National Day Celebration 2007 @Velour

NDP Celebration @ Velour

121, Flinders Lane

This event was organised by SSS (Singapore Students' Society). The plan is simple: All UOM (University of Melbourne) Singaporean students were to gather in the (rather) small club, Velour by 2000hrs to watch the Singapore NDP Live Telecast. Yay! Oh so we thought.. the Parade came to us in bits and pieces.. refreshing at a rate of 1fpm (one frame per MIN). We did manage to catch a glimpse of key personnel like MM Lee, SM Goh (with cool looking new specs) and PM Lee.

I met my friend from OCS - Artillery Institute... Daniel Choo! Such a coincidence. It was really a pleasant surprise. He is studying in Swinburne University of Technology [SWINBURNE], about 4 Train stops away from the city center. His friend, a UOM student brought him in.

He informed me of our mutual friend, LTA Joshua, who EXTENDED his ORD to remain in the NDP. He was the Officer giving the command for Artillery 21 gun salute. Unfortunately, we weren't able to catch his performance due to 'technical difficulties' with the streaming.

I also met my ex-polytechnic senior, Dion. Who is now doing foundation year to gain entry into Medicine. (Sorry, no pics of him).

My BFFs, Rachel with Bourbon Coke, Jasmine with..Cranberry Juice. Haona and Me, Vodka Sunrise.

These are our friends. Soi, Xenia?(hope I've got the name right) and Yiwen. We went to KOKO Black with Yiwen 2 weeks before. Soi and Xenia and Medical students *gasps*

As the party progressed, everyone totally ignored the NDP on TV. We had games like.. Best dressed couple. Theme of the day was: DIAMONDS and RUBIES. Everyone was to wear Red and White, with as much bling as possible. Obviously, non of us won as we came straight from school (wearing 'school clothes' see?).. Yes Mum, I've been studying!!

When we entered the club we were each given celebrity names, I'm Justin Timberlake hehe.. so throughout the party, we can approach any girl who is holding on to the name of our respective celebrity's girlfriend. (all girls will carry a corresponding celebrity female name). Thing is.. I don't really know who Justin Timberlake's girlfriend is so I didn't bother looking for his partner.

Our guest STAR: THE MERLION!

Evidently, I have no pics of the Merlion. But he left his 'signature' right there on the floor after the drinking game.. Eeww!!

A scene of the party, dance floor on right of pic.

As you can see, I'm the camera man. So I'm not in most of the pics. When I finally got my own pic taken....

All the girls wanna punch me in the face.

Do I look that bad?

The party was not too bad. After NDP we had MAMBO JUMBO. The club's standard was obviusly not as good as Zouk's. But their bar was pretty nice (looks like my Officer Mess in Khatib Camp haha) and their bartenders are VERY skilled. When you order a drink, they'll use many 'patterns' i.e. Pattern Zui Ga Badminton to impress you. Really gives you the 'WOW' factor!

JJ Rating: 3/5

No smoke machines, 'Mambo night' but very few of our fav Mambo Songs. Lighting was too bright (maybe cause of steps on the dance floor)? Sound quality was mediocre. Few people went up to dance stage. VERY impressive effort on the part of SSS Committee.

My new BFFs!!!

'HOUSE PARTY'

on peel street

This is by far the 'wildest' house party I've ever been to! Think WILD ANIMALS. Yes.. this unique safari - themed party is the first of its kind I've ever attended. There were WILD TRIBAL dance routines (below):

Two young females dancing the traditional hunter-gatherer dance sequence (as seen above). They even had the sacred medicine man, who kindly graced the event:

The traditional tiger headress is earned after enduring 9 months of training and hardship... with cheese. Passing wild animals, like this zebra below also strolled their way into our party..

And this innocent looking giraffe... *yummy*

Look what happens to our new 'friends'... (following pic may be graphic in nature)

BY then, the feast was almost ready!! The tribe female serves up food which was prepared using our newly acquired ingredients!

You want some of this? *wink*

The tribe gathers around the table for the FEAST!

Left to Right: HaoZhen, HaoNa, Jasmine, Rachel

Yummy! What's this meat in my stew..?? ~Don't ask.

Hey hey... look who/what just strolled into our 'party'...

Fresh (Camel) Meat!

-everything with cheese.

The above mentioned event was not as graphic in nature as described. No animals were harmed in the process, except the pig which was slaughtered so that we can have mince pork congee. What we really had was a mini lunch gathering after school at Hao Na'/HaoZhen 's place where we stayed till dinner. Their room mate is a vet and animal lover, hence the wide collection of photos at home. And if u were wondering.. no, we did not consume the camel.

Max Brenner's @ QV, Swanston

Welcome to Max Brenner.

