What's left + Jacky Cheung

Thursday July 12.

Rested for most of the day, but went to the gym in the evening to wait for Clarisse to knock off work. Have brought them there for a few times since the previous Friday, as Clarisse managed to get 3 x 1-week passes for mum and 2 sisters.

Enjoying our swim in the pool.
Clarisse's mum didn't swim that day, so she took some pix.

Us frolicking in the water as night time came upon us.

Oh. Missed something. On Tuesday, the day before SSC, brought Clarisse's mum to do some shopping for clothes at Lor Ah Soo Market at my mum's recommendation. Amazingly, found some nice and good quality clothes at those small shops. After bargaining, they weren't too expensive either. So I got Clarisse a surprise, and she wore it to work on Thursday.

The top I brought her.
It looks so not from the market.

Clarisse with mum, Gym and Suntec roof in the background. Roof changes colour every 10 or 20 seconds. Pretty view while swimming.

After the 2 girls finished their long steam-bathing, we were all starved and headed towards suntec for a nice dinner at Fish & Co. 1 x Calamari, 2 x Stingrays, 1 x Salmon, and a Seafood Platter for 2. Slightly over-ordered, as we were quite full in the end - the Seafood Platter for 2 can basically feed all 3 sisters.

They took a pic at the Suntec Fountain of Wealth before dinner arrived, cos of the nice lights and laser dedications and all. Aft that was them going home in a comfy merc cab, while I, the Xtra one, headed home to Hougang. Boohoo.

That's one day concluded.


Friday July 13.

Ubin Trip.

Clarisse's leave day. Promised her to let her have the morning to snuggle in bed and chat with mum and sisters, so nothing in the morning.

I went over for lunch, and after lunch, brought them all to Ubin. Except Clarisse, who stayed home to bake a Lemon Cheese Cake. Looked as good as it tasted, but again, I forgot to take any pix of it. -_-|||

Tingting on the boat to Ubin.
Yup she's hopelessly infected with the act cute virus.

Caught a landing plane while on boat.
Lots of planes cos we set off from Changi Jetty.

Arrival at Ubin!

Main destination was Kekek Quarry. It's the same one that I went with Jon & Esther & JJ & gf & my friend Suan. Except - We went to the older gate far away. Cos the gate that we climbed over? It's torn down and many excavators are there.

Cos of the issue of Indonesia not providing us with Sandstone, the Ubin Quarries are on their way to be reopened for excavation, after it was closed in 1999.

However, the longer ride was quite worth it, as it brought us uphill, to one of the highest points in Ubin.

Look carefully at the photo, and you will spot a sillhouette of the CBD area. No, it's not photoshopped. It was much clearer when you look at it cos your eyes can focus on far images, but there's a limit to how much a camera can catch.

This one is a photoshopped image. -_-||| I know, it's damn obvious. That's not the point. This is a panoramic view of Kekek Quarry, the largest quarry on Pulau Ubin.

We planned a short trip, so we were back on our way after Kekek Quarry, which took about an hour to reach as we weren't speeding. Among us all, Clarisse's mum was the strongest cyclists. Really. She's damn fit can. When she brought me to hike back in China last year, she was like way in front with Clarisse's brother and I panting and trying to catch up.

We made a detour to the Thai Buddhist Temple, made some offerings, and rushed our way back to taste Clarisse's cake.

That's them on the way back.

Ubin Quarry, a smaller quarry on the way back.

A zoom-in from the previous pic.
Not clear, but that's a dead tree in the centre,
with lots of birds resting on it.

Back to the Jetty.
Caught a pic of a Kellong,
one of the last few in sg.

Oh. Yes. The coconut. Along the way, we saw lots of coconuts, and even heard one falling. Very fresh. Given that it was quite large, we decided to bring it home. That's all of them with the coconut before leaving on the boat.

Leaving the island.

Sunset on the boat.

Back to mainland sg.

