Taiwan:

As promised, i will give a brief account on my recent trip to taiwan.. Went there on the 19th of Dec and came back excatly a week ago. hmm.. at this moment a week ago, i was in the airport having burger king and xiao long bao with my tourmates.. haha..
Anyway, Taiwan was a very enjoyable place to be in. Why? there is some degree of messiness there, compared with ultra neat and order Singapore. Also, in a space of a week, i was able to witness both the urban and rural areas of taiwan. the hustle and bustle of city life compared to the serenity in the countryside.  I was also impressed by the level of cleanliness there. Everywhere, be it in large cities or small towns, the streets were extra clean, free of rubbish. i think that it is much cleaner than that in Singapore. Even more impressive was the toilets there. every toilet i have been to was spick and span.. even the people in taiwan are really nice, friendly and all.. although taiwan does not have much scenery, the people made up for it. food was also good, i mean those available in the bazaars. large variety, fresh and most of all tasty.. 
Hmm, i would go there again, but not in the next 10 years, i suppose..

Wii:

The surprise of the century: my mum bought a wii.. it came totally out of the blue. just before the trip, she told me to get one when we got back to Singapore. she was apparently fascinated with the wii sports game. Somehow, i wasn't too excited by this, i dunno why, and had the audacity to tell my mum that it costs a whopping 700+ bucks, with my brother adding in that each game cost a further 70. Still, my mum was unfazed and we duly bought the set when we got back from taiwan. True enough, it did cost a bomb.. 770 bucks.. although i didnt buy the set with my $$, i can feel that i had just burnt a hole in my pocket.. haha.. perhaps i was more astonished by how determined my mum was to buying the set.. well.. graphics wise, it is clear and cute.. gameplay, simple.. i think there are too little options.. no leagues/tourney or career that i can participate in.. haha.. but it was certainly very interactive and fun.. fun because it is easy to learn but hard to master. also, doing actions explicitly makes the whole gaming experience a whole lot more enjoyable. 

School:

Well, today is the first day of the school year. a new start, perhaps.. took the train to school.. when i got off the train, all i saw was people in acs uniform.. where are the J1s? i thought.. all the way to school, i saw no one other than students clad in acs uniform.. haha.. it was only till i reach school when i finally saw a myraid of uniforms.. saw a few of my juniors.. assembly was largely the same as last year.. again with the loudest cheers reserved for mr lynn.. haha.. lessons started today too.. -.- wad a way to start off the new school year. i guess that the worst part of school was that the prices of canteen food increased due to inflation.. wth.. $2+ for the lousy plate of food.. i'll rather go hungry than to waste $$ on lousy food.. haha.. another displeasing point was that my class didnt have a change of teachers.. crap larh.. it will mean that we will continue to get her and as what the class said, grades will remain stagnant, at least for that subject.. ohh.. the only good point of today was that the timetable was out and it happens that dismissal on fri is at 2.. WOOHOO!! a complete contrast against last year,, yay.. which means that i can go out after school on fri.. haha
it promises to be a long and ardous school year aheadm, but one that will pass in a blink of an eye..

hmm.. i am back from taiwan now.. had a really great trip.. loads of fun and entertainment.. shall fill you all in when i have the time to.. hahas

anyways.. yup the new year is fast approaching and that means finish up your hw time.. time to pia hw full time, esp when school technically starts a day earlier on the 2nd of jan. haha..

hmm.. looking forward to another year in school.. the thought of meeting my classmates, friends, juniors and . makes me real happy.. 

Yes.. i am going to get a wii =)

woohoo.. away at taiwan from 19-26dec!! chiristmas overseas for the 2nd year running..

-para deleted-

and an early x'mas greeting from me to you..

Beautiful, isn't it? i took this photo in prague last year.. it was situated in the middle of a chirstmas fair and i think that it was only about 6pm when i took this photo. i could really feel the festivities of chirstmas there. the weather (cold enough to see vapour when you exhale), food (hot brandy, 6-inch hotdogs, pastries), people and more. it is way better than in singapore.. haha.. 

why did i suddenly recollect this event, you may ask.. well, yesterday, i went to vivocity with my family to celebrate my grandma's b'dae. at the rooftop garden/plaza, there stood a large xmas tree, abeit a fake one. i guess that in singapore, people celebrate or mark xmas by just placing decorations in homes, streets and malls. there isnt a mood of chirstmas. to us singaporeans, xmas may be just another public holiday, not celebrated in the same scale as other western countries. i think this is the same when you celebrate cny in western countries.. 

to the dinner, we ate at the imperial herbal restaurant. the food there is not bad. interesting tastes due to interesting ingredients. walked around for a little while before heading home..

yea.. going to grandma's house later.. promises to be another fun filled afternoon, with a special guest (maybe) too.

so i went with my family to the airport to send off my brother last night.. at the airport, i saw his mates and a few of his seniors.. quite nice of them to send their juniors off.. anyway, there was one thing that i noticed, and that was that the whole bunch of them were speaking in chinese.. oh how i missed my rv days, where i can converse in chinese to practically everyone.. very comfortable and homely.. haha.. another thing of this send off was that it reminded me of the prague trip almost a year ago.. wow, great memories remain.. after sending him off, my mum asked a qn.. 
' do the students really learn from the trip, or is it just pure fun?' i shall leave it for you to think about it.. =)

today was mostly spent at my cousin's house at sengkang.. most of my relatives came over too.. it was an occasion that was missed in recent months, due to some matters.. but seeing the whole family together again is just a joy to watch.. the adults played mahjong, the younger generation played cards/platform games, and immense chatting and laughter occurred.. it was really what a family should be, lively and happy. and there should be a cousin's outing in dec.. looking forward to that!!

my two legs are aching like mad.. heres why:

1. hockey on friday.. ran 2.4 as a starter before doing stickwork (which involves intensive leg stretching) - hamstring, calf

2. after that, went for scuba lessons.. i guess it was the finning part which did the most damage.. - thigh, shin

3. 4 hours of soccer today.. - just worsens everything..

legs havent ached so bad before.. so bad that it hurts when i try to take the stairs, and even in normal walking!! hopefully they will heal miraculously before training on monday..

ok.. shall keep this short.. going to the airport later to send off my brother, who is embarking on a 10 day trip to shanghai/hangzhou with nhhs dance/wushu people..