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This is what you get when you park at my Chairman's lot.

Clamped!

One Night in Beijing

I was in Beijing for a night last week. Just one day cos my Chairman was in Asia and i told him i needed him for a meeting in Hong Kong and Beijing. My boss went to Hong Kong with him and I met them in Beijing for that one meeting.

Because the hotel we stayed in heard who was coming (not me of course), they upgraded us to a suite. I had arrived first and the front desk manager and rooms manager was there to greet me. I wasnt in my best of moods so i told them i just wanted to get to my room.

The suite was a disappointment as i heard it was a new wing but the build quality was horrible.



The stupid toilet didnt even have a dustbin.



One slightly good thing was that there was some food waiting for me.



And there was a bottle of Evian, the big bottle kind. This typically costs S$13 in hotel rooms and i was glad this was free.



And even better, it's meant for golfers, according to the label at the back.



I was glad to be in and out of Beijing quickly. It's so boring and smoggy.

Sucker

Sometimes I think im quite a sucker. We were browsing around for shoes and I came across this pair and tried it. Was a little undecided so I decided to ask the sales lady for her opinion.

Her reply was that this pair has the Hugo Boss look. This kinda turned me on cos it’s a look I’d (and most people I’d venture) like to have.

This was, of course, until Someone told me that the lady said it cos I was wearing a Hugo Boss shirt.

Tsk. What a party pooper.

But I refused to believe, so I went back today to buy it.

See for yourself and tell me this doesn’t exude Hugo.

CNY

I cant remember if i have ever blogged about it but i hate CNY.

It's not about the relatives asking when im getting married or the need to buy new clothes. No one ever asks and i probably havent bought new clothes for CNY for the last 10 years. (I do think in advance what to wear that would be palatable for the superstitious relatives)

I hate CNY cos there's always a need to coordinate schedules on when to visit my mum's or dad's side. But actually they're pretty cool about me not going but i feel bad.

Then there's a need to decide where to eat for CNY eve. In recent years, i have suggested we gone out to eat to lessen the burden of cooking at home. But man, it's tough to find a nice place which doesnt serve set meals. You dont want to be paying $600 for food that they cook in bulk!

CNY is also a time where many shops close. That sucks. It's almost as if life comes to a standstill.

This year, day 1 is on Sunday. Which means no badminton for me. Bleah.

And it seems like my usual getaway activity - mahjong with the Dream Team - might not happen. So that sucks too.

CNY eve is on Saturday so no golf on Saturday too. Double sucky.

Hopefully there will be some golf sometime in the 3 days.

Zonked

Sometimes i dont know why i blog. Cos most of my happenings is updated on Facebook. I cant think of anyone who isnt on my FB reading my blog.

Anyway, I took half day on Friday to go JB golfing with my recently unemployed (voluntarily) friend. Quite a horrible game when i lost a box worth (12) of balls. A little heartpain but hey, a bad day at golf is better than a good day in the office. Haha..

It was a busy friday which meant there were tons of mails in my BB while i was playing and i ended up going back to the office to get my laptop and have dinner near my office.

At night i complained to Sox that it was sucha bad game that i felt like going to the range on Sat morning. He jokingly suggested i joined him and his family for golf on Saturday morning. 5am leave, 7am tee off!!!! I asked Someone for permission then MOVED! Actually when i woke up on Saturday morning at 4am, i laid in bed for 10 minutes wondering if i should go and go back to sleep. Haha.. but considering that the course was designed by a world class designed, i decided to go for it. Also, considering it was quite a difficult course, i thought i did pretty well. A good day at golf is of course better than a good day at work.

I played badminton today. My whole body was aching when i woke up this morning. But i think i did pretty well.

I bet my body would ache big time tomorrow.

Sucks that i have a breakfast meeting tomorrow.

Tea

Every heterosexual man should have a stash of this.

