Sunday, 24th October 2010 to Monday, 25th October 2010 "You could bank your last USD 25 on a 2 Day 1 Night adventure in Mekong Delta. Trust me, that's what I called money well-spent!" I spent my 3rd and 4th day in Vietnam exploring the mighty Mekong Delta, one of the country's chief rice-growing regions for its 86 million people. This was nothing too difficult to accomplish. Rather, it was a well-planned sight-seeing route departing from Ho Chi Minh City and back in 2 days, courtesy of the Sinh Tourist. Joining the local tour was the most cost-effective and hassle free way to tour the Mekong Delta proper. Our journey took us through the main provincial towns of Ben Tre, Can Tho and Vinh Long on a variety of transport modes. The lengthy bus ride between ... read more

Saturday, 23rd October 2010 "Frankly, Cu Chi wasn't a mind-blowing experience even though it was certainly nice to get away from the busy city and breathe some country air!" Rise and shine as I woke up for my second morning in Ho Chi Minh City. I had already bounced out of bed by 6am in time for my breakfast at the Cafe 333 opposite my hotel. It was a simple affair with traditional Vietnamese dripping coffee brew and a huge portion of the French loaf with fried eggs. Yummy enough to kick-start a good day ahead. Shortly after breakfast, I proceeded to the Sinh Tourist Office along the same De Tham Street where I was staying to catch the 8.30am shuttle to the Cu Chi Tunnels. I had signed up a half day tour with them ... read more

Saturday, 16th October 2010 As I completed my final ushering assignment, "Pagar Makan Padi (Unreliable)"at the Drama Centre Theatre this afternoon, I knew that my time with them was up. For this would be my last time donning the NAC uniform and working at the Drama Centre. 5 years on and after ushering for more than 180 shows in the theatre, we were told to pack our bags and leave the place we were once familiar with, together with my 80 odd colleagues. I started working with them way back in August 2005 and I belonged to the first batch of ushers recruited by the National Arts Council during the initial start-up at the new National Library Building. I was still a student back then when I was gainfully employed as a casual part-timer. This position ... read more

Saturday, 25th September 2010 We met up at Kranji MRT Station in the morning of 25th September 2010 for our highly anticipated weekend retreat to Kota Tinggi. We had been contemplating this road trip for the past one and a half years now and were glad that the plan was finally falling in place. Traffic was light and this meant that in no time, we had reached the other side of the causeway to begin our journey to Kota Tinggi. Our bus journey from the new Johor Bahru CIQ Complex took a good 70 minutes to reach the town. Enroute, it passed through the sprawling Jusco Tebrau City, touted as the largest shopping mall in Johor Bahru. We were under the safe hands of CW, who was born and spent her childhood days at the humble ... read more

Thursday, 26th August 2010 As the first Youth Olympic Games comes to an end this evening after 12 days of intensive competition, I couldn't help feeling a sense of loss. Skipping lunch during office hours to catch the likes of our home grown paddlers, Isabelle Li and Clarence Chew in action would become a thing of the past. There would be no more games to watch for now even though the Delhi Commonwealth Games and the Guangzhou Asian Games are just a couple of months away which should wrap up the year nicely. While I had never been physically present at the games venue to support our local athletes, I had been following closely with the reports from the press and the internet. Critics had been harsh from some fellow Singaporeans. Some were sceptical of Singapore's ... read more