Stupid AHM...

Stupid organization / routing for AHM that is held today... Did not put up notice boards in early part of closed roads... Get stuck & cannot get out until after 1hr.... Spoil plan to bring folks to Chinatown brunch trip... In the end now eat in T2... Ok, time to enjoy my meal!

And Singapore has a new Elected President...

... by 35.19% of the total valid votes, just 0.34% more than the closest candidate... wow.. hmm... ok... so got to 'tan' (Hokkien for "wait") for 6 years to vote for next President... if any... wait... just need another 5 more years to vote in GE... 2016... wow... hmm... ok... sigh... Oh, had a good meetup / meeting with my old friends to discuss for his wedding plans and recce the routes... Long time did not go to Cheesecake cafe liao...

Quick Review of Marina Bay Sands Casino

Went over to Marina Bay Sands casino the other weekend... Is really built for "higher level beings", not really for the commoners... the shops around there are branded... even the "foodcourt" sells at a higher price, don't dare to think of the celebrity chef restaurants...

The casino overall is not impressive. In comparison with the RW Sentosa counterpart, MB Sands is/has:
(1) Slightly lesser smoke, which is probably 1 of the only 2 advantages it has over RW Sentosa (RWS).
(2) Less mouldy smell (from carpet) the 2nd and last advantage....
(3) Get your drinks yourself. Yes, there are staff OCCASIONALLY push carts to bring beverages to you, but they shout out like drink sellers at a soccer match in old National Stadium (unlike the RWS, the aunities ask you personally warmly and with a smile). No biscuits.
(4) Coffee (with milk) is as good.
(5) Milo is as good.
(6) Bottled drinking water NOT available. Only seen once when the staff pushes the cart, only once in the middle of the night... No plain water, sigh...
(7) Earn Member points as easy, but....
(8) Member points CANNOT redeem meals! Can change points into Premier$, but is 1 point to $0.50. So if compare to RWS which effectively converts 1 point to $2, anyone can do the math and know which is worth... There are around 3 restaurants inside the casino. We tried 1, the service is good, but the price is... even after deducting around 32 points, still have to pay $12 plus... 32 points in RWS can redeem around 2 meals for 3 person... of course RWS is self service, but personally prefer to have "free" food...
(9) Food is ok though, not bad...
(10) About same journey time...
(11) Need to pay $100 levy for local as per normal...
(12) Casino has POOR design in terms of layout... imagine an oversized Tampines Mall of 3 floors... Slots machine are placed around the oversized "walkways". If in "2nd" floor, you have to walk ONE BIG ROUND to get to the other side of the slots machines!!! Sigh...
(13) Machines are lousy... not fun...
(14) Queue up a LONG time just to make the membership card.
(15) Card sometimes is difficult to be read in the slots machine.
(16) Entrance & exit gates are CONFUSING!!!!! You'll know what I mean when you go there... RWS entrances & exits are so much clearer how to approach...
(17) ID card sensing system slow and easily cock up. Once when going out to take a breather, I accidentally moved my card instead of quickly moving it out of the laser barcode scanner, and the alarm sounded, and have to go to the side to "quick reset" my status...
(18) POOR STAFF SERVICE. Especially 1 of the security (in suit) at the entrance, ask him where to go for making membership, he replied that must go inside casino to make, and when I remarked "oh, so casino inside got counter", his immediate no-thinking reply is "Of course lah, inside sure have one what..." ...

So my folks and I unanimously conclude that : we will NOT go back to MB Sands again. Should we want to go to local casino (although unlikely, since now only left 2/3 pay... ), it will be RWS.

Tangkak 1 Day Trip 2011

Went to Tangkak yesterday... Quite a fun trip, after so long absence from 1-day tours... Spent lots of time on the bus though... Anyway, had a nice breakfast with old Auntie army again... Then proceed to destinations... Some highlights are:

Durian buffet session in the durian plantation... Some are nice, but most are not... so lucky can open infinitely... It was more of an experience, than tasting the durians...





