Islander

Lawn ball anyone?

2008-09-23T08:19:00.002+08:00

Got the orange at 99 cents a kilo. Sweet too. Going to handle them with great care. Does not entertain the idea of dropping them on my feet.

Update

2008-09-19T12:15:00.005+08:00

This two pictures were taken at one of the beaches near Gleneg. Similar to our East Coast Park. A lot of eateries and shops nearby.

You can find amazing things among the suburbs. This little farm is in between houses. Imagine having such farms in Serangoon Gardens or other private estates. Will get complaints about how the farm lowers the property value.

This is a recent photo taken along the road outside my place. Can see the flowers on the trees. Shows that spring is here!. :)

This was a trip to Hahndorf. Nice little town. A place for relaxing, having tea and watching the world go by.

Nice Video

2008-08-15T20:51:00.000+08:00

Saw this on TV the other day.

Pics at last

2008-08-08T09:17:00.007+08:00

The place that I currently live in.

My cosy little room.

The standard of fruits over here. Fresh and huge. Oranges are definitely sweeter.

Too cold for the brain to think about a long post. Weather forecast is rain with temp range of 6 - 13 degrees for the rest of the week. Too cold to even take an afternoon nap.

Settling In

2008-07-21T13:14:00.004+08:00

Its been 10 days since I have arrived in Adelaide. Did not had much chance to go n the Internet as the broadband is yet to be connected. I am using a dial-up access now and so need to take turns going online with my housemate.

Been busy learning how things are in Australia and in Adelaide. Fixed up the furnitures from Ikea for my room. Will put up the pictures when the broadband is up.

Went grocery shopping at central market in the city. Fruits and vegetables were fresh and reasonably priced. Been having a healthier diet in Adelaide than I ever had in Sg. Plenty of fruits, fresh milk and yogurt. The oranges here are of the large variety. Pictures later.

It winter over here and the temperature usually range from around 14 degrees in the day to 9 degrees at night. Some days are much colder due to rainy weather. Yesterday was around 10 to 6 degrees. The heater is my new friend.

Just had the Ikea hotdog for lunch which cost me A$1. Makes the Singapore version looks like a 'midget'. Till the arrival of broadband.

Win-win solution

2008-07-09T21:36:00.007+08:00

Saw these two headlines on Channel Newsasia on Monday.

"Higher ERP rates for CBD, Orchard Road come into effect" and "PM Lee urges more Singaporeans to donate"

The new IU should be modified such that after it passes underneath the ERP gantries, instead of a beep, a gentle voice would say "Thank you for donating to the Singapore Treasury. Have a nice day and drive carefully. Do not speed and do not drink and drive." Might just make driving in Singapore a more "pleasant" affair.

2008-07-03T11:15:00.006+08:00

Finally managed to get a direct flight ticket to Adelaide! Spent the last 2 weeks checking the various airlines only to find that all direct flight tickets to Adelaide were sold out. Just when I was about to resigned myself to the fate of spending 3-5 hours at Perth airport waiting for my connecting flight, somebody cancelled their SIA tickets and I was quick enough to snap it up.

So now I not only have a direct flight ticket, I also get to leave from Terminal 3! :) SQ269 11th July.

Took the pictures while I was in Kunming. Now really understand what they meant by poorly translated English. Had a good laugh. Enjoy!

2008-06-19T13:07:00.003+08:00

Finished packing and returning all the necessary stuff. Don't need to return to office anymore! :)

It has been 10 years. I am going to miss the good colleagues and friends there.

2008-06-14T21:09:00.002+08:00

Looks good eh? Had Crab Beehoon for lunch. The crab meat was fresh and sweet. The bee hoon absorbed the flavour of the crab as well as the flavour of the salted fish. Absolutely wonderful!!

Had clams and sotongs as well. The food was fresh and the flavours speaks for themselves. No excess sauce to overpower the taste.

Still on course for a 1st July departure. I hope...

2008-06-09T19:10:00.002+08:00

Some picture of flowers from my trip to Perth.

By the time I reach Adelaide, it would be winter. After that it would be spring where I could get to see such beautiful flowers again. So looking forward to it. Plus now I have my lumix to capture them it all their glory!

Sweet 1/7

2008-06-08T10:00:00.003+08:00

My form class was so sweet! Made this video clip and even held a surprise farewell party for me. I hope they continue to do well as a class. :)

1st update in 08

2008-06-07T21:08:00.002+08:00

Its been a loooooong time since I last updated. So what is new???

