Just when I thought I was a smart chap after receiving my results, I realise everyone is a smart (or smarter) chap as well.

The only comfort I can offer myself is that I am one of the smart chaps, at least -.-"

Yes everyone, roll your eyes.

Batam Trip: 18 - 19th Dec 08


At the terminal before boarding the ferry~

And we brought a friend with us this time..


Qi Zai!!


KTM Resort~ Amenities not as much and good as Harris but we thought the view was awesome




Our room, with the rest over looking the sea, directly.


We were fascinated by the architecture of the houses. You mean wood can be so strong?


That is how the view from our room looked like. So pretty!


The thing we were sitting on is a balcony. A scary one at that.



You trust a bloody piece of wood to support a hundred kg of weight (or more - the couple next door is at least 150% JK and mine weight combined)? Imagine hanging-in-the-air.



The view when you tried to look down. Doesn't look that scary here but we got quite jelly-legged the first time we tried to look down.


The other bigger rooms. Seems like the rest of the houses are built on a hill.


I felt liked a little girl running through the forest looking for fairies.


Lunch: No eateries or shopping malls nearby the resort and we didn't want to spend extra by going to the inhouse restaurant. Luckily we were well-prepared.


Wanted to catch fishes using the instant noodles cup but the fishes were just too fast for us!


Decided to go down to the white tents to get a bit of the sun.


We love the breeze and the view.


We can't resist taking a picture!


And then we realize we can see Singapore from here!


That's Singapore at night!


A closer look. Spot the Ferris Wheel!


What is Batam without a spa? It feels exotic soaking in the jacuzzi with the sea just right beside you.


Spa was at 5pm - in time to catch the sunset!


Candles by the porch! So romantic.. urrrrhhh...


Decided to move the candles indoors because the wind was just too strong! Does that looked like a heart?

Second day at Batam was spent on a tour of the island. We were told by our tour guide that Batm is an industrial island to Indonesia, much liked Jurong Island is to Singapore. So to those who had the perception that Batam is the bigger Geylang, surprise, surprise.


Because Batam is an industrial island and not a tourist city, there is really nothing much to see. First stop was this bridge built to link Batam to two other Indonesian islands.


Not much architecture but the natural scenery made up for it. So everyone was busy snapping away at the bridge, JK and I were fascinated with the sea.

Lunch was spent was Golden Prawn 933 Restaurant, the infamous seafood restaurant at Batam. Free, good but cheap lunch. Lotsa' fried food though, which was really bad for my throat. The rest of the tour was spent at local product shops (where you get lotsa koropok - what Indonesia is famous for), a temple and shopping mall. Nothing much to shop there but the cosmetics are really cheap though. Half-priced!

Then it was home-sweet-home. Rocky ride back to Singapore.

Was reading The Tipping Point when I came across a very interesting section on the formation of rumors:

In his book The Psychology of Rumor, the sociologist Gordon Allport writes of a rumor involving a teacher who was traveling through Maine on vacation in the summer of 1945, shortly before Japan's surrender to the Allies at the end of WWII. The teacher was carrying a guidebook, which said that a splendid view of the surrounding countryside could be seen from a certain local hilltop, and he stopped in a small town to ask directions. From that innocent request, a rumor quickly spread: a Japanese spy had gone up the hill to take pictures of the region. "The sim[;e, unadorned facts that constitute the 'kernel of truth' in this rumor," Allport writes, "were from the outset distorted in... directions." First of all the story was leveled. All kinds of details that are essential for understanding the true meaning of the incident were left out. There was no mention, Allport points out, "of the courteous and timid approach of the visitor to the native of whom he inquired his way; the fact that the visitor's precise nationality was unknown,... the fact that the visitor had allowed himself to be readily identified by people along the way."

Then the story was sharpened. The details that remained were made more specific. A man became a spy. Someone who looked Asian became Japanese. Sightseeing became espionage. The guidebook in the teacher's hand became a camera. Finally, a process of assimilation took place: the story was changed so it made more sense to those spreading a rumour. "A Chinese teacher on a holiday was a concept that could not arise in the minds of most farmers, for they did not know that some American universities employ Chinese scholars on their staffs and these scholars, like other teachers, are entitled to summer holidays," Allport writes. "The novel situation was perforce assimilated in terms of the most available frames of reference." And what were those frames of reference? In 1945, in rural Maine, at a time where virtually every family had a son or relative involved in the war effort, the only way to make sense of a story like that was to fit it in the context of war. Thus did Asian become Japanese, guidebook become camera and sightseeing become espionage.

The section ended with an intriguing line, "There was a marked tendency for any picture or story to gravitate in memory toward what was familiar to the subject in his own life, consonant with his own culture, and above all, to what had some special emotional significance for him,"

So think about it, any slight distortion, quick assumption, or hasty reply you make can rob the next receiver of his rights to hear the true story, and the sender, his rights of getting the true story out.

Vicious rumors, yes, but equally vicious are those who contributed.

KL Trip: 5-7th Dec' 08

Finally we felt liked we were out of Singapore! Since Huili has done most of the blogging about the trip, I shall let the pics do the talking then~

Our Room


Cakes from Secret Recipe for supper!


Pretty Twin Towers that we couldn't wake up in time to go too. Perfect view from our bedrooms.


Something bizarre..

A sign at the monorail station points down the stairs to Platform A.. but the other side looks closed?


Or you think so! Its just an illusion from that perspective!


A 7-eleven that is not 24 hrs??


The bloody 9-storey Berjaya Times Square we tried to conquer


Our goods from 2 days of shopping!


My goods!

The joke of the day: The shoe white comprises 1/4 of his goods. Sorry JT, this is too hilarious to keep it low. You can irritate me for all you want in return.


Cam-whoring!


And then it was a mad rush to our hotel to pick up luggage and back to the coach pick-up point. I have never brisk-walked tt fast in my entire life while munching on A&W fries.

But we managed to catch the coach! And watched the ending of Transformers :)

Now tts what I called being "out of Singapore".