Two and a Half Weeks in Panama

Amazing, I have spent 2 and a half weeks in Panama already. Here's a short update of some events.

Firstly, I have officially drove on the 'right' side of the road. Yep, we rented a car, and it seems like I'm the dedicated driver. My boss, we kept wanting to rent a car, didn't have a car license. I only realised that just before we rented the car. And the other colleague, doesn't seem too keen on driving. So far driving in Panama have been mixed. On the expressway, its a breeze. But in the city, its a real killer. But I must say, after 2 days of driving, I think I can cope pretty well driving against the insane cabs and buses.

Next update, work has been pretty slow moving. Slow moving meaning most of the time, I just go to office, and wait. And wait. And wait. Nothing much for me to do. I have to wait at least another week before the other contractor gets their stuff up. In the mean time, I'm just doing my stuff at a relaxed paced.

Lastly, we finally tried cooking something tonight. But it was a disaster. There wasn't many proper crockery and utensils, so we had trouble just to make spaghetti. In the end, my boss dropped the pasta on the floor as the handle of the pan was loose and we had to eat vegetables and very little pasta with grapes. But I must admit, its the most healthy meal we had in Panama, Land of Grilled Meat.

Alrighty, thats all for now. Oh yes, a casino update: Casino US$102 - Thengz US$107.50. Thengz ahead by the tip of his nose.

Casco Viejo, Panama

Had a pretty eventful Saturday this week. I finally got a chance to take a proper tour of some parts of Panama City. For once it wasn't just the casinos we visited. Haha... Went to the older, slump like parts of Panama and then we went to the President's Palace, where we saw 2 blue cranes and 2 white cranes. You can check out the photos on my Flickr account. I'm sick of waiting for Blogger to load my photos, so I got myself an account.

After visiting the President's Palace and some churches, we ended the day at an Indian Tribe's Village. Its not a real village, more like a reserve where they sell handicrafts and perform dances. Had a field day taking photos with some kids. There are some more photos which my colleague took, will get it from her soon and upload them. Alrighty, ciao for now, things are finally getting a little interesting. Oh yeah, and I'm officially making money from the casinos. Thengz US$83.50 - Casino US$70. Haha!

First Week in Panama

A week has passed since I landed in Panama. It hasn't been a disappointment nor has it been filled with excitement. And I'll admit, I have yet to visit the Panama Canal as yet. Hopefully I'll be able to check that off my list of things to do before I die next weekend.

I must say, so far the highlight of the trip has been my visits to the casino. At the time of posting this blog, as it stands, the casino has won 70 bucks from me and I've only won US$25.50 from it. Here's a short list of things I have learnt in the casino.

1. Play Blackjack, there is a much higher chance of winning than the darn Poker or Roulette.

2. When you win, freaking take the money and go. Various reasons that may make you want to stay, such as: its still early or lets start a table on our own are just reasons to make you lose your winnings. I've learnt both lessons the hard way. Crap...

3. Stay in a casino for at most an hour. I have yet to master this, but if you can't win anything within that hour, chances are you'll lose even more. And if you have won after an hour, your luck have probably ran out, don't bother staying any longer. I could have won 40 bucks in one night if I've stuck to that rule.

Ok, thats all for my casino gibberish. Besides being famous for their countless casinos, Panama has lots of leather goods going for a song. Here's a picture of a pair of casual leather shoes I got for a pittance. 10 US dollars to be exact. Thats S$16 for a pair of leather shoes.

Spiffy Columbian Leathered Shoe from Panama:

I think I'll probably get myself another pair or 2 leather shoes before I return to Singapore.

Last weekend, the Project Manager for Panama decided to have a BBQ and she invited the Columbians and Panamanian workers over for the BBQ. And boy, are they a rowdy bunch. They drink like there is no tomorrow. Here's some pictures of the BBQ. The best part of the BBQ have to be the roast beef. Marinated and roasted to perfection. Yummy....

Oh yes, and the Panama skies I really beautiful. Pretty interesting colours. Somehow, for this trip, I'm easily fascinated by the colours of the skies. Was mesmerized by 2 sunrise and 2 sunsets on the flight to Panama, and now I'm amazed by the setting sun. Now all I need is a fishing rod and some abangs to make my transformation complete...

