~*angie's lil reverie*~

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Short 2D1N trip to Bintan

Last weekend, Jianhui and I brought Che Che to Bintan for Ironman 70.3 Bintan! It's Che Che's first time taking a ferry! It's quite convenient to bring Che Che to Bintan as we don't have to put him in bike box and the crew will bring Che Che on board once we check him in!

We were kinda kiasu so we reached about 2 hours before our ferry time as we were worried that there might be a long queue. Luckily, we got our tickets quite fast and we even got the time to drink coffee at Killiney. Haha.

Checking in Che Che! For once, Che Che can see his surroundings going to foreign country!

When boarding the ferry, we saw Che Che and many other bikes waiting to be loaded to the ferry. It was a short 1 hour ride to Bintan. We bought hotdog bun to eat and it was really good! Though it was kinda spicy, it was really nice!

When we reached Bintan, there was a queue at customs. In the queue, you could see many Ironman athletes. After clearing the customs, we couldn't find our bus to go Angsana. Thankfully, we approached a local and he directed us to the correct bus. There was no signboard on the bus. We probably could have missed this bus if we were slower by a bit.

It was quite a short bus ride to Angsana. We were greeted by the friendly staff, Hendra who helped every of us to check in. Che Che had successfully reached Angsana too! Haha. We were really happy that we could check in to put our stuff first. The room was nothing fantastic but at least we got a queen size bed instead of twin beds though we paid for twin beds actually. After checking in, we immediately went to the lobby to inform the staff that we would like them to send Che Che to Plaza Lagoi. We boarded the shuttle bus while they sent Che Che via other transport.

We met Melvin the moment we alighted from the bus. Haha. What a small world. Then, we went to race expo to collect the race pack.

I bought a nice event tee and visor! Haha! After buying these 2 items, we were quite broke. Bleargh.

Jianhui went to collect Che Che from the Bike Depot to check in.

Happy supporter busy taking photos!

When Jianhui was done, we went to the only restaurant that was opened for lunch. We had fried rice and hor fun which was not too bad! Then we took the next shuttle bus back to Angsana to rest for a while.

It was totally a packed schedule as we could rest only for a while before we got to take the shuttle bus back to Plaza Lagoi for race briefing and carbo dinner. Actually, the race briefing was kinda bo liao as the race director only answered a few questions then he played the video for the audience. Hmm...

It was kinda early so we walked around while considering if we should buy carbo dinner ticket for me. It is about SGD45 man. Eventually, we decided to buy so that we could enjoy the dinner together. The food was disappointing though. Haha. After dinner, we changed a bit more money and bought some water before making our way back to Angsana. It had been a busy and long day that we were so tired.

We woke up at 4am+ the next day. The hotel was really nice to provide breakfast so early at 3am so that the athletes and supporters got breakfast to eat! Jianhui went to get some bread for me as breakfast. We took the 5.15am bus to the starting point.

Jianhui set up his stuff at the transition area before the transition area is closed at 5.40am. His race will only start at 6.25am so it's kinda early. We went to the starting point to see the pros starting the race. Then it's Jianhui's turn!

He was out from swim after 44 minutes which was a good timing for him. I ran all the way to the transition area. We had a short chat before he went for his 90km ride. I'm not going to see him until he is done with 90km ride. So, I waited for the shuttle bus to go back Angsana first.

Supporter is always the first at the finishing line as the athletes are still racing. Haha.

I took the 10.30am shuttle bus back to Plaza Lagoi. I went to transition area and noticed that Che Che was not back yet. So, I'm glad that I am still in time!

About 11.15am, he's back from the ride! So happy to see him back. Whenever I support him for his Ironman or Triathlon, I'm always happy for him whenever he completed a leg.

Then, he's off for a run! He would be running 3 loops so I could see him 3 times! I started to cheer for every athletes. Along with me, there was a japanese-ang moh young girl who was cheering for every athletes too!

It's really a joy to see how every athletes push themselves to complete their goals. I could see their happiness and sense of achievement when they crossed the finishing line.

Around 2.15pm, Jianhui was back! So happy that he had completed his 5th half Ironman! Jianhui, Well done and you're the best!

We got to rush for the 2.35pm shuttle bus to send the bike back so Jianhui and I rushed to send Che Che to Bike Depot. Luckily, we made it in time. However, the shuttle bus was full so we decided to pay RP150,000 to go back Angsana. Oh ya, Angsana was really nice to allow us to extend late check out to 4pm.

We showered and rested a while before we checked out from the room.

