Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Malaysia Trip Second Leg... Tokyo - Singapore

Weeeee... Another Malaysia entry :p Well, things are starting to get back on track with me, so hopefully I'll have more time to blog... Or I should stop making excuses and set aside a few minutes to write an entry everyday :$ keke.
My parents and I got off at our designated stop and they proceeded to run to their gate... I on the other hand had a couple of hours to kill. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I almost got off the bus without my documentation (passport) and boarding pass O_O. I remember turning around (when I was already at the door) and looking back at my seat... Wow. Imagine what an ordeal that would have been... Who knows? Maybe I would have ended up like Mr. Merhan Karimi Nasseri. So I talk to one of the airport attendants and they point me towards my gate... I follow the directions they give me... and it turns out they pointed me in the wrong direction... they overshot me... meh. It was a short walk back.

I had a couple of hours to kill before boarding time so me, being the geek that I am, headed for the closest network drop :D I had to sit around for a little while because 2 Japanese Businessmen had commandeered both network drops :( that's ok... there was a nice flat screen TV playing the local news. To the right of the TV were some massage chairs :D I would have tried them... but I didn't have any Japanese change, ah well... maybe next time.

After about 10-15 minutes I got a chance to jump on the network. My intentions were to blog, of course O.o and I remember getting some stuff drafted, but I didn't have a chance to finish because I also logged into MSN and got distracted. BTW, I can't recall if I had to pay or not... I'm pretty sure that I did tho.


One thing that I noticed across all airports, no matter how beautiful the airport, I have yet to come across one with a nice smoking room :p This one was atrocious... it looked like the airport had been renovated but the renovation had been built around this room! Not only was it ol' school, it was damn small... and stinky :p hehe but that's to be expected. I can't imagine what it would be like inside there when the airport is busy... wow...

Finally we boarded and I was on my way to Singapore! :D

Airline: Singapore Airlines! Yay me! To tell you the truth... I don't remember much of this flight :p I don't usually remember very much about any flight... probably because after take off I try to sleep until arrival :$... not sure why, but ya. Probably something to do with that 'I don't like being stuck in a can for x amount of hours' thing.

Let's see what I can remember :)


I had a TV :D Unfortunately, I didn't spend much time watching it... as Jacq would say, "The TV watched you." :p

I must say, the next item is something I will not forget... the food was phenomenal! I couldn't believe it... I guess I'm just too used to flying all the N. American airlines... specifically in Canada... 1) the service is crap 2) the food is crap 3) the crew is ugly O.o

Yes, I realize that it's not a nice thing to say... but I'm not saying that they're physically 'ugly'... more so that they barely look presentable as crew. The thing I noticed about Asian airlines is that they seem to take more pride in their appearance. Their uniforms are tailored to fit and they were designed well! Both, the men and women, look professional and friendly. Not to mention, a lot of them were 'good-looking' as well, they had nice faces and were young. If you ever have a chance at flying with a Canadian company you'll know what I'm rambling about. Most of the stewardesses are in their 30s-40s, hair not nice, face not nice... but worst of all, Uniform not nice! Wait, there's the Cherry on top of it all... the service isn't exactly 'top-notch' either. Needless to say, any airline company in Asia puts any airline company in N. America to shame.

Uniform Comparison:

Left: Air Canada (2005) Right: Singapore Airlines (Current)
Taken from: UniformFreak.com

Back to my original topic: food :D

This leg I remember ordering the Chicken Pasta... well, I don't 'remember' per se, but I have PICTURES :D so I know I'm telling the truth! Naw... I remember because as soon as I heard they had the same thing as I had on my previous flight I was curious to see if all the rumors and praise about Singapore Airlines were true ;)


Indeed they are... The chicken was very nice, lots of flavor, moist... the pasta was very nice as well just the right amount of sauce, not over/undercooked.. yumm. The meal also came with: uuuh.. some salad thing with some smoked fish... dunno what fish, it's the one on the top-left.. looks familiar tho :$. A dinner roll, water, crackers, cheese... and most importantly :D real METAL UTENSILS!!!


