Yeah! Its Friday again!!! Soccer Day.

Nothing like a week of hardwork getting paid of in Rest and relaxation on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I have been working the "Grave Yard" shift for the pass 4 days. Considering myself the zombie worker since I work from Sunset to before Sunrise and I sleep in the day time. Hmm relating myself to a zombie might be too degratory, at less I don't work mindlessly, aimlessly and slowly. Should call myself the Vampire Technician.

Sometimes the great thing about working here is time and again we get to drop tools and all work and go for sports on friday. "ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKE JACK OR JILL OR RICCARDO A DUMB BOY". Its back to the soccer field today for a game of soccer together with the man in blue (we senior technician) and our counterparts from the Ops side (the FEs and the ACS).

It have been so so long since I last kicked a ball on the pitch and the recent few games really shows how much skills I have already lost. No longer the "garang players" from my old team Sappie Jaws, no longer the brave goal keeper who rush and dive for ball and I lost my most important "Sotong Dribbiling" . A skill once claim to be so aggressive that no player dare to approach me but just stand at a safe distance, waiting for for to loss the ball (usually does). Just need more games to revive those skills that are hidden at the back of my head.

The weekend not only is a great time to rest but also a time to do some personnal work and development. I have so much workplace mini-project and ideas that I am either working on or just having thoughts and plan in my mind but so little time during regular working hours to make things happen. The thing about me is I am only willing and mostly glad to work on weekend on stuff I have inspiration and ambition to complete. If the bosses are going to push any extra job to me thats either not convinicing or just another organizational "BS" to me, rest assure nothing will be done outside my working hours. I would rather be an "Auto-starter" than a "Kick-Starter", finding and choosing my own work rather than having things stuff down my throat. So its rather a smart way to work- Look for something to work on that is going to be a contribution both to the organization and also to personnal development, keep yourself busy with it and probably 'Tai Chi" extra work away from me..

Weather Getting Cold

The Weather getting colder and colder as time flies,

I am staying at home watching CSI,

Great TV show thats worth a try,

Like making Korean Food later on for the first time,

Yesterday the temepature right here hit 9 degree celsius in the morning, the coldest temperature since I experience the last chilling in Canada Toronto. I woke up in the middle of the night to natures call and thank goodness my apartment is "fur" carpeted but unfortunately the toilet floor was cold wood and the toilet seat felt like Ice. I got to make a quick bombing run before my butt get freeze up.

Looks like beside the area I have been lying on the whole night, the rest of the bed is really cold too. Probably those springs underneath all the cushioning is cold steel. I got to lay my warm blanket on top of the bed and brought out the comforter to use.

Autumn is here and its not even winter yet. I am already feeling tired and slow because of the cold weather. Too much "Yin" energy in the air and for guys like me, we thrive of "Yang" energy. Too cold is no good. Time to make lots of curry, Tom Yam soup or any hot and spicy food the boost my body before winter.

Aim for the Star, hit the moon.

life does sometime force us to take a different route from our dreams. That does not mean that the dream chasing is over. Our job now could just be the stepping stone to achieve our dream or it could create a better dream than what you previously thought off. I always wanted to be Military pilot but end up as a Military Aircraft Technician. I got into my job because my family have a tough time during recession period to support my education in graphic design back than. However even if its not my dream, I got close to it. I get to work with the best people in the technical profession and I get to rub shoulders with our countries best Helicopter pilots (yup, the Chinook pilots are mostly old guards of RSAF with tons of experience from UH-1H, Fennec and Super Puma).

I have almost achieved my dream,I get to be there in the skies, in a military plane and in a military flight suit (they are just so cool). I am close to my ideal dream but I just could not grasp the last handle of the ladder, to be a pilot. My flight times are limited as a technician so I am planning to get even closer to my dream by doing an internal career switch to be a Flight Engineer after my tour of duty in United States. They get to wear flight suit everyday and get to fly all the time, althought not a pilot but equally important to ensure mission sucess. On the otherside of the job, beside all the cosmetic and external packaging of a Flight Engineer, is the challenge of making on the spot decision on the airworthiness of the helicopter and also supporting the pilot in all spectrum of cockpit management. From a simple aircraft start-up procedures to performing winching operation to the more critical emergency landing. The career is much more exciting and adventurous as I get to see all the frontline action, in the hotzone, wield the "sword" forge by our excellent logistic and make a much bigger value contribution to the organization.

