My Summer Story

2011's Greatest Hits

2012-01-15T00:47:00.002+08:00

This first post of 2012 only after 2 weeks into the year is testimony to my crazy blood-thumping chase-the-train-in-the-morning-and-then-the-bus-and-then-run-around-in-the-office-like-a-mad-chicken life that started since, well this year.

And tomorrow (Sunday) i'm meeting boss for brainstorming session out of office coz Monday's 'idea submission'. Well, i can't say i didn't ask for it - i mean all this busyness - because i did. Literally asked for more work. Not that i wasn't already having a busy year learning OTJ last year but let's just say, i did feel like i was falling behind my peers by end 2011. To cut the long story short - Eff Emm See Gee is really what it is.

So anyways, putting an emo Q4 '11 aside, in retrospect 2011 brought forth an amazing array of songs that pulled me through morning rush hour train crushes from Kemb to Outram to Harbourfront and now, with the removal of shuttle bus from hbft to office, through Labrador Park station, which is 2 blocks walk away from Office.

Oh, gross. The amount of travelling to work is insanely depressing, except for the happy fact that i've lost weight organically!! :)

So back to looking back on 2011, I really wanted to bring tribute to the awesome beats that kept my feet standing in the morning.

1) Rolling in the Deep - Adele

If you have ears, you absolutely could not have missed listening to this one in 2011.

2) Moves like Jagger - Maroon 5

One of my favouritest band since "This Love". Here i've posted the vid of their live performance at Victoria's Secrets. Super sizzlin' hot!

3) The Lazy Song - Bruno Mars

Right, still reminds me of Stephen at Kukup.

4) Stereo Hearts - Gym Class Heroes

LOVE THIS SONG to bits!!! Keeps your head boppin' in the train!

5) Price Tag - Jessie J

Okay, clubbing favourite.

6) The One That Got Away - Katy Perry

Super emo MTV that gets stuck in your head whenever the song is playing.

7) Rhythm of Love - Plain White T's

Definitely making it to the wedding songlist.

8) Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO

Of course, how can we miss this...Like, greatest clubbing hit of the 2010s?! "Every Day I'm Shufflin'!" or "Shuttling"..in my case. ;)

Just top 8 of my fav hits of the year, among several more. Hokays, i'm beat, gonna rest my brain before the frying tomorrow. More about other thoughts in my head soon...like Ms Saw, who took over my Dad as President of Taichi Association last year. What's gonna happen in this year's CNY dinner? Personally, I really think people are too damn harsh on her/and the govt and too vocal on FB. Like hello Aeron, like you really know what's going on. (haha i'm banging on the odds he doesn't read this space.) But being a daily train-rider, i thought it was kinda bound to happen with all these lines popping up all over the island - i'm really paranoid when it comes to such underground stuff. Anyways, as long as no one gets really hurt, we should all just stop harping on other people's oversights (because who doesn't have oversights) and work together to make things better instead.

Ok i'm ranting coz i've been thinking too much lately about too much.

Time to sleep!

December weekends..:D

2011-12-11T23:19:00.000+08:00

Saturday, December 4th

Kayak adventure @ Pulau Ubin with The Clan! Deals.sg inspired us with a discount off a 4-hour kayak trip around the swampy mangrove in Ubin. Perfect way for an alternative workout i say! And who else better to go with than the trusty family clan of cousins - with a few extra family-to-be-beaus thrown in. :D

It poured madly halfway through our journey while we were in the mangrove, and scared all the animals away..we were supposed to see monkeys, otters, more birds, etc. But then again, having choppy waters to paddle in was rather fun on its own!

The kayaks were all so stable that we could do this!

This!

And this!

Oh, incase you're wondering why the guys in the first boat ain't standing - their kayak was half submerged and was sinking HAHA a bit mean but it was really quite funny. Think their boat plug got loose or something.

haha whee...needless to say we all had a splashing good time, literally! Since there were no animals to see, we entertained ourselves by putting our paddles to good use in dishing out water to each other.

Next up to come..maybe OBS park in Bedok with the super long flying fox!! C'mon Deals.assgee! :)

Friday, 9 December

Unilever D&D 2011 - Lights, Camera, Action! We almost didn't come up with anything to wear as everyone was pretty much lazy to dress-up. But just 2 days before the event, I sent out an email with 3 diff options - Charlie Chaplin, Retro, or Shanghai Tang - having had 4 years of KR DND meant going to a themed DND without putting any effort to dress-up was just UNTHINKABLE. You know, we could at least try.

And so, with the most flamboyant member in our team wanting to win the best dressed costume AGAIN, we went with the theme - Shanghai Tang (with one still in Huanzhugege era). Even still, only a couple of us bothered to go all the way to Masquerade at Lavender St to rent costumes. But the effect was great!!

He totally made us walk all the way from the entrance holding his fingers like Empress Dowager's maids. Check out that attitude!

The 3-bies who came in together. Used to be Fourbies.

Our whole marketing team with the exception of the 2 guys in suits. Yes all girls, and one almost there. ;)

How to not win?!!

ok one last and more eye-soothing pic of mei-nus - the other girls in USPL - some dressed as Arabian princesses.

Yep, i guess its not bad for a first D&D here!

Hokay time for catchup TV on xinmsn..haha the new 9pm show on Ch8 with Qi Yuwu is really not bad!! Maybe that was the inspiration behind Shanghai Tang...hurhur. :)

Star-struck!

2011-11-23T00:01:00.000+08:00

Before i go into the exciting events that's been happening over the past couple of days (Fri & Today), first up:

Bling Nailz for X'mas 2011!!! woots~

Now, don't that just make you feel all Christmassy already!!! :)

I'm so in da' mood! (which prob means i'm not really in working mode..:X) But anyways..on to the highlight of the week - Channel U & MediaCorp networking events!!

Ch U @ Zirca:

Star-studded stage with many many stars!! *@_@* yeah i admit i am a complete TV junkie so ask me anything about local TV i'm probably in the loop..yes even with a tight working schedule. I've never really said this out loud but i actually had dreams of being on stage once.
There, i said it.

There's just something about the fame, frenzied fans, faultless figures and flawless skin that makes stardom oh-so-attractive. *floats into daydream*

Whatever it is, its probably being so out-of-reach that makes stars all that desirable! (consoles self)

We managed to get real close to the stars that night during the mingling post-event. Like REAL close. Perks of being a large client! :) Check out these photos we managed to grab!

With Michelle Chong - promoting her new movie!

With Joanne Peh - i look chao da beside her!

Stolen pic of celebs beside us. Somehow we managed to break into the cordoned area exclusively for them and got the sofa right beside! On sofa - Lai Yiling & i forgot his name, plus Pornsak just behind. And of course Ben Yeo in foreground. Qi Yuwu was strolling around as well...so...

Damn shuai or what!!! i only managed to get a photo with him for today's event but not as nice as this one so let's bask in his beauty from this photo.

Okay okay i know he's not the shuai-est one around but he has that mesmerizing stare and he was SUPER accommodating when taking photos with all of us! Think Mickey Mouse mascot at DisneyWorld. Seriously. But with heartfelt sincerity when looking into every cam.

And yes, so what if he's gay he's still gorgeous! (i mean like in a cool way)

MediaCorp @ RCCC:

Nothing much today, apparently last year's event was WAYYY better with a full fledge of celebs gracing the grounds. This year..well here's the only photo i got. Someone else took a better photo maybe i'll update later!!

hahahaha..yes with Qi YuWu again. But he looks more chui here coz of the stupid lighting! Sigh. but he's really super gracious la. Especially since i thick-skinly asked for more shots coz i didn't manage to get photos on my phone. And then my colleague still took time adjusting flash etc, so we were kinda posing for a longish while..*awkward*

If i wasn't so paiseh, i'd have told him the same thing i told Michelle Chong - that i was going to watch his new Ch8 9pm show tonight! (for Michelle was her movie and her awesome work in The Noose)

Oh well, i guess its time to stop stargazing and get back down to planet earth - its only Tuesday!!! boohooo~

All these stars made my heart thump quite a bit..brings me back to my Sec 3 days when i was a lil' nuts about F4! Love all you brave individuals onstage :)

Surfers Paradise

2011-11-22T00:12:00.076+08:00

Wish i was back there again! As usual after holidays i was sucked back into a vortex of crazy meetings and stacks of work, so its always a struggle between blogging or watching another happy episode of HIMYM - so do pardon the hiatus.

But yes, it was a fabulously sun-shiny holiday with plenty of fries and (new-found pop soda) Lift lemonade to top it off. Every day was packed to the brim as per our standard 'seize the (holi)day' itinerary!

Day 1&2 at Tangalooma Beach

Perfectly clear waters and pearly sand. But the most amazing thing of all was the evening schedule of wild dolphin feeding at the beach near the jetty. Totally regretted not taking along the camera as we thought we'd both be waist-deep in the sea feeding the dolphins. Turned out they swam only 1-2m from the shore and the furtherest we needed to go was knee-deep!

Now, doesn't this look just like the googled picture in my previous post? :)

Only knee-deep and he snatched the fish right outta our hands! I never knew dolphins were this huge until now. Actually a bit scary..look like shark!

Day 3 - Paradise Country Farm & Surfers Paradise Beach

Finally got to hug a koala!! Not as furry as i'd imagine, and pretty heavy! But still cute.

Look! We look like a family of grey marsupials.

And Surfers Paradise beach - well, lets just say there ain't no better name than that! I was totally blown away as soon as we stepped into the hotel and checked out the view at the balcony. Sure, the seafront view was beautiful, but then i saw WHALES jumping out of the sea. At first i thought i was hallucinating but it happened several times i almost felt like i was watching Free Willy again.

Only managed to catch a shot of the whale blowing a spray of water after flopping in and out of the sea..too awestruck to grab the cam in time. Only after then I realized it was whale-watching season - they had banners on the streets to advertise whale-watching cruises.

A few things we learnt about Surfers Paradise:

1) Beachfront property like this costs less than AUD$500k. (majorly jealous)

2) But a 1.5l mineral water + 600ml (deliciously lemony) Lift soda (or any other soda) costs AUD$8.90. *Outrageous*

3) You are only allowed to swim between the red & yellow flags so the lifeguards can keep their eye on you. Coz it's just too easy to get sucked under the raging waves even just 10m from the shore. (..or get eaten by sharks)

Looks just like a scene outta Baywatch

4) Aussie peeps are literally jiak kan dang - we had fries for almost every meal!

The Hard Rock Cafe cheeseburgers rock, btw.

Day 4: Warner Bros Movie World & Casino

Well, compared to our USA trips (think Six Flags, Skitterbarn & Disney World), the Gold Coast themeparks were pretty blah i guess. But still sufficient to offer a wee bit of adrenaline rush. The best ride was undoubtly SUPERMAN, but the coolest dude in costume that day was definitely BATMAN and his Batmobile.

Superman Fast!!

Hot wheels

But the most amusing video of the trip goes to Bugs/Daffy/Tweety/Sylvester - for SHUFFLIN' the daylights outta everyone!!

haha loves it!! *Every day i'm shufflin'!* Warner Bros' version wins hands down!! Hokay i'm a lil' bushed already..way past time for bed *cough-old-cough* and bloody blogspot didnt' help by making me rewrite this post 3 times coz it apparently didn't save half the post when I published earlier. *grimace*

So, anyways, there isn't much else of the rest of the trip that isn't gonna be illustrated on FB (heh heh shortcut to capture memories)..we conquered Dream World and Wet n' Wild too. Not to mention getting a really rosy tan each.

Well, time to start looking forward methinks! Feb & Mar 2012 look pretty ungifted with public holidays..perfect for the next getaway! :) hmm..where to next??

Vacation Stress?

2011-10-31T21:08:00.001+08:00

haha sigh...But true, that.

Right now i'm at the peak of the first yellow line...somebody release me argh.

Can't wait for my sweet escape!!!!!

Happy Things

2011-10-22T23:55:00.003+08:00

October really has brought a bountiful of good tidings!

Dad's 60th Birthday - 11 Oct:

There..looking all Emeritus-like (that is actually a pretty suitable title for him soon..) with the glorious night scenery behind. At Equinox restaurant 70 storeys above ground.

Tingling's newborn baby girl - 15 Oct:

Look! i caught her doing a pukey face haha super cute!!

My first time carrying a newborn baby! I'm usually really apprehensive about carrying babies - coz i think i let my baby cousin roll down my legs (while sitting down) once when I was in Primary School, and thus developed this phobia. But this baby is super 'adult-friendly', cute and tiny!!

Congrats Tingz!! Add one more girl to our gang ♥

Our 55th Monthliversary - 21 Oct:

Roses to the office - really makes the end of an almost-sucky work week NOT sucky at all! :) Although there wasn't any sign off, when the note read "Loving you for as long as you can count"...there was no doubt who the bouquet came from.

Yes deardear, i almost mis-counted the number of months..we have clocked such a ridiculous number maybe its time to start something new to celebrate. ;)

Lovin' you always too! ♥ and i must say, the flowers are really gorgeous! :-*

November Getaway!!! WOOHOO~

Hellooo GOLD COAST Australia in about 10 days!! I can't wait to soak up your lovely sun, sand, sea!!! And ROLLERCOASTERS here we come!!! :D

Ahh how i love the end of the year! :)

Perfect

2011-10-11T09:52:00.000+08:00

Okay, i'll try to keep that in mind. :)

Kukup Fishing Village with A Blkers!

2011-10-10T23:36:00.000+08:00

Really glad that my efforts to organize this many-time postponed Kelong Trip paid off! Especially for our best pal Tzewee - in his own words - it was most likely his "last holiday for the next 2 years".

With that, I would like (abruptly) attribute this small space to formally congratulate my SOON-TO-BE very 1st pilot friend!!! (Ever since Maoch who went on to execute his other passion.) Woohooo so excited for you dude, finally your big break has come! And this was what i meant when i imagined you in the near future:

Leonardo Di Caprio in his Captain get-up.