25-27 Red Cape Lane, Level 2, QV Square, 210

Lonsdale Street Melbourne VIC 3000,

Phone Number: +61 3 9663 6000.

I've always loved Max Brenner's chocolate. Listen to his love story and you'll see why..

Max Brenner's vs KOKO Black:

Hmmm... not too sure about which is better. Max Brenner's drinks are cheaper, about AUD4.50 for a hug mug. While here u pay nothing less than AUD5.50 at KOKO Black. Both are equally good, I must say. But I've had strong emotional attachment to Max, the bald guy who started it all for me.

Max and I
Max, the bald guy with the choc. I first heard about Max Brenner's in QV, Swanston. After trying their unique Suckao there, I became an instant convert. Imagine the joy when I discovered that they had opened a branch in Singapore - Esplanade! That place became the regular hang out place for Xiaoping and I. I can definitely relate to Max's story.

KOKO BLACK, on Lygon

Welcome to KOKO BLACK,

167 Lygon Street

Carlton, Victoria

Australia 3053

(Melway Ref: 2B:F9)

Open til 11pm from Mon-Thurs, Sun

Extended to: 12am on Sat.

View of KOKO Black, from Lygon. Al fresco dining with outdoor heaters available.

The inside view of KOKO Black, when you enter the door. Little red riding hood not included.

Their super yummy: Belgian Spoil
chocolate cake, two Belgian chocolates, a shortbread,
chocolate ice cream and chocolate mousse $10.00 (contains nuts)*

Iced Chocolate
A rich combination of Koko Black's chocolate and vanilla ice cream,
milk and chocolate shavings $6.50

Koko Black Hot Chocolate
Freshly brewed traditional recipe. Made with dark Belgian chocolate - no powder.
Made with full cream milk. Served extra hot unless otherwise requested $5.50

My my.. I've finally found a place worthy to hang out in. Why walk 35 min to QV on Swanston for my chocolate fix (Max Brenner's) when I can take a 5-10 min stroll to KOKO BLACK on Lygon. This is a place where you can really chill and look good while chilling.

Max Brenner's vs KOKO Black.

Tertiary Phase

OK finally! I got inspired by my ex-lecturer Mr Rajeev's (now a Phd Student in VCO) creative use of furniture in the apartment. I decided, I don't need the side table in my lounge area.. moved it under my workstation instead. See? Now I got more space to walk.

BTW, if you were wondering.. those are socks on the table.

After Phase 2: After IKEA

My new Home!

My new home has photos on the walls. *faint applause in background*

It has a (useless) standing lamp. The same model as the one I have in my room in Singapore.. except that it's in black. Photo of me and my Army friends (my farewell gift). Thanks guys!

My new workstation. Buddha had to go up! Thanks Buddha for your kind understanding! I REALLY needed that space cos' it is really much easier to reach that shelf you were housed in instead of your new home.

Buddha's ex-residence is now taken up my a photo of xp and me in Tom's Palette. Beside is the good bye card from my poly mates. Thanks guys! I was expecially moved by Da Xuan's entry (after Xiaoping deciphered the text for me). It was written in the modern version of a rather ancient language.. luckily I had Xiaoping with me (it was written in Chinese.. Doh!).

My new crib. Noticed the difference? Hint:It has a yellow frame.

Now I can proudly call this place ma' home. Any comments, suggestions to improve the look of my home?

After Phase 1 Furnishing

My Apartment..

Most of the stuff you see here are mainly from Harvey Norman, Big W and Safeway Supermarket all under one roof in QV, Swanston.

As you can see, I bought a lovely table runner just to spice things up.. Free electronic kettle jug courtesy of Rachel, a mini rice cooker in the background.. some cutlery and mugs. I managed to find an Asian Supermarket very near to Queen Victoria Market, that was where I bought all the soy sauce, dark sauce, sesame oil and oyster sauce which you see in the pic, beside the rice cooker.

Bathroom mat and laundry basket.. also from Big W...

This is my workstation, complete with my very own buddha corner.. for quiet reflection..

This is wear I sleep *yawn*

It gets REALLY quiet here at night. So quiet that you practically here a faint ringing in your ears.. neural noise..? At least that's what we optoms use to describe seeing things/light that aren't actually there.

You'll see the radiator in the bottom left. It has only been turned on ONCE, when I was testing it. Two reasons why I do not turn on my radiator: Firstly, it's VERY expensive! Try turning on a 5000W monster overnight (typically non-energy saving light bulb is about 60W). I just cannot afford this luxury lah.. Second and MOST important reason: radiators heat the ROOM, NOT the person. Come on... It's time to do your part for the environment! Keep warm the Live Earth Way! (put on a cardigan instead).

Those dangly white brown yellow thingys were brought over from Singapore. You can buy them in Mini toons, Cineleisure orchard.

My room is complete! But it's not quite a Home yet..