If you can't achieve you dream, at less get close to it. Once an old saying "Aim for the star, at less you will hit the moon".

Hey Boss! Let me take a nap...

http://business.asiaone.com.sg/office/restrelax/20061019_001.html

Should boss allow workers/employee to sleep on the job? ABSOLUTELY but only limited to lunch time period. Don't you feel its difficult to get back to work with a full stomach and and a sleepy head due to lack of blood circulation to the brain. Most of the body blood circulate to the stomach to extract whatever good stuff or junk from the food that we take during lunch thus workers are not really at their 100% capacity right after lunch.

Rather than letting them drag on for the first 1 or 2 hours after lunch time and making slow or zero achievement or allowing them to hide in their cubicle pretending to work when actually they are dozing off in from of the PC, I think its a good idea to just give employee a 1 hour "digestion" nap on top of their 45mins lunch time.

Of course this kind of welfare sometimes could be subjected to abuse, thus the boss must ensure that everyone is back from dreamland and in efficient working mood. That means a spy camera installed in every cubicle and a 90inch Plasma TV screen (in place of a gold tap) right infront of the boss to make sure no one is catching any extra naps, an indication of worker not utilizing their 1 hour "digestion" nap and going for shopping instead. The monitoring system could be further refine with a "Promote or Fire" Artificial Intelligence system to advise our very busy Big Boss the Hard working Ants to promote, the Lazy sloth to demote and the Wayang King to fire...

-- Article by an employee who work in an enviroment with no plastic walls and 360 degree view exposure to his boss--

Post maiden Sushi Making report

Thought I should pen down my experience making sushi the first time. Thanks to the Internet, its always easy to pick up a new recipe and make something out of it. Here is a nice website to start any Sushi making adventure,

http://www.hub-uk.com/cooking/tipssushi.htm

At less I was able to make Home-made Sushi today even if it could not even match the quality of those you can get from the Super Markets "Edo Sushi" counter. It does take a long time to prepare and season all the ingredient, not to forget that the preparation of the Japanese rice required special attention too. The most time consuming part of making sushi is rolling it. After spending all the effort and time to prepare the rice, the filling and a well arrange table, the last thing on my mind is messing up when rolling the Sushi.


THE FILLING

First thing I did was to cut and de-seed the cucumbers and cook them for a short while in Olive oil. I am totally clueless what the Olive oil is gonna do to the taste of the cucumber but its something I learn from my Korean friend back during my Canada Holiday. Next, the crab sticks were cut into thinner slice and mixed with mayonnaise just to make it sweeter.Make some fried Tamago (japanese style fried egg) following the recipe found on the Internet. 4 Eggs, 2 table spoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Fried them in thin layers one at a time like making crepes.Even for a first timer, I still like to experiment with my cooking. Took out some pork hambuger platter, fried it and cut them into slices to be use as filling too.



Just the "filling" preparation took me almost 30mins.

THE RICE

I am sure the most important part about making Sushi is the rice preparation. The rice either makes the Sushi great or totally screw up the entire taste. Its the first thing you get to taste when you bit into the Sushi, like a first impression, it got to have the right taste and feel in the mouth. Usually I don't give much thoughts when cooking rice. Just wash it once or twice, fill it with the correct amount of water and dump the whole stuff into the rice cooker. For the Sushi making, I followed the instruction strictly and have to wash the rice till the water was clear and soak it in water for 30mins. Now the most amazing thing (or maybe its just that I never soaked a rice before) was the crackling sound coming from the rice when it is been soaked. Still a mystery to me...Are those the sound of the rice grain drinking water?

After 30mins of soaking. The rice is drained and fresh water is pour into it untill its about 5mm above the rice (it got to be leveled). Off it goes to the rice cooker for a 15 mins.

THE COCKUP

The rice was very well cooked. I took the rice pot out and added Sushi Seasoning to it while stirring the rice. Learn that I was suppose to keep fanning it while stiring the rice to cool it down quickly. However I hope I got three hands, 1 to hold the pot, 1 to stir and 1 to fan. Have to resort to using my mouth for the "Blow Job" instead, careful with every breath and puff not to add anything extra into the rice.




