Wednesday, September 23, 2009

11:53 PM

I bought this big ass 640 GB Maxtor external hard drive for my media storage: my TV shows, movies, music, and photos. I saw 1 TB, 1.5 TB and 2 TB models, but I thought a 640 GB one would suffice. I really hope so... but looks like my junk has already taken up about 15% of its storage capacity (files still transferring). But I love it very much. It takes away the pressure of having to worry about overloading your machine with data, hence making it work real slow...

I had another great vacation in Singapore. It's a pure shopping trip this time, and for the past few days, I shopped until every joint in my body ached. Talk about satisfaction though, I got what I wanted and ate what I wanted (Din Tai Fung's 小笼包 and Burger King's BBQ Turkey Bacon Doubles). My trip to Singapore this time was pretty interesting and eventful too.

First, our hotel. We stayed at Swissôtel The Stamford, which is "the tallest hotel in the south of Asia and the third tallest hotel in the world." (quote Wikipedia) We were given rooms on the 51st floor and trust me, you do not enjoy the ride on the lift. You literally need to shoot up from the first floor to the 51st floor in a matter of seconds, and your ears do not like that. Plus, being acrophobic does not help much. I didn't even dare to step onto the balcony, but I did, because dad wanted to show me the F1 racing track. I saw it, looked down, major vertigo (!!!), and quickly jumped back inside.

But you know, there are so many cool things about the hotel, so all can be forgiven. For one, the café where we had our morning buffet is gorgeous! Huge glass panes, sparkly lanterns, and super bright with maximum sunshine! They have some great food too. I particularly enjoyed having their scrambled eggs and pancakes/waffles (topped with maple syrup, whipped cream and blueberries) every morning. Ahh I'm missing them now... And you know, the hotel is like the closest to the F1 racing track (Singapore race due this weekend), so we've been looking at the people setting up the lights and stuff. It's all pretty fascinating and surreal. The Ferrari team is also staying at the same hotel, so every morning we see people in red uniforms. Since we found out, we've been raising our senses to extreme levels... in case there is a sighting of Michael Schumacher around... but no luck. And if only we'd done enough homework, we would know about the F1 Rock concert (starting tomorrow) earlier! Mum and dad wanted to watch Jacky Cheung, and I would certainly go if I knew about it earlier... (performers include Jacky Cheung, A-Mei, Backstreet Boys, No Doubt, Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas, etc.) OH WELL...

Let's talk about shopping. Other than books and my beloved M&M's, I got little pretty things from Daiso, which is a great place! Everything is $2, but the quality is really good. I couldn't resist the fact that everything is $2 in the entire shop (cookware, snacks, socks, stationery... you name it) so I bought random stuff there, like a pair of mini binoculars from the toy aisles (yes, it's $2, cute, fun and going to be useful). I even bought book stands... and mini multi-coloured metal buckets... I can't help it, they are cheap and beautiful. (From other shops) I finally bought a nice leather case for my iPod and also a wallet. I've been looking for a wallet for ages, and I really like this one I have now. It has the appearance of a folded envelope, but actually it is a wallet. At the airport just now, where we had our bags and mobile phones screened, I placed my wallet into the tray and the female security asked whether it's money inside the "envelope". She caught a shock and laughed after I told her it's my wallet. Hah, win!!!

Wow this post is getting pretty lengthy... anyway, one really COOL thing happened yesterday. It was about 4 PM and I was alone in the hotel room. My family went out but I was too lazy so I stayed back. They told me they're going to return pretty late, so at about 5 PM, I went downstairs with my backpack to go WiFi hunting. Ohhh yes, speaking of WiFi, I'm so bummed that I couldn't find any free WiFi around the places I went. Major disappointment! Anyway, I went straight to Starbucks to get a cuppa mocha... no WiFi signals. I left after I finished my drink to continue hunting. Then I saw a TV crew outside the Oris watch shop. I knew 'cause there were a lot of people, video cameras, and then I noticed a guy I think belongs on the TV... but I couldn't recall who was it. I went on my own business to go WiFi hunting. Up and down and round and round the building I went, but no luck at all. All the networks were password protected! @!#$&$%! And then from the second floor, I saw a commotion in front of the watch shop, and a couple of body guards. This time I busybodied and went to see what's going on (still on the second floor but stood at a different angle). I saw an angmo and knew instantly it must be one of the F1 drivers. I went down with my mobile camera ready and sure enough, there was a private function going on inside. There was a small crowd outside the shop but I got a nice spot up front so lucky me! One of the securities was an old man, but he's one cute old man. He was like "F1 racer! F1 racer! If you want to see stand one side! Stand one side!" When people asked who it was, he said "Mika something, Mika something." I couldn't recognise the man too, so when I overheard him, I thought it was Mika Hakkinen he was talking about (but doubtful). I then sent a series of very excited text messages to my dad LOL The angmo is so good-looking (photos below) and I felt extremely lucky... it's the first time I've met someone from the TV? Who also happens to be very gorgeous? He came out of the shop and smiled at everybody, did a few interviews and signed the model of his F1 car. When I showed my dad the photos, he told me it's not Mika Hakkinen, but Nico Rosberg of the BMW Williams team.

Oh wow, typing this much is actually tiring. Well to end this post, I'd like to say that I love Singapore a lot! But sometimes I do miss the peace and tranquility of Brunei... especially when you are crammed inside the MRT/bus, or when you cannot find a damn place to have your dinner! It scares me sometimes... all the people and movement. Everything is just so fast paced. I also genuinely think Singaporeans are professional balancers. They do not need any support at all when boarding the MRT or using the zooming escalators.

And is it just me or is every Singaporean extremely fashionable? Fancy hairstyles, fancy outfits, iPhones/Blackberries on hands, LV/Gucci over the shoulders, earphones in the ears... it's not hard to tell who are the Singaporeans and who are the fishes out of the water.

Photos for you!