We went to Lotus Cafe for lunch/dinner. We ordered the chicken sandwich which was nothing fantastic. At least, we got something to fill our stomach. After our meal, we went to the beach for a short walk before we nua at the lobby. We got to wait till 7pm before the bus would send us to Ferry Terminal.

When we reached Ferry Terminal, we met Melvin. haha. It was the last ferry so it was really crowded. We managed to get some good seats. We also ordered our favourite hotdog buns!

By the time we reached Singapore, it was already 10pm+. Luckily, Che Che was one of the first few bikes to come out and so we could rush home. There weren't any cabs there and so we called cab and the cab arrived in 2 minutes. >_<

All in all, it was a fun short trip. The service at Angsana was really fantastic and because of them, it was such a breeze to transport Che Che from one place to another.

Congratulations to Jianhui for completing the Ironman 70.3 Bintan!

-----------------------------------------------------------
Angeline winks
at |10:19 AM| 0 comments

Monday, August 10, 2015

Happy 50th Birthday Singapore

It's our Golden Jubilee! In fact, the celebration has been ongoing for quite some time with the distribution of fun packs and activities all over Singapore. It was a long weekend of celebration from 7 August to 10 August 2015. I must say it was totally a great celebration for Singapore! I would say that it was definitely the best National Day Celebration!

On 7 August 2015, Jianhui and I went to Marina South Pier to watch Black Knights. As you can see from my photos, it was a gloomy day. It started to rain super heavily that all of us were drenched. It was worth it for the Black Knights.

photo 11755380_10155858241215184_369500578605375936_n_zpsgftb1rd4.jpg

After a simple lunch at McD's to get my SGD50 Kitty, we went to watch the chinese movie, To The Fore. It was surprisingly good. After this movie, I got to understand more about cycling race! All in all, it was a good movie, maybe even better than Fantastic Four.

We are totally in mood to party. So, we went to Paulaner after dinner at Marche. We wanted to listen to live band by our favourite uncle but it wasn't him tonight. Hmm.. maybe he went somewhere else to sing. Never mind. At least we got to enjoy good beer!

On 8 August 2015, we went to East Coast Park! We relaxed at our favourite Starbucks while enjoying the breeze. ECP is always our favourite place to hang out... =p

Then, we took a cab to Faber Bistro! This is becoming our favourite hang out too! We ordered the platter which was not really worth it. The crayfish pasta is definitely my favourite!

photo 11866312_10155858241250184_4125718087400661427_n_zpsxwa7rknt.jpg

We walked the trail down to Harbourfront MRT station. In fact, it was a short walk only. We then took at train to Blackbird to watch EPL's first match - Manchester United vs Totterham!

Every time we would be very excited to watch Man Utd' match but every time, we would be very disappointed about how they play. Oh well, at least they managed to get a win with an own goal. This is a new team. I know it takes time for them to gel. But, if they continue to play like this, we are definitely not going to be in top 4 this season. Just hope that they can improve as a team and play exciting football for the fans.

On 9 August 2015, it is Singapore's birthday. Jianhui and I went for a short run to rush back home to watch the Proclamation of Independence by Mr Lee Kuan Yew in 1965. It was a historical moment.

As we wanted to watch Black Knights, we rushed to go out after shower. We had a quick breakfast at Toast Box then we went to Marina South Pier.

When we reached Marina South Pier, it was quick packed with people but definitely not as bad as Marina Barrage. We also met up with Terry and Wenxin. Weather was good today! We managed to see all the stunts! Good job to the Black Knights!

photo 11872256_10155858241340184_3974947474251386947_o_zps0eqdn9e1.jpg

photo 11823025_10155858241365184_1196870784887760358_o_zps7sz8mgsx.jpg

photo 11879075_10155858241500184_2829866894397495774_o_zpsogpbutay.jpg

After the show, we went to Funan IT Mall's Bak Ku Teh for lunch. It was our first time trying. I would say I still prefer the BKT at Clarke Quay. =p Nevertheless, it was a very filling lunch.

We walked around city and Orchard as we needed to kill time till evening time. We walked to MBS and it was super crowded with people. I have never seen so many people at MBS before. It was so crowded and packed that this area was closed. We took the train to Marina Square to try our luck. Luckily, we managed to find a spot at the rooftop garden. It wasn't crowded when we first came. However, crowded started to build up. We decided to move to another less crowded place.

We managed to watch the aerial show though we couldn't load the live streaming due to bad network. The whole city hall was crowded with people. It was my first time seeing so many people celebration National day together.