Haha..everytime I think of pilots this pops up in my mental space. Good luck to you my good ol' pal! And yes it's true, exactly what Farah said - "Your eligibility value just went up!" :) Tremendously. Dream job come true! ;)

Anyway, back to the Kelong trip. Definitely a good get away for all of us away from the cement city...to the land of mudskippers, plenty of seafood/bbq and neverending old-school Chinese KTV songs.

We started the day with some 'street shopping' - actually we patronized only one store of snacks - followed by a wholesome lunch of seafood at the pier.

Then there was the short boat ride to our Kelong chalet where we amused ourselves taking all sorts of zi-pai shots. Which turned out pretty well thanks to A's long arms.

The chalet was pretty cosy and clean actually, despite the fishy smell and muddy waters surrounding it. Kinda reminded me of hall coz we all had to bunk in together and go wild like this:

Do count the number of legs involved...

And this:

Stephen strumming emo-ly on Ian's SUPER ADORABLE ukelele - singing The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars.

Well, I would say that song actually did sum up the essence of the trip. It was a day, no TWO full days of basically doing nothing but KTV, sleep (for TW - he slept like 2/3 the time!), (attempt to) fish, eat, and play this awesome card game that XB brought - called BANG!

Which was like a detective game but Cowboy style where you had to eliminate your opponents depending on whether you were on the good side (Sheriff, Vice) or bad side (Outlaw, ohno i forgot the last one who had to be the last to die). Anyway, it was good stuff - i think i played like at least half a dozen of rounds!

KTV was good too, i guess. haha i have never heard so many chi songs sung non-stop/repeatedly my whole life! And they were pretty much classics - somebody stole the Jay Chou DVD :( - so i could only partake in one song which was, well. ONE rare Jay Chou song in one of the mixes. But luckily, thanks to my older bro at home, i actually recognized quite a couple of the oldies. Needless to say, my cheena bf and some of the others had their fill of singing the daylights away. *cough cough..mike hogger..cough*

Fishing was pretty cool - I finally learnt how to fish!! (ok not the hooking bait part which is gross) Not that we fished anything in the muddy waters la. Although Stephen did almost manage to hook up an eel -which splashed back into the waters not long after leaving the surface. I blame the hooks - apparently not big enough - and the muddy waters - fish simi sai?? But at least we all looked like we were on vacation for a moment there...

Check out the 'i'm going fishin'!' look!

And we also managed to grab some pretty sweet sunset shots in the evening.

Lovely group shot!

Boys acting like there was actually something to fish..haha checkout WK's gek face.

The best meal of the trip was unbeatably the free-flow BBQ by the Kelong in the evening. There's just something about charcoal-grilled chickenwings, fishballs, fresh prawns, belachan-eels and good ol' satay that speaks to one's soul...& belly. :p

Only managed to capture some of the food before they disappeared. Not including huge fresh-water prawns, chilli-eels and plenty of yummy satay! They must've done something to the marinate - super good!

Oh, did i forget to mention that - EVERYTHING WAS FREE-FLOW?? yeah. Part of the package..the family running the business was incharge of the food - old and young were carrying trays of freshly BBQed food to our group. I'd say we shamelessly didn't bother to help but kept demanding more food as if to replenish all the energy after KTVing non-stop. -_-

On to the ultimate highlight of the trip - FIREWORKS and KONG MING DENGs!!! *starts playing Katy Perry song*

We all chose our own coloured lanterns and started scribbling our (neverending) wishlists and dreams furiously...

Some (well actually most, except the teacher couple) forgot how to write in Chinese and had to resort to checking words up on the iPhone.

If i had a big red arrow i'd photoshop it behind TW's head.

Here's us all lining up with our written dreams and wishes, ready to be set free into the sky!

And we were all set to FIRE UP!!

I wrote mine with a mix of Chinese & English just in case haha...

O.M.G it's magic!! haha funny guys

And we watched each lantern float dramatically away with our hopes and dreams...Btw, this ultimate wedding shot by Cheezy of the teacher couple - super nice i simply must add it here!!

All our lanterns were launched successfully except Ian's. His was the most dramatic one which kinda reminded me of the stock market of recent months..float up..wobble down..float up..then crashed and burned for good. Lol. Must be the 2 small holes he accidentally burnt at the sides. Plus the fact he mis-spelled and cancelled some words:

ROFL. Still say dui bu qi! But eventually he got another one to ensure all his dreams will come true.

After the lanterns, there was the NDP-like fireworks which were super worth it. All the surrounding kelongs were firing fireworks like mad that Saturday night, it was like multiple explosions around us. Felt like NDP again. :)

With that, i shall end this long entry with another group shot, or two - can't decide haha coz the second one had such goofy laughs it still makes me grin looking at it.

:) :) :)

And that was September.

2011-10-04T11:49:00.000+08:00

When I look back to September 2011, I will remember that it was a month of a turmoil of negative emotions.

What happened? I ask myself.

I guess a key factor would have been an over-run of pent-up feelings from end of august - which, was my 24th, or 2nd Rabbit year. (Which i had foolishly spent abroad with - of all people - work friends. Btw it didn't go too well but that's a story I will keep offline.)

1. First time i haven't had birthday cake at all, nor a proper present from the bf. (i'm sorry, but these things do leave scars! and yes, i can't get over it even after 2 months!)

2. R's wedding - one of the most extravagant weddings i've been to, in terms of food/ambience/live music from awesome hall seniors! But at my table of 10 there was our own little drama playing out all across the far end of the ballroom (yes, our table was seated right at the furtherest corner at the back but it was still good la). Anyway, the drama was that one of our closest pals, T, had just broken up with his long-time gf, but since the bride didn't know, she naturally arranged for the couple to be put at the same table. All this was fine and dandy, because we all assumed the ex-gf wouldn't be attending. But right at the very last minute, she did turn up. And it just so happened that the last remaining seat on our table, was right opposite T! So throughout the dinner it was basically a half-half table talk. Lucky the table was really huge and there was dim lighting throughout most of the dinner. :S

Anyway, it kinda made me a lil' sad to think of the break-up, since T and the ex were the couple who got together just before myself and W. Erpz. Shan't go there!

3. Boss went on long leave - finally! Good for her seriously! - and that's when I found out during those last 2 weeks of Sept that maybe...just maybe...i seriously need to buck up at work. Among other things of course. I wouldn't say its just me, but there should be some more pro-active way of getting outta being micro-ed. (ok shall stop here)

4. One too many weddings might have made me re-think a little. All that (emotional) work to be done!

But, that all being said, that was just September. October has been looking real good (altho its only been like 4 days) so far, with the awesome Kelong Trip i'd organized since August that finally happened!!!

More happy updates right up! Hopefully my internet at home wakes up its idea. It went cranky after the govt came in to do some free Omni-wire thing - maybe its a ploy to reduce our data usage or sth. :(

Ok bye!

Gentle reminder to self:

2011-09-19T00:27:00.000+08:00

Keep blogging and keeping track of events before *poof!* before you know it...I'll be OLD!!!
:|

Just a random thought haha. Will find something to update soon! :)

Mooncakes!!!

2011-08-31T00:17:00.003+08:00

TW came up with the brilliant idea of organizing another laolang/juniors gathering today at Audrey's house...to make MOONCAKES!!!

Best idea ever. I remember the last time i made mooncakes with my ahma was like..14? Or maybe earlier, can't recall. I brought the same traditional moulds for us to use this time.

See utensils:

One interesting thing we all learnt today: Salted Eggs come with semi-solid Egg Yolks!!! Damn cute! So all we had to do was drain the whites and all that's left is the bright shiny red centre!

So cute right!!!

Okay actually we cheated coz we bought instant mix for the flour skins and ready-made lotus/green tea paste for the fillings. So it was basically just playing with dough the whole time. hahaha! Check out the guys fooling around with the dough. ALL the bing-pi had Ian's 'essence' in it coz he was the one kneading everything.

Step 1: Grab the bing-pi and flatten it.

Step 2: Grab a ball of lotus paste or green tea paste.

Step 3: Wrap the ball of filling (optional to wrap around egg yolk) with the bing-pi.

Step 4: Press the whole dough into the mould.

Step 5: Pop it out, put it in the fridge and its ready to eat!

The fruits of our labour:

My ahma's traditional moulds are super pretty!! It says 中秋月饼 in different shapes.

In total we made like more than 40 pieces. haha super high.

Stephen even made a damn weird 2 flavoured combi which was half green and half white outside, with half green tea and half lotus paste on the inside. lol. but the picture not v clear la.

Yup, another successful outing down! :) Thank god for A Block, seriously!

NUTS

2011-08-24T23:59:00.001+08:00

Nowadays, my favourite word is the word "NUTS".

Seriously.

My dad went nuts over the weekend - same issue, same insistence.
Work - gone nuts. 'nuff said.
Flight at 5am tomorrow and I have damn siao-on project-mates whom i just emailed to say i'm zaoing after not really contributing...(walao it's a freakin' training course la take the assignment so seriously for freak?!) okok that's not really my work attitude but i kinda have to prioritise stuff. :X
i'm turning 24 in 3 days and i'm spending it with some tmd colleagues whom i booked tickets to Bangkok with on a force-myself-to-socialize whim. Gotta feeling this won't be my most favourite holiday...

Hmm. Sometimes i feel like taking the advice pasted beside one colleague's desk:

Maybe it might just work huh?

Oh well, hello bangkok again (in 5 hours)! Please be kind to me if i'm forced to drink (copious amounts of) Chang beer!!

NDP 2011 - Heartbeat

2011-08-14T19:03:00.002+08:00

Managed to get tix to watch NDP live this year coz we sponsored stuff for the participants' goody bags..Been a super long while since i've been to NDP live - omg 13 years since?!

Well, i remember being much more excited then, and wanting to catch it again the year after. But that was when it was still held at the National Stadium.

So this is the first time watching the parade live at Marina Bay floating platform, and a very first live NDP experience for WL! (He was performing during pri 5 i think)

Undoubtly, this venue is much more scenic than the one i went 13 years ago...although i seem to recall the atmosphere and length of performance to be more rowdy and longer last time. This year, the performance was based on a musical act, with 5 different scenes and a super catchy theme song.

But the coolest part was that with the available air and water space surrounding the stage, this year's NDP team took the opp to showcase all Navy and Airforce WOMD. haha super cool how they managed to weave those into the story - where the jet fighters and submarines/naval police speedboats arrived on cue during the show. Padang/National Stadium definitely had their limitations!

Ok time for pics..not many coz we focused on watching and waving the flag haha..

Downloaded the photosynth app and got a panoramic shot of the view!! but not v well taken la haha..

Showing off his patriotism

Red Lions landing perfectly on the tiny little road on the platform. Last time Padang alot of space..now only got one lane to land..still so zai!!

During the National Anthem..flag flew by right on cue!

Gorgeous evening scenery

Stage view at night

Pledge Moment with all participants

Somehow my iPhone managed to capture a subtle glow from behind the CBD area..the phrase 'qian tu guang ming' comes to mind!!

Okay, end off with cute polaroid the NDP volunteers were giving out to members of the public. (Super off-centre but still nice! :) )

C'mon Singapore..gimme a good bto!!!

Un-Wind

2011-08-14T18:13:00.001+08:00

Found these bookmarks/notes coincidentally immediately after the previous gloomy post (removed btw).

I'm sure I kept these on my messy desk for a reason haha..

The brown bookmark reads "God hath not promised skies always blue, but strength for the journey all the day through".

Garfield bookmark says "i live for weekends"

On other news..i forgot the password on my old trusty Uni-days Fujitsu laptop!! (Haven't had the motivation to turn it on since it was loading too slowly..been using my small netbook since graduation!) Apparently there is really no other option for people to access their laptop except to get somebody else to hack into it... :S

What can i do?? :(

Random Blog Post :)

2011-07-21T23:04:00.005+08:00

Ahhh these days are simply NUTS!! Couldn't get down to writing the rest of the Seoul Experience coz the week after (last week) I got last-minutely whisked off to KL for a 4 day training course cum meet our M'sian counterparts session with the colleagues.

And finally now when I finally came home in decent time (before 11pm) after chionging to gym for an hr and skipping dinner for the 2nd time in a row, I HAVE NO LAPTOP TO BLOG.

Haha such a mouthful.

Left the lappie at the bf's place last wk coz was too lazy to bring it back. So now having one of those random and rare entries on the iPhone. Hmm. Not v blog-friendly actually. Or maybe it's Blogspot.

Ok la just posting for fun actually. To dust a bit of cobwebs off this little forgotten space. Shall end off with a picture or two of my latest campaign.

Anyone seen this around? I decorated 2 major Mrt station doors - Jurong East and Outram (NEL). Keep your eyes peeled when you do spot them! Got effort one lor!! :)

Omg cannot post pics frm phone to blog?! What kind of sucky phone is this??? Or maybe is I noob nv upgrade my OS. :S oh well, will upload as soon as I get to work laptop tmr then! Time to koon now!!

Seoul Crazehhhh!!! :D

2011-07-05T00:55:00.000+08:00

If we were waiting for the ultimate shop-eat-shop-EAT experience, this was definitely it!! I'm probably going to just focus this Korean Experience blogpost on purely food alone - since it's already 11pm and i'm having post-holiday depression. And its only Tuesday tomorrow. :'(

But then again, our most interesting video(s) was taken during one of these gastronomical adventures. *winks*

Day 0:

Reaching Seoul at midnight after a 7 hour budget flight made us ravenous. But in preparation for a whole week of awesome food, plus considering the late hour and night drizzle, we decided to opt for the infamous Korean instant noodles which i heard supposedly taste better as the real thang.

