New York New York

After more than 3 months going missing in action, I am back and I am writing in my room in New York City. Can't believe that I am back in the US after 5 years away. Had a long flight (24 hours) to reach New York and spent a good part of my afternoon walking ard the city. Had previously spent 3 days in New York and I did not had such a good experience.

Living in mid-town is totally a different story (can see the photos here). Starting work tomorrow and will keep a regular update on life in New York City. Enjoying Sunday night football for the 1st time in 5 years (not forgetting 60 minutes on a sunday nite too). :-)

Long long Hiatus

Time really flies and we are already into the 2nd half of the year! 2008 seems like a very eventful year and it will get more eventful for me especially in the later half of the year. Just finished my CFA level 2 and it was a nightmare studying for it.

Some updates, I have changed my portfolio at work. Will move away from managing rubbish to managing climate change. More exactly is dealing with the international aspects of climate change such as negotiating for the next Kyoto Protocol, etc. Definitely lots of travelling on the cards and really excited by the new challenge.

Will be heading to Phuket for a short 2 day break on the 17th of 19th July, am already looking forward to it!

More updates coming soon....

Japan Part 1

Just wanted to share some pictures from my recent trip to Japan! This time round we decided to venture northern Japan since the sakura had decided to open much earlier than planned. It involved us taking a 6.5 hour train ride from Tokyo to Hakodate in Hokkaido. The shinkasen was fantastic and it took us 3 hours only to get to Hachinohe which is the terminal station for the shinkasen. It took us another 3.5 hours to get through to Hakodate through the world's longest undersea tunnel. Hakodate was fantastic esp the nightview on Mt Hakodate. Was not able to take many good photos due to my trembling hands but this is the best shot I managed to get. Definitely deserved the "Best 3 night views in the World" Award. (The other 2 are Hong Kong and Naples)

Despite the freezing cold conditions, the view was definitely breath-taking. After the slow descent, we proceeded to our first dinner in Hokkaido. Their famous seafood bowl. My first bowl on the right consisted of scallops, crabs and sea urchin. It was really good and it seems like the seafood were only caught in the morning.

The next morning, we proceeded to the morning market. It was not as bustling as Tsukiji market in Tokyo but the variety of goods sold were very good as well. Giant crabs were the order of the day and but they were quite expensive. What caught our eye was live squid. We decided to try one and we had to literally fished one out before it was sashimi-ed for us. The squid texture was unlike anything I had tasted before. Crunchy, oozing of freshness. Definitely a must try for everyone going to Hokkaido!

We went to a nearby park, Onuma-koen. 20 mins ride away from Hakodate. It is listed as one of the best new views of Japan and it definitely deserved the title. With a snow-capped volcano in the backdrop and a lake, it was definitely worth the trip.

After that, a rewarding dinner of soup curry ended our last night in Hokkaido.

We then proceeded to Sendai and Matsushima which I will post more on it later on.

Pictures are as usual found on my multiply website: cheewing.multiply.com.

Happy viewing!

Life in general

It's been harder and harder to pen my thoughts on this blog. Somehow, have lost the interest in blogging and penning my thoughts. So much has happened in the past few months but just found it hard to get past the hurdle of writing all of it down.

Am happy at least.....

Japan Again!

Am off to Japan tomorrow morning to follow the sakura blossom....hope to be able to catch some of it. Will be heading north of tokyo this time, visiting Hakodate, Sendai, Matsushima and some shopping in Tokyo...

More updates when I return in a week's time!

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have been a loyal customer of JetStar Asia since the inaugural launch of JetStar in December 2004. Since its entry, JetStar has impressed by differentiating itself from its budget competitors by its start up plans and its impeccable customer service. In the fast-growing travel market for airlines, these values have given JetStar a competitive edge and winning it the Best Low Cost Carrier Award.

However, my impression of JetStar Asia is now completely marred by an unfortunate incident. I booked a flight to Phuket for travel between 31st Jan and 3rd Feb in November. However, on the 13th of December, I was informed that my outbound flight was rescheduled for 1st Feb without any explanation. I had to change my hotel bookings incurring a USD15 administrative fee from the agent.

To add on to my disappointment and problems, I was once again told of another schedule change, this time just less than 2 weeks before my flight. Given the short notice, all the hotels are fully booked and I had to incur even more charges to cancel my hotel reservations and my trip altogether. This is infuriating as I was looking forward to a good break, not to mention the inconvenience, frustration and time spent to see to all these changes.

To add on further to my annoyance, I was told by your customer service representative, Mr Edwin Tan that I will only receive the full refund 3 months later (This call was made on 31^st Jan 08 at 9.50am). The explanation given was that their processing time by JetStar will take 1 month and processing time by the bank to refund to my credit card will take 2 months. This is unacceptable when Citibank operates JetStar’s corporate account and my credit card account. Just for your information, my hotel cancellation refund was credited within a month!

