Food in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The food in Cambodia is influenced from time to time. One day, an Indian merchant brought along a packet of rice to Cambodia, and guess what? Rice cropping is the country's economic saviour and one major factor for its economy.

In Siem Reap, you can find baguettes easily and I was told that when Cambodia was being colonised by the French, the French introduced their food to Cambodia. It goes the same with pizzas and other food. The rest is history.

You can find different types of restaurants in Siem Reap, probably because it is a touristy place; Indian, Korean, Chinese and Malay cuisine etc.

In this post, I will show you some interesting food/restaurants in Cambodia, and a controversial one.

I've been to Siem Reap for 16 days, and I've only known this restaurant from Singapore.

Mcdonalds? Nope.

Kentucky Fried Chicken? Fat hope!

Don't tell me it's Jack's Place? Good attempt..

But it's......

No, you don't have to see an opthalmologist/optometrist. It is indeed Swensen's!

They sell mainly ice-cream, and I heard from my friends that it tasted good as well!

Here's a peek at their menu:

Chocolate Banana Split is only like US$3.90! I think it's a lot cheaper than Singapore. Plus the good thing about restaurants in Cambodia is that there isn't any government service tax (GST) or service charge. The price stated is the price you pay. Nothing less, nothing more.

Anyway, here's a peek of the street side food in Cambodia.

Rows of stalls.

Don't be fooled by the rows of stalls, thinking that they sell different variety of food. In fact, they sell the same food and same stuff. No, we're not spoilt for choice.

In Cambodia, the common meat are chicken, beef and pork.

The Cambodian lady who cooked for us.

FRIED RICE WITH PORK

Fried Rice with Pork.

Food is tasty, but the ingredients aren't sufficient. For only US$1 ($1.4o) for a plate of fried rice, it already justifies the taste.

Rating: 3.5

NOODLE WITH CHICKEN & DURIAN SHAKE

Noodle with Chicken.

Food isn't spicy, with a tinge of sourness from tomato ketchup. Chicken is succulent. However, the noodle was dry, and I didn't really liked it.

The only thing that surprised me is that the noodle is actually kway teow, and not like the yellow ones we commonly eat. US$1 too.

Rating: 3/5

DURIAN SHAKE

One word. ORGASMIC. I've never drank such durian shakes before in my life. It's the best. Hands down.

The sheer taste of durian is so powerful, and it excites your taste buds, screaming for more. You don't even have to eat the fruit. The shake itself is filled with the strong taste of durian, and the drink is so good, my eyes rolled back and let out a smirk, hinting that I was on the verge of possession by the taste of the durian shake.

Okay, maybe not that exaggerating but it is that damn good. For only 3000 riels (US$0.75), you get the freshest fruit shakes in town. My friends bought banana shakes and mango shakes, it tasted equally good.

Rating: Too good to be rated.

Digressing away from street stall food, I must say that one interesting thing in Siem Reap is that there are Cambodians who do business by selling food on their trolleys. They will move around the town, and will stop when customers flag them.

FRIED MEE

Fried Mee, which is being fried with vegetables and chicken and egg together with seasoning and other various sauces are sold at 3000 riels (US0.75) or US$1 depending on the vendor.

The noodles are used from instant noodles, and the interesting part is that unlike Singapore's instant noodles which are hard and firm when you open the packet, Cambodia's instant noodles are already soft.

Food is tasty, and the flavour is rather good. Fresh vegetables gives this Fried Mee bonus points.

Rating: 4/5

And here we go, is another stall which sells flavoured ice, otherwise known in Singapore as Ice Kachang.

FLAVOURED ICE

Turning the ice into small bits.

They don't use gloves, yet it felt so sincere and heartwarming.

(Wonders if you understand what I'm talking about.)

Filled with various coloured flavourings of syrup and condensed milk, with green beans at the bottom of the cup. I never felt any taste of over saccharine, as the sweetness is just fine.

For only 2000 riels (US$0.50), it's the perfect dessert.

Rating: 4/5

FRIED FINGER FOOD

This stall sells fried finger food, with tons of choices for you to choose from; Salted egg, pork balls, chicken balls, sausages etc.

Ahhhh.. spoilt for choice!

