Alaskan Pictures

We went to Alaska in June 2005 . This was taken in Seward, Alaska. We basically backpacked up from Anchorage and had to walk about 2km with our backpacks to our hostel, Moby Dick hostel run by a German family. Lovely cool weather, nothing much to do in Seward. We went for a whale watching cruise, went to the Alaska Sea Life Centre in Seward. You can check it out at http://www.alaskasealife.org/.

Besides that Seward has some small souvenior shops, little shops here and there, nothing super exciting. We basically chilled out and relaxed.

We had at least 2 meals in this place. Its hard to find cheap food to begin with and even harder to find Chinese food, so we were in luck! Cheap Chinese Food , pretty delicious too! For like US$8, all you can eat.

This artsy cafe called Resurrection House which serves really nice coffee and cakes. There were art pieces on display and for sale. You could play games to pass the time since there wasnt very much to do in Seward.

We took walks around Seward and there were these little jogging treks where there is a possibility that you can bump into bears and other Alaskan animals. Happened to see this sign, rather near the sea.
This is the Ressurection House from the outside.Horned Puffin. So cute!

More Travel Photos

Pide, the real turkish pizza in Turkey (unlike the fakes in the halal food court in Jurong point, CMI)




Hotel Bella in Selcuk, Turkey. Great hotel, the most comfortable beds ever! Great hospitality, great location, great sheesha!




Hamam, a Turkish bath in Turkey. This photo was taken in Selcuk but we went to the most famous one in Istanbul, its featured in the book: 1000 places to see before you die. $40 for a good scrub and soap by a lady in on a heated marble platform. Girls can wear a bikini if you are uncomfortable in your birthday suit.Some caucasians were totally stripped bare! Good thing we went to a one where the men and women were separated. (for couples: there are some hamams which allow couples to bath together)



A walk along the river during a day tour in Cappadoccia, Turkey.

Clay Courts, Nadal and all that matters

Eversince I changed coaches for my school, my perspective of tennis has changed. It has become more exciting, more promising and more beneficial in many ways. Been watching more tennis matches on cable than I ever watched before in my life! Davis Cup, Nasdaq-100, Monte Carlos etc. So Coole! I loved the latest match between Federer and Nadal (by the way Rafael Nadal is so coole, such a young Spanish Hunk) in the Monte Carlo Open played on Clay Courts. For the uninitiated, you can slide on the clay courts and the ball bounces really high. Its such a great match to watch.

Most of the courts we have in Singapore are normal hardcourts, some grasscourts and even rarer indoor tennis courts.

June next year, ss and I are definitely going to France to watch the French Open, right ss? :))
I wanna play on clay courts! Get my socks nice and orangey and slide around. So fun!

Complains
Standard of Cafe Cartel has so dropped!!! The St louis Ribs suck! At least the one at Serangoon Gardens. Goodness, the ribs look like it has been refrozen a dozen times and the freshness is not there anymore!

Great Food!
East Coast Lagoon
Been there many times but never seemed to blog about it. We used to hang out there alot after windsurfing before the place got renovated. Used to drool just thinking of a good cold bowl of Chng tng while we were out at sea in the hot sun , harnessing in the wind. Arms aching from sheeting in, legs aching from uphauling the sail, back hurting from leaning back into the wind.... wasnt it fun!! We could try to race to the Changi or Siglap Buoy then attempt to do stunts, our eyes were tired from checking out the hot bods in the beach.... hee hee....

Anyway, old favourites like Oyster Omelette, satay bee hoon, beef koay teow, wan tan mee, tauhu Kichap, chng tng, satay, roti john are still there. Are you drooling Ber Ber?

Roti Prata House (Thomson)
That was such a fun day! Sil, ss and I went out for breakfast at the Roti Prata house, recommended by New Paper. I still prefer the roti prata at Jln Kayu. Its thinner, smoother and crispier. The roti prata at the roti prata house is a little too thick and cakey but the curries are yummi!
Rating:
Roti prata: 5.5/10
Chicken curry: 6.7/10
Place: 5.8/10
Service: 4.8/10
Return factor: NO! Rather go to Jln Kayu or Simpang Bedok. Come to think of it havent been to Jln Kayu for a long time. Lets go Sil!

