Amy's Back!

4 long years eh, Amy? Finally back for good!

Some pics from Amy and Jf's birthday celebration at Waraku...

Present-giving ceremony. Lol...

9 more days till I fly!

Route Map

Last year, when I told my mum I was going to Laos and Cambodia, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into.

I remember saying something like I didn't know why Vietnam was considered as a developing country until I got there. Well I've come to realise that travelling in Cambodia and Laos really does make Vietnam look like a walk in the park. Looking back, I think it is a perfect destination for amateur backpackers like us. Now, having conquered Vietnam, Kh and I are ready to take on the extra challenge. We're ready to battle red tape, seemingly endless scams, frequent transport delays and -yikes- potholes.

Speaking of potholes, the road conditions have significantly improved since a couple of years back, when all the roads were still unsealed and having 2 flat tires in a single journey is common. All thanks to external funding from China and Thailand that we might enjoy the luxury of a flat road. However, smaller roads (aka non-highway) still remain unsealed and travelling can be quite a bummer.

After weeks of research, I've finally came up with a route map for the whole 25 days of our trip.

Ideally-keyword Ideally-, this is the way we want to travel.

We'll be flying to Bangkok, then take a train up to Nong Khai, bus to Vientiane, bus all the way until Ho Chi Minh and we'll fly back from there.

Flying direct to/from Laos/Cambodia is possible seeing that Singapore is one of the 4 countries that fly to these places. However, budget flights do not fly to these places, and non-budget flights are not cost-effective for us. Kh and I decided to do what most backpackers have done--go overland from Thailand/Vietnam.

That said, everything is still very unpredictable in there. I'm having at least 2 backup plans to make our entire trip more time-flexible and adaptable to changes.

Well, 25 days is very very little time. We'll just try to get the most out of this trip.

Flying in 12 days time! =)

This Is It

I went to watch Michael Jackson's "This Is It" movie yesterday. Hmm, not sure if it should be made into a movie because it seems like the producers just wanna make a quick buck out of it. It's already bad enough that thousands of people paid millions of dollars for this concert which never happened. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed it. It gives a really upclose and personal look with Michael. 

However, fans who are anticipating hits like "Heal the World", "You Are Not Alone" (unfortunately, also my top 2 fave MJ songs), prepare to be disappointed. He also did NOT do the moonwalk! =(

Anyhow, I must applaud his team of dancers (11 guys chosen among hundreds). They're really really really good. Like how during the auditions, the producer was saying that they are looking for "an extension of Michael Jackson". Wow.

Also, the pyrotechnics and background clips were amazing. So much effort was put into it. They even built the sets for Thriller, Earth Song, and Smooth Criminal to film the introduction of each song.

At the end of it all, everyone gathered in a circle and held hands while MJ made a short speech. He was saying something like all of us must love each other, and take care of the planet (as if it's of any relevance to the concert =.=) because we have only 4 years to fix it before it is irreversible. For a moment there, he sounded like a politican or something haha. But aww, so sweet. =)

I'll just list out the songs that he performed in the movie, as far as I can remember, if anybody's thinking of watching.

Bad
Jam
Wanna Be Starting Something
Beat It
This Girl is Mine
Human Nature
Thriller
Smooth Criminal
Earth Song
Man in the Mirror
Billie Jean
Black Or White
They Don't Care About Us

He also did 2 Jackson 5 songs. Can't really remember, I think it was

I'll Be There, and
I Want You Back

Of cuz now it sounds really different. Imagine him singing the abc123 song. =X

27 Klicks

Jack came over to Kh's house today for another board game maranthon with us. Unfortunately, this time, we're really really sick of our current collection of board games. After 1 round of Cities & Knights, we decided to join Kh's sis and her friend Steed for cycling.

All 5 of us did 27km of cycling today. It was crazy. I mean 27 klicks is not a big deal, but we had bike seats which were practically like wooden planks. Our groins ached so much to the point that they got numb, and you can totally feel warm blood flowing down there everytime you stand up.

After about 22km...
Kh's sis: If given $100 now, would you cycle up and down that long stretch of road again? (approx. 10km)
Jack: 不要，我还要生孩子的。

LOL.

Lesson learnt: Don't stinge on renting bikes!

After more than 27km of chionging, our legs were really wobbly. It's like how after rollerblading, you still feel like you're walking on wheels. Except that for cycling, you could fall down from all the wobbliness. Kh, being his ultra-annoying self, was nonetheless the first to knee-jerk me.

After which, we headed to Sembawang for the peh bee hoon. Jack and Steed ordered gonggongs which we thought were really disgusting.

Kh's sis: They don't even look nice!
Jack:  They don't have to look nice. You're gonna be eating them, not dating them.

Lol. Hilarious.

Overall a really fun day minus the groin aches. =X

Lady Castle

I finished watching this korean drama series, Lady Castle a.k.a Take Care of the Young Lady a.k.a My Fair Lady, last friday. I actually watched the raw version for the last episode 'cos I couldn't wait till sat/sun for the subs to come out. Surprisingly, I actually understood quite a bit of the show. Haha.

Anyways, I don't understand why Yoon Eun Hye received widespread criticism for her role in this show. I thought she acted pretty good? In fact, better than in Goong (and maybe Coffee Prince? I dunno.) perhaps?

On a side note, I'm seriously thinking about signing up for Korean lessons. I wanna be able to fully understand the korean dramas I'm watching w/o having to rely on subs! =D