Once you choose your food, he will cook on a stove next to him, taking around 20 seconds to 1 minute.

And the food is finally ready!

4 sticks only costs 3000 riels (US$0.75) and they're piping hot! Together with vegetables and a special kind of sauce, they taste really really good! Just don't eat it cold.

Rating: 4.5/5

Next, here's a local delicacy which I simply love:

LOK LUK

Lok Luk is a steamboat delicacy whereby there are beef parts, and vegetables. The soup is brownish in colour, and I tell you, the soup is SO GOOD! The soup is very sweet, and the smell of the beef enchanced the soup base which was simply awesome!

With rice and noodles, you can simply eat on and on without stopping! And guess how much is it? Only $5 per steamboat, and it was shared by 4 people!

Speaking of which, this is also the first time whereby the steamboat exploded beside me. Apparently, the claypot was overheating and there wasn't enough soup, and suddenly a loud noise suddenly blasted our ears and I could see my friends all shocked, and some out of their chairs.

Thankfully nothing happened to anyone of us, except for me.

I WAS NEARLY MOLESTED BY THIS OLD UNCLE! This uncle was sitting beside me out of nowhere, and while I was eating, my friend told me to becareful of him. Guess what I saw, his hand is just beside my.. ahem crotch!

So I slapped his hand back, and he retreated...

But anyway..

Rating: 5/5

BARBEQUED FOOD

Their barbequed food is cooked from charcoal and it looked rather tasty. Chicken, various types of fish, frog, etc.

For a whole piece of chicken, it costs US$5. I tried some of the food, but it wasn't to my liking.

Rating: 2.5/5

And last but not least, the controversial food..

DOG MEAT

I never expected myself to eat dog meat, and in Cambodia, dog meat are unusual, and it is only sold at a certain time. Since my friends were eating, I asked them to buy for me.

Dog meat, intestines and other parts.

It comes with a packet of sauce and plenty of vegetables. And it costs only US$2! I didn't really finish it and I tried a few pieces of dog meat before passing it to my friends.

All I can say it taste like roasted duck and it goes the same with the texture..

Rating: 3/5

And that's about it for the food in Cambodia. It is a pity that I couldn't try some of the food due to some constraints but the food in general is simply awesome!

An insight of Cambodia.

Siem Reap, Cambodia is a province whereby tourists often go. The main reason for Siem Reap to be so touristy is because it is the closest province to the Angkor Wat, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world and the main tourist attraction of Cambodia.

I'm left with the impression that in general, Cambodians are very friendly, honest and sincere. When we have a conversation, I could always felt a strong sense of sincerity inside them.

90% of Cambodians belong to an ethnic group called the Khmer people, and they speak the Khmer language. The majority of them are believers of Buddhism, and this is evident from the temples, souvenirs and artefacts they have.

The currency for Cambodia is USD and Riels. 1000 Riels is equivalent to US$0.25. In Cambodia, they don't accept USD coins, and every transaction is handled in notes.

With this small introduction, I welcome you to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

One good thing about Siem Reap is that although it is a touristy place, it is never overpopulated, although traffic can sometimes be congested.

There are some really posh-looking hotels like this one in Siem Reap:

Apsara Holiday Hotel

These posh-looking hotels usually cost US$100 per night. In such a touristy place, opulent brands are never absent.

As much as I would like them to be authentic, I believe that 90% of them are counterfeit goods, and the price is rather exorbitant.

You can have a Tommy Hilfiger perfume looking exactly the same, except that the spelling is Toomy Hilfiger.

Even sports brands such as Adidas, Nike, Puma can be seen.

Anyway, I found this very interesting. It's a concoction of some liquid with a snake biting a scorpion. I don't think it can be seen in Singapore, but I thought it was somewhat unusual.

It costs US$3 for a small bottle.

In Siem Reap, there are 3 shopping malls, and I must say that only one can really be considered as a decent shopping mall; the Lucky Mall.

Lucky Mall

The Lucky Mall has a very amusing concept. Everything is called Lucky something; Lucky departmental store, Lucky Burger etc. They're the only departmental store and fast food restaurant that I've seen.

What amazes me is their supermarket.