Verdict: Nope, not any better than the ones we have in SG!

Day 1:

Brunch at Doota! food court. One of the 300 shopping complexes in DongDaeMun, where we were staying! :D This was one of the BEST meals ever - no more FoodCourt BBQ beef/pork for me! This was real Bulgogi with Kimchi soup and some kind of very delicious purplish fat rice! The barbequed pork was mixed with super shiok Korean sauce and every mouthful was a burst of flavour.

Best start for the first proper meal in Seoul!

Street Snacks in Myeong Dong:

Calorifically Delicious Grilled Sausages!!

Variety of Street snacks to clog your arteries and tempt your tastebuds to no end!!

Tornado Potato which is 0.5m long and really thick and MSG-fied!! I think that was like half a potato.

Day 1 - Dinner:

GoGung Restaurant in Myeongdong - reknowned for its Traditional Bibimbap!

Before

After

We were so full after a day of snacking we had to share this one big bowl of Bibimbap. The Koreans are really big eaters!!

Day 2:

Brunch at NamDaeMun. The brainy researcher had found on the net about some famous Belt Fish dish that was only sold in this area, so we went to try it.

Belt Fish in spicy broth

Turns out, the fish was really yummy. The flesh was super tasty and soft despite the fierce-looking broth - which was actually made up of white carrot and korean spices. But the prize didn't come without hard work at picking out the soft flesh from the exceptionally bony fish! And the bones were very sharp!

This was just the spine. Both sides of the fish had similar spikes as well!

Taking a pic with the friendly young Ahjumma. haha.

Ok skip to Day 4 coz the rest of Day 2 was taking Kimchi-making lessons and Day 3 was spent fully at Lotte World Theme Park - more later!!

Day 4 - Nami Island:

Authentic Korean Ginseng Chicken - Samgyetang on a rainy day in Nami!

WL's version with abalone - erm..looks almost alive.

Open the chicken up and there's sticky purplish rice in it..super filling but healthy!

We totally felt like chicken-killers after that..one whole chicken each for every customer! Those restaurants must be killing hundreds of chickens everyday. :S

Day 2 - Dinner:

THE ULTIMATE KOREAN DISH ON EARTH. Even better than the first meal of our trip - Sindangdong Tteokbokki.

Even the restaurant name is called "I LOVE SINDANGDONG". I fully agree!! And we have to wear aprons coz the pot was really huge and boiling.

Before

After!!!

You know how Korean instant noodles taste like?? This is 100,000,000 times better. With beef, eggs, cabbage, rice cakes, fish cakes, etc etc thrown in a steaming hot wok. It was so good we went back for dinner on our last day just before our 7 hr Airasia flight back home.

I say, we should do this every CNY instead of boring steamboat eh!! :P

Hokay...time for the most interesting part of the yummy tour...

Day 5 - Noryangjin Fish Market

We bought our own live seafood in the crazy fish market where we nearly kena 'raped'. Both sides of fishmongers kept dragging us to buy seafood from their stalls. Super stressful!!

We opted to buy different types of seafood from different vendors in the end. Probably not a good choice as we could have maybe gotten better price if we bought in bulk. But we just didn't trust any of them.

I was actually quite excited to try this!! Octopus Sashimi! heh heh..

Check out our spread...

Salmon/Octopus sashimi, 12 BBQ prawns and one steamed Alaskan King Crab!

But the funnest part of the meal was of course the squirming Live Octopus.

Will upload the video of WL chewing the suckerful legs on Facebook since this blog post is going to burst!

Alrighty! Final pics of food..

Day 7:

Quite a few Jap-inspired food can be found in Seoul, including Bento sets. But this one we just had to try because it looked (and really tasted) too damn good. Speaks for itself below.

My Katsu-don.

WL's Unagi-don.

Okay end off this crazy long post with my favourite snack of all - Deli Manjoo! Which can be found at selected train stations, including MyeongDong. It's like our Jap Fish-shaped sponge cakes with fillings but OH-SO-MUCH-BETTER!

Haha fat pic coz end of trip already. :'(

Filled with burst-in-your-mouth-sweet-custardy goodness!

Alright time for much-needed rest! I'll post the activities we did later - too much to show and tell! For now, i think i've captured the main part of our awesome Seoul food adventure. Left out King Crab Porridge and Korean BBQ among others, think not that important haha.

Ok goodnight world!

That thing he's sucking on...

2011-06-20T11:00:00.001+08:00

...must either be steroids or some really smart shtuff!!!

Jack and the Beanstalk by Super High Baby

Song of the Month

2011-06-18T14:35:00.001+08:00

Love this old favourite. Super apt now especially after this freakin' stressful week! :|

Aerosmith - Fly Away

Gotta find a way
Yeah, I can't wait another day
And nothin' gonna change
If we stay around here
Gotta do what it takes
Cause all in our hands,
We all make mistakes, yeah
But it's never too late to start again
Take another breath
And say another prayer

Then fly away from here
Anywhere
Yeah, I don't care
We'll just fly away from here
Our hopes and dreams are out there somewhere
Won't let time pass us by
We'll just fly

If this life
Gets any harder now
It ain't no nevermind
You got me by your side
And anytime you want
Yeah, we can catch a train and find a better place
Yeah, cause we won't let nothin' or no one keep gettin' us down
Maybe you and I
Could pack our bags and hit the sky

Then fly away from here
Anywhere
Yeah, I don't care
We'll just fly away from here
Our hopes and dreams are out there somewhere
Won't let time pass us by
We'll just fly

Do you see a bluer sky now
You can have a better life now
Open your eyes
Cause no one here can ever stop us
They can try but we won't let them
No way

Maybe you and I
Could pack our bags and say goodbye

Then fly away from here
Anywhere
Honey, I don't care
We'll just fly away from here
Our hope and dreams are out there somewhere
Fly away from here
Yeah, anywhere
Honey, I don't, I don't, I don't care

We'll just fly away

....to Korea in a week!!!! :)

Lavender's Blue

2011-06-05T23:32:00.002+08:00

Fun stuff I did this weekend: Revamping the Bedroom!!! Not mine, of course - firstly, it's too big and (overwhelmly) full of random stuff from since I was in Primary school, and secondly, the roomate i.e. the sis will want a say in everything and we would probably be arguing for one full day before any work was done.

Anyway, I digress. The Saturday was spent revamping the BF's little cosy HDB bedroom! Ahh, the things you can do with a 10sqft space! Haha..okay actually not a lot, given the standard 1980s colour-matched 5-piece bedroom furniture set that had settled in since, well, the 1980s.

I must say, though, the 25 year old furniture did hold up pretty well despite our banging around. And the highlight of it all.....after shifting the humongously GREY and BORING wardrobe that had been fastidiously kept in the same position (as were the other furniture).....we revealed an astonishingly lovely LAVENDER coloured wall that brightened the room up immediately!!!

Kudos to his mom with the eye for such a colour. Although I don't think it is a usual shade for a guy's bedroom.... :S But nevertheless, I LOVE IT!! haha..especially since the frequency of illegal weekends have increased. heh heh.

Okay pictures pictures!

BEFORE:

RESHUFFLING IN PROCESS:

Unveiling the awesomely coloured wall...and a thick carpet of 25 year old dust!

Yup..that was only part of the very substantial amount of dust cleared that day!

AFTER:

Isn't it amazing what colour can do?! And that was just one out of the 4 walls. Which was frankly, quite enough of lavender haha. The other 3 walls were spray painted with egg-freckles on a cream base.

Well, of course we didn't just started shifting furniture on a whim. That 2 feet space beside the bed was artfully-planned out in preparation for better things to come. I only just found out that my older bro threw out his 1 year old Queen-sized mattress for a new one because it was too soft. Pfft!!! Seriously!!

Too soft!!! That won't be an issue for me!! (in the near future at least..i hope) And poor unvertically-challenged WL has been squeezing on his 20 year old tilam all these years. So, of course, it didn't take a genius to come to the most economical and logical solution.

Can't wait for the new chestnut-coloured bedframe to arrive!! And we get to throw that whole grey cupboard/bedframe thingy away...like FINALLY. *Major sense of satisfaction*

Don't think we'll be getting a place of our own until the next 5 years - unless we get a resale flat - since we're really keen on new flats and not that in a rush. So, i'd say this is a really nice and much-needed investment for the overworked/under-rested BF.

For all Bosses/Bosses-to-be

2011-05-22T23:49:00.002+08:00

love how this rhymes and the message it brings..*nods head*

Tell Them Now

If with pleasure you are viewing
Any work a man is doing,

If you like him or you love him tell him now.
Don't withhold your approbation
Till the parson makes oration
And he lies with snowy lilies on his brow,

For no matter how you shout it
He won't really care about it

He won't know how many teardrops you have shed
So if some praise is due him
Now's the time to slip it to him
For he cannot read his tombstone when he's dead.

More than fame and more than money
Is the comment kind and sunny

And the hearty warm approval of a friend,
For it gives to life a savor
And it makes you stronger, braver,
And it gives you heart and courage to the end.

If he earns your praise, bestow it
If you like him, let him know it

Let the words of true encouragement be said.
Do not wait till life is over
And he's underneath the clover,
For he cannot read his tombstone when he's dead.

~Berton Braley~

NEWZ!

2011-05-15T23:23:00.001+08:00

Some funny pics over the past few weeks that i chanced upon...

On the Royal Wedding (29/04/11):

Of course we all noticed the 'evil stepsisters' get-up!! I just didn't think it'd be that out-of-the-storybook. Kudos to the person who pegged this picture together! haha i must say the 2 duchesses really know how to snag a pinch of publicity from the real stars of the day!

Yam Ah Mee:

Another brilliant dude did this. haha hilarious! i love ma mee dried noodle snacks (out of point). Anw, apparently he's quite shuai probably just a couple of years back. Although seriously, that monotonous voice can shrivel even the most hardhearing of eardrums. Nevertheless, he's probably going to be remembered by most first time voters in SG this year when the next GE comes, thanks to the billion times he had to repeat that dry but probably necessary law of declaration.

Hokay! On other news.... WE GOT A FLAT!!!! ok a queue number. But it's a CONFIRM CAN GET UNIT number, unlike the previous lame 600-odd queue number when the total number of units was like 400+.

So the number to remember is 212 out of 246 units. Sigh, imma gonna reject the chance if i don't get the ideal unit though. But, as WL says, even getting a number is like winning the lottery in SG! His friend is on his 5th try and has yet to even get a queue number at all. As in not even those 'useless, give you hope' numbers incase someone decides to reject their choice.

Anyway, the residence in topic is...Punggol Waterway Terrace II!!

Eco-friendly, uniquely designed Punggol BTO

Hexagonal-terrace design facing atas longkang

Looks prettyyy good to me! :) If we can get a decent - not too low and not facing backwards unit, that is. *prays hard*

H88 gives a very uplifting review here too. Quote:

"Should I go for this?

If you can afford it - of course! This is one of HDB's highest profile BTO in Punggol. The design is so unique, it's got balconies and it is very near Punggol MRT and the upcoming megamall! The resale value looks pretty rosy too."

Well, as they say, third time's a charm!!! i really hope! :D

Unadulterated Joy

2011-05-11T09:28:00.000+08:00

haha the pure smug look at 0:54 is just exquisite. Why are angmoh kids so darn cute!!!

Shatter Effects

2011-04-28T00:05:00.000+08:00

I am fully aware that i've drifted again into one of those dreadfully blog-dry months... well, i don't want to be talking about work too much, and its not like i have been travelling at all ever since batam before work started - as predicted when we went on that short but precious trip. So, nothing really interesting except my awesome Katy Perry nails - more later.

The earth has continued spinning since my absence from this space though - General Elections (whoo i'm sure the pple at my old job must be having a field day/month since April started!), crazy sis up to more antics with colleagues (haha closer pals would know), and this week, for me a full week of intensive Marketing Training at Shangri-la Hotel (Buffet lunch everyday *burps*).

But recently, as in today, i got pretty incensed over something that made me wanna put it up here. Maybe it's me being sticky or over-protective whatever you call it, but I REALLY CARE ABOUT MY BF's JOB.

Yep you heard me right. I am concerned about his bloody work/career. Which will most likely adversely affect his long-term health, which will very likely affect our long-term happiness, which is most definitely affecting our short-term quality time spent together!!!

DAMN YOU K*****!!!! I don't give a flying f*** about your annual bonus bomb. You can jolly well save (25% of) it! I rather pay you back for more hours at dawn where he can get his much-needed sleep. I rather pay you back for a less toxic working environment where young people our age should not be destroying our bodies in.

Seriously, whatever happened to humane, workable working conditions?! What is a talented 25 year old first class graduate doing by squandering his youth and health (and gf time) at a department where his real talents are not put to use?

I mean, if you're gonna make him work from 7-9, at least make use of that brilliant brain in engineering/strategy and not let it rot around in the yard!

June was the promise made for transfer. Now we have to wait till Sept. 3 months more seems short but it is a painful 90 more days. I grieve for the quality time lost. Actually, I wouldn't have flared up if not for the increase in workhours - not alternate Sundays off now but ALL SUNDAYS IN now. Honestly, i have never heard of a 7-day work week where the only rest you get is maybe half a sunday every week. And public holidays - Labour Day/Polling Day are just more opportunities to clock mandatory OT hours.

Where got energy to do anything else you tell me?! Zapped like a zombie is what you do to my once (not-so-long-ago) perky bf. So bloody unfair. If there was a union for this i'd have written them a letter already!

*Takes a deep yoga breath*

Hokay. That's it for ranting. Not much i can do for that poor helpless boy except compromise more (as usual) on transport - as in transporting myself back and fro to meet him. :(

So, anyway, here's the highlight of my weekend last week!! Katy Perry Shatter Nail Effect!!!
I've got Hot Toes... haha :D really an indulgence but worth the few grams of dead skin removed by the super hardworking pedicurist!!!

haha..ok picture does not justify glittery hot-pink colour of actual luminence.

