I'm Going For F1 in Singapore :)

First of all, I would like to apologise for the late replies for all those who have emailed me with enquiries regarding the stuff I sell at thesnappydresser. Really sorry!

Had been super busy at work, and I don't have internet access at work, what a bummer. Can't check my emails. I think it's time I get a Wifi phone hehe. Or one of those Blackberry handset thingies... so that I can promptly reply any emails sent to me. :D

My eyes are closing as I type this, so this is gonna be a quick update!

As you have read from my title, I'm going for F1 this weekend! As a volunteer, of course :p Was driving past the roads meant as the track around Marina just now and saw the workers stripping away the lines on the road...by hand. They were trying to peel the paint off slowly one strip by one strip. It's hard work, just for 3 days of racing. Singapore has spent ALOT of money investing for this night race. It's absolutely crazy. The safety barricades, the paving of roads, the pit stop, the grandstands, the medical centre, the freaking bright lights... It's crazy! And it's only for 3 days!

After everything they have to tear everything down and repaint the lines on the roads again. Gee. In many ways, I found this the stupidest event ever. Unsafe, stupid, waste $$$, show-off, impractical, unorganised... but guess I shall not rant about this here.

Anyways, I'm glad to have this opportunity to experience this for free.

Will try and promise to take lots of pictures! (And hopefully get an autograph lol.)

Okay, some pictures when I was there for a mock practise session on Sunday, held at Turf City...

I think there were more than 1000 volunteers present

The "rally" cars

The "race" started

Volunteers practising waving their flags

Still trying to remember what each flag and design stand for. Important to know! Can't wait for this weekend to experience it, and pray really hard that it doesn't rain!

Okay, gonna go sleep now. Really really bushed. My work place has an audit in the morning. As I'm one of the key appointment holders, I need to be there, SIGH. Still have to work night shift after that. Tired!

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KPE Opens Tomorrow

Another expressway for them to charge us with ERP with.

16 freakin ERP gantries along a 12km long expressway. WTF. On average, that's more than 1 ERP gantry for every 1km. This is to allow LTA to "to manage congestion expeditiously". What bull. That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

I hate this whole cashless society crap. SIXTEEN gantries. I know lah, KPE cost $1.7 billion to build. Must make back the money also no need to put 16 ERP gantries right?

Grrrr.

Just this morning I was "arrowed" by work to go to Jurong area for this trial test thing. We were basically free test subjects. No payment was given to us, not even refreshments... Moreover they made me repeat the tiring test twice. Idiots.

We were guinea pigs.

As my workplace is near to home, I do not encounter ERP every morning when I go to work. So while driving along PIE towards Jurong this morning, I totally forgot about the ERP along PIE. And that stupid thing deducted a bloody $1.50 from my cashcard. Thank goodness there was still enough credit left in my cashcard. Now my cashcard's left with a pathetic 34 cents. 4 cents! They actually charged the amount of time parked by cents when ya park your car at carparks with cashcard gantries. To think that they actually phase out 1 cent coins 'cause it was under utilised. But cashcards, well, they are cashless! Charge everyone 1 cent! Every little bit counts.

Even HDB carparks are fitted with cashcard gantries now. I believe that soon all coupon parkings will be replaced by cashcard parkings. Argh!

Sigh, kenna "arrowed" as guinea pigs for a tiring trial test + kenna ERP + petrol money + cashcard left with 34 cents = poor me. Haha. Poor as in no money. Poor also as in unfortunate :(

Apologies for the rants :( It's been a long day. On to happier things!

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Kinda enjoying my past few off days including today, spent my night yesterday watching a lot of Youtube while painting my toenails, haha. Brace yourself for my ugly toenails:

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No, I did not paint that heart. It's a sticker, lol.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

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Yummy Dinner at Eighteen Chefs

Joined my colleagues for break fast yesterday at Eighteen Chefs. Have passed by this place countless times while going for my Thai lessons; finally had a chance to dine there yesterday :) Oh yeah, and it's Halal!