I was wondering why the rice was so wet even when it have cool down and there was a strong vinegar smell. Than it dawn to me that instead of adding 2 table spoon of Sushi Seasoning, I added 2 cup (thats like 20 table spoon). Almost an hour of effort from cooking to stirring and not to mention my breath and my stamina all wasted. Have to throw every grain away and start all over again. Thank god I already brought my own car cause I have use up all 3 cup of rice Pei Pei have given to me yesterday. Speed down to a Vietnam Super Market nearby to get a fresh packet of Japanese rice to start all over again.


Rolling Rolling Rolling On

Rice?, Check.....Fillings?, Check.... Nori Seaweed?, Check... Clean Sharp Knife?, Check... Clean hands?, Check....

A well prepared table means a good "Rolling" Start...

Thought I am going to encounter difficulty rolling the Sushi but was surprise that is not as hard as it seems thanks to the well illustrated instruction from the following website,

http://www.mediterrasian.com/cuisine_of_month_sushi.htm

Else I will still be figuring out how to roll using the bamboo mat without getting it stuck inbetween the rice and seaweeds. Althought the rolling was a no-brainer, getting a consistent, equal diameter Sushi each time is not easy. I spend almost 1 hours today rolling 12 rolls of uncut Sushi while listening to music, good enough for 2 days of lunch and dinner.

TASTE TEST

I don't think my Sushi taste bad at all but it does not taste excellent and world class will be a miracle. Its just taste like a normal Sushi. I manage to invite an independent taster to my home awhile ago to tried it out and the verdict was it taste pretty good especially the Sushi that I have put some pickles in it. I think the rice was well prepared but the fillings got to be improve. The pickles played an important role to enhance the the taste of the Sushi. It give them sharp taste to an otherwise ordinary, mild tasting Sushi.

The other stuff I did not put in my Sushi before rolling it was a bit of Wasabi. I'm sure, just a bit of it will bring out the taste of the Crab meat, eggs or cucumber in the Sushi since one is hot while the rest is mild. This is the natural Yin and Yang balance that should make a food taste better.

Just look at the rabbit beaming smile! It must taste good...

Tuesday is Sushi Day!

One of my favourite food craving is Japanese food, especially Sushi. Its not oily, looks really really clean even when raw and hence I think its very healthy food. Been trying all quality of Sushi from High-end restauraunt that cause a bomb to economical "SuperMarket" Sushi and now its time make some by myself. Sushi, home-madestyle. Couple of research to carry out on the Internet today before embarking on another Kitchen's Battle. Will be posting my after action report shortly...

Black and White

Mischevious in colors, Artistic in black and white

Loy Krathong

I remember hearing this Thai song while I was still in Primary school. Thanks to my long time friend and brother for sending this song to me over the e-mail... This is a song about the Loy Krathong Festival in Thailand. At every year full moon in Novemember night, the Thai will go to the canal (Klong) and each of them will float a "Krathong", a small palm size construction of flower, candle and 3 incense sticks on the water. This brings them good luck and make their wishes come true.

The Song in MP3

Wan phen deuan sip sawng
Nam gaw nawng dtem dtaling
Rao tang lai, chai ying
Sanook gan jing wan Loi Gratong!
Loi, Loi Gratong...Loi, Loi Gratong
Loi Gratong kan laew
Khor chern Nawng Gaew awk ma ramwong
Ramwong wan Loi Gratong
Ramwong wan Loi Gratong
Boon ja song hai rao sook jai
Boon ja song hai rao sook jai

November full moon shines,

Loy Krathong, Loy Krathong,

and the water's high in the river and local klong,

Loy Loy Krathong, Loy Loy Krathong,

Loy Krathong is here and everybody's full of cheer,

We're together at the klong,

Each one with his krathong,

As we push away we pray,

We can see a better day.

Bowling, Not just a game.

Joined Mr Clive, Gary, Pei Pei and Edwin (and his family) for a night a bowling at AMF Bowling at Irving. Half way through the game while struggling to keep a consistent performance at the lane, it suddenly dawn to me....

Playing bowling is like going through our daily life. In the game of bowling, to be able to score you got to get that "sweet spot", the right posture, the right positioning on the board, the right movement towards the line, the right aiming point (on the arrows or dots) and the proper release technique and swing of the arms. Now getting all the "Right" give the "Sweet spots" and that create good score and strikes. The problem is, how can I be consistent? I was hitting the mark most of the time in one game and missing the bulls eye several times in another. Its challenging to be consistent all the time and I guess I just need more practice especially my release technique.