Alrighty, time for bed!!

Friday Morning

2011-04-09T17:04:00.002+08:00

Sunny side-up on buttered toast - a great start for the end of the work week! :) I had almost continued that first bite; it was so yummy!

♥ Thanks Ma!! ♥

On other news, look out for my very first bus ad!!! Vaseline Healthy White SPF24 out in stores now! haha..ok the bus ad isn't too exciting, but it is my first!

Vaseline Healthy White SPF24 Triple Lightening Body Lotion

Work's pretty time-consuming, but I guess I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else other than where i am now - thank god for great bosses and colleagues (and ice-cream)!!

But still...CAN'T WAIT FOR KOREA!!!

haha the bf's applying his exceptional research skills to book our hotel and planning itinerary now while i'm blogging away lol. i think it may just be a bit nuts to travel free 'n' easy to Korea despite my SUPER basic phonetic lessons in the Korean language. (i think i have to bring my Lvl 1 Korean handbook over there to help!!)

Oh wells, hurry up and hit me, June!!!

B&J's for Japan!

2011-03-27T11:10:00.001+08:00

It's so awesome to know that my company owns some of the most pro-World and eco/social-friendly brands. No, rephrase - my company itself is quite pro-eco/harmony/world/peace etc.

As such, i don't mind taking a couple of hours off an empty Sunday to help out with this!!!

haha so exciting! Relive my BnJ's Scoopie days (although under different co) for a good cause! Yay get to watch concert also woots!

Peace, Love & Ice-cream yahooooo!! :D

Update: Aiyar didn't work out in e end coz my colleague couldn't make it and i didn't wanna go by myself. Ended up watching Jumper on Ch5 which was also not bad la. -__-zzz

That's what I call..a Date!

2011-03-21T21:48:00.002+08:00

Haha albeit a short but fulfilling one on a sunny-after-rainstorm Sunday evening in small lil' Ass-Gee.

Picnic at the Botanic Gardens and Ice cream at Dempsey's!! First time both of us been there together. Arranged by yours truly. Of course with my partner-in-crime, the highly-demanded 4-wheeled drive. (oh, tgfc! Thank God For Cars!)

The weather was awesome after the noon downpour. Refusing to bring ridiculously un-nourishing and unsatisfying sandwiches for a picnic dinner, I had arranged for my mum to help prepare her infamous herbal chicken.

Posing with my free Wall's Share Happy ice-cream bag! Super look like ambassador can.

Tian Xia Wu Di Yummy Herbal Chicken!!!

Chicken and Rice = Everything Nice!

So we did end up eating kinda unglamorously on the grass beside the outdoor symphonic band performance, but our dinner thrashed all the other picnickers' tenfold! Haha. Not that it mattered...except we attracted a really hungry dog who dragged his kid towards us. Haha.

Love, love, loved the chillax scenery with the exceptional live jazz music! The whole place was full of foreigners sitting on the grass so it really reminded us of Amsterdam's Vondelpark. I must say NParks did a splendid job renovating and maintaining the park! My parents used to take us there to feed the swans when my sis and I were five. And wl and I actually both played live onstage during our jc band times!!

So, dinner went well except we had wet grass stains on our shorts coz my rattan mat was lousy. Well, when we get our own place and occasionally get to borrow the car, I'll definitely come back for more of the 'shan ming shui xiu' scenery!

Since Dempsey Hill was just literally across the road we drove there for some after-seven BnJ's!! (I have really gotta stay away frm ice-cream for 2wks!) haha happy times..as you can tell from the pics. :)

BnJ's mini-van!

Ice-cream love

Oh, end off with a pic of the awesomely cute cum nerdy lil' gift that wl gave me for this 4th year anniversary. It's a Grow-it-Yourself salt crystal thing that has a lightbulb in the bottle cork! Pretty thing for a science experiment I say! Haha my gift for him this year was a wrapped-up a box of bird's nest and chicken essence because I honestly think he needs them. Lol not creative I know.

Oh well, Happy 4th Year my best friend! Cheers to more wonderful days to come!! <3

Amazing or what!

2011-03-20T15:35:00.000+08:00

Saw this youtube on how Japan explains the nuclear problem to their kids. Super creative and mildly disturbing - because they are way too cool to still be able to do this amidst all the tragedy.

You go, Tofu man!! :p

Hey, June

2011-03-16T23:08:00.001+08:00

Well, things have been zooming so fast lately. It's a good thing I had the foresight to book my Korea trip one year ahead (last Aug!) for this June else I don't think I can ever get away - or dare to.

Having plenty on my plate is a blessing. I can't decide if it's healthy or not though. My body is definitely showing some signs of stress although the brain says push on.

Oh well, too many horrible things are happening to so many people out there sometimes I remind myself how puny and petty my complaints are.

I've always been paranoid about death. More so the death of my loved ones than of my own. For who bears the pain and loneliness but the one who is left behind? And I for one, cannot bear loneliness. My heart goes out to the people of Japan - be brave and stay strong!

Our lives are but wisps of flame wavering on a candletip. If the 2012 prediction is to come true, I definitely know who I want to be grabbing on to for dear life!

Don't you dare die before me. :X

Daddy Don't Preach

2011-02-23T10:58:00.001+08:00

Been withholding these thoughts for quite a couple of months now. But in recent weeks, they've been frothing over the top of my mind like a mug full of fresh root beer.

I would think in the last 23.5 years of my life, I've been quite an obedient and filial daughter to my parents. I share almost every aspect of my daily life with them - school, friends, ccas, hall life, the bf-to-be, the meeting of the bf, and even meeting the bf's family. Now, i still share work-life with them whenever we sit down at a table together.

I would say I've done a decent job as a daughter, getting good grades and now a great job, and not having a gazillion bfs and getting into crazy relationships. No tattoos. No cigarettes. No alcohol addictions. One hardworking, smart and financially stable boyfriend with a brilliant mind. Only one. My first.

I would think introducing the bf to the family (extended, mind you) for 4 years would be sufficient enough for my parents to accept him officially into the clan. And to accept the fact that even after 4 years, no, especially after 4, i need to spend a reasonable amount of time with him.

Day/Night/Day/Night. Makes all the difference huh. Between your values and mine. I think in this era we have very different perception of propriety. Well, actually, no. I unfortunately or not, am every bit as traditional as you. But i desperately need this time together.

To put it technically, for the past 3.5 years we spent most weekdays together, unlike other couples who meet on weekends. This 0.5 year, we've been forced to conform to the regimental role of the ordinary working citizen and only meet barely 2 days a week. Oh, don't forget the bf works on alternate Sundays and i mean including Saturdays. So half the time he's too tired to do anything besides watch tv. (Oh my god, is this what we've been reduced to?!)

I'm not going to get married prematurely to buy the license to stayover. As for the issue of 'values', we definitely know what we're doing. Or rather, we are NOT doing anything. So seriously, get used to it already. Let us live our lives the way we like it, just for once. Stop piling on the guilt; it's not even a big issue to begin with!!

Argh.

Info-Overload..Bring It On Baby!

2011-02-10T23:11:00.003+08:00

Haha i'm abit crazy now. This week is officially my first full work week since the new lunar year started. And boy did the coy not hold back on the workload!!!

It has been an extremely long 2nd week of Feb for me!! (and it isn't even over yet!) I think the longer CNY break just made me realize how badly i needed a proper break. But, too late for that now, i can only continue sprinting into the distance for another...3 more months!

On the train to work today i was thinking to myself...why am i so physically/mentally exhausted after a mere 6 months into the workforce?? Then it occurred so obviously to me - Of all the crap that University teaches you to overcome, THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE THREE-MONTH BREAK TO LOOK FORWARD TO!! *sigh* I say, work life should be more like University, eh? Ok, granted we get paid instead of paying some higher power to lecture us, but if i could take a one month no-pay leave from work every year i think i would!

Hey hey, it's not that i'm complaining (yet)!! I can definitely say in the past 5 days i've been here i've learnt/seen MUCH MORE about marketing than i did in the past 5 years. haha.

Whew, i think i've aged a year already after this week. Travelling to and fro is really no joke! From 15mins away frm work to an hour each back and forth is T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E. And people here work till really late.

Well, other than that, i must start jolting the creative juices getting all stale and mouldy in that lil' brain of mine. Must..work..hard!!!

Time to make my dream job come true!! :)

Koped this off the net...

2011-01-30T00:16:00.003+08:00

Never knew SG had such drool-worthy property!! But puh-lease..now want to get a cheap 1000 sqft place also can throw blood wait 100 years (ok but this article is abt rich ppl private property la). Then again, no harm checking out these superstar-looking cribs! :)

Singapore’s coolest homes

By iProperty.com Singapore – January 27th, 2011

Most of us are content to make do with the exterior of whatever home we live in and devote all our energies to fixing up the interior. For some people, however, with the vision and – let’s face it – the money to achieve their dream home, we present four of Singapore’s most irresistible properties.

S House at Lorong Selangat near Serangoon Gardens

(A view to kill… for. Stunning design at S House. Image courtesy of Formwerkz Architects.)

Looking like it belongs in the playgrounds of California’s super-rich movie stars, S House simply oozes “cool” – that much is clear as soon as you spot the 25-metre swimming pool, carefully crafted lawn, and eye-catching exterior. Four airy floors, each leading to radically different design spaces, seem crafted to simultaneously fulfil two tasks: impress first-time visitors, and act as the backdrop to an awesome house party. One floor, dramatically lit, looks like the set of a 70’s shindig. Climb the stairs and you’ll be led into an airy living room, all quirky niches and high ceilings, which catches the afternoon sun. As does the jutting al fresco area, which overlooks the pool and could comfortably hold a score of boisterous family and friends.

Blair Road

(The stark white, minimalist interior of Blair Road. Image courtesy of Ong & Ong.)

This particular stretch of road is wall-to-wall with achingly beautiful, classic shophouses, but one in particular belies its antique façade with a modern, chic interior. With clean, zen lines and stark white walls creating an air of boundless space, the overall impression is one of peace and simplicity. However, with a continuous first floor layout between the kitchen and living room, the respectably sized first floor makes a great party area. Up top, a cosy roof makes for a more quiet conversation spot, more suited to passionate declarations of love, sun tanning or an after-work drink. Possibly all three, if you’re lucky enough to live such a lifestyle.

Sun Cap House

(Soak up the rays at Sentosa’s Sun Cap House. Image courtesy of Wallflower Architecture + Design.)

Though situated in Sentosa Cove, where Singapore’s millionaires live cheek by jowl and yacht-to-yacht, Sun Cap House manages to create an air of splendid isolation.

Its thick, nine metre-high wall has something to do with this, wrapping protectively around the property without compromising the view of the surrounding waterscape, or halting the occasional balmy breeze. Highlights of this villa include wall-sized windows that amplify the feeling of boundless space, ceilings high enough to incorporate indoor trees and a mosaic bathroom that wouldn’t have looked out of place in old Pompeii. All in all, this is definitely a house that could appear on MTV’s Cribs.

Ewart Park

(Nature on the doorstep at Ewart Park. Image courtesy of Wallflower Architecture + Design.)

Seamlessly integrated into the surrounding greenery and stillness between the Bukit Timah/Holland Road area, this home feels like a true haven from the hustle and bustle of city living.

White stucco mixes with warm woods and stone in the foundations to create a spa-like feel, and the rooftop infinity pool perched halfway into the jungle certainly helps. As functional as it is stunning, the pool also thermally regulates the floors directly below it, providing natural coolness which amplifies the edifice’s air of tranquillity. The result is a living space where residents need not rely on air-conditioning, and can instead bask in the freshness and comfort that come with living in natural temperatures.

Sun-kissed Happiness! :D

2011-01-25T12:10:00.000+08:00

And i did go para-sailing!! See my happy pic:

Haha it was fun but wayy too short! I think the guy undercut me..coz wl was up in the air for much longer until his hair got permed Fido-Dido style.

Well, Batam was exactly how my lil' bro described it - barren with not much to do - but the service at Harris Resort was excellent! I would even go the extent to say, the service there might have qie-ed all the hotels i've been to in the USA and Europe. No, not might have. Confirm!!

Ok la, granted nobody goes to Batam except bored (cheapo) S'poreans and bored tourists from S'pore. Coz the hotel definitely seemed to have more staff than customers on Friday and Monday. But at least they kept their enthusiasm and almost everyone greeted us all times of the day when we passed by. That's what great service is!

Anyway, we also went to Nagoya Town, the downtown area of the island for a lil' shopping. Well, i wouldn't really call it shopping la. It really was a larger version of Queensway Shopping Centre, like my bro said. haha. But their supermarket was SUPER neat!! It was very funny coz wl noticed that after we took 2 cans of green tea off the shelf the supermarket attendants immediately went to arrange the cans. Check out their overall layout:

Machiam supermarket ad campaign right!! Either their service is damn good, or they got nothing to do, or will get salary cut if the supervisor sees a dent in the shelves, or there are simply no customers taking things off the shelves. I'll go with the first option. Service Ups man!

And then we saw this on the shelves:

A whole shelf of fireworks and explosives!! Look at WL's excited face haha.

Let me post a closer picture.

Oh, these sure bring back memories of our first DIY fireworks in Texas! Looks the same albeit larger version. Wish we could have bought these back to SG, if only we didn't have so many high-rise flats -__-....among other laws...

So no DIY fireworks this CNY (haha as if there was ever), but we did get the famous Kueh Lapis that both our moms were raving about. I didn't know that S$20 for a big box of Kueh Lapis was considered cheap, if not we would have gotten more boxes of the really fragrant cakes!

