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Is there any other happier news than this one?

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noodlelicious

Let's get this one straight. I love noodle; in fact I'm a maniac when it comes to noodle. And it doesn't help either that the wife shares the same appetite for all things noodle. Some of our happier times were spent in the morning while eating at our favourite noodle stalls.

So I kinda made it one of my priorities to find any good noodle places in the surroundings of my office and home after I moved here. But it's not an easy task as the style here was different with the one that we love back home.

Some obvious differences were the black vinegar used in the sauce, and the noodle itself which I think was a bit bland. Therefore, you could imagine how tortured we were when our cravings for noodle had reached its climax and there's nothing good to satisfy it.

We have to please ourselves with MyNoodle in Centrepoint food court which sold Jakarta-esque Mie Ayam Jamur for a while. But even it didn't last long as it closed last year.

Then out of the blue, we strolled into this noodle stall while we were in Chinatown area and instantly hooked with it. Its springy and smooth noodle was reminiscent of Indonesia's noodle, and it also came with minced meat which was very good for me.

The noodle was called Kolo Mee, and it was a specialty noodle from Sarawak Kuching in Malaysia. We were so happy that we were back there the following week as it's the only noodle here which has the closest resemblance to our kind of noodle. A couple of weeks later, the stall made its way to the Review column in the newspaper, and it's been adding quite a number of outlets islandwide so far.

The stall's name is Jia Xiang Sarawak Kuching Kolo Mee, and the one that we normally order consisting of char siew, wonton, and prawns. It costs S$6/bowl, and if it's not enough, you could ask for extra noodle which will cost you another dollar.

At least for the time being, we could rely on kolo mee supply to fulfill our desire for noodle. It should be able to last until our next trip back home where a noodle tour to our favourite haunts stalls will surely commence every morning.

comfort zone

I chatted with a friend yesterday and he told me that he'd leave Jakarta, moved to some place, and started anew by opening his own business and stuff. I couldn't do anything but applaud and wish him well.

Other than being happy for him, I also felt kinda depressed coz he had that courage to take one extra step to the unknown and risk many things. I'm not sure if I'd be willing to do that, even though I know there are numerous people lining up behind me to give me the push to that uncharted territory once I give them a go.

Should we take a risk for the promise of a better life? How does one know it's gonna be better? What if it turns out to be worse? I won't be able to forgive myself if it goes wrong, that's why I'd take the risk only if I'm certain about the result.

Maybe this is a wrong post to make, writing it makes me even more depressed.

airshow

0900 hours
I saw crowds in the bicycle area around Pasir Ris MRT Station while opening the door to leave the house. Felt something wasn't right.

0905 hours
My feeling was confirmed. The crowds were queueing for the shuttle bus to the venue. I went to buy battery for camera and some bread for breakfast first.

0915 hours
Started joining the queue from the bus interchange area, but luckily 'twas well organized as the queue lines were properly in place and people duly queued. One sausage bread was fully consumed while queueing.

0930 hours
Finally got to the end of the queue. The staffs were armed with portable barcode scanners and the eTicket was scanned before boarding the shuttle bus. I sat at the second row seat from the front. Not bad, eh?

0945 hours
Arrived at the venue, and more queue to enter the building.

0955 hours
Entered the building, got lost, and didn't know which way to go. I just followed the people in front of me. More queue for security checking just like in the airport.

1005 hours
Left the building and walked to the exhibition area. First things to see were some tanks and Apache chopper in the middle. My God, wasn't she beautiful!

1015 hours
Done admiring Apache. Next target was F35-Lightning II placed beside the Lockheed Martin chalet. Couldn't touch her with those fences around. I wondered if F22-Raptor was as cute as her.

1025 hours
People was surely crowding near the F35, so I wasn't surprised when RQ-4 Global Hawk didn't attract many people. This unmanned bird really looked odd, maybe it was designed for stealth purpose. I couldn't help but thinking of those facehuggers that Ripley blasted to death while taking pictures of the Hawk.

1032 hours
Next stop, RSAF's Chinook and F-16. No contest on which ones attracted more amateur photographers. The Falcon was really sleek, no wonder some christened it as fighter jet with the best design. Even with all the Sidewinders and missiles hanging on the wings, she still looked hot.

1045 hours
The next area belonged to USAF with 2 Hercules, 1 F-15, 1 F-18, 1 F-16 (single seater), and 1 B1-B Lancer. Definitely the best area to hang around. Not because of the pilots, but because of those steel babies. I know the Fighting Falcon was hot, but for me the Strike Eagle, and especially the Super Hornet were the bombs! The Lancer was just sitting in the middle coolly, but his presence alone was enough to let people know who's the Big Daddy there. I felt 90% of the kids here would go home and want to become a fighter jet pilot. The other 10% were happy enough to just buy the jet models because they sucked at Math and Science.

