Bintan Tripz - ATV Rides

Ah, that's me & moi fiancee on the ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles). Commonly called quad bikes. Imagine riding a motorcycle, except it has 4 wheels, moves at a slower speed but can move across pretty rough terrain.

Rental rates are S$50 for an hour of guided tour. Looks steep, but trust me, it's worth every cent, especially if you are a first timer to this activity.

Our trip on the ATVs took us along the beach coastline of Bintan, then riding cross country through jungle tracks and fairly rugged terrain around the estate.

Heh heh heh, we almost bumped ourselves into a small river by accident.... phew.... luckily these ATVs travel at a fairly slow speed.

Do give these quads a try if you get a chance to.... unfortunately, I can't get one of these and ride them in the parks in Singapore..... it'll be FUN : )

Bintan Tripz - Massages

Heh heh heh, I'm back from my Bintan Tripz.... stayed in the same hotel / resort as the last trip, but tried many different activities. Tried one of the Asmara Spa packages the last time round, it cost a bomb.....

We gave the traditional Indonesian massage a try this time round, at Pasar Ole Ole. The place is called Kitamani I think, it's a massage palour cum eatery. Anyway, the whole of Ole Ole is super small, can't miss it. S$62 bought an executive package, about 70 minutes of full body massage and a nice cream hairwash. The female massuers were quite good, having sufficient strength.

First time having my very short hair creamed by some avacado mixture and steamed.... I thought they were doing to cook my head in the steamer.... There's even this hair tonic that they sprayed on my head... gee.. do I look like I need some hair regrowth??

For the ladies, I'll recommend that you tell the massuers to use less strength, else you might get a bruise......

Ok, the verdict:

Asmara Spa gets the thumbs up for the garden pavilion environment. Massages are average though. Mind you, the setting comes at a stiff price (S$143).

Pasar Ole Ole massage gets the thumbs up for being a great value for $$$ package(S$62). The massage room setting is acceptable and the massuers are great.

The Most Noble Part of a Building

A question just popped into my head........ "What is the most noble part of a building"... Yes, noble's the word. While this may seem like a perfectly boring question to others, for my friends who are civil engineers, it might provoke some thoughts.

If you ask me, the most noble part is well..... not the facade, not the architecture, not the interior design, not the superstructure........... It's none other than the foundation.........

Now, why is it noble??

1) It bears the whole weight of the building, its decor and its occupants

2) It is underground, buried by or surrounded by tonnes of earth, mud and shit

3) Because it is underground, it is not glamourous and it cannot be seen (some might argue that the glam part and the cannot be seen part is a chicken and egg question... but, you get my point..)

4) Because it is underground, not glam and cannot be seen, it is very very easily forgotten

5) It is the most fundamental building block

Now, ask yourself, if you were the foundation, are carrying a darn heavy weight, but have to be surrounded by lots of shit, earth and mud for your whole life, the weight is not doing anything except pushing you deeper into the shit, earth and mud, no one remembers or appreciates what you are doing........

If you'll ask me, I think the foundation deserves a couple of nobel prizes.....

Moi 2nd Anniversary at Work

Heh heh heh heh, I'm a 2 year old worker at moi current workplace..... 2 more years to go before my bond ends..... That's the price to pay when you're poor and when you sign 4 years of your life for a free tertiary education. But, beggers cannot be choosers or complainers : )

Perhaps it's time to decide if I want to stay in the current workplace for life..... or if I want a job change. I suspect that I'll choose the latter option..... After all, who wants to be tied to a single job for a lifetime...... can get quite boring......

Preparing for Our Wedding : )

Hmmm... just got a couple of dates for my wedding next year, now to get some quotations and visit a couple of hotels to find out which is THE place. Looks like will be busy running around these few weeks doing that.....

The tough part is..... it's pretty hard to do an apple for apple comparison between hotels..... Each has its own perks and menu..... and the guestlist... have not done any planning yet. Hope about 20 to 25 tables will do the trick : )

Dang... IPPT coming.... going to fail again, as usual.... then do 2 months of RT.........

The Opening Poem of Romance of The Three Kingdoms

On and on the Great River Rolls, Racing East.
Of Proud and Gallant Heros Its White Tops Leaves no Trace,
As Right and Wrong, Pride and Fall Turn All At Once Unreal.
Yet Ever the Green Hills Stay
To Blaze in the West Waning Day.

