Outings

I haven’t really updated much since my birthday post that was actually scheduled slightly beforehand anyway. Haha, I did mention something about outings previously so I thought I might as well write a little bit on them when I actually got down to start typing an entry (which started just a little while ago).

Both outings came after the 7th, but I’m not really that concerned about having after. Some people do mind that though, for whatever reasons it may be. After all, I normally don’t do much nor expect very much for my birthday anyway. Lol. Yep, this year I collected my $10 play value from Zone X and had some ID4 fun with zong. Didn’t progress that much in the CPU battle though. Lol, will I ever complete that game…?

Anyway, first up was a gathering with the NJ buddies. Steamboat at this Le Le Pot place not too far off from Tiong Bahru (see WK’s entry for more location details). Apparently, the restaurant is owned by (or at least he’s a big shareholder) an actor who played the role of a baddie “businessman” in some Mediacorp 8’s uber long drama. Think it was the 同心圆 one. Never knew his real name, and I still don’t! Lol. Not surprisingly, the shop was decorated with many photo frames of him, as well as other shots with various familiar artistes. Perhaps it’s one of the ways people get to know of this place, since firstly it is located in a rather ulu location, even though it’s near the Tiong Bahru market (or some other market lah), nor does it have much of a presence online (other than hungrygowhere, I think).

Yep, the pricing is reasonable. $18.80 (nett) for adults on weekdays (extra $0.20 for wet tissue), and you get a reasonable range of selection of food. I suppose things like service charge have already been integrated into the pricing, since this steamboat place operates on the ala carte ordering style, meaning there is no need for you to go get your own food, but rather placing an order each time you want to get more foodstuffs. Allows customers to sit back (not literally) and chill with whoever you’re eating with. One thing to note is that drinks are additional costs upon order, and you only get 1 serving of dessert per person, otherwise most other things are buffet style. Heh, oh there’s some of those cooked stuff that you can order while waiting for the things to be cooked.

Lol, it’s more of turning into a food review. Gah. Ok, but there’s really nothing much to talk about it. I mean, it’s just a nice get together, chit chatting about various topics across a wide spectrum while having fun clearing the food (eg “superchunkies”). If anything, talking a lot plus the steamboat stuffs is bound to make you thirsty and also the immense heat from all the steamboats heating up the entire shop even though it is air-conditioned, so the dessert at the end was simply great, even though it might not have been that good if it was consumed right at the start. Lol. Yah, but after the meal, some of us still popped by 7-11 to get ourselves a slurpee which is really just beside the steamboat place. Hehe. A simple get together, but nonetheless it’s still an enjoyable one. =)

Hmm, before I start on the next outing, I would like to digress a little and talk about something I got myself this year. Yep, I did end up buying the PC version for SFIV. After some efforts to arrange to collect it from zh (cos he got member discount!), I got it on the same day as the above mentioned outing. Haha, my nick and the game probably are direct clashes, but so far I still manage to win a few people online. Lol, but I ain’t playing much online play yet since I still have characters to unlock and some training need to get myself more accustomed to the game. My play style at the moment, I must say, is pathetic. Too many flaws. Gotta fix that, but I’m not good at that. Haha. And… I won’t be able to unlock everything in the game. Sad… =X

Right, now for yesterday’s outing. Er, I had steamboat again. Lol. This time’s at east coast though. No more air-con while having steamboat too. And uh, it’s the kind where you have an area to cook things like meat and stuff apart from having the soup stuff (forgot the name for it). Yea, so it’s kinda different in some sense. Unfortunately the variety of food this time isn’t as much but still ok la. At least the meaty stuff need not be boiled, so there’s like more taste to it (probably it’s just the oil. lol). But the downside is that sometimes a few drops of oil must spurt out and, well, you get splash damage. Haha, but it’s usually all right unless it’s some considerable amount that flies out and gives you a “jolt”.

A simple get together again, pretty much like the previous, only that we’re talking about different things. Haha. Oh, it ended with me and Delvin getting a treat cos our birthdays fall on these few days. Didn’t quite expect that, but it costs roughly $19 per person too, with each of us having ordered a drink. I also found later that I received something extra. Lol, quite thankful for that. Will probably return the favour when the appropriate time comes. Bunch of interesting and nice people I’ve met this holidays. =)

Ya, so these were my outings for my birthday this year, or at least it was sort of centred around it. Haha, nothing so out of this world, but it’s already considered something more happening and special. Lol, some people must be laughing at me right now, but who cares =P I happy can liao. Right? =D

Off topic: just including some Kenken timings for the heck of it. Looks like I haven’t been doing those big puzzles… Maybe I should remove 8×8 and 9×9 from the list. Hmm, see how.

7 July ‘09 4×4: 22s 5×5: 1m38s 6×6: 1m54s 7×7: didn’t do 8×8: didn’t do 9×9: didn’t do

9 July ‘09 4×4: 25s 5×5: 34s 6×6: 2m20s 7×7: didn’t do 8×8: didn’t do 9×9: didn’t do

10 July ‘09 4×4: 39s 5×5: 51s 6×6: 1m9s 7×7: 5m53s 8×8: didn’t do 9×9: didn’t do

Approximately 1 more month to starting school again. Sigh. A terrible semester ahead. Lol. Will need to enlist the help of various people to guide me along again. =P