This restuarant, situated at East Point, is opened by Chef Benny Se Teo. He was the only Singaporean trained at Fifteen's London kitchen. Sounds familiar? Fifteen is a resturant owned by Jamie Oliver, and he employs disadvantaged youths to work there and learn useful life skills to aid them in their life. So after Chef Benny came back, he opened up Eighteen Chefs, selling what is apparently "Singapore's Best Baked Rice"!

Okay, so enough of talk. More pictures:

The staff will give you markers - for you to vandalise on their glass walls hehe

Part of their wall

Our order chit

We were given dates after break fast time

My Oreo Crush.. Yummy!

My colleague's Banana Kick

Calamari

Cheesy Fries! Mmmmm...

My order for Cheese Baked Rice - Creamy mango with minced beef, mushrooms and chicken sausage. It was really filling and I had trouble finishing it.

The creamy mango filling

The food is not bad! Prices are really quite reasonable.. Will definitely go back again. I heard the black pepper baked rice is not bad as well :)

After our dinner we were contemplating to 1)go play lan, 2)go home or... 3)go jamming. I have no idea why in the end we decided to go jamming. I haven't touched a drumset in years, and how we ended up at a jam studio in the end, I really can't fathom.

Damn pathetic lah. In the end we couldn't think of any songs to play. Nobody knew how to play anything. Lol. And I couldn't drum for nuts. So I decided to act cool by taking photos. Macham I pro like that. Lol!

That's me posing with the bass guitar. Note that key word is "posing". I have no idea how to play bass.

Me on drums :)

Okay, I shall stop showing off now. The "play-in-a-band-and-work-part-time-and-earn-almost-no-money" fantasy is really non-existent already. Grow up, Ying! *Slap slap* The band days are over. Time to prepare to go to work :(

Oh, and before I forget, Selamat Berbuka to all Muslim friends!

P.S: I updated my blogshop with a repost! Check it out here.

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2008 Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore Triathlon

Helped out at the event yesterday! Wanted to write this post yesterday night but was too tired and fell asleep.

Picture of the race route that I took from the official website:

(Click to enlarge)

I was stationed along the cycling route, and since the swimming section started first, I was quite bored initially staring at the empty stretch of road that I started taking pictures of signboards and my surroundings.

I saw this curious/ suspicious looking basket lying at the bus stop opposite:

What's in that basket? I started thinking of all those MRT advertisements. Lol! I didn't walk over to check though. Haha.

The cycling route itself is already 89km, you say. So why is it called the 70.3 Triathlon for those who are confused?

Heh. 'Cause the 70.3 is in miles. This Ironman event was founded way back in 1978 (before I was born!). According to the website, a debate ensued among competitors about who was the fittest among them all, swimmers, cyclists or runners. In the end, someone suggested that the 3 events be combined, and the champion shall thus be named the Ironman.

Wow.

If I had continued playing basketball til today, I might have been a fitness fanatic and I would have actually taken all these sport events seriously.

But, nah. I'm too lazy. Lol.

I only like the cycling part. Swimming and running... Err.. Don't think so.

Anyways coming back to yesterday's event, the physically challenged could also take part in it.

Cycling with your hands for almost 90km. That's like hand-running to me. Those 3-wheeled bikes (no idea what they were called) looked way cool to me. I wanted to try and see how it felt like hand-cycling. I think it's damn tough lah.

There was one funny thing that I learned (very mountain tortoise of me) about cycling while helping out in this event.

See the bottles lying at the side of the road? I found out cyclists will throw away their empty water bottles when they see the next water point coming up ahead. (Due to the fact their race bikes can only hold a limited number of bottles.) Alot of their water bottles looked damn new. I think the participants bought the water bottles just to be used once just for this race, and then throw it away once the contents are emptied. I'm super amazed. This is my first time helping out at a triathlon event, and now that I know nice water bottles are meant to be thrown away during a race. Haha. Why can't they use cheap plastic mineral water bottles that comes fitted with this?

Is it because these nozzles are of poor quality and harder to open with your teeth? Any race cyclists reading this do let me know :) I want to know why do you throw away nice bottles? Are they really very cheap to buy compared to mineral water or Gatorade?

