Adventurous May - Overview

I had been flying around SEA in the month of May and thought this made the most adventurous month of traveling in my 25 years of life.

PS: I'll break out the trips into individual posts for more photo and experience sharing;D Including Mt KK, though it happened in April

SIPADAN

Firstly, I travelled to Sipadan - East Coast of Sabah, East Malaysia (Borneo) just a month after the kidnapping case that happened to a Chinese and a resort worker. What make the heart fainter was the kidnapping case which happened just 2 days before we fly. My diving troop and I were more than a little scared while making our way to Sipadan, but decided to go ahead and convinced ourselves that "their quota for the year should have been met" and "our assets only cater a fraction of what they asked for in the press". On a more concrete basis, we did our research and got consoled by the distinct distance between Mabul (where we stayed) and the islands where the cases took place; as well as the step-up navy securities around Sipadan waters. In fact, we saw the navy vessels and an army of armed soldiers on sea patrol while we were traveling in to Mabul;)

As insane as it may sound, we did make our way to Sipadan and enjoyed the splendid dive trip with sightings to our hearts content (amidst the tense alert mode throughout the trip). It's easier for me to brag "Lucky we didn't cancel our trip!" now.

One of the rewarding photograph from Sipadan:

Sipadan - Uncle Chang (snapped while my boat passed by)

VIETNAM
Just as I thought I have survived an ordeal and heading to another safer location for a work trip (took place the next day I touched down in Singapore), there comes news on the Anti-Chinese riots in where I was heading next, Da Nang - Vietnam. Spotted the city name from the list that show where the riots took place, the red alert for safety beamed, again. However, when I arrived in Vietnam, everything in Da Nang was peaceful. Not a sign of unrest was spotted. I was being further comforted when the local guides explained that Da Nang is one of the safest city in Vietnam. True enough, the trip was nothing less than beautiful and peaceful, though it was insanely hot (like 39-41 deg C). Well, the weather contributed to some awesome picture like the one coming up next:

Ba Na Hills at Da Nang, Vietnam

THAILAND
Yes, you read it right. We were out of our minds to proceed with Thailand right after I came back from Vietnam. But hey, when we booked our tours earlier this year, we didn't think things would escalate to Martial Law and eventually, Thai Coup on our arrival day.

The first day was more drastic than any other days, as we were still trying to familiarize ourselves with the changes that were bound to take place. A curfew was set from 10pm-5am, and we thought meeting up with a friend at Thong Lo for dinner would be fine. We ended dinner at 8pm++ and wanted to grab a drink before heading back to respective hotels (mine at Ratchadewi, 7 stations away from Thong Lo, and friend putting up at Grand Sheraton, @ Asok station, 2 stops down Thong Lo - green line).

Image grabbed from: http://thailand.cluvo.com/bangkok-bts-mrt-map.aspx 

To our surprise, all pubs were preparing to close shop by then, and 7-Elevens were supposed to cease operation by 10pm too. No cabs nor Tuk Tuk wanted to stop for us (a super rare sight in Bangkok!) and we decided to walk back to the station which was 10 mins walk away. We arrived at BTR at 9.05pm, and were being shut out. BTR closed at 9pm that day. Pretty much stranded, we walked towards Asok while holding to a glimpse of hope that some brave taxi drivers would send us home. Finally, a Tuk Tuk agreed to send us back to Asok after having to walk one station distance, but the remaining 1 station cost us 200bht. The ever most expensive Tuk Tuk in my life but well spent when there was no alternatives left. So, Thai Coup had me put up at Grand Sheraton for a night! Not too bad after all (self comforting).

Apart from that, everything was pretty normal when we were there. Everyone lives per normal after some times, the street stalls hung out later, massage parlour and eateries functioned closer to 10pm instead and everyone seem unbothered by the coup. I can't say it was super safe in Thailand, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. The only thing was that shopping malls need to shut by 8pm, meaning movies last screening would be 5-6pm ish and last orders for restaurants were set at 7pm. Oh yes we see armed soldiers wherever we go, they were supposed to be on duty.

HOME
Just having a brief walk outside Singapore for a month, I deeply appreciate what Singapore provides me - Safety. I've not seen the world enough to judge for our methodologies in ruling a nation, but I do see order, low crime rates, and well maintained hygiene that contributed to the base tiers of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. We've walked a long way to the city we are today, I hope we don't squander our peace away. Anyway, I'm glad to be home again, home sweet home:)

特务Jiemeis' Mission: My Hens Night

Backdated entry, better late than never!

Bachelorette's Party is traditionally (not so tradition afterall) a farewell to singlehood for a BTB or GTB. While there ain't any hard fast rules of dos and don'ts to the party format, people often make use of the chance to do kinky stuff on the stars or get the stars to do the kinky things themselves - probably planting some naughty ideas to spice up their legal bedroom activities eh ;) Some parties take after a luxurious/relaxation style with spa treatments, nails pampering and a sweet pyjamas stayover with hundreds of pretty balloons hanging low. You may even opt to do a close door party if you would like! 

To be honest, I didn't expect myself to have one back then. I was tied down by 2 consecutive weekend events 2 weeks before my wedding, leaving me with 1 pathetic weekend to breathe before marching down the aisle. When my Da Jie asked about my bachelorette party, I simply shove the idea and said "I don't think I have one". 

<Insert below expression into the sentence LOL!> 

Emoticon from here

I wasn't exactly upset with the thought of not having one, but certainly felt sad for not having a 'da-bomb closure' to my singlehood. So if I really want one and went ahead to organize it myself, I thought it would be even sadder. Overall, I was just like a sour grape towards those who had one. 