Then, we went to Xin Wang for dinner. It was a good place because we could eat and watch live streaming. When it was Kit Chan's performance, we went to the open roads to watch the fireworks. The fireworks is totally spectacular! Happy Birthday Singapore!

After the fireworks, there was a human jam. We slowly walked to SMU bus stop to take bus. So glad to be on bus home.

photo 11060164_10155858241565184_6530666352354334248_o_zpsxtuek5tx.jpg

It was a great Golden Jubilee celebration! Good job to the organizing committee, performers, volunteers, security officers and every one of us who were there to celebrate Singapore's birthday.

Our Home. Our Heart. Our Singapore.

This is home.

Let's work hard together to achieve SG100!

-----------------------------------------------------------
Angeline winks
at |9:15 PM| 0 comments

Sunday, August 02, 2015

2XU Run 2015

After waiting for 7 months, we finally went for our first half marathon in 2015! In fact, this year is a weird year as we can't seem to find any half marathon. I always enjoyed going Army Half Marathon but I was told thatnthere won't be AHM this year as they decided to have Ride and Run 5km Fun run instead.

Jianhui and I woke up at 2am+ as we got to take the shuttle bus service at 3am at Bukit Panjang Plaza. We were really happy that they finally recognized Bukit Panjang as a district and allocated shuttle bus for us. We paid $6 each for the shuttle bus. It was a breeze to take the shuttle bus as it will send you to the starting point. When we reached Marina Barrage, there was quite a jam.

After queuing for the toilet, it was already 4.20am. Surprisingly, there were MANY MANY runners for 21.1km. I thought many would have given up to come for this race due to its insane starting time and change of date. In the end, we had to start in the 2nd wave.

I started at a comfortable pace of 7min/km. Thankfully, I have kinda recovered from the muscles ache from my Toning class on Thursday. I feel good except that my left knee feels sore and I feel that my leg is going to cramp anytime. It was a boring route to ECP and back to Marina Barrage. Along the way, I met Jianhui, Jianyun and CK who zoomed past me.

The good thing about this route was you can choose to go to any toilets along the way! I went to toilets 2 times! =p When I was running out of ECP, I was really happy as I was almost near to the finishing point. Just about 5km more!

I managed to kept on running until the end with break at the water points only. With inadequate training, I would say I have done a good job!

When I was near the finishing line, I saw Andre on his way back home! haha. When I'm done, I saw Jianhui who was waiting for me. We also saw Liewen who started in the 4th wave. While waiting for Jianyun, I met Suria too! It's nice to see so many friends in a race!

We walked all the way to MBS to take bus 106 to change bus to go Bukit Timah Food Market Centre for our breakfast.

So happy to have my favourite chee cheong fun for breakfast then it's time to go back home for a shower!

photo 11825239_10155825467155184_8279180960849023389_n_zpszj9jyafq.jpg

Happy half marathon runners!

-----------------------------------------------------------
Angeline winks
at |1:51 PM| 0 comments

Saturday, August 01, 2015

What? It's August!

It's amazing how fast time flies this year! July passed by so quickly that I had no time to blog and today it's the first day of August! I had been really very busy at work and on a personal level, I have been packing my things in Sengkang. Packing those old stuff is like going on a memory lane as I managed to find many old things from childhood. Those were priceless memories. My parents would be moving out of Sengkang and I guess I am going to miss the place so much.

In the first week of July, I was lucky to get NDP rehearsal tickets from my colleague, Jennifer! I'm so thankful for the tickets as I have always enjoyed going NDP! The performance was fantastic for our SG50 celebration. I love it totally!

In the same weekend, we went for staycation at Hotel Jen! It's a nice and new hotel. The location is totally perfect for tourist, a stone throw away from Somerset MRT station. I would recommend this hotel to the tourists for sure!

Bibi is lucky to go staycation with us too! Another good thing about this hotel is, the gym looks good too! The equipment is clean and new!

You can see how happy bibi is!

July is also Jianhui's birthday month! A pity that I couldn't apply leave to celebrate his birthday. Nevertheless, we had a good dinner at Jumbo! I simply love the black pepper crabs from Jumbo!

And then, it's time for races! Jianhui completed Singapore International Triathlon while I completed my Shape Run! Races keep us happy!

Jianhui is slowly picking up his form! Looking forward to be his No. 1 supporter for his next race!

A good run with my sister!

This short blog entry pretty much summarizes my activities in July! Looking forward to long weekend next week and Singapore's birthday!

-----------------------------------------------------------
Angeline winks
at |12:25 PM| 0 comments