DNA 五月天 创造 演唱会

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pictures will be uploaded once i've compiled frm my colleague wendy ng, and my twin wendy ng. yea..both of em have e same name. ha

5 of us went to watch Mayday! 2 of my colleagues--zx (my boss..now considered ex boss coz there's re-org within the dept) and wendy, zx's fren kailing, twin and me.

guess where were we seated? PA1 Row 2. Seats 9 to 13. Now if u dunno what this exactly means, u may wish to chk out sistic website to see the seat plan.


we had the best seats in town la! 2 seats frm the front. we cld almost see their pores.

at this juncture, i muz thank twin, and of course twin's fren who works in sistic. it was all God's plan. i'm certain of tt. twin recvd a call frm her fren saying tt someone released 5 tix. she asked twin if she wanted to upgrade from our initial Cat 2 tix, to Cat 1.

needless to even consider, she agreed! and immediately texted me to ask if i'm ok with the upgrade, which cost abt $50.

of course i wouldnt mind!

i'm still damn high frm the concert. we sang and we screamed. 五月天 never disappointed us. Ashin said, “绝不会亏待老朋友”and truly, they didnt. Mayday sang till midnight. 1215am to be exact.

although they didnt sing this song during the concert on 29th (unless u consider 憨人 which they sang on 28th), i felt that the gist of the concert is summarised in this song 五月天-咸魚

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5chC0hzNCr4&feature=related

我是一只咸魚 不想承認 也不能否認
不要同情我笨 又夸我天真 還夢想著翻身
咸魚就算翻身 還是只咸魚 輸得也誠懇
至少到最后 我還有咸魚 不腐爛的自尊
我沒有任何天分 我卻有夢的天真
我是傻 不是蠢 我將會證明 用我的一生
我 如果有夢 有沒有錯 錯過才會更加明白 明白堅持是什么
我 如果有夢 夢要夠瘋 夠瘋才能變成英雄 總會有一篇 我的傳說

我不好也不壞 不特別出眾 我只是敢不同
我的人生就是 一錯再錯 錯完了再重頭
也許放棄掉一些 活得更輕松 我卻不再是我
我不愿一生 曬太陽吹風 咸魚也要有夢
我沒有任何天分 我卻有夢的天真
我是傻 不是蠢 我將會證明 用我的一生
我 如果有夢 有沒有錯 錯過才會更加明白 明白堅持是什么
我 如果有夢 夢要夠瘋 夠瘋才能變成英雄 總會有一篇 我的傳說
我 如果有夢 有沒有錯 錯過才會更加明白 明白堅持是什么
我 如果有夢 夢要夠瘋 夠瘋才能變成英雄 總會有一篇 我的傳說
(有一天 有我的天空)

做我的英雄 在我的天空 我知道你懂 知道你會懂

Off to Phuket

Hi everyone..

i'm off to Phuket frm 20th-24th Aug. Thurs-Sun. Btw it is incorrect to say tt i'm always going on hol.

fyi it juz so happens tt btwn june till aug, i tend to go overseas at a greater frequency. But tiz is not to say tt i'm always going on hols yea.

hope u guys tc in the meantime :]

Jerangkang Waterfalls (June 27th-29th 2009)

yea i noe tiz is long overdue..haha.

in case many of u were labelling me as MIA-ing, ie Missing In Action, aka where-the-hell-is-cindy-on-june-race-day?

well, i had to make full use of my block leave, am i right? So right aft the Philippines trip frm June 19th- June 24th, i rested a gd 2-3 days before heading to Pahang, Malaysia. I went with my primary sch fren, Yimin, together with the NUS ODAC pple who organised this trip.

so the journey begins with..food! (tiz is aft fast forwarding the parts abt the overnight bus trip which took us from SG to Makmur Bus Terminal in Kuantan.

Saturday 28th June 2009:
this stall sells really smooth mee sua which taste so gd! pic was taken at abt 5am in the morning.