The rest of the time spent in Batam was in their big pool, shooting hoops in the water. We played with the ball so much that the swimming pool attendant gave us the ball when we got towels on the third day. haha.

haha. ok lame. Yupyup, other than that, their massage package isn't much to rave about, maybe coz we booked the 8pm-11pm slot (it was a 3hr spa sensation package) and the masseurs were probably too tired or sth. But they had an awesome foam milk bath thing which was SUPER FUN! Lol. Maybe that's what foam parties feel like! We might actually consider having a big bath tub for foam baths in our house next time. heh heh.

Alrighty, end off with a nice pic of my newly Chestnut-Browned hair! :) New hair, for new career tomorrow!!! Woots!

Brand New Day

2011-01-20T10:24:00.001+08:00

Funny enough, i don't regret writing that last last post (which is now saved in my drafts for my future reading). It wasn't a bad post, and actually, if i think on it again. I almost feel like re-writing that topic because the anger/wei-qu-ness still hasn't subsided.

But having dabbled in both the trades of Headhunting/HR and marketing with New Media, and recently in Communications, yeah. ok la. not very wise to bitch online. i should just remove my name here man. -_-zz

I've been very fortunate to have met very very cool bosses before - actually, everyone i've met before this were all exceptional bosses, some i still meet up with occasionally.

But somehow, i have to find a way to ditch this pent-up anger from the past 3 days of this week. Maybe i shall finally go para-sailing at Batam tomorrow! And spend a hellotta money on non-stop massages. And maybe eat lotsa seafood!! :)

Because, yesterday was THE LAST STRAW. Umbridge almost didn't let me go until past 6pm - to freaking clear my equipment with IT/HR. And it was just disgusting la. Harping on the most trivial of things at your level. *mega-big puff of wei-qu breath*

Ok but i shall let this go. i shall let this go. (before this evolves into the same post again.) Woah. I'm usually not so easily pissed with a person like that! It's all been accumulated these 140+ days.

Anyway, as indicated by the title of this entry, it is a brand new day! It's like i've shed old skin for new and it's time to show the world what i've got. But first, new hair colour and well-deserved weekend trip here i come!! :)

FREEDOM!!!!!!!

2011-01-19T22:37:00.000+08:00

*Ques the song "Freedom"*

Helloooo New Year! :)

2011-01-16T15:14:00.001+08:00

I'm such an inconsistent blogger, i know. So terrible! All i've been wanting to do is chill in front of my laptop watching How I Met Your Mother - totally love it! These few days/weeks seem to have passed by in a flash! X'mas, then new year's eve..and whaddayaknow..in 2 days, it'll be my first and last biggest event at this company.

And in 3 days. Goodbye.

5 days - Batam for a short, very much needed getaway.

10 days - Life in a brand new company.

Ohmygawd like..BREATHE DEEP and GO!

Ok i admit. I haven't been stressed about work per se. No i haven't. These past 5 months here well, reminded me pretty much about life in NUS Bizad. haha. If you know what i mean. But, emotionally. *whew* i really needed to let this go.

It's like, i haven't been blogging coz i don't want to talk about sucky things like how i don't feel i'm contributing or how sometimes it seems like i haven't/won't ever be making even a dent by leaving.

As the ex-boss said..don't outstay your welcome. It's definitely time to go (even though it seems premature). But i'll miss the (other) people here quite a bit - my first friend here, my constant lunch buddy when i just wasn't in the mood to entertain certain people, my new-found friend - thank god for calling me out for teabreaks every day! My induction pals - you are all going to be great people. And of course, i'll definitely miss the Ultimate Office Location.

Clearly, these aren't the right reasons to stay despite my strong sentimental personality. Afterall, what is in a job...but to learn and contribute to society (in general)? I'm definitely not striking both these basics off the checklist here.

Well, on a brighter note! It's lucky i'll be moving on..to one of the greatest consumer goods company in the world, no less! :D

Sneak peek at some of the brands that have touched so many people's lives!!

Hooboy, i'm already excited. And, this time, I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. :D

Countdown!

2011-01-11T22:20:00.001+08:00

10 Days and counting...

Aiyar no time to blog man these few days are so freakin' packed i have to go now coz every shred of a second is so precious. Be back soon! *grimace*

The 3 Things I'm Grateful For This Year..

2010-12-26T17:09:00.000+08:00

As 2011 looms closer, i'd like to look back on the recent months just past this 2010. This year has definitely been very meaningful and packed full of surprises!

Command and leaving hall, Graduation, Finding my 1st Job, Getting my 1st Job, Planning for my future home, Planning for my long-term career, Getting that elusive, dream 2nd Job... ... etc. And in-between all these milestones, a handful of perfectly-planned and executed gatherings with my fav KR pals.

Whew, it sure has been a helluva ride this year! Especially these last 2 months! My heart-beat rate was kinda erratic the past few weeks.

Anyway, before the year waves its goodbye, here are the 3 things that i'm most grateful for in 2010:

A super loving and doting other-half who's not only my best friend but the VERY BEST financial researcher you can get.
A great family who's always supportive no matter what - actually they convinced/keep telling me to slap the head and follow the heart.
Friends who will most probably be forever - as illustrated below at our soon-to-be annual X'mas party at Aud's amazing house:

The party turned out awesome, btw. Tons of food including roast turkey, ham, kuey pie tee, great pasta salad, and a chocolatey brownie cake mis-spelled with the words "Merry X'mas A Blk Angles"...what more could we ask for!

Pictionary, wii, monopoly deal and poker (which i won), plus a crazily amusing X'mas gift exchange session ended the night on a high note.

Well, here's lookin' forward to 2011!! :) Cheers!! ♥

I actually made it!!

2010-12-21T23:32:00.001+08:00

Today, I got accepted into my dream company.

Yesterday it was a only a figment of any marketing graduate's fantasy, tomorrow, it will be my reality.

Thank you for this grand opportunity God. You definitely had more faith in me than I did!

Now...how to tell my boss tomorrow? :X

Christmas 2010!

2010-12-18T22:10:00.002+08:00

Yay tomorrow will be one of the first times i've organised a X'mas party and I SO CAN'T WAIT FOR IT!!!

The turn-out looks great with almost 20 pple at Audrey's house - btw i love that kid she's so awesome and enthusiastic about everything! I LOVE MY WEEKENDS x 1,000,000!!

What's better than a X'mas gathering with your fav peeps + a massive potluck (roast turkey, beef, honey baked ham, pork ribs, tons of dessert) + games (wii, pictionary, poker) + a special gift exchange + the Christmas Spirit all in the same house?

Monday will be crazy all over again but at least this weekend, i'll be surrounded by (more) happiness and love! Ahh...Christmas - my fav holiday of the year!!! :)

X'mas + Friends = Lotsa ♥!

Respect. And a whole lot of questions to myself.

2010-12-15T23:24:00.001+08:00

Just read a very sudden email/note from one of the coolest guys I met recently. He was in my induction batch - we went through Adventure Learning camp and the Basic Presentation Course training together with a bunch of others.

In the email, he wrote that he was leaving the company to pursue his love for creating visual art and selling them. (It is true that he has a huge talent in design - his namecard says it all.) He had barely been here for 6 months, probably about 3+ months like me.... ... ...and he threw in the towel.

I admire him. For obvious reasons - he's got the guts to pursue his passion. No whining or whinging, just serve it on a candid but brilliantly-written email to everyone on why you're leaving early.

Although we're from different depts J, but you have deeply inspired me and earned my respect!! I wish I had your guts! I don't know what to do now. If i go through with the 3rd round, do I move on?

Do I have the guts to let these 3 months go and move on? I think god might have traded some of my guts with a worrywart on me somewhere. I think i'm too concerned about the wrong things.

Am i being irresponsible? Am i letting anyone down? Am i letting myself down? Will i be happier in a new place? Will i miss the opportunities this place might bring maybe soon? Will i miss the opportunities the other place might provide? What will people think of me? What will future me think of present me? Why am i making this so difficult?

I keep telling myself to grit my teeth and press on, but that shouldn't be the way (everyday), should it? Or am I being a spoilt Gen Y-er who can't even complete what i started?

Argh. This is why i don't dare to blog anymore but i'm at the point where i think my sanity matters more than what others might think. I know, i should get a diary/livejournal but i'm too lazy. And preoccupied.

Oh well, we'll see what happens again i guess. Every week gets even more exciting. I can't believe it's Christmas already - the year was so different when it started.

When i look back to X'mas 2010, I have got to remember this overwhelming cocktail of emotions tearing me up inside. Who knew things could get so complicated? :S

haha ok i just think this is a really funny pic, altho of no or opposite relevance to this post.

Goodbye Privé @ Punggol!!!

2010-12-12T00:38:00.004+08:00

So, the sign i was looking for arrived in the clearest way possible this Friday. Our ballot number was only called out like the 10th from the bottom of the ballot box, at 12.25 noon. Which meant we waited for 3 and a half hours since the first number was called out at exactly 9am.

By the time we got into the showflat for the booking/choosing of units, this was how the list of units looked like:

We wanted all the units that were taken already, of course.

Well, if that ain't the sign, it must mean our luck was very bad!

But nevertheless, that was definitely a first EC balloting experience to have had! T'was pretty exciting and heart-racing. Hmm, no..i should say the morning saw a miriad of emotions coursing through our blood - Nervousness, Excitedness, Worry, Frustration, Hopelessness, Getting-pissed-with-the-agent-ness, and finally Acceptance, and Faith-in-Gahmen-ness.

Haha, that could have been a rainbow already.

But yup well, it was nice learning so much about Private/Exec Condos, DBSSes, BTOs, Resales, and in general, future home options in SG. And Privé was a pretty good choice for our consideration (altho a tad pricey).

I guess I can breathe a little easier having just toed the line of blowing my lifelong savings and paying 25 years of mortgage forever and now coming back to safe ol' outta-collage-with-no-bills-to-pay-yet-life.

And I do have faith in the 22,000 flats the govt says will be coming up 2011. If not, we can always get a resale anytime!

So, goodbye Privé!! It was nice getting all excited about (a luxury home like) you! :)

Alright, time to move on now i guess!

Massive Decision.

2010-12-05T12:30:00.002+08:00

Dear Lord,

I know I should have more faith but i'm kinda in an emotional turmoil now. Maybe it wasn't meant to be happening all so fast; are those signs you're tossing in my way?

What's with the date clashing with a major meeting?
What's with my dad going overseas till after the date too?!

Are these the trials and tribulations i'm supposed to overcome, so the prize becomes even more worth its weight? (haha flair for drama)

Well, maybe just one more sign then. I'll wait for Friday.

Meanwhile, i pray to have strength..LOTS of it. I know i haven't been too religious lately, but these couple of weeks have been crazy! I need a sign to know if this is the right thing to wait for - Friday might just be the turning point for me, financially at least.

You know i've always been particular about that aspect of my life - this is one helluva risk i'm taking, i think.

Most importantly, i've decided to go on with Friday's meeting too. That is what i'm afraid of, actually. Fear....Be Dispelled!!

Nonetheless, thank you for everything. Especially for the pillar of strength in my life. I'll make it though this.

xoxo,
TY

New Happy Reading Material!

2010-11-18T12:01:00.001+08:00

I found this blog from on of my friend's FB posts. ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!! Funny, creative, and insightful. Reminds me of the time long ago when I had aspirations to be a cartoonist. Here's the latest post/pic which speaks to me (haha):

www.stuffnoonetoldme.blogspot.com

Cute! Definitely going on my list of blogsurfing links :)

Hug Me

2010-11-12T15:48:00.002+08:00

I go home everyday in terrible need of a hug. :(

Shit happens.

2010-11-03T15:00:00.004+08:00

Initially i thought i could stay away from more emo posts, but i guess this is the phase when things just keep happening that repeatedly remind me how screwed up my life now is.

So anyway, just about 10mins ago I came back after lunch and desperately needed to pee. Maybe i was too urgent and too strong for my own good but i heard a loud rippppp from my skirt and knew that was the end of its lifespan.

And now i have a slit the length of half my butt down to my knee. Right in the middle of the back of the skirt.

Well, i don't know if i should be glad or sad that i chose to wear my branded US underwear with shiny silver words 'toasty' printed on the butt today! Coz thats how far the slit shows.

The fact was i wasnt very affected by the 'emergency situation'. I mean, it was actually quite funny and stupid. But i realised i had to call somebody to at least cover me from the loo to the office coz my seat is right at the end of the corridor which means i have to walk with my back facing the rest of the corridor. And it SO wouldn't be appropriate to be flashing 'toasty' for 3mins to the whole department. (especially when u're in marketing and comms -__-)

And that was the problem. I ran down my phone contacts and called the 2 pple in my dept whom i could at least not be awkward with but both didn't pick up their phones. Then. I. Ran. Out. Of. People. To. Call.

So i called my mom, who couldn't do much. But it was at least good to hear her voice haha. But the point was, i suddenly felt damn lonely la. Wth. Emergency situ and i only had the toilet auntie to talk to. (who wasn't very friendly or helpful).

Well, i eventually managed to call one other person who wasn't in my department or floor - this girl who intro-ed me to signing up for this job in the first place -she was my NUS Biz batchmate. And she lent me her sweater to tie around my waist. Thank God.

Yup, so right now i'm just sitting at my desk now typing away. Feeling like crap.

Pleasepleaseplease god don't make fun of me and pop up with last minute meetings! Please let this day be like all other days so far and let me sit here quietly till time passes by!!

Oh man. Maybe i should just accept the offer to go back to VW and forfeit my integrity here. :(

ENFP

2010-10-26T18:58:00.001+08:00

Just came back from a MBTI type psychometric session with the other newbies. The entire week has been planned out for orientation courses with 20 other new officers including a 2 day adventure learning camp in Pasir Ris. It's FWOC all over again but as a freshie! :X Don't know how that will turn out.