I must say the standard of the supermarket is even better than most of the supermarkets in Singapore.

The Cambodians shopping there must be rich people, because the Lucky mall is filled with expensive stuff.

And their wet market is similar to Singapore's as well..

That's fine, except that when I saw that decapitated pig's head filled with more than 50 houseflies, I hated pork for once. And they were using some fan to wave the air in an attempt to move the houseflies away, but didn't quite make it.

And we move on to Puok, a district at Siem Reap, where the poor lives.

In Singapore, you'll never get to see this:

4 people in a motorbike/scooter!

Did I mention that during my stay in Cambodia, I've seen only 3 obese Cambodians? The rest are really small-sized and thin. The other obese and humongous people I've seen in Cambodia are mainly caucasian tourists.

Puok was an eye-opener for me, because I've never seen the ancient and traditonal method of preserving ice using sawdust.

The main traditional method of preserving ice.

They use glass shards to prevent intruders..

In Puok, buffaloes are common, and it goes the same with ducks, roosters and wild dogs.

Just in case you're wondering, dogs are been sold at US$15 each.

Here's something more surprising:

THEY KEEP CROCODILES AS PETS

A crocodile at one of our Cambodian friend's house.

In Cambodia, a baby crocodile costs around US$8, while an adult-sized costs US$1000. According to a Cambodian friend, these crocodiles doesn't bite.

I've mentioned before that 90% of the Cambodians live less than US$2.50 a day, and they are usually peasants.

So it is not surprising when you see rice crops, which is another important factor for Cambodia's economy.

Once again, it was kinda like an eye-opener for me. Why? Because I always think of Geography and my teacher Ms Tan. Those intensive learning of the steps of rice crops are still etched in my mind.

Some of our rice comes from Cambodia.

And here's a well. I've never seen one before, and I thought it was rather cool. This well is from the orphanage, and they use it to cook, bathe and wash their clothes.

There was this day when there was a heavy rain, and after that we saw a fish in the well.

In another place where we always have our lunch, we have to wash our own dishes, and we use water from this particular well. But guess what? The water we use is also drank by buffaloes and dogs and I even saw pond skaters inside it. I wonder which animal uses the well as well?

Up till today, I still miss these activities and experiences after looking at this post. These experiences made me more independent, and I look forward to reminisce these wonderful memories.

I simply love Cambodia!

Heartwarmers' purpose and work.

There are over 1000 pictures, and whenever I look at the pictures, memories came flooding back and I don't know where to start the ball rolling. I'll try my best to start without getting emotional, and I shall start with our purpose being there.


Our YEP (Youth Expedition Project) team is called the Heartwarmers. I personally thought it was a rather suitable name for the things that we do there.



Our team is split into 4 teams; the Health Sciences Team, the IT team, the Infrastructure Team and the Project Management team.


The Health Sciences Team - Teaches Malaria Prevention, AIDS Prevention, Toothbrushing etc.

The IT Team - Teaches Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, Word etc.

The Infrastructure Team - Designs and paints signboard and wall.

The Project Management Team - Oversees the whole process and ensures everything goes smoothly.

Our voluntary work is done in the BBLC (Boys Brigade Learning Centre) and the Foursquare Children of Promise Orphanage.

It's nice to know that the learning centre and the orphanage is being driven by the faith of Christianity.

BBLC

Boys Brigade Learning Centre (BBLC)






Opened by Rev Canon Dr Louis Tay..




Foursquare Children of Promise Orphanage






The signboard..



The orphanage.


Here are some of the pictures that we've done:






Health Sciences Team






Learning how to bandage.



Listening attentively.




Imparting lifelong knowledge to them.





The IT team




Teaching the parts of the CPU.







Watching the demonstration.



Getting hands-on.


The Infrastructure Team



Drawing on the wall according to the design.


The completed wall painting.



The signboard..


Our sub-teams' objectives were met and I believe we did really well in general, although most of the stuff were pretty impromptu.


The YEP team's purpose and work mainly revolves around the BBLC and the orphanage. Most of our time were spent with the two venues and the children. It was a time whereby the YEP team bonded with the children, interacting and having fun together.

It was a relationship that didn't wither, but became stronger.