When I asked to speak to the Supervisor of Mr Edwin Tan, I was told that his supervisor Ms Krish is in a meeting and asked me to call back later to the hotline to look for her. This irresponsible behaviour and poor follow-up irks me and just shows that she has something to hide by not responding promptly with her own initiative to resolve an issue that arose from your own organisation.

I believe that I am not the only passenger in this situation. Could JetStar explain the multiple changes in flight schedule and the short notice given? Moreover, Jetstar should compensate customers who had to incur additional costs arising from the changes in itinerary. I had tried to contact Jetstar to seek compensation for my cancelled trip but the Reservation Desk told me that they were unable to provide any compensation.

With the stiff competition in low-fares airlines, Jetstar needs to look at the reliability and quality of service provided, if it wants to distinguish itself from the other providers and retain the confidence of its customers. I was also told that the only method to feedback was to write in. Jetstar should consider an email or internet feedback system for the convenience and better management of customers’ expectations and problem resolution.

I really hope JetStar can do something salutary before I myself and potentially many others lose total confidence in the carrier. Cheap airfare will not ensure repeated business but exemplary service will.

I am still alive!

It's been an eventful January thus far and that I find it difficult to pen down my thoughts and the events. But thus far the most memorable event was the Scarlett. Managed to book a night at the Scarlett hotel, a boutique hotel in Tanjong Pagar.

I must say the furniture in the hotel was stunning. Lots of red velvet surrounding the room...unfortunately no pictures but you can get a rough sense from the website. In addition, there's a wonderful restaurant called Desire in the hotel and the decor is similar to the hotel, fantastic! The food was lovely (will try to add the photos once I figure out how to work my bluetooth on my computer :p) Overall, a nice place to spend the weekend in the centre of Singapore.

Update: Photo of the food we atePS: In return for the Scarlett stay, I got the chance to stay at the Siloso Beach Resort last weekend. The room was much bigger than that at the Scarlett and it even had a rooftop jacuzzi. Though it was raining pretty heavily on that Sunday afternoon, we still manage to soak in the jacuzzi in the evening before our dinner. Dinner was at Il Lido, one of Sentosa's famous restaurant and I really liked the food a lot. Much better than at Desire and the ambience was fantastic, facing the sea, feeling the sea breeze.

A good substitute overall considering that our Phuket trip was cancelled due to Jetstar!

Watches!

Been rather fascinated with watches recently as my colleague has a watch shop in town. Was even more interested when I was in Vietnam oggling at all the fake watches. Hmmm....very tempted to get an automatic watch and have been fascinated by the design, etc.

My friend convinced me to get Oris, a reputable Swiss brand and at a much more affordable price.

Lovely!

Vietnam!

Was away in Ho Chi Minh City from the 24th Dec to 27th Dec. Was rather surprised of the distance and the time it took to get us there, a mere 1 hr 40 mins, even faster than going to Bangkok.

Day 1: Christmas Eve
We got through the customs alright and we were glad that there was a airport pickup in a comfortable SUV. The first thought that came to my mind was: "Wow there's hell a lot of motorcycles!" In addition, there were no traffic rules to speak off as well. The best way to cross the road is to actually close your eyes. Magically the motorbikes will move away for u but dun bet on that for the cars and buses.

Had lunch and dinner at Pho 2000. Apparently, it's a chain restaurant specialising in vietnamese beef noodles, aka pho. The restaurant is famous as apparently Bill Clinton had stopped by for a bowl of noodles and the restaurant was full of his pictures.

After a filling lunch, we went to Ben Thanh market. Similar to Chatuchak in Bangkok but cooler, the market is huge with everything you will ever need. Shirts, t-shirts, tailors, food, watches, bedsheets, etc, etc are all there. Managed to do some shopping and got myself a nice fake Breitling watch! Somemore it's automatic :-)

Ended the day with dinner at Pho2000 as all the restaurants were booked for Christmas Eve.

Day 2: Christmas Day
After a good nite sleep at the Bi Saigon, we headed out of town to explore the famous Cao Dai Temple and the Cuchi Tunnels. The Cao Dai Temple was really an interesting visit. The whole religion of Cao Dai was interesting as it's the combination of many different religion. The temple was grand and designed in an interesting way with dragons and bright colours all round.

Our next stop was the Cu Chi Tunnels. Amazingly 250km of tunnels were dug in the area during the Vietnamese war and the size of the tunnels were ridiculously small. Not for the fainted hearted!