And one last paragraph to end things off. After staying in Panama for a week, there is one distinct trait that I've noticed about Panamanians: they aren't exactly big fans of punctuality. Thus when I come across this advertisment for an airline, I had to take a picture, only in Panama can you expect a tagline like this:

P.S. This post have been extremely difficult to post as I had alot of problems with the photo uploading, thus I've decided to upload all my photos onto Webshots in the future. Click here to see my Panama album.

An Ode To Panama

Panama, Panama,
Land of many taxi cars,
Where a casino is round the corner,
To make you richer or mostly poorer.

Food servings come in a single size, large,
Is that too much, you be the judge!
The people here are mostly fat,
As they got the life of slacking down to a pat!

Work is as slow as they come,
Even I am faster at getting things done!
I'm not complaining here,
For this is something I really endear!

The most common profession here is the cab driver,
Who probably moonlights as a lawyer.
And if you ever get into trouble with the law,
Just give your friendly neighbourhood cabby a call!

Thats all I have to say about Panama for now,
Been an interesting week I've found.
Hopefully the weekend would bring new stories,
That I can share with you me hombres!

First 3 Days in Panama

Hola Amigos! 3 days have passed since I landed in Singapore, but it seems much longer. Darn... Miss biting/hugging/kissing my Little Princess. Hehe, better not say too much here, later you fellas die of mushiness...

Anyway, after I landed in Panama, I was god damn sleepy. The first 2 leg of the journey, Singapore-Taiwan and Taiwan-Los Angeles, wasn't too bad cause its with SIA. But once we switched over to Copa Airlines at Los Angeles, it was hell. Seats a cramp, barely any leg room, the Chinaman behind me kept kicking my seat and his entire family seems oblivious to the existence of the other sleeping passengers already them. I swear to god, Chinamen have the loudest mouth. You can't call me anti-chinese cause this is a fact. Show me a Chinaman that doesn't talk loudly and I'll show you a Singaporean that isn't kiasu.

Despite being sleepy as hell, we still went for lunch at a food court. Yummy... Lunch was great. Here's a picture of my lunch.

Grilled beef with some french fries and salad. Doesn't seem to look as good as it taste. But trust me, it was good. Then again, to me, you can't go wrong with beef.

After lunch, we went to some trade fair thing at some exhibition hall. In my opinion it was a waste of time. Come all the way to Panama, and I see a fair on things from other parts of the world.

We had dinner at TGIF. And then it occurred to me that TGIF no longer exist in Singapore. Kena booted out by Fish & Co. at the glass house. Didn't take any photos there. In fact, I kinda forgotten about my camera for the pass few days.

OK, to cut a long story short, the past 2 days I went to the casino. Lost 10 bucks on the first day, lost 40 on the 2nd. Should really stop going, otherwise I'll just give the Singapore government not to start an 'Integrated Resort' in Singapore. Still don't understand why they just call a dog a dog or a cat a cat, must go thru all that word twisting. Casino then casino lah, what the fark is an Integrated Resort? Duh...

Other weird things that happened to me today:

Tried to buy blankets from a store, I couldn't speak Spanish, salesgirl couldn't speak English, so I had to play charades with her. Seems like tourists can get away with acting stupid. This is something I won't imagine myself doing in Singapore. In the end I managed to buy a blanket, so whoopee, I won the game... And some how, everyone in Panama just assumes an asian to be a Japanese. The salesgirl thought I was from Tokyo and on the way back from the casino, I walked past a cab driver and he started mimicking a Jap to me. Duh... Maybe when I go to work tommorrow I'll assume all hispanics to be Speedy Gonzales. Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Yibah, yibah, andele, andele!

First Panama Post: Colours of the Sky

Check out the various colours of the sky dudes. Damn, I wish I'm a bird. Everyday can see colours like this, I wouldn't mind having a pea brain.

Ok, thats all for now. Will update more about Panama later. And on a side note, 30 plus hours on the plane and on transit is no joke. My whole body is still aching after a day and I feel sleepy all the time. Zzzzz.....

Whats the matter with Fat People?

Ok, before you guys start castigating and what not, I don't have a problem with Fat People in general. Just a certain class of Fat People.