The game of bowling is about consistency when you get the "sweet spot" so is our daily life. We got friends, girlfriends, family, wife/husband, our boss and our colleagues. How can me and you give all this people around us and in our life a good treatment and impression when we know that is often difficult to satisfy everyone cause its always easier to find fault in others than goodness. Like learning bowling intially and missing the mark, getting people to trust, appreciate and like you in the beginning is hard.

I think every person you met is like a different bowling bowl. When you knew the person long enough, its like understanding the weight and profile of a bowling ball and when you get along well with that person, its the "SWEET SPOT", getting the strike consistently all the time. Than came a different person, a different ball game and you got to figure out that "SWEET SPOT" all over again, sometime it take a long time, sometime the both of you click immediately, sometime its a disaster. There are times you can click with a certain boss, score point and get promoted but there are other time you just miss all the points with other boss and get a foggy future in the company

Figuring out a person "SWEET SPOT" is just the beginning. How do you maintain that CONSISTENCY all the time? Many times in a relationship, its all a bed of roses during courtship but a Pond that frozen after marriage. Funny thing is both party hit the 'SWEET SPOT' consistently during courtship and than after marriage, some kept missing the mark unconciously. What once was a favourite bowling ball have suffer wear and tear and that could well reason why the sweet spot changes. All that is needed is some readjust to to get that right spot again or do some polishing to restore its condition. Relationship need maintenance too just like a once beautiful bowling ball. Its better to maintain it well than repair it when its broken. The ball is in your court, your got control over it... are you going to strike or miss?

Help from others is essential in life

Crazy Working hours on Friday the 13th

Wow! (I am sounding sarcastic here) We are going to work at 7.30am later on in the morning. Guess what, I started work at 12pm today and got home only at 12.10am. Yet again, I wonder if the bosses know that we actually ceased work pretty late this evening. Oh well, its the rescheduled "MEET THE BIG BOSS" session in the morning and full attendance is expected like the premeire of StarWar Episode One.

A matter of making an impression? Maybe, but I am not going to speculate. The timing could have been better planned especially when we have two different shift working. I can't understand why the session could not be plan two hours before the day shift call it a day and the night shift coming in early to attend the session together with the day shift.

Sometime its frustrating to be in such situation. I love my job but occasionally things just don't fit in right. Sometime things are not convincing at all but its the Military and we carry out orders first and question later (bit the bullet). When it come to work or instruction that are not convincing, I feel half-hearted or even annoyed about carrying it out, like a soldier gotta chiong at order even with a leopard tank pointing its barrel down the killing field. How the hell the soldier gonna question the order when he will either be maimed by the tank or worst, killed. I seriously support the notion of CONVINCING BEFORE CONDUCTING.

Its Friday and the last day of work for the week, just gonna make that final push for the week before R&R in the evening.

Don't rush me!!!

Bloody hell, just because you guys want to go back home early that does not means you can rush me and my guys with our work? Wanna go home? Please have the pleasure to go ahead and stop interuppting us at work. Our heart, mind and soul + physical strenght have been pour into our objective for the day and there is little room for nonsense. So please, leave if you can't wait and leave us in peace.

Nearly snapped today when I realise that all this rushing is because we are going to have a "MEET THE BIG BOSS" session tomorrow at 12pm and I am the less interested in it. No wonder everyone want to get home early. Now, did anyone even briefed all of us initally? I only knew it at the 11th hours. Could use some mental preparation here, at less. Hmm... will our question be answer satisfactory by BIG BOSS, will there be any concrete follow-up action to address our concern, will it be just another Wayang? Whatever it is, I just going to sit in and watch the drama unfold tomorrow.

Riccardo! Stop procastinating and start cleaning!!

Suppose to wake up at 8.30am this morning for breakfast and my long due morning run. Thanks to the super long weekend since last Friday, I have not been going for my routine run for almost 4 days. Very uncomfortable feeling to be out of a healthy fitness routine I have set myself for so many years. Unfortunately, it was raining cat and dogs this morning and many part of Dallas and surrounding county are experiencing flash flood. Temperature is cold at 22 degrees C making me wanna just laz of in my bed further. Woke up at 9.30am instead...