To my surprise, the Jiemeis were secretly brewing a plan beneath their sleeves! There must be a reason why they are 特务Jiemeis. HEHE! This was what happened:

14 Dec 2013, Saturday:

I made an appointment with a nail parlour on this date, but Cels wanted to meet me for a HTHT.  I thought that's nice cuz we haven't been having one for quite some time since we left TPS. So she met me for lunch and we headed off to do nails together. Something happened and I need to change my nail parlour at the eleventh hour, so we bus down to somewhere east and delayed the plans (of which I wasn't aware of). I must say, she contained her exclaims and emotions quite well to have me blinded throughout!

Finally on our way out of nail parlour, Cels said she needed to pass some gifts to an overseas friend and got me on cab with her. Well, I was a little puzzled as I don't recall she mentioned any overseas friends before, but did not raise my suspicions and followed suit. For some reason, we were transported to one level below her friend's room and got to take the stairs to the right level. Her 'friend' then asked her to wait for him at the staircase where he would open the door from inside (some security design) while i was being positioned away from the glass peep hole so that I won't see the 'friend'. 

So finally the staircase door was opened, the friend ran as fast as the legs could take him (or her in this case). Alas, the 'friend' was too nervous and inserted the room key upside down, causing delay to the exit plan. By then, I already saw Mure's back view, and exclaimed, ISNT THAT MURE??! hahaha so surprise came 2 seconds earlier and when the door swung open, I was greeted by my beloved Jiemeis and their set-up!

What couldn't be captured here was the fairy lights. So thoughtful can these people! I'm sorry I didn't shed a tear AGAIN (I didn't when Muscle Man surprised me at Taiwan with a proposal) but hey, I WAS REALLY SUPER TOUCHED!!!:) One can't measure the level of excitement through strings of tears ya. hehehe

Jac was da woman! She even whipped up a storm singlehandedly! Special thanks to Ming Ming for the palatable Tiramisu!

Popping a champagne to celebrate 特务成功!

The pretty glasses Jac got for everyone. Naise!

The before make-up looks =D

What amaze me was that they even contacted Muscle Man to pack my LBD, make up necessities, undergarments and everything nitty that I would need for a stay-over. Krys even knocked on my mum's door to pack decent heels and more choices of LBD for the night! I couldn't stop counting my blessings to have these people around for my most important event in life. :) Too pampered already!

Time to transform and pick my duties!

 

What I've got:
1) Ask for a strand of chest hair
2) Creep behind random guys and sing 'like a virgin' in their ears
3) Get free drinks for all my girls and myself
4) Call every guy I see in a pub/club Norman and insist they are norman
5) Ask for a condom
6) Get 3 namecards
7) Order a drink at the bar with an accent of my choice
8) Ask for guys' number whose name starts with 'J', and they got to write the number on my body parts

Didn't realise I got SO MANY tasks to fulfill atop of selling the marshmallows to raise funds for 特务队 lol!

Now, time to gut up with alcohol, snap some photos and off we go!

Repeated pictures with different backdrop. I highly suspect Jac was drunk even before I started drinking, look at the pictures! lol! To clarify, she is naturally high;)

Off to the road!

Guess it was the last 2 weekends with auspiciously awesome wedding dates, it was REALLY happening at Clarke Quay with a hundred Brides-to-be doing their hens night together! Here's one of the many that we bumped into.

Thankfully for the crowd, it was a breeze to complete most of my tasks for many pub patrons were preempted by other BTBs prior to my arrival. For instance, before I made known my intention to ask for a condom without using the words 'rubber, condom and sex', they gave me one which a BTB previously sold it to them. Lucky night! Top it off, I made a small windfall with the group by selling my marshmallows hiak hiak hiak ;D Before I left, I advised the guys to change their aisle seats which made them vulnerable preys to BTB. It was so crowded at the walkway that night, anyone would pick the easiest table to perform their dares, at least for me! 

My free drinks came easy too. Many clubs were trying to get BTB troops in to the club for free that night, probably to attract more male animals into the clubs, and I got a round of free alcohol on the house! It wasn't too difficult to get chest hair and name cards either, for my get-up was too obvious to be doing a dare than anything else. We had fun calling people Norman insistently and spotting guys whom my girls would like for the get-your-number dare. See, so nice right, never forget to benefit my single ladies lol! Sadly, the ink just couldn't stay on my skin and I think after all, the guys weren't the single ladies' type. As such, I didn't get too many numbers that night and focus our ammo on selling marshmallows instead - we are a mercenary bunch. lol!! I think we earned a total of $48? The packet of marshmallows was well utilized!

To my surprise, Singaporeans are generally more game for such pranks as compared to foreigners. They are more willing to pay for the little gimmicks and be part of the fun. Foreigners are warm in greetings, but not the part on paying for something they can get cheaper at the market. Probably it would work differently if it was a condom. ;P

At the end of the night, I was pleasantly surprised by the scrapbook these lovelies had done for me. They even had Muscle Man, my Da jie and Er jie to write their messages inside too! The polaroids that were taken that night, were nicely pasted onto the pages too. Too much love! The gratitude I have towards these cannot be adequately represented by any words. This bunch is way above awesome.

 
Super shag look but the backdrop is nice. ;D

The power of 6 ladies in 1 room = a cosy long night chat that seems never ending till we dozed off one by one. =D

IMHO, I had a helluva hens night with perfect company. Thank you my Spies!