By the way, anyone been into the Seletar Airport area? Lovely place with old style British houses, a nice golf course and very serene. Hee hee..... can be rather ghostly at nights.....

Riverside Walk Indonesian Grill
Went there with Ir and family. Baby Sonia W is growing up so fast! Such lovely eyes and wasnt fussy as to who carried her. Anyways, the food there was good! The four of us shared the mixed grill plate, sting ray and sambal kangkung. Yumms. Spicy and delicious!
Rating: 7.8/10
Atmosphere: Just opposite Liang Court, near merchant court, by the Singapore River.
Return factor: Definitely!!!

Chilli crab/Crab Bee hoon
Finally went to try the famous crab bee hoon near Mayflower Sec. Somehow, I cant recall the full name of the place. For the crab bee hoon, they use a tiny bit of butter and fresh milk to make the soup. I still prefer the chilli crab at No Signboard. Ss andI had 2 kinds of crab, chilly and the bee hoon, mongolian ribs and sweet potato leaves.

Rating: Chilli crab 6.6/10
Crab bee hoon: 8.8/10
Ribs: 3/10
Return: definitely! I wanna try the butter crab!
Service: Good, prompt.

Gourmet Sausages etc

Hey everyone!

Here's extending a warm hello to Ber Ber in Ireland! Come back soon!

Lets start off with events

Mardi Gras!
We celebrated it with loads of performances of salsa dancing, singing, cultural shows, rapping, bollywood dancing, bhangra dancing, dressing up in costumes, food, beatboxing!, piano+guitar+singing etc. It was a happening event held once every 2 years. Nice to see everyone so pretty and dolled up. Then the Grand Finale was a broken toe incident. Ouch! Spare me the gory details. But poor Iv, had to have an operation and a wire inserted!!!! yikes!! There was blood spilling out from everywhere....... Poor guy, went to see him the next day bought fun snacks for him to munch on... well at least the Hello Panda caught his eye!

Gourmet Sausages
Whats with the cheapo $1.20 for 20 pieces of meatflavoured processed sausages they have at NTUC? Alamak! When you can have a $10 for 5 pieces of gourmet realmeat (you can even see the chunks of meat) sausages made by our very own Pan Pacific Hotel sold at Carrefour! The skin is nice n crispy and the inner meat is yummy and so juicy good.

Sin Hoi Sai
One of the few not too bad Chi Char places I know which opens at night. Not bad. We tried steamed frog's legs with brands chicken of essence $13 and the horfun (soso). It's pretty famous, just opposite the Holy Family Church in Katong.

Tennis
Been watching and playing tennis more frequently. But the stupid weather is really killer. By the way, girls, tennis skorts (one piece skirts with tights inside) are really comfortable! Bought a few and have been wearing it.It really makes you feel like running for the ball. So nice! No worries about Chao kenging. Sharapova and Hingis are really coole.

Long Weekend
Went shopping and finally bought my ice cream maker from Phillips $88. Well, ss bought it actually... he finally realised that I really really absolutely needed it (or mabbie he really really absolutely needed me to make him ice cream) haha. What ever it is, its easy to use, freeze the inner tub over 18 hrs (like one day +) then prepare the mixture, pour it in the cold tub, spin it a bit then refreeze. the tub is in the freezer now but I am planning to make nutella ice cream... so much for gourmet flavours. We have loads of flavours lined up. stay tuned for

1) Pandan ice cream
2) sugar cane ice cream/sorbet
3) ribena ice cream/sorbet
4) nestum ice cream
5) red date
6) black sesame
7) yam paste

etc......

Well, till the next time.....
see ya

Santorini

This is one of the most expensive hotels in Fira, Santorini but it has the views of the caldera and the sea. About 120 euros in winter. On the super boring 8hr ferry ride from Athens to Santorini. Its so boring, the tv channel is always in Greek, there was nothing to do, no heated jacuzzi, no jackpot, no swimming pool, no personal tv on demand, no inflight service. But you can go out onto the deck and enjoy the chilly breeze and breathtaking views. There is a cafeteria and a fast food outlet though. Rooms available but expensive.

