the lastsplash

Last year, due to my laziness, I skipped new-year-resolutions-making. But somehow things turned out rather okay, despite me being more prone to emotional swings. Perhaps the swings had to do with the becoming of age - near-mid life or the when-you-are-almost-thirty-you-get-moody-syndrome ? Anyway, I guess its only appropriate that I do a quick review of 2008, before making some resolutions for 2009. Shall we start with the nice stuffs? Say achievements? -shy grin- Probably in order of ascending importance: 5. Performing not bad at work. - From the July appraisal and reward, I would say my hard work in 07/08 had been recognised. Thanks to the opportunities given by my superiors, and support from my friends and colleagues, which made it possible. It was a welcomed boost for my wedding saving plan and vacations. 4. Taking Driving Lessons. - After years of procrastination, with a proper job and getting the part-time studies outta the way, I finally had the time and money to take drivin...

I want to pen down my thoughts and feelings before the memories and excitement from the trip fade away. First question, " Why the next big trip? ". Initially, I wanted to plan for a trip with my bestest-best-of-friend . And what a better combination than together with my best friend , and bestest-best-of-friend's best friend ? (Oh this is quite a mouth full!!). Besides, a quartet seemed like the most ideal number for traveling (such as hiring a cab and sharing rooms). Next, to answer a common question, ' Why Turkey? '. To do that, we have to first understand the process in which we derived with this destination. Initially, we wanted to visit Greece, with a stopover at Istanbul. Unfortunately, winter wasn't exactly the best time to visit Greece. Most of the hotels and shops on the Greek Islands are closed in winter. The ferries are also less frequent during these months. On the other hand, Turkey is still a nice place to visit in winter. We asked ourselves, ...

Blink of the eye, it is Christmas again. And its X'mas-presents-show-and-tell-time ! Remember the present for myself which I mentioned in the Souvenirs Galore entry? Well, I am gonna reveal what it is! It is a RF 2009 Calendar from the RF Shop . It contains beautiful images from the 2008 season and Roger's childhood moments. My favourite is August's photograph - Roger's facial features still look almost the same right? :p Hope there'll be more moments like October's next year! The calendar has all the tournament dates marked out. At the back, there is RF's autograph. And getting this calendar is also for a good cause - part of the Christmas spirit. =) Initially I wanted to get this for the #1 RF fan , KC-XTT . But I got something even better for her... vrrrrroooomm.... heh , so I get to keep the RF calendar for myself! I have already hang it on my cubicle in office. There are also plenty of presents from my friends. Just showing three of them here... The...

Today, I had lunch with Yogi at a food joint at North Bridge Road, just opposite the National Library. The place is called Food For Thought . It'll be easy to miss it if you walk from the direction of Bugis towards City Hall, as the facade of the shop is tilted at and angle. We decided to check out the place after as Yogi's friend had recommended. The place is small and cosy, with about 25-30 seats. That's me with my back facing the door. And Yogi with her back facing the inside of the joint (she happened to be in pink too hah hah ). Yes, that is really how small the place is. Hee hee . But I like the fact that it was kinda quiet for a Saturday afternoon, no irritating noisy crowd. :p Probably, the place would be packed during weekdays lunch hour? The place was artistically decorated with some nice pictures and posters. There was no menu, the food and drinks available were all listed on the chalk board (I am guessing either they change the dishes or the prices periodically,...

I am back! It had been one of the most wonderful trip. There are so much precious memories that I will keep forever. I did not have the time to update about trip regularly. Everyday was another new adventure, a new experience. There was little time to rest, not to mention settle down and think about the day. Now with some time on hand, I will try to recall and record as much as I can about the trip. But before that, let me show you the prizes of this trip - the souvenirs! We were on the quest to get these beautiful bookmarks. From the little stalls along the streets, to the Grand Bazaar, we toiled through them for the nicest ones. We were sorta addicted to buying bookmarks. Next, are these Turkish pouches. At first I looked for the classic carpets designs that shimmered in the sun. In the end, I got tired of them and went for the modern designs which were more unique. We also bought back plenty of postcards. I got mine from all over the place, Ephesus, Cappadocia and Istanbul. I bought...

Day 6, midway thru' the trip and in the middle of Turkey for the next two days. Our bus arrived at Nevşehir bus station in the morning. It was foggy and freezing cold! Temperature had dropped to sub zero. We hustled to get our luggage and were ushered into a toasty tour agency. As we waited for our bus to Ürgüp, they tried to convinced us in getting a tour package. It was a few bucks cheaper than the day tours our hotel had booked for us. We decided to stick to our choice as it was irritating of them to hassle us into buying their tour packages. At Ürgüp, our hotel picked us up from the bus station in a mini-bus. Our hotel, Cappadocia Cave Inn Hotel, is a ten minutes walk from town centre. It is converted from a 100 years old family house. Carved out of the sandstone, the rooms were really impressive. The hotel owner, Mr Omer, had previously communicated with me closely by email since booking the rooms, and provided us with some useful information. We were promptly served with appl...