In my opinion, Fat People fall into 2 basic categories, namely the ones that knows that they are Fat, and have come to terms with it, and have a cheerful outlook in life. And there is the other sub group, and I'm using more than 1 meaning of the word 'sub' here. This group of Fat People, knows that they are fat, and because of that, they think that the rest of the world owes them something. They probably think: Since I'm fat, it means that there is one less Fat person in the universe, and you skinny dicks have to thank me for that.

To put a long story short, I had a somewhat unpleasant experience with a Cat 2 Fat Personnel this morning. All I wanted from said Fat Personnel (F.P.) is my advance for my trip to Panama which is tomorrow but F.P. had to make a meal of everything. Some random quotes from F.P.:

"Next time if you're going to take half day leave on the day before you leave, must tell me earlier." The request for advance was given to her on Tuesday, she had 3 effing days to prepare the request.

"Come back after 11am, to collect." When I returned at 12 noon, she had not even prepared the cash.

"You wait a while, I have to complete this for the boss first." I went off and do my own stuff, came back 15 minutes later, and she's still not done yet. And best of all when she told me to wait again, and I came back after that, she had the cheek to complain to another admin staff that she has to go and 'look' for me. Bloody Fat Arse.

Ok, some of the statements may look pretty harmless, but imagine each of these sentences said in a tone similar to one you would hear in a dark alley and you'll get an idea of how irritating it is. Its almost as if she is trying to kill me with her words. Kinda puts a whole new meaning to the Roberta Flack's hit single 'Killing Me Softly'. Oh yes, i'm side-tracking here, but did you know that the song 'Killing Me Softly' is actually Roberta Flack's tribute to the lyrical wizard Don Mclean of 'Vincent' and 'American Pie' fame?

Anyway, its my second last day in Singapore, and I had to spend 1 and a half hour of it pissed. 1 hour in the morning and half an hour while writing this post. Damn, I need to really strangle some Fat Arse now... And just a reminder, I have nothing against Fat People. There wasn't a Fat Couple that stole my cab while my kid brother was dying. Please do not sue me for this. Hahaha... I'm not a fatist!

In an Ideal World...

This would be my car... Then again, in an ideal world, everyone would own one too, so there is nothing to show off... Haha... Koenigsegg kicks ass...

Note to my Nissan Latio: I still love you!

Shameless Flaunting of My New Lumix Camera Disguised as a Weekend Update...

The weekend started with another happy Panasonic customer challenging me to a shoot out on Friday night.

Totally forgotten about my camera after that, so there isn't any pictures of the 'gaming' session at my place.

On Sunday, my Little Princess prepared steam boat for my family and I. Suppose to be celebrating my birthday cause I won't be in Singapore on the actual day. However, we didn't cut the cake. Here's some pictures of the steam boat.

In the end, the cake was cut on Monday night. Here's a picture of the Tan family, visibly pleased with the mango cake.
Thengz tried his darnest, but there is no way he could blow out the Trick Candles.

Managed to snap a few pictures of a ghost at my house. Here's one of the pictures.

Here's a clearer picture of the 'ghost'. Scary huh?

And here's the last picture of this series. This picture is actually taken at night. Amazing huh? No flash, no nothing. Just a shutter that remained opened for a minute...

I Need A Holiday

Just saw Scruffy Ruffy's post on his trip to Ko Samui with Hooey. Darn, makes me want to go on a holiday too. Sandy shores (NOT Pattaya), sunny beach (NOT Pattaya), salty air (NOT Pattaya).

Not sure if its a coincidence or not, but then I came across the word 'Maldives' while checking my bank's website. Apparently they have a contest and the top prize is a trip to Maldives for 2. And suddenly, I have the urge to go to the Maldives.

Went and check out the price to go to the Maldives, and suddenly (again), the urge is gone. Hotel room at Maldives during off season: US$100, air tickets: S$430. Which basically means if I'm staying there for 4 nights with my Little Princess, the total price would be 430x2 + 100x1.6x4 = S$1,500. And thats before the airport taxes and what not. Crap.

My secondary school classmate Lam, suggested the cheaper alternative: Batam. Only draw back is, there are so many Singaporeans there, its practically like East Coast. Haha... Sigh... I need a holiday... Must go to one after I come back from Panama. Oh yes, I'm finally going Panama on this Saturday. For one entire month. A tad too much for my liking. Double Sigh...