARTICULARLY TRUE

Since last last week
Where the gale invaded mainland Singapore & tiny Ubin
Durians fell everywhere
& now
every durian tree in Ubin had ripe durians falling onto the ground
Everyone is picking one!
They even head into the deep forest to grab!!

Michelle & I went to explore along Jalan Ubin
& saw a group of men searching for the green thorny fruit
Then one of them, sounding like he's some durian expert
Came & told us
"When the durian ripe, they'll fall onto the ground with a thud"

I (-_-"""""""") for 5 seconds

Tell me which object will NOT produce sound upon impact from great height

Saya tak boleh orang ini

Although it's fun yet kinda hassle to search for a durian
I would rather buy one straight from market
No mosquito bites
No snake encounters
No risk of durians falling onto heads instead of basket

I dont think this durian-picking wave will halt soon
Not as long as the durian season is open

I think my days had kinda swapped when I'm not heading out Ubin
& the thought of Ubin is kinda making me sian

Anyway
I have great time for the past few days
Hanging out with Michelle & DarDar

DarDar & I wanna cycle to Bt Timah Hill so I can show him the secret place
But then my bike was really very jia lat
That the brake had faded into powder as I used it on the slope
So in fact I was actually cycling with no brake
That DarDar changed our plans to cycle on pavement instead
So we cycled to Michelle's house & asked her join us for lunch at Al-Azhar

After that
Michelle fetched me to Salvation Army where I 'donated' my bike
Headed to a tackle shop to grab some fishing gears
& then for a last minute Kuishinbo dinner on Wednesday evening

This time
The snow crab tasted extremely sweet!

& we whacked almost everything
The Chawamushi is also very smooth too

After the fulfilling dinner
We went Carrefour to walk walk
& I bought a new bike =p
Just to replace my old one so my bro can ride

We then headed back home
& realised that we were too awake even after the day
We headed fishing at Sembawang Park till 3am
& went to JB for dim sum breakfast as well as pump oil

We reached home at 5am
LOL!!!

Crazy sia
& yesterday we slept until 12pm
DarDar & I headed to Labrador Park to fish until 7pm

& then another last minute BBQ dinner at Michelle's house

We had a feast till 130am
Hotdogs, sirloin, satays, garlic bread, stingrays, crabs, beef shabu shabu,mushrooms, etc...
So full!!
Had Hoegarden each while we talked about our secondary school life

Now I guess I'm so damn fat
=(

& I'm still procrastinating alot of tasks awaiting to be done
Bleah

Back JB last weekend
Had a movie marathon for the whole afternoon

First
KungFu Panda

& then
The Happening
Night Shylaman's film is just undescribable as usual after 'The Village'
In fact
I think his only nice movies are 'The Sign'

Both DarDar & I were so anticipated for the movie
But it appeared kinda 'no head no tail' throughout the whole show

Although the storyline sounded shitty (to me)
I can exactly feel the thrill of those actors in the movie
Coz I experienced it everyday out at Ubin
Only that I dont get kill by the botanical toxins (opps! spoiler!)

Yes
Just another environment awareness film
Freaking everyone if you threaten the nature

Blah blah blah

Catching 'Get Smart' soon

Weather's pretty unpredictable lately
Sunny one day, thunderstorm the next day

To say
I have never tried to use the word 'storm' when I was younger
Most I will say it's a downpour
But recently
I'm saying 'storm' everytime the sky turns grey

In fact
the morning sky on Wednesday as seen from Chek Jawa
There was a gale too
So strong that almost blew me & Brenda away as we witnessed the arrival of storm

We stayed for another 5 minutes & headed back to shelter
& indeed
It rained like it'd never rained before

Because of the rain
I have to returned an extra day for my data collection yesterday
& it was scorching sunny!

............

Today
It rained like hell again

The weather forecast on the radio said something about the monsoon
O_o?
I thought May already no more monsoon mah...
Sigh

Weird weather

Because of the gale
Pulau Ubin was filled with fallen durians
& visitors were seen picking them up
Boatman uncle gave me a huge papaya
=)

Now that I'm done for the week
It's another week of break
Wooohoo~

At last
A sunny morning
Just perfect for my research

Had lunch with the Nparks staff
Bunch of friendly & funny people
& they all knew DarDar caught the big African Pompano

LOL!

The Ubin people are also very friendly
In fact
Think they all know me liao
=)

Now
Going to Ubin for research is no longer a dreadful mission
Coz after research I get to play with the people there

********
Lemme hao lian for 5 minutes:

I GOT A- FOR BOTH EXAM MODULES
& I HAVE NEVER GOTTEN A- SO EASILY BEFORE
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT WAS A LAST MINUTE 10-DAYS REVISION!!!

