Games for big groups of friends
Ant introduced us to board games some time back and for awhile the whole group of us were quite into it. I guess work and stuff got into the way and soon we didn’t frequent the cafes as much. However, Nel n Ron invited the group over to their place to try out their newly purchased Wii and also board games.
Everyone was already there when we reached so we witnessed a lively Wii boxing match going on. On first sight, the Wii graphics really is quite “simple” compared to the high resolutions games I’m used to on the PC or even those seen on Xbox 360. However, the interesting controller gives it an edge since they managed to up the FUN quotient for large groups of people. There was this silly game “Crazy Wazoo” that had 10 of us doing crazy stunts with the controller in an attempt to stay in the game. It has 200+ mini games that keep rotating so you’re kept on your toes. Needless to say, it was entertaining stuff to see friends going wild trying to solve the puzzles 
The next game we tried as the group split up for some wanted to catch some tube time and in a smaller group, we decided to try Citadels, a card game whose ultimate goal is to build 8 districts using gold claimed from each round. Gold could be increased with the use of special “character cards”. Keeping things simple, we used the basic set and eventually after about an hour of scheming and plotting very much like a real political nest, Nel won with 8 cards completed and the most points too!
We also tried out Sequence, an interesting board game utilizing 2 decks of poker cards. The special Jacks (one-eyed and two-eyed) allowed players to either take or add chips to the board in the ultimate aim to reach a sequence of 5 in a row (straight or diagonal) using the other cards in the deck. We had teams of 3 since we had 9 players. Proud to say, Team Red/Ong/Wang won the first round with 3 sequences completed but alas we lost to Team Blue/Other surnames in the second 3 sequences round
When we finished it was already 2.30am! Has been awhile since we met up to have a good laugh and enjoy some games. Thanks Nel & Ron
Traveling back to Singapore from Kukup
After a night of fireworks and mahjong for some, we soon were awoke to a great sunny morning. Caught sight of two snakes having a morning tussle as the smaller one was biting onto the larger one and couldn’t resist taking a snap. Our morning breakfast was all ready with a serving of nasi lemak (which had great chilli!) and youtiao.
While some chose to enjoy the free time playing a couple more rounds of mahjong and some did karaoke, we did some light reading and I tried to finish the scuba magazines. Dozed off a couple times though since it was the perfect environment to just relax and forget about work.
At about 2+, it was time to pack up and head back to Singapore. We bid farewell to the owners for their hospitality and soon were on our way off. Before leaving though, we had to collect the agar agar (jelly) we had ordered the day before. RM$6 for 12 pieces of jelly in various flavors and something different for fillings (red bean, pineapple, etc).
We had a simple seafood lunch at the entrance, “Restoran Makanan Laut Long Man”. Wasn’t anything fancy since some of the dishes seem to be reheated but for RM$70 for the whole trip, there wasn’t much to complain about!
Leaving Kukup, we were soon near Pontian where everyone shopped a little for groceries at Giant and even got a little fruits along a roadside fruit stall nearer to Johor. Our plans to have dinner just before exiting the 2nd causeway was dashed when the place seemed to be closed for renovations. Had heard that the satay there was very good but didn’t get to try it. All in all, was a great way to spend the weekend with new friends and definitely good way to forget about work and just relax.
Fireworks and Birthday Celebrations
Since everyone had snacks and weren’t feeling particularly hungry, we started dinner a little late after catching a screening of “Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer”. The owner and his family were busy preparing a sumptuous meal for us at the back of the home. When we headed to the meal area, the tables were all laid out with items like chilli prawns, otah, squid, satay and sambal sting ray. It looked like a huge spread but everyone soon tucked into the food and also enjoyed some bbq chicken wings that was served later.
Near the end of dinner, we even got a chance to check out some of the fireworks that could be purchased and fired off at a safe clearing near the resort. Being a little over-enthusiastic in wanting to create a mini fireworks festival, we soon found ourselves with over RM$350 worth of fireworks with some eloborate items like a 50 shot one and some nicer flares.
I managed to get myself set up with a tripod some 10 metres from the luanch pad and took some photos. Was a little hard figuring out the timing of the fireworks but eventually got off some nicer snaps with two of the sequences captured on video below. Silly me left the camera in its vertical position while taking the videos and so had to rotate them and crop it for youtube. A bit of detail is lost but am glad we managed to create a mini-fireworks festival which drew a small crowd.
The night ended (before the mahjong sessions got underway) with us celebrating birthdays for Shirley and Fuming. A huge mango cake had been brought up from Singapore and we each enjoyed a slice of cake for supper.
A short cruise and visit to kelong at Kukup
Since it was still pretty early after we unloaded all our gear, some of us decided to take a short walk out into the main town area to do some shopping. The good thing about this place? Its a small town so not much tourists around and you don’t feel like you’re back in Singapore. However, if you’re into shopping for clothes etc, you’ll probably be disappointed since the stalls mainly sell foodstuffs like cuttlefish, keropok, etc. There aren’t many shops with a few being restaurants and some selling foodstuffs and souvenirs.
