happy chinese new year!
just wanted to wish everyone a happie doggie new year!
新年快乐，万事如意!
新年快乐，万事如意!
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Luggage transit boo-boo... (part 1)
Something to add to the start of the darlings' winter trip 2005:
If ever u are booking a flight, be aware of this.
If u can help it, avoid taking Air Canada, or transit in Toronto, Canada. Not sure it's just a coincidence of 2 episodes of unluckiness, or that something in their system is really screwed up.
After a 5 month darling-drought, finally flying to Italy to meet darling. Little did we expect a big obstacle to stand in our way, before finally permitting us to see each other again. =(
Sunday, 18th December: Flight was at 11am, so got up early. my friend had kindly offered to send me to the airport. We reached the airport by 9am, to check in 2 hours before for the international flight. Got into the queue for the air canada flight check-in, which was actually some other airline counter (think i was united or something) cos air canada doesn have a rep in RDU, they're only based in Canada and UK i think. so other airline usually do the check-in for them. one whole hour of waiting... before they decided to start checking in for our flight. before that, those counters were trying to check in the flight to chicago which was leaving in 50min. there was a whole bunch of people all waiting to check-in for that. u know, with the minimum half hour before flight time check-in thing with domestic flights, everyone waits till the last moment and rush to the airport.... sighz. so finally when it was 200% certain that the remaining people were gonna miss the flight, we were FINALLY un-ignored.
oh yes, and i found out while in the queue that that the flight was also delayed by half hour or so. and though international flights supposed to check in earlier, but RDU din have the customs facilities or something, so actually we din have to check in that earlier. sigh. waited at the gate for boarding. 1o minutes past the flight time, 20 min... dunno how long i waited, before they finally announced for boarding. the flight was i think delayed for about a good (additional) hour. at least my connecting flight was much later in the evening. so a long connecting time at the airport was simply cut down. no big prob there.
at Toronto airport, an announcement was made that the baggage would be automatically transferred to the connecting flight. so we din have to pick up the baggage to deposit again. ok, tt's great. so walked around, dinner, and went to my gate. flight was unfortunately... delayed for half hour to forty five minutes. oh dear. poor darling's flight was already arriving about 2 hours earlier. and now this. oh well.
thought that all was done. flight landed. i came out of the plane, the 2nd person to clear the security, and went to the luggage belt area. nope, darling's waiting area was outside of the collection place. boo. so had to wait for luggage before getting out, finally meeting darling. =) but... waited and waited. until there were no more baggages coming out. uh oh. went to check with the counter, got directed to the lost baggage place. there was a whole line of people who took my same flight who din get their baggages too, all connected from some other flights. screwed up.
thank goodness i had my SG phone activated. so waited for darling to call me (using a public phone outside). finally, he called. told him the prob. and no choice, i had to wait inside, he outside.
it was only about another 1, 2 hours (wat felt like eternity) that i got the claim done, and FINALLY COULD GET OUT... ='( with poor darling waiting for dunno how many hours liao.
which is why we ended up staying in rome that night, so can pick up my bag the next day from the airport (they were relatively sure that the bags got stuck in transit at Canada, and the next flight into Rome would be same time tmr. we din have a add for them to send to, and no way they would send it to the Dolomites (alps) way north right?!! (besides, i wouldn risk them losing my bag again while delivering, or taking ages to deliver too) screwed up our overnight train plan to dolomites. which is why we ended up taking the next day afternoon train to Belluno. reached there too late to catch the bus to carprile and ended up stayed yet another night in the little ulu town. ate up our one day of skiing, and our hotel booking too (thankfully was a one day free in the 3N + one free night package). =(
that's only the RDU-> Rome screwed up episode. part 2 to come... SIGHZ...
If ever u are booking a flight, be aware of this.
If u can help it, avoid taking Air Canada, or transit in Toronto, Canada. Not sure it's just a coincidence of 2 episodes of unluckiness, or that something in their system is really screwed up.
