Pictures from the last bits of 2010

Oh too much partying in December to update posts! But here are some pictures from our first Christmas (eve) together...

Ha! He's so excited about his present.



We had a cozy dinner at Brasserie Wolf (pretty good steaks) with Aleksi and Timo and headed down to Going Om at Haji lane for some beer and apple sheesha and then to some crazy partying at Clarke Quay till wee hours in the morning. Hmmm.

Bummer!

All that excitement about North Korea has pretty much gone to waste for now. We've decided to put our trip on hold indefinitely. Sigh...why must MrCrazySpecky be so violent?! Boo...

Getting psyched up for North Korea

A bunch of us are in the midst of planning for a trip to DPRK next spring. It was something we talked about in Beijing, when our friend John was in a shop buying North Korean propoganda posters. We found out that they also arrange tours to Pyongyang. And now, John is gathering the troops and doing a whole bunch of research and planning. Thank you John :)

We are also reading about this very mysterious country so that we'll get the most out of the trip. Strangely, we managed to share a book without getting into fights! You can also get this book here.


This afternoon, I was watching the re-run of Nat Geo's, Undercover in North Korea, hosted by Lisa Ling, the sister of the journalist who was held captive by North Korea in 2009. It was like watching bits of what I was reading. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen. Also, watch this video on North Korean Mass Game. It's amazing how precise their timings are.

We're so excited about our trip. Can't wait to tell you more!

Bike ride to Marina Barrage

We initially wanted to get to Marina South Park but we got so confused with all the new roads in this part of the country that we ended up at the Marina Barrage. There is never a reason for us to go there, so this is our first trip since it was built about 2 years ago. We were pleasantly surprised to see a lot of cute kites up in the sky. I'm thinking I should organise a kite-flying day. It should be fun, even though we've never flown a kite, ever.

Saw this exact same whale kite in the sky. Way too cute. I want!

P.S. Marina South Park is no longer around. Gardens By The Bay is now under construction to take its place.

Fatboy's: The Hangover Cure!

Something big, fat and greasy usually does the job of fixing a torturous Hangover. We discovered Fatboy's at Mohammed Sultan. It's great value-for-money. At around SGD$12, you can get the Wimpy Burger (egg, bacon, cheese, chunky beef patty on sesame seed bun), or make your own burger. And there's also the option of having more booze to fix the pain, at decent prices too.

Mo time!

Its Movember again! Somehow I missed the whole grow-your-mo -thingie last year and regretted that deeply. I have always been a secret fan of mustache and Movember is a good excuse to come out of my mo-closet. And of course for a good cause!

This year my aim is togrow very traditional pencil mos aka "kalapuikot". Fish fingers is probably the closest translation to this. At least back home in Finland "kalapuikot" is pretty solid concept in the world of mos.

Even though my personal meter shows 30+ , for some reason never been able to grow very bushy mos. Lets cross the fingers that this time, and for a good cause, that I will have a proper results at the end of the month.

That said, I promise to donate one SGD per each comment for this post (up to 200 SGD). Additionally posting at least twice a week a picture of my mo development. And challenge you to join to Movember!

Oh! And the official Movember (Singapore) page and Facebook page.

Let the journey begin...

Day 1. (Shaved this morning).

Day 3.

Some nice progress. This is usually the phase when all fuzz from the towels or piece of napkin sticks to your face and nascent mo. In worst case no one is telling you this and you spend half a day happily not knowing that your something is dangling from your face. Although, this might be a a bit embarrassing line to completely stranger: "Excuse me sir, something is dangling from your face" Might cause some tricky situations....ya?

I was thinking yesterday that how long should I wait before shaving everything else but mos. I think that its quite important phase because then you switch from "trash looking" to "proper and acceptable mo carrier" and you officially have mustaches. Should I include "Official Mo Carrier" line to my business card? Anyway, probably this has to happen on next Monday when workweek starts again. Hopefully I have decent fish fingers then...

Remember that sharing is caring! You comment, I donate. Spread the word!

Day 5.
Finally it was time to switch from "trash face" to "proper mo carrier". Here pictures before and after shaving.



Now the real work and excitement starts. Bushy or not at the end of the month?

Day 7.
Look at my mustache. Now look at yours. Now back to mine. And yours. And mine again...

I can see my mustache. I can see the looks on the bus. I can see the looks in the elevator. It seems that my colleagues are very polite because only one has commented so far my mos. But he has mos as well. And he is Finnish.