The bus ride was pretty bumpy as well and it took us forever before we reach our destination. Interesting tour at a very affordable US$6 per person. Well worth the experience!

Day 3: Boxing Day
Woke up early as there were plenty to cover in our last proper day in HCMC. Went to the Reunification Palace where it was there where South Vietnam surrendered and reunited the country.

Tried to go to the War Remnants Museum but it was closed during lunchtime. Had lunch at the upscale Temple Club. The food was excellent and for the price we paid, it was definitely worth it! We decided to head off to the spa soon after that. After much convincing, I did the foot scrubbing, parafin treatment (read soaking your feet in hot wax) and thai massage. Total cost - US$25! Very good value for money!

Day 4: Last Minute Shopping!
Decided to visit a salon for a haircut and we read in Lonely planet about Toni & Guy, no not the famous american brand but a salon opened by a Vietnamese-American named Toni. It took them nearly an hour to cut my hair as it included shampooing, facial, massage and finally the hair cut. An interesting experience to say the least.

Last minute shopping and home sweet home!

Looking forward to my next holiday in Phuket on 1st Feb! :-)

Spa Retreat!

Took the opportunity of a public holiday to enjoy a spa retreat! Before the retreat, we went to watch the movie "Enchanted" and it was really good. A mix of humour and good special effects had us roaring with laugher....

Now more abt the spa retreat. The spa is situated in Cathay (you can guess roughly which one issit) and it had a spa pool (read jacuzzi). We spent half an hour in the jacuzzi and it was heavenly. The pool was big and they even had Ribena for us next to the tub. The jacuzzi was followed by an hour massage and I must say that this is one of the best massage I ever gotten before. I am usually not a person that likes massage cos of the pressure on my muscles. However, I enjoyed this a lot cos there was a lot of loosening up of your joints, etc. Really worth it!

A well-planned holiday! Can't wait for the Christmas break coming up!

3 years of agony

Have been pondering for some time but decided to do it after much thought. Yes, I am talking about putting on dental braces. People have been asking me why do I want to do something that are usually done by teenagers but I did not have the opportunity to do it when I was younger.

It's a long process and there is an operation coming up in 1.5 years time. Am worried about the length of time and the operation but I decided that I should do something soon before my teeth gets wore out.

Thanks for all the encouragement people have been giving me. It feels like you have been hit by a baseball bat after the first few days of putting on the braces but I am fine now. Slowly eating back normal food again.

3 years and counting.....

Nation Serving

Will be away for reservist for the next 3 weeks....time to put on my greens again to serve the nation. Hopefully a good break from work!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

Took the chance to catch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang last night on their world tour. First caught it in 2005 when I had a free afternoon in London. I remembered wondering around Oxford Street and initially wanted to walk to Haymarket to catch Phamton but was too lazyy and chanced upon the Palladium at Oxford Street. Was intrigued by the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and thus decided to watch it. The interesting part was that I managed to get the best seats in the house for the cheapest guy due to the friendly guy at the counter. In addition, the lead was played by Brian Conley, a famous British comedian and he was excellent. Enjoyed myself thoroughly.

2.5 years later, the same musical came to Singapore and I had no hesistation to watch it again. It was Gala night yesterday but there was nothing fantastic or extraordinary. The musical was fantastic and the songs were very "sing-able". Especially love the comedian act from the Vulgarians. There was this scene where they said whether they could be English and still vulgar and the answer was that that would be American.

For fans of musicals, go catch it before the end of the run in December. Definitely worth your money!

Bridal Show

Attended my first bridal show at Traders' Hotel last Saturday. Was a pretty last minute thing but thought it might be interesting to go take a look. The show included a fashion show from one of the wedding gown providers but the highlight was the food. It was essentially like high tea that includes things such as sharks' fin soup, lobster bisque, interesting salads, sushi, steamed groupa, roast chicken, duck, etc, etc. The dessert menu was also superb that included nonya kuehs, mango pudding, cakes, rice ball dumplings, etc.

And the bonus was that it cost $11 per person. Definitely worth the value. The search continues for more shows! :-)

Who is this?

Apologies for the long long hiatus. Got back from Japan on the 10th of Oct but it has been a whirlwind 2 weeks. Have done up my photos for my Japan trip. For those interested, you can take a visit at http://cheewing.multiply.com/photos/album/18/Japan_2007_

Will attempt to tell more stories about the trip but the trip was really great. A lot of good food (I think you would have guessed from the pictures taken) and great scenary.

At Asakusa, we chanced upon some celebrities as there were a whole load of people following them. Not sure who they are but took some pictures for others to identify....any clues?

Japan here I come!

Will be away to Japan on holidays for 11 days starting this saturday. Sianz...a 6 am flight but looking forward to it very much....really need a good break.