That night, I made a complete mess out of the coconut, hacking away with a chopper, peeling with bare hands, & combination of both. Created a heap of coconut husk rubbish on the kitchen floor within a short 15 minutes. And finally saw the white of coconut flesh... The taste of self-opened coconut juice, is so damn sweet i tell you. With the added taste of satisfaction.

And the others liked it just as much of course. ^_^

Night time. 1am. Went for HP, which I had booked 2 weeks ahead of time. Girls were crazy over it, and me, previously not really liking the craze surrounding the franchise, started to like the story. Maybe cos the depth to the character is building up, with him more mature, dark and troubled, which was something missing from previous installations.

Yes, I haven't touched a single book. I have something against mass crazes, such as my disdain towards LOTR when the craze set in, even after liking it alot for most of my teenage years. No, it's not a prob with anyone but myself. Some sort of mental claustrophobia, I don't feel comfortable when too many people are thinking about the same thing as I am.

Oh well, drifted too far awy. Anyway, great movie. Girls loved it too. Can't wait for movie's last 2 instalments, and yes, I still don't feel like reading the book. Ok stop stoning me please.

That's the end of another day.


Saturday July 14.

Xiaoyu's Commencement. I went along with Clarisse and her mum at 4pm, while the 2 sisters packed up and rested for a few more hours.

Xiaoyu and us.

Whole bunch of us. From Left. Yiran from Beijing, Cai Xun from Chenghai, Jingliang from Zhejiang (Xiaoyu's Bf), Guus (pronounced the same as hughes) from Holland (Yiran's Bf), Xiaoyu's Dad, Xiaoyu, Clarisse, Me, Xiaoyu's mum and Clarisse's mum. Xiaoyu and Clarisse are from same hometown, Teochew.

After that was a cab ride from Suntec to Changi Airport. Budget Terminal. Had a nice sumptous meal at Hans, where my dad was at his habitual over-ordering again.

Clarisse and family.

The 2 mums.

They kinda hit it off somehow. I don't know and don't understand how, but somehow.

Whole bunch of us before they checked into the immigration.

And they left. Clarisse was in tears; she always cries when her family leaves. It was worse last time when we left her home in China. Anyway we have already planned for a China trip late this yr or early next, so won't be long before we meet again.

Immediately after that, we headed off to the Jacky Cheung Concert.

The crowd near the entrance of the main stadium.
Full House, as expected of a 歌神.

Before the lights went out.
Jess's seats the next day was somewhere in the centre-right of e pic.

Lights suddenly went off, crowd went wild.

And his impressive appearance.

Zoom-in to the max, and this is the best that I got.

The lights that flooded the place as the crowd stormed in sync for an encore.

And the masterful reappearance.

After the singing of 李香兰, the concert was more than worth the ticket price. With the slew of classics that followed, we were ecstatic along with the crowd. But my dad didn't really appreciate the rock numbers tho. He said they were too noisy.. he could at least have pretended to have enjoyed it and not make me feel like I wasted $. -_-|||

Nevertheless, my mum and us enjoyed the show totally.

For me, there was a really memorable number, 给朋友, or "For a Friend". The lyrics can be found here. What I really like about concerts is when the singers explain the story behind a song, it superimposes upon it's meaning and makes the song even more enjoyable. This is one of those songs.

Late 2003, Jacky Cheung was in a state of depression, cos of the passing of a couple of his really good friends in the Showbiz. He didn't mention, but I presume they were Anita and Leslie. He started questioning his work in the showbiz, and as he came out of depression, he decided to compose a song dedicated to them. The song itself is already pretty good, but coupled with the meaning, it becomes tear-wrenching even.

That's the grand opening.



A close-up.

Jeff Chang's 爱如潮水
I liked this as much as Jess did.

The song that made the the concert more than worth it.
Masterful performance.

Please don't blame me for the blair-witch project experience, cos my hands are pretty shaky. I can't really help it u know... -_-|||

Anyway that's another great day concluded.