24 Season 8 Ep 7

We finally start to see some action. Most of the characters were pushed to the brink and we see what they are capable of doing.

Dana guides Kevin and his friend to steal money from an NYPD warehouse. The small time crooks get greedy and in spite of the small window given to them to escape, they still find the time to search for a plastic gun to entertain themselves.

President Taylor shares some top secret information to someone from the UN only because she was told that they share a long history of protecting each other (or something to that effect), really a bit ridiculous as you can expect this to bite her in the ass in the coming episodes.

President Hassan gets all the more paranoid and orders to have his aide taken into custody and tortured when the latter advises him to go easy on torturing people.

After coming up with nothing, Renee forces Vladimir to call his contacts again. Vladimir gets irritated and hits her. She finally hits the roof and stabs him to death. She then accidentally stabs Jack as well which as expected doesn't hurt him at all.

Sergei, after being contacted by Vladimir, sends his men to find out how much Vladimir knows about his operation. His men find Vlad dead and takes Jack with them for questioning.

Brian Hastings, the new CTU head, isn't a joy to watch. He's neither here nor there. There seems to be something lacking in the way he delivers. 


Here's what to expect next:

Madam

Clarice arrived a couple of weeks ago and quietly left this morning. Despite her early flight, she took the time to prepare breakfast for us. How sweet no? 

She brought with her a couple of sweet treats from Manila:

She has been without work for a month now. Our very big team has been reduced to just four members with Clarice to be among the last batch of casualties. It is not so bad since she is soon to enjoy a hefty separation pay. She decided to try her luck here and it seems that the stars are all smiling down on her. Only after a week, she already received an offer. The following day after signing her contract, everything has already been approved giving her ample time to relax and be with her family back home. 

On her first weekend, we took her out for lunch at Thai Express. 

Em-J and I both chose the seafood kway teow.

Clarice, who was craving for curry, had the chicken curry which turned out to be too spicy for her liking. 

We haven't really gone out much since she prefers to stay home and catch up on the latest teleseryes via YouTube but that's okay. We'll have plenty of time to explore when she returns in two weeks. 

Battle of the Hawker Centres

Hawker Centres are very much part of Singapore culture that a trip here would be incomplete without paying a visit to at least one. Two of the most popular hawker centres here are Newton Circus and Lau Pa Sat. We normally frequent Newton Circus since it is closest to where we stay.

Newton Food Centre

Based on our experience, the usual practice at Newton is stall owners approach you, get you a table and provide you with a laminated menu and you order away. After your meal, the owner then informs you of your total bill. No receipt has ever been given to us nor were we ever given a breakdown. We have never questioned this practice and we always felt that paying an average of $35 per person is pretty cheap for fresh seafood. It's not as if we eat out here all the time. I guess splurging once in a while is okay.

The last time we visited Newton, there were prominently displayed comic strips encouraging patrons to go to the stall itself, check the price of each item and order there. I later found out that one stall was suspended for 3 months for overcharging their customer. Click here for article. We ordered cereal prawns, shark's fin soup, squid, fried buns and medium rice plus lime juice. The bill for the three of us came to about $120.


Since Clarice was visiting over, we wanted to take her to Newton but Em-J's friends warned us about it and told us to head to Lau Pa Sat instead.

Lau Pa Sat

I've only been to Lau Pa Sat once and that was to eat at Happy V, formerly Jolly V, so I haven't tried their Singaporean dishes yet.  I'm always game for an adventure so last night, we headed there after work. We got there at dinner time and immediately managed to get a table. None of us were in the mood for crabs so we settled for cereal prawns, large rice, chilli kang kong, a set of chicken and beef satay plus drinks. The total bill for four was $65. Food was just as good; I even found the cereal prawns to be better than the ones that we normally order at Newton. 

I guess you can say we've already made our decision. The next time we're craving for cereal prawns or chilli crabs, Lau Pa Sat it is. 

24 Season 8 Ep 6

Dana Walsh wasted no time. Barely 5 minutes into the episode and she already has a plan eyeing an FBI lock-up and providing Kevin with schematics and a key card on how to break in. I just wish she has a trick up her sleeve as I don't want to see her go down, the way she's been acting, she might as well have screamed "Look at me, I'm breaking the law."
Despite the talk with President Taylor, Hassan cracks up the ante and has someone close to his delegation arrested for being the cousin of someone who took part in the assassination attempt. 
The infected Russian gets a glimmer of hope as he is treated by a local doctor only to be killed by his own father. How ruthless. 
Vladimir tries to double cross Jack by ordering his men to kill him as soon as the money is wired over. He has no intention of providing the information that Jack needs. His plan backfires since Jack came prepared with Agent Cole Ortiz as his back up. (I bet tuwang tuwa si Jencarps) 

A New Pair

I'm not a big fan of shoes. As long as I have one that I can use, I'm good. I normally stick to white sneakers since it's easy to pair with anything I have on for the day. I actually only bought 3 pairs last year. One was a white perforated plimsoll.

I was eventually forced to replace it with a pair of Everlast green sneakers which were not too comfortable thus forcing me to buy my white "lolo"shoes. 

This trusty pair also gave up on me recently. Good thing I chanced upon the pair below from River Island. I'm currently loving it. I'm willing myself not to get a few more since they're on sale. 

OMIGOD YOU GUYS!!!

Si Melai!

by Stephanie Manhit

The three contenders for the Big 4 slot bravely faced Kuya’s endurance challenge: to stand atop a small platform in the middle of the pool for an undefined number of hours. No excuses were accepted to leave their roost. The three had to grit their teeth and hold against the call of nature, even if it was to relieve or feed themselves.
They had various strategies for keeping their post. Melai distracted herself with singing, Tibo chose minimal movement, Paul Jake massaged his frozen joints. All three tried stretching their limbs by crouching, taking care not to let other body parts touch the platform, aside from their feet. They kept warm from the sharp nip of the air by layering clothing and blankets. Nine hours after, all three were still standing strong.

The remaining housemates kept vigil over them, camping by the poolside. They kept the stories flowing and regaled their friends with jokes. Jason led the rest in an ongoing serenade. They cheered the three on and kept them going. For what or for whom did they endure such sacrifice? Paul Jake and Melai did it for themselves, their family and those who believed in them. Tibo thought nothing of himself, but offered the moment for his family.

A few minutes past the ninth hour and Kuya decided to push the housemates harder: only one leg was allowed on top of the platform! Though shifting legs was allowed, they had to focus on keeping their balance along with dealing with fatigue and natural factors. After a few moments, Kuya granted them a minute of rest, after which his instructions got even harder. Only the best leg could be used, with no shifting allowed.

Paul Jake could feel his strength waning, and apologized minutes before he plopped into the water. It’s been a hard day’s night for all three, but soon it was down to Melai and Tibo, standing on their best leg to the end. After another bout of rest, Kuya ups the challenge by making them lift their arms, too! Almost an hour passed with both holding on tight, but in the end, Tibo chooses to give up, leaving Melai as the last housemate standing! Too exhausted, Melai broke down in tears while the rest finally got to heave a sigh of relief.

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