Was brushing my teeth and washing up and notice all the soap scum, dirt and stains in the bath tub on my left, toilet bowl to my left and those red algae growing on the wash basin right in front of me. Seems like its almost 4 months I last did any cleaning up of the bathroom. Everytime it was "Ok, I will clean it tomorrow or no time now but I will definately clean on Sunday". Procastinating and procastinating... Thanks to the rain and the cold temperature outdoor, I decided its either today or never. Man...those stain are really tough but thank god I brought ceramic and tiles cleaner in the past. Still need much effort and "elbow grease" to just to scrub those harden stains out from where it does not belongs to. The toilet bowl is one hell of a chaos with Algae, urine stain from poor aiming and unidentified stain here and there. Makes me wonder how I manage to live through it. Glad to have taken action today and not leaving it untill the next month, year, decades or century. A sparkling clean tub, bowl and basin and super reflective mirror.

The thing about cleaning is if you do it weekly, it does not take much effort at all. Thats call preventive maintenence. If you do it yearly, you gonna need all the stain remover, scrubber, 500 calories, sweaty body and much curse and swear to fix things up. Thats Corrective maintenence or in more close to heart term, CWO (Corrective Work Order).

Nothing like a good sleep and nice clean bathroom after 4 days of holiday at San Marcos and San Antonio. Just right after my holiday in Canada, it was the long weekend holiday. Talk about blessing man... Highlight of my weekend trip was the "Shop Till Drop" experience at San Marcos factory outlet. A Big outdoor shopping area that looks like a military fort or castle! And there was San Antonio where the famous riverwalk is plus the "Shamu" the Killer whale from Seaworld San Antonio. Please visit my online photogallery at to see all the pictures I took during my trip...uncensored.

Click here for picture of San Marcos shopping and San Antonio trip







Click here for picture taken from SeaWorld San Antonio

Currently Listening to: Kim Hyun Jung - Korean Pop/Rock

I just love the style and the the powerful voice Kim Hyun Jung got. Although my Korean volcabulary is very limited and I don't understand the single words of her song, the Rhytm and tempo sometime is all that is needed to enjoy a great song. Thats why we got people listening to song in language like Japanese, Korean, Thai, Cantonese, Hokkien, Tamil and Malay. Music, Rhytm and tempo usually dictate if the song is gonna be nice or not.

Popular Korean Pop/Rock Singer- Kim Hyun Jung

"Seperation Of Heart" by Kim Hyun Jung
in tune with a awesome Tae Kwon Do video clips.

How many time have you listen to popular white Rapper Eminiem and understood what he was singing without you looking at the lyrics? I bet sometimes you just lost what he was singer admits the torrent of words coming out of his mouth. Yet he got style in his rapping and we sometime just love pumping his song out of our audio system at home and in the car. One of the song he written and sung was "Stan", a story told in rap fashion about a Fan so obsessed with the rap singer that he got himself, his wife and his unborn child killed in a car crash. This is one of his song that I actually could listen without lyrics.

Popular United States white rapper - Eminem "Slim Shady"

"Stan" by Eminem, my favourite song

Feat with Dido who sung "Thank You"

Car shopping adventure and I am not handicapped

Told myself that once I got back from my Holiday, I really need to get a car and not continue to be hampered by lack of transportation or in degratory term, HANDICAPPED. Thanks to the Internet, I did most of my shopping research online. So will it be a Ford Focus ZX3 hatchback or a Mitsubishi Eclipse? American budget car vs Japanese street sports car?

VS

The Ford Focus ZX3 was initially my 1st choice and the 1st vehicle I view during my two days car shopping. It looks like a sporty and fun looking car in picture untill I actually went down to the dealership and take a closer look. Forget about the scratches on the exterior body or the cigarette burn mark sprinkled around the seat and forget about how great it looks on the exterior, the shape the profile and the nice butt it got. The passenger seats is just too small and everything in the car is mechanical. You got no power window, no power side windows, no power seat and basically no power for the car rated at 2.0L during the test drive. And at at pricey US$6200 before tax and licensing, it better to take the money else where and get a better creature comfort car with power. Lots of opinion about Ford vehicles for its poor reliability or lack of style. Ford Focus ZX3 is one of the best looking in my opinion but the performance and interior space and features just shamed its look. And thinking back that I use to drive a Ford car a few months back and trouble I went through... I say...NO MORE FORD...lets go to Japan instead.