I have been trying to find other Movember mates on the street, but have seen next to none so far. In Europe Movember is quite big thing annually and there is lot of buzz in the media with a lot of celebrities participating and creating nice buzz around it. Which then translates to all kinds of mo related events and parties. Maybe we should have one as well?

Somehow I have the feeling that there are still lot of ground work to be done here in Singapore when it comes to facial hair. Or is facial hair more angmoh thing? Anyway, I'll keep hunting...

Day 10.
Double trouble. Backtrack from last Saturday.

And yes, we had couple of beers before this picture. And some more after...

Day 11.
Today, the girlfriend is making an official complain on this man's little Movember project. Don't get me wrong, I think Movember is a fun movement for a good cause. But not quite fun for me, when a guy with a moustache keeps trying to kiss me with his extremely prickly moustache just to get a reaction from me, on a daily basis (he will attempt to do it every hour if he can).

What does this mean girlfriend say to him each time he tries to kiss her? In the most loving voice, "You are so ugly! Please stop kissing me."

All I can say is, please help make this prickly hairy project all worthwhile by making a comment. He honestly has a really mean girl who greets him every morning with "You are so ugly!"

Anyway, I found a nice little idea that might help spread next year's Movember.

I found it here. It is perfect, coz the guys need something to keep their little growth clean :)


Day 12.
I have seen this phase once before while our Eastern Europe road trip which ended to Berlin couple of years ago. That said, everything beyond this point is new and exciting. I really hope that I can reach the point where my mustache starts hanging instead of just being spiky facial hair. What worries me a bit is that mo is not growing evenly. Even the color scale seems to vary...Mocapped or impatient?


Day 16.
Girls from TBWA Tequila Singapore made a nice Mo attack to local Maxwell Food Center. Respect!




There is not much progress on my personal front. Are they selling any mo-fertilizers? Maybe I`ll visit Chinatown today and lets see if old uncles can assist me...

Still 10 days to go and final week of Movember is ahead. Lets pick up the pace and keep commenting!

The Mo' the merrier!

Day 17.
I took the mos out today for a bike ride.

Day 24.
I had a chat with my mom on skype couple of days ago and her first comment was: "What on earth! What are those slime stoppers what you are carrying?"

I am getting there! Finally I have reached the hanging phase and got quite bushy mos. They have changed slightly color and are bit darker now. Additionally I have cough myself many times playing with mos. Its very addictive! Hmm...maybe I should keep them...

Couple of days still to go, so keep commenting for a good cause!


Day 26. End of the Journey
Here we are. Last day of Movember and it's time say goodbye my dear (and addictive) mos. It has been a funny and annoying month with lots of mo work and excitement. Does it grow or not. Lots of uncomfortable looks from strangers, friends making silly jokes, but overall, more cheers than jeers. Best part was when I saw that someone noticed my ugly mos but was too embarrassed to make any comment.

Aim was to get bushy fish fingers and at the end I am very happy with my results. Final days I was able to feel their weight, see them but perhaps most irritating part was itchiness. And when food stuck to your mos. Luckily Tyttö was usually around picking up the stuff and taking care of me.

Final statement.

Farewell my dear friend.

1/2 of cookie brush.


Yes. Thats all.Back to the normal life.

Thanks to all supporters for all your comments! Money is going to a good cause. I am sending the money tomorrow so you still have a chance to make final donations.

Next year, I am definitely going for Walrus style...

Whale sharks!

Whale shark season was on so we (with Aleksi, Craig, Kelvin and Talia) decided to go out there for a weekend with Black Manta again.

This time dive spots were 7 Skies wreck, Batu Kotaka, Tokong Melangbin and Igara wreck.

It was season and I havent seen whale sharks before so whole trip was loaded with lot of expectations. Additionally during last couple of weeks whale sharks have been spotted these dive sites which promised good for us.

First dive on first spot (7 Skies) and there it was! Just below us. Big, calm and beautiful. After few minutes another chap appeared from the depths and stayed with us about 10 minutes. These fellows were still juveniles and only 5-6 meters, but still...Absolutely lovely creatures!





Rest of the dives were ok, especially Igara wreck, but after whale sharks everything felt somehow a bit lame. Even giant lobster during our night dive.




Thanks to Talia for all the pictures.