********

Done

=p

I was almost out for more than 15hours on Saturday
& another 10 hours today
I could almost die of exhaustion

I was out at Ubin for my research this whole week
& Yesterday Michelle & DarDar came with me
The morning sun should be out by 7am but I didnt catch a glimpse
Trying my luck
While I head to CJ alone
They went fishing
But just minutes after they'd pitched the tent
It downpour-ed heavily

Meanwhile at CJ
Since the weather was making me indecisive to work
I played with Max & Cookie
& went to patrol with the security guard
As he knows I needa work under the sunny
Security guard ensured me:'Dont worry.. wont rain one.. I guarantee'
& seconds after he said that
The thunder roared
We were half way at the Mangrove boardwalk
Then we heard the heavy pattering of raindrops on the trees
Thinking it is just raindrops plus strong wind that rustled the leaves
We still relac-relac walking like yaya papaya
BUT HEY IT WAS NOT!
IT WAS REALLY A DOWNPOUR!!!
We ran to the nearest shelter but DONT HAVE until we reached the kiosk!
Which was around 80m away
Me, security guard & Cookie were wet
Totally drenched
But Cookie dried himself pretty easy by shaking off
Me & security guard just shivered in coldness

I aborted my research & went to look for Michelle & DarDar

The tent that DarDar bought leaked
So it was kinda flooded


Kinda pathetic, yes we know
But it was fun
At least we know that we should get a better tent!

DarDar die die also must fish even in the heavy downpour
Dressing himself like the guard at the custom with rifle
(Only that he has his fisherman hat + fishing rod)

We waited for almost an hour for the rain to stop
& finally we ventured at the shore


But shortly after
It started to pour again
& we decided to retreat to the jetty for lunch

Hours after our fishing activity resumed
DarDar caught a big catfish
Which was then given away to another Malay guy who was fishing beside us
& Michelle almost caught a grouper but the line snapped
I managed to catch my first fish ever!
Fed the cat with it later =p

We stayed till 7pm
Damn tired
& I'd lotsa conversation with many boatman
Chatting about where they sail to fish & what they did when they were young

& today
DarDar caught a big African Pompano (Alectis ciliaris)
About 1kg & more than 40cm in length
Everyone crowded around us at the jetty

I also caught a juvenile grunter =)

Surprisingly we too bumped into Alfred, Stevvy, Joe & gang

Aiyo
These 2 days totally spent my time in Pulau Ubin, other than research
So famous now
The girl who comes Ubin almost everyday with super big bag of equipments
The boy who caught a big pompano in front of 20 people with kind boat uncle purposely steering away from his line
All Nparks staff know me
Most boat uncles know me
Even buy food got discount!

I think next time I can just retire & live in Ubin already

I cut my hair AGAIN!

Yes
Hate my messy thick hair
Went to get it trim actually
But the hairdresser cut shorter & shorter until like this
OK LAHHHHHH~
Still not bad la
I always cut short anyway
Just that this time is shorter

Stick to my blonde still
Coz I think the highlights brings the haircut out

Ah!
Finally booked my air ticket
Cathay Pacific for $481
Donno how come school can get for $700
& we all thought it's corporate price!
Anyway still within the grant budget =)

DarDar's rushing to renew his passport today
Bleah
Run here run there

& research starts tomorrow again

AH!

I'm having such a headache
Looking for air tickets & hotel all by myself

Then when I have everything on mind
DarDar's passport is expiring in October!
Less than 6 months' validity!

Grrrrrrr

Now I'm worried that by the time he'd done his passport
The air tickets are sold
Bleah

I have been kinda busy lately

1) Busy coming up with a new proposal
2) Busy going out with DarDar to spend as much time as possible
3) Busy looking up cheap but good Hong Kong hotels
4) Busy looking up cheap air fares to Hong Kong
5) Busy scheduling my trips like the Earth isnt gonna spin anymore the day after!!!!

Heading Hong Kong at the end of the month for a week to attend a training workshop
So last minute right?!?!
Sigh....
My ex-Prof as usual...

Was back JB over the weekend with DarDar
Haven been back for 2 weeks
At least I can treat it like a 3 days R&R holiday after my intensive morning researches

DarDar & I tried baking this Chicken Mushroom Pie


Turned out pretty yummy =)

DarDar's grandaunt came from New Zealand
& there was a huge gathering

We had dinner at this restuarant
& we bumped into Kevin Wee!
So qiao!

I was talking to DarDar's sister while someone called my name from behind
& I was like 'who the hell will call me by my name in Malaysia?'
Haha!
Kevin was having dinner with his girlfriend's family =)

DarDar was asking me why these few days keep bumping into friends
Alamak
How I know?
Friday we bumped into Levi
Saturday we bumped into Kevin
I told him it's a sign
A sign for a reunion

Watched 2 DVDs
'The Orphanage'
& 'The Children of Huang Shi'
Both are a two-thumbs-up films

Played around with the camera during slack time



I wish my life can be like this all the time
Work real hard & then slack real hard =p

His dad is getting us to learn golf too!
& I wanna learn horse riding after golf

It's Monday again
I'm still feeling damn tired
See when I free
I'm gonna colour my hair purple again
Irritating blonde highlights