Fishers and Woodsmen Comb the River Isles.
White-Crowned, They've Seen Enough of Spring and Autumn Tide
To Make Good Company Over the Wine Jar
Where Many a Famed Event
Provides Their Merriment.

Yeah!!!! Got Moi Bonus : )

Finally!!! The bonus for tha last year is here...... Not anything spectacular, but enough for a good meal : )

Now to contemplate what to achieve for the coming 12 mths at work.....

Lethargic lethargic lethargic......

Feel super lethargic manz..... I think the only thing that can perk me up is moi bonus letter....... dang.....I thought it would be distributed out today..... looks like that hope is fading fast......

So it'll be tomorrow.....

Vietnamese Coffee

A good friend brought back some coffee from Vietnam today, and a distiller. The other interesting news he brought is, Vietnam's reputation for coffee seems to have surpassed the Brazilian beans.... I recalled this particular type of coffee called the Weasel. They made the animal eat coffee beans... or was it the berry.... let the beans ferment in the intestine and when it comes out as shit..... they harvest it.... The coffee has a nice taste, just forget the images of a shitting weasel.....

Now.... when will they surpass the Brazalian babes......

The Irony of Being a Civil Engineer

It's 6.35 pm in the office.... the air con has stopped... the air is stale and the lights will go off soon..... In the semi-stale air, interesting thoughts materialize in the mind..... perhaps due to a lack of oxygen........

Anyway, as a civil engineer. you'll build buildings for ppl. Lets say you were engaged to design and build this really cool and posh condo in an uptown district in the city. The irony of it is, even if you are the designer, chances are the paycheck you draw is so meagre, you probably can't afford to stay in the very building you designed......

Does working life suck?? Well, you bet...... it's a huge 10000 liter vacuum cleaner : )

The Starfish Story.... My View

So the answer is......

There are 1 million starfishes on the shore. If the stubborn starfish keeps coming back, how do you differentiate it from the rest??... Considering that they are all starfishes....... Chances are if it's lucky, then it'll be picked up again and thrown into the sea. If it's unlucky, then it'll make a nice dried specimen then....

DUH.....!!!!

Air Con in My Office is Kuku....

It's raining outside..... and I'm freezing moi ass off inside the office...... Silly thermostat's damaged.... colder in the front wing than the back wing......

My collegue floated an idea today that the front wing is colder becos all the bosses are seated at the front wing..... and being fat ppl, they need a lower temperature.....

The Starfish Story (Redux)

The Starfish Story

As the old man walked the beach at dawn, he noticed a boy ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Finally catching up with the boy, he asked why he was doing this.......

Sounds familiar ??? Of course it does, it's MOE's propaganda to attract more people to the teaching profession. Hehehehe, we all know the answer to the above, the boy tells the old man that if the starfish was left in the morning sun, it would die. The old man would then ask again, saying that there are millions of starfish, how can his (the boy's) effort make any difference....

Of course, the boy would then look at the starfish in his hand, throw it into the sea, and tell the old man "It makes a difference to this one"....... OKOK... Cut cut cut.....

Now for moi question.... what if the starfish that the boy threw into the sea, came back to the shore again, and again, and again.... Would it be fair to the other starfishes if the boy continued to focus all this efforts into throwing that particular starfish into the sea??

Answers, or rather, my views in the next post.

Dan Brown Books

Ah, finally finished the third of Dan Brown's books.... Have so far, read Da Vince Code, Angels & Demons and Digital Fortress. All are good books, but Angels & Demons is the best and he most tragic........

No wonder this guy got complained by others..... I can't really differentiate fact from fiction,considering they are all entwined together...... but then again, that's cos I dun have a good knowledge of the Vantican etc etc....

One thing is for sure.... if there are more movies based on his books, I'M WATCHING !!! : )

Moi First Post

Ah, finally got this blog set up and running.... nebber tried one of these before.... till a friend, a certain Ms IT recommended it. Why am I blogging ??? Cos I've nothing better to do at 12 am at night... heh heh.....

Monday blues never fails to set in on a Sunday night..... after working for about 2 years, it feels tiring to return to the workplace on a Monday morning.... Can't wait for the next 2 weeks to be over, then I'll have a nice rest over at Bintan for a couple of days. Nice place to rest and relax, just a little expensive since it's rather commercialized.

Looks like the Z monster is catching up on me, time to hit the sack.....