FIrst Meal in Tokyo

Finally managed to organise my pictures from Tokyo. Phew.. so many pics to edit and decide which are post-worthy and which aren't.

We reached Tokyo at 4pm and hotel at 6pm. So hungry but yet too tired to venture too far so we took the free hotel bus to Shinjuku. There was just so many shops and we decided on this conveyor belt thingy.

There was a little bit of a crowd.



The sushi chefs hard at work.



Because there was no english prices anyway, nor a menu in sight, we had to constantly refer to the plate colors and the corresponding prices on the wall. As it was our first meal in Japan, we didnt want to blow the bank.



Everything is handmade and eaten immediately. Itd be A LITTLE weird if one can feel the warmth of his hand on the sushi. Itd be like you taking off your clothes and putting them in a laundry bag and handing it to the housekeeper and she feels your warm clothes... eewwwwl.

Because it's all handmade, the sushi is not as "uniform". It all adds to the authenticity. But if Sakae Sushi did this, we would all cry foul. I know i would. Haha

Christmas

Ive been so busy with work and range that my blogging has been delayed.

My Christmas bounty this year was quite dismal.

Someone gave me a tie..



and a TV.. Haha.. the TV was a huge surprise. Gave her my 21". 21" in exchange for 32". Song!

Common Sense

Saw this that day on a forum. Hee hee.. so right sometimes. They should do something for female drivers.

Rattled

The chinese sign is attached on the back windscreen of my car.

It’s metallic so it rattles every time the road gets bumpy.

So now,every time there’s a speed bump in life, I think of Sox’s love for me.

Niu

Sox came by the range yesterday to pass me something he got from Shanghai.

I thought it was kinda weird for him to be passing me Chinese signs.

Here you go.



I was confused for a while and he had to explain it.

Haha..

What’s between niu a and niu c?

Niu b

= Newbie.

He promised me another sign when I get below 100 at golf.

First Day

I was questioned the other day how come no more Japan pics after Krispy Kreme. That’s cos we arrived at 7am on Sunday morning from Beijing and had a wedding lunch that lasted 3 hours! Knocked out after that.

First day of work yesterday. As usual, I was filled with promise and fervour, which lasted until 10am. Haha.

But well, new year, clean slate of things. 12 more months to sign a deal. Didn’t manage to sign a deal in 2009. Clock’s ticking to sign a couple in the next 12 months.

Saw this yesterday on my colleague’s desk.



Windows Blue Screen of Death on the first day of the year. Hee hee. How ominous.

Krispy and Kremey

I was a tad disappointed we werent able to visit the Krispy Kreme at Shinjuku before we left Shinjuku for Sheraton.

Alas we saw one in Shibuya and went in to "drink some coffee" even after our heavy lunch at Gonpachi.

Check out the throngs of happy people at the outlet.



So many memorabilia you can buy! cups, caps, shirts. I tried to buy one but they didnt have an XL. :(



Queued up to buy some donuts (duh!) and saw the production process. Snapped a picture of the most important process. Moving from unglazed to glazed. Can you see? Moving from right to left. Unglazed to glazed.



The wonderful thing was whilst you're waiting and deciding, the nice sweet japanese servers hand you a hot glazed doughnut so you end up eating one even before you pay up!@! This was just like when i was in Seoul!

Decided on a chocolate-topped and custard filled one.

WHEEE!

Didnt buy much things but started to stock up on equipment for skiing!

Bought an Oakley skimask as well as Burton ski gloves.



Heading to Beijing tomorrow to buy some chiong ski jackets and pants

Yay!

It's new year's eve here in Tokyo!

We are packing for our flight to Beijing tomorrow. 1030am flight and we need to leave at 6am cos it takes 2 hours to get to the airport. =(

On a brighter note, I decided to give myself a treat today cos it's new year's eve by wearing proper underwear instead of the disposable kind i have been wearing for the past 5 days.

