finally, the long awaited break, 2 weeks of it, after 12 weeks of coaching..

but i'm not resting as yet, with some stuffs lined up for this week:

1. barista workshop over 2 nights at highlander cafe;

2. 3-day first-aid course at st john's;

3. x'mas gathering on 25th;

4. rock-climbing the day after.

and at all other time, i will be researching on a small project, which for now, would be confidential..

it's a good time for me to rest and hope that my upper back have ample time to recover from the aches and sores and strains accumulated over the weeks, and years before that..

but today, i would just treat myself nice and go and watch ninja assassin at plaza singapura with my brother and our neighbour in about an hour's time..

so ciao!

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busy weekend

my in-laws were in town for the weekend, so we had booked a chalet for them at east coast park..

luckily i start work in the noon on friday, so i had the morning to help my wife to prepare the food for the bbq that evening.. we made fillings for cup crackers and honey mustard salad, which took us the whole morning.. i left for work while my wife met them at bukit batok to be picked up by her brother, who drove in from malaysia..

but it was not all that smooth sailing, he got lost while driving from bukit batok to east coast park and had to call me for directions.. all thanks to the internet, i was able to guide them using streetdirectory.com from balestier road, funny how they got to balestier from bukit batok, haha..

i got there rather late, so i got only the leftovers.. at least better than nothing.. at 10pm, things got interesting: it started with some loud bangs and shoutings, followed by lots of people running and chasing.. we thought it was a police exercise or something - i personally thought it was gang fight, but rather weird to hold it at a holiday chalet.. we saw some policemen guarding the chalet just two rooms from us, soon more and more plainclothes policemen came and the whole situation became rather tense.. we saw a lot of them going in sporadically but none were coming out, and the stand-off attracted more and more onlookers (we were among them, haha)..

nothing much progressed so we went back to sleep.. we found out the next day that it was in fact a police raid on an illegal gambling den just opposite our chalet!! around 43 people were arrested, and some 60 policemen were involved in the raid, most of them looked like they just finished their jc or poly.. it was quite hard for me to imagine so many people in such a small place..

anyway, on saturday, we were planning to go sentosa but was hampered by the sudden change in the weather, so we roamed around harbourfront before heading to the new ion, which alas, was not to their taste, which was actually a place where kids can have fun.. i thought they would be curious with the new place and everything, well at least my brother-in-law was interested in the design..

we had dinner at the whole earth in tanjong pagar, a thai and perankan vegetarian restaurant.. the food was not bad, but the servings were rather small for the price, and the service was rather passive.. we had to ask for our water and rice to be served up, and they served the food a tad too fast, so our tables were like overflooded with plates and bowls..

all in all, rather interesting weekend but very tiring.. well nothing beats seeing my in-laws enjoying themselves here, apart from the rain that dampered our spirits as they were really looking forward to it.. so, to the bed now!!

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let's make coffee

getting acquaintance with coffee making again..

yesterday was my first day of barista training at bon cafe.. yep, after a hiatus of five years, i've decided to go back to my calling, making coffee..

we were given a lively and practical introduction to the history of coffee, its origins and its taste, how it is been roasted and cupping, and also how the espresso machine and grinder work, and how to maintain it in its pristine condition, all by barista and trainer henry and master roaster eric..

too bad i had to leave halfway through the class, just after henry made us some espresso and lattes.. nonetheless, i will have another lesson next tuesday, again for half a day..

anyway, just an update: i'm going to work as a part-time barista at the soon-opening tom n toms cafe, located in icon village, somewhere in tanjong pagar.. it's a korean cafe, making its entry into singapore's f&b scene, with collaboration with lexicon pte ltd.. apart from coffee making, i would do pretzels too, which is something new and interesting, for a cafe, and for me too..

i missed the lesson today, so i have to make up for tomorrow.. and there's a test also!!

just side-tracking, my mom-in-law and my wife's sister and brother are all coming visit us this weekend, and we are going chalet at east coast park!! so it is going to be helluva weekend!! super busy, bouncing from work to training to joining them.. but i'm happy.. :)

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