So anyway, we had a 3 hour session with the orientation trainer who was... ..er never mind we're gonna have him for the whole camp so shall comment later -_-. It turns out that this time (since the last time i took it during my MNO course in yr 3) I am a ENFP which stands for:

Extraverted Intuition with Introverted Feeling - or Extrovert, Intuitive, Feeling, Perception

I used to be an ENFJ, but i guess it doesnt really matter coz both my J and P results are like almost always tied. So i'm an in-between of ENFP and ENFJ.

Well we were given a booklet on all the different personality types describing how each personality is at its best, the characteristics, How others may see you, and potential areas for growth.

ENFPs are in short:

Good at understanding how people and groups work
Persuasive and compelling in pursuing what is important to them
Adaptable, blooming where we are planted
Our energy and enthusiasm encourage others to bloom as well
Innovators, Initiating in projects and directing great energy into getting them under way.
Value depth and authenticity in their close relationships and create and support open and honest communication
Hate routine, schedules and structure
Curious, creative, imaginative, spontaneous
Warm, friendly, caring, coorperative and supportive

However, (and this part i find particularly true in recent events) - If ENFPs do not find a place where they can use their gifts and be appreciated for their contributions, they usually feel frustrated and may:

Become scattered, have trouble focusing, be easily distracted
Fail to follow through on decisions
Become rebellious, excessively nonconforming
Ignore deadlines and procedures

Well. I agree with the frustrated part at least. haha..not rebellious..yet. LOL.

Ok, i suppose this will be a fun-packed week with the camp coming up in 2 days..its time to expand my social (corporate) circle! *prays hard that my stupid 2-week old cough will go away by Thursday!!*

Apt

2010-10-22T18:26:00.001+08:00

Very appropriately and timely, my MD posted a blog article yesterday evening on our internal site. (Yes, our comprehensive internal site has articles for internal sharing plus blogposts by senior management. Damn awesome right.)

In the post, he wrote about how he came to Singapore from KL when he was 12 and made different decisions which eventually got him to where he is now. Overall it was a very humble post.

So anyway, what he wrote struck a chord in me as it was just what i needed at this point of time - at my first job.

Here's an excerpt of it which inspired me (it's going to be reproduced in a public magazine so i figure it's ok to post it here.):

"Choice is a uniquely human condition. “The stone and the tiger have no choice of life: the stone must gravitate and the tiger must pounce. Only human beings are faced with the mind-boggling responsibility of having, at each and every moment of their lives, to choose what to do and what to be. It is both a necessity and an invitation.”
Jose Ortega y Gasset, in his essay “The Mission of the Librarian”

Life is a series of choices. Sometimes, the choice isn’t even ours to make and we can only choose to embrace the outcome (or not). We make a decision and move forward with it until we need to choose again. Each decision may be a considered and responsible choice but how they all string together is often, rather random. We can only determine the general direction that we want to walk towards.

Recognize what speaks to us. And what does not. Wherever possible, pursue our passion(s) and hopefully, become good at it. Enjoy the journey because the destination will probably look quite different from what you imagined it to be when you started. "

- Mr Beh Swan Gin

Ok, maybe it doesn't have the same inspiring effect out of context, of how he made his drastic career choice, but that's for me to remember.

Oh well. I totally agree with you MD. I'll try my best to find and pursue that passion! *determined face*

Must. Find. Direction.

2010-10-20T11:45:00.000+08:00

" What doesn't bore me to death, will strengthen my creativity. "

I hope. Because I sure don't want to turn out like this:

Super sad right!!!

45

2010-10-13T13:45:00.000+08:00

You know, they say after 7x7=49 days the soul reincarnates after death. Well. By the end of this week, I would have officially been a part of this company for 49 days.

And i've done shit.

Omg i have so much pent-up ~~anger stifledness cluelessness~~ thoughts that i might implode soon.

I have not been myself these past 6 weeks and its driving me crazy.

oh god, help.

This mighty thing called Love

2010-10-08T17:48:00.001+08:00

Recently, I've witnessed/read/heard a couple of things that made my heart go 'boom' and a tear collect in my eye.

2 weddings and a funeral.

A distant cousin, a really pretty senior, and of course, MM Lee's wife.

The first is nothing much to talk about but the second... ...the pictures are just so lovely!! To Jingxian: I am so happy for you! The ROM and venue looked beautiful and simply romantic! Definitely made me wanna get married haha. And you two were such a gorgeous couple.

As for our dear ol' MM, i couldn't help but tear after reading his eulogy to his wife of 47 years.

Quote exerpt: "Her last wish she shared with me was to enjoin our children to have our ashes placed together, as we were in life."

If that ain't love, i don't know what is. Theirs was a relationship matched with intelligence, trust and respect. Read whole eulogy here.

Part of my department went for the wake on Oct 4, and it so happened that my director was acquainted with the MM couple. Later in the day she shared that so close were the two of them that they were 'like clones' (or to that effect). His loneliness now must be extreme.

Ah, well..enough of other people's stories. It's Friday today! That's bf time for me since he's been operating on a alternate-sunday work week or 6 day/ 7 day week. Seriously, that company is working him (and me) to death! One precious half-day to be with the person that matters most.

I"ll leave off with a pic that feels so apt for this mood. Bye!

Hollow.

2010-09-27T16:42:00.001+08:00

These past few weeks, 5 to be exact...

...have felt like I broke open a bright, gold-wrapped Ferrero Rocher with its awesome choco-nutty covered crispy wafer...

...only to find out that the praline-wrapped macadamia nut treasure inside it...

...isn't there.

Disappointment is a little of an understatement. That feeling coursing through my veins is tinged with a bit of bitter, a dash of fire, but still, with a pinch of hope.

Maybe i might find my macadamia nut soon. If i wait out a little longer. Argh.

P.S to self: Take the metaphor literally (of current situ).

Cross-eyed.

2010-09-22T18:10:00.001+08:00

At the rate i'm staring at the computer and/or iPhone all day, i don't think my eyesight can last in the next couple of years.

I suddenly miss the good ol' days when we had to actually read books.

Enough of work already. I need some (any kind of) therapy!

South Africa

2010-09-19T23:26:00.001+08:00

My parents and the lil' bro (who took leave from NS) are probably bouncin' in a jeep singing "a-whimbo-whap-a-whimbo-whap (x2) in the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lions sleep tonight!!!" right now.

So fun.

Oh well. Concrete jungle here i come it's Monday again, yo!

:|

I GOT IT!!!! :D

2010-09-13T14:41:00.001+08:00

My very first Apple product!!! The Iphone 4!!! haha ok abit crazy now coz i took a little longer than usual lunch break just to get my hands on it (and to do medical clearance as well)! With my dear ol' mummy's help of course.

She actually went to Bugis to queue for me at 10am!! And we got 2 sets, the 2nd one under my mum's name, supposedly for my sis if she ever finds time in her workaholic schedule to actually go and change her sim card to the iphone one. Ah whatever.

I GOT MINE! wahahaha. Usually i'm not so tech-mad, in fact its quite obvious that i'm a late adopter when it comes to gadgets and stuff.

Oh well, time to go get the diff apps and accessories for my first iphone and get sucked into Apple's slyly-crafted marketing scheme, or rather the vortex of spending more and more on their complementary products!

haha found the image below while searching for maslow last nite!

Maslow's Hierarchy

2010-09-12T23:49:00.001+08:00

This thing my cousin was just telling me a couple of weeks ago stuck in my head like a blinker especially with my recent living environment (i.e. working life).

He was commenting and comparing about the different stages of our lives that we have to go through.

On marriage: "Either you want to get married, or you don't. So just get it over with lah."

On kids: "Want to give birth, just give birth early."

On my Dad who's been religiously attending qigong sessions at 5am in the morning 7 days a week at East Coast Park: "Your dad is realising self-actualization. People like you and me, we're still at the bottom of the food-chain."

Haha. Ok i don't really agree with the first 2 comments, especially the second. It's a wayyyy different ball game when dealing with kids (he has 3 boys now at 36. Damn cute and smart kids but...i'm not there yet la haha). Marriage, i guess i understand the sentiment.

Recently some things have made me wish i could speed up the dating game and fast forward the relationship. Nope, it ain't about the two of us anymore but more so about the folks. I guess withdrawal symptoms have kicked in long ago - from seeing each other 5 days a week to barely 2 days a week now. And the day itself is just not enough!

Oh well, back to the self-actualization topic.

I do admire the folks really. They started this 100 day qigong thing which requires them to wake up at 5am everyday to 'ha qi' and 'xi qi' and do yoga-like stretches in front of the sea at ECP. Apparently after 100 days even a cancer patient will feel better.

Well, i don't doubt that, seriously. That takes some serious discipline and motivation! Trust me, i tried, once. And the best part is, it is ALL VOLUNTARY. My mum says she's not going to stop after the 100 days are up. It's going to be a lifestyle now.

Did i mention before that she said that she wants to keep healthy and live well so she won't be a burden when she gets old? Sometimes i can't help but feel damn lucky to have such thoughtful and cool parents. haha. For lack of a better description.

Yup, so i guess i'm still ~~farfar~~away from that tip of the (modern) hierarchy since i'm only just starting to earn my keep. At least i have the 3rd rung of the ladder i guess!

Thanks for breaking it down, Maslow.

Reminicscing and yearning.

2010-09-04T16:53:00.003+08:00

Just ran through the posts i wrote during the months Aug-Dec last year. How did 6 months feel like 6 awesome days in 2009 while 5 days this past week felt like 5 empty months in 2010?

Oh god. Have i chosen wrong?

Should i have chosen the private sector after all? How i miss those girls so so much.

People here are definitely not what i'd expected. What was i thinking? Fun, innocent and fresh like the ones i knew?

Who am i kidding. (it's the gahmen, afterall)

Well, since i absolutely refuse to change my blogspot for livejournal or whichever lets me privatise my accounts, i might just have to stifle my thoughts a little.

Also good la i suppose. Better hold my reservations first; it has only been 5 days, things might just turn out for the better. *crosses fingers and all appendages*

By the way, the word "Economic" is pronounced "Air-ke-noh-mic" and not "Ee-ko-noh-mic".

Thanks for telling me. Don't think i'll forget that from now on. *grimace*

Tomorrow, Forever.

2010-08-29T23:24:00.000+08:00

Oh my, Forever starts Tomorrow and i've got a big flu and cough!! Darn the sis who spread it to me over the last couple of days. :(

Feels like the first day of VW again when i had to take MC coz i came up with a feverish weekend! Oh Lord, please do not let that happen again!!

Let me wake up tomorrow fresh and spunky and ON TIME please.

It's been ages since i woke up before 8am, or 9am for that matter haha. A lil' nervous now because HR didn't send the prep letter they were supposed to to let me know who to meet, what time to come, which level to go to, etc.

So i'll just arrive on their doorstep at 8.30am i guess. Back to rush hour traffic on the MRT again..i'll just be thankful that i dont have to endure that from Kembangan to Redhill station this time, but only 15 awful minutes till City Hall station.

Kudos to awesome job location! Ok i've done my korean homework for the 7pm class tomorrow and packed my NEW birthday bag frm the girls. Yay new bag for a new job! :)

Yup will see if i get time/energy to post about my glorious 23rd birthday party at St Games. Ah nvm i'll just do it now haha.

It was a brilliant idea to organise a wii + rockband outing for the old peeps. Turnout was great - all 15 people came except Joseph and Stephen who had family dinner and IBG respectively.

My arms and body are still reeling from the intense action that night. For only $12, we got to whack the various games for 3+ hours. It was supp to only be 2, but we ended up staying from 7.15pm till 11pm, thanks to the nice young guy who set up everything for us and patiently waited for us to not get so high on a friday night. Plus we got one free drink and one slice of cake each and 4 LCD TVs to ourselves (part of the package)!

Super worth it! :)

Here's the peeps who came:

haha audrey was doing her crazy thing as usual

Rest of the pics do check it out on FB if u want, plenty of hilarious moments and i've yet to upload the vids!!

Ok time to sleep now and get ready for tomorrow! Aza Aza Fighting :)

Wigs, Hairpieces and Semi-pro Photography

2010-08-26T02:00:00.004+08:00

Before i could really start celebrating and chillin' in response to my last entry, my dad roped me in to start a catalogue for the hairpieces that will be/are taking centerstage in the stores.

But one day of 'doing a favour' became 5 over a span of 2 weeks. Initially i was fine with helping out (helping out as in doing the entire photoshoot project myself), but then i realised that the number of stock they had was neverending. Sheesh. And i say to myself: ishouldveknown.

Not that it hasn't been fun being alone in a room full of assorted wigs of different colours and lengths with the bodyless mannequin heads during the 7th month. It's really cool how one's hairdo can change one's entire look! Damn awesome! These few days i've stepped into the shoes of a hairstylist and it is pretty cool.

Take a look at some of the do's i took shots of (with the same mannequin head):

short/bobbed

shoulder-length

long and curly

freaking long and scarily straight

These are just the tip of the iceberg. 4 out of the 160 wigs i took to be precise. Super tedious work okay!! Each wig had to be properly combed and placed, and the headshots had to be taken with front, side and back shots, and as you can see, the lighting wasn't very good it was DIYed with mahjong paper as background and the mannequin propped up on a mj-papered cardboard box. And i held a neon lightbulb to aid in lighting.

Whew. I buanged this mannequin head on the 2nd day when it fell backwards coz the super long wig was too heavy. :/ The nose got dented oops. Sigh..I guess the most time-consuming part would be putting all the pics onto MSword so they can be printed out. I nearly died staring at my netbook rearranging all the pics.

Obviously i'm not gifted in techy stuff like this maybe that's why i nearly went crazy after a while.

To top this 'volunteered stint', today, i was 'asked' to model for a dozen hairpieces because 1) i was the only damn free person around 2) my hair was long enough 3) not like i had much of a choice (since it was a favour).