Breathtaking views of the caldera. I love Santorini. We took like over 300 shots altogether on this island.


A pretty Greek Meow meow enjoying the breeze too.


A typical view. This is a byzantine church on the caldera. So lovely.

A fog covered part of the view in the late afternoon.


The caldera view of Santorini from the ferry.

Can someone please teleport me back to Santorini?!!!

Santorini is a lovely place but pretty dead in winter. Food is expensive, the town is rather small but if you have more time, you can go on to Oia, a town further away. Romantic and ideal place for a honeymoon-stay in Porta Fira!

In denial

I've been in denial this weekend.

Evie: Sigh, I have lots of things to do.

evie: no la.....

Evie: Really.... got do prepare this and that, got to read through scripts, got to clear up the house, got work to do etc

evie: no larh.... where got?

Evie: See.... i brought back all these things from work, look at the mountain of stuff to read through etc....

evie: aiya.... forget it larh...
evie: lets go play tennis
evie: let's cook lunch
evie: lets go out for dinner
evie: lets go shopping
evie: lets watch tv
evie: lets listen to music
evie: lets iron clothes
evie: lets read magazine

A weekend of denial by evielovesto travel

Holidays
So deprived. We didnt go anywhere for the March Holidays. the only (re)treat i got was a 2 night stay at Raffles Marina. I felt like a high class chaffeur without getting paid. Had to shuffle people here and there, run around to check on things. Of course i had to squeeze in some shopping time at Jurong point as well. Cant wait to go somewhere in June.

My fantasy Holiday
If I ever had a choice, I would love to have a tennis camp in Europe in spring, pref in Austria or Switzerland, near the mountains. Wake up, a nice jog on the hilly trails in the fresh cool mountain air, return for a light breakfast, chill out for 1/2 an hour before tennis drills at the tennis court facing the mountain. After 2 hours of drills, we will take a break on the mountain top drinking 100+. A SPA like picnic lunch will be brought to us on the mountain top. After 1/2 hr rest, we will stroll back to the tennis courts for more drills. After more tennis drills, we shall have foot work drills.

In the evening, we will stroll back to the chateau and soak by the heated jacuzzi overlooking the tennis courts and mountains. After a good shower, we will have a debrief while having a candlelight dinner by the balcony overlooking the mountains with the sunsetting in the distance. After dinner, we will be given time to do reflections of our tennis training and watch a live tennis match. Then we chill over an excellent glass of ice wine by the bar and anticipate the training the next day.

The next day, we start off early on the court. Warm ups, some rallying then more drills. Breakfast will be brought to us, a good cuppa Brazilian coffee and some light waffles. A briefing session by the coach then more drills and training.

..... my fantasy goes on and on.... sigh.... Inspired by my Yr 2000 trip to Europe with contikki where we stayed near the mountain in Austria. there really was a tennis court near the mountain side. Its so breathtaking, playing tennis with mountains in view. (ss, get the hint????)

More food Reviews

Teochew Garden
It was a last minute thing, but surprisingly there were tables available. The food was great and it wasnt expensive. This meant goodbye to our ala carte dinners at Noblehouse at TungLok

Food: The starter, braised peanuts and preserved vegetables were already so good.... We had a starter plate, not too bad, some teochew style steamed fish, braised goose, horfun and orni.
Service: 8/10
Comments: In general food was good, well cooked and very fresh. Service was not too bad either. For 6 px we paid about $160.
Rating: 8.5/10
Return factor: Yes!!!

Feast@East
Buffet dinner at Grand Mercure opposite Parkway. Food was not too bad. We went on Friday, after the end of a tiring week so I did not have the mood to take photos.
Food: oyster omelette (not too bad), sashimi, oyster, chilli crab (sucked), beef goulash, sliced beef, chicken buah keluak, braised pork belly, soya sauce fish, durian paste, pork rib soup, laksa, fish soup noodle, gadogado etc lots of food and desserts la
Rating: 6.2/10
Return: Not really
Had more fun playing with my little darlings.... they are growing so fast! And my ice aged cousin (10 yrs) older than me has turned 34 (since I am 24). So fun!

Hey bro! Have a good trip back to Ireland. Bring back something for me will ya? We shall play tennis when u get back.