Irene Chew is single.
Is that good news or bad news? Up to you. It is neither a good news nor a bad news to me though.
Went to Batam on 18 June for a day trip with my family. I had never been there prior to this so I was kinda excited.
Took a ferry from the Harbourfront Ferry Terminal to Batam Centre. It was the first time I took a ferry to another country. HeE~!
At the departure hall of the Habourfront Ferry Terminal.
We were not allowed to buy any alcohol from the DFS as we were out of the country for less than 48 hours. Bought some chocolates instead. Nice chocolates they've got there. Yummy!
We started our journey at 935AM Singapore time. The ferry ride lasted 55 minutes and we reached Batam Centre at 930AM Indonesian time. As soon as we reached Batam Centre, we were greeted by the friendly local Chinese tour guides. When everyone had gathered, they led us to Mega Mall for breakfast.
Our welcome drink.
We ate fried tauhu for breakfast. The fried tauhu we had is not the usual fried tauhu that we eat at hawker stalls in Singapore. The inside of the fried tauhu is actually stuffed with fried bee hoon. Yummilicious! The other kueh-kuehs was nothing to rave about though.
We hopped onto the tour bus after breakfast for our half day tour. Most of the tour was conducted on the bus. We only set foot on two places. One, the Barelang Fisabililah Bridge. Two, the Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya Laughing Buddha Temple.
The Barelang Fisabililah Bridge was said to be the largest bridge linking the tiny island of Tonton Nipah to the larger setoko island, Rempeng island, Galang island and Galang buru island. Nice scenery there. Although there is traffic on the bridge, the local people seem to ignore that fact. They walk on the roads as if the road was theirs. Dangerous! Lotsa street hawkers selling fried seafood sticks too. Didn't buy any as I didn't think it was clean. Better to be safe than sorry. Didn't wanna end up with an upset tummy for the rest of the day. We left the place after 15 minutes.
See what I mean?
The Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya Laughing Buddha Temple doesn't look like a temple to me on the outside. It looks more like a private residence. =P We were given half an hour to roam on our own at the temple. After offering joss sticks, we found ourselves being followed by a monk. He was wearing plain clothes, but he is bald, so I assumed he is a monk. He kept following us around everywhere and talked to us about the religion. Told us how influential the religion is and how many followers it has. He followed us all the way, never gave up until we boarded the bus. Scary!
The happy Laughing Buddha in the foreground and my fairy godmother, the Godness of Mercy in the background.
After leaving the temple, we headed back to Mega Mall for lunch. On our way back to Mega Mall, I noticed that they have a lot of banks in Batam. The people there must all be multi-millionaires in disguise. But then again, it is not difficult to be one there with Rupiah being so small. HaHa~! I also noticed that the banks there operate 24 hours a day. I wonder what is that for.
The lunch at Mega Mall was very much like the Chinese tze char we have in Singapore, only that it was served in the VIP room. I was expecting some traditional Indonesian food. Was quite disappointed. It was quite nicely done though.
It was free and easy after lunch. Daddy and mommy went for massage while sis and I went shopping. Wanted to do manicure and pedicure but I didn't wanna wait for the manicurist who was busy. Bought a Billabong tote bag at I.D. Girl. Wanted to get a Polo blouse too, but didn't buy it in the end. Nothing much at the mall. It was overrated. SiGh~! Had dinner at A&W. Not nice at all. Still prefer the old A&W we had in Singapore. Went down to the hypermart after dinner and bought some tidbits. Wanted to buy the Winne the Pooh storage unit but didn't know how to pack it back home, so didn't buy it. So sad. =(
We took the 820PM ferry home. Reached Singapore at 1020PM Singapore time. Daddy was prepared to pay at least $30 for parking at Habourfront Ferry Terminal but we later realised that the per entry charge was only $2! HeE~!
Went for an interview at First Impact International the following day. It is a shop selling branded footwear such as Adidas and Puma. JiaMei had recommended me for a job as a temporary data entry clerk there. I made an appointment with the boss to have the interview at 11AM but he was away on an urgent meeting. I was told by a staff to go back again at 1PM. I wasn't too happy with that arrangement but I still did as told. I went back to the shop at 1PM and the boss was still not around. I sat on one of the benches in the shop for another half an hour, until the lady boss came in. She was the interviewer. During the interview, we had agreed that my job will be to enter the stock level of the two shops under First Impact International and the transfers done between the two shops. I was also promised that I would be able to leave the job after I have completed the two tasks. The time frame given to me was two weeks but I knew I could finish it within a week, so I took up the job offer though the pay was not what was told to me at first.
Daddy came to pick me up at Ang Mo Kio MRT station, where we proceeded to Sentosa.
I must be mad to go to Sentosa in office wear.
The admission charge per person is $2 and $2 for the car. We paid $10 in total for 4 adults and 1 car. We almost lost our way while searching for parking space on the island as the map was not very well drawn. After much effort, we finally found a carpark near the beach. Wanted to take the monorail to tour the island but the monorail was not ready, so we took the shuttle bus instead. We had complimentary tickets for the sky tower, so we alighted when we saw the tall structure. It is Singapore's tallest observatory tower. Standing at 131 metres abover sea level, the views it offered was fantastic! The ride was rather short though. We went up and came down again within 10 minutes.