Mind you, not that it wasn't fun or that i didn't learn alot about cool hairdos I could do with the various accessories from Sinma (this time with my own hair), but oh, how time-consuming it was!

Here's some of the cool do's (unedited)!!

Honestly cannot believe that's how the back of my head looks like. Buns never worked for me until now! (With plenty of mousse of course.)

But anw. The whole point of this post is that....I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE BECAUSE I WANT TO GET READY FOR CORPORATE JAIL!!!

Haha. By getting ready i mean slack my ass off for the very last time as a non-working person and get myself into a mental state of enthusiasm for my first shot as a working adult. These few days helping out at my dad's have been really enriching and interesting, but still.

I guess in other circumstances (i.e. about 1 month ago) i would thoroughly enjoy and continue finishing this project (there's still about 50 more wigs to shoot). But this week i have been feeling a tinge of edgyness since i submitted the signed contracts on Monday.

I really can't believe i'm starting work just next week! *shudders* Anticipation and Trepidation mixed evenly together.

Well, one last thing though. I realised that stuff in my Dad's store are actually pretty trendy, very useful and can do the most wondrous stuff to your hair! And the quality of the things sold here is quite high since most stuff are imported from Korea and Japan. Like the awesome nail polish - Mosaic (housebrand), earrings and the various hairwigs - some totally feel/look damn real la.

Hokay i'm gonna stop here its been a SUPER long post of ranting!! Bye!

This Is It!

2010-08-20T00:33:00.001+08:00

Back from a mini-mini-icecream celebration at Udders! I guess i was rather overwhelmed today when i finally got my first and very very pleasant/surprising/oh-my-god-i-can't-believe-it offer. *beams* (Still am slightly in the overwhelmed state.)

The 100+ applications, 15 interviews and 5 recruitment agencies the past 4 months were worth it for this one awesome offer.

I still can't believe they chose me! And that i've ended up in a govt-related job...in the end. But oh well, it's true i love my country, and this is somewhat similar to the jobscope i had in mind from the beginning of jobhunt.

And the people seem really friendly. And the entire office is circumferenced by glass panels which overlook CBD from the almost 30th floor! And i'll probably be the youngest in the department (again) but that means i get to work with more experienced people who can show me the ropes and let me peek into their wealth of wisdom. And i might get to rub shoulders with VIPS in the near future. And my office is like 15mins mrt ride away from my house!!!!!

And..much much more (benefits), but i'll leave it at here for now. :)

Oh man, I really have to thank You up there. And Lady Luck as well, i suppose. Afterall, this one application was the ONLY one not from ANY single jobsportal (including NUS Biz) or newspaper that i applied to that i successfully made through.

Not that i didn't get interviews from the traditional jobhunting mediums, but this one was really a chance suggestion from a friend of my sis whom i met at my Bizad Graduation Dinner. *Whew*..Fate or what?

Ah, only time will tell if i made the right decision that has sealed my fate! haha so dramatic but i've always taken jobhunting very very seriously.

Work starts 3 days after my birthday which is oh-so-near! It really is a pretty timely birthday present (i hope it is a good present, that is)!

Now, time to switch my bio-clock to wake at 7am instead of 10am! Wish me all the best y'all! I'm here to (finally) join the workforce! :)

Grad Pics @ Padang!

2010-08-14T08:08:00.002+08:00

We had our studio shots with the graduation gowns and family last last week and i finally got the pics from the old bro! The post-studio shots i mean. Since were already in gowns, the plan was to grab shots at old parliament house/other scenic places in town.

Quite apt, with National Day around the corner then. Initially i was hoping to take pics at the old parliament house pillars and maybe marina bay but we forgot about the NDP decorations, and it started drizzling so we had to make do at the Padang.

Live our Dreams, Fly our Flag!

(Like totally man. At least for the dreams part)

As usual i was terrible at jumpshots, so we took quite a few before catching one with us all off our feet haha

Just nice the cam caught our hats floating above the parliament dome!

At this point in time 3 buses of Hippo/Ducktours drove past and stared at us while we did our jumpshots and threw our mortarboards..quite funny lol.

We headed for the stars

And then we tried something new!!

Thanks to our pro photographers for the day - the old bro and his gf who spent the whole day with us in the studio and out.

I must say they look pretty good tgt :)

Okay end with my fav pic of the day!

Alright its not very well taken but oh well, its got the right people in it! :)

Anyeong Haseyeo!

2010-08-10T12:25:00.000+08:00

Did i mention i signed up for Korean Language classes with the sis? haha yep twice a week for 5 weeks! I finally get to learn Korean! Although i must say private lessons are incomparable to the 'free' language modules in NUS.

How to compete with a module which gives you lessons 3 times per week for 10 weeks?! The difference in thoroughness and scope/depth is so obvious. And this private teacher is obviously a part-timer. He ONLY speaks Korean so every class machiam we have to play guessing games with what he's trying to say.

Oh well, at least now i can appreciate my Korean dramas more i guess! And..Jennie found this deal online called Discover your Seoul which offers only RM399 to Korea anytime this November till next Aug! Argh so tempting! But it flies only from KL airport though..weird.

Man. Offer lasts till 15 Aug 2010 only so we have to make decisions quick! I agree with Jenn - we should totally relive our Taiwan trip with tw, wk, ks, ian low, cg, etc to Korea this time! BUT. We are all grown up now with crazy schedules. Its gonna be hard to organise trips out for the oldies now!

For now, i shall try to master this new language as best as i can. Will still come in handy la nowadays Kpop/dramas/tourists everywhere. Even Stephen also boasted his new Korean hairstyle which renewed his 'attention' with everyone at our lao lang's recre boardgame session last Saturday.

Speaking of which, we should do this more often!

Pics (taken frm thyeheng's cam) of us camping at Joseph's old house - the new Mind's Cafe!

Group playing Dominion

Group holding cute little 'me-ples'

We were playing this territory-expanding game i forgot the name!

Stephen's new haircut and specs (Kpop look)

haha alrighty end of post! More updates about RAG and my family's graduation studio shots later!

1st Class Boyfriend

2010-07-27T23:25:00.001+08:00

Thank you for listening to my extended jobless woes today despite your late working hours..i'm glad that at least you called.

I think if left to me, myself and i, I would have already cried myself blind from self-pity and despondency.

Times like these make me miss hall like crazy. At least when we were there, i could have you all to myself. ♥

A skinny shoulder but nevertheless, still a shoulder to lean on whenever i'm sad, drunk or just plain bored. :)

Stop Crying Your Heart Out

2010-07-27T17:47:00.006+08:00

Hold up... hold on... don't be scared
You'll never change what's been and gone
May your smile (may your smile) shine on (shine on)
Don't be scared (don't be scared)
Your destiny may keep you warm

'Cause all of the stars have faded away
Just try not to worry, you'll see them someday
Take what you need and be on your way
And stop crying your heart out

- Oasis

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

2010-07-22T00:00:00.001+08:00

Heard this a while back on the radio, and then subsequently a similar version in Glee. I've always loved songs related to rainbows, like The Rainbow Connection (ok can't remember any others right now haha)

But this version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow really stuck in my head for a while. Jason Castro is awesome (and cute)! I also like his other hit - Let's Fall in Love Again. Oh well. Must be the ukelele.

P.S. Dear Lord, I think it's dragging a wee bit long now. Pls let my efforts not be fruitless - 50th application and counting - or at the very least, tell me where i'm doing wrong! I would very much like to change the topic on my blog soon.

Bored to Death.

2010-07-17T15:44:00.002+08:00

Commencement 2010!

2010-07-09T22:29:00.001+08:00

I'm so glad I was from Bizad. Haha it rhymes lol..

Anyway, yesterday was my Commencement! Like finally!! I guess I was one of those who tried to 'tuo' college life until it couldn't be 'tuo-ed' anymore..(actually not really. i got the email for honours offer this year..haha)

I wouldn't trade anything to have been in this faculty instead of any others. Sure, i screwed up most of the finance and DSC modules, but I really enjoyed most of the marketing modules and projects and my year 1 MNO courses. (The level 2/3 mno profs were quite stupid). And of course, not to mention the many perks being in Bizad:

$5 Movie deals like every 2 months
A really awesome and pretty indepth Career Service (at least for internship)
Expansive opportunities for SEP (i think its the fac that ties in with the most countries)
Plenty of Case Competition opportunities (if you dare)
10am (onwards) lessons
Flexible module programmes
Super short distance to KR (like wake up at 945am still 1st in class kind)
Really fun people
Really beautiful people
Who can count and write and speak well

There's many many more, but i'll stop at 10. What's not to like in a faculty like this?! And as proof of my awesome faculty, here are the pictures taken at my really beautiful Commencement Ceremony - Just the way i imagined it. :)

During the Ceremony:

Poppin' out of the sea of penguins..

Meghna and Madhuri VJ/Bizad Twins! Coincidentally the oldests wore pants and the hip younger halves wore skirts underneath.

After Ceremony:

Super happy/surprised at the HUGE bouquet of sunflowers (Bright, bright, bright, future) i got by the best bf!! Carry until my arms ache today.

We actually lasted 20 years studying in the same institutions! Almost can't believe this is the end of it!

To the best and greatest mother on Earth: Thanks for everything!! Unlimited $$, free rides in the car anywhere and anytime, infinite patience for our bf (or lack-there-of) woes, and open acceptance of them, awesome home-cooked food, and incessant worrying when we were in hall/overseas, etc. Thanks for laying down 20 years of your life for us..we couldn't have done it without you and our as-Awesome Pa who was unfortch away on biz trip.

And i REALLY love this pic to bits! :)

Graduating batch..you can't miss any Bizader as long as you go to school! I think i know at least 75% of my faculty batch with a mix of yr 3s!

And i finally got to throw my hat! Not just once, but 3 times with diff grps of pple.

More camwhoring at the I Was Here @ UCC!

A Block rocks!! :)

forever and ever!

Hokay!!! It's been such a long and pic-heavy post!! Guess what else happened to end off this gorgeous day??

A FULL Rainbow right outside my house just as we were going out for the Post-Commencement Biz Party!! (Yes, there was a free grad dinner @ Raffles and they hired Daniel Ong from 98.7fm as the Emcee. Damn zai..but that's a story for another day.. haha)

Couldn't have gotten any better than this. :) Alrighty, time to end off now and go to bed! Fever from the havoc but crazily fun day yest..lol give and take!

Good Night!

Bummin' Around

2010-06-30T16:27:00.002+08:00

You know, i'm kinda starting to like bummin' around. It's terrible, i know, but hey. After 30 or (more) so job applications, i'm thinking, maybe it's a sign man. From up there.

NOBODY's calling. And its the last day of June alr! *gasps*

I think about blogging everyday, but couldn't bring myself to write much since it might end up on the same topic. But then, today..i told myself: "No point feeling all sorry and unwanted right? Who gets extended holidays like this!"

And i guess its an awesome time for me to catch up with people and get back to my pre-Command fitness - yes, dancing till late every night just 2 months back really helped!

And so, i am diligently putting to task my top 3 priorities now: #1 - Keep whacking those applications, and #2 and #3 above. I actually started jogging yesterday! I HATE jogging.

Classifieds is sooo my best friend now. I never once went straight to the newspapers first thing in the morning..and now i tear through every page in the Recruit section as soon as the sun touches the horizon.

Oh well, its just fine and dandy now. If all else fails, i guess its an indication to start taitai-dom haha..i've got the potentially rich bf part (i hope)..now i just have to brush up my Chinese and learn how to play that darn game of mj. Or maybe i'll just stick with bridge. lol.

I'll write about Europe soon, i promise! Still in the process of uploading pics on FB. The stupid thing went back to allowing me to upload 5 pics at a time! Craziness..there's still 2/3 of Amsterdam, Barcelona, London, and the last part of Paris to go! About 1500+ more..

Meanwhile, I also met up with my old VJCSB Clarinet peeps. Omg so ancient we all! Playing the 'black tube' together..such a long time it has been indeed. :)

Yupyup i'll tell myself there's no rush to get a job when everyone's busy working their asses off and getting eyebags. But i can't believe Commencement is next week!! My mortar board will have no where to land when i throw it coz i haven't landed a job. :| haha..just a funny notion.

Alrighty then! Time to go off for swimming and sauna with my mom! :)

Somedays, i feel like this:

2010-06-19T18:51:00.002+08:00

One of the best things i did in Europe: Watch Avenue Q in London.

This totally hit home when the show started..even now it brings a smile and tear simultaneously because its so ironically true. *sigh* Enjoy anyways! (esp those who have watched this exquisite gem)

I wish there was a better version on youtube..nothing beats the original cast from London, live! Couldn't get this outta my head recently..and the other tracks from the same broadway as well..every track was damn awesome!

Yup but anw, i'm still in the midst of my jobless-gloom, which explains the lack of posts..will be back as soon as i feel a wee bit happier!

Soon, soon! :)

"What do you do with a B.A. in English,

What is my life going to be?

Four years of college and plenty of knowledge

Have earned me this useless degree.

I can't pay the bills yet,

'Cause I have no skills yet,

The world is a big scary place.

But somehow I can't shake,

The feeling I might make,

A difference,

To the human race."

- Princeton, from Avenue Q

Poise and Confidence

2010-06-09T23:34:00.000+08:00

....are all you need in an interview.

Today was draining but rather rewarding, in a way. Assessment Centers are really mini-case competitions to test your ability to invent ideas on the snap.

Well, I would say i did okay today but not Outstanding..it's kinda hard to judge when the rest are pretty good as well. We are afterall graduates with almost uniform experiences - Exchange programmes, Workshops (interviews or not), Similar modules, even hall life. I mean, how far can 3 local universities differ their curriculum anyway?

As for the 2nd interview, I got a little miffed that i was made to wait a full hour coz the manager had another interviewee - whom i realised was the guy who arrived the SAME time as me. Says something about your scheduling huh. But anw, the manager was nice la.

