Viknesh's 21st Party @ Grassroot Club

We arrived at the Grassroot Club for Viknesh's $10,000 birthday party,
the place is just a short 5 minutes walk from Yio Chu Kang MRT station...









Bo was 15 minutes LATE despite him telling us not to be!









Lifeguards & the ex-PTI









LG Wilson flaunting his expensive watch to everyone









birthday boy & his thousand dollar suit, tailor-made in India










Bo & the birthday boy










Indian buffet for dinner...










the food is alright, but...









VERY SPICY~~~!










AO joined us on our table...









*gossip gossip*









red packet for the birthday boy...









stupid Viknesh sabo me to go on stage...









no, i'm not gonna tell you what happened! =X










his 3-layer, 5kg birthday cake which cost $500









Viknesh & his family & close relatives...









Viknesh & his favourite Sergeant, yours truly~ =P

Singapore Formula1 Grand Prix Race Analysis

Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on winning the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix! Flawless driving by the defending world champion over the course of 61 grueling laps at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. I have driven a hundred laps or so on the Singtel Simulator last year, (I was the 3rd fastest in Singapore, but not eligible for prizes since I was a staff) what a pity. Trust me, its tiring to complete 5 smooth laps in a row without losing concentration, not to mention 61 of them in the real thing!

Let start things off with qualifying. I was surprised Raikkonen failed to make it into Q3. The highlight of qualifying would be Barricello's crash which brought out the red flag. The Brawn's crash not only helped Hamilton clinch a pole, but also enabled the Briton to start the race with relatively heavier fuel load compared to the rest of other Q3 participants.

KERS gave Hamilton a smooth start off the line, but later had to be disengaged and restarted due to some technical difficulty. Overtaking on this narrow & twisty track proved near impossible. Lap 20, Adrian Sutil tried to take Alguersuari on the inside which end up in collision & taking out the innocent Nick Heidfeld in his BMW, effectively ending the latter's 35-Classified-Race stint, also brought out the safety car.

Rosberg & Vettel, *sigh* what can I say? Both made silly mistakes which cost them their podiums. The Williams driver out-braked himself & crossed the white line while exiting the pit lane on lap 18. Drive-thru penalty stripped him of any point scoring chances. Then we saw the Redbull driver suffered a similar penalty where he was caught speeding in the pit lane on lap 40.

Another blow to the Redbull Racing team came shortly on lap 47, when Mark Webber's brake disc failure resulted in a high speed crash in Turn 1. Felt sad for him, it wasn't entirely his fault. Fast-thinking McLaren brought Kovalainen in for an early pit stop following the crash, gambled their chances for a second safety car session which never did materialized.

Drama continues as the infamous Ferrari pit lane incident nearly repeated itself, on Toro Rosso! This time it was Alguersuari speeding off before the lollipop man gave him the go, nearly pulled off the refueling hose like Massa did last year!

Overall, it was a great race, full of actions, you just wouldn't know what's going to happen at the next turn! I'm glad Hamilton learnt his lesson from Monza. But ultimately, Brawn got the most out of Singapore as they emerge one step closer to both Driver & Constructor titles. Next, Japanese Grand Prix!



photos from: PaddockTalk & SingaporeGP

HK + Macau Good Food Trip 2009: Day 4

1-hour fastcraft ride to Macau straight after breakfast...








i was surprised to find last minute hotel room price cheaper than anything i've seen on the internet!

moreover, hotel shuttle buses are everywhere!
whichever hotel/casino you feel like going, just hop onto for a free ride...








利澳酒店 Rio Hotel:

4-star, 3-year old casino hotel with 449 rooms,
located the edge of the main casino strip..








we paid HK$680 a night for a Twin Room, no breakfast,
notice 2 beds are of different sizes =S









bathroom with separate shower cubicle & bathtub...









it's nice to have everything sparkling clean~









very nicely packaged amenities...









complimentary baked caramel egg pudding...









Grand Lisboa overshadows other casinos on the strip...









the famous Qing Dynasty bronze horse head on display.

it was bought back to China for a record price of US$10million..









having tried numerous HK cafes, its time to try Macau's...









typical Macau street snack - Pork Bun

pan fried pork chop topped with succulent onion wrapped between 2-pieces of toasted 'baguette' bun... simple yet delicious~









random photo by Kenneth









some church ruins, kinda like the symbol of Macau...










FIRE!!!









LOL--> Singapre Rice Noodles









had a lousy oxtail noodle for dinner...








finally its time to visit the Venetian Macao!

i have always wanted to go there since i saw its documentary on National Geographics Channel...









random shot of the Macao skyline...









golden fountain at the US$2.4 billion hotel's lobby...










gold is the theme, this is what 3 million gold leaves can do...










Grand Canal Shoppes housing 330 shops under the hotel's roof...








hand-painted ceiling,
lighting simulates day & night every now & then...










how about a gondola ride if you find yourself too lazy to walk from Zara to Godiva?









even the toilet looks grand...









and you don't have to visit NKF to use a golden tap!






which of the following do you prefer?















half-price for cakes after 8 @ illy!

to be continued...