tts 3 bowls of porridge and a bowl of mee sua. oh..the sight of it juz makes my mouth water. *slurps*
frm left: kai xuan, yimin (in orange, my pri sch classmate), huiqian and lijun.
we set off in diz 4 wheel drive..hanging on to our dear life during the 30 min bumpy dirt trek route into the Jerangkang Waterfalls.
posing before the 4 wheel drive set off. Top: lijun, yimin, abi. Bottom: HuiQian, KaiXuan, myself.
my attempt at 自拍-ing. i'm trying to emphasize the pt tt the wind was blowing vigorously and my hair was all over the place. haha
me snapping a pic of my frens
The friendly villagers generously offered us a basket full of durians for us to finish during our 2 day 1 night trek. Yup, we had to carry diz all the way up, and carry the remains all the way down. How, u may ask? We split it such tt each of us carried 2 durians. really! it was juz so to lighten the load for the guys assigned to carry em.
the waterfall at the beginning, before we start trekking higher
diz is aft we trekked for a gd..say 45min plus?
and another waterfall aft walking another gd 1 hr or so
mother nature :]
i'm really tryin my best to 自拍 properly! but cant seem to work..
we decided to stop here although there are much higher and nicer waterfalls further up, coz it was getting a lil late and we'd nd to head down to our camp site to start cookin.
my 'hi tec' trekking shoes finally gave way on me aft 3-4 yrs. it has accompanied me for 2 mt ophirs, gunung stong, lumbong, tok nenek and finally, Jerangkang.
this is our outdoor kitchen :]
Wad's cookin? We had pasta.
huifang, the odac leader who brought us up. i dunno why but she reminds me a lil of lydia. the db junior.
curry chicken anyone?
one of the odac guys happily using the parang to open the durians for us all to enjoy
another macho guy helpin to open the durians
my frens using their eye power to help open the durians
durian feast, anyone?
damn shiok la, 1st time go trekking feast on durians. it was super heaty..yet damn satisfying. eat till we were burping and farting durian. muahaha
lijun and i..with our 24856028 serving of durians? we really stuffed ourselves silly with durians.
tts our cosy tent for the night.

tiz is the mini waterfall near our camp site where we wash up, brush our teeth, wash the utensils, etc.
Sunday 29th June 2009:
toasted bread for breakfast. with a generous spread of nutella and peanut butter, of course!
these are really sweet, my favourite! i dun like the bitter ones. i muz have my durian tasting sweet.
the leftovers
we treked down and then it was a 1hr of taxi ride back to Makmur Bus Terminal where we'd spend abt 4hrs before our bus arrive at 4pm. with so much time in time, wad other things wld we indulge in? Eating of course!

uncle cooking char kuey tiao
posing for a shot although they were damn hungry and asking me to hurry snap the pic and sit down to eat.
asam laksa really rox. i'm dead serious man!
the sinful food we dun regret ordering. char kuey tiao. asam laksa. wanton mee. liang teh easy peasy.
串串
i wish we had 串串 in singapore la. although its a lil unhygenic coz there's like 4 big containers which contain the sauces and everyone dips their 串串 inside. it really taste awesome.



the bus which was scheduled to reach at 4pm, came at 6pm instead. guess what time we reached SG? 12midnight!

Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable quick weekend getaway which i'd recommend.

Chapter 3: Return of the blisters and abrasion

Wed land trg was cancelled. Reason? i dunno. but i was kinda relieved coz i was feeling quite drained as there was quite alot of work to do this wk.

As usual, made my way to SDBA aft work. the plan was supposedly to have the newbies (yup tts me) be in a small boat with doreen coxing and we'd go for stroke correction.

However, bcoz there were only 3 newbies who came, and coupled with the fact that there were a few absentees today (for those who are going for the Austcham 10km race), we were made to join the rest on the big boat to train mileage and endurance.

btw when i reached SDBA, i saw a familiar paddle. haha tiz time not familiar face..lolx. i noticed tt the paddle had the same 国大龙舟 tatoo as cin.

i chked out its owner..it was iso.


ok obviously tiz pic wasnt taken ytd, but close to like say wad..5 yrs ago? when i was still a ginna. i think wad i did was to 'steal' her shades and pose tt pic with her.

iso was off to train at 2-4pm, juz as i was. i told her to keep a lookout for david. lolx.

thereaft, doreen asked me to go to where the rest were (where we used to launch our boats), coz we borrowed the SPC's team champion boat to train for today.

On today's menu was:

clock 10km row in 1hr.

so it was the exact route as last wk, just a lil more. or shd i say, much more. aft the suspension bridge:

-we rowed back to Sheares Bridge, U turned
-towards Suspension Bridge, U turned and..
-finally towards Nicoll Highway Bridge

shiong. and shagged. with 7 1/2 pair of rowers, we maintained a min of 10km/h averagely.

it was an intensed and exciting last 5 min. we were left with 5 min and a gd 1km more dist to cover. I rmb Hak Loon (tiz shd b the correct spelling of the coach's name) shouting, "dun let the time tick faster than the distance covered! rmb, u r supposed to cover 10km in an hr. Maximum 1 hr!!"

