Digital Fortress + SS and my belated 30th bday dinner with XY @ Han Guen Doo Guen & short meet-up with Potato and Leon + dad’s belated bday zi char + my belated bday brunch with YB @ Wah Lok Cantonese restaurant + Itacho & KTV with Ning, Francine and PY + my belated bday dinner with Jess @ Tomo Izakaya and Dopa Dopa Creamery + Potato’s mum’s early bday lunch @ Ma Maison and visit to Honestbee Habitat + Dester Singapore Gold Cup PPD + my belated bday lunch with WZ and Pat @ Manna Story + 지금 만나러 갑니다

Potato lent me “Digital Fortress” by Dan Brown and yay I’ve finished reading it after a few mths lol. It’s a techno-thriller novel, and it explores the theme of govt surveillance (NSA) of electronically stored info on the private lives of citizens, the ethical implications of such technology.

Commander Trevor Strathmore “requested” for his head cryptographer Susan Fletcher and her prof bf cum fiance David Becker to crack the “Digital Fortress” code written by former NSA employee Ensei Tankado who was unhappy with thei intrusion into people’s private lives. The story follows Becker on his journey to Seville to discover a ring the dead Tankado wore which contains the break-code.

I enjoyed how Brown broke his story down into short chapters, it’s easy for readers to digest. And almost every chapter ends with a “linger”, that bit of suspense~ nice! The twist in the end was somewhat expected, though I thought part of the reason being “out of love” was cliché la. *Codes are interesting, but cracking them is way beyond my intelligence lvl lol~*

Rating: 4/5

20/10/18 Sat: XY, SS and I decided on our bday dinner at Chinatown pt. As the queue for Genki Sushi was very long, we went to a Korean restaurant, Han Guen Doo Guen instead. Shared some dishes together, but I guess overall it was so-so. Well, what matters was the company! SS shared about her trip to Switzerland with John, and XY about her “new acquaintances” haha. *Thks for the treat and bday cakes XY!*

Headed over to Chinatown Food St and saw Leon and Potato having dinner after their st performance. 3 of us planned to go Ten Dollar KTV but it was alrdy full, so we ended up chit-chatting for a while.

22/10/18 Mon: Potato and I had mee hoon kuey for lunch at a coffee shop at Lavender, and I went to collect my new passport. Took a bus down to Klook’s office to take our JR pass for the upcoming Japan trip too.

23/10/18 Tues: Now I’m enjoying certain stretches more cos it helps with my aching shoulders and upper back from work~

27/10/18 Sat: Had usual zichar as dad’s belated birthday treat. It’s a mistake we didn’t ask the waitress to repeat her orders, and thr it came a金荣鸡instead of脆皮鸡. $12 more! And it’s not nice. All the dishes的手头都蛮重的. *Juz cos we took more time to decide on our orders doesn’t warrant that kind of attitude from her though.*

28/10/18 Sun: YB suggested Wah Lok Cantonese restaurant at Carlton Hotel for my belated bday lunch. And as she said, their carrot cake tasted very different from what one has outside… not oily at all and the texture was yums! We had菠萝叉烧包、虾饺、虾肠粉etc~ very comfy setting and filling dim sum with the bestie. Went to Fresh to buy my facial pdts, then we went over to Orchard Ion for me to collect other freebies from Fresh, and we helped WL looked ard for his proposal ring too haha! Saw a few nice ones at Love and Co.

Met Ning, PY and Francine late afternoon. Francine was happily playing at the arcade, aft which we had Itacho Sushi for dinner. The girls bought some drinks and tidbits from Cold Storage before we walked over to Teo Heng KTV at Rendezvous Hotel for 3 hrs’ of singing session! 大姐Ning is power as usual, while PY, Francine and I sang-along while we admire her at the same time keke~

30/10/18 Mon: Potato came over for dinner, and he secretly put the “Halloween surprise” on the bookshelf in my rm, which I only came to see two days later LOL! So cute~

31/10/18 Tues: Haha a pic of my failed move in class today when I got my foot stuck in the hammock… pain neh!

1/11/18 Thurs: Sore throat and flu pretty bad, but I still wanna make the date with Jess at Tomo Izakaya for my belated bday haha~ Second time being thr, and while their sashimi were really fresh, the prices were very ex too. Glad to hear about Jess’s work and hols trip to Switzerland and all the “happenings” to her thr~ *150 dollars for not know knowing you hav to validate a 24hrs’ train tix!? OMG~*

She brought me to the ice-cream shop Dopa Dopa, opened by her friend too for some hazelnut ice-cream with waffles. *我自找的sia… coughing still eat ice-cream lol~* The boss seriously reminds me of my cousin sia… and he’s gd-looking! Side profile a bit like Daniel Wu imo~

6/11/18 Tues: Had tuition with Gideon at Tiong Bahru food market over水饺面and it’s gd. Met Potato’s family to celebrate his mum’s bday over lunch at Ma Maison. My Japanese style spaghetti was so-so nia la, but it seems others enjoyed their steak and tonkatsu~ MM and Andre bought a choco banana cake ($38) from Awfully Chocolate too~ whoa 6 of us could only finish half lor keke. *Potato’s dad rushed to foot the bill again lol.*

Potato’s mum wanted to visit Honestbee Habitat, whr it’s supposedly cashless and a self check-out market. Pretty packed on a Deepavali PH neh. We walked ard, and Potato got tempted by the “6 for $11” promo for the fresh oysters, so we queued and got that. I didn’t eat cos ain’t no fan of fresh oysters. Accompanied dear back to his parents’ at Yishun, took his stuff before we took the train back hm. *I understand why our parents don’t usually wanna travel by public transport. It gets pretty tiring for them cos of the long journey.*

7/11/18 Weds: Dester Gold Cup PPD is held at the Fountain at Clarke Quay. Elite Invincible drew the widest, it rained but he won the race with Woodworth on Sun! It’s a pity Noah From Goah broke down in the straight, hurling Juglall to the ground though. Rider was not hurt seriously, but the Group 1 winner from South Africa had to be euthanised due to an open condylar fracture.

10/11/18 Sat: WZ, Pat and I had lunch at Manna Story at PS. I thought their BBQ saba fish couldn’t be compared to the one at Yew Tee food court lor lol~ WZ and Pat shared their cheesy platter. It’s been some time since Pat went out with us without her boys haha. It’s as usual a catch-up aft WZ’s busy work schedule the past few wks, and about Pat’s motherhood. *Thks for the bday gifts ladies!* We shopped at “Turtle” for a while cos they sell cute soft toys and accessories.

Watched “지금 만나러 갑니다” (Be With You) starring one of my fav Korean actor소지섭and손예진. It’s a remake of a Jap film in 2004.

Pretty touching storyline, but maybe cos I was slpy as I watched it, so I couldn’t really focus… haha. *But man소지섭has such broad shoulders that he looked laughable in the blazers and berms LOL!*

Rating: 3/5

13/11/18 Tues: Tried a new flip mid-air during aerial yoga. Diana coined the way we sat in the hammock as a “baby wrap” cos we shld supposedly feel “safer” this way, with that larger pc of cloth beneath us. It’s not easy do it slow and maintain the momentum all the way back, cos half-way most of us’d be stuck for fear of falling lol! It was only aft a while did I realise it’s my own hands that were preventing me from completing my full circle, and I tot that the trick was to flip forward faster and “let it go”~ haha. *Annie was praising my foot massage for her too hehe ~*