Pulau Ubin cycling

Haha.. yet another long post in a day. Only free this period to blog hehe....

I went cycling with Ken Jia yesterday, at Pulau Ubin. Eversince I stopped training, and returned the racing bike to Hans, I missed cycling dearly... so I dragged Ms Ong over to Ubin.

Ms Ong initially was so lazy... and she felt like going back home to sleep.. but thankfully weather was good!!! I was roasted!!! Woohoo! We reached Changi Village and packed nasi lemak into my bag(which smelt of fried chicken later on =/... ) and scooted on a ferry to Ubin Dao!!!

Entrance of Ubin

We cycled to Noordin beach, where Ken Jia's nostalgic NPCC HQ is near...

She is opening up the box of cake I made for her, her birthday was the previous day...

Tada! Chocolate cake with gum-paste flowers!!

Eating our nasi at a hut by the beach. Our 2 good bikes behind...

Picnic time!!!

This was the point where Ken Jia's bike chain came off. Seriously, both of us have NEVER fixed a bike chain before.... we were riding on the dirt path to Chek Jawa when her chain came off in the middle of the jungle trail where there was no one in sight.... ahhh!!! And what's worse, given my huge backpack, I FORGOT TO BRING INSECT REPELLENT. We had over 10 to 20 bites on each leg. And the mozzies happily feasted on us while we were struggling to fix the chain.. But volia!!! Girls can do what guys can! We fixed it!!!!! But got our hands black like mud after that. In this picture, we already cleaned off the oil.... but still black...

Chek Jawa is open! And they have this monumental "House no. 1" Its a cosy old colonial cottage. Very sweet...

Very rustic feel to the brick walls... Aiya nice pose but Ken Jia's eyes were half closed...

Nevermind the words on my shirt, Ken Jia gave me that shirt from Aussie. Look instead at the nice frame of the building

Just like a holiday bungalow. Me and Ken Jia have planned to move into make it our country home. Cool eh? By the sea! ~~ Dream on gals..~~

Back view of the cottage. Seriously hard to imagine I can find this in Singapore.. or rather, Ubin...

Ahh... don't I accessorize this picture.. ahahah

This is the start of the Chek Jawa coastal boardwalk. Unfortunately, the tide was high that day, so I saw nothing but sea water, if not usually, the seabed can be seen...

Happy Ken Jia....

Nice, naturalistic view of the sea behind...

This fruit is what we call the attap chee! The seed I enjoy eating in ice kachang! Attap Chee comes from.... Attap plant! Which means palm tree...

A sealed entrance to the quarry with a loophole. Guess what... We sneaked in the hole...

Nice view of the quarry, but be very, very careful, the place is restricted for a reason. One step off the edge of this cliff and you will fall storeys down into the lake... and it might be fatal. So we were very careful not to step over the rock. We want our lives...

But I must say its a nice view... But we dare not take any step beyond where Ken Jia was... scary

I like this picture =)
We spent a short time in this place, as it was deserted and dangerous. After taking pictures we quickly scooted off...

End of the trip! Tired but mission accomplished! 1) Tan obtained! 2) Cycling all over Ubin done!

Waiting for boat at Jetty!

Hong Kong Trip

I finally had time to put pictures of my Hong Kong trip!!! "Huh Amy you went Hong Kong?" Yea I did!!!" Haha it was a rather last minute arrangement.



Dawn @ changi airport


On the plane: Cathay Airline

HK airport. I'm intrigued by the wavy texture of the ceiling.

Our first meal of the day at HK: The lengendary can-see-the-whole-prawn-wrapped in wanton noodles.



Scouting our way in the MTR

HK's CBD district. Busy street that goes up the slope.

Thought the poster was quite alluring, but I din capture the model well...



Some art exhibition at some high-classed shopping centre. Seriously I dun know the name of the shopping centre, because, er, we were there to find toilet. :P

I like this picture of the man and woman though, and the crescents that are on top of them. Seriously, the portrayal of the moons with the woman reminds me of... um... 月经。

I like the roof and the high structure.


The shiny building caught my eye. I don't really see shiny reflective buildings in Singapore.


Walking up to the tram area, shucks forgot the name. The tram that goes up to the peak. Tourist spot.


Hey! did I tell you Jacky is my friend?


Here comes the super star tram. Why do I call it superstar? Well, when the tram approaches everyone (including me) scrambles for their camera to take a shot of it.


Mommy and me up in the tram.

Up the peak.


Me and the superstar tram. I queued to take a picture with it ok! What a diva tram.


The view on the peak. The lighting was not very good. The weather there is cloudy most of the time.


Hoho.... one middle-aged caucasian man asked me to help him take a picture with this similar backdrop a few mins after I took this. He posed with an asian guy, good friends maybe... After I passed him the camera back, and both of them were looking at their picture with contentment, and the asian guy slapped the caucasian's butt. o_O My eyes nearly popped out.


My dad has a famous fren too...

At some chinese restaurant. I think I have a very bad memory for Cantonese names. I felt like a mute over there, everyone was greeting me in canto and all I could do was to stare blankly and smile....


Roasted duck. Not very nice actually... the meat so tough...