Anyways, the event organisers purposely employ or appoint people to pick all these water bottles up from the road. Let's call them bottle pickers. Lol. Don't play play okay! Before the race started I saw the foreign workers being handed out with nice collared t-shirts! Nicer than my volunteer t-shirt lah. Haha.

Bottle Picker

Their job, from what I see (I may be wrong!), is just to pick up bottles lying on the road. This is to avoid cyclists running over them and falling. Sometimes I see them picking up empty energy gel sachets as well. Picking up general rubbish was not part of their job, 'cause I saw a general road sweeper doing this.

It got really funny after a while 'cause as the bikers start to swarm in, the number of bottles thrown away were overwhelming. The bottles kept flying off them bikes, some even hitting him! It was damn hilarious. Flying water bottles everywhere. We were both laughing at those flying bottles. Lol.

This is just a small number of water bottles strewn on the grass. There were lots more.

And I think he gave up. Lol!

Waterpoint

The water point was also really funny. It sounded like a wet market with people shouting.

"Water here! 100 Plus in front!"

"100 plus is here! 100 plus is here!"

"Water! Who wants water!"

"No water! I want 100 plus!"

"Water! I want water!" (After swimming and then cycling, how the participants have the strength to shout louder than the volunteers at the water point, I really don't know.)

All in all, it was tiring but eye-opener day for me. If ya ask me, would I ever participate in these kinda events? I think my answer would be a no. I don't think I can ever run 20km after a 1.9km swim in the sea, nor run even 10km after a 89km cycle. I might take a leisurely 1.9km swim. I might run 10km one day (though definitely not 20km). And though I have ever cycled from my home to Sentosa and back home again with a very sore butt, I don't think I can ever try to do an Ironwoman ;) My respect to all the participants, especially those aged 50 and above. Don't think I am even half as fit as them. So embarassing!

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Nat Geo Citychase Singapore (Late Post!)

Haha, yes this is a very late post indeed. Apologies! Pictures were taken with my LG Viewty, and the very next day my Viewty touchscreen died. Thus the delay til now. (And a little bit of procrastination on my part :p)

I helped out in this event, Nat Geo Citychase Singapore exactly 2 weeks ago. It was a wet wet Saturday! Rained the whole day. Really pitied the contestants running around the whole island in the rain. Now two saturdays on, it's still raining cats and dogs. Now I pity myself 'cause tomorrow I'm helping out in the 2008 Aviva Ironman 70.3 Triathlon Singapore event, and I really really hope it doesn't rain :( Gotta wake up at 0415hrs! Have to reach the venue by 0500hrs before the roads close. Gosh.

Will try to post pictures up if I manage to take any :)

Anyways, back to Citychase, which really is like The Amazing Race on TV. Contestants have to run around the island to complete 10 Chasepoints in record time. At each Chasepoint ya have to complete a challenge.

Okok, don't write so much. Pictures!


Initially I stayed in the car 'cause I was too sissy and wanted to avoid the rain... but I became claustrophobic after like 10 minutes. Lol. So I came out to watch the contestants.

Paddle Tennis!

At this Chasepoint, contestants have to pit themselves against each other by playing basketball, football or paddle tennis. Never played paddle tennis before! Looked really fun. Wanted to join in but I was 1)kind of working, 2)and I didn't want to get wet. Hate the feeling of wet shoes and just the thought of it was enough to keep me off the rain.

Ang Moh making prata hehe

At this Chasepoint, contestants have to make their own prata, flip it once, and then eat it. It was really fun to watch them. ;p

The next Chasepoint is my favourite one! Contestants have to eat this:

Fried Mee?

Nope, they're mealworms lol.

Yum! Dip them in curry powder and voila! Curry flavoured mealworms.

Just like The Amazing Race's Detour, if you refuse to take up this challenge, you can always opt for this instead:

Rupini's!