After a 5 month darling-drought, finally flying to Italy to meet darling. Little did we expect a big obstacle to stand in our way, before finally permitting us to see each other again. =(
Sunday, 18th December: Flight was at 11am, so got up early. my friend had kindly offered to send me to the airport. We reached the airport by 9am, to check in 2 hours before for the international flight. Got into the queue for the air canada flight check-in, which was actually some other airline counter (think i was united or something) cos air canada doesn have a rep in RDU, they're only based in Canada and UK i think. so other airline usually do the check-in for them. one whole hour of waiting... before they decided to start checking in for our flight. before that, those counters were trying to check in the flight to chicago which was leaving in 50min. there was a whole bunch of people all waiting to check-in for that. u know, with the minimum half hour before flight time check-in thing with domestic flights, everyone waits till the last moment and rush to the airport.... sighz. so finally when it was 200% certain that the remaining people were gonna miss the flight, we were FINALLY un-ignored.
oh yes, and i found out while in the queue that that the flight was also delayed by half hour or so. and though international flights supposed to check in earlier, but RDU din have the customs facilities or something, so actually we din have to check in that earlier. sigh. waited at the gate for boarding. 1o minutes past the flight time, 20 min... dunno how long i waited, before they finally announced for boarding. the flight was i think delayed for about a good (additional) hour. at least my connecting flight was much later in the evening. so a long connecting time at the airport was simply cut down. no big prob there.
at Toronto airport, an announcement was made that the baggage would be automatically transferred to the connecting flight. so we din have to pick up the baggage to deposit again. ok, tt's great. so walked around, dinner, and went to my gate. flight was unfortunately... delayed for half hour to forty five minutes. oh dear. poor darling's flight was already arriving about 2 hours earlier. and now this. oh well.
thought that all was done. flight landed. i came out of the plane, the 2nd person to clear the security, and went to the luggage belt area. nope, darling's waiting area was outside of the collection place. boo. so had to wait for luggage before getting out, finally meeting darling. =) but... waited and waited. until there were no more baggages coming out. uh oh. went to check with the counter, got directed to the lost baggage place. there was a whole line of people who took my same flight who din get their baggages too, all connected from some other flights. screwed up.
thank goodness i had my SG phone activated. so waited for darling to call me (using a public phone outside). finally, he called. told him the prob. and no choice, i had to wait inside, he outside.
it was only about another 1, 2 hours (wat felt like eternity) that i got the claim done, and FINALLY COULD GET OUT... ='( with poor darling waiting for dunno how many hours liao.
which is why we ended up staying in rome that night, so can pick up my bag the next day from the airport (they were relatively sure that the bags got stuck in transit at Canada, and the next flight into Rome would be same time tmr. we din have a add for them to send to, and no way they would send it to the Dolomites (alps) way north right?!! (besides, i wouldn risk them losing my bag again while delivering, or taking ages to deliver too) screwed up our overnight train plan to dolomites. which is why we ended up taking the next day afternoon train to Belluno. reached there too late to catch the bus to carprile and ended up stayed yet another night in the little ulu town. ate up our one day of skiing, and our hotel booking too (thankfully was a one day free in the 3N + one free night package). =(
that's only the RDU-> Rome screwed up episode. part 2 to come... SIGHZ...
Monday, January 23, 2006
Singapore General Elections 2006
From Jan 17 2006, Singaporeans can check whether their name is on the list of eligible voters, while those overseas can start registering to vote. The checking process is meant to finalise an accurate register of Singaporeans aged at least 21 who are qualified to vote in the upcoming General Election.
Those in Singapore have until Jan 30 to confirm their personal details, submit their names if they are not on the list, and object to those listed as eligible voters. They can view the register at the Elections Department, which is at 11 Prinsep Link, during office hours. They can also do so at 104 community centres and clubs across the island from 6pm to 9pm on weekdays, and 3pm to 7pm on Saturdays. They can also log on to www.elections.gov.sg, or www.ecitizen.gov.sg to see if they are on the list.
Preparations are also underway for overseas voting to take place for the first time. It was scrapped in the 2001 polls due to security concerns after the Sept 11 terror attacks on the United States.
To register, overseas citizens must submit an application form to the Elections Department, or to registration centres in eight foreign cities. The forms are available there, or online at the department's website. The eight locations are at Singapore's diplomatic missions in Canberra, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, San Francisco and Washington. The deadline to apply is Feb 6.