Going for these interviews is making me doubt what i truly want again. I guess the prospect of chasing a dream may just be cooler and more exciting than when you get it in your hands. Now getting so close to the finish line, I almost want to pull back just to experience the thrill of the chase again.

Ah well, i think i'm just tired after a long day.

And, Nestle called. :)

Back on Track!

2010-06-08T13:50:00.001+08:00

Have updated a couple of posts I did during the trip..do scroll down the month of May to catch up news in Rome and Barcelona.

I'm looking forward to relive the crazy moments in Europe - will update as soon as i can!! But for now...

I HAVE 2 INTERVIEWS TOMORROW!! 2nd round Assessment Center with L'Oreal from 9am-2pm and 6pm with Charles & Keith!

I can't believe i'm so lucky! It was really dramatic in Brussels when i received email from L'Oreal saying that they only fixed 2 assessment centers a year and this year the last one was 27th May. I couldn't possibly cancel my travel plans and buy a thousand dollar ticket back just for that hope could I?! So i had to close that door.

And then, like a miracle they opened a 3rd round. What are the odds! *Thank you up there!*

Okay i know it is a great opportunity, but i must hold myself in and do my best tomorrow! If anything happens, well, lets say I am really grateful to get this chance. It's just pretty exciting. I've never done ACs before and I get stage-fright easily, and well, if the guy up there didn't want to give up on me, I definitely won't either!

Right..that was just to kill a little of my overenthusiasm temporarily..my hopes are already very high..must always bolster myself. Ahh..interviews for your dream job(s) are so flighty!! You never know what's gonna happen during those few hours.

But i don't doubt that i'm good enough, i think i can do it tomorrow! :) If anything, the whole process of job search (since yr2) has filtered my vision of what i really want or not, at least for now. And most importantly, to move on quick after every 'failure', which put clichely, is but 'another learning process'.

Oh well, wish me luck then! :)

Last Night in PARIS!!

2010-06-02T01:11:00.000+08:00

Omg i can't believe this is the last night of my 28 day Grad Trip!! Actualy i'm pretty excited about going back and getting back on track with jobsearch, ironically. Missed several calls and received some from branded companies that i'm excited to meet! Sadly, I had to reject L'Oreal for their 2nd round of interview/assessment centre, super wasted. But then, i just saw that they posted a fresh round of recruitment for MTs on NUS Biz Career Services! Does this mean i have another chance?

Other news, got back my final grades from NUS Biz School FOR THE VERY LAST TIME. Guess i won't be needing any of my 3 S/Us afterall. haha. I wish i could sell them for cash. And, grades-wise, i improved/overshot by a grade, which makes my grade not a full number but with a 0.02 more, but hey, i'm not complaining! :)

Ok gtg enjoy the last few hours in Paris now, but before I forget:

Paris - French: Yes = Oui, No = Non, Hello = Bonjour, Thank you very much = Merci Buku, Goodbye = Au Revoir.

Brussels/Belgium - Belgium: Ohno i forgot!

Amsterdam - Dutch: Will remember soon.

Rome - Italian: Yes = Si, Thank you = Gracias

Barcelona - Spanish: Hello = Hola!

London - English: I love the British accent Mate!

haha something like that. Ok bye! :)

Barcelona - Paella and Tapas Everywhere!

2010-05-24T00:51:00.031+08:00

We’re in Barca now and so far our first day here has been AWESOME! The main food (which we see everywhere here) is Paella – baked rice with seafood or chicken and Tapas – various fingerfood. Just today we ate 2 paellas each! Quite crazy coz it’s like one big pan of rice each..twice a day is a little too much carbo..but damn tasty can! Here’s the pic that sums up the meals for today:

This was our 2nd Paella for the day – a mixed seafood and chicken platter for 2. Sticky and super yummy but just a tad too salty. The first one was at a touristy place where we also had Sangria, which is a red concoction that tastes like vodka and cherry/strawberry coke, and looks like Ribena but waaay more lethal.

We shared this HUGE mug of Sangria and were damn seh after lunch that we had to go back to the hotel to chill for an hour.

But after the drowsiness wore off, we went SHOPPING!!! Shopping in Barca is pretty good! Things were generally cheap (if only they were in Sing$) at below 20euros. I usually get things at the range of 5-20 Euros, but mostly at an average of 12 Euros. The fit and cut of clothes here are so much better! :)

The later part of Day 1 here was spent at the gorgeous ‘Magic Fountain’ at Espanya (the Metro Stop). Basically it was like the Bellagio Fountain in Vegas where the water dances to the music. But it was in front of this castle like thing with many stairs, so that was very grand.

See, got so hard to make nice fountains meh!! Rome had like one million fountains everywhere but they were all BORING. Except maybe the Trevi Fountain, but that place was too congested and small compared to this. Rome sucks. (haha oh we had more bad experiences with service and food there even on the very last day in Rome)
Oh, and guess what, we met Joseph’s gf at the fountain too! That makes it the 3rd familiar Singaporean we met since Johnny at Amsterdam and Jiaxin at Rome. Small world..so heartwarming la. :)

Ok time for bed now, the paella we just ate is making me so so sleepy! Gd night world!

Skipping so many posts!!

2010-05-22T05:49:00.000+08:00

In Rome now, last night actually. Going Barcelona tmr but there's no internet either!! Here gotta rush coz the weird Indian recept guy is chatting on his phone opposite my sofa and i'm wearing shorts. WL's eye is a bit better but he's off to bathe 1st. Hard to share internet.

Rome is sucky so far, i've written a few MSWord blog posts but it takes crazy long to upload pics here so will update ASAP! Oh god, give me some good internet with privacy soon!!

Ok bye gtg now. :(

Rome and Conjunctivitis

2010-05-19T20:20:00.013+08:00

Today was a hectic one starting at 930am when we left the comfort of our apartment-like hotel (Asian Rest House). Day 1 of Rome with Day 7 of Conjunctivitis: Painful and Torturous. Poor WL’s right eye was SUPER sore and red and pus had clumped up his eyelashes. See also xim tia (heartpain).

This pic here is the better pic when we were in Amsterdam, i think like Day 4 or 5 of the infection. Anyway as I was saying, I guess today can be described as one of the worst parts of our holiday when we had to find an eye specialist after going to a public hospital and they didn’t have a doc who could deal with eye probs *rolls eyes*. The horrible thing about Rome is that NOBODY SPEAKS ANY BASIC ENGLISH. Wth! That’s like the universal language can! And the thing that irks me most is that they play the latest pop songs from the USA like everywhere..subways, trams etc. Just go and learn the language first already!

BUT, well, as they say..when in Rome..we just Chicken talk to Duck lor.

So anyway, we managed to get to the Trevi Fountain today, but I wanted to experiment with the new pair of boots i bought from Paris for 5Euros – which was a bad decision – and after 2 hours i felt like I was walking on hot coals. Thus, walking down the most famous areas of Rome was a limping girl dragging a blind boy. :(

Wasn’t a very happy experience, especially when the sun came down super sharply in the noon and tempers flared. Even more so when stupid tourists took DAMN UGLY pics of us. Who takes pics of people’s bodies ONLY when the Trevi Fountain is behind us?! Of course take the background also right!! *fumes* That’s the problem with travelling as a couple. Oh well.

Dinner time now, let’s hope Days 2, 3 and 4 of Rome sees a recovery of the conjunctivitis. It is as scary as it sounds.

Ok bye!

PARIS!

2010-05-17T18:55:00.041+08:00

6.55pm, Monday 17th May 2010-05-17 (Amsterdam time)

There you go! Here’s as close a pic i could take to capture the breath-taking awesomeness of Paris’s most monumental icon – The Eiffel Tower! Damn chio at night!

Anyway, I just had to put that at the beginning of this post to epitomize my thoughts of Paris. (I shall try to sieve out the most memorable/picturesque photo of each city for the first picture of each post from now on.)

To begin with, I’ll like to say that we’re in Amsterdam now, but by the time i get this post up we’ll probably be in Rome. Sucks to have no internet! And i was too busy/tired to blog when we were in Paris and Brussels. So yup here goes..on MSWord that is.

Well, we started our trip freezing our asses off. Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam were all below 15 deg!!! Mostly below 10. And i only brought this ugly brown overall sweater which helped to keep the cold out but was unfortunately, REALLY fugly. I REGRET not bringing the thick black coat sis offered to lend me instead!!! *boohoos* argh. Oh wells that’s just a little sad point regarding the photos.

Our first day in Paris - as soon as we got off the plane - was spent checking out the Louvre. Really felt like we were in The Da Vinci Code movie, with all the glass triangles and all. But i think the movie made the pyramids look cooler/larger than they actually are.

The inside of the Louvre was massive; a crazy amount of historical pictures of Jesus/Mary/Roman figures/Egypt and of course, the Mona Lisa. We were SUPER shagged by the time we found the Mona Lisa. The museum was like a freaking maze. Oh, and there was ALOT of nudity. Haha..apparently women in older times wore dresses below their chests...and flab was the ‘in’ thing.
Second Day – Going up the Eiffel Tower!!!

We decided to go up the Eiffel Tower in the day so we’d have better shots of the view. They installed new lifts since I was here 10 years ago! Lol..that was one good thing coz now the lifts went up more smoothly than the crickety and slow ones they had last time I remember. This time we went all the way to the 3rd floor which is the highest pinnacle of the tower. That Summit Lift was really damn scary. And i guess going up in the day didn’t waive my fear of heights haha.

Oh, and we saw a couple taking wedding photos on the tower! Respect man! The top was so cold and she still managed to run around wearing a tube dress..and it was also very crowded coz of the swarms of tourists gathered around. Hmm..overall, my take is that it is not advisable to take your wedding pictures ON the tower. I prefer pictures OF the tower actually..like this one:

Yup, well besides these 2 attractions, we there was the Arc De Triomph and The Notre Dame Cathedral which was so beautiful inside i think it would turn even the rebellious pious. And we climbed up the tower, which was a back-breaking and dizzying 400 winding steps. Winding as in really the spiral kind in towers. No wonder the Hunchback of Notre Dame was hunched la!

Notre Dame Cathedral

Beautiful stained glass windows everywhere.

Famous stone gargoyle on top of Notre Dame Cathedral.

After climbing the steps up and down the cathedral we chanced upon Bertillion Ice Cream. It is THE BEST ice cream on EARTH!! They should totally import in to SG coz it was so crazily delicious! Maybe it was just the Rum and Raisin and Dark Choc combi, but both were so gao and shiok even in the cold weather. We’re totally going back to try it in our last 3 days of Grad trip!

And on the 3rd day of our stay in Paris, which was also the last full one, we visited the Basillica Church and The Wall of Love (which was not much, just words in different languages) and finally the night scene of The Eiffel Tower to end off our stay with a nice touch.

Yupyups! That’s the summary i have for beautiful Paris, the land of romance and French-kisses..now it’s off to some chow in Amsterdam – my last night here! Update on Brussels my FAVE city so far! It’s even better than Paris! :)

Paris, tomorrow!

2010-05-05T23:47:00.001+08:00

Well..the time has finally come for me to fulfill the dream of going to Europe (again), this time with more romantic company haha i must say. It's exactly 10 years - a decade - since i've been there in Sec 1; i'm sure some places must have changed.

Honestly, i can't remember much of it since we went on packaged tour and you know how they jump from place to place in spans of 1-2 days..i guess most of the architecture blurred into a mix for me.

But, i remember going up the Eiffel tower and getting scared s***less. Acrophobia lah. Fear of heights..even going up the SG Flyer was knee-wobbling. Oh wells. Hope this time it'll make a diff when i go up in the day! I will seek to get as nice a picture of it as the one above!!

Which brings me to the point about the itinerary we've got with us this time round. My very own packaged trip! The bf, being pretty free in his last sem with only FYP and design project, researched INTENSIVELY on our itinerary and it is now 30 pages long with 9000 words! Somebody please give him a pat on the back for doing 2 final year reports simultaneously!!!

Even i am awed at how magnificently hardworking he is! *Clap Clap!* My contribution - the places of interests..but the credit goes to him for 'connecting the dots' which is way harder..like how to go, how far from our hotel, what train, got student discount or not, what time the attraction closes, what the weather is like there and even reviews. Damn amazing.

I absolutely have to put this bright kid's picture here with our Europe Thesis:

Printed in colour leh! All 30 pages!

Thank you the-best-decision-i-ever-made-bf!! Our grad trip will be so AWESOME because of your fantastical brain! *muacks*

Yupyup 2am tomorrow night..Paris here i come!!! :)

My Last Night in Kent Ridge Hall...

2010-05-01T23:58:00.047+08:00

This is it. My very last night in the place i've called home for 4 years. i knew this day would eventually come..but reality is always the pain after a slap on the face. *sigh*

No words can describe the weight of knowing I will never again have this place to come to every night after a long day of work or even on days when i have no work at all. To play, to gossip, to laugh, to cry, to do anything i want at all..with the company of beloved neighbours.

Living in a semi-D has its perks..but hardly any friendly, talkable-to neighbys. :(

Anyways..today was spent making goodbye cards to my precious neighbys..i tried to include most people already but abit shag to do too many in one day!! So to those who happen to read this space and see the pic below, pls do not be offended or anything! I just like to take pics of my rare works of 'art'. lol.

And this is my room for this past year..A307 (charlotte's ex-room):

It is messy, it is small, it is effective, but most importantly, it is mine.

I'll love you forever KR A Block!!

Thank you and Goodbye! :(

Last.

2010-04-29T19:47:00.002+08:00

Think this is the last time i'm gonna see this:

haha..and this time its in Sheares!! Damn cool la nv had exam in hall before. Oh wells. At least i have an auspicious seat number. 88! Huat ar! :)