The agency even provided a simple lunch of fried beehoon, curry vegetables, sweet-sour meat-lets, horfun... hahaha... in fact the whole day was feeling full from morning till reach home...


Also visited 2 temples: Ji-Gong temple and another was... Dua Peh Gong (???) temple. They are just besides each other, so went to both... Note the Ji-Gong is actually built on TOP of the temple, not inside, hahaha...





Was too late to go shopping, so cancelled the shopping item.. sad... but nevermind... Went to a so called better restaurant (see picture below) for dinner, and the food was indeed GOOD! Got kampung steamed chicken, fried pumpkin pieces in curry leaves, pig stomach soup, deep fried sour prawns, steamed fish (groupa?), Thai-style fried beancurd, etc etc...


After dinner, went out of restaurant, and saw lots of swallows flying around... picture is too blurred... the blurry little spots are actually swallows...



Bought a lot of stuff, most delighted one is the Guang-Biscuit seen below. The one with sesame seeds is the plain saltish version, the other one in the left is filled with sweet bean paste... finally got to taste it again after 3 years... nice...

Belated Pics - Dinner on 29 June, 30 June

Dinner on 29 June... Father cooked Taiwanese Beehoon Fried!!!!! Singapore-style Oyster Fried!!!!!!!! With Stirred-Fried Cabbage!!!! Verdict??? The Beehoon is EXACTLY like what we had in Taiwan, BESTESTEST!!!! Oyster Fried is good too, although Father said 1 of the 2 plates is too "hard", not enough water in the flour...



Dinner on 30 June.... Home-cooked Oily Chicken Noodles and Wanton Soup!!!! Just like the Chew Kee one!!!! Yes, the noodles may not be as chewy, but it is definitely more heart-warming... Overall, the chicken is just as GOOD, if not BETTER, than the Chew Kee one!!!!!!!! Wanton Soup is GOOD too!!!!! SUPERB!!!! Was chatting with Father, and we agreed simple ingredients brings out the true flavour of the dish....





Yes, I am sick, but still need to work today.. & tomorrow...

1-Night-1-Day Trip To... RW Sentosa...

Went to RW Sentosa recently... Nice place... So where did I go? Casino of course, hahaha... Parents brought up that day to tell me to "find a day to go RW Sentosa leh..." ... after considerations, especially seeing Uncle's case... decided to "find" the weekend and bring them there... They seem to have fun...




Kids' paradise!!!!



The casino inside is quite good. In comparison with its Genting counterpart, RW Sentosa is/has:
(1) Lesser smoke. Still, suggest to get a small (chinese) fan when you go in, if you suffer from smoke-intolerance.
(2) Same mouldy smell (from carpet) in some area...
(3) Aunties bring beverages to you. In the night, the uncle pushes biscuits around and offers to you.
(4) Coffee (with milk) is freshly prepared and is good.
(5) Milo is ok.
(6) Bottled drinking water readily available. Feels safer drinking from the bottles than from pipe which draws water from don't-know-where...
(7) Earn Member points easier (I earned about total 48 points in just around 20 hours)
(8) Lesser Member points needed to redeem meals! Only 3 points needed for a meal!(in fact, ALL our meals are redeemed, did NOT pay a cent for makan at all!)
(9) Food taste almost as good, or even better!
(10) Only 30 mins away from home, compared to 6~7 hours if in Genting...
(11) Need to pay $100 levy for local... @#$%$!!*&%$...


Took these pictures while walking towards the hotel area (We did not stay in hotel, just walk about after breakfast, felt wanted to take a break from the casino space...)

IT Hauls Bought, but ....

Gotten many stuff at the past PC Show 2011, includes Asus K43SJ, Sonigear speakers, Norton IS 2011, Infocus IN102 projector, 70" Pull-down screen... many things, but not much sense of happiness felt... did not even take pics of my haul... then I realised why... Uncle was hospitalised, acute stroke... sad... sigh... think enough for today, not feeling too well, need to refill my hebal tea now...