1107 hours
Was thinking of joining the queue at Wall's Ice Cream. A touch at my waistline suddenly brought me back to reality.

1108 hours
Approaching Airbus A380. I wondered if the other planes are mocking her at night for being that fat. I think F-16 would be the meanest mocker of them all.

1120 hours
Entering the Feature Pavillion. The first booth was selling plane models, toys, t-shirts, and fighter jet DVDs. Bought 1 Red Arrows DVD for $29. Wanted to get the F-16, F-15, and F-18 models too, but balked at its $23.90 a piece price. Normally it was sold only for $19.

1125 hours
Walking around the Pavillion looking for some freebies. Some kids got pins from the Bahrain Airport booth, but they didn't seem interested in giving me one. They had dates in their booth, though. Moved on and saw the Segway booth. Thinking to try it, but afraid I'd make a fool of myself (as usual). "Don't be afraid. You won't fall." overheard the staff telling the guy who's trying it. Yeah, right. Got my first booty finally; a pin and lousy cap from Changi Airport booth.

1140 hours
Moved on to the Main Hall. Didn't know where to go or what to see, just wanted to enjoy the aircon. Some of the booths were closed as they didn't expect some uncles from Toa Payoh would come and buy their defense missile today. Smart guy. The Israel booth seemed to give away free bags as seeing many people had it. Eventually arrived at the main door, and saw ST Engineering generously gave away something black in plastic. I got one, and saw an aunty already opened and used it. It was a bag, so I went back and asked for another one. Why did I become this kiasu? Must be something in the water here.

1210 hours
Already standing in front of the main door, waiting for the aerobatic shows to start. It was scheduled at 12.15 by the way. Took out my second & final bread because got sleepy listening to the emcees.

1225 hours
The Black Knights finally arrived using Foo Fighters' Learn To Fly. Good choice. They seemed to be pretty good. Emcee said that they'd be signing autographs at 2.30 PM. Wondered if some of them would end up at eBay, and if someone would actually buy it.

1245 hours
It's the Super Hornet's turn. The pilot was doing it solo, and the Super Hornet looked like the older sister with attitude. I liked her better than the Fighting Falcon.

1255-1305 hours
The Alenia Aermacchi and Korea's T-50 turn. Both looked to have similar model. Not so special. Then, it's F-15's turn. Quite bored here and people watching instead.

1306 hours
The Fat Mama A380 arrived. Of course, she didn't do any backflip like the Falcons or Hornet. She just flew here, flew there. Tilt here, tilt there, and gone. It's like watching Dumbo, if ya know what I mean.

1311-1330 hours
The Roulettes are here! The best show of the day, me thinks. They had more stunts than the Black Knights, and because their planes were slower, we could enjoy it more. Not sure if the crowds liked it as they surely would root for the Home team. Go Roulettes!

1332 hours
Going back to the Main Hall to see the rest of the booths. No more aerobatics. Just wandered around, grabbed one more bag from ST Engineering and then remembered about wanting to go to Jane's booth. Walked past Etihad's booth, and they too had dates ready on the plates. People definitely flocked there to ask one question while grabbing 3 dates at the same time. Once question answered, they'd leave the booth. But not before grabbing more dates.

1335 hours
Saw Aviation Week booth. Got 2 free magazines. Yay!

1340 hours
Saw long queues at Boeing booth. Wondered what it was about; turned out people queued for fighter jet poster cum calendar in a Boeing plastic bag. Common sense prevailed and decided not to join the queue.

1345 hours
Finally found Jane's booth, but it was closed and people from the booth across sitting on Jane's couch. Grabbed 1 copy of Jane's Defense Weekly. Mission accomplished.

1350 hours
Left the Main Hall, and walking towards the Exit. Finally felt hungry.

1405 hours
Saw lots of people already queueing for the shuttle bus back. Didn't look good.

1415 hours
Arriving at the queue place. Not organized as no clear place to wait for the bus. People directly swarmed any bus coming in, no queue at all. No police were around to sort things out.

1425 hours
The cops were here and spent some time discussing on how to best arrange the situation, while more and more people were swarming any incoming buses. Didn't look good at all.

1436 hours
The cops starting putting out some Police Line for the queue. The sun was burning hot, people were sweaty and stank, and tempers started to flare. The queue, if there's one, didn't move as the cops were still arranging the way.

1450 hours
Finally some kind of queue were forming albeit in 6-7 lines. At least people were getting closer & closer to the end of the queue. One Malay aunty provided free entertainment for us through her slanging match with one of the cops. Some people just can't keep their mouth shut. Can't blame the cop if he decides to start hitting her with the baton.