Used to go there when they were still threading eyebrows for $5. Now they have increased it to $7, and although it's still cheap to go there, it's not worth to make the journey down just to get my eyebrows threaded. Too lazy! Now I just shave and trim my own eyebrows. I still prefer threading though. No stray hairs :)

At this Detour, contestants have to get one side of their eyebrows threaded. Which, in my opinion, kinda painful and time-wasting. Besides, you will look weird with only one eyebrow :D While I was there, almost everyone (even girls) took the mealworms challenge. Except for 2 guys who opted for threading instead. If girls go for threading they can always draw their eyebrows. But guys? Lol! They don't even wax or pluck. I seriously think that the mealworms were a better choice for them. The 2 guys were up there for a long time. Hehe.

As I was only covering the central area of Singapore, this is my last Chasepoint that I'm gonna post up.

Drenched.

Contestants have to search for mahjong tiles in the Sungei Road Thieves' Market. This was the most boring Chasepoint for me. 'Cause there was no shelter and I couldn't go across the road to see the action, haha. After a while, it started raining really heavily :(

And I had to hide in the car again.

Guess what car?

3 door Toyota Rav 4

Finally had the chance to take a ride in one :) I really like the 3 door Rav 4s. Very cute size and I really like the off road look of it. Too bad, I can't afford it!

Another pic:

Nice car, right?

If I am not wrong, I will meet the Rav 4 gang again tomorrow for the Aviva Ironman event. Wait, it's not tomorrow. It's already Sunday now. That leaves me with barely 4 hours sleep, and I'm not even sleepy :(

Shall force myself to lie on the bed.

Hope the rain stops!

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How Silence Can Sometimes Be Deafening...

... when ya just reached home and walked into your room at 2am in the morning; and the first thing ya do is to either reach for that radio to switch it on, or to turn your fan on.

Somehow the drone of your fan is a comfort to the deafening silence.

Does that make sense to ya? Haha.

I just came back from watching My Sassy Girl, and I just can't bear the silence in the night. It's like a loud humming sound to my ears. Really contradicting statement, I know. But have ya ever felt that way?

These few days I'm into the Muse mood again. Listening to all my Muse albums and watching all their live shows on Youtube. One of my favourite videos:

Muse - Plug In Baby

I have watched this video like 32847823 times and I'm still not sick of it. Luuurrrrvvve this video ALOT. Have I ever mentioned on my blog that I find guys who can sing in falsetto really sexy?

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The Nike+ Human Race in Singapore (P.S: Utt is Hot! :D)

Okay, so this post is a few days too late... Been too busy the past few days and had no time to blog this, whoops.

As ya guys might have known, the Nike+ Human Race was held last Sunday, on 31.08.08, involving many countries, in the world's largest running event.


11,000 Singaporeans signed up for this event, and I'm not one of them. LOL!

Even though I am not participating in the event as a runner, I was there helping out in the event, thus I was able to take some lousy photos with my brother's Nokia 2mp phone that I borrowed (my LG viewty was still under repair).

Cool Nike Poster

Sea of Red

I have no idea what the Panda Mascot's got to do with the Nike+ Human Race. Any significance?

I always wondered who's the person under these Mascot suit thingies. I always assumed that guys would be chosened for these roles as they have better stamina and could probably take the heat and weight better?

But it turned out to be a very hot, tired and thirsty lady inside. Heh.


While waiting for the race to start, I started taking many random pictures of anything and everything. I was so busy trying to take photos with my lousy camera phone that I did not notice 2 people standing right in front of me til my friend pointed them out to me.

Is that Joanne Peh?

OMG is that UTT? Droool!

I'm hopeless, I know. I only noticed Utt after I saw Joanne Peh. And I gotta say Utt with this hairstyle just looks adorable! Hehe.

Too bad I didn't have the guts to ask him for a photo. *Palms forehead*

Here's a very lousy video I took of the flag off for the second race.

11,000 people. Just a few years back there weren't so many of these popular running events. Singaporeans are really getting more and more health conscious! (Or either that running is now an "in" thing. Haha!)

Makes me feel like joining one of these running events just because everybody is doing so.

Feel like only, lah. I'm probably more interested in Zoukout. Lol!

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