More updates when I return!

JBJ

Ever heard about the play "The campaign to confer the public star on JBJ" The play first played last year and was at first curious but the title. The play returned this year and I managed to catch it on Tuesday. I must say the first part of the play is smart. JBJ, as everyone knows, is a opposition leader in Singapore and thus his name is tabooed and worse, who would have thought of conferring him a Singapore award?

Thus, to create the sense of curiosity, a fictional JBJ was created as the Secretary General of WP, Wildlife Preservation. Smart play with a lot of interesting reference to everyday's issue like PM wearing a maroon shirt at the National Day Rally, etc, etc. The second act also takes a poke at the civil service....rather amused by it.

The main plus of the play is that it is only performed by 2 person. In the first act, the guy is the main character with the female lead (Pam Oei) taking on multiple roles. The roles are reverse in the second act.

Simply fabalous...go watch it before the end of the run!

No more earthquakes pls

For most people, the earthquakes over the past week or so had been rather terrifying due to the tremors experienced in certain parts of Singapore. For me, I experienced some form of swaying in my office as I am situated on the 24th floor. Last thursday morning, I could feel the tremor as I was in the bathroom and I could feel the water in the pail moving.

However, for me, that is another added dimension due to the earthquakes. For a matter of fact, I oversee the met service in Singapore and thus was called upon to update people on top regarding the earthquakes. Two weeks and 2 precabs later, I am definitely a more hardened person in dealing with such emergencies.

No more earthquakes pls!

27

I turned 27 on Sunday...low keyed event. Another new year to look forward to.

Six Affairs

Just thought that this is damn funny...

Six Affairs

The 1st Affair:

A married man was having an affair with his secretary. One day they went her place and made love all afternoon. Exhausted, they fell asleep and woke up at 8 PM. The man hurriedly dressed and told his lover to take his shoes outside and rub them in the grass and dirt. He put on his shoes and drove home. 'Where have you been?' his wife demanded. 'I can't lie to you,' he replied, 'I'm having an affair with my secretary. We had sex all afternoon.' 'You lying bastard! You've been playing golf!'

The 2nd Affair:

A middle-aged couple had two beautiful daughters but always talked about having a son. They decided to try one last time for the son they always wanted. The wife got pregnant and delivered a healthy baby boy. The joyful father rushed to the nursery to see his new son. He was horrified at the ugliest child he had ever seen. He told his wife, 'There's no way I can be the father of this baby. Look at the two beautiful daughters I fathered! Have you been fooling around behind my back?' The wife smiled sweetly and replied, 'Not this time!'

The 3rd Affair:

A mortician was working late one night. He examined the body of Mr. Schwartz, about to be cremated, and made a startling discovery. Schwartz had the largest private part he had ever seen! 'I'm sorry Mr. Schwartz,' the mortician commented, 'I can't allow you to be cremated with such an impressive private part. It must be saved for posterity.' So, he removed it, stuffed it into his briefcase, and took it home. 'I have to show you something you won't believe,' he said to his wife, opening his briefcase. 'My God!' the wife exclaimed, 'Schwartz is dead?!?!'

The 4th Affair:

A woman was in bed with her lover when she heard her husband opening the front door. 'Hurry,' she said, 'stand in the corner.' She rubbed baby oil all over him, then dusted him with talcum powder. 'Don't move until I tell you,' she said. 'Pretend you're a statue.' 'What's this?' the husband inquired as he entered the room. 'Oh it's a statue.' she replied. 'The Smith's bought one and I liked it so much I got one for us, too.' No more was said, not even when they went to bed. Around 2 AM the husband got up, went to the kitchen and returned with a sandwich and a beer. 'Here,' he said to the statue, 'have this. I stood like that for two days at the Smith's and nobody offered me a damned thing.'

The 5th Affair:

A man walked into a cafe, went to the bar and ordered a beer. 'Certainly, Sir, that'll be one cent.' 'One Cent?' the man thought. He glanced at the menu and asked, 'How much for a nice juicy steak and a bottle of wine?' 'A nickel,' the barman replied. 'A nickel?' exclaimed the man 'Where's the guy who owns this place?' The bartender replied, 'Upstairs, with my wife.' The man asked, 'What's he doing upstairs with your wife?' The bartender replied, 'The same thing I'm doing to his business down here.'

The 6th Affair:

Jake was dying. His wife sat at the bedside. He looked up and said weakly, 'I have something I must confess.' 'There's no need to,' his wife replied. 'No,' he insisted, 'I want to die in peace. I slept with your sister, your best friend, her best friend, and your mother!' 'I know, I know,' she replied. 'Now just rest and let the poison work.'