1540 hours
Was finally on board the shuttle bus and arriving back at Pasir Ris station at 1550 hours. Bought teh peng from Banquet on the way home. Gila, segerr banget!

1610 hours
Home sweet home. The legs were screaming in pain, and cold shower seemed like a Holy Grail at this point.

1615 hours
Noticing that my neck & face were sunburnt. All parts not covered by my t-shirt were darker than the others. Man, this is bad!

1630 hours
Thank God for cold shower. All's done...typing this while waiting for the Wife to wake up for sushi dinner. Looking forward to the next show in 2-year time with the sunblock on, definitely.

More photos.

truth

What would you do if the truth that you seek will plunge you deeper into the darkness instead of setting you free? Would you continue or go to the shop and have your memory erased?

Would you suffer in the knowledge of knowing everything or would you suffer in not knowing the truth?

free dvds

My free DVD rental prize will expire this Friday, so only a few days more to enjoy this unbelievable privilege.

I'm not sure if this prize will make my relationship with the shop staffs grow closer, as it seems that they're quite sick of seeing me popping up regularly without fail every 2 days to return the DVDs and rent the new ones. I don't give a single damn about it actually, why don't they curse the lady luck who preferred to pick my entry out of hundreds from that box? Maybe they won't have another lucky draw contest anymore in the near future, or if they do they probably ban me from entering it.

But honestly, it's already getting more difficult to select watchable movies from their catalogue as I've watched most of them and I don't want to waste my time in watching bad movies. Surely enough, I've picked up some gems here & there like this, or this, or even this one! :)

I'll probably start renting again in the end of February to give them time to replenish the catalogue, and also for me to save money to pay the rent. Or until the next time I win another lucky draw.

a-hole

If you're think you're the only one who wants to jump off the ship whenever the first sign of trouble appears, it's either I'm dumb or you're just an asshole. I know I'm dumb, but this time I believe that you're just simply a fuckin' a-hole.

stupid

Here we go. The annual stupidity act has come again. It's premeditated. It's useless. It's yielding nothing, but yet I'm still doing it every year. Maybe it's just my way of making up for all those years.

Feel free to bludgeon me to death. It could save some precious air for the world in the end.

Dumbass.

ah, 2008

So here we are in 2008. We all should be happy, right? I mean with people wishing you and all a "happy" new year. Am I happy? Hmm, the question should be rephrased as "will I ever be happy?"

I've never felt that happy or optimistic for every coming year. It all felt the same for me. Same ol', same ol'. Nothing is different. But I have to admit that 2007 really left something worth remembering, even though the last few days of 2007 were a bit hellish for me. But then, that's another story for another bedtime.

I took a 4-day leave after Christmas but it didn't feel like holiday at all as I kept having this nagging feeling of having to check my mobile or email for work-related stuffs. If I had to ask Santa for something, it might be about being able to take leave or holiday without worrying about work at all. Well, here's a sad thing: Santa doesn't exist, quit whining.

I won a 1-month unlimited free rent from the DVD rental store, and I must admit that it had occupied the most part of my mind during my holiday. And I didn't regret a single bit of it at all because it didn't give me headaches, worries, and this feeling of wanting to smash one's handphone to the wall. So I'd rather win a 20-year unlimited free rent if possible anytime, anywhere.

A colleague asked about how the crowd was during New Year's Eve, and I said that I didn't know about it. It should be jam-packed with people I assume, as not everyone was watching Beerfest on HBO while trying to keep their minds off of the rage and at the same time trying to be amused & laughing at the supposedly funny movie.

Happy New Year, everyone. I really hope that you are happy.

28 reasons to be thankful for still being alive today

1. My wife

2. Manchester United

3. My friends

4. My family

5. Upcoming summer movies

6. The Solomon Key - Dan Brown

7. Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling (due out July 16th)

8. Marvels 10th Anniversary Edition - Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross

9. Pringles Original Potato Crisps

10. Mamee Noodle Snack Chicken Flavored

11. I haven't been to Old Trafford

12. Superman Returns

13. I haven't finished watching the whole Voltus V VCD at home

14. Radiohead's Greatest Hits hasn't been released

15. I haven't done bungee jumping

16. Eating Kuo Tieh at Krekot

17. Watching movies in Puri 21

18. Driving in Jakarta streets on Saturday & Sunday morning

19. UNITED Magazine

20. Steven Spielberg & George Lucas have promised us "Indiana Jones 4", and I want to see them make good of their promise

21. New Zealand Natural Spotty Dog ice cream

22. Mie Naripan

23. Future possibility of having my own child

24. McDonald's Chocolate Ice Cream Cone

25. Pempek ayunan in Lampung

26. Single Disc head unit with MP3 & WMA capability in my car

27. Peaceful morning walk

28. Shopping at Borders