Hotel

I havent mentioned which hotel im staying. This time, Im staying at the Hilton Shunjuku. Actually i stayed in this hotel before but that was back in 2007. Gosh that was a long time ago.



Because Someone is a Hilton Platinum member, we got access to the Executive Lounge and got free internet. Executive Lounge means free breakfast! More money saved! w00t!

Managed to get a small korner with my lappie to read the news, facebook and check mails.



Free breakfast means japanese rice, eggs, fish cake, fish for the Asian palate and scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon for Western. I added sausages to my rice. Hee hee.. Any angmo or japanese who saw me might be grossed out. Haha




The spread in the evenings isnt very good. Some savory stuff and free drinks. One night they had scallops served in small dishes. We took a total of 8! Wahahaha. Here's half of them.



We are moving to the Sheraton tomorrow cos the rooms here double or was it triple during the new year crossover. So i decided to use my points to redeem two nights.

Heading to Tsujiki market tomorrow for the fish.

Random Pictures

Took this when i was queuing for food.

Not very sure what it means..I think it means you should queue up for your own food.



Took this when i was bored at H&M.



Nothing funny about this sign but i just wanted to highlight to everyone that it doesnt mean that levels two and three are simply changing rooms for ladies, unlike what Someone thought.

Shopping!

Shopping has never been a big thing for me in Japan. Really because of all the places i have been to, i think shopping in Singapore is still the best! Haha.. i know that's a little weird but in Singapore, i know when the sales is, etc.

Nonetheless, we went to the big Takashimaya in Nihombashi. I was quite excited.



Alas, it was quite disappointing. Nothing interesting at all.

It was therefore with some trepidation that we approached Isetan the next day.



My worries were unfounded. It turned out that Isetan was huge! And they had a separate building just for men! 8 levels of stuff for men. I didnt really go crazy but it was just good looking around.

I hadnt mentioned that before Taka and Isetan, we went to the factory outlet outside Tokyo. Getting there meant waking up at 6am, reaching the bus terminal by 8am to by the tickets for 8:30am bus, finding the bus where we can take the bus, taking a 1.5 hour bus journey, reaching a bus stop and waiting 10 minutes for a free shuttle bus to bring us to the said outlets.

Going back was literally the reverse direction, shuttle bus then long bus journey back but the shitty thing was that we could only buy the return bus tickets only after all the ticketed people got up first and we scoop up any remaining. But that's cos we were silly and didnt buy the return tickets at 8am. Travelling is so stressful at times like these.

Flight to Tokyo

I'm bored on the way from the airport to my hotel so thought I'd spend some constructive time blogging.

Here's a shot of the usual things I take on my flight. Ipod, book and newspaper.



Some pre-flight drinks.



I was looking forward to the meals cos... Well I don't need a reason to look forward to food.

Starters - don't know half of what's served here. Tasted a bit odd.



Entree - some rice thing wrapped in paper and a small piece of fish and prawn at the side. Looks nicer than it tastes.



Dessert was two scoops of haagan daz. Boring.. Didn't warrant a picture.

We were hungry after a while with this paltry spread, so we each ordered an udon and an additional rice burger with bbq beef for me. I hate to sound like a groupie or squealing like a schoolgirl but the udon, even made on a plane, tastes nicer and chewier than some restaurants in Singapore. The rice burger was good too. I would have ordered another rice burger if I wasn't stopped.

So there you go.. More than 60 years ago, the japanese held us and many parts of asia captive with their military dominance. 60 years down, without having to spend much on defending their country, they concentrated on another form of dominance - cuisine and technology. And we are held captive all over again.

Japan

After much planning on flight and work availability, we finally managed to book our flight to Tokyo.

WHOPPEE! Going in the last week of December. If i didnt have a wedding lunch to attend on 3 Jan, I'd have stayed longer.

As a testament of how little friends I have, i only have one wedding to attend in 2010 and it'll be settled on 3 Jan. WOOHOO!