When we were done the steward/stewardesses ran around and provided us with Ice Cream :D I don't know what flavor it was tho... Ice Cream flavor I suppose. Kinda Dragon Fruit-y. It came in a cute little container, hehe.

I must say, the food was outstanding (as you can see from the aftermath) ;) I probably would have licked the plate clean if I was still a kid :p

Wow... look at those shiny utensils :o I was tempted to pack them away in my bag just to show them to my friends in Canada... would have been too obvious tho :D

Anyways... wrapping things up... after eating, and sleeping, and eating again, and sleeping again :p (gawd, I'm a pig) I was pleasantly awakened by the announcement of our approach :) Hey look, I took a picture of our landing! :p


No... really, it is :D you can see a light in the bottom-left corner :) LOL... actually, I know it is because it comes after the food, and before the inside of Changi Airport :p

And there ends the post on the Second Leg of my trip ;)

It's getting late so I'm going to sign-off now ;) Until next time! BTW, next post will be Changi Airport (obviously) but more importantly, Jacq and I's FIRST ENCOUNTER!!! Wooooo!

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Together Again...

Tho I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."


Grandma's Funeral was on Tuesday, May 16. It was a sad affair but beautiful in its own way. One thing that was apparent was that, even though everyone had written speeches, and not collaborated, the dominant theme was obvious: Grandma was a caring, nurturing person who instilled great values in all of her children/grand children. None of us can recall a day when she was angry, and none of us had ever heard her ask for anything she did not already have.

We will all miss her dearly... but we are happy that she is together with Grandpa again...



That evening we all decided to go out to a Malaysian / Singaporean / Taiwanese restaurant called Ellie. I should probably write a review about it, but I leave that for another day... assuming I ever go back :p

Here's something to give you an idea of what our experience was like. We arrived there in a group of 14 (ya... that may have marred my experience a little). Our group seemed to take up about 1/3 if not 1/2 of all the seats available (I didn't count). There were only 2 waitresses on the floor, so service was a little slow... understandable considering how large our group was.

To drink, a few of us ordered Sasperella. I have to admit I can't remember trying it before that day tho I'm sure I have... O_o it's quite nice actually :) Like RootBeer.

I'll try to recall what (our section) ordered, but no promises... the menu was actually pretty extensive. We had Sambal Blacan Asparagus, Peatips (Sambal Blacan I think), Chicken Rendang (I prefer beef, but they didn't have any), Seafood Paper Hotpot, Beef Paper Hotpot, Roti Canai, Bak Kut Teh, and what dinner is complete without White Rice?

Asaparagus - Not too shabby... I'm biased on this one... I love asparagus.

Peatips - Delicious... but then again, Sambal Blacan anything is good :p

Chicken Rendang - tasteful, but I still prefer beef.


Seafood Paper Hotpot - This one is interesting. When we first read the menu we were wondering wth it was. And it's exactly as it says... it's a small hotpot, but the soup and rest of the food is in a 'paper' container over a small open flame. (You can see the tops of the 'paper' in the picture.)

Beef Paper Hotpot - Similar to the Seafood Paper Hotpot but with beef.

Roti Canai - is my favorite edible item from Malaysia... I was sorely disappointed in the Roti Canai in this restaurant :( The taste barely even resembled Roti Canai. All I could taste was Dough and Butter... I don't even remember what the Curry tasted like :/

Bak Kut Teh - was not as good as some other places that I've tried, but then again... I just got back from M'sia (where we stayed in Klang) so I guess it's not fair to compare.. actually, you can't compare :p I'll just say this, it's passable.

White Rice - is White Rice ;) another one of my favs :D I'd recommend this anywhere, anytime keke.

Maybe I'll go back soon with a smaller group to give it a fair chance ;)

Hmm... I think I'll have to move this over to the eats section.. it turned out to be more of a review than I expected :p

It's late now :( time to get some shuteye ;)

Monday, May 15, 2006

Sad Times...

To the few who have been checking up and not seeing updates, it's because I've taken up helping a friend with a project, studying up for my Father's work, and more recently on a more sad note my Grandmother has just passed away.

Her Viewing was tonight at 6-8pm. And the funeral will be tomorrow at 11am. I will try to get back on track once things slow down.

Regards...