The register will be certified once overseas voter registration is completed. Since the 1980 GE, the time lag between the opening of the register to polling day has lasted from 25 days to over seven months. But a more definitive sign that an election is around the corner is likely to be the release of the Electoral Boundaries Review Report, which demarcates the wards. In the 2001 polls, it was made public on Oct 17, with polling day falling on Nov 3.
Those in Singapore have until Jan 30 to confirm their personal details, submit their names if they are not on the list, and object to those listed as eligible voters. They can view the register at the Elections Department, which is at 11 Prinsep Link, during office hours. They can also do so at 104 community centres and clubs across the island from 6pm to 9pm on weekdays, and 3pm to 7pm on Saturdays. They can also log on to www.elections.gov.sg, or www.ecitizen.gov.sg to see if they are on the list.
Preparations are also underway for overseas voting to take place for the first time. It was scrapped in the 2001 polls due to security concerns after the Sept 11 terror attacks on the United States.
To register, overseas citizens must submit an application form to the Elections Department, or to registration centres in eight foreign cities. The forms are available there, or online at the department's website. The eight locations are at Singapore's diplomatic missions in Canberra, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, San Francisco and Washington. The deadline to apply is Feb 6.
The register will be certified once overseas voter registration is completed. Since the 1980 GE, the time lag between the opening of the register to polling day has lasted from 25 days to over seven months. But a more definitive sign that an election is around the corner is likely to be the release of the Electoral Boundaries Review Report, which demarcates the wards. In the 2001 polls, it was made public on Oct 17, with polling day falling on Nov 3.
The Scientist - Coldplay
Come up to meet you, tell you I’m sorry
You don’t know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart
Tell me your secrets, and ask me your questions
Oh lets go back to the start
Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a silence apart
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said that it would be this hard
Oh take me back to the start
I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart
Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start
Running in circles, chasing our tails
Coming back as we are
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I’m going back to the start
Oh ooh ooh ooh ooh ohh (x4)
You don’t know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart
Tell me your secrets, and ask me your questions
Oh lets go back to the start
Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a silence apart
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said that it would be this hard
Oh take me back to the start
I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart
Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start
Running in circles, chasing our tails
Coming back as we are
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I’m going back to the start
Oh ooh ooh ooh ooh ohh (x4)
Friday, January 20, 2006
Next stop: the streets and waterways of Venice
Darlings in the water city of Venice...
Masquerade! Paper faces on parade... Masquerade, masquerade!
Simply breathtaking view as the sun sets, the sea glistening in the sun's rays while the boats pass slowly by...
Aww... isn't she so adorable? We stayed at a B&B at Lido, this island just off the main island of Venice. Our host family had this couple visiting them over Christmas. This is their 14-month-old baby daughter, Zoe!
Had a great stay there, especially nice that we had xmas dinner with our host and this family! experiencing the good family times, merry festive times.. Homemade lasagna, beef, rabbit, complete with italian wine... yummy! and got to taste this super strong italian liquor, Grappa. wow, 40% alc.. made from the skin of the grape. well, it was... interesting. =P
One little pigeon strutting its way ard, at one of the fruit/veggie roadside stalls...
Many pigeons all over Venice! especially here at San Marco's Square, where u could buy food to feed the birds. beware of the attack of the pigeons!
Darling trying hard to catch a pigeon...
Ah ha! Got one!
Darling with his little friend...
me with mine too!
Our adventure in Venice, getting lost in the narrow streets and alleys,
crossing the river, bridge after bridge, after bridge... (Darlings too poor to sit the gondola. =P a tour of venice on one was about 70 euros!!!)
Exhausted darling at the end of the day! heehee...
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Skiing at the Dolomites, Italy
this is my very first experience with snow sports. darling jas had snowboarded before at big bear with carine and desmond when she came over for her spring break last year.
first time on the skis were not easy. i fell out of my skilift halfway on my very first trip up. had to lie in the snow and watch darling go past me and all the way up. i couldnt get out of the snow at all for a good 15mins. its not easy to stand up with skis on fresh soft snow, esp when you've barely have 10mins experience on the skis. spent so much time crawling around looking for skis and sticks and crawling pathetically from the skilift area to the ski slopes. luckily there wasnt much pple around, so less pple to watch me malu!
but dont worry, im competent at skiing (and getting up after falling) now!
