#1176: 小桂林 （XIAO GUI LIN)

小桂林 is on Wiki. --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Guilin

When I showed my mum the photos, the first thing she exclaimed was, "Wah, didn't know Mindy is such a nature lover!".

Heh minz, look, her opinion of you has changed drastically. 

You should be happy that the naughty Mindy image you have carved in my mum's mind is totally erased. 

Anyway, because it is an open secret that I have not been to many HIDDEN places in Singapore (okay fine, I haven't been to many OPEN places in Singapore as well), Mindy has offered to bring me to 小桂林!

I got out of bed grudgingly in the morning in perfectly-sleepable weather because it was drizzling and the temperature was so cool I ALMOST wanted to back out but did not due to a guilty conscience.

I thought, how could I possibly turn my back on Mindy, of all people? HAHA.

It took me an hour to get to Bukit Gombak from Bedok and I stood all the way.

Man, I was so excited to set foot on a foreign place I looked like a tourist snapping photos of...

and this!

And for now, I will just let the photos do the talking. 

What lies ahead? Let Mindy the SuperWoman lead the way!

The stadium is SO TINY, though the track and field are according to standard sizes.

And here we are - XIAO GUI LIN!
I was awestruck and could not stop exclaiming.

Never would I thought that there would be such a place hidden in Singapore!
I bet many Singaporeans, even those who were born in the 60s and 70s would not know such a place exists (probably the east-siders).

Mindy's infamous toned and perky butt!

Even though the sign clearly stated that danger lay beyond that point, Mindy climbed all the way to the top.

It was such a struggle for me as I am afraid of heights!
I was screaming all the way up and Mindy just showed me the why-the-heck-are-you-screaming-when-you-are-obviously-not-going-to-fall look.
Aye, such a friend.

And this is the view from the top!

Top down.

Another arduous journey down to ground level.

Algae (as according to Mindy)!

We found a cute little Malay boy wandering around XiaoGuiLin with his guitar.
We, or rather Mindy, chatted him up and he gladly helped us snap a picture. :D










Thereafter, we took the train to Bukit Batok and she brought me around her old neighbourhood.
I never knew she lived in the West when she was little.
Oh yes, she brought up a point saying that the personalities of the people living in the East and the West are visibly different.
I guess this is an intangible thing but I do feel some differences there.
It's quite difficult to put it in words; you just feel it.

So we went up to her block and she tried to find one of her old neighbours for a chat but to no avail.
The old lady was not at home. :(




She then brought me to eat hokkien mee (ahhh I love hawker centre food!).
YUM YUM.

We walked around after filling our stomachs.
Mindy's such a friendly person.
She talks to literally ANYONE on the street, whether she knows them or not.
If you think I'm spontaneous, you obviously haven't met Mindy Wang.

Cat lover. As usual.

Oh, and the cat is freaking FAT.
FAT CAT.

I tried to bluff my way through to see if anyone would believe that we really flew to China to visit Guilin, as well as to see if anyone in Singapore recognised the place and to my surprise, no Singaporeans commented on my FB album!


Clearly, there are a lot of undiscovered places in Singapore waiting for me to explore...
Thank You, Mindy and I look forward to our next destination which is.... I don't know where. Heehee.

#1175: The Three Lions were OWNED.

In this case, I would say, "Gut gemacht, Deutschland".
And I summarise the extremely upbeat and exciting game by quoting, " Germany reached the World Cup quarterfinals Sunday by beating England 4-1 in a match that will be remembered for the goal not awarded to Frank Lampard.

Thomas Mueller finished two quick counterattacks within four minutes in the second half to sink England's hopes of beating Germany at the World Cup for the first time since the 1966 final.

That England win at Wembley 44 years ago included a similar goal off the crossbar that is still disputed to this day, with many Germans believing the ball never crossed the line. Now, England fans will have something to complain about for decades to come."

Indeed, Germany's speed is not to be disputed- their comeback was nothing but fast at breakneck speed and in a few seconds, a goal is scored.
HOWEVER, had the goal from England not been disallowed by that blind linesman and referee, the game would have taken on a totally different course.
The English players would not have been demoralised and showed no thirst for victory.