Enter the Mistsubishi Eclipse, one the popular street sport coupe (2 door) car in US market. Very popular with street racing as seen in 'THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS" due to the abundance of aftermarket parts to "zeng" your car. With a Japanese engineered inline-4 engine rated at 2.4L, the power in drive is abundance! Got enough power to overtake on the highway instead of been seating ducks while lane changing. Scouted one priced at US$6429, a black 2001 Eclipse RS model , own by 1 lady driver. It was a flawless piece of machine! There was no dent, no scratches and all the panel lines up perfectly on the inside and outside. Next was the test drive that shows that it have taken the fine lady characteristic of its previous owner. The vibration was lower, the suspension meets all the bump with little complains and the power of acceleration makes me goes "YES, I got to buy this baby". The black stallion roar with strength as it accelerate aggressively from 1st to 3rd gear. Than came the grinding noise at 4th gear, 4000 rpm. It came from the front transmission and its sound like metal grinding. The sound disappear suddenly as the car went to 5000rpm. Such an Anti-Climax, its like when you are watching a romance film and just before the long lost couple kiss each other, the cinema blackout. Ended the test drive with a sigh of disappointment. After inspection by a mechanic, it turns out that the transimission case got a crack in it. The deal is off.... what was a fine lady turn out to be a disaster in disguise.

Went to the next car dealer and the sales guy was Neal. Very friendly over the phone. Shows me exactly the same car but priced at US$6400 but its silver this time round. It does not have a flawless bodywork like the "Fine lady" I saw earlier on and interior panels are not all well secured with some missing screws here and there. Been in the mechanical job for few years, this are just small little, non critical problem that can be easily fix by DIY. The Engine and the Transmission are the critical component for any vehicle and of course power. The test drive was excellent. It brakes right and it accelerated without hiccups. Goes through every gear from low to high rpm with no strange noise out of the engine or transmission and the handling and high speed was "finger strength" indicated a good wheel balancing and alignment. Althougt the milege is pretty high at 110,000 miles, its just indicate that this year 2001 car have been on the highway more often rather than a lot of stop and go traffic that result in more wear and tear for the engines and transmission.

Young car with high miles= less stop and go traffic (city traffic), less wear and tear
Old car with high miles= Mix highway and city traffic...higher wear and tear
Old car with low miles= Some one tample with the odometer

I think I am just too exhausted and tired of looking around for better option and holding on to this deal. Furthermore the car have a clean history in the CARFAX record. So decided to just sit down with the salesman and negotiated the price to US$6200 . Listed down all the individual, little, little flaw of the car to arrived at such price. You gonna squeeze every drop from this blood thirsty sales man. Shook hands and sign the paper work and out of the sudden, we notice that the VIN or Vehicle Identification Number on the sales document did not tally with those on the VIN number on the CARFAX record. I nearly got myself into trouble for signing something I am not suppoe to buy(cause I sign the sales for the wrong car) and nearly driving a car away that I did not even pay for (cause I did not sign the sales for the right car)!!! Its like taking the wrong baby from the hospital.

Thanks to Dave sharp eyes, it saved me much trouble next time. I was too focus on getting the deal close that this details just slip my eyes. Learn a lesson, to be in control of the sales and not to be more Kan Cheong than the sales man to close the deal...watch the details. I was pretty pissed at that moment for I got to take the trouble to go through the whole paper work procedures again and the expression on the salesman was one of frustration. Whats make the whole episode even more exhaustive and frustrating was when the correct VIN number was keyed into the CARFAX website it indicated the vehicle history was in an accident before and been repaired at a facilities. A vague statement on the record, never mentioning if its major or minor bumper to bumper collision.

Base of the test drive and the visual inspection I conducted earlier with Dave and for the fact that I am not even able to get a used car with US$6100 in Singapore, let alone one without a single accident on Singapore roads... I decided to go ahead with deal but cornered the salesman in the boxing ring with a US$5400 offer for that accident record and his folly that almost got me into trouble. Balls in his court, see the anxiety on his face. Salesman retreated to the manager office and spoke to the boss and return with a US$5800 offer. He even got the cheek to ask me if I were to be kind enough to make it US$5900 for him. For the trouble I went through. NO. Settle for US$5800, S$9160 knowing that its as hard as a bargain for him and I am tired too but not too tired to check the details of the paperwork process to close the deal. After one bad episode, once bitten twice shy.

So heres my baby till the end of my tour of duty in United States. The 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS. Inline 4 Engine rated 150hp stock condition. Nick name- Unicorn...