cheers!
my red-butt darling on a ski lift...
rabbitty darling in an child-made igloo...
the scenary all around was ssooooo pretty...
our hotel (Garni Roberta) and the ski lifts can be seen in the background...
darling looks so hyper. =)
the view from the dining area is magnificent as well. sumptous breakfast provided. did i mention we were the only customers in the entire hotel? we went between skiing seasons. personal service provided. =)
its freezing cold up here. Caprile, a transit stop on the way up, was minus 8 degrees. our hotel (at Malga Ciapela) was higher in altitude. bbbrrrrr....
at Belluno, the closest train station to the ski area we went to. we were here on our first day up, but we arrived too late to catch the rare bus that goes up to the ski areas. the only cab in the area quoted us 100 Eur to bring us up. CRAZY! we ended up staying overnight at the empty Belluno. oh well, at least we were safe and accomodation was cheap. which allow me to act cool on the way out of Belluno. heh.
darling too. =P
skiing was so much fun. must promise ourselves: we will come back. soon.
first time on the skis were not easy. i fell out of my skilift halfway on my very first trip up. had to lie in the snow and watch darling go past me and all the way up. i couldnt get out of the snow at all for a good 15mins. its not easy to stand up with skis on fresh soft snow, esp when you've barely have 10mins experience on the skis. spent so much time crawling around looking for skis and sticks and crawling pathetically from the skilift area to the ski slopes. luckily there wasnt much pple around, so less pple to watch me malu!
but dont worry, im competent at skiing (and getting up after falling) now!
cheers!
my red-butt darling on a ski lift...
rabbitty darling in an child-made igloo...
the scenary all around was ssooooo pretty...
our hotel (Garni Roberta) and the ski lifts can be seen in the background...
darling looks so hyper. =)
the view from the dining area is magnificent as well. sumptous breakfast provided. did i mention we were the only customers in the entire hotel? we went between skiing seasons. personal service provided. =)
its freezing cold up here. Caprile, a transit stop on the way up, was minus 8 degrees. our hotel (at Malga Ciapela) was higher in altitude. bbbrrrrr....
at Belluno, the closest train station to the ski area we went to. we were here on our first day up, but we arrived too late to catch the rare bus that goes up to the ski areas. the only cab in the area quoted us 100 Eur to bring us up. CRAZY! we ended up staying overnight at the empty Belluno. oh well, at least we were safe and accomodation was cheap. which allow me to act cool on the way out of Belluno. heh.
darling too. =P
skiing was so much fun. must promise ourselves: we will come back. soon.
Chinese Protest in Philadelphia Chinatown
Philadelphia Chinatown on 17 Dec 2005. Protest by some chinese political activists against the Chinese Communist Party.
some chinese made public speeches, the participants lined streets holding similar banners and flags. some tibetan monks were present. flags were actively being passed to any chinese passer-bys to encourage participation.
police were watching frm across the road, directing traffic, but otherwise this was just a peaceful protest to gain media attention. first protest my peaceful sg soul have seen, damn interesting sia. unfortunately, i have no doubts what would happen if a similar event was staged in sg, or china. sad sad.
some chinese made public speeches, the participants lined streets holding similar banners and flags. some tibetan monks were present. flags were actively being passed to any chinese passer-bys to encourage participation.
police were watching frm across the road, directing traffic, but otherwise this was just a peaceful protest to gain media attention. first protest my peaceful sg soul have seen, damn interesting sia. unfortunately, i have no doubts what would happen if a similar event was staged in sg, or china. sad sad.
End of Fall Quarter 2005 - playtime!
the beautiful evening sky @ torrey pines beach...
ecstatic girls... alanna looks great in this pic. =)
superheroes to the rescue!!!
these shots are so funny...
alanna, sy, xy & dennis...
the happy 6... and hope that alanna and dennis enjoyed their short exchange here in SD. didnt get much chance to meet them thruout the quarter. wish you guys all the best!
ecstatic girls... alanna looks great in this pic. =)
superheroes to the rescue!!!
these shots are so funny...
alanna, sy, xy & dennis...
the happy 6... and hope that alanna and dennis enjoyed their short exchange here in SD. didnt get much chance to meet them thruout the quarter. wish you guys all the best!