IN ANY CASE, I already mentioned in my previous post that whichever deserving team should triumph so I guess the quality of the Deutsch team is a notch higher than the Englishmen.
These two long-time rivals never fail to have controversy surround them each time they face off.
SIGH.

The English fans can only pin their hopes on the next World Cup.


Oooo...slurp slurp.

HUIMIN, PLEASE WAKE UP!
Stop lusting after him!
See the ring on his finger? He's TAKEN! :(((

PS: Although England was owned by the empowering German team, we can still remain the best of friends. PEACE!!! ^^

#1174: World Cup Fever? NOT.

http://the-leggy-queen.blogspot.com/2006/06/wah-lau.html
http://the-leggy-queen.blogspot.com/2006/06/i-wont-be-blogging-or-coming-online.html

I was just reading my posts on World Cup 2006 and I thought, what a vast difference it is to compare the last WC to the present?
I used to be ball-crazy, more on the club perspective rather than country-wise but still.
Due to the jacked up prices of the WC package this year, plus the fact that my family will be abroad during the WC period, we decided not to subscribe.
It turned out to be a smart decision though.
I'm not missing out on much action because of the lacklustre performance of the big shot teams.
Then again, I miss the excitement and anticipation from watching spontaneous matches while bingeing on McDonald's delivery in the wee hours.
Sigh. World Cup 2010 has been substandard so far.
So many disappointments and errant judgements.
I don't know if age is catching up on me or that my likeness for soccer has declined (I highly doubt so) but this world cup has not rubbed any enthusiasm off me.
Perhaps it will get increasingly interesting towards the knock out stages.
Hopefully.

Okay, anyway, I'm heading to Tampines Mac to catch the long time rivals in action later tonight.
I will be on England's side, and will be donning a top which bears the flag of United Kingdom (I'm embarrassed as to why the clothing manufacturers did not print England's flag but in any case, England FTW!).
Even if England should fail tonight, I prepared a Germany top as well.
Reminds me fondly of how I actually supported England in the Euro 04 and they had to face Portugal in a penalty shootout in order to advance to the next stage and Beckham missed that crucial spot kick, resulting in their loss and sent home.
http://the-leggy-queen.blogspot.com/2004/06/euro-results.html
I then supported Portugal with England's exit and they went on to win runner-up in that championship.
Greece were the champions.
They were the impregnable fortress back then but look at them now? SIGH.
I'm hoping that the Germany top will not need to be worn by me but who am I to say that they will lose tonight?
All I can say is, we shall see.
May the better team wins.

PS: If there is anything I have learnt from watching many years of ball action, it is that the ball is round which is almost the same as saying that anything can happen in a game of football.

#1173: Sumiko Tan.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_545472.html

After years of looking for love, The Sunday Times Editor Sumiko Tan - Singapore's most famous single woman - is getting married. To her junior college sweetheart she met when she was just 16.

I am soooo glad for Sumiko Tan who's finally getting hitched.
I came to know her through reading an article written by her as recommended by a friend.
I even blogged about her article before!
Read it here --> http://the-leggy-queen.blogspot.com/2010/04/1127-leap-of-faith.html
And the guy she is getting married to is the exact same person in the abovementioned article!
How sweeeet! 
I am just, so so happy for her. :D

#1172: Family bliss.

It was sort of a family outing to PP sans parents and Ah Boy.
All-girls' outing.
We went lingerie shopping (Cotton On is having a massive sale!!!) and Tingting NEVER misses going to Timezone whenever we head to Parkway.
Some kind of a childhood thing, I guess.
Vast difference as opposed to how my childhood consisted of playing in the sand at the playground near my house and hers was to play electronic game machines.

Oh, and we met the mascot for Youth Olympics.
Of course I pushed Tingting to pose with it.
How could we ever let slip such an opportunity?


Her favourite.


















Somehow I feel that Ling is getting prettier day by day.
And I heart that sailor top!


Tingting was so excited to thrash Ling 7-1.


Oww... look at her glum face. HAHAHA.


It has been a blissful Saturday. :)