My Welcoming home

Just when I thought its gonna be a very tone down day for me after returning to Dallas, my Home away from Home, I was invited to a Steamboat dinner at Encik Pao and Hwa Chuan home in the evening. Ha ha, just when one holiday trip for me have ended, here comes another exciting evening of food and booze. It was such a coincidence that it sound like a welcoming home dinner for me. Settled all my dirty laundry, clear a bit of travel garbage I have stuff in my backpack, clean my laptop and a short afternoon nap... Woke up at 6pm and met up with Dave and Leng Chuan for our trip to Encik Pao's apartment.

Big crowd at our destination! It looks like a big family reunion dinner to me. We got a great company that night from our Big Boss, RT man, AirFrame man and small represntative from RC. Good thing we brought enough liqour for the night to cater for the wonderful crowd we have.

12 bottles of Bacardi Breeze, a bottle of Jack Daniel Whiskey and some Coca Cola as mixer cost just US$42. And thats cheap considering that a bottle Jack Daniel Whiskey can easily cost 100 bucks in Singapore. Realise there is more alcohol at the apartment! OMG....with this among, tonight comfirm 不醉不归。

Alcholic drink is just a side dish compare to the impressive array of food we have for steam boat!Fish, prawn, sotong, chicken, pork, balls, veges, abalone to be cooked in a pot of Hot and sour soup and plain soup for the less adventurous diner. Usually I only have steamboat dinner of Chinese New Year reunion so I was not a strict follower of the "Steam Boat" rule. "Not to mix cook food with fresh food" and "If you mix, wait for the uncooked stuff to be cooked first before eating. This is to prevent contamination of cooked food from raw food. I learnt it the hard way when I thrown some raw prawns into the steam boat when all the food in it was already well done.

The dinner gave me a feeling of warm and togetherness with all my great colleague. We usually only meet in the workplace and all the talks was about work work and more work. Food is always sure way to built bonding and team spirits other than all the head honcho encouragement at work. Unlike a regular dinner of cooked food, for Steamboat Everyone have to stick around the table for a long period of time to wait for the food to be cooked and the waiting period is the talk cock period for all of us. Ultimately, its the company of friends that count rather than the food. Just look at those pictures below, the big crowd around the dinner table.

Dinner ended with a few rounds of drinking and games of Russian Roulette to gamble on who is gonna drink the shot glass worth of raw Jack Daniel Whiskey, unmixed. Special feature on the shot glass is a number range on each of it. If the ball fall on the number within the range you got, you have to drink. Probability means everyone got a shot of liqour and boy was it really really strong. Did not realise it was actually 40% alchohol untill I downed my 4th cup and together a bottle of Bacardi Breeze earlier on. Man....I was half-knocked out before I knew what the hell I was drinking.

Our dear Boss, Maj Wong althought high on Alchohol, never fail to control his man. They say when you are high on alcohol, you will be your natural self. He ensured there is drivers (those who did not drink) to send all the half knocked and full-knocked out guys home. Thats LEADERSHIP...the control of situation. For me? I am very very very quiet after drinking... but if there is Karaoke, I will sing a song for the great company I have that night.

Reached home earlier thanks to Dave and slept like a pig....with a headache.... Drink lots and lots of water before bedtime to prevent a hangover the next day.







SMO on a Watermelon and Dave smiling....













Eric and Eng Wee busy preparing the soup and so is Hwa Chuan, dashing back and forth in the background.












From left to right, Encik Bao, Gary, Radio Girl Pei Pei and Leng Chuan. What is Radio girl chattering about???












A feast fit for the king













No one is gonna sit tonight. More space in the stomach to glup down all the food.












Hot pots of steam boat with a big warm crowd. Does the mirror make the crowd even bigger?














An over passionate diner causing the overflow. 'Yang Tze River flooding the Nile River".











Contestant for the Russian Roulette Drinking session.














DRINK UP!!!!













Little glass, Strong stuff.












Riccardo, red like a roast pig and half knocked out.

Last Night in Toronto

I Love the grass! Nice, Clean and cooling.

6.45am, I have smoothly cleared through the United States custom at Pearson Airport and right now waiting for time to pass right outside Flight AC1044. Boarding starts at 8.30am and the plane should see no delay rolling out to the run way and taking off at 9.05am as scheduled. Have been spending the night at the airport since 11.35am yesterday and sleeping on the very uncomfortable and cold seats Pearson Airport have to offer. It was not a good sleep, marked with leg strain, neck strain and butt strain plus a bit of a cold spell. I don’t know was it God’s calling or just plain coincidence sleep walk, I carry all my barang barang and end up sleeping at a inter-faith religion Chapel located in the airport, a place for all religion to conduct their prayer session but was clearly a Christian Chapel.