and it was simply a combined effort as we pushed ourselves, every stroke pulling longer and faster, as we edged closer towards Nicoll Highway Bridge.

i didnt even care tt the guy in front of me, Carl i think, was splashing alot of h2o. *u noe the thing abt strong guy rowers, they splash alot of h2o* rahh.

it was juz such a fantabulous feelin to be in a boat tt glides/soars becoz everyone is juz putting in their everything.

when coach shouted, 'easy', we were all extremely relieved. and then we heard him say.. "1hr and 1 sec"

then he went on nagging in a joking manner, saying how he wished we'd clocked 59:59 instead of 60:01

and coach sat at the front of the boat to evaluate the set. he justified tt next wk which is the race itself, there will be a full boat. So we shd be expecting to come in below 1hr. He also mentioned smtg abt acknowledging our limitations as a corporate team. ie we don't have brute strength like tt of the varsity teams (lolx..), so we have to rely on steady, gd 'ol long pull.

which i felt made alot of sense.

there was alot of 'gd job' and pats on each other's back, commending each and every one for the row..haha.

as we did our cooling down at the grass patch, i saw tt the Canadian team were preparing to head down for their trg.

Needless to say, at 4pm, i saw another familiar face.


his back was facing me as he walked in the direction of the nursery. as we were alr dismissed frm trg, i ran towards him and tapped him on his left shoulder, although i was standing on his right. (*cheeky me..)

sir eventually saw me on his right, and his first instinct was to chk out which team i'm rowing for, not by asking me but by checking out the prints on jersey..in a very playful manner as well.

fyi i was wearing my blue FBT jersey, the one tt we bought during yr 1..the one tt doesn't have any prints on it. it is the same jersey tt i wear for all my runs.

Me: ahaha sir, u cant find la. my jersey got no logo.
Sir: so who u rowing for?
Me: ocbc
Sir: orhhh, bank ah. corporate team.
Me: sir, u noe today very tired le, row 1hr non stop
Sir: *his cheeky laughter*

seeing tt he was busy, i bade him a quick gdbye.

as i was showering, i noticed tiz blister on my left palm. also, i had diz abrasion btwn my butt cheeks. all these as a result of the row. Rah!

Chapter 2: Endurance

i'm so thankful i brought cin for trg today. i'd elaborate on tt later.

well for those of you who don't know, cin is the name of my paddle.

how shd i begin?

well we started trg with a combined warm up, btwn ocbc, and rbs mixed abn amro (if i dun recall wrongly, their team name is Paddlers Against Limits-PAL for short)

and then, a familiar face.

right across the warm up circle, i saw a tall and bespectacled man.

David.

Our ex coach.

well right aft i waved to him, he said..'你跟ocbc 划?' and i acknowledged.

the next thing he said made my 3 sweat emerge.

'不要让她跑了。。她以前是我的 pacer!'

-_-'''

arghh. well rmb how i mentioned i wanted to start afresh with varying roles on the boat?

well i hope wad he said didnt juz dash my hopes. *cross fingers and toes and wadever tt can be crossed*

so i found out he was coaching PAL.

As there wld be the AustCham 10km race on 23 Aug, coach decided to have all participating for the race row on the big boat, so as to clock mileage. fyi we (ocbc, abn amro and rbs) are a combined team called United Singapore Dragons and we previously collaborated to participate in the Penang Race together. Same thing for AustCham 10km race, i guess coz not enuf rowers from each team.

at first i was asked to go to the boat tt was not rowing for the AustCham race. Then aft realising we were short of left rowers, coach made me join the rest to clock mileage.

oh my gawd.

we started frm SDBA, rowed to
-Nicoll Highway Bridge(where we used to launch our boats) U-turn and headed to
-2nd Bridge (cant go beyond tt as it is the floating platform), U-turn and headed to
-Marina Barrage, U-turn again headed to
-Benjamin Sheares Bridge, towards
-suspension bridge (near singapore indoor stadium)and finally-ended off at..

-Nicoll Highway Bridge

which is why i was so thankful i had cin to accompany me every stroke of the way.

we clocked a non stop 45 min row.

tired!

aft we finished the gruelling 45 min row, we exchanged back rowers. the PAL rowers went back to David's.

my right delts didnt fail me even aft 2 yrs. i guess it is true..the theory of muscle memory. it remembers how i use to rely on it during those long, endurance..clock mileage set. it was put to the test, and it survived decently well.

aft much rest, we easy rowed back to the pontoon and ended trg for the day.

no aft trg runs. neither were there pull ups.

juz cool down. haha

aft bathing, i met david again. he was proceeding for his next coaching session with kowloon team.