Introduction to Cambodia.

"Sok so bye teh? Kh niom Ji mua James. Ker-nyom ayuk dap-pran boon. Khom mo pi Singapore." (Khmer Language)

"How are you? My name is James and my age is 19. I am from Singapore."

This is how I started my trip in Cambodia. My introduction to them. (Taught by some of my Cambodian mates.)


I am from Singapore. A place where sky high buildings existed, a city filled with fortunate people. A city whereby hygiene and cleaniness are high, and everything looks fresh.


I went to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Cambodia, a country whereby 90% of the 16 million people live less than US$2.50 a day. Corruption is high, and the minds of the people are still fresh with the Khmer Rouge. A country where only mainly attap houses and kampung houses existed. The disparity between the rich and the poor is so wide, and Cambodia is still one of the poorest countries in the world, although improving.

I came to Cambodia with an open mind, and was presented with a reality from third-world country.

Traffic lights are rare, and most roads are made up of sand. Blackouts have been experienced.

Beggars can be seen frequently, children as young as 5 years old were touting, and 10 year-old kids are seen picking rubbish and pushing those rubbish trolleys.

Even images of the plight of Cambodians were never much of an impact to me before I went to Cambodia, but the sight and the experience left such a big impact on me.

Here I am typing, still trying to adjust myself to Singapore's standard of living. I'm too used to Cambodia's way of living although it's only 2 weeks. If I have the money and time, I'll go back there again, definitely.

For the many of the continued posts will be all about my trip to Cambodia, so do follow up if you're interested.

I embarked on a journey to Cambodia, and I've never looked back.

Just flown back from Cambodia..

I've finally reached home, and I'm experiencing a shock and disappointment.

After flying down to Changi Airport and looking at the scenery while in a taxi, I feel incredibly uneasy and felt like a fish out of water. I'm not used to the cleaniness, vibrant, opulence and the tall buildings in Singapore.

Cambodia's way of life is so different from here, that I'm rather used to Cambodia's standard of living.

I'm still shocked despite reaching home and feeling very uneasy.

Disappointment, well is because my Grade Point Average (GPA) of my semester is not very ideal for me. I improved only a little, and I'm very upset and disappointed right now.

Weeks of hard work didn't pay off much, and I'm sick and tired of sticking to this belief that hard work pays off.

My 'O' level Maths was a good reminder, and thanks for the second reminder.

I'm starting to hate design. I seriously do not know what is wrong with my work. My execution isn't as good as my research, that's why I always do more research to compensate. Yet I kept getting some shitty results.

I'm so sick and tired of doing my best and without reaping any sow.

Stop those foreign talk from the Olympics already.

Scheduled Post


I know it's a little late to talk about this, but I already wanted to talk about it a long time ago.

We all knew that before the Beijing Olympics 2008, Singapore underwent a 48 year drought without any Olympic medals.

The first Olympic medal was held by weightlifter Tan Howe Liang. He won the Silver Medal for weightlifting in Rome Olympics 1960.

Yes, it was the first Olympic medal, and Singapore is very proud. But guess what? He is also born in China.

So if that's the case, why are people still complaining about foreign talents helping us to clinch the medals or whatsoever?

When we went on a 48 year old drought without Olympic medals, everyone was hoping that the Singapore Team could won it in every Olympics. Now that they finally won it, why is the foreign talent topic keep coming up everytime?

Sure, it's nice to have citizen of Singapore to win the medal for us, but given the 4 million+ people, where the pool of talent is like minimal compared to powerhouse countries like China which have 1 billion+ people, why are you still complaining?


More importantly, if these foreign talent people have came and settled in Singapore, and fight whole-heartedly for Singapore's glory (not talking about monetary rewards here), why are we still questioning them?

If they looked up to Singapore as a home, why are you still talking about these?


The fact that they won a medal for Singapore shows that they are part of Singapore's citizens. They fight for Singapore's glory and have put Singapore on the spotlight in sports.


So think about it, if you are a foreign-land born person and settled in Singapore, and you represents Singapore, and then some citizens questions and doubt you, how would you feel?

Show some empathy, people.

Fallen in love?

Never would I expected to find myself to fall in love with someone in Cambodia..

