Adventures of Big Bird

It's the time of the year for hairy crabs.  Was reading the papers that day and saw that Grand Shanghai has a 1-for-1 offer till end Nov.  There are 2 set menu, $118++ and $148++, which naturally includes hairy crab.

 

Went for the $148++ set menu because it has sharksfin soup, abalone & sea cucumber and crab roe with rice cake.  Grand Shanghai has a live band every night which starts at 7:15pm till 10:30pm.  The singing was fantastic, the singer's voice was great.  My sis totally loved it and asked that we go back again next week.  Gosh .. she's not paying the bill, of cos she wants it next week.  After the little little things are added e.g. peanuts, tea, towel etc, the final bill came up to S$369 for 4 pax.  Not exactly cheap.

 

 

 

I was a victim of a dishonest hawker @ Bedok South Market (the market at Blk 16/17/18).  I was there for breakfast and decided to queue at a bee hoon/nasi lemak store since there's a long queue.  Thought it's cos the food is nice.  Big mistake, the only reason why the queue was long was cos the male hawker was so slow in processing the order.  When it was my turn, I ordered Yam Cake and Bee Hoon which came up to $3.40.  He said it so softly that I didn't really take notice of it.  I gave him a $5 bill and he returned me $0.60 in coins.  It was a mistake on my part too, I didn't notice if he gave me the right change.  Normally unless I use large notes, else I normally don't check the loose change.  Then the utensils were inconveniently placed at the other end of the store so I had to walk 1 big round to get them.  Then I recalled he only gave me $0.60 when it should be $1.60.  So I immediately walked back and told him.  He just stared at me and said you should check just now.  I wasn't in the mood to argue so I just walked off, pissed.  Then a few minutes later, an old man also went up to him telling him something and he also stared at him and said you should check just now.  I immediately guessed the old man was also a victim so I ran up to him and asked him.  But he was too scared to admit, he said no no .. nothing of that sort.  But th wife said no lah, it was a mistake, maybe there were too many people and he was confused.  Sigh .. they didn't dare to gang up and challenge the hawker.  Cos of $1, the hawker has lost 2 customers who will never go back.  Isn't that very short-sighted?

 

Apparently there are also other cases where people give $50 note to pay the bill and the hawker came back with incorect change and said no ah .. you didn't give me $50 note.  So be very careful when you go hawker centre, if you give big notes, you must always follow the person back to his store to get the change.  If it's small change, always check even though it's a few cents.  In this bad economy, maybe that's how they reap people of the $$ in order to earn more.

Just came back from Tokyo.  Was there for business and it has been a tiring week.  Everyday is 8 - 8 ... horrible right?  I have no time to venture far at all, which was the disappointing part.  But I was able to meet up an old friend from an ex-company, which was good.  Everything in Tokyo is so pretty, especially the food.  The Japanese are so particular about the food quality, presentation.  So far, I never had anything that doesn't taste or look good.

 

Glad that I could escape from Singapore during the week.  Photos are on facebook, go sign up to be my friend to see them.

 

 

So fast, my last trip to UK was in May and this time in mid-Sep, I went back again.  This time, it's to kill 2 modules in 1 shot.  Ambitious hor .. haha .. stress man.  I'm taking 2 modules via distance learning = self-study = lotsa discipline = stress = long hours.

 

It was a good trip to UK, it was good to be back, enjoying the cool weather, the wide road, the fast driving, walking down hypermarts etc. 

 

Even met up with an ex-colleague who became friend who drive up from Reading to Warwick, just to have dinner with me ... so touched.

 

Now, I'm busy doing my research, reading journals and writing my 2 essays, due on 20th and 27th Oct.  Damn stress ... Rightfully it's 4 weeks to complete each paper but cos I took 2 modules and they overlap, I'm left with 6 weeks to finish 2 papers.  Geez ... that really require alot of self-discipline, no slacking.  Have been working late into the night almost every night.  On an average, I sleep < 6 hours during weekdays and burn midnight oil till 2 - 3am during weekends.  I must persevere ... after I finish these 2 modules, it would be more relaxing.  Left with 1 module to be done in Hong Kong next May and 1 dissertation paper which I gotta start preparing in Nov.

 

OMG, why on earth did I do this to torture myself??????