Spend my last night in Toronto at Korean Town, just walking distance from Christie subway station. Thanks to Sung, I guess I caught a bit of the Korean craze but more to Food and language instead of Drama. One of the girl staying at the backpacker hostel was working at “Umji Bunsik Korea Restauraunt” while concurrently taking her English lesson in Toronto. Together with Sung, Jessie Chan (Hong Kong girl) and our very good French friend Christion, we headed to “Umji Bunsik” for what could be consider our Farewell Dinner …sob sob sob…so “Se Bu De”. Was really impressed with Christion chopsticks skills!!! I still remember Bahar going through the apprentice stage of chopstick use during the early day of my holiday contrasting with Christion great dexterity with Chinese chopsticks on the last night of my stay in Toronto. It was a great dinner in my opinion not only in the food but in the company of a few like-minded travelers. At less Christion is now starting the appreciate the exciting taste of Korean food.

One of the many Korean food stall at Korean town, "Umji Bunsik".

Sung, Christion, Me and Jessie Chan (Jackie Chan sister?)

Before I left on the long ride on public transport to the Airport, our gang head back to the Hostel for some Rice Wine, Sor-Ju. Sung, full name Park Sung Gu, 35 years old Teacher will be moving out to another Hostel on Sunday but will continue to stay for a month in Toronto. Jessie Chan, the Hong Kong HSBC banking girl is taking her English course right now in Toronto and will be moving out to stay in China Town with her friend on Saturday. Our good Frenchman Christion, 20 years old Para-medic will continue to stay in a private room at Canadiana Hostel for a month while taking English course at Toronto. Manage to meet up with Bahar for one last time and offer a toast of wine with him. I will always remember him as the man who shown me the unsanitized, not in Tourist brochures side of Toronto. Bahar have found a temporary job as a telemarketer but is still working his way to be a language Linguist for the Americans and Arab. Might see him with the US troop in Middle East somewhere in the near future.

Not forgetting Brett King, the rollerblade professional who I just met today. Born in 1984 in Singapore and moved to Australia when he was 12. Been getting sponsorship to travel around the world for Rollerblade competition and teaching young kids around the world. Inspiring to see people doing what they love and getting paid. Check out his video clip right HERE

French man Roman on the left and Bret King on the right.

Bart, former Holland Marine’s who have seen action in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq. Angus, Harry, Gareath and Melissa from the English island for the great time at the local Karaoke pub. Beautiful and young Anna, a Russian descent of Khuzestan origin for the great company at the zoo and showing me the really quiet and reserve side of an otherwise stereotyped crazy and wild Caucasian women.

Kawan from the English Islands.

Anna and me at the Zoo.

Than there was Hugh, the loud mouth but super hilarious Irish guy I clicked with immediately in term of pure voice firepower. And here comes Roman from French, a season traveler in China, looks like Tony blair but talk like Goofy and an interesting fellow to chat with. Always call my name Riccardo in a very Italiano way.

The tourist attraction in Toronto I learn is just the sponge cake, this people are all the Vanilla, strawberry and icing that give so much flavor to it. Although this have been the highest spending trip so far for any holiday I have (S$1000++) in total, getting to experience the very relax nature of Toronto, experiencing staying under one roof, out of my comfort zone with all non-Singaporeans and linking my International friendship bridge with a few great friends is all worth it. Now I need not worry about getting a local guide in Korea, French and Hong Kong.

Hugged Jessie, Sung and Christion farewell after the last cup of Sor-Ju and made my way out to Osgoode subway station. Sung gave me a pirated version of Korean movie “Typhoon” as a farewell gift, a really great gesture of friendship from him. Met Bill, the Canadian Chinese working at the Hostel and bidded farewell to him as well while assuring him that I will look for this Hostel again the next time I visit Toronto, which will be a road trip. Off a step of the stairs from the Hostel and out onto the 9 degrees weather back to United States.

Farewell Canada!!!

I have caught the travel bug…. and I am intending to go on a road trip from the South Western coast of United States heading all the way North to Canada British Colombia where many say it is a very beautiful countryside scenery place.