Currently at Cambodia..

Life has been rather hectic for me, because I'm leading my Infrastructure group to paint the walls and it is a significant task for me.

Cambodia is so much hotter than Singapore and I've seen so much stuff at the orphanage.

Life is so simple, yet the hygiene and the place is very poor, but the rest of us managed to survive. The thought of having to wash our dishes with well water which the buffaloes drank sounds disgusting.

I wanted to post up pictures but I simply couldn't because the USB port is problematic and sends out electric shocks.

Speaking of which, I had a minor accident yesterday with some of the group, and we caused a traffic jam.. I'll elaborate more the next time..

Don't ask whether I've slimmed down in Cambodia. As irony as it seems, the food there are delicious and my body is pretty well adapted to the food already.

Hopefully I can lose quite a bit of weight when I comes back.

I miss home already, and I miss everyone of you all.


All the best to Koon Xian for his National Service again!


Till then,

James

Liang Zhi's birthday celebration..

Scheduled Post


I went to Liang Zhi's birthday celebration the other day and there were a lot of people who went, and we settled down and had the celebration..



Gathering for the celebration after the dinner..

And for Liang Zhi's 19th birthday cake.. Guess what is it?




Pinkish cake with Walt Disney Characters!


A bit of childish yet feminity cake. Hahaha, it must be probably one of the most interesting cakes he'll ever had.


You know what happens whenever you have a birthday cake? You need to blow.

Wait, are you thinking in the right frame of mind?


Blow the candles of course!!!



Happy Birthday Song sang by all of us..


You know, it's nearly inevitable to escape cake-smashing from our friends especially when it's your birthday.. But it's surprising that Liang Zhi managed to escape this time, because no one could force him right into the cake, because his neck and head muscle were too strong!


Anyway Liang Zhi, I would still like to wish you a very happy 19th birthday and hope you like the celebration ya..





Hope you like the presents we gave!

All the best..

Scheduled Post


Just wanna wish my brother all the best for his 'N' levels..

Please study hard and do your best! I really hope that he'll do well.


On another side note, Koon Xian is leaving for National Service at 15 September.. All the best to him too!

Life at its simplest.

Greetings from Cambodia! Here I am in a small cozy corner in my guesthouse called Home Sweet Home.



Once again, I would like to thank those who came and those messages again, and when I was in the plane, I felt really blessed and grateful. Thank you all once again.



Life here is very different from Singapore.



Traffic lights are very rare, and crossing the roads seems to be very difficult and dangerous. The vehicles doesn't stop for you; you cross at your own risk.

There are A LOT of bicycles and motorbikes on the road, whereas cars were unusual and buses are rare.



Also, the road there are mainly sand and not concrete, and the incredible amount of dust can be seen and felt almost everywhere.


Cambodians are very friendly and sincere, and rather honest, as far as the ones I know.

And my body and mind are struggling to adapt to the life here. It's only the first few days and it felt like it has been 3 weeks already.


Ahhh, that's about it for now, I'm going to post up pictures soon. REAL SOON!

Off to Cambodia for 16 days.

By the time you see this, I'm probably at Cambodia, as my flight is tomorrow, 6am.


I've been awake since early morning, and haven't really able get to catch some sleep. My preparations are mostly done, and people have been asking me? How do I feel now?


I've been having mixed feelings about all this stuff; Excitement, Worry, Happy, Neutral, Anxious etc. I've never imagine myself going to Cambodia. Never in my life.

But here I am, hours away from my flight.. typing this blog entry. I promised myself. I don't want to have any expectations from Cambodia. No low expectations, no high expectations. I'll let my mind be free. I'll going to let my thoughts run wild.

But there are some restrictions for my trip..

1. NO ICE ALLOWED.
2. NO ICE-CREAM ALLOWED.
3. NO RAW FOOD ALLOWED.
4. NO TAP WATER ALLOWED, ONLY DISTILLED WATER.

I even have to brush my teeth using distilled water. I heard the tap water in Cambodia will harden toothbrushes.