Spooky Night Safari

The Night Safari Halloween Specials was quite a nightmare. The queues and crowd were pretty insane. We wasted 2 hours waiting in line for a 3 minute haunted house. It was a good thing we filled out our KFC cups with booze.

But I do have to say, despite the ridiculous waiting times, it was all pretty well done. But the truth is, once is enough. No more Night Safari on Halloween. Also not a very big fan of the Night Safari, I think the day zoo is way better...

I light marina bay

It's been a while since we did something out of our usual routine on a week night. We decided to take a nice romantic walk at Marina Bay, where the light festival is held. The exhibits were not spectacular, but I'd say it's a good start to something better.

Crispy Tender Chicken Leg

The house chef is taking a break today. I, the wannabe is fixing dinner. There are only a few dishes that I can whip up without referring to a cookbook and this is one of them. The best thing about this dish, apart from the fact that it is yummy and healthy, it is very easy to prepare and there's very little washing involved.

Serves 2
2 or 3 large fresh chicken legs (depends on how much you can eat)
2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes (halved)
3 big tomatoes (cut into quarters)
2 carrots (sliced to about 1 cm thick)
2 fresh corn (remove kernels from the cob)
1 bulb of garlic (crushed with skin on)
handful of fresh basil
dried mixed herbs

Put all the vegetables and most garlic in a medium size the roasting pan. Drizzle some olive oil, and sprinkle some salt and pepper and dried mixed herbs on the vegetables. Mash remaining garlic and stuff it under the chicken skin. Spread olive oil, salt and pepper under the skin and rub it all over the chicken. Put it in the oven at 175°C for an hour and a half.

That's it.

It's a happy riding day

Since I bought my pretty little bike, I have been practicing cycling in the estate before I venture to the main road. The past few weeks were filled with bruises, sweat and tears.

Today, I have officially used Bianca as a mode of transport. Yay!

From Sami's at Tiong Bahru, we cycled to Dempsey for brunch at House. It was a relatively short ride, about 20mins, although a regular cyclist will most likely get there in 10. There were many uphills and somehow I could not keep the handlebar straight as I struggled to peddle with all my might.

Our lunch was pretty pricey, portions were quite small and taste just ok. Although Sami's Ahi Taki Salad (greens with ahi tuna) was pretty outstanding. My Eggs Benedict was pretty boring. Nothing compared to the awesome Eggs Ben at Wild Honey.

Proof that I really did go somewhere.

Home-made Frozen Food

It was a pretty ridiculous thing to be excited about – a trip to the Tiong Bahru Market (which is 2 mins walk from Sami's). Since he moved in 2 weekends ago, we just never managed to wake up early enough to get there before the stalls close. We kinda also needed a reason to be there, so bolognaise sauce it is. It's easy, yummy and versatile. Our intention was to make a big pot so we can keep the leftovers in the freezer for a quick and easy weekday dinner.

500g minced beef
500g minced pork
4 carrots (finely diced)
3 celery sticks (finely diced)
2 white onions (finely diced)
1 bulb garlic (finely diced)
3 cans chopped tomatoes
1 bottle cheapest red wine you can find
(I got Wolf Blass' Cab Sauv for $15.40)
5 pcs of anchovies
salt
sugar
olive oil

In a big pot, fry the chopped vegetables and anchovies with some olive oil, then add the meats, stirring and splitting the meat as you go. When the meat is cooked, add the red wine and chopped tomatoes, stirring occasionally. Add some salt and sugar to taste.
Let it simmer on low heat for about 3 hours.

After the long wait, we had our big pasta meal and packed the leftover sauce into 3 Ziploc Quart bags. The entire pot could feed about 10 people, I reckon.

Singapore F1 Night Race

I know nothing about the F1. To me, it's just fast cars driving round and round and there's a lot of champagne wasted at the end of it. This is the 2nd year Singapore is hosting the F1 Night Race, and being Singaporean, it's kinda sad to not experience such a high-profile sporting event when it's just a 5 minute cab ride away.

See! I am more interested in taking pictures of our passes than cars!

My conclusion is, I won't pay to watch another F1 race, if the ticket's free, or if we get entry to the pitstop, then, Yah Sure. But of course, my review is biased, coz i have absolutely zero interest in fast cars. I'm interested to check out the hot drivers, but they are so covered up, it's completely stupid to think i'll even catch a glimpse!