We headed back to the resort after a short 30 minutes shopping and were treated to the sights of fried prawn pastries by the owner. Due to my haste in enjoying the great afternoon treat, I forgot to snap photos!
At about 5+ pm, we headed out once again to the jetty under construction (apparently already 1.5 years since it started) and took a small boat out for a cruise along the sea. Our guide and driver was a young chap who amazingly after maneuvering his way past various traps in the sea hopped to the back of the boat to introduce the sights. We eventually ended up on a small kelong where the guide introduced a few of the fishes that they reared. There was a particular species that actually started “spitting” at us when we were viewing. Too bad didn’t quite catch the name though I believe have seen it in documentaries where the fish spits to catch insects.
There was also an area where there was a small shark, king crab and puffer fish. We lingered on for a bit in the kelong taking photos and enjoying the view befoer heading back to the resort.
Back to Kukup Village after 20+ years!
We first learnt that there would be a trip to Kukup village organized by Jelyn & Howard’s friends some time back in late April’07. Since then we have met up with some of the folks going on the trip (Jason, Chiew Lin, Shirley, Yaohui, Jelyn, Howard) at Citylink’s New York New York for dinner.
It was soon 14th July and we all met up at Singapore Science Centre in Jurong East in the late morning. With a a convoy of 4 Toyota’s (1 x Camry, 1 x Corolla, 2 x Altis), we soon made way via Tuas 2nd Link to Kukup. The trip was pretty smooth through the various checkpoints and toll booths and took approximately an hour traveling mostly on single lane roads. We managed to get to Kukup at about 1pm+ and the cars were left overnight at the nearby Carpark #1 for a low fee. With about 3 ferries from the provided transport, we were soon making our way to Kukup Venice, our accommodations for the weekend.
I remember my first time here 20+ years ago when my dad used to drive the family up for weekend trips that Kukup was a small and rather quaint village. It definitely has changed somewhat over the years with more houses and vehicles plying the roads. The houses in the village however look pretty much the same near the entrance. They are still pretty much constructed from wood but there were small upgrades like air-conditioned units. We walked through the small village on stilts during the low tide and caught sight of the inhabitants of the mangrove swamp, crabs and mudskippers which were abundant. Walking nearer end of the village could see signs of modernization with houses being renovated for tourists and having much better facilities.
Kukup Venice was a short 10 minute walk through the houses near the end of the village. We were pleasantly surprised to actually find a well furnished brick house with high ceilings and clean sleeping environments. The owners of the house were extremely friendly in helping ensure we had a good stay and even personally prepared most of our meals during our stay. With facilities like karaoke and mahjong, it helped most of us spend the time over the weekend enjoying ourselves.
Kukup Venice Holiday Villa Resort
No. 40 Kukup Laut
82300 Pontian, Johor
Tel : 07-696 1516
Let me take a look
Hah, Yh called for me to come and have a look at some ‘foreign insect’ in the other room one night and I ran over to have a look. Caught sight of this praying mantis that had somehow flown into our spare room. Tried taking a few snaps but with the bad lighting, macro shots all went out of wack. Only managed to get a nice photos like this one where it seems like it has a ghostly twin in the reflection.
Recollections from Ping.sg anniversary party
Writing this about a week late since it has been a pretty crazy packed week. I quite enjoyed myself attending the party at Geek Terminal and managed to get to know some of the members of the ping.sg community. Got in a little late so sat at the back and chatted with Andrew whom I knew from work at Cornet.
Truth be told, I had read some of the blog entries but I hadn’t really had the time to follow the nominations and who were the nominees. Some I recognized, like Keropokman whom I had included into my Google Reader “watchlist” for some truly great snaps of food in Singapore while there were others whom I hadn’t really got to know yet.
Also got to know Rinaz who had her own button and I instantly recognized the icon 
Was also great to talk to Paddy after his thoughts on my entry on small business life. Met Herryanto who like me was running his own shop. Since I was also getting into Ruby, it was great to know he already had been up and running Book Jetty which I quite like to maintain the books that I constantly plow through (regretfully has become almost all IT related but shall try to get back into other reads). I was rather amused to meet Brennan since reading his Digital Terrorist stuff some time back made me wonder who the person was behind the blog.
The after party drinks sessions at Brewerkz was a lot more fun though since Beer was involved! Was amazed to meet Mantas from Soundpedia fame and all the way from Lithuania (had been introduced to it by KC just 2-3 weeks ago). We started discussing how when we were at his age, we were just programming in Pascal! Also want to wish Matthew all the best in his plunge into his own business as well as another Michael from Comiqs who looks like he has got an interesting idea with user generated comics.
All in all, was a great way to know a few more friends who have varied interests and are following their passions in what they do. Sure is exciting to be part of a growing community.
Happy 1st Birthday to Ping.sg
Its been sometime since getting my blogs onto Ping.sg and so far its been an interesting ride reading about the happenings in the Singapore blog scene. Am looking forward to knowing more bloggers at the Anniversay Party on 07/07/2007 @ Geek Terminal. Shall be my first blog gathering