Desert was mango pudding... the legendary one at Shui Liu Shan. REALLY GOOD. Mango pudding, with mango puree sauce, cubed mango flesh AND topped with mango icecream, and some pomelo bits. Mango madnesss.... oh and with coconut sauce too... sluurp


Dim sum breakfast the next day. We were on a one day city tour, which I din enjoy for the large part of it. :/


At some place where it was know to have some good feng shui. Tourist spot. People go there to pray for wealth and fertility, while I mopped around for some good view...


The only nice view I found...

Joining a tour is really sloppy. You get down the bus, walk around a confined place, get up the bus, sleep, reach the lunch destination, eat, get on the bus, fall asleep to the next destination. And look at the real Hong Kong from a window pane. Sloppy.

The only perk of the tour was the trip to Lantau island. Why? Cos we took a public bus that goes up the highlands to this sight-seeing place. And the highlands brought back trekking memories. Its actually a monument of the giant Buddha at the top of the peak. I thought the urn behind me was interesting as it looked ancient, but bahh... self taken portraits are not perfect, couldn't cover the whole thing.

Another attempt to show the mountain behind...

I took this with a self timer.... heheh

What is interesting about this circle on the ground is that it is architecturally built for voice projection. I stood in the middle and stomped my feet, and the echo was amplified a great lot. I guess it should be used for prayers or something in this instance...

Desert again... at Shui Liu Shan. Apart from looking at my folks, the picture captures the menu in too. So many types of deserts... And they offer traditional one too like gui ling gao, below...

My desert: Guiling gao with a modern punch. Like bubble tea style, I slurp the black jelly up mixed in coconut milk, mango ice-cream and mango bits. Reeeeallly yummmy...

The same mango pudding.

Uh... happy dad.


Another thing that struch me in this picture, is the number of signboards sticking out into the middle of the street above the shop houses. I think its a signature of Hong Kong, narrow lanes, with lots of stuff jutting out, drapped in bright neon lighting and huge signages that are in-your-face when you lift up your head. But try not to lift your head. You will get air-con water splatting on your face. I think I even saw one huge, huge poster advertising tuition teachers, posing coolly on the ad. Man, they are placed alongside with models on the other signages.. tutors have it good there.. they become celebrities...

Sumptous breakfast at some tau huay shop. You actually drink the soya milk from a bowl. But when you dip the fat you tiao stick into the milk and eat it, you feel that soy milk and you tiao can bring you world peace....

Their chee chong fun. The thin thin kind. Forgot wad you call it again. See! I'm a kantang!!!! Don't remember all the cheena names!!!

Anyway, I got so bored taking pictures that I didn't take any for the last 2 days after this breakfast. And I certainly didn't take pictures of the things I bought... the memory card of the camera will be overflooded, if you see my point... But it was a good trip all in all!!!

This guy blows me away. Very talented and the air he exudes just brightens up your day. :)

The video is about letting the burdens unto the Lord.

For the last 2 weeks, while I was overseas, I tried to detach myself from relying too much on God. I wanted to understand how it was like again to live my life like in the past, without God in the picture, in the things that I do. I tried to live my life in a perspective without God, meaning I tried to enjoy my life soley through shopping, hanging out with friends, checking out the coolest fashion/ sports etc... But I realised even though all these pleasures made me feel good for the moment, deep down inside I was not happy.

After all the excitement, when I went home, there was this dull thud. I couldn't face being alone, with nothing to do. I needed something to do to distract me from the impending emptiness that was over powering. This emptiness and dread arose from all my uncertainties of myself, because I was feeling inferior and concerned of how people looked at me. I didn't like the present state that I am, and my mind was constantly trying think of how I can be better. I didn't want a moment to myself because I cannot come to terms with my present state, and the things that I done in the past. At this point of time, I also found it hard to come back to God, as if talking to some one invisible would help my situation. It didn't make sense, so I was reluctant to pray as usual. This carried on for about 2 weeks, and I realised I had lost some of the optimism and unspoken joy I had in my heart.

So I said a short prayer last night. Just a simple short prayer. "God, I need You in my life to make it right again." A tear rolled down. Read some verses to encourage myself, and went to bed. Thankfully I'm much happier and my spirits are better today. Because I have the trust and faith of the goodness of life again.

I know of a lot of people who are very pessimistic about life, and they more they grow, the darker the world seems to get. But I assure you from the bottom of my heart, that if you are willing to just say a little prayer in your heart to God and acknowlegde that you need Him in your life to make it right, and lift up your burdens to Him, you will get much more than you ever expected. If you feel your life is already in the drapes and there is nothing you can do but wallow in darkness, no harm trying it.
If you are not sure who God really is as the christians say, ask Him in your prayers to reveal Himself. Thats what I did. I got an answer in the end. Seek and you will find.

Life can be full of hope and glory, even in the messiest situation, because there is this creator in control of those who humble themselves to seek help from Him and put faith in Him. This is the afterthought that I take away with.

Amy is tired

Right now, I feel that there are too many things going on in my life. I'm tired and worn out, and I don't even have time to rest and relax at home. My mind is running with thoughts, one after another. When my mind is not running, my body is running.

Seriously I don't know how long can I sustain this lifestyle. Think i might age and die prematurely if I continue man.... looking at the rate of how I get hit by waves of anxiety. Maybe its jet lag or sth... I dunno.... I hate how I plan and priortise my time.... argh... bad planning