I have finally got my Australian PR!!!!!!

I have finally tendered my resignation!!! :)

and I'll be going to Adelaide sometime at the end of June or early July.

Fabulous holiday

2007-12-10T15:13:00.000+08:00

The trip to Perth was great.

Finally went up the Lighthouse and did sand-boarding!

Took lots of photos of the wild flowers which were in season.

Too taxing to post photos on blogger. Will put the pictures on flicker.

Confirmed: Perth as Holiday Destination

2007-11-23T20:30:00.000+08:00

Yup. The person from the travel agency called and confirmed the trip. Asked me to go down for a briefing on the trip and pay the balance of the payment.

The booking of this trip had been an adventure of its own. I booked a trip with ASA Holidays way back in September. At that time, I did ask if this trip was confirmed and I was told it was. I did pay attention over the months and did not see ASA posting any advertisement on this trip. Naturally, I assume that the group was filled up. The week just before the payment and the briefing was due, I started calling them to find out the exact time of the briefing. The person who answered told me the details were not out and asked me to wait for their call instead. The day before the briefing was supposed to be held, I called them up and left messages twice. The person on the other end promised to have someone get back to me soon. They never did.

On the actual day, the moment that they open, i called them up. It was only then that they told me the group was too small to depart. So I asked what were my options? The person said they can either give me a full refund or I can choose another tour package. So I went down to sort things out. I had really looked forward to this trip. On the way down, I went through possible options in my head. I could either join the group going on a later date, (I knew about this group when I asked them the dates available) or I can go to other destination in Australia. When I reached ASA, I told the person my problem. The person just said "So what do you want me to do?" I was taken aback. I asked whether I can join the group at the later date? The person said no such group. When I asked whether there were other group available during the dates I wanted, the person again said no. I was left with no choice but to asked for a full refund, which the person gladly did. As the money will be credited back into be credit card account, I have to wait for about 4 weeks to get my money back.

After this, when I went to the nearby tour agencies to ask if they still have vacancies for trips to Perth, I was told they were fully booked. This make me wonder why ASA did not advertise my trip. I believe if people know this group was available, it would be filled up quickly. If ASA has no intention of proceeding with the group, they should have the decency to tell us earlier so that we can make alternative arrangements. The next few days, I scanned the papers and managed to find this current package with another agency, simply because they put up an advertisement to indicate that there were still available vacancies. So much for service from ASA Holidays. I would definitely not use their service again.

The good thing from this is that the new trip provides better meals and destinations although I would not be going down to Albany. There's always next time. :)

I have done all I can

2007-11-22T20:00:00.001+08:00

Sent in the last of the documents required for the Australian PR application. All i need to do now is to wait for my visa. With luck, I'll get it as a Christmas present. :)

The last day

2007-11-14T21:15:00.000+08:00

Today was the last day that I taught my form class. Had thought about saying some things to the class, but decided against it. I will still be around next year, so it does not seem to be the right time to bid good bye.

It had been an interesting change. For the first time in a few years, it felt nice to have a class like this. I hope next year they'll do well and move forward.

Helping the environment

2007-11-13T19:41:00.000+08:00

Facts:

We are encouraged to bring our own bags to do grocery shopping, so as to cut down on the usage of plastic bags. What is a little inconvenience compared to the contribution we make to saving our environment?

We are encouraged to use public transport instead of driving our cars. Waking up earlier and running the risk of being late is a small sacrifice compared to the greater good of protecting our environment, not to mention the reduction in road congestion.

We are hosting the only (at this point in time) night race for F1 in 2008. Using very powerful ( and energy consuming) lights for the drivers safety.

Sepang extended their contract to host F1 races and are not required to hold night races,

A New Beginning

2007-11-12T20:45:00.000+08:00

Been a long time since i last did a blog. Finally decided to restart another one as I embark on another phase of my life. Did my health check today. Will be collecting my Police Clearance soon. Then it is just the short wait until I get my visa. Can't wait to get off this island.

So what am i going to miss....??? Of course my friends and family, although I know they will be well taken care of. My form class. Been one of my better classes in recent years. They'll get a caring Form teacher next year and a good physics teacher, so that is one load off my mind. My car, definitely. Good handling, trustworthy.

Found the perfect way to handle those telemarketers who sell credit cards, insurance and overdrafts. "I'm migrating so i won't be needing those." Feel so shiok using the m word and it gets the other party to give up and end the call.