Panoramic views from the sky tower.
We were feeling a little adventurous that day, so we decided to take a walk on the dragon trail.
The Earth Dragon's head...
... and its tail.
The Serpent Octagon.
Heart Of The Forest.
Imbiah Falls.
Dragon Bones.
I am not a person who likes nature that much, so you should be able to imagine how happy I was when I saw this - The Exit!
The trail led us to Siloso Beach. From there, we took the beach tram back to the beach carpark, where we parked our car.
The Bottle Tree at Siloso Beach
We drove away from the beach after we got to our car, to the ferry terminal.
The Sentosa Ferry Terminal.
There used to be an A&W restaurant on that ferry, which I would always go whenever I visit Sentosa. Haven't been on it since A&W pulled out of Singapore.
We had our dinner at Burger King. Each of us had a set meal. I had the Royal Fish burger meal. Love that cheese! Yummy yummy! We paid less than $30 for dinner.
Took a walk down the Lost Cilvilisation And Ruined City.
Trying to imitate the expression on the stone slab.
The place is really ruined. The stone slabs are on the verge of falling backwards and there were no one else visiting that place.
We made our way to the Musical Fountain for the Sentosa show after that.
On our way to the Musical Fountain.
We waited almost half an hour before the show finally started at 740PM, but it was well worth it! It was a spectacular show! Love it to bits! The fountain master was a great host. The Sentosa monkey, KiKi was very cute too. For the story, please go to Sentosa and watch it yourself. HaHa~!
Beautiful.
We went to the sky tower for another ride for the night view as we still have 4 complimentary tickets and we are most probably not going back there anytime soon. The view from the top was pretty, especially after night fall. Nice!
We left the island at about 1030PM. For 7 hours of fun, we only spent less than $50 for the whole family. Now, who said you have to spend a lot of money to have a lot of fun? =P
Started work at First Impact on 21 June. Was made to enter new stock items into the system, which was not within the job scope I agreed to initially. However, as I am a nice girl, I was not calculative and just did as instructed. I was very nice until one day, when I finished all the work I was supposed to do, or rather the work I agreed to do. Sandy told me I had to go back to enter the new stock for her on two separate days. I complained that the work will go on forever since there will always be new stock coming in. She realised I was angry and promised that I could leave after I have finished those. Didn't wanna argue with her anymore and did as told. On my last day, she told me that my pay will be given to me in two instalments. What the ****! That was not communicated to me earlier when I accepted the job offer! I kept hinting to her that it was not right but she could only tell me that it will not take long for me to receive the full payment. ArGh~! Moreover, she would keep calling me every now and then to ask me how to use the system. It was HER system and she is asking ME how to use it. Great! Still waiting for the full amount to be credited into my account. After that, I will stop picking up her calls. =P
Went to Chinatown with WeiQi for dinner on 24 June. We had dinner at the Chinatown Food Street. I had kway chap and WeiQi had mutton soup. The kway chap was acceptable. I still prefer the kway chap in Chong Pang hawker centre. Didn't try the mutton soup 'coz I don't like mutton. WeiQi said it was delicious though.
Wanted to pack home some Shanghainese chee cheong fun but the stall has closed down. So sad. =(
Decided to go shopping in town after dinner. On our way to the MRT station, two uncles came up to us and greeted us. We ignored them but they kept following us. Fortunately, they did not follow us when we ran over to the opposite side of the road. Sick and dirty old men.
Went to a Korean shop in Cathay Cineleisure. We each bought a Korean fruit ice stick. I bought a mango ice stick and WeiQi bought a strawberry ice stick. It was heavenly! HeE~! We took the MRT home after we finished our ice sticks.
On my way home, someone whistled at me. I was the only girl on the walkway, so I was very certain that the person was whistling at me. Was so scared that I ran home. My attire was very decent that day. I wore a normal t-shirt with short sleeves which is not low-cut and a three-quarter length bohemian skirt. How attractive could I have been? SiGh~! Men.
Went to Joanne's tea party with Daphne on 2 July. My parents sent us to her house, so that I wouldn't lose my way. Yes, I am such a big sotong when it comes to directions. HaHa~!
Besides Daphne and I, Joanne had also invited two other friends, Daphne Li and Levene, who used to go to SCGS with her. There was also Shida who was in CJC with us for one year before she transferred to NYP to study nursing. Joanne's long time pal, Lionel was there as well, to entertain us. HaHa~! Just kidding!
We had lots of pretty and delicious pastries for tea. All courtesy of Joanne's mommy! She made all of them herself! I shall start learning how to bake and cook from now on, so that I can hold tea parties like this in future, myself! HeE~!
Went up to Joanne's room after tea to chit chat. We watched V for Venetta on her laptop too. As her bed was not big enough for the six of us, we placed the laptop on the floor and all of us just laid on the floor with Joanne's pillows and bolsters. HaHa~! Had pizza for dinner before Joanne's mom sent us to the MRT station in her father's car.
Took in two new students so that I will be able to pay the tuition fees for 2006/2007 when the bill comes this August. I have 11 students now. How to manage? God, please save me.