Digressing aside, I went to a temple and prayed for my safety yesterday, and I went to take a divine lot from the temple, which I believed it is accurate. I was praying for wealth and family.. Here was what the Goddess of Mercy had for me:


"Adding colour to a gold work, and more beauty emerges. In due course, wealth and health comes. Do not think patience is best. In due course, the whole world knows you.

Do away with the old state. A child being guided by wise parents. Suit yourself in your endeavours. Your livelihood is assured."


I was figuring out what it meant because it was words of wisdom from God, but I thought it was a bit ambiguous. But I somehow know what it means. If you know the full interpretation to it, please comment it at the tagboard or my comment page ok?


And.. I really felt really really emotional and touched as I type this:

"THANK YOU!"


Thank you to all my family and friends who wished me bon voyage and gave me advice and words of wisdom. I really feel appreciated and thankful for such people like you all. I'm really really touched.


And.. I really never expected my friends to sent me off from the airport, especially when it is an UNEARTHLY TIME of 6am.

Thank you to Wei Chong, Shi Li and Clement for offering the drive there, and thank you to the 10+ buddies of you who will be coming later.. I feel really bad that you all are sacrificing your sleep..

To my buddies who can't come, I appreciates your messages and thoughtfulness. You all are appreciated and thanked.

And my family..thank you for all the financial support and stuff..

ALL OF YOU ARE BEING LOVED!


On a different note, I will be posting up blog entries based on scheduled posts, so there will be updates in my absence in Singapore.

Once I reach Cambodia, I will try to update my life there whenever possible.

I will be back in Singapore at 16 Sept at around 12.05pm..



That's all for this entry, and I shall see you all soon. Take care all!

Fujifilm F100fd and some sad news.

Last year, I bought the Fujifilm F50fd which costs me $500. Now to my amazement, Fujifilm has produced one which is MUCH MORE better than the predecessor.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the awesome and powerful.. Fujifilm F100fd!







It is a lot better than my specifications, and I was so in love with this gem, so much so that I asked the promoter whether I could trade in my F50fd and top-up some money for it, but to no avail.

All I can do is admire it I guess..


I've just learnt that a good colleague of mine from Avida Logistics, Frankie has left the company. I just wanna say all the best for his future endeavours, and thank him for all the things he've done.

Frankie, let's find one day and meet up ya!

9 days of work.

Just ended my last day of work today, and the 9 days working was another kind of experience I guess..


A few days ago, there was this customer who was crying and shouting hysterically for her lost child in a quiet Marina Square.


She was running frantically and shouting "Kei Kei, where are you? Have you seen her? She's only 2 years old!"

We felt sorry for her, and advised her to search for the customer service counter. Thankfully, she managed to find her lost daughter at the atrium of Marina Square, and was seen crying inconsolably and her daughter was like "What is happening?"


And I also had a customer who bought lots of items from me, and unfortunately, I didn't have the stock. So I went all the way to another deparmental store in Orchard Road to get it for her.

I felt really satisfied when she still remembered my name and kept thanking me for helping her out. I could tell she was a rich lady, but she showed no sign of arrogance and uppityness. Instead she thanked me sincerely and acknowledged my name.


I also came to know of some local staff whom was nice and friendly, and made my work easier and more smooth.

Awesome people.


There are a lot more I could go on, but I shall stop here for now.

Cambodia..

I'm flying off to Cambodia next Sunday, which I will be doing voluntary work with the rest of the 15 people.

I'll going to be there for 16 days, which is the longest trip that I'll be staying in any foreign country.

The main reason why I'm going there is to experience something new. Deep inside, I really wanted to see a different change of enviroment, a different change of life, and most importantly, a different change of perspective.


Technically speaking, I'm considered lucky to be born in a developed country, and often than not, I take things for granted. Everything.


Electricity, Water, Food, Peace, Family... in fact I had most of the things I wanted in life.

I've once read a Singaporean's blog when he went to Cambodia as a student for a few years, and when he came back, he sat down at one of the cafes at Plaza Singapura. He was so disgusted when he saw youngsters buying branded stuff and splurging money on what he deemed as unnecessary stuff.

But he added "Who am I to judge them when I was previously one of them? In Cambodia, most people live less than US$2 a day, and here I am back in Singapore seeing all my countrymen spending on so much stuff."