Our parting words:

Me: 'hey david, see u in Penang'
Him: 'yah..'

i know wad i'm gonna say next sounds really random and maybe a lil rude, but i have to say it:

David smells the same aft all these yrs. (*its tt 男人味..or shd i say 难忍味)

lolx

Going Solo 2009

Friday 190609: it all began with my very first meal..at Macdonalds.
aft which i went exploring..on my own of course! 1st day itenary was to explore around Binondo This is Binondo Church
then i went church hopping..to QuaiPo church. it was a Friday mind u..and the crowd at the church spill out to the street. These are devotees attending Mass. There were no more seats inside Church so they stood outside the Church to attend Mass.
Inside QuaiPo Church..
Saturday 200609: This is my means of transportation, day in day out. The reliable MRT/LRT.
Singapore shd learn from the Philippines. They have a cabin for female, the elderly and children only. Of course..i went to this cabin all the time. hahaha btw it was very packed la. if u thought peak hr in sg was bad..well u havent seen Manila.
during the not so peak hrs..
I took the Jeepney..which is our version of the SBS bus. juz tt it stops anywhere and picks up passengers anywhere as well.
Visited the Chinese Cemetery. Mind u..their tombs are the size of our semi-detached houses in sg. to quote Lonely Planet "there are mausoleums with crystal chandeliers, air con, hot and cold running water, kitchens and flushing toilets (in case the interred are caught short on the way to paradise)" fyi..no one (living being) lives there. wad a pity.. was having lunch at Intramuros when i was tiz..wad an obedient dog.
Sunday 210609: i couldnt stay any longer in Manila (city of Philippines) as i was getting really bored with the city life..besides there was v little to see. the day before, i visited Department of Tourism (DOT) and Ms Tetchie asked what my preference was when it came to tourism. I said, "trekking/sightseeing". Immediately she answered, 'then u shdnt be in Manila! u may consider visiting the rice fields in Banaue..its beautiful!"

and so i did. I took the overnight bus (boarded on Sat 20/6 10pm)and early on Sunday morning at 830am, i had breakfast in Banaue Hotel and Youth Hostel. This was the spectacular view tt welcomed me..(chk out the rice fields)

My breakfast :p
mode of transport to take me up to and around the various rice fields
the villagers
kids minding their own business but i stopped to snap a pic of them hee
so lets take a look what has caught the kid's attention
a pig..with its final few breaths. it was dripping blood btw..yikes
my poor attempt at 自拍-ing
the youth hostel tt in which i stayed for the night
Monday 220609: i paid for a local guide to bring me around Banaue and who cld offer me insights to this beautiful place. stairway to heaven as they call it
ah..yes some friends i got to meet along the way. i dun rmb their names but i know they are from Penang.
another guy i got to know..he's also from Penang. He said next time if i'm going backpacking in M'sia, can ask him bring me ard. hahaha my guide..Rachel isn't it beautiful..the rice fields?
稻香
water tt irrigates the rice fields this old man taking a break under the shelter
Anila, who works at Banaue Youth Hostel..who always welcomed me with a friendly smile. i bade farewell to her and took the 5pm bus back to the hustle and bustle of city life..Manila :(
Tuesday 230609: me eating at North Park Noodle House..which serves decent Chinese food. omg, i felt so at home when eating the chilli paste which tasted exactly like tt of Crystal Jade.
the local dessert.. Halo Halo. I feel its like a combination of ching teng and chendol mixed together. It consist of ice shavings, jack fruit, condensed milk, cubedjelly in green and white, coconut slices, atapchi, nuts, red bean paste and conflakes.
Jollibean. the Philippinos craze. It's equivalent to MacDonalds.
just had to try out what is so nice abt it
Here i am at Ermita Church. was in search of some form of spiritual peace.. i was very happy to be able to attend Mass on my last evening in Manila. It's true tt everywhere u go, whichever part of the world it is, the Catholic Mass is celebrated the same way, same reading.
Wednesday 240608: the last day in Manila. Packed my bags, took some last pics of hotel i stayed in for the past 5 nites. the living room
my room where i slept. btw the aircon is very old school. u gotta turn on the switch, it doesnt work by the remote control.
where i showered.
this is hotel where i stayed for the past 5 nites. pretty expensive actually..
my last breakfast in Manila. fyi the food is either too salty or too sweet for my liking.
Leaving on e plane..back to destination Home Sweet Home.


yea if u didnt alr realised.. the 'add image' buttons has miraculously appeared back. so its back to many many pictures tt i'd love to share with you guys