I don't think I will be so affected and share fully his sentiments during my 16 days at Cambodia.

However, I will be going to Cambodia with a light-hearted mind, and shall refuse to tell myself what I'm prepared to see there.

Sometimes, when you know that when you are going to experience something different, your mind has already understood that it is going to be something different, and when it is meant to be a shock, it is no longer a shock anymore.


On another contradicting note, this is most likely my first and last trip for voluntary work. I need money really badly due to certain circumstances, and I thought it was unwise for me to go for such voluntary work for 16 days, where I can earn around hundreds of dollars in 16 days. But then again, the voluntary work was once in a lifetime, and it was a life-changing experience.


Contradicting, I know. But since I'm already confirmed going there, I'll make the best out of it.

Time passes so fast yeah?

School ended last week, and I must say I've done my best for the semester. So whatever grade I get, I'll be really contented. Same thing always happens: Cashflow problems.


I think School Of Design should really do something about this. Quality printing is sometimes important, but there are no subsidies available for us. And we spent so much on printing itself.


Seriously if you're not rich, you SHOULD NOT join design courses. I'm pretty sure a lot of people will agree with me. So if some graduating secondary students want to join design courses, money is one factor that they must consider.


Digressing aside from school, I've met up with an old friend which I haven't seen for 7 years. A former best friend, but I still look him up as one of the very few intelligent and mature friends I have.

He didn't really changed much, but still as carefree as ever.

I sometimes wish I can be carefree. Ignorant to how the world revolves. Ignorant to how the society works. Ignorant to how things function.

Don't continue reading if you hate rant.

I was hoping that today's starting of work would be a breeze. But it was not meant to be. The in-charge decided to take it to a personal level. I'm in a foul mood, and I need to rant to make me feel good. So please people, do pardon my crudeness and rudeness.



CASE 1


She was looking at my identification card, and gave some remarks "Wah last time so handsome, why now become like that, and also so old. Now so many pimples."

Excuse me, it's a case of the pot calling the kettle black. If by your standards I'm considered old, than you must be ancient.

What is it about pimples? They say that wrinkles represents the wisdom of the old, so pimples represents the youthfulness of the young.



CASE 2


Next, she was showing signs of doubtfulness against me, because I told her I can start work at 11am for the rest of the days. She kept telling me about how important it is to be there earlier, or we would be complained whatsoever.

I didn't get a chance to prove myself, because she immediately called another colleague and said "Never mind, you take the 11am slot." Another colleague sensed something was wrong, and she told her in dialect that if she's doing this, aren't she looking down on me.

She decided to ask me, and I told her I've never been late for work before. And she repeated the consequences and the whole process one more time. And I was so pissed.


Listen, who are you to QUESTION MY PUNCTUALITY? What audacity of you to be telling me all these when you were the only one late for the setup today, and yet you're the incharge. What irony!


Speaking of punctuality, I've kept a perfect clean sheet and have never been late in my secondary school and in this company. (Just let me boast, because I'm feeling horrible now.)

I might be a little late sometimes when it comes to meeting friends but when it's serious business, I'm really committed to it and AM SERIOUS.

If I'm still in the company, I really hope I will never have to meet you again.


Good riddance.

Been donkey years since I've seen a rainbow..

It's been such a long time since I've seen a rainbow, and especially a rainbow that's so big. Perhaps it's rare for me, so I decided to take a photo of it while in a taxi.

Sometimes, you get amazed by how beautiful Mother Nature can be, although it's just a spectrum of light.

I suddenly felt a sense of hope and light in this complicated world.

Singapore 2010 Logo Design Workshop..

2 days ago, I was involved in the Singapore 2010 Logo Design Workshop, organised by Nanyang Polytechnic School of Design.

The main aim is to introduce the Youth Olympic Games to the secondary school students, and to design a logo for the Youth Olympic Games under the guidance of the lecturers and students.

Singapore 2010 Logo Design Workshop

Some of the students designing logos..

Although it was only a few hours of session, I learn quite a lot from these students, and their perspective. It was a good experience.

It's really great interacting with these youngsters.

And the Guest-of-Honour was Teo Ser Luck..

Teo